"Okay, I'll be there."
My hand stopped moving around in my locker and my whole body straightened in surprise. I tried to forbid myself from looking at her, but I still found myself turning around and meeting her gaze. I felt self-conscious that she had been looking at me, but I couldn't look away, not now. It took all of my strength not to grab her and kiss her right then and there with everyone watching.
I wanted to tell everyone that she was mine. All mine. I didn't. All I did was stand there and look intensely into her eyes. She was the first to look away, but I noticed her difficulty. Everyone had stopped talking, curious as to what was going on. I knew one thing, I was definitely going to the party tonight no matter what.
Music was pumping and I could already hear my ears starting to ring. I had searched Nate's house for more than a half hour to see if Tatiana was here but there was no sign of her. Worry and fear for her was overwhelming me. Something didn't feel right.
"Hey, have you seen Tatiana?" I shouted in Nate's ear, trying to be heard over the loud music.
He shook his head, frowning, and I walked outside. I felt the fresh breeze stinging my face. It was so cold tonight, making me shiver. I looked around, casually seeing people making out or worse. The smell of alcohol stung my nose and I smelt the smoke coming from cigarettes. I coughed a little, but focused when I saw movement in the garage. A little light was on inside and I could make out a shadow inside. Frowning, I walked closer to the window and saw another shadow, but this one was shorter than the others. When I leaned in closer I realised the figure was sitting down. When I saw the figure struggle, my breath caught. Long hair swayed as she moved and I heard her trying to call out, but she must've had something covering her mouth. Before I could react, I was knocked unconscious.
My head hurt, I was thudding in waves of pain; protesting when I tried to open my eyes. The small light was directly in my eyes, making me shut them again tightly. My hands were bound to a chair and so were my legs. I felt stiff.
"Ethan?" I heard a croaky voice whisper.
My head snapped up at the sound of her voice and I slowly opened my eyes. It was Tatiana. Her hair was sticking to her tearstained cheeks. Her hands were tied behind her back and then to the chair. Her legs were also bound to the chair.
"Tatiana?" I asked, my voice hoarse, "What the hell?"
I coughed for a while until I heard someone opening a door.
"Well, well the little bitch has awakened."
"You know they'll find us once they see we're missing," I spat with venom in my voice.
He laughed. The man revealed himself; he was tall and muscular with blonde hair. He looked evil.
"What do you want?" Tatiana asked with a clear voice.
"We know what you are sweetie, don't play dumb."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, but I saw fire in her eyes.
"Very well," the man turned and suddenly swung his arm around, smacking Tatiana across the cheek so her head snapped to the side in one swift move.
Anger flared inside me. I moved and the chair scraped against the concrete floor with a screech. Tatiana kept her head to the side. She wasn't looking at me anymore, making me even more nervous. Fuming, I swore if I could get out of this chair I would hit that guy so bad he wouldn't know what got him. The only thing that calmed me down was the movement of her shoulders as she breathed. I tried to breathe evenly and that was when I noticed the man wasn't there anymore. I decided to say something that would change both of our lives.
"Get out of here, while you can."
Her head snapped up and her eyes focused on me and I was surprised I didn't notice before, her eyes were … glowing, a beautiful gold. "I can't," she said. Her eyes dimmed suddenly, like she could control it.
That was weird, only vampires that were in control of their thirst could do that. Maybe my father was right. I could only hope. "You're not like them are you? You're good," I asked, half whispering, but I didn't look away from her eyes.
"What?" she asked bewildered and her eyes started to glow again.
"I know you're a half blood. I know you can help us get out of here and I wouldn't mind escaping right about now," I half smiled.
"How?" she asked. "How do you know?"
"We can talk about that later; just get both of us out of here, please."
Her right cheek was red and her eye looked a little puffy. She looked around. We only saw tools that would fix a car, nothing to cut through anything.
An idea popped into my head then, "You can break the robe, can't you?"
She shook her head, "I've tried, but I haven't eaten in a while and it's too thick."
I sighed in frustration, but not towards her. Maybe if she tried again with encouragement. "Please just try again," I begged her.
She tugged and tugged at the rope, but it was no use. We heard movement outside the door and I looked over at her in fear, not for me for her.
"I got it!" she whispered in triumph.
I smiled from ear to ear and I was about to explain what to do before the door opened again.
She shook her head and gave me a knowing smile, "I've got this."
The man walked in and I heard the door shut behind him. I winced as I heard a key turn. "Have you decided to cooperate?"
The man's face was lit up. I saw his smile and man did it make me shiver. His teeth were straight and too perfect, along with his smile. Tatiana didn't answer and that made him furious and he walked over to me and I saw something catch the light. I gulped, a knife.
Crap, Tatiana better know what she's doing.
"You see, I knew your boyfriend was going to come looking for you and since you have feelings for him, I know you'll cooperate." The knife was behind his back, but then suddenly he jammed it up against my neck and slid it down past my collarbone to my chest; my skin stung in its wake. He applied pressure and the knife pierced my skin. I felt like crying out. I closed my eyes tightly, only to open them when he screamed out.
The knife cluttered to the floor, echoing in the garage. I looked up and found that she had punched him in the jaw. He was leaning against a workbench with his hand clutched to his cheek in agony; that must've hurt. "You bitch," he roared.
He stormed towards her and went to throw a punch in, but she ducked and elbowed him in the stomach with so much force it took the breath out of him. I tried to get myself out of the ropes, but it was no use so I focused on my feet instead.
Suddenly, she slammed his head against the workbench and I heard the splitting sound of bone. Then with incredible speed she had him on the chair, tying him up quickly before he found his strength again.
I was so amazed by what she had just done. Man, was it a turn on to see a woman fight. She rushed over to me and untied the ropes around me. My skin still stung from the knife cutting me and I couldn't wait to have a shower and get into clean clothes. She helped me up and I got to my feet and grabbed her face in my hands, looking into her eyes. "Are you okay?"
She nodded; afraid. I took her hand and found the key next to the door. When we opened the door I realised that we weren't at Nate's house anymore, we were at an abandoned cabin.
In the woods.
Tatiana
W
e were lost.
We were nowhere, but yet somewhere.
It was pitch black and I could hear the distant sound of crickets singing. Trees swayed in the breeze and I heard the leaves hiss as they moved. I clung to Ethan's hand with all my might as my heart thudded hard in my chest, making me breathe unevenly. One side of my face had gone numb after the man hit me. I thought at first that the man was a vampire, but I was wrong, he was a hunter. I bet he was sent by the man with piercing green eyes. I shivered at the thought of him. Ethan pulled me to him, wrapping an arm around my waist, and we started to walk towards the cabin.
It didn't look like anyone else lived here other than the other guy. No lights were on and there wasn't any movement that we could hear. We walked up t
he steps, the floorboards creaking under our weight. I looked around cautiously. Ethan tugged me closer to him as he opened the door to the cabin; it screeched, a frightening, eerie sound.
Ethan searched for something on the wall. A light appeared and made me blink; he had found the switch. The cabin looked comfortable; containing a living room and a fireplace with a long couch beside it. Just thinking about getting warm by the fire made me shiver in response.
Ethan looked down at me and smiled a little. "I'll get the fire going. Why don't you get cleaned up?" He said it gently, pulling away to attend to his task.
I nodded, not able to speak. He reached his hand up and gently caressed my bruised cheek. His hand felt so warm that it travelled all the way through my entire body and I leaned in the slightest bit. When he pulled away, I felt his warmth still going through my body.
He turned towards the fire, but not before I saw him blush. I smiled to myself and walked away, finding the bathroom quickly. When I got undressed I heard a knock on the door and I jumped in surprise.
"It's just me, I found some spare clothes and figured you would want to wear these instead." He opened the door slightly and clothes appeared.
"Thanks," I said nervously.
He closed the door and I checked out the clothes. They looked huge, but I knew I had no other choice. I closed the shower curtain behind me and welcomed the warm, steamy water. I sighed and smiled like an idiot, realising something that I hadn't acknowledged. He wasn't afraid of me. He didn't think I was a monster. I was afraid for nothing. That was why he had been so distant, he knew about me.
Ethan
M
y body wouldn't stop responding to her; my whole body was tingling. I went outside to grab a few pieces of wood to start up the fire while I recounted what had happened at the party.
I was looking for her then I saw her and the hunter inside the garage and then I was knocked unconscious. Something struck me then – who knocked me unconscious? I couldn't see where I was anymore, all I knew was that there was another hunter inside the cabin and he was going to kill Tatiana.
I dropped the fire wood and turned around. I tried my best to be quiet; I didn't want to tip him off. I went to the fireplace and found the metal stick to move the wood. I quickly ran towards the bathroom and found the door ajar. Tatiana was humming and I thanked god that she had closed the shower curtain otherwise I wouldn't have been able to concentrate. I saw Tatiana reach out her hand from the curtain and grab the towel.
I walked in and spotted him, not that he was hard to miss. His arms were spread out like he was ready to put them around her body. Now that made me mad. I walked up behind him and swung the metal stick against his head. The blow made his eyes roll back, revealing the whites.
He groaned as he fell, making Tatiana scream, tangling himself in the shower curtain, then hitting his head on the corner of the bath tub. The curtain ripped halfway and revealed a shocked Tatiana. She was covered in a small towel that hardly covered her legs. Her body was wet and she leaned far away from us against the wall.
Her eyes travelled across the hunter and then they landed on the weapon that I was grasping tightly in my hand. It took me a long time to let the weapon go, because I was so angry at that hunter for trying to kill her that I felt like smashing his face in even if he was unconscious. The weapon made a loud sound against the tiles when it fell, and she jumped a little. Instead of staying there she got out of the shower, wet and all, and leaned her head against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her waist.
"Thanks."
"Are you okay?" I asked with concern.
She whispered, "Yes."
Letting go of her, I leaned forward to grab the hunter's ankles. I pulled and dragged him out of the bathroom and outside, not minding in the slightest that his head banged against the stairs. I opened the garage door and left him there with his buddy, tied up and unable to talk.
I walked inside and got the fire going, heating the cabin quite quickly. I poked the fire wood, turning when I heard footsteps. Tatiana was standing there with those ridiculous clothes on, but I didn't care. She was beautiful. She stood there nervously and I motioned to her to sit next to me on the lounge. "Come on, we need to talk," her eyes widened and I laughed.
She sat down cautiously next to me but not as close as I would have liked.
"I'm sorry for being a dick to you." I let out a heavy sigh, "When I found out you were … I didn't know how to react. I decided that maybe distancing myself from you would be a wise choice, but then when you told me you wanted a break I knew that I had lost something very important to me. I'm sorry."
"You were a jerk because you knew?" she asked narrowing her eyebrows.
I nodded.
"And here I thought you just got tired of me and moved on, but didn't know how to tell me. So I thought that breaking up would make it easier on you."
"Wait … you never wanted to break up?" I asked hopefully.
She looked up at me in astonishment; she shook her head, wide eyed.
"You're not like the others, are you?" I asked and she raised her eyebrows. "I mean … you don't hurt people?" I rephrased my question.
She looked a little hurt at my words. "No, I never have and never will." She looked away angrily and crossed her arms against her chest with a huff. I smiled to myself.
"I never wanted to break up either. I was just scared that's all and I'm so sorry for hurting you like that," I whispered.
Listening to the fire crackling, I reached up my hand and touched her cheek with a feathery touch, making me ache deep inside; I wanted more, needed more. Her eyes met mine and the world stopped. My hand that had been leaning on the couch was now grasping part of the couch material. I couldn't hear anything other than our quickened breathing and all I could think of was touching her, caressing her, kissing those lips, wanting to know how they tasted. I wanted to make her feel special, important, and wanted.
My hand was still touching her cheek slightly and I leaned in. My heart took over and my mind was left there to wonder. I saw her close her eyes slowly, seductively; I wasn't the only one losing it here. Just before my lips touched hers, I leaned to the side, my lips meeting the skin just below her ear. I knew it would hit a sensitive spot. When she moaned in pleasure, I wanted to take her then and there on the couch. Controlling my urge, I kissed her along her jawline. Her hands gripped my shoulders and she leaned in closer, threatening my hard won self-control.
When she wrapped her legs around my waist, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I felt her weight as she settled on my lap, her heat spreading through me. I wanted more. I pressed against her and her thighs gripped tightly around my hips. I couldn't take it anymore, I needed to taste her. I put my hands on her thighs and brought her even closer to me, my lips landed right on hers.
I wasn't in the present anymore. I didn't know where I was, but I didn't want to leave. Her lips tasted sensational, like home. I didn't want to stop but I needed to catch my breath so I pulled away slightly, looking into her eyes. They looked sleepy, hypnotised. She frowned slightly when I didn't kiss her again.
"Just let me catch my breath, otherwise I'm going to lose it."
Understanding flooded through her face and she blushed a deep pink, making me want her more if that were even possible. Her hands loosened their grip on my shoulders and she went to get off of my lap, but I didn't let her. I grabbed her thighs and pulled her closer.
"Where are you going?"
"I thought you wanted me to …" she frowned in confusion.
"I didn't mean it like that," I smiled devilishly.
"You saved my life," she whispered, looking down at me.
"So did you," I smiled up at her.
Suddenly feeling sleepy, I yawned, covering my mouth. Without a word, I got up with her legs still around my waist. At first she was surprised, but then she just leaned her head against my shoulder and closed her eyes. I could see that she had complete trust in me. Guilt gnawed at me, but I push
ed the feeling away and walked inside a bedroom. Lying her on the bed, I quickly grabbed a few blankets to cover her cold body. When I kissed her forehead and got up to leave her hand grasped my arm. She tugged, scooted over, and patted the place beside her. I nearly would've taken her then because I felt like my heart was ripping into pieces leaving her there. I smiled tiredly, my heart skipping a beat, and I got in beside her feeling like the luckiest guy in the world. I could sleep with her in my arms, feeling her heart beat against mine.
I couldn't find my phone. I searched for it in my pocket and looked around the lounge room in case I dropped it, but nothing. I frowned and heard Tatiana yawn. I smiled and walked into the bedroom. Tatiana sat up and stretched, her shirt revealing her tanned stomach, making me feel nervous again. "Good morning," I said, leaning down and giving her an affectionate peck on the cheek.
She smiled tiredly and I saw that her bruise was fading a little.
"Do you have your phone with you?" I asked.
She nodded and patted her pockets for a few seconds, "Oh, no I don't have it …"
"They must've taken them off us when we were tied up," I sighed.
She got up and hugged me, "Sorry."
I shook my head, wrapping my hands around her waist, "It's fine, come on let's find something to eat."
Walking to the fridge, her eyes widened and she smiled up at me, "Looks like they were planning on staying here for a while."
I walked over and saw milk, butter, chocolate, cheese, yoghurt, eggs, and fruit. "Finally, something useful around here," I smiled.
We grabbed everything out of the fridge and cooked anything we could. I made scrambled eggs while she looked for some coffee. The kitchen was a mess by the time we finished, but it felt nice to cook with company since I was always cooking by myself. We occasionally spoke, but we mainly stayed silent as I thought about last night's events. We sat down at the small table and started eating.
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