Torn Between Souls

EMANUEL

MATTEOPOV

I left Rose’s apartment in a rush. I felt euphoric, sick to my stomach, and thirsty.

Thirsty.

I could hear the blood pumping in Rose’s veins until I reached the parking lot. The sound of her racing heart pounding in my ears. I growled and got into my car. I drove at obnoxious speeds, before calling a friend.

“Anciano,” the thick, Spanish accent on the other end said, “What can I do for you?”

“I need to hunt,” I replied through my teeth, fighting every urge to turn around, climb into Rose's window, and sink my teeth into her deliciously white neck.

The man on the other end snorted, “You can hunt anywhere, amigo.”

I growled again, this time it ripped through me, reverberating through the car.

“The compound is open to you. Come for a drink while you’re here.”

The man on the other end hung up.

I drove for hours at top speeds, constantly reliving the pain in Rose’s eyes as I clutched her wrist, fighting for control over myself, before reaching the huge forested compound in Montana. It was a beautiful drive I didn’t care to see. I left my car running in the dirt drive and went hunting.

By the time I was finished with my hunt, I was exhausted. Two large bucks and a mountain lion hadn’t even satiated me. I found a bear, and at almost noon the following day, I was finally done.

My car had been moved, thanks to Emanuel’s butler, and I half stumbled up the front steps to the mansion.

Emanuel’s home was made from gilded marble and dark black stone. The entryway was massive. Huge gargoyles sat atop the pillars on either side of the doorway, bidding those who dared come near, farewell. Before I could open the door, Rich, the butler opened the door.

“Master Volantin, a pleasure, would you like to be shown a room?” he asked.

I shook my head, “No, I’m here to see Emanuel.”

The butler raked his eyes down me, and I followed suit. I was covered in blood. I never fed so messily.

“I insist, Master Volantin,” he nodded again.

This time I agreed. He took me to a large room I had used before, and I took a long shower, before changing into a pair of dark trousers, and an ill-fitting turtleneck. I padded downstairs and moved to the study, where Emanuel sat in a large red armchair. Two glasses of scotch sat on the table next to him, and on the other side was a matching armchair.

“Sit, amigo,” Emanuel breathed in his heavy voice.

Emanuel was a halfling. He had been bit by another vampire, however, he had not ingested enough of that vampire's blood before his death to become a full vampire. It left him with slightly heightened senses, much longer life than a mortal, though he did continue to age, and one black eye to match his brown one. His hair was dark, and his skin followed suit. He was shorter in stature, with a wiry frame.

I took a seat in the chair next to him, and picked up a scotch, drinking deeply and dipping my head back.

“Rich told me you slaughtered a probable herd. Not enough food for you in Oregon?” he asked, his accent thick as he sipped his drink.

“I wasn’t in control,” I said, my own voice quiet.

This piqued his interest, and he raised a dark eyebrow at me, “So you weren’t in control...but you have an office in Washington, you could’ve gone there. But instead, you came further up.”

“I had to…” I trailed, looking into the amber liquid as I swirled it in my glass, “...I was afraid if I wasn’t far enough away, I’d go back.”

He raised his other eyebrow, and then a look of realization washed over him, “You’re craving someone, específico, si?”

My eyes darkened and I looked away, “She’s driving me crazy.”

He chuckled. He stood up, going to the window, and peaking out into the duck outside.

“You don’t crave women, amigo. I haven’t seen you take a woman to bed, or taste a woman, in my 200 years of existence,” he said darkly, “What’s different?”

“She is,” I said through clenched teeth. I closed my eyes, and I could almost smell her sweet scent, “She is fascinating. I’ve never met anyone like her. I’m drawn to her, in every way. She-she…”

He turned back to me, his dark brow raised once more, “She what?”

“I want to taste her...I want to...mark her,” I hissed, “I never want anyone else to touch her. I want my scent to be all over her, for eternity.”

Emanuel was quiet as I seethed. Anger seeping from my pores as I gathered myself, trying to avoid the thoughts, and faces of Rose flashing through my head.

“And I can’t,” I finished, a defeated tone to my voice.

“Why not? I know it has been some time since you tasted a human. Look at you, anciano, you can have anything.”

I brought my hand on my glass down hard, and the glass shattered, spilling amber liquid onto the Persian rug beneath us.

“Because she is a witch!” I roared, “And from everything I can tell she is immensely powerful, and she doesn’t even know it yet! She is hunted constantly by those MUTTS, and I can’t figure out why, so I cannot help her, and I am STUCK watching her constantly, taking in her scent, and I...I….”

My voice broke, and I felt a long put to sleep pain in my chest, “...and I can’t let her end up like Victoria.”

The room was silent, and without being called, Rich filed in, cleaning the mess I made, and replacing my glass. Emanuel sat back down and stared at me for what seemed like ages. Until the light in the room began to change.

“Victoria was hundreds of years ago, and you were drugged. You were provoked, and to be quite fair amigo,” he shrugged, “I never heard you speak about Victoria in this way.”

I slumped in my seat slightly, my eyes closed, and my mouth in a tight, thin line, “I don’t know what to do. It’s against everything to be with a different species. And there is so much attention on her and... I can’t hurt her.”

He sighed, shaking his head, “You’ve been alive a long, long time Matteo. You’ve walked the earth for longer than almost any vampire I’ve known to still be alive. It has been a long time since you’ve let yourself love. The last time you loved, it ended in her death. My question for you is, are you willing to be the one to face the punishment?”

I thought about that for a long time. Until the night darkened, and Emanuel went to sleep. Until it dawned the next day and until I could not think anymore.

----

ROSEPOV

I was exhausted. I had been back at work for two days. And I hadn’t seen Matteo since he left me alone in the hallway in front of my apartment 5 days ago. He hadn’t called. Hadn’t shown up unannounced.

I was so mad at him, but there were feelings inside me that wouldn’t stop swirling. I missed him, I admit, and every time I thought about his lips on mine, a warmth washed over me. I couldn’t stop the small smile that crept across my lips, but then it was gone again, replaced with the loneliness and hurt I felt that he had disappeared.

“Rose,” the silence was broken, and that voice that dripped honey was above me.

I looked up rapidly from the charts in front of me on the charge desk and saw right into those dark green eyes. There was a small amount of hurt there, however, his eyes were lighter, brighter and he looked almost refreshed.

I couldn’t help the deep blush that spread across my cheeks as I realized I was in my filthy scrubs, over halfway into a 12-hour shift, with my hair a mess, and my eyes dark. I hadn’t been sleeping. Ever since our kiss, my dreams or...visions had been getting stronger.

I was scared to sleep.

“Rose,” he said again, breaking me from my trance.

I frowned, and snapped at him, “What are you doing here?”

He sighed, and his lips tightened slightly, “I’d like to take you to dinner.”

I raised my eyebrows, “Oh you’d like to take me to dinner, but not pick up the phone after kissing me and almost breaking my wrist?” I hissed through my teeth.

I saw him grit his own teeth, as a look of sadness, and then hurt, and then anger flashed over his eyes.

I looked back down at my charts, planning to ignore him. Electric fingertips tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“I’m...sorry,” he said softly, “Please let me take you out Friday.”

I stayed still as a rock, before blowing out a breath and looking up at him, “I will go to dinner with you, on one condition.”

He nodded, without missing a beat.

“You have to explain to me what happened in that hallway.”

His face tightened, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, thinking for a moment, “Fine.”

I smiled, feeling proud that I won, before he spoke again, “But only if you let me provide you with what you are wearing.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, slightly confused.

“I’ll see you at 7 PM,” he said, smiling a lopsided grin before he left.

A co-worker, Renee, winked at me.

“Sooooo, boyfriend?” she asked with a smile.

I shook my head, “No, just a friend.”

She laughed, and raked me up and down, “Well the way I see it, neither of you are “just a friend’.”

I laughed with her before pursing my lips, a small blush raking over my face. I got off work at 9:30, and went home, ducking into the drug store on my way for a few things. I was halfway out of the drugstore when I doubled over in pain, my head feeling like it was going to explode. I gasped for air as a vision overtook me.

“Charles,” my mother called through the door of his study, before pushing it open, “I’ve found the spell.”

My father looked up from the desk at her, a nervous glint in his eyes, “Tanya, we don’t have to do this.”

My mother walked to the desk, and grasped the wood there, hanging her head. Her shoulders shook with tears, before my father stood, walking around the desk and pulling her into his arms. They shook together, holding each other as long as they could. Finally, my mother pulled back and rested her hands on his shoulders.

“We have to. They will kill us no matter what we do, but if we can shield her, she’ll be safe until he finds her,” she spoke softly, but firmly, tears in her eyes.

“How can you even be sure there is a man! We can protect her,” he said harshly, pulling away to look out the window.

She walked up behind him, laying her hands against his back, and pressing her forehead to his spine. Her long red hair in its messy knot coming more undone.

“I told you daring, you just have to trust me. He is out there. And he will help her. Please,” she pleaded, “We have to bind her magic. I can’t bear the thought of losing her.”

My father was still, before he turned, facing my mother, and nodded, “Okay, we will bind her.”

“M-Miss, are you okay?” someone suddenly asked, shattering the vision.

I gasped for air, realizing I was laying on the ground, with the cashier above me. He was young, just older than a teen, and I could tell he didn’t know what to do. I lifted myself off the ground, my body a touch sore, while I wiped the tears from my eyes.

“I’m fine,” I nodded to him with a soft smile.

He paused, but then nodded back, and helped me gather the items again. The nice young man even walked me to my car. I sat in the front seat, my body humming. I could feel a bruise forming on my right arm, which had apparently taken most of the pain from the fall.

I cried silent tears.

“Why is this happening to me?” I whispered aloud.

I didn’t know how much more of this I could take.