THE MONSTER INSIDE ME: The Immortal Chronicles: Book One

by Tristin Clark

  “I told you sweetness. Tonight, I will make you mine. Tonight, I will claim you, your soul and I will make you mine, forever.”

  “I should feel scared. Why don’t I?” My emotions have been such a chaotic mess tonight. I don’t even recognize myself anymore.

  “Because I am woven deeply, inside you. I’ve given you my strength, my courage and my heart. You no longer fear me. You’ve accepted me. I am in you. You know me, my sweet. Your soul is mine as mine is yours. To fear me, would be to fear you and no one fears oneself, as much as they fear the unknown.” His words hit a certain soft spot inside. He’s right. I don’t even question him. I may not know many things about this boy, but I do know that I can trust him. I trust him more than I trust anyone else.

  “Okay. I trust you. I trust us,” I say.

  “I know,” he responds, smiling softly.

  Austin’s attention is suddenly pulled away. His look becomes serious and his eyes dart off to the distance, beside him. He inhales a deep breath through his nose and exhales heavily.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask, looking to where his eyes gaze, yet I see no one. He turns back to me and smiles warmly.

  “Everything is fine, sweetness,” he assures but I feel it. He isn’t necessarily lying but isn’t necessarily telling the truth either.

  “I have to go take care of something, my sweet. I’ll be back before you have time to miss me.” Before I can get a word in, he releases me from his hold, backs away and vanishes, leaving me standing with my mouth gaped open.

  “Well what the heck? Really! Ughhh! Freaking Austin…” I turn, dragging my feet towards the party. Can’t believe he just up and left me.

  "Austin, if you can hear me. You suck. Get back here.” Nothing. No voice.

  Screw it. I make my way across the front lawn, up the porch steps. I stop just before the closed door and take a deep breath.

  “Here goes,” I mutter and then enter.

  Instant noise. The party is well at its peak. I make my way through the loud, crowded house full of drunk, fucked up, horny teenagers. I don’t even want to be here anymore, but not like I can just go home. Oh shit… home. Mom and dad… I didn’t even think about them. They are probably going crazy. Shit… what if they called the cops? Oh no… they know about Austin.

  “Austin! Austin! I know you can hear me! I don’t know where you ran off to, but don’t you dare hurt my mom and dad! You hear me! Answer me!” I yell internally.

  “I won’t,” he answers. I relax and sigh in relief. Good, but I’m still worried. I know my parents. They’ve already gone to the cops. If I had my phone on me, I’m sure they’d be blowing me up with calls and texts. Thank goodness I forgot it back at home.

  I walk around the house, mostly people watching. No one knows. No one has any idea, or do they? Paranoia gets the better of me. What if they know? No. They can’t, but what if they find out? It’s only a matter of time before someone hears about Austin. Word travels fast in this small town and to hear that the one chopping off people’s heads, is the one and only Austin Star. Yeah. Maybe the idea to come here wasn’t the wisest of choices.

  I suddenly see my best friend. She’s laughing, smiling backed up against a wall, while Cole leans intimately close next to her. I see his hand and those sick fingers of his, slowly trail down the side of her cheek and I want to scream. I want to yell at the top of my lungs. I want to rush him and beat his stupidly attractive, cocky face in, for putting his hands on my best friend. For putting his hands on me

  — No. Don’t Emilia. Don’t cause a scene. Van will only see my attack as jealousy and that is not at all what I want.

  I can feel the darkness begin to creep within. I can feel the fire burn its way through my veins. It’s coming back. The darkness is coming back.

  I really fucking hated Cole. He needed to di—

  “My sweetness,” whispers a tantalizingly seductive voice from behind me. He’s back. My heart rate instantly increases and flutters at his intoxicating presence.

  I close my eyes and let my head fall back on his shoulder. The darkness is gone. I am at peace and the world around me is no more but a distant hum. His long arms wrap around me, his chin rests on top my shoulder. His nose nuzzles up my neck and for a second, I think I hear him breathe me in. Why do I find that so erotic?

  “You are full of anger. Why is that so?” he asks.

  I open my eyes and reality comes flooding back. He continues to trace the tip of his nose over my neck and I am only seconds away from releasing an embarrassing moan out loud. I turn around in his arms, placing my palms flat against his chest. His very hard, firm chest. My God his body feels so incredible. I gaze up into those mesmerizing eyes of his and I am hypnotized.

  “You left me,” I say. It wasn’t a lie. I was upset when he left.

  His hands move tenderly across my back in soft strokes, leaving a blazing trail of stimulating tingles wherever they go.

  He leans in, next to my ear,

  “You cannot hide the truth from me no longer.” he whispers, his warm breath spilling into my ear, and making me shiver in delight. He tugs on my lobe with his teeth and I lose it.

  “Mmh,” I moan under closed eyes.

  The loud music fortunately drowns out my moan, but I know he heard it. He mumbles something under his breath and goes to leave a hard, wet kiss on my neck, but he doesn’t pull away. No, his kiss lingers, his lips spread, and he sucks.

  “Ohh. Yesss,” I quietly moan against him. His lips trail up to my ear and he whispers,

  “I heard you after I left. You said I suck. Is that a complaint, because you sure seem to enjoy me doing so? I can always stop, if you want me to,” he teases.

  “No. Don’t,” I tell him.

  “As you wish.”

  He continues sucking the skin of my sensitive neck and his tongue... oh God his tongue... is... licking... me. I moan again. Our bodies are grinding against each other’s. I can feel his hard erection press against my heated core. He holds me close while his other hand trails down my back. He grips my ass, squeezes, massaging my cheek in his firm grip.

  His appetite is growing ravenous. His kisses have become hungry. I feel that tongue slither up my neck. It slips into my ear and my knees buckle from under me. Austin’s arm sweeps around my waist, and he holds me even closer.

  “Ohhh. Austin,” I moan.

  “You moan like that, I will take you right here, in front of all your little friends, my Emilia.” I stop my grinding immediately. I pull back, arms still wrapped around him, giving our bodies a little separation. He holds my hips, swaying us to the tempo of the music.

  “I’m sorry,” I apologize. It’s the only thing I can think of to say. I don’t know how serious he is right now. I know he wants me. I want him too, but would he really take me right here? In front of everyone?

  “You owe me no apology. Save it for your friend,” he says. His eyes point over my shoulder. I turn my glance to see he means Van. He remembers. “Is she why you are angry?” he asks. I shake my head no, while glancing down. He lifts my chin and gazes down on me, bending to level with my eyes.

  “Then who makes you angry, sweetness?” he firmly asks.

  “It’s nothing.” I deny. His grip on my chin grows tighter.

  “Don’t lie to me Emilia.” he says with a gentle warning. Shit. Shit. Shit. He can read my mind. He’s probably reading my mind now. Fuck… if he can though, then how does he not know already?

  “I can’t always read your mind,” he enlightens. My eyes bulge.

  “Emilia… answer me.”

  “I’m not— there’s nothing—" I don’t know what to say and I can feel his patience running thin.

  “Emilia. Who. Has. Angered you?” he calmly demands. My mind goes blank. I’m stuck. I can’t say. I can’t tell him.

  “I can feel it. I can feel your anger, your pain, your everything,” he finishes as he rests his forehead against mine.

  His lips nearly skin over my own. His ey
es close for just a moment as if he is trying to calm himself. They finally open and gaze deeply into mine. We are close, so close. I tremble when his thumb traces over my bottom lip.

  “Emilia. Tell me who angered you now, or I’ll go hunting for the truth and I promise you, it won’t be pretty,” he warns. Now I really don’t want to say anything.

  “I can’t say. I’m not ready to tell you yet. Austin please don’t make me—"

  “Emilia. You need to tell me.” He lets go of my chin and runs his knuckles down my cheek, neck stopping to hold my shoulder. “Tell me so I can make it all go away. I’ll make whoever hurt you go away. Don’t you want that?” He means kill them. He wants to kill them. I should feel terrified for the person, yet a part of me wants him to kill him.

  “Him?” he repeats. Oh shit. He read my mind again. We’ve got to talk about some boundaries at some point. “When you say him, do you mean your father or someone—” He cuts his own self off, just as his eyes glance around the room, stopping to glare at a particular someone. I follow his gaze and see Cole.

  Oh fuck…

  CHAPTER 23 - YOU CAN’T DENY ME

  Austin’s eyes widen, gazing at me, then at Cole and then back to me.

  “I knew it,” he seethes, behind tightly closed teeth. I can see his eyes change to a darker hue. His nostrils flare and his jaw clenches. He glares Cole down and I sigh in frustration and hold him back.

  Not freaking again…

  “No. Austin,” I firmly say. He doesn’t acknowledge me. “Austin. Look at me. Look at me!” I shout. That got his attention. His burning eyes are set on me and they are not gentle. “Not here, okay? Let’s go outside and talk. Please?” He sighs, nods and weaves his arm around my waist, pulling me away in haste. He is fuming on the inside. I feel his emotion as if it were my own.

  We push through the crowd of kids, making our way outside, past the front yard, down the sidewalk.

  Our walk is silent. I’m fine with that. I enjoy the silence while we have it, because at any moment, this blue-eyed boy is going to force me to talk and I don’t know what the Hell I’m going to say.

  He removes his arm from around me and takes my hand, interweaving our fingers, pulling me to follow after him. His long, fast legs take way more strides than my little legs can keep up with, leaving me almost jogging behind him.

  “Where are we going?” I ask. He ignores me, staring ahead while we continue walking. We’ve been walking for a while now. It’s seems like an eternity, but time has a way at fooling you. It’s probably been like ten minutes.

  So, I ask again,

  “Austin, where are we going?”

  He releases my hand, swings around, stopping me in my tracks. He towers over me, only an inch or two away from me and he is angry. I am suddenly reminded of the night he killed that poor dog. I shouldn’t be afraid of him. I’m not. I trust that he won’t hurt me but even I can’t deny that this giant, beautiful creature is one scary Devil.

  A shit eating grin forms on those lips. He must have found something I said amusing.

  “Tell me Emilia. Who angered you?” he isn’t asking. I feel it. He is demanding and for some reason, I don’t think I can refuse him.

  “Can we sit?” I ask, as I eye a bench up ahead, at the bus stop.

  He nods under a tightly locked jaw and extends his arm towards the bench. I walk past him and he follows. I take a seat at the end as he takes one next to me. Our thighs are touching and all I can think about is the tingling sensation. Even through clothes, I feel them. This bond must be growing stronger.

  I’m squeezing my thighs closed, attempting to subdue the ache from my throbbing core but there’s no use. It’s not helping.

  His hand suddenly reaches out and squeezes my upper thigh.

  “Relax,” he demands.

  “Like your hand touching me is going to make it any better,” I tort.

  “I feel the same, but I am in control. We won’t have to wait much longer, until then, relax.”

  “Easier said than done,” I sass. His eyes close. He throws his head back and inhales deeply.

  “Emilia. I need you to start talking. Distract me, because I only a second away from ripping your clothes off and fucking you right here,” he says in distress. Holy fuck! I just leaked ten times more at that comment.

  “Fine. Okay, okay! It’s just that um— um well... I don’t know where to begin.”

  “Just say it,” he snaps. If he wants the story, then I’ll just have to start from the beginning.

  “Okay. So, Van is my best friend. You know that. I would never betray her. Never in a million years, but…”

  “But what?” I can feel his impatience. It’s making me impatient. What do I say though? How do I say this? Ugh! Just say something Emilia.

  “Cole is messing with her,” I blurt.

  “Messing with her?” he asks.

  “Like he’s playing her. He knows she likes him, but he’s just leading her on, because he doesn’t want Van to become suspicious. He doesn’t want her to know that he likes someone else. He doesn’t like Van like how she likes him, and he won’t tell her, he doesn’t like her like that, because— because she will get upset and then their friendship will be ruined.”

  “How do you know he doesn’t like her?” he asks. Fuck… this is where it gets bad.

  “Because he told me. He said he’s only interested in me. He told me this last weekend.” Austin jumps to his feet, towering over me in a second.

  “You. Are. Mine!” he growls.

  “I know. I’m yours. All yours Austin. Calm down big boy.” I grab his hand and bring it to rest against my cheek. “Feel me. Calm yourself. Please.” I watch him close his eyes and take a deep breath.

  “Emilia,” he whispers under closed eyes.

  He turns his head towards my hand, and I feel his warm wet lips press against my palm. It’s a long deep kiss and it makes my heart race. I wet my lips and bite down on my bottom lip to help fight back the urge to pull him close and replace my traitorous hand with my own damn mouth.

  His eyes flash open quickly and again, those piercing eyes go dark.

  “You’re bleeding,” he points out.

  “I’m what?” I begin glancing over my body, investigating where this bleeding comes from. I don’t get to look for very long.

  His fists my shirt and pulls me up fast. He grips my chin and before I realize what he is doing, he is sucking my bottom lip, licking over a sore spot. His arm goes around my back, while his hand grips the back of my neck and he pulls me flat against him. He bites down on my bottom lip, opening my wound more and sucks even harder.

  This is not kissing. This is— this is tasting. He’s tasting my lip. Drinking my blood and it’s one of the hottest, most erotic things he’s ever done to me. I don’t know what I want more. For him to continue this sucking he’s doing or to just take my full lips and kiss me for real.

  He finally pulls away from my lip, releasing it with a pop sound. My bottom lip feels so swollen and plump. I want those lips back. I want him to kiss me. Really kiss me. Fuck I’ve never wanted to be kissed as bad as I do now.

  As he gazes at me, clearly drunk off something. I notice a little drop of my blood left on his bottom lip. Never taking his eyes off me, his tongue darts out and licks it clean.

  My ears are suddenly ringing. I’m light-headed, cold and I go weak in the knees.

  Austin catches me and holds me to him. He presses my head down against his shoulder, threads his fingers through my hair and combs it gently.

  I can’t move. I’m weak. Drained.

  “What is wrong with me,” I barely whisper.

  “I’ve finally tasted you, but I took too much. You may feel fatigued, but you will be fine. Now that your blood is mixed with mine, the start of the ritual has begun. You will feel a small change but do not fret, my sweet. I hear ascendance can be quite the high. Enjoy it,” he whispers at the end. I don’t even have the energy to respond as I rest my eyes and head agai
nst him in peace.

  He buries his face in the crook of my neck and leaves small, light kisses along my skin.

  My body is tingling and not the normal, Austin skin touching tingling, no. This is something different. It’s a fuzzy, static tingling and its hair raising. Goosebumps cover every inch of my skin. I’m cold, shivering, yet I feel warmth. I feel his warmth.

  “I am addicted,” he whispers into my ear. Me too I want to tell him. Me too. “Finish your story Emilia,” he tells me. I nod against his shoulder and reach my arms around his neck to support my weak, tingling body. His hands slide down, grips my rear and lifts me.

  I spread my legs and secure them around his waist as he walks us back to the bench. He turns us around and sits, holding me in his lap as I straddle him. For a moment, we say nothing but gaze into each other’s eyes. No words are needed. I feel him and he feels me. He holds me and I hold him, and in this moment, it is just us. Just him and me and no one else. There will never be anyone else. Just us.

  “Emilia,” he warns.

  He is patient with me but even angels have a limit and I think he is close to his, if not already there. He brushes some of my wild wavy hair behind my ear and then waits for me to speak.

  I’m so high. So relaxed. My eyes lids are heavy. I feel like I’m floating. My body feels weightless and if Austin’s large hands weren’t gripping my ass as hard as he is, I’d fall. I know I would. I happily sigh under closed eyes and smile before I calmly begin.

  “I’m angry because Van is my friend and I don’t want to see her get hurt. She wants Cole, but Cole wants me. We were never supposed to date each other. We all made a pact, not to date each other. We were supposed to be just friends, nothing more. Van is not nothing. She is good and she deserves someone who will treat her right. She deserves someone who will cherish her, not someone who will lead her on, because they’re too afraid to admit the truth to her. She deserves better and Cole is not better. I’m not better,” I quietly mumble at the end. I open my eyes and take a deep relaxing breath.

  “You value this friendship. Van is important to you. You don’t want to see her hurt. So why don’t you tell her this?” he asks. He’s right. I should tell her and maybe I will when I apologize but I know she won’t listen. She’s too caught up on Cole to hear the truth.