by Tara Brown
Aleks never came back into my room for a long time, I felt betrayed. He didn’t offer me immortality, he didn’t even try to save me. He was accepting my illness and possible death instead of bearing the thought of me with him for the rest of his life. I didn’t really know what to say. I sat on my bed alone and frustrated when suddenly Jaime walked in. She looked amazing. Her face was healthy again not sallow and gaunt like mine was. She smiled brightly at me.
“Jaime.” I spoke feeling hopeful, if she looked that good from the dialysis maybe I would be on the mend too.
Her eyes looked a little funny, too sparkly maybe, “Hey Aimee. How are you feeling?”
I shook my head, “Not so good. You look good though.”
She nodded sitting on my bed, “Yeah I feel great finally. I think that last bit of meds really just did me in. I’m finally better.”
I smiled, “They caught him, it was Mr. Mac.”
She frowned, “No way. Him?”
I nodded, “I know right, he was always so nice to me.”
She frowned deeper, “Not me. He was a dick to me. Once he kicked me out of class and when we were in the hall and he was yelling at me he told me to stop dressing like a slut unless I wanted to be treated like one.” Her face grew sad for a moment.
I shook my head, “Don’t believe anything he said. He’s a criminal and a pervert. Have you seen Giselle?”
She nodded, “Yeah she got her liver transplant scheduled. Its tomorrow. She’s looking pretty bad though right now.”
I smiled, “At least she is getting the transplant. That’s fantastic news.”
She nodded, “Yeah.”
Aleks unexpectedly walked through the doorway looking nervously at Jaime. Jaime smiled at him, “Are you him?”
My heart skipped a beat as Aleks face stayed very calm but his eyes were screaming at me, “No. I’m not.”
She sighed, “Okay well I guess I better go back to my room so he knows where to find me.”
Confusion had me spinning in circles, “You can see him?” I asked Jaime.
She laughed and nodded, “Yeah Aimee, I’m surprised you can though.”
I looked at Aleks and waited for some kind of answer but he offered nothing.
Suddenly the dark haired guy was back in the doorway, he smiled at Jaime briefly but then focused his eyes on me. I felt uncomfortable with his eyes on me, like he was undressing me even in my weak and dying state. He stood behind Aleks who was also watching me intently. Jaime walked from the room squeezing past them both, she turned and looked back at me, “I hope you make it Aims. Say goodbye to your sister for me.” She walked out of the room leaving me with the two men and no clue what was going on. I had a guess but it was not realistic, “Is she dead?”
The words left my lips like emptiness.
Aleks nodded not saying anything.
I started to cry, “She died.” My statement made me feel worse, “If she died then I-“ I stopped myself before I could say it.
Aleks was across the room in one long step, “No, you won’t die like her. The dialysis is already helping and there is hope of a liver. Giselle is getting hers tomorrow.” His eyes were trying to hypnotize me but I was too scared to buy into it.
I shook my head, “The odds of two livers showing up are slim to none, who are you?” I asked the guy standing in the doorway still watching me intently.
He grinned at me, “I am Aleks’s brother.”
“You’re a cursed to help people too?” I whispered.
He laughed, “Not so much love. I am sort of the opposite of that.”
I frowned at Aleks who sighed, “He is like a dark angel.”
“Like a demon?”
He nodded and Aleks looked back at him.
“Is everything true? Is there a tooth fairy and goblins as well?” I felt over whelmed as tears were still streaming down my cheeks.
The demon shook his head, “Pretty sure the tooth fairy is a fairy tale. Goblins are pretty hard to find nowadays.”
I snorted grabbing a tissue and wiping my face, “This is bullshit. I am sick and dying. My friend has just died. My other friend is waiting for a transplant and you are an immortal not quite angel and an immortal demon that just felt the need to hang out in my room and rub you immortality in my face. Piss off.” I didn’t look at either of them but when Aleks tried to touch me I pulled away wincing as the arm I jerked had my I.V. in it. The stabbing pain of the I.V. caused me to shake as I pulled it into my chest to protect it.
The pain was more than I could take and I felt hatred burn into my eyes as I glared at Aleks, “I will never have children to tell about my mom so she can live on in their memory, I will never go to university, I will never fall into a love that cant be cured, I will never get married and have someone believe in me so deeply they are willing to bet their future on me. I’m dying because you didn’t do a very good job as my guardian angel. This is your fault. You could have told me about Mr. Mac and spared Jaime her fate. Everything is your fault. I hate you and I want you to go away and never come back.” Tears streamed my cheeks, pain ripped me apart. The heart monitors started to go wild making all kinds of noise.
Aleks’s beautiful blue eyes filled with tears and heartbreak as he left my side and walked out of the doorway. Nurses came running past him with needles and stethoscopes. I blacked out seeing the demon still standing in the doorway his look in his eyes bothered me, it was smug as if he enjoyed what he’d seen.
“Aimee, Aimee.” A dark voice taunted me from my coma.
I struggled to get my eyes open hearing my name. It felt like a crust had closed them up tight. I managed to get one open and focused it on the young face of the stranger.
“Ah there you are, right, first things first. Your family is nearly here which will be bad timing I’m afraid. You see I have something I could give you that would help you through this illness. But it needs to happen before you die or it wont work.” His English accent made me happy, he sounded like Wallace off Wallace and Grommit. I didn’t know what he was talking about I struggled with the other eye and finally got it open as well. I blinked focusing on him.
“You’re very young, you look my age but you seem older.” I whispered not sure if it had been out loud or not.
He nodded shamelessly, “Yes I am. Now do you understand?”
I shook my head, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He pointed to the doorway, “In about thirty minutes your family is going to walk through that door and then it will be too late.”
Still confused I shook my head closing my eyes again, I was so tired suddenly, “I don’t care.”
“Do you want to live Aimee?” His words burned through me, and my mind screamed yes.
I opened my eyes again, fighting to stay awake, “Yes.”
He nodded, “You need to do something and prepare for it then. It’s going to hurt a lot.”
I shook my head, “It can’t hurt more than it does now. What’s your name?”
He smiled at me softly, “Dorian, now the important parts of this moment are as follows. You need to bite the inside of your mouth and make it bleed, I will do the same then we will kiss and my blood will mix with yours in your mouth and you will swallow it.”
I grimaced, “Yeah that’s not going to happen.”
He glanced at the doorway, “Look before Aleks changes his mind and comes back and stops this you need to do it.”
I thought for a moment, “Will I die?”
He nodded, “It’s a death of sorts. You’ll be just like Aleks, live forever that sort of nonsense. One day you will forgive Aleks for his part in all of this but for now you need to do this. The window is passing rapidly.”
I panicked not sure what I was getting myself into but everything hurt so much I didn’t know what else to do, I nodded and bit down on my lip as hard as I could. It didn’t bleed at first only stung. I cringed in pain and took a deep breath as I bit the other side gasping as blood started to st
ream into my mouth. He did the same with out even flinching and bent his beautiful face down into mine. I saw the trace of a dark liquid on the crease of his closed lips. It looked like molasses and made me want to throw up but instead I let him kiss me. The kiss was intense, his lips moving quickly and hungrily into mine. His tongue flicked into my mouth then driving itself in. He grabbed the back of my head pulling me into the kiss. I wanted to be repulsed but something about him was drawing me into him. I let myself be taken into the kiss. Our mouths moved like wild animals that couldn’t get enough of each other. He grabbed my hair at the back of head and pulled my face from his. His lips were covered in a mixture of his black blood and my red. His mouth had tasted of the rust from my blood and a sweet musk from his.
I exhaled as he held my face back from his still pulling my hair, which oddly enough I didn’t mind.
He raised an eyebrow at me, “You’re a very naughty girl Aimee. I wish we had a little more time I think that there is something I would like to have of yours. Unfortunately your dad will be here in about twenty-nine minutes. I will be back and maybe you can give me the other thing I want.”
I wanted to play dumb and pretend I had no clue what he wanted but my body was responding to him. I wanted to give him the thing he sought out and the idea of it made me blush. I imagined the weight of him on top of me, pressing me into the hospital bed. I shook off the thought and frowned at him. He was enjoying the effect he had on me.
“Dorian will I die when my dad gets here? Is that why you rushed this?” I asked not sure about anything that had just happened.
He nodded, “You would have yes, but my blood will heal everything just as it will take everything. You’ll seem better to your dad and the doctors for a few hours maybe days, long enough to get you out of here in time.”
I felt better instantly, I felt strong again. I looked down at my hand where the I.V. was and frowned. It was annoying me like my skin was trying to heal it over.
“When you forgive Aleks tell him he owes me a LOT.” His emphasis on lot scared me, as did the dark sinister look he got in his eyes.
Things were different inside of me; I felt a heated wave of healing rushing through me, suddenly now that I wasn’t so sick I didn’t hate Aleks as much. I knew I would forgive him but even more I hoped he would forgive me for saying the awful things I had said to him.
“Dorian I don’t understand Aleks. He has powers, he flies sort of, he’s beautiful, his touch soothes me, he can be invisible and he will live forever but he wont tell me how he became this way. He said a werewolf or shape shifter killed him before it was his time. What does that mean?”
Dorian wiped his mouth and then mine being extra careful with my lips as he wiped them softly.
“It means that,” He sighed and continued, “I don’t really recall the details of the story but I do remember something that might interest you.” His eyes sparkled like the stars in the night sky as his lip twitched into a smile, “His dad had something to do with your moms untimely death.”
I was frozen, “My mom?”
“Yup, I guess Aleks left that little chestnut out did he, well I’m sure you’ll want to ask him about it when you next see him.”
I trembled in disbelief.
He smiled harder looking pleased with what he had caused inside of me and clapped his hands together, “On that lovely note your dad is here now so I will leave you for a while. I will be back so don’t worry, I wont let you change alone.” He left after that comment so quickly I couldn’t ask what he meant by the statement.
As he left my dad came rushing in seconds later, “Aimee, oh thank god you’re still awake.”
I frowned at him, “Yeah, why?” My dads’ face made me sad, had my mom had an affair with Aleks’ dad? How had he been involved in her death?
He shrugged, “Oh uhm, no reason. We just thought you’d be sleeping.”
I looked at Shane who came into the room directly after him smiling relief to see me, “Did the doctors tell you I would be in a coma before you made it here?”
Shane nodded behind my lying dad, “No kiddo. How are you feeling?”
I nodded, “Really good.”
I felt sick as I saw hope in my dads eyes and then watched it extinguish, “Well you’ve had that before. It might be the liver dialysis. Has a doctor been by to see you?”
I shook my head, “Not recently.” I remembered the attack I had had hours before when they had to sedate me and remembered everything I said to Aleks. I had broken his heart. I wasn’t certain I was sorry for hurting him with all the truths he’d kept from me.
“You look better.” Shane came and sat on my bed and held my hand. I licked my lips smelling him, he smelled delicious. Something about him was making me hungry for something I couldn’t explain.
I felt disgusted with myself; I was becoming a super slut. Something about all the guys in my life was making my hormones go crazy. I chalked it up to inactive hormones for too many years. My hormones had been released late and they were desperate to catch up.
“Where’s Alise?” I asked trying to divert my thoughts from kissing Shane and thinking about Aleks.
My dad shook his head, “She isn’t taking the news very well.”
Shane shot my dad a look. My dads face went beet red as he stumbled over his words, “You know of you being sick.”
I nodded knowing they were speaking of Jaime’s death, ‘It’s okay dad, I know. I know she passed. She came and said goodbye.” I had said it before I thought about it.
My dad frowned, “You saw her?”
I nodded slowly, “In a dream. I had an episode a few hours ago and I dreamt of her. She said goodbye. I just knew.” My lying was not much better than my dad who was eyeing me up fairly fiercely.
I found my eyes wandering out into the halls through the doorway hoping to see Aleks but he never came back. I wanted answers, more than I wanted anything, well except to touch Shane and pull our clothes off and possibly rub our naked skin against each other. I blushed trying hard to focus on the anger and worry and the things I was facing.
AFTER…..
Chapter Twelve - NEVER TRUST ANYONE WITH OBSIDIAN EYES, JUST SAYIN
I wanted to go back to sleep but for some reason I wasn’t tired anymore. The doctor came in and took my vitals, “Wow you really are taking to the dialysis. We may get some regeneration out of this my dear. You might not even need a transplant at this rate.”
My dad had fallen asleep in the chair next to my bed and Shane was passed out on the bed for parents in the window.
I nodded at the doctor, “That’s great news. How’s Giselle?”
He nodded, “Her liver will be here in about five hours and then she too will be on the road to recovery. What a brutal experience you young ladies have had. I heard they caught him. Your science teacher I heard?”
I nodded finding myself drawn to the doctor. He wasn’t even attractive but something about him was making me want to pull his face down onto mine.
I thought about the blood I had swapped with Dorian and sighed figuring this was some side effect of his dirty blood. I didn’t know Dorian but he seemed to be ladies man, it would figure for his blood to be some sort of aphrodisiac.
“Well I’m running your blood again and then I think we will do another ultrasound and x-ray and then if things are looking up we may do another biopsy.” He wrote on his clipboard and walked out of the room.
Another biopsy, hmm I hadn’t realized they had done one already.
I was starting to feel like I was completely better when Dorian walked back into the room quietly.
He looked menacing standing in my doorway, “Ready?”
I nodded, “Do I have to leave my family?”
He nodded, “Yeah unless you want them dead too.”
I frowned wondering why he would threaten me like that, “Are you going to hurt them?”
He shook his head, “That’s not really my gig love. But I’m sure you don’t want to.”
I gulped, “How do I leave without them becoming suspicious about me leaving?”
He smirked ominously, “Leave that little detail up to me.”