“I’m not doing anything.”
“She didn’t want to sit. She didn’t want to rest. Dammit!” Angelle looked outright horror-struck and started rubbing Amelia’s back.
The pain started to slowly fade and Amelia stayed curled in a fetal position on the floor, panting and gulping in mouthfuls of air. After what felt like hours, she managed to sit up on her own and gently pushed Angelle away. She didn’t want to be touched, not now, not by anyone. “What have you done to me?” Amelia gasped, hugging her knees into her chest.
Mitchell cast his eyes down and rubbed his face roughly. “I’m so sorry, love.”
“Tell me what you’ve done,” Amelia said through clenched teeth, keeping herself in a tight little ball, gently rocking back and forth.
“It’s all part of the bite,” Mitchell said so softly she barely heard it. “Like Eric said, it strengthens the link between us because we are already connected. It also gives me an edge of control. It’s a way for me to keep you safe.” Amelia looked up at him with wide eyes. He thought he was keeping her safe? “The pain you’re feeling is my fault. With the stronger link, anytime you try to do something that I don’t agree with you will feel it.”
“You knew this would happen and you still did this to me.” Amelia didn’t say it as a question. He met her straight on, squarely in the eyes, but didn’t say anything and she laughed. It was a harsh, broken sound, like plates crashing to the floor, shattering into little shards. “You know I think I could’ve handled the vampire thing, and I can deal with you being able to read my thoughts and never having secrets from you because frankly, I’ve never hidden anything from you anyways. What I can’t accept is that you knew that biting me could hurt me and yet you did it anyways.” She paused and looked at him fiercely. “You know what, never mind.” She threw her hands up in the air. “I’m done. I’m leaving.” She turned on her heels, straightened her shoulders, jutted her chin up and with purpose walked away. Amelia had just reached the doorway when she felt the stabbing pain return in the pit of her stomach.
“Amelia, wait,” Mitchell called. It was not a request, his voice simmered with authority and there was no mistaking it: he was demanding that she stop. She turned back to him with a defiant stare. He was standing now, looking like he didn’t know whether to go to her or not. He looked uncomfortable and to her disbelief, that gave her a touch of satisfaction. It was petty and shallow but she was glad he was feeling something.
“Don’t,” she said, keeping her voice in control. “You can feel it, right? You can feel what you’re doing to me right now.”
“Yes, sort of.” Mitchell’s whisper sounded hollow and raw, and somehow full of guilt and pain. He shifted his gaze to the floor, shifting slightly, back and forth, from right to left. “I don’t actually feel the pain. Vampires don’t feel pain the same as humans, it’s just sort of uncomfortable. But I can feel how much you’re hurting through the bond. I know you’re in pain, I just don’t feel it the same way.”
Amelia felt cold. Cold and numb and disgusted. An uneasiness twisted her stomach into a knot, inching tighter and tighter every second. Not knowing what was coming, or if she would be able to make it out of the room, she swallowed hard, straightened her shoulders again and took a deep breath. “And yet you still keep doing it.” She smiled a humorless and distant smile. “I always thought you were just a figment of my imagination. I can’t even begin to count how many times I wished you were real. I take all those wishes back. You’re not a dream. You’re real and nothing but a nightmare. I can’t believe I ever thought I loved you.” Without giving herself a chance to chicken out, she left as quickly as her legs would move.
Eric’s whispered voice reached her just before she left the room. “Kaboom.”
CHAPTER 16
Amelia made it to her room. She didn't know how, she really hadn't thought she would get there. Every step she had taken was like fighting against a raging current: drowning, and then coming back up for air, only to be pulled under again. The chain at her heart constantly pulled her back staggeringly hard, and a few times she just wanted to give up, run back to Mitchell, throw her arms around him, and tell him, tell him she was sorry and she loved him. But she couldn't. Amelia knew that wasn't an option. She didn't want to love him, she wouldn’t, she was sure of it.
She closed her bedroom door and sunk to the floor in a soggy mess. Tears poured down her cheeks. "This can't be happening," she whispered to the empty room. Mitchell couldn't be here. Vampires don’t exist. Her head was spinning, thoughts rushing in too quickly to understand and she felt cold, chilled to the bone. So cold that she thought she just might never be warm again.
How could he do this to her? There was just so much she didn't know and didn't understand. He had bitten her. Did that mean she would become a vampire? She didn’t think so. Amelia thought about every story she had ever read or movie she had ever seen. What was real? She knew they couldn't all be real. She remembered her first night; they had eaten garlic bread and they all went out in the sun. So was anything real? What could hurt them? What could she use against them? And did she want to hurt them?
Amelia leaned her head against the door and drew in a few shaky breaths. Soulmates. She didn't want to believe it. Soulmates weren't real. There was no such thing as the perfect person. One person for everyone and only one. It was a fairy tale. A romantic notion created only to help people get through the cold, hard reality of life. But she could feel it. They were connected and no matter how much she told herself that she didn't love him, it was inevitable. She did and she would even if it killed her.
Amelia wasn't going to let that happen. She had fought too hard for too long. As if she had hit a brick wall at one hundred miles an hour, she knew what she had to do. She had to get out of there, away from Mitchell, away from all of them. She had known from the beginning they were all just too good to be true. They had been nice to her and she had been so desperate for friends that she had let her guard down, let them in, and they all had betrayed her. How could they keep this from her?
Amelia pulled herself off the floor, went to her closet and grabbed her bag, stuffing clothes in frantically, not caring what, just whatever would fit.
Once it was jam-packed, she rushed to the bathroom to grab some toiletries. She grabbed a scrunchy, pulling her hair up into a messy bun and winced at the pain in her head. Then she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and gasped. Her mark. It had changed. How had she missed that when she first woke up? Amelia ran a shaky finger along her mark and she suddenly knew what Angelle had been looking for, what the cop had been looking for. “Who do you belong to?” he had asked her that first morning and he had stared so hard at her neck she had felt sick. But it all made sense now. Mitchell Lang, in script, had appeared, branded right below the soul mark.
The pieces were coming together; suddenly, the picture was crystal clear. This was what that horrid little kid, Kandi, had been talking about. “He hasn’t claimed her,” she had said last night. A wave of nausea overcame her. What did this mean? How did it happen? Flashes of last night came back to her. The burning. She had thought her neck was on fire and it dawned on her that must have been when his name had appeared.
Amelia scanned her neck thoroughly in search of any sign of a bite mark. Maybe this was just a vast, horrible nightmare, she thought in desperate hope. She located the small pinprick mark where Mitchell had bitten her on the other side of her neck, almost completely healed.
The sound of her phone chirping the arrival of an incoming message brought her back from the painful memories. In haste, Amelia forced her eyes away from the mirror and searched for her phone. Forty-one missed messages, a mixture of voicemails and texts. Eleven of the texts were from Erin and she read through them quickly. They were all the same, just wanting to make sure she was okay. Some were from random people she didn’t even know, or maybe she did know but she couldn’t place them, and the last one caught her eye. It was from Tyler.
Worr
ied about u. Can’t get u out of my mind. Plz call me back. Need 2 know u r ok. Ty.
Amelia read it over and over, debating on what to do. Should she call him? Would Mitchell know if she did? Could he always read her mind? She needed to get away from the house; would Tyler pick her up? Before she knew it, her fingers were flying across the keypad, replying to his message.
Need to get out of here. Pick me up? I’ll explain later.
Amelia waited for what seemed like an interminable period before her phone chirped again.
Be there in 5.
Amelia dropped the phone on her bed and rushed around in a flurry of motion, grabbing the last of the things she would need. She didn’t give herself time to think of what she was doing, because she knew, just knew, if she stopped to think, she would realize how stupid this was, bringing Tyler here, to a house full of vampires. She wasn’t even sure she would be able to leave but she knew she had to try.
Amelia knew the exact moment Tyler arrived and she also knew who answered the door.
Mitchell.
A surge of ugly, green jealously ran through her, so hard and so vivid, it was almost as if it was her own feelings. The jealously quickly turned to white-hot rage and Amelia snagged her bag and ran out of her room.
It wasn’t hard to figure out they were in the foyer; all she had to do was follow the pull. She wondered if it would always be like this. Would she always be able to find him?
Amelia bolted into the foyer as if she had been shot from a cannon. When she let her eyes focus on the room, she froze just as fast. Tyler was up against the wall, Mitchell standing over him. Tyler was a big guy, and strong, but this close to Mitchell he looked small and he almost looked scared.
She rushed over, dropping her bag. She needed to get in between them. Mitchell wasn’t touching Tyler but his aura was black as pitch and the muscles in his neck were bulging with tension.
Amelia had only made it a few steps before someone grabbed her around the waist and she shrieked. Forcefully, a hand was placed over her mouth to silence her and then she heard Luke’s voice whispering frantically in her ear. “Amelia, stop. You can’t get in between them. You shouldn’t have called him.”
Amelia struggled against him, kicking, biting, but nothing worked. Luke didn’t move, didn’t even stagger while she thrashed about. Sweat dripped down her neck, soaking into the collar of her sweater and tears streamed down her cheeks but she still fought. It was a mistake. She shouldn’t have called Tyler. She needed to stop Mitchell before something happened. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t said anything but his pale white skin was now flushed pink and he was furiously glaring at his adversary.
“Let her go, Luke,” Mitchell said, so low that Amelia barely heard him. Instantly she was free. She tried to move but her knees gave way and she tripped. Luke caught her and steadied her and held onto her shoulders until he was sure she wouldn’t fall again. “Amelia, this boy said you asked him to pick you up,” Mitchell said, still not taking his eyes from Tyler, who was looking paler by the minute.
Amelia couldn’t speak. Her mouth was dry, her throat prickled. A secure arm wrapped around her and she shifted her gaze to see Angelle, big brown eyes looking sad but somehow comforting. “It’s okay, sweetie. You don’t need to be scared.”
Amelia cleared her throat, and with Angelle’s support, she walked over to Mitchell and squeezed in between him and Tyler. Angelle stood close by, not interfering, but her closeness was comforting, nonetheless.
Tyler had been holding his breath, she realized, when a gust of wind hit the back of her neck and he sucked in air. Amelia tried to ignore him and focus on Mitchell. “Yes, I did,” she said, looking him squarely in the eyes and was glad how strong her voice sounded. “I want to leave. I don’t want this.”
Mitchell reacted as if he had been punched in the gut. The hurt on his face was almost too painful to look at and Amelia couldn’t stop the tears from pouring, like shiny little streams down her face.
“Millie, what’s going on?” Tyler asked from behind her and she ignored him, not wanting to make the situation worse. She could feel Mitchell’s thoughts and knew the littlest thing could push him over the edge. He was struggling, fighting the overwhelming urge to lash out and hurt Tyler, maybe even kill him. The terrifying, nightmarish image of snapping his neck and ripping out his throat kept flashing into his mind. She felt Tyler’s hand on her shoulder and she stiffened. “Millie, seriously, let’s get out of here.”
“Keep your hand off her,” Mitchell growled. He took a step forward, in a blur and before Amelia could stop him, she was behind him. “She’s not leaving and you are not welcome here. There’s the door.” He pointed to the open door. “You better go before I do something she’ll regret.”
“Millie?” Tyler asked hesitantly, she could hear the tone of determination and she knew she would have to say something to get him to leave. The flashes of what Mitchell wanted to do to him were coming faster and faster and she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if she tried to leave. It wasn’t just her anymore. Now Tyler was in danger and it was her fault and she had to do something.
Amelia put a light hand on Mitchell’s arm and wiggled her way around him. He didn’t try to stop her, but she knew he would if she got too close to Tyler. His aura was flecked with red and green, coloring the black fog and the spots were jumping around, agitated. She let her hand drop from his arm and with a glance over her shoulder, she took another shaky step towards Tyler, trying not to move too quickly. “That’s far enough,” Mitchell snarled.
Amelia closed her eyes tightly trying to stop the tears and then focused on Tyler. “I’m sorry, Ty. I shouldn’t have asked you to come. You need to go.”
“Not without you.” Tyler gave her a look, with beseeching eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on here but you don’t need to stay. Please come with me. Just get in the car.”
You are not leaving, Amelia. If you try, I will hunt him down and kill him. Do you want his blood on your hands? Mitchell projected the thoughts loud and clear and complete with images that Amelia wished she hadn’t had to have seen. She shuddered visibly and took a gasping breath.
“I can’t go with you,” Amelia choked out. “Please just leave.” Tyler didn’t move. He looked as if he wasn’t going to leave and she needed to get him out. She looked back at Mitchell. “I’m just going to walk him to the car.”
After a long minute, Mitchell gave her a quick nod, signaling it was okay. “Luke, go with her.” He turned away and left the room. He must have given some kind of signal that Amelia had missed because Angelle and Eric turned and followed him. From the looks she got from them, they clearly did not want to leave her.
As soon as Mitchell was gone, the color started coming back to Tyler’s cheeks. Amelia grabbed him by the hand, pretending not to notice the flash of red in Luke’s eyes and dragged him out of the house towards the car. How had she missed those eyes before? She didn’t know, but she wished— truly wished—she could have stayed in that ignorant bliss. She could feel Luke following them, closely watching.
“Millie, you need to come with me,” Tyler whispered, obviously aware that they were being followed. “You can’t stay here. I don’t care who he is to this stupid town, he can’t force you to stay here.”
Amelia didn’t answer him until they got to the car. She opened the driver’s side door and then looked at him. “I can’t. I can’t explain but you need to go Ty. I’ll call you soon and I’m so sorry I put you in the middle of this.” Tyler wasn’t moving. He looked sad and scared and she wasn’t sure what to do.
Hurry up, Amelia, Mitchell’s voice blasted into her head.
“Ty, please, just go. He’s not going to let me leave. I don’t want them to hurt you.” She put a hand on his back and pushed him towards the car. “Please,” she begged. “I was wrong to call you. I’ll be fine but you have to go.”
Amelia saw the resistance flee from Tyler’s face and his shoulders sagged. Confused, she glanced ov
er to see Luke standing in front of him, eyes foggy like milky glasses focused on Tyler’s now expressionless face. “Thank you for stopping by to check on Amelia,” Luke said, in a soothing and strong voice. “She took quite a spill last night but she is just fine now.”
Tyler gave his head a little shake and smiled at Amelia. “You had me worried.” He got into his car and turned the key. “Glad you’re okay. See you on Monday.” He shut the car door and reversed out of the driveway, grinning at her the whole time.
“How?” she breathed, once Tyler was safely out of the driveway.
“I used persuasion,” Luke answered, as if that was really an answer. He motioned for her to go in but Amelia stood her ground waiting for an explanation. “Come on, kiddo.” He smiled at her, that fatherly smile that used to make her feel warm and loved inside, but now made her quiver. “Let’s not keep Mitch waiting and make this any worse than it already is.”
“How can you stand there so calm?” Amelia shouted at him. “You’re supposed to be my friend.”
Without warning, Luke scooped her up, tossing her over his shoulder and started for the door. “This is your destiny, Amelia,” he said. “You best get used to it because he’s not going away.”
Before she knew it, they were in the living room and Luke was setting her down on the couch beside Mitchell. Angelle and Eric were standing by looking as if they were caught in the middle of wanting to leave but needing to stay and Luke took up the armchair looking completely relaxed.
Amelia waited for someone to talk and the tension grew. It was as if everyone was waiting for something to happen, anything to happen, and finally when she thought she would burst from the stress, she broke the silence. “I would like to go to my room,” she murmured, and waited. She could feel the turmoil bouncing around in him: anger, hurt, love, a dangerous mixture she didn’t want to ignite.
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