Never Ending Love-4
1577 Words
Thana
He was there when I woke up; sat on the edge of the bed, staring at me in exactly the same place as he had been when I had finally fallen asleep, weak and nauseous.
“It’s creepy to just stare,” I mumbled. My eyes were open, but just barely so I could see him. He moved, coming alive before my eyes. I hadn’t really wanted to believe it before, but I did now. My captor was a vampire. But then, hadn’t I known that deep down all along? Even growing up, I had seen and witnessed things that I couldn’t explain. My parents, before their deaths, had put it down to an overactive imagination, and my sister had carried on that same reaction.
The moment my best friend and roommate had led me down the steps of the Desir Du Cirque, I had known. Everything I had seen, everything I was seeing, was real. The monsters, the living shadows. All of it. Every scary thing I had been afraid of as a child was real, and one of them was staring at me with soulful eyes.
One of them had fed from me. He had touched me.
I shuddered.
“I had to make sure you were ok. I took too much last night.”
“So you sat and watched me sleep like some kind of stalker?” Opening my eyes wide, I stared at him. But I almost instantly dropped my eyes when I remembered all the things I had ever read or seen about vampires in the media. All of them said you should never look one in the eye, otherwise they could put you under some sort of spell. Maybe that’s what had made me so confused and forgetful. Maybe I’d looked into his eyes.
Cool fingers slid under my chin, lifting my face. I closed my eyes tight.
“You can look at me, Thana. I can’t glamour you now.”
I didn’t believe him. “I would rather not take the chance. Thanks, anyway.” My voice dripped with sarcasm. Never in my life had I sounded so much like Lottie. My brash, outspoken friend would be proud. I risked the tiniest glimpse in the vampire’s direction. “Is my friend alive?”
Caradoch dropped his hand to his lap. His eyes skirted away. “Which friend?”
“Lottie, the redhead I was with.”
One pale hand came up to muss his dark hair. And my heart sank.
“Is she dead?” Sitting up, I clasped my hands in my lap, staring at them. He didn’t answer me. “Caradoch, is my friend dead? Did one of you kill her?”
He had come close to draining me last night. Even now, I could feel how weak I was. My body felt too heavy, every movement was hard, and I had to think about it.
“Why would you think she is dead?”
Finally, I lifted my eyes, properly meeting his, and he was right, they were just eyes. Pretty ones, but I didn’t feel any magical pull in them. “You almost killed me last night. Maybe one of your friends did the same. I just want to know—”
“Your friend is fine, as far as I know. She is with Alessandro.”
Alessandro? I frowned. The name was familiar. “He’s the one who pulled her up on stage before it all…” I shook my head. I did not want to relive what had happened at Desir Du Cirque. It had been grotesque.
“Yes.”
“Is this Alessandro keeping her like you’re keeping me? To feed from?”
Caradoch frowned; his dark eyebrows knitted together. “I am not keeping you to feed from, Thana. Last night, I was starving and in need of fresh blood. It was the first time I have fed from you since we got here.”
He seemed outraged that I had even thought such a thing, but who could blame me? Not any sane person. But then again, any sane person wouldn’t think it was possible to be kidnapped and held prisoner by a vampire.
“Your friend Lottie is with Alessandro by choice. Just like she is meant to be. He is keeping her safe, worshipping her, no doubt.” Caradoch’s eyes darkened. “Just like I plan to do with you if you let me.”
“Is she close?” Excitement seemed to make my heart beat a little faster. Instantly, my hand went to my neck where Caradoch's eyes seemed to linger; I used my fingers to cover my throbbing pulse.
He shook his head with a groan. “I am in control, Thana. I am not going to attack you. But to answer your unasked question, you cannot see her. Lottie is not nearby. Her mate has taken her somewhere safe. He will keep her hidden until…”
My shoulders slumped. Dragging my eyes away, I looked around the room. It was so sparse, a box with furniture. How had I ever looked around me and seen home?
“You said you couldn’t put me under a spell, but you did. You made it all seem different.”
The skin around Caradoch's eyes crinkled as he smiled. “I can’t, but that doesn’t mean a witch couldn’t get you to see what I needed you to see. He did warn me that you were strong and would break through it sooner rather than later. I was hoping slightly later, but it means you are remembering and that’s what I need you to do.”
“Remember what? You keep saying that, but I don’t know what I am meant to be remembering, Caradoch.”
He laughed, the musical sound like velvet as it brushed over me. Not soft and smooth though, more like brushing a cat in the wrong direction. It felt almost dirty. Something I wasn’t meant to enjoy the feel of, but did.
“We have never met before.” I frowned before I could help myself. It was the truth, but it didn’t feel like it.
Leaning forward, Caradoch's fingers brushed down my cheek. “Haven’t we, Thana? Then how do you know my name?” He smiled softly. “How do you know I am called Caradoch?”
I paused. “I…you must have told me.”
He shook his head. “Not in this lifetime, I haven’t. But you knew it anyway. Do you know what Caradoch means? Where the name originates from?”
“It’s from Wales, that’s in the United Kingdom,” I added, and he smiled.
“I know where it is, Thana. I was born there in the same village as you. We used to play on the beach together.”
I stared at him. What he was saying wasn’t true. I didn’t remember him from my childhood at all.
The only other child I had played with as a kid was my older sister.
“I wasn’t born in a village.”
“Not in this life, no, but your coven has been around for centuries. Keeping everyone in line.” He chuckled. “Don’t worry, you will remember.”
One second he was sitting next to me and the next he was on his feet. It was disconcerting how alive he suddenly looked. Like a statue coming to life.
“Come, I need to wash you, and when you are clean, I will feed you. I do not have long here. I must get back before I am missed. The others think I am hunting and it is essential that Cassandra not know the truth.”
“Back?” With legs that felt like lead, I climbed to my feet. My thigh ached. The swiftly scabbing puncture wounds itched, and I scratched at them absently. “Are we still in the city?”
“No, Thana, we are not in the city. We haven’t been for weeks.” Reaching out a hand, he waited for me to slide mine into it. “Now, come and let me wash you.”
“I can wash myself.” It had been easy to forget what had happened last night when we were talking. But I didn’t want his hands on me, especially when I was naked.
His grip on my hand tightened. “I am sure you can, but I want to wash you. I need to make sure you are unharmed.”
“You mean you want to see how much damage you did to me last night?” I bit back.
For a second, he studied me, and then he nodded. “Take your clothes off and I will heat the—”
One second, his face was animated and the next it was emotionless. Devoid of all life. Slowly, he tilted his head to the side, like he was listening to something I couldn't hear. He blinked slowly.
Never in my life had I ever seen someone look so lizard-like.
“What is it?”
His body crashed into mine, forcing me back onto the bed. I couldn’t breathe through the hand pressed over my mouth and nose.
“Stay here. Stay here and stay quiet.”
And then he was gone. There was no pounding feet or whooshing wind like in the movies. He just ceased to be in the room.
- Writer
