I make my way through the dead hallways, towards my and Anna's bedroom. All is silent as everyone sleeps, the only noise that can be heard is the quick slaps of the soles of my shoes against the concrete ground.
For a moment I wonder what it would be like if Christian had won Anna instead of I, and it quickly strikes me that it would be as lonesome as the next few weeks are sure to be. I push thoughts of being without Anna away from my mind as I enter into our shared room.
I find Anna asleep in our bed, her wild dark hair framing her face and shoulders as she sleeps. She is beautiful and for a moment I simply lean against the wall and watch her sleep. She sleeps heavily and she whispers things in her sleep, my name among it, which makes me smile.
She is everything I have ever wanted, and now she is here with me, in my bed, and in my heart and mind. She belongs to me and I to her.
After a long time of simply watching her sleep she stirs, it is only a little twitch at first and then she moves in such a manner that the blankets fall down to her legs. That's when I see that she is wearing a silky white nightgown which only reaches her mid-thigh. It stirs something within me and I begin to move towards her. I move the hair covering her neck away, and kiss her neck lovingly, as I run a hand up and down her thigh.
As I feel a pulse flutter in between my teeth, my fangs snap into place and break the flesh underneath my lips. Blood trickles into my mouth from the small open wounds, and as the blood touch my tongue, I groan in ecstasy and suck harder, forcing my fangs into her flesh and I take a large gulp of the sweet nectar that is flowing from her. Anna moans softly as I continue to drink from her, and soon the ecstasy of my venom that is sinking into her has her rubbing her behind against me.
"Oh Victor," She moans and I quickly pulled out of her to allow her to flip over. Her brilliant green eyes stare up at me, and for a moment I lose myself within them, and then I realize what I have done, and I am across the room in the blink of an eye. "Victor? What's wrong?" Anna asks as she sits up. I refuse to meet her eyes, refuse to look into her eyes, which would be hurt and confused and if I see that I will lose my control once more.
"I'm sorry Anna, I did not mean to... I lost control... It won't happen again; never again," I say before getting out of the room, running from her, running from what I have done as if I'm a bat flying out of hell. She deserves better, she may belong to me but I had no right to drink from her as if she were a blood bag.
I spit the blood from my mouth. I do not want to have the taste of her on my tongue as a reminder of what I have done. My footsteps slap against the concrete as I head towards a spare chamber that I know are not in use, to make good of the last few hours of the night. I need to sleep and I need to immerse myself in my dreams. If only to forget about what I have done. Oh god, what have I done?
Anna's P.O.V
I can feel his eyes upon me, devouring me. I can feel his presence; can sense the smirk upon his lips as I scan my surroundings. He enjoys playing this game of cat and mouse, enjoys watching me shiver in fear of what his twisted mind can come up with. He's the true devil, the demon who haunts me day and night. He's what I need to get away from and yet he's everything I want, but this want is not my own, it's not my heart or mind or even soul telling me that I want him.
I can feel him calling me, his voice whispering in the empty air, calling me to him and without thought, without my own will, I go to him. I let him embrace me, his warm arms wrapping around me as his cold eyes search my face for something. Soon he's whispering sweet endearments into my ear, but with each word he says it makes me feel colder, empty as if something is missing within me.
This want within me, this wanting feeling that is not my own, makes me lean into his touch, makes me welcome his arms around me, makes me welcome his body pressing into mine, makes me welcome his warm breath at the nape of my neck and soon my ear as he whispers "You are mine Anna, no-one is going to take you away from me." I look up into the face of the man whom holds me, expecting to see Christian. However as his face comes into relief my breath catches, instead of seeing Christian I see Victor. His features cold as ice but sharp as a dagger. His hair is rugged and mused; he has stumble covering from his chin. Instead of the burning fire I'm used to seeing in his eyes, I see cold, calculating blue. Blue eyes demanding and seeking control, and it is so unlike Victor that it makes my blood run cold.
"Victor?" I ask hoping it is not him. His eyes meet mine and the cold fire remains, he smirks slightly, a slight twist of the lips as he says "Guess again Love" those are the words to give him away. In his eyes I recognized the cold blue, and as I take a step back, away from him, his lips tighten further into a wicked grin.
"Christian," I whisper his name, the name of the man I fear and loath most of all. He pulls me back into him and roughly bites down on my neck, I can feel him sucking on me and slowly my energy is draining and before long my eyes drop shut, the darkness consuming me.
I awake to find Victor on top of me, drinking from me as he had in my dream. I try to say his name but it comes out in a moan, I try to shove him off of me but I am weak from the blood loss. It is when I bite him - as he kisses me - that he finally realizes what is happening.
He is across the room in a heartbeat, his body turned away from me and his head hung low as he breathes heavily.
“Victor?" I ask, concern deep in my voice. He doesn't respond, but he turns his head instinctively at the sound of his name. His eyes meet mine and there is a deep look of repulsion, as if what has just transpired made him sick to the core. It burns as if a lick of flame has shot up my veins and it makes me freeze, makes me unable to move towards him, to comfort him.
He leaves soon after, racing away from me, from what had happened and I wish I could run too, run from this emotional pain that his look had stirred within me. I close my eyes and try to let sleep overcome me once more, if only to escape for a moment.
When I wake later on, it is to an empty bed. Victor has not returned and though I had not been expecting him to it still stings me. At breakfast he refuses to meet my eyes, and I do not know if it is my fault, or for that matter why he is avoiding my eyes. I hate the silence and I call his name again, as I had last night and it causes him to - once again - look to the source of where his name had come from. When his eyes meet mine, I try to show as much sympathy and understanding as I can.
"Are you okay?" I ask, as our eyes continue to hold each other. His eyes drift away as he shrugs his shoulders slightly.
"Never better," He says nonchalantly refusing to meet my eyes again. His behaviour stirs anger and annoyance within me and I slam my fist upon the table as I say "Then stop acting like a wounded animal Mr Menédez, and start acting like the man I know you to be. What happened last night, I know it was not of your own free will and because it is such I refuse to hold it against you. If I am able to not hold it against you, then you should be able to do so as well. I plan to go into town with Meg and William today, if you wish to find me, either to talk or to just simply be, then that is where I will be."
I can sense that he wants to say something; he has even met my eyes whilst I had been speaking, but his mouth remains firmly shut and before my anger can grow over his stubbornness I leave the room.
I find Meg and Will waiting by the front door, both standing at either side of the vast foyer. Will quickly strides to my side as he sees me, a large grin on his face. He bends low and kisses my hand, before standing up and drawing me into his warm arms.
"It's good to see you again Anna," He whispers as he continues to hold onto me.
"You'd be able to see me better if you loosened your hold," I say teasingly, I can feel the rumble of his laughter in his chest and it makes me relax even more, makes me quickly forget the fight I had just had with Victor.
As soon as Will releases me, I'm swooped into Meg's arms. We say our hello's and I introduce Meg to Will and Will to Meg, before we are making our way down to the awaiting carriage, which has been arranged to take us down into
town.
William shows both Meg and I the town, and soon Meg has to make her way back to the castle as she has work to do. This leaves Will and I alone, which is fine with me. He suggests that we go to the shore at 'No Man's Lands' and I agree simply because it sounds like fun.
We have just come out of the water, both of us dripping wet in our day clothes and we are now relaxing on the green rolling hills simply starring up at the blue cloudy sky.
"I always wondered what happened to you Will, I thought you had been murdered, my mother couldn't care less and my father would hit me when he saw even a small tear fall. But I never stopped wondering what happened to you, and now I know, you've been here all along, far away from the horrors of home," I say softly, reminiscing on the past years of my youth, a youth without one of my best friends, my protector, and my saviour who did everything within his power to protect me from my father.
"I always thought of you too Anna," He says as he turns to me, his sky blue eyes starring at me. "I always worried, prayed that you would stay safe, stay innocent but I knew as we got older that those prayers were for nothing, I knew what your father was capable of and although I wanted to save you as I had when we were young, there was nothing I could do. I'm sorry for what you had to endure Anna," His eyes kept mine as he talked and for a long while our eyes stayed locked and then slowly but surely a lazy, lopsided smile spread across his lips. He moved in towards me, hovering over me, his lips only inches away from mine. His eyes drift down to my lips for a moment, and then drifted back up to my eyes, and then down once more as he moves in to kiss me.
As our lips meet, I expect fireworks for this was the boy I had loved when I was young, instead I feel an iciness spread inside of me, a pain so deep and cold that it makes me move away from him in hopes that the pain will stop. I throw up my breakfast and lunch when I'm a good few meters away from him.
"Anna, are you alright?" William asks, his hand hovering over my back but afraid to touch me.
"She will be but you won't," I hear Victor say and I turn around to find him standing behind us, a cold, dead look in his eyes. He looks furious, murderous and I am instantly afraid of Victor.
"Please Victor don't hurt him, William is a very old friend of mine." I say as I move towards Victor, hoping that I will be able to calm him.
"That isn't William, Anna. I wasn't going to come, my pride and stubbornness were preventing me from doing so, but when I saw William at the castle, I knew something was wrong. When I asked him where you were and he told me that he didn't know, it simply confirmed what I knew. I followed our bond to find you," Victor says, his voice asking for forgiveness and understanding. I smile at him in assurance, thinking that he should have known that it was his for the taking.
"You are correct Victor, I am not William," William says from behind me, as he snakes his arms around my waist.
"Then who are you?" I ask. I surprise myself with how calm my voice is when I feel nothing but fear and turmoil.
William kisses my neck and whispers "Can't you guess love?"
Victor growls fiercely one name, the only name that I despise. The name of the man who haunts my dreams, the man whom I will never succumb to no matter how much, or for how long he wishes. The name steals from my lips in a horse whisper, "Christian."
William's P.O.V
Darkness surrounds me, the gut wrenching smell of blood, sweat and decay hanging heavily on the air. I wish to scan my surroundings, learn of where I am and what I am to face, but all I see is darkness. There is a sound of metal rattling against metal, and with my high senses I can tell that it is chains, clanking against more chains. There is a soft whisper of prays from across the room. I try to speak but my voice is horse and sore from the lack of use. There are footsteps quickly approaching, I can hear it from a mile off but the footsteps, their quick slaps against the ground, match the thundering of my heart.
"Alright you mangin' dogs, Sun's a-settin'. Time to rise and howl." There is cold laughter following the man's voice.
There is a bright light as the stone door opens and I blink, trying to get rid of the temporary blindness the sudden light has caused me. We are roughly pulled along, one thin man after another, there are a few men like myself whom seemed more well fed, and the only rational idea is that those who appeared healthier are newer to whatever was going on here. I quickly find myself in a stone courtyard facing vast woods a hundred or so meters away from the courtyard.
"For those of you who have been here for some time you should already know what is going to happen tonight. For those of you, who are new here, welcome to hell. I'm Sergeant Monroe and you are all my new underdogs. This place is a camp to train werewolves to fight for the Skin-walker army. You are in a life or death situation, to survive you will have to fight, you will have to kill and you cannot trust anyone. Follow these rules as if your life depends on it - and it does - and you will survive, if you don't then your life - and those you entrust in your time here - may be in jeopardy. In a few minuets time the sun will fully set, and the moon will have risen, you will turn as soon as it is does, if not your brethren will hunt you down as if your any other, human meat-bag!" the Sergeant barks in a military style. I watch those around me and the sun, constantly the sun.
"And if I hear any whining tomorrow, then we'll have a little chat one-on-one." and that was the last the Sergeant said before the sun set.
We all shifted as one, some were unwilling to shift, to go through the pain of it and they were hunted down first, their fleshed ripped between our sharp, canine teeth, their blood gushing down our wolfish throats and their blood staining our teeth red. Howls emitted from the pack and growls stirred as we fought over food, over our own dominance. We were one as a pack and yet we were divided.
The Sergeant was unrecognizable from the rest of the pack, but I feel eyes watching me, evaluating me and I have a feeling that I'm going to rise through the ranks easily. It will be better to be higher up the food chain, and so I get into fights, displayed my dominance and rule over the others. I am choosing my destiny from the choices before me. It's a battle of survival and I want to live, I want to conquer and above all else I want to keep Anna safe, and if that meant pretending to be loyal to the Skin-walkers than so be it.
Chapter 11 – Time is Running Out
Anna's P.O.V
"Yes love. It's me," Christian says, his voice bordering onto a purr. I want to move away from him, but his arms are firm around my waist, and I cannot move. I look up into Victor's eyes and that murderous look is lingering, growing stronger, and I fear what he may do.
"I'm surprised that you didn't figure it out earlier. You have known the werewolf - 'William' as you call him – for several years. It's surprising how deceiving the eyes can be for a mortal; you believe what you see and you do not ask questions. It's so human." There is a sick edge to his voice, something so twisted, so wrong that it makes me feel physically sick. I want to get away from him and yet I cannot, as he continues to hold onto me.
"Still your naivety served its purpose; you're here in my arms. And your suitor gets to watch every foul act I am to execute on you." His hot breath tickles me as he kisses his way slowly down my neck, and then across my bare left shoulder blade. I know what his purpose is, he wants to make me moan, to make me enjoy what he is doing in front of Victor, but I cannot afford to lose control now, I cannot afford to destroy the bridges that Victor and I have built. I couldn't make him doubt my love for him.
I can see Victor starting to lose control. I know he is going to do something irrational, if Christian doesn't stop his ministrations. I'm starting to get that cold, poisonous feeling building up within me again. Christian continues to kiss my skin, his lips travelling all over my upper body, and as he turns me around to kiss my lips once more, I see something in his eyes that I've never seen before; Love. He is in love with me, and it makes me sick to the core. His lips meet mine and my eyes flutter close, for a moment I forget who is kissing me. All I can feel is warmth; war
mth and love. He is hungry for me, desperate to show me all of his love. For a moment I forget, and simply live; live in the moment, drown in the kiss, feel the warmth of his hands on my cheeks, feel the warmth of his lips on mine, the tongue that darts out to lick across my lips. He is so warm and yet somehow as his soul meets with mine, I can feel the coldness, and the darkness of the man that is kissing me.
There is a tugging feeling at my waist, right in the centre of my stomach. It pulls and tugs, twists and turns until the feeling is consuming my entire being; my soul, heart and mind included. I open my eyes and look up into Christian's eyes. As our eyes meet there is no longer love and hope within them, but a deep pain. He opens his lips as if to scream but no sound reaches me. I watch him fall to his knees, his hands reaching up to hold the sides of his head, covering his ears. His face starts to look drained, as if the life is being sucked out of him. I can feel nothing but darkness, I can feel nothing but hate and anger, fury and rage, these burning desires of darkness consumes me, drives me on the task that is set before me, I know not what I am doing nor how I am doing it, but I know it is hurting Christian, and if I had a shred of pity for him it does not raise it's voice, or dares stop me in my task. Christian's silent scream continues on and on, as if the moment were frozen in time. I can feel my strength leaving me and the power that was pushing me on, quickly abandons me. I fall to my knees, my eyes fluttering close, but not before I could see Christian flop to the ground, a wasted, empty shell; destroyed by my own doing.
I open my eyes to the cold, grey light of dawn, to find Victor sitting on the edge of the single bed I am resting in, his back turned to me with his head buried in his hands. The sobs are harsh and rough, and his body shakes violently as each sob and cry comes up. I want to move, I want to go to him and comfort him, but I have no energy to move, despite the fact that I feel well rested. It feels as if all that had happened was a horrid dream and yet I know the truth, that it is a terrifying reality. Whatever happened, whatever I did, it was not simply a horrid dream but reality, and I needed to know how that - whatever that was – happened.
The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) Page 10