by A L Makin
“I came for you that night you know. I was going to get rid of you then. Get rid of you before you became the pain in my ass you were destined to become,” she growls.
The pain I was destined to become? I replay her words. Did she know I was going to move here? But how and why? I think to myself.
“But then it fucking started to rain didn’t it, and you hightailed it back inside. So I had to resort to plan B … and I almost had you too in that tunnel, but you managed to quite literally trip your way out of that one. What an idiot, I mean who goes through something like that in a village they don’t even know. It’s like you were asking for me to kill you then,” she laughs, turning back to Ryder again. “But then the final straw came when I sent some very questionable men to say ‘hi’ to Willow while she was out walking her stupid mutt. And that’s where it got really interesting. That’s when I knew I was right all along and that one day you’d end up betraying me for her. You …” she says while pointing a bony finger at Ryder, “only had to go all Billy-Big-Bollocks and save the fucking day, didn’t you!” she screams. “Well no more, it ends tonight for the pair of you!”
“Threaten me all you want Liliana, but do not dare to threaten Willow and expect to get away with it. I’ll give you only one chance to take back your empty threats, or I promise you that I will not be responsible for the hell of which I will unleash on you and your family. If war is what you want, then war is what you’ll get,” his voice remains even and is absent of any emotion.
I can’t even sense anger which is even scarier. It’s as though he has gone past the point of anger to … I don’t know where? Even with my gift, I can’t register what he’s feeling. I can only see darkness. He’s feeling something I’ve never felt before …
Liliana’s face contorts and her now black eyes bulge from their sockets with rage. She opens her mouth exposing her saliva covered fangs. She’s foaming at the mouth like the rabid dog that she is, and as she begins to shout, it flies out of her mouth and all down the front of her chin and chest soaking her shirt. She makes no attempt to wipe it away. I watch in disgusted awe that anyone thought that someone as breathtaking as Ryder, could ever be happy with someone as grotesque as Liliana.
“You’ll give me a chance! … Me a chance!” she shrieks. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Look around you Ryder, you’re in nooooooooooo position to be offering me chances! It’s five to fucking two, and one of yours is a human! She’s about as useful as dog shit!” she spits.
With that Liliana loses all self-control and lunges for me. Ryder immediately pushes me out of the way before she manages to grab me. I fall backwards hitting the ground hard. But I don’t feel the pain from the fall. I only feel my heart being crushed as I watch Liliana and her brothers take advantage of the situation and dive onto Ryder instead, kicking, punching and biting at him.
I waste no time and move to get up, to help him. I don’t care if I’m only a fucking human, I will do everything I can to help Ryder. I’ll give my life if I have to. I scramble to my feet, but before I can move forward, I’m grabbed from behind. Someone strong pins both my arms behind my back and pulls me away from the onslaught in front of me. I realise there is only four of them on Ryder. The fifth has me pinned.
I kick hard backwards while thrashing around trying to break free. I can’t stand the noise coming from them relentlessly beating Ryder. When Ryder was first attacked, I could hear him call out to me. He kept repeating for me to leave, to run away. But now as I watch on helpless, Ryder is silent.
Deep tears well in my eyes. “Let me go,” I scream. “Ryder! …. No, please leave him alone!” I don’t stop trying to break free. But I know it’s in vain because whoever has hold of me, keeps me locked to the spot not moving.
“Let me go!” I shout out crying. I can’t stand to watch what’s happening to him. I need to help. I keep struggling to break free when I feel cold breath on my neck.
“Stay quiet Willow. I won’t let them hurt you, I promise. It’s only Ryder they need.”
I immediately recognise the voice. I would know it from anywhere.
TRAVIS!
It’s fucking Travis who’s got me pinned. It’s Travis who has betrayed us, his family and House. Ryder having the life beaten out of him is all Travis’s fault. All his revenge.
I go weak at the knees from the betrayal and the sight unfolding in front of me. “How could you Travis? How could you?” Is all I manage to say.
“I’m sorry Willow, but Ryder brought this on himself. He’s had it coming for years …” He starts to explain, just as one of the brothers stands over Ryder, raises his leg and brings his foot down hard on to his head. I hear a loud crunch and it’s all I can bear to take. The tears continue to pour down my face as my heart shatters into a thousand pieces. Nothing will ever be able to put the pieces back together again.
I watch on through blurry eyes and can feel myself sinking deeper and deeper into despair. It feels like thick black venom twisting in my stomach, rising making every nerve in my body buzz. I’ve never felt like this before, but I can feel its power overwhelming me.
I crouch bracing myself as the hate-filled venom rises higher and higher, bubbling hotter and hotter until I can’t keep the feeling in any longer and I scream out. The sound is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. It’s like the sound of a banshee, and it radiates out of me with the force of an atomic bomb. The force spreads wide and Liliana, her brothers and Travis are all blown high into the air and clear from myself and Ryder by at least a hundred feet. I watch as they land with heavy thumps on the ground. None of them moves.
Have I killed them? I wonder. I hope so.
I run over to a bloodied and battered motionless Ryder and kneel beside his listless body. His hair is matted with congealed blood and his face is covered in angry-looking cuts and bruises. His lip is split open in a couple of places and I can tell that his nose is broken. He’s a mess - and this is only what I can see on the outside. God only knows what damage has been done on the inside.
I sweep his matted hair off his forehead using the sleeve of my jumper. The white wool is immediately soaked in red blood. Warm tears run freely falling off my face and onto Ryder’s like a gentle shower. We’ve only just met. I can’t lose him before we’ve even got started. I will die right here and now if I’ve lost him.
Thoughts of what he said about his immortality run through my mind. But he’s not healing, and his breathing is becoming shallow as his heart slows down. I don’t understand why this is happening? I thought he was meant to be immortal, what’s happened?
I stroke his matted hair. He feels so cold, colder than normal, “Ryder, can you hear me?” I ask gently between sobs.
He doesn’t respond. His body remains motionless.
“Please Ryder, wake up. Please, darling, wake up. Don’t leave me, Ryder, please …” I beg.
Nothing...
I’ve lost him.
Forever.
I begin to sweat and shake. I’m going into shock. This must be what it feels like when you die from a broken heart.
Tears continue to stream down my face as I lay my head on his chest watching and feeling. But I can’t hear anything. There’s no beating heart, no attempts at breathing, nothing. I close my eyes knowing this is the end and wait for it to happen.
Just as I’m giving up all hope, a thought out of nowhere drifts to the front of my mind. Blood… He needs blood. I remember back to the night I cut my lip and how he reacted.
Maybe… just maybe? I think to myself.
I sit back up quickly and look to my wrist. I try biting it to make it bleed, but my teeth are too blunt. So I scan the ground around us hoping to see a sharp twig or stone – anything that will help puncture my skin. But the floor is only covered in bloodied grass. I look down to Ryder and see that his fangs are still there. I open his mouth as gently as I can and lean my wrist against their points. I don’t want to damage him further, so instead of pressing down, I run my wrist quick
ly across his fangs. His teeth are razor-sharp, and my skin is easily broken with little effort. The warm blood begins to flow immediately. I line my bleeding wrist back over his opened mouth, making sure as much blood drips in and down his throat while helplessly hoping and praying it works.
A couple of minutes pass without any improvement. Ryder remains on the ground as motionless as when I first ran to him. I wait longer, slowly losing hope ….
But just as the last trace of hope ebbs away, Ryder’s chest begins to gently rise and fall.
“Ryder?” I ask cautiously, but he doesn’t answer. I encourage him anyway in the hope he can hear me.
“Drink up, please drink up. Come back to me, I can’t lose you,” I beg.
His breathing gets stronger as he begins to swallow. “That’s it, keep going.”
My heart races as I watch his gentle swallows turning into large gulps. His eyes remain closed while his hands lift up and hold onto my wrist steadying it over his mouth as he drinks deeper and harder.
I watch in amazement as every mark on his perfect face disappears; his broken nose fixed and his split lip healed. I’m too excited at watching him heal, that I ignore the light-headed feeling that’s beginning to take over. Without any thought of my own welfare, I encourage him to keep drinking while I shake my head trying to fight off the strong urge to close my eyes. It doesn’t work, and I’m beginning to fade. I don’t know how much longer I can last. My eyes become overwhelmingly heavy as Ryder’s black eyes open wide. Immediately he stops drinking and sits bolt upright when he sees what he’s done to me.
With fear written all over his face, he grabs hold of me and cradles me in his arms as I lose all strength to hold myself up.
“Willow!” Are the last words I hear as the blackness takes over …
Chapter Fourteen
I wake up in a dimly lit room illuminated by candlelight. It’s warm and peaceful and I feel comfortable where I lay. My last memories of feeling myself fade away cradled in Ryder's arms come flooding back and I wonder if I’ve died and this is part of the afterlife?
Sitting up my head begins to throb as I squint trying to adjust to the lack of light in the room. It doesn’t take long and I recognise the large overflowing bookcase in front of me. I turn to my side and see the couch. Looking past the couch and higher up the wall, I’m relieved to see the pictures I looked at when I first came to this room with Travis all that time ago. It seems like a lifetime away now.
Pushing aside the warm blanket and swinging my legs off the couch, I stand up quickly … too quickly. My head spins and for a moment I feel as though I’m going to pass out again. I take a few deep breaths while the feeling fades.
I need to find Ryder. I scan the room and am disappointed to find I’m alone. Grabbing one of the lit candles from the bookshelf, I make my way out of the room. My instinct shows me the way and I follow it willingly. Just as I hoped, there’s a light shining brightly out of the library. This time I don’t stop to peer through the crack in the door – I walk straight in, hoping … praying.
He has his back to me, a book in hand.
I don’t say anything.
I remain standing in the doorway.
It doesn’t take long.
His concentration in the book is broken and he lifts his head. He knows … he knows I’m here. Closing the book he places it onto the table next to him. My heart begins to thrum in my chest as he slowly turns.
He’s cleaned up from the last time I saw him and is bare from the waist up. There’s not a single mark on his perfect frame. Gazing at him half-naked, I begin to ache to feel his touch. His kiss. To be wrapped in his arms and know that this isn’t all just a dream.
“Willow,” he whispers.
“Ryder,” I whisper back.
I feel the same mysterious force pulling me towards him as that first night we met. But this time I don’t need to be encouraged to go to him. The mysterious force is weak in strength in comparison to my own overwhelming desire to run to him, to wrap my arms around him, to kiss him. No invisible force can push me quicker towards him than what I’m going to do myself.
I hesitate no longer and begin to run towards him. Ryder with his own desperation runs towards me too. We meet in the middle, our bodies and lips crushing frantically against each other.
Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, Ryder grabs my hips pulling me close. Our lips stay locked together as he lifts me up against his body and I wrap my legs tight around his waist. We fit perfectly together like a lock and key. I run my fingers through his hair, kissing him harder and harder. Ryder spreads his arms across my back holding me steady. He continues to move through the library, kissing me desperately hard. He doesn’t stop to see where he’s going. Locked around his body, lips never losing touch, he carries me back to the candlelit room I recently woke up in.
We remain standing in the middle of the room, engulfed by our kiss, but I need more of him. I need to feel all of him. It feels like an insatiable urge that I can’t ignore. I unwrap my legs from around his waist as Ryder gently lowers me to the ground. Moving in unison, we head towards the couch. I pull away from our kiss and immediately regret it as my lips burn for his cold touch. I need all of him now, I can’t wait anymore.
I push him back and he lands on the couch with a thud and grins up at me with hooded black eyes. That look should terrify me. I should recoil in horror at a vampire sat on the couch in front of me. But I don’t. I’m drawn to him like a moth to a flame, and I can’t wait to be burned. I grin back at him as I dive on top straddling his lap.
With both hands, he fists my hair, pulling me in closer still. He wastes no time in capturing my mouth with his, kissing me with furious passion. The force he’s using takes my breath away and it borders between pleasure and pain. It’s a passion like I've never experienced before, and I love it. Reaching down into his lap I begin to tug at the waist of his jeans.
Between heavy breathing and starved kisses, Ryder manages to breathe out, “Are you sure?”
“I’m more than sure,” I reply as my body flushes with heat.
I continue tugging at the waist of his jeans and they undo easily. I lean back and stand up, Ryder still sat on the couch, looks up to me. I wave my finger at him, encouraging him to stand. He does as he’s told and stands in front of me. Grabbing the waist of his jeans gently in my hands, I crouch down in front of him lowering them to the ground.
He steps out of the crumpled mess and kicks them away. Stood in just his boxers, he looks me up and down.
“No fair Willow … you have far too many clothes on still,” he grins.
“Then do something about it,” I tease.
He wastes no time circling me, undressing me as he goes. It’s not long before I’m stood in the middle of the room completely naked. But I don’t care. I’m proud of my body and feel free when I’m with Ryder. It feels good to bear myself completely to him.
“Now who has too many clothes on?” I smirk, hand on hip.
“And?” Ryder shrugs his shoulder at me playfully.
I step forward grabbing the elastic waistband, and slowly inch them down the length of his legs, leaving a trail of kisses in its wake. He groans at my touch and I can’t resist him any longer.
I push him back again onto the couch behind and sit over him as we finally connect. I’ve been dreaming of this moment since the day we met, and it feels so much better than I ever imagined it could.
I capture his mouth with my own, and he kisses me with a passion that burns. I can’t help losing myself to him, as we begin to make love on the couch. As we ride together I feel each one of my nerves begin to tingle. At first, it feels good and is only a slight feeling, but the feeling quickly builds, intensifying in strength. Ryder leaves my mouth to trail kisses down my neck as I ride faster and faster. A moan escapes my lips, and I feel him smile against my skin before he nips at my neck.
The pressure inside continues to build higher and higher. I’ve never felt anything like i
t before, and the higher it goes, the more it begins to change. Slowly but surely the feeling of pleasure turns into pain. But it’s the pressure in my head and down my back which is building the fastest and makes me feel as though I’m being ripped in two. Is this what happens when a human and a vampire mix?
I drop my head as the pressure becomes excruciating. I squeeze my eyes as tight as I can while holding my head in my hands hoping and praying for this feeling to pass - but it’s only getting worse.
Ryder stops immediately noticing my change.
“Willow, are you ok?” he asks worriedly.
The intense pain prevents me from talking and I barely manage to shake my head in response.
“What’s wrong?” he asks panicking.
But before I can respond, and just when I think I can’t possibly take anymore, the feeling of being ripped apart from the inside takes over. My head flips back from the internal torture as I let out a blood-curdling scream.
The pain is so overwhelming, I barely feel Ryder’s fingers dig deep into my hips at the shock of watching what’s unfolding in front of him. My back burns as two black wings shoot out, stretching wide either side of me.
As soon as they’re free, the pain stops dead, like someone has turned off a switch. I breathlessly flop forward and rest my soaked brow on Ryder’s shoulders, exhausted from what my body has just endured.
Still holding onto my hips Ryder gently squeezes them. With panic laced through his voice, he rushes out, “What the fuck’s was that? Are you ok? … Willow?”
I don’t answer.
He squeezes my hips a little harder this time.
“Look at me Willow, please,” Ryder begs.
I lift my head slowly and I see Ryder’s eyes widen as he looks at me.
“What? What is it?” I ask. But as soon as I speak, I notice my mouth feels different. I run my tongue across my top teeth.
Fangs! I have bloody fangs. But how?
Not fully believing what I’m feeling, I stick a finger in my mouth only to cut it on one of my new sharp teeth.