Beautiful Nightmare

by Stotz, Chrystie Q.

  Halo, being all domestic?

  Who knew that was possible?

  I sat down just as Halo walked over with two steaming, full plates. A searing pain shot threw me for the second time tonight, picturing the wrong person in front of me. I clenched my eyes shut and took a deep breath, taking in the wonderful aroma of the plate now in front of me. Pulling myself back into the now, I opened my eyes. At the same time, I felt a hand press lightly on my back. Halo leaned down, supporting his other hand on the table, bringing his face level with mine, concern sparkling in his eyes.

  “You all right?”

  I forced a small smile. “Fine. I’m fine.”

  He leaned a little closer, bringing his eyes dead even with mine, looking deep. Examining. Making me feel completely exposed. I tried to lean back, to put more space between us. Suddenly, the hardness I always noticed but couldn’t identify in his eyes, softened, but he didn’t move away.

  Something in me shifted.

  Between the chair and Halo’s position, I was completely immobile. My breath hitched and panic shot threw me as I felt his hand move slowly from the middle of my back up to rest gently on the back of my neck, pulling me slightly forward. His eyes, locked on mine, glanced down to my mouth quickly and back again. If he wasn’t so close, I wouldn’t have even noticed.

  “Halo,” a whisper of a warning.

  He didn’t stop.

  Didn’t even falter, until…

  The door bell rang.

  He made a fierce noise low in his throat, something similar to a growl, but didn’t move away until it rang a second time. A murderous look flooded his features as he stood and stalked toward the door.

  I took a few deep breaths and pushed aside all the emotions I felt pushing to get free. Then, with Halo out of the my way for the moment, took care of my next basic need and focused all my attention on the delicious smelling plate of food in front of me. I was stuffing my face in a very unladylike way, when I heard screaming from behind me and loud footsteps coming toward the kitchen. Before I even had the chance to see what was coming, someone grabbed a handful of my hair and painfully yanked.

  I yelped in surprise and twisted awkwardly, managing to somehow, temporarily, free myself. I barely had a second to right myself before I was thrown to the floor. Through the frenzied slaps and masses of tangled hair, I finally got a glimpse of who I was rolling around with. And who else would it be? You would only need one guess.

  Screaming in what could only be described as a shrieking rage, she pulled back and swung, open-handed, hard. A jolt of pain stabbed across my cheek and I tasted blood. I saw her arm swing back again as I felt the bite of anger building in the pit of my stomach. Just before her arm came swinging down, Halo hauled her up by her waist while she kicked and screamed in protest.

  I jumped to my feet, while Samantha struggled in Halo’s grasp. “Put me down, I’ll gonna kill her!”

  Too busy focusing on her capture and screaming, she was unaware that I had gotten up. I took two huge steps toward her, waited until her eyes locked on mine, then pulled back and punched her, putting every ounce of my strength behind it.

  Completely caught off guard, Halo dropped Samantha on the floor letting her land hard on her hip. He watched her fall then brought his gaze back up to mine, his eyes wide and unblinking, his lips curved in a menacing smile. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Obviously not, though it did make me feel a tiny bit better.” I smiled and gently rubbed my throbbing knuckles, pulling the rein back on my anger. “What the hell is she doing here?”

  “I should ask you the same question?” Samantha grumbled from the floor. Grabbing her cheek, she stood up. At least the hit helped to deflate her a little.

  I tensed, ready to defend myself against her unpredictability. “It’s none of your damn business why I’m here.”

  As I had predicted, she lunged, but Halo caught her effortlessly. “Not exactly wise, Samantha.” He held her hard and tried not to laugh directly in her face, which he was kind of unsuccessful at.

  Ignoring him completely, she continued to yell at me. “I told you to stay away from him. I told you what I would do to you if you didn’t listen. You think you can do whatev…”

  “It isn’t your call, Samantha,” Halo jumped in, interrupting her mindless babble and blocking me from her view. “You know I am going to damn well do what I want.”

  It only made her struggle harder, which made me stand back and watch with an amused smile on my face.

  “Why is she here? Is she why you never call me back, why you don’t ever come by? What is wrong with you? Her?… You chose her over me?” She continued to rant as Halo exerted himself, pulling her from the room. I followed, if for no other reason than to watch Halo throw her outside. Wishing I could push her threw my self.

  Halo retched open the door and heaved Samantha outside, landing in a clumsy mess against the railing.

  “Get out, Samantha, and don’t come back.”

  “You’re seriously going to do this? You’re going to just throw me away… for her!”

  He took a step toward her, standing just outside the door. “I told you from the very beginning what I wanted from you, a friendship. And no matter how many times you throw yourself at me. Nothing is going to change that. I don’t want you. I never did.”

  As if his words meant nothing, her gaze moved quickly from his to mine. She gave a whole new meaning to ‘if looks could kill’.

  “This isn’t over.”

  “No? Then by all means keep trying, Samantha, because I just love breaking my knuckles on your face. Black and blue really brings out your eyes.” I flashed her a big smile and gave her a wink.

  I saw her body go rigid and her gaze drifted over to Halo. Narrowing her eyes, she turned away and headed toward her car without another word. We didn’t leave the doorway until we saw her car disappear down the driveway.

  “Now that is one person I wouldn’t mind you biting.” I revealed as he closed and locked the front door.

  He laughed as he turned around to face me. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. But there is only one girl I want to bite.” He responded flashing his teeth playfully.

  I rolled my eyes and, ignoring his outstretched hand, I headed back to the kitchen. Back to the yummy food calling my name.

  I sat down quickly at the table and watched as Halo gracefully flowed, in that inhuman way, into his chair across from me. Trying my best to ignore him, I reached for my fork. Bracing myself to take a massive bite, I opened my mouth wide and felt a shooting pain explode over my cheek. A wet trickle began dripping down my chin. I reached up to feel what happened and came away with blood.

  My heart pounding, my gaze traveled up to look at Halo, whose eyes were locked on my cheek, nostrils flaring.

  “Umm… I’m sorry. I’ll just go and…” I fumbled to push out my chair and get to my feet, taking my eyes from Halo to stand up.

  In a blur of motion, Halo was across the table, pushed me back and stood in front me. Back to his usual self, way too close.

  “She scratched you.” His voice no more than a whisper. Picking up my hand, he brought it to his mouth and sucked off the blood.

  I pulled my hand away and gave him as neutral an expression as I could. “I have to go clean this. I don’t want it to get infected.” I started to move around him, but Halo kept me still.

  “Let me do it.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Relax, Trystie. Just think of this as a test.” His voice got quiet, his eyes nothing but sincere. “Just… I want you to trust me. Please, I promise not to do anything more than take care of the wound on your face.”

  “And if you don’t?”

  He smiled. “Then you can do whatever you like to get back at me. But you don’t have to worry, I won’t hurt you.”

  “What exactly will you do?”

  “There is a coagulant that will stop the bleeding and a slight heeling agent in my saliva. It will ca
use the wound to heal rapidly and not scar.

  “So,” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “You’re going to what… lick my face?”

  His lips twitched and I felt my heart skip. “Something like that.”

  “And you can control yourself? You won’t be tempted to bite me?”

  “Oh, very tempted. But I promise, right this moment, I will not. Just let me fix this.”

  I closed my eyes and slowly nodded. Knowing even as I did it that I would regret it. Keeping my eyes closed, he gently, almost lovingly, placed one hand by my ear, the other helped brace my head slightly back, angling my face to give him better access. I felt when he bent down and, instinctively I tensed, waiting for him to break his promise. Instead, he leaning down murmuring “I promise,” then I felt his tongue run down my cheek, over two scratches that tingled as his tongue grazed over them, all the way down to the corner of my mouth. The sensation was incredible and it took every ounce of my control not to express just how good it felt.

  His tongue lingered for a second at the corner of my mouth. “There’s a cut on the inside of your cheek. Would you like me to heal that one as well?” he asked, barely pulling away.

  “No, Halo. I’m sure that one can heal on its own.”

  He pulled back to look at my face. “Very well,” he said sounding disappointed. “But you can’t blame a guy for trying.” He gave a slight lift of his shoulder and motioned for me to have a seat and finish my dinner.

  “Thank you, Halo.” I said reclaiming my seat.

  He flashed me another smile, one he was quickly getting to know effected me. “Believe me, the pleasure’s all mine.” When he licked his lips, I turned my gaze back to my plate and kept it there.

  By the time I finished eating, the scratches on my face had completely healed, with no trace that they had ever existed. Amazing. Not really knowing what else to do with myself, I decided to wonder around the house. I passed through a huge dining room, a sitting room, an office of some kind, a library, a game room –which I had to admit was really nice- and finally I found the living room and settled down. Finding the remote I sprawled out, taking up the whole big leather couch and flipped on the sixty inch flat screen on the wall. I made myself as comfortable as possible and settled in to watch my usual routine of weekly shows.

  I wasn’t alone long before Halo found me. He came in taking the only space available on the couch, the small space between my tucked knees and stomach.

  “Mind if I watch with you?”

  “It’s your house.” I replied, not wanting to look at him.

  “I know, I am merely asking if you mind my company.”

  “Sure.” I eyed the large empty couch opposite mine, but said nothing. I decided being polite was my best option, so I sat up and gave him room next to me.

  We didn’t talk much after that. We sat for a while watching whatever shows I put on. I felt bad taking control of the remote in his house, but when I asked him what he wanted to watch he replied with, “Anything you want.” And he didn’t complain about one of the shows I put on, which filled hours of time.

  The good thing about the shows was that it kept my mind busy. I didn’t think about where I was or the situation that put me here or even what I could be turning into. I needed to keep thoughts of Kamdyn and Jayson down to a minimum, at least temporarily. But at the moment, I was even able to laugh.

  When the last show ended, I stood and stretching my stiff body, when Halo took hold of my hand.

  “Don’t go yet.”

  I turned to regard him. “Halo, it’s late and…”

  “Please, Trystie. I…,” He took a deep breath and looked away. “I’m not good at this. Asking for things. I am used to getting what I want or taking what people won’t willingly give me. I am trying, for you. As much as you think I am a monster… I really much push the issue.” He paused and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t want to do the things I have done and I need you to understand that for me to not do that again, I need your help.”

  My heart was racing, going faster with every word. I understood exactly where he was going, and what made it worse was how completely reasonable and nice he was being about it. I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt, especially knowing that I could prevent it. But, I was scared. Scared it would hurt, scared he would go too far and most of all, scared that it would be exactly like it was in my dreams, and I would like it. Love it.

  Halo waited quietly, patiently, while I thought it out. He said nothing, didn’t even look at me. He almost looked ashamed of himself for needing to ask.

  “What do I have to do?” genuine

  He turned to me abruptly, surprise written in flashing letters across his features. “You’ll do this?”

  “Yes. Will it hurt?”

  “With you I can make it not hurt, but… you have to let me. You have to trust me completely and I know that’s hard to do but, please.”

  I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. “Okay, Halo. Against my better judgment, I’ll trust you. Just tell me what to do. And don’t make me regret this.”

  “Just go with it,” he said turning me toward him.

  He cupped my face in his hands. “Thank you,” he whispered softly as he lowered his mouth down to gently place his lips over mine. My body stilled as my brain screamed, Caution, Caution! “Trust me,” he uttered against my lips. I sat there for I don’t even know how long, trying to calm my racing heart. I told myself over and over, that this was something that needed to be done. Something for some reason only I could do. What’s a little discomfort on my part to keep other people safe?

  Finally, I willed myself to relax into his embrace and I let him in. Now that I had relaxed a bit, I could feel how on alert he was, as if he was waiting for me to get up and bolt.

  He was scared.

  Not entirely sure why, but suddenly I felt overly comfortable, feeling the need to get him to loosen up. Placing both my hands around his ribs I traced them across his stomach and chest, up over his shoulders. I felt the incredible muscles under his shirt and pulled my hands away, wrapping them around his neck and pulling him closer.

  He groaned and his kiss intensified, losing some of his rigidness. Then he pushed me back on the couch and pulling my legs up to wrap around his waist. His mouth pulled away to trail kisses across my jaw and down my neck.

  I closed my eyes and surprised myself by enjoying the feeling, remembering just what it was like in my dreams. Just as realistic. Exactly what I didn’t want it to be like.

  Go with it.

  Pushing aside every doubtful feeling I had, I pulled him tighter against me. I let my fingers tunnel threw his long hair, holding him to me. He made a noise of approval and brought his mouth back to mine in a deep kiss that I could feel down to my toes.

  Clenching me to his chest, he lifted me up and held me in his lap, my legs still clasped around him. His hands traced up and down my spine, sending chills all over my body. Then fisting my tee shirt in his hands, he lifted it over my head revealing my lacy black bra. I felt his warm chest against mine and his hot hands gripping my hips.

  My fingers still toying in his hair I pulled his mouth from mine and, pushing my hair away, tilted my head to the side and brought his mouth down to my throat. He found my pulse and kissed it gently, running his tongue over it, teasingly.

  “I don’t want this to end yet,” he breathed across my neck, fingers digging into my skin. I tightened my grip in his hair and pulled him closer. I heard a low growl erupt from his throat.

  “Halo,” Breathless, his arms tightened around me and I felt his fangs sink in. I hissed at the slight pinching sensation, the feeling quickly changed from discomfort to something amazing, something I had absolutely no words for. It was a connectedness you just couldn’t get any other way, like you could see into the other persons soul.

  I felt him loosen his hold and pull back slightly to lightly lick the wound closed. He kiss a trail, feather light, across my face to find my mouth once agai
n. Just a quick brush of his lips and he pulled me down to lie across his chest.

  “That was amazing. You are amazing.” He lightly rubbed my hair away from my face and kissed the top of my head as I nuzzled into his chest, feeling the fast beat of his heart. I’m not sure how long we lay there, but eventually my eyes slid closed and everything drifted away.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  A blinding light scorched my eyes. I could feel the heat on my face from the beating sun, but this wasn’t the sun. But it was so bright I couldn’t open my eyes.

  I felt a light breeze blowing on my face, through my hair, soothing the heat beating on me. I could smell the forest, the grass and flowers all around me, and I felt my erratic heart beat slow. Calming. More comfortable than I have felt in days, I slowly opened my eyes.

  The glare was still bright, but as my eyes slowly began to focus, the light dimmed and I saw a woman gradually come into focus.

  I watched as she approached. Her beautiful, wavy auburn hair was the first thing that focused enough to identify. It flowed around her in the wind, blowing across her face and flaring out around her waist. As she got closer her features popped out, soft delicate features. The woman looked like a goddess, someone to be prayed to and honored. Her piercing ice blue eyes looked as though they could look through you, into your soul. They were almost painful, but I couldn’t look away. Her tall willowing body flowed fluidly through the field, stepping out of the light and heading toward me in what I could finally make out as a beautiful, long, low-cut, hunter green dress, the shirt loosely blowing in the wind around her bare legs and feet. Once the flash of light had gone I was able to notice we stood at the base of a huge hill and surrounded completely by a vast dark forest. We could have been anywhere.

  She took that final step and stopped only feet away her hand extended, reaching for mine. Unable to feel why I shouldn’t, I lifted my hand and placed it in hers. The wind picked up around us and I felt a surge of power pulse through me. I felt her fingers lightly brush over my ring and the instant she touched it, it burned and flashed. A vine burst through, encase my arm and growing up over my elbow and shoulder. I watched as the leaves blew in the wind and the sight, strangely, comforted me. But something was different. My brows drew together in confusion as I noticed, for the first time, a flower that bloomed up and down the length of the vine. A beautiful flower I had never seen before, with big black petals that shimmered with many colors in the light like a raven’s feather with a center made of a violet and purple. I reached my other hand up to touch one and it leaned into my hand, and… sighed?