Vampire King 2 Chapter six-part one

Chapter Six

Click, click, click. The repetitious sound of a clock refused to stop. Blackness, suffocating, hot, painful blackness. Adrian struggled to get out. He felt like he was in a dream, maybe he was. Now wasn't the time to sleep, though. He had to wake up, protect Abby.  Abby... why couldn't he get her image out of his mind? He wanted to hold her, it was all he could think about. Everything would be fine if he could touch her. This terrible pain in his chest would go away if he could just see her. He could hear something; talking and he felt something touching him but he couldn't open his eyes. It was like his eyelids weighed a ton. He fought, tried to yell and move but he wasn't sure if they could hear or see him.

Was it the police? How was he going to explain living through this chest wound? Maybe they thought he was dead and they would bury him. "Master..?"  He heard that very clearly, Abby?! "Abby? Can you hear me?" He asked though he was sure his lips hadn't moved. "Master, you can't die, please. You are all I have left... please." She was crying, Abby never cried... He wasn't sure what instinct drove him to try and wake up but it was strong. She was upset, he had to get to her, it was that simple.

He passed it off as a parental like instinct but there was something else. He fought, it was actually painful but he wasn't going to leave Abby alone again and all those souls, they were depending on him.  He could see a slit of light, he hoped it was his eyes opening but it might have been an image conjured by his desperate mind. The slit became wider and wider and then he saw three figures hanging over him.
"Master!"
"Abby, don't hug him to hard, now..."
"Adrian, can you hear us? You lost a lot of blood."

Yeah, he knew that already. He blinked, half afraid if he did he wouldn't get his eyes open again but they did stayed open thankfully. His vision was blurry at first but slowly began to clarify. Yeah, Abby was physically attached to his body alright...and it felt amazingly good. Cassy was on the other side, wiping his brow with a cloth and Mael was behind her. He looked concerned, that both touched him and pissed him off for some reason. Maybe because he knew somehow Mael saved him. Now he owed him even more.

"Adrian... are you alright?" Cassy asked, leaning close. This was the first time in his life that there were two woman hanging on his body and it was... well, it wasn't as horrible as he had initially thought it would be. "I guess I'll live... who gave me blood?" He asked, looking up at Abby. He seriously hoped it wasn't her, she was too upset and he hadn't fed her well enough and... no one needed to know about that. "I did." Mael said. "And you need more, a lot more, Adrian. If you were normal you would have died, do you understand how damn close you came? You idiot!" Mael growled. Adrian was slightly taken aback by it.

"Yeah, you are an idiot..." Abby agreed, resting her head on his chest. He could tell she was searching for his heartbeat, which was rather curious but he was doing the same, listening for hers through the noise. "I'll go out and feed, it will be fine." Adrian said, placing a hand on Abby's head. "No you won't. You can't even move, I'd like to see you try sitting up. I'll give you more of my blood and then we are going to have a talk." Mael said, his voice was... he wasn't sure. He was angry but there was another emotion in there he wasn't sure about. "Cassy, take Abby away for a moment, please?" Mael asked as he widened his collar.

"W-wait a minute, can't... can't I have someone's else's blood, like a feeder? Anything else?" Adrian complained, gripping Abby to him. He didn't want the girl to leave, he wanted her pressed against him so he could watch over her, feel her heartbeat.  Mael looked irritated. "You need something more powerful, unless you want virgin blood?" He said pointedly and Adrian realized his brother knew. "...Fine." Adrian said, releasing Abby's hair so she could go. "Master..." She uttered, truly unwilling to leave his side. "It's okay, go with Cassy, I'll see you in a minute." He said.

Mael waited for them to go before he leaned in close and smirked. "Isn't that against some rule of yours?" He asked, far too close for comfort. Adrian couldn't move and therefore couldn't do anything but turn away. "Its harmless..." He said, avoiding his brother's eyes as best he could. "Adrian, I don't see how sloppily marking the girl is 'harmless' . Do you have any idea how hysterical she was? When was the last time you saw Abby cry?" Mael asked, forcing Adrian to look at him. "I... I have never seen her actually cry but I am sure she did in private a few times." Adrian said.

He had good reason to believe that because he was probably the cause of it. "But I didn't mark her! I admit I drank from her..." He said, lowering his eyes. He was ashamed of it, actually, because Abby had no idea. He would never mark her though, never. "Well, maybe you didn't mean to but you did. So now you have to make a decision; Are you going to let her suffer or are you going complete the process?" Mael asked. "What the hell are you talking about? I can't complete the process! I didn't even start the process! You must have been mistaken. I would never do that to her!" Adrian argued.

Mael squeezed Adrian's jaw, his own face dark and serious. "You can't pretend this isn't real. She needs you." He said. Marked her... no it wasn't possible. He would never do such a thing, he didn't even have the instinct for it! He lived this long without a mate, he could live forever without one... and that thought stopped him cold. That wasn't true, he hadn't been living, he had been surviving in agony, denying every instinct he had. Maybe... maybe he did mark her, claimed her so no one else could have her.

Could such a thing be done subconsciously? He wondered. Could he have wished it one night while drinking from her and put such a terrible burden on her?  "This can't be real..." Adrian murmured. Unwilling to accept what he had done. Whether he had done it on purpose or not, she was only seventeen. She was too damn young! "Mael, you have to help me undo it, you have to." Adrian said suddenly. Mael shook his head, his visage betraying his disgust.  "It can't be undone. Even if I wanted to help you, it can't be done." He said.

"Why the hell wouldn't you want to help me?!" Adrian snapped, shocking himself. "Because. Now, do you want to feed or not?" Mael asked, his temper obviously thinning. "No, I don't but I do not have a choice." Adrian said, his eyes narrowing in displeasure. Mael smiled down at him, his teeth showing. "Good, because I have changed my mind... I think you should feed from the girl and tell her what you have done." Mael said and abruptly stood. "Wait, you can't do that! I need your blood, remember?" Adrian insisted and tried to move but couldn't.

"No... you need hers and you need to tell her what you have done." Mael said opening the bedroom door. "Mael, wait, I need to tell you something about tonight. It's important!" Adrian began but the door was shut before he could finish. Damn him, damn him and his pigheadedness! There were more important things at stake here aside his and Abby's sanity. Those innocent people, that monster! But God, he would know when she came in, he would know what he had done and he would have to tell her. He'd rather face that terrible monster again.

How could he have messed up this badly? How? Why Abby... why her and not someone he didn't care about? She was just a child... and in a matter of days he would be out of his mind with wanting to complete the process. He was sickened with himself. A light knock on the door broke him out of his self degrading thoughts and he looked at that door with both fear and anticipation. "Come in." He said, his voice hoarse from the tense shudder that suddenly shot through his entire body.
Indeed, she was his.