by Prince, DD
Kyla broke into a cold sweat. But what did he mean “this scenario”?
“There are a few suggestions,” Sam continued, “She stays in the closet until this is done or we try to mask it to see if she can be around you.”
“How?” Tristan asked.
“Tampons or menstrual cups are worn inside a woman’s body. They could mask it, provided you’re not in the vicinity when she changes. It might work.”
“No,” Kyla said through the intercom, “My periods are too heavy. Tampons aren’t enough.”
“Too risky,” Tristan said.
“Then she stays in the closet for a week?” Sam shrugged, “Then go to Adrian’s Arizona compound until her next cycle. He thinks he can help with an experimental concoction he has that may be able to help you be numb to the effects but still reap the benefits. But it has to be tested. Adrian says it can be done in a controlled way. Here are his contact details.” Sam passed Tristan the piece of paper he’d scrawled on during the call.
Kyla slowly sat back on the bed.
“I’ll take the next week to organize things and then as soon as her period stops, we’ll go,” Tristan looked to the camera, “How long are your periods?”
“5-6 days, usually, when I’m on the pill. Not on the pill, I don’t know.”
He looked to Sam, “Let’s get back to the party. Go down and wait in the car. I’ll be there right behind you in like ten minutes. Kyla, we’re going to wrap things up and then I’ll be back.”
“Okay. Thank you, Sam,” Kyla said through the intercom.
Sam gave her a little salute and then disappeared from her view. Tristan followed him downstairs.
Kyla waited. Tristan was gone at least fifteen minutes. He’d seemed in control while Sam was there. Would that continue to be the case?
His phone rang several more times during that time with different names and numbers coming up, including two more calls from Dawn.
She heard his voice call her name over the computer so she hit the intercom button.
“Hi.”
“There’s a console for the camera on the computer. You can play with the settings to leave the intercom open. Then you won’t have to keep pushing the button. Listen, I’ll put some stuff in the closet near the door for you, including the key and the suitcase from the house so you’ve got some clothes. I want you holding the key. I’m going to put it there now and I’m leaving the apartment before you open that door to get it. I’ll be gone at least a few hours to wrap up the event. Just get the bag and go back inside and shut the door and hit the red button again. We’ll have to do this every time I need to send in something.”
“Okay,” she said. She felt like there was a lump in her throat, “But you said you can get through locks.”
“That only started after meeting you. It’s barriers I can remove or add but I need to be panicked or really focus for it to happen. I’m calm,” he said softly. Tristan disappeared from view for a moment and then she saw a picture-in-picture box appear on the screen with a view of inside of the closet. It must be motion activated. He put the big suitcase and a grocery bag on the floor. She watched him take a key off his key ring and put it into the grocery bag. Then he leaned his forehead against the wall beside the camera.
“I’m so sorry.” He sounded so sad.
“I know,” she choked out but had forgotten to hit the intercom button so she hit the button and repeated herself, “I know.” Then she fiddled with the settings to keep the intercom open.
He stayed put for a moment, staring at the camera and it felt to Kyla like he was looking right at her.
“Gotta go.”
“Wait. Your phone?” she said.
He shook his head, “It’s okay. I’ll take your phone in case you need to reach me. Your number is programmed in mine.”
“Okay. You missed a bunch of calls.”
“Doesn’t matter. I have no time to return calls anyway. I love you. I’ll be back soon. We will fix this.” He gave the camera a determined look and then disappeared from the closet. She saw him reappear on the larger portion of the screen to take her phone from her clutch purse, and then he disappeared from view. She started to fiddle with the settings for the software program and saw that there was a view of downstairs as well. She clicked it and saw Tristan exit the apartment. There was also an option to manually or automatically broadcast through all intercoms but she left that at manual but left all camera views open in a tiled format on the screen.
She hit the green button on the ceiling and the door clicked unlocked. She heard a text message ding. Kyla glanced back at the screen to see that the areas were all clear and then stepped out into the closet. She dragged the suitcase and the plastic bag in and hit the red button again. There was another ding, signifying the system’s engagement.
Inside the plastic bag were about half a dozen chocolate bars, a box of chocolate chip cookies, and a 2 liter bottle of Grape Fanta. She smiled a little. Was that an attempt at an apology? Creature comforts for captivity? There was also a box of super absorbent tampons and overnight extra absorbent maxi pads as well as PMS pain reliever and ibuprofen. Kyla found a pair of underwear, yoga pants, a t-shirt, and a towel from the suitcase and got into the bathroom and took a quick shower. She’d already started to bleed heavier.
She dressed and got into bed and turned the light out. This windowless room was about 8x9 and would be home for the next week. Thinking about that made her a little claustrophobic for a split second but that feeling didn’t linger. She would just have to think of it as a safe cocoon. She wished that it was a safe place for her and Tristan. The Tristan who made her feel safe, of course; not the angry monster Tristan, and certainly not the cold gray Tristan.
Two monsters. Scary monster and terrifying monster.
As she curled up under the blankets she wondered if she was an idiot to stay. He was down the street at the hotel. It could be an ideal time to escape. She looked up at that green button and chewed on her thumb.
What was out there? Happiness? She scoffed. Tristan was the only thing resembling happiness she’d ever felt so far. Being in his arms, being close to him... she knew how utterly pathetic that sounded and a few weeks ago she’d have chastised someone for staying in this situation but she just felt so drawn to him, so totally and completely addicted to him. She knew this bond existed so that she wouldn’t want to get away. He probably smelled like dessert to magnetise her in the first place. This bond existed so that she’d let him drink her blood. She guessed it existed at her own expense because it could very well be the death of her.
Right now, though, she felt like she could leave but was choosing not to. She felt like she had free will and could physically hit that green button and make a run for it if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to. Maybe there was a way that she could be safe around him. And he had held back, she could see it. Something stopped him from draining her. She felt a ray of hope somewhere because of that phone call Sam had made, too.
Or maybe the test would fail and Tristan would kill her. Maybe her birth control would fail and she’d get pregnant and die giving birth to some super royal vampire baby. Or maybe he’d come back from the party and smell her through the walls and doors and he’d click the lock open with his mind and kill her tonight.
The phone vibrated from on top of the bar-sized refrigerator that was beside the bed. It said ‘Kyla’. The photo on it was a picture of the sun. She picked it up and answered, “Hello?”
“Hey.” It was him. The softness in his voice alone soothed her aching soul. There was a lot of background noise.
“Hey.”
“You okay?”
“Uh huh. No. Shit, I don’t know. You?”
“Surviving. Nice sunset.”
“Huh?”
“The picture assigned to my name on your phone. Nice sunset.”
“It’s a sunrise. You brought me out of the dark.”
“Oh God.” She felt a pang of emotion in her chest.
He broke the silence with, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Not running.”
More silence.
She moistened her lips with her tongue.
“I’ll be back soon as I can, okay?” he whispered.
“Kay,” she barely croaked out.
He switched off first and she put the phone down and closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
I’m a stupid idiot for not running. But how can I run? Sunrise? Why does he have to say the perfect thing like that?
She wondered how much agonizing she’d do over the next bit while waiting for him to get back. Her stomach was still crampy so she took some of the menstrual pain medication and then got back into bed. Time dragged on and she didn’t feel sleepy.
At 3:15, she’d been playing Solitaire on the computer, the phone buzzed a text message from him.
“Be there in 5.”
“Ok.” She replied.
She braced herself and said a little prayer hoping that they’d make it through the night.
A few minutes later a window of the view from the front entrance of the apartment popped up and she saw Sam and Tristan enter. They were in mid conversation,
“Created it five years ago and has been waiting for another test case,” Sam said.
Tristan was shaking his head, “Well, I hope so. It’s a big risk.”
Tristan was soon on the view from the bedroom. He was standing there, loosening his bow tie, “Are you okay?” He asked the camera.
Kyla reset the intercom for hands-free,
“I’m fine. I’m going to try to just go to sleep now that you’re here, I think.”
“Sam and I are camping out down in the living room. Distance the better, I think.”
“That’s probably best.”
“Goodnight, Kyla.”
“Goodnight, Tristan.”
Pain spread across his expression and then he moved away from the camera.
She saw him change into a pair of track pants and take blankets and pillows and go downstairs. Sam was on one side of the sectional sofa. Tristan tossed him a blanket and pillow and pair of track pants and settled on the other side of the sectional. She watched him fiddle with her iPhone.
A text rang through with her name on it.
“Hi”
Kyla lay down on the bed with Tristan’s phone and answered his text.
K: “Hi, yourself.”
T: “Are you ok, really?”
K: “Not really, but I’m trying to be.”
T: “I don’t know how I’ll sleep tonight, knowing you’re alone up there.”
K: “I don’t know how I’ll sleep tonight knowing you’re down there, maybe wanting to kill me. But let’s try. I think sleep will do us both some good. I’m fine, don’t stress.”
T: “Tell me what happened. I need to know.”
Kyla took a deep breath and a sip of grape pop and then started to text him back.
K: “I just started bleeding & then I came out to tell you that’s probably why I had that stomach pain and you grabbed me & …” She winced at the memory and wiggled her fingers, trying to think of how to say it, “You tasted down there and your tongue was freezing. Your body was cold. Your eyes turned black and your skin turned bluish gray. Your fangs were huge. Bigger than usual. I jumped back and you grabbed my throat and made vicious animal sounds. I got away and ran into the clost.”
She hit send and then typed another message,
“*the closet* You didn’t look like you. Sat rocking to and fro and looked lost. Don’t know what would’ve happened if I hadn’t gotten away. You seemed confused. Maybe you were still in there somehow, stopping yourself?”
She hit send and looked at the monitor. The light downstairs was out but there was still lighting from the TV and a lamp. She couldn’t see his face, only that he was lying on the couch with the phone. Sam was staring at the TV and yawning.
She waited a few minutes for him to reply.
T: “So sorry I scared you. You did the right thing calling Sam and going in the panic room. So glad we were here! No panic room at the house so hate to think about what might’ve happened if we were there. Or the hospital. Or the banquet.”
K: “Just plz tell me it’s going to be okay.” Her eyes welled up with tears.
T: “It is. Promise.”
K: “How can u be so sure?”
T: “We just have to ride out this week and then we can make our next move. Nothing happened when I was near the door so must be sealed well enough to block the scent.”
K: “You were acting odd earlier tonight, b4 my period even came. I wonder if it was related.”
T: “Been thinking about that, too. Prob was.”
K: “My period started very light. It’s heavier now. It could mean more danger. Did everything go ok with the party?”
T: “As well as could be expected considering I was gone for half of it. More things to deal with tomorrow when Claudio arrives. I’ll be glad when it’s over. Going to let you get some sleep. Just wanted to say I’m sorry. I’ll find a way for you to be safe. I know you could’ve run tonight.”
Kyla stared at the screen for a minute, wondering if a more apt text would be
‘should’ve’ then texted, “Would you have come after me if I did?”
After she hit send she wished she hadn’t said that.
T: “Yep.”
K: “I didn’t stay because I’m afraid of you coming after me. I stayed because I’m afraid of how it would feel to be without you.”
She caught sight of him getting up and walking out of sight on the screen.
She tensed. Where did he go?
The phone rang with her name on it.
She answered, “Where did you go?”
“The bathroom, for privacy. Disable the intercom and just listen to me for a second.”
“Okay…” She disabled the open mic.
“I would not have blamed you if you’d run and yes I would’ve come after you. Not to hurt you, or restrain you, but to make things right. I love you, Kyla. I want you. I want us. I’ll find a way out of this…this mess.” His strong voice was like a song in her heart. He continued, “Believe me. I swear. I will get us out of this. I just needed you to hear that and to know that I never ever want to hurt you, ever.”
Kyla curled up small in the bed and let out a big sigh.
“Listen,” He whispered, “Some other things have happened. I can’t get into it now but I don’t want you to let your guard down with Sam just because he’s helped tonight. Something isn’t right. Don’t, under any circumstances, let your guard down. If you two are alone it means something is very very wrong, okay? Very wrong.”
Kyla’s heart sank, “Okay.”
“He’s staying the night to make sure I can handle this and stay away from you. I don’t even know if that’s a good idea or not so I’ll be sleeping with one eye open. I’m sure I’m going to be fine. I don’t feel edgy. I feel strong. Really strong. So don’t worry. Just sleep. I’ll be up early in the morning to head back to the hotel and deal with other work stuff. Let’s swap phones in the morning before I go, okay?”
“Ok. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, baby. Sweet dreams.”
She hung up. She watched him come back into view. He climbed onto the couch and curled up under the blanket.
Kyla laid there listening to the TV’s background noise on the monitor and wondered how on earth she could possibly fall asleep. Was she really safe? The idea that Sam could be a foe instead of a friend was more than unsettling and if that was the case, would he do something tonight? Was Tristan just being paranoid? Or were his spidey senses tipping him off to something that could make things get a whole lot worse? This crazy night had been punctuated with something unfathomable to her. Punctuated period!
She scrunched her eyes tight and after what seemed like forever, she finally fell asleep.
-14-
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br /> Kyla felt disoriented when she woke up. She glanced at the phone. 6:45 AM. She looked at the computer monitor and swiped the mouse pad to get the screensaver off. Tristan was asleep on the couch. Sam wasn’t in view.
She felt her scalp prickle. Where was he? She heard a noise on the laptop and then saw him come into the upstairs view. Kyla felt like her heart stopped. Sam was carrying a stack of clothes and towels and some shaving gear and he headed downstairs, a towel wrapped around his waist.
Kyla exhaled hard. She saw Tristan sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
“Hey,” Sam said to him and put the contents of his arm load onto the coffee table, “Coffee?”
“Yeah.” Tristan answered and got up and left her view. She got up, used the bathroom and brushed her teeth and washed her face, and then heard her name.
She looked at the monitor.
“Hi baby, good morning. I’m going to put a cup of coffee and your phone in the closet. When I get downstairs, grab them and put my phone in the closet, okay?”
She changed the settings for an open mic. “Good morning. Okay.”
She sat up in bed and watched Tristan bring things into the closet. He looked so unsure, so wary. She caught sight of Sam behind him.
Tristan deposited the coffee and the phone and then left. When he got to the bottom of the stairs Kyla hit the green button and did the phone swap and snatched her coffee. She got back into the closet and hit the red button quickly.
“I’m back in,” she said, “but I’d feel better doing that if there were more distance.”
“Okay, we’ll leave next time.”
Then she saw Tristan come upstairs and fetch his phone.
Uneventful. It worked.
Kyla took a big sip of her coffee and relished it.
She picked up the phone and looked up and then downloaded a period tracking app. She’d had used the birth control pill package before now but Daisy had said she’d used an app on phone and had commented it had worked wonders for predicting when her period would arrive.