Winter had been running for hours, and despite her lungs screaming to the point of where her sides started burning, she kept going...
She made it into a city twenty minutes after she ran out of Cam’s house, it looked like small mom-and-pop shops and some franchises... but she didn’t have time to look at familiar stores...
Because she knew Cam was on her tail, though she didn’t know how far...
Tears had been streaming down her cheeks for hours... almost to the point of where she felt she lost all the water in her body and a dizzy spell cast over her.
She started trusting him...
She started trusting him!
Why was she such an idiot? She knew he screamed insanity!
What the hell was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she think?
Her heart had been shattering for the past hour... and it still was... but she didn’t care because she wanted to get away...
Away...
She darted down an alley, chest caving in and her lungs were on the verge of collapsing...
She knew it was a stupid idea to run down an alleyway... but it really was no different because there weren’t that many people on the streets...
But that’s when she tripped over a grey trash bag that blended in with the cement, falling over until she met the floor...
But it wasn’t just the floor...
Winter collapsed onto a pile of broken glass, the bits of sharpness slicing her skin like thin knives.
She cried out at the burning pain, unable to get up with her skin scorching with cuts and bruises...
But she pressed her hands to the glass, sobbing until she stood on her bare feet...
They were cutting deep into her skin, and she started crying at the pain...
Heartbreak and agony...
Betrayal...
She tried to limp her way to the end of the alley, but the cuts sent shockwaves of fire through her skin, and she cried out again, knees buckling.
“Get up...” she told herself aloud. “Get up! GET UP!”
She managed to press her hands to the ground... but there were still glass shards stuck in her skin like glue...
And they deepened into her hands, making her elbows buckle.
She pushed again, only to collapse...
And she laid there for a bit, sobbing into the cement, tears bleeding into the ground so much that the grey looked black...
And that’s when she heard loud patting footsteps...
She hoped that it wasn’t Cameron... that if it was, he would walk passed the alley, but the footsteps came to a halt at her loud sobs...
And she cursed at herself internally, but tears kept on leaving her eyes at the scorching pain that spread across her entire body... burning her from the inside out...
But she heard little slaps of feet as he ran down the alley...
She knew it was Cameron... didn’t understand why... she just knew...
“Get up,” he growled.
She kept on sobbing.
“Now.”
“I can’t!” she cried. “I... I can’t! It hurts too much! It hurts!”
“What hurts?” he said then, all anger gone from his tone...
There was a gentleness... and a slight edge of concern...
“I can’t get up!” she sobbed. “I can’t! Please, don’t make me!”
She saw his shadow kneel down by her side, and when she heard him suck in a breath... she knew he saw the blood...
“What the hell happened?” he whispered. “Why is there so much blood...?”
But she never responded, just continued sobbing into the cement... unable to move...
“Can you stand...?”
She shook her head.
When he lightly grasped her arm, she screamed in agony, making him draw back quickly.
And she went back to sobbing.
“What happened?” he wondered. “Why are you bleeding...?” His tone then hardened in anger. “Were you mugged?”
She shook her head.
“Then....”
“I fell....”
“You tripped? That doesn’t explain why you’re bleeding this bad.”
“In glass!” she finished.
He was silent, breathing a little harshly...
But he brushed some hair away from her face, showing her drenched cheeks and glistening eyes.
All fears of him vanished... the murder, the fact he was a vampire... all gone...
Because she was burning like her entire body caught fire... and every part of her scorched with electric shocks...
He brushed his thumb along her cheekbone, but she could tell he was breathing harshly... though she didn’t know why...
His eyes had a dark flame in them... and they were burning with something she couldn’t name.
But before she could ask him what was wrong, he pressed his hand to her forehead and whispered something in a different language... something she couldn’t recognize...
And before she knew it... everything in her body became cold... and she fell into the darkness of her dreams...
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*****
Cameron stared down at the river of blood flowing toward the end of the alley, and he felt his fangs extend...
He stared down at Winter’s neck, seeing the skin where her artery rested pulse so softly... like her heart...
A desire filled him...
What did her blood taste like? Why did it look so sweet?
But his eyes moved her tear-stained cheeks, and he snapped out of the trance...
But he started breathing heavily again...
Oh, God... he was hungry...
Why did this have to happen now?
But he brought his mouth to his arm, letting out a grunt of pain as he sliced his canines into his pale skin...
And the moment the bitter red hit his tongue... he instinctively spit it out, coughing like his blood were rotten milk...
But he ran a couple yards away from Winter, hurling into an empty trash can and continued coughing...
And just like he planned, his canines sank back into his gums as his stomach twisted and turned...
He managed to hobble over to Winter, still tasting his rotten blood on his lips but he needed to feel nauseous... just until he got food...
But he wrapped her arm around his neck and lifted her up by her knees, holding her there...
And was relived to find that her blood didn’t make him hungry...
In fact... he wanted to hurl again... his stomach twisting in knots, and nausea swelled up his throat... but he painfully swallowed it down, stepping out of the alley...
He started toward one of those trucks people used to donate blood... but little did they know that fifty percent of their donations go to other vampires in the city...
There weren’t a lot of vampires... and he knew some of them would raid those things if they were hungry enough...
And when he saw the sign on the window, he smiled.
Out for lunch.
He didn’t care about getting caught, he needed food.
So he threw open the door, the locks bashing outward and stepped in, grabbing a bunch of o-negative blood—his favorite flavor—and stepped out of the truck with Winter still sound asleep in his arms...
And Cameron launched toward the end of the street, passing by pedestrians at light speed, every single one of them looking like blobs.
When he stopped, Winter jerked forward, but he pressed her back to him, causing her to gasp...
She opened her lashes then, eyes glittering with unshed tears from earlier...
And she looked up to him, her expression slightly confused...
Then she looked to his lips, where his blood dripped off from when he bit himself earlier.
And she gazed down at herself where she was covered in blood, staining her white shirt... black skirt... and matted hair...
Her eyes widened, clearly getting the wrong idea.
And she screamed bloody murder, shattering his eardrums...
It was like he was attempting to kill her... but that’s what she thought... She didn’t know it, but it wasn’t true...
He didn’t bite her, he bit himself...
He pressed his finger to her lips, cooing, “Shhh... It’s okay... I won’t hurt you, Snowflake.”
Before he knew it, she hit him hard across the face, and he dropped her...
She landed on the ground, about to break into a sprint when every wound caught fire at the movement... and she cried out, falling to the ground... slapping her face onto the cement.
She could hear Cam’s footsteps, but she managed to get on her feet, attempting to crawl but she collapsed again...
“Stop,” he said, watching her try to get up. “That’s enough, Winter.”
She pushed her hands on the ground, shoving herself up but shockwaves of pain flowed through her... and her elbows buckled, making her fall again.
“Winter...” he whispered, stepping to her.
And she fell again... and again... and a third time...
And he made it to her then, kneeling down beside her while she gasped for air, face pressing to the icy concrete while tears stung her eyes...
But she didn’t dare let them fall...
“Done yet?” he said, sounding irritated.
“No!” she yelled, attempting to sound angry but really she sounded as if she was going to cry. “I’m not going to let you take me again! I’m sick of you!”
“I’m not letting you go,” he stated sternly.
“Kill me, then!” she shouted, making his heart crack but he attempted to not show it.
“I said I wasn’t going to.”
“Kill me or let me go!” she hissed, shooting him a glare despite still laying belly-first on the ground.
He was silent despite his eyes glowing in anger.
Hers had the same rage, and she screamed, “I HATE YOU! You’re a jerk! You only care about YOURSELF! You just want to USE ME! Just like every single guy in my SCHOOL! I HATE YOU! YOU DON’T DESERVE ME!”
“You’re right,” he said, making her eyes shoot to his, “I don’t.”
She was silent... all arguments that she had boiling inside her vanishing like a fire doused in water...
“Winter,” he said, “I said before I have my reasons. I said before I can’t let you go. I know I haven’t told you why, but I can assure you that I won’t hurt you, alright?”
He saw tears well up in the corners of her eyes, but she couldn’t move from her position to wipe them away...
She was hurting too much... and not only physical pain... but emotional...
And while she tried to blink them away... a single tear left her eye, slipping down her cheek and painting her skin with a sparkling glaze...
And before she even knew it, her face broke, and she started sobbing...
Cam looked concerned, but didn’t move to her like she expected, keeping his distance...
YOU DON’T DESERVE ME!
You’re right... I don’t...
Why did his response make tears build...? Why was her heart aching...? Why did his words make her sad...?
She hadn’t felt this way before...
She cried when her father died... when her mother was kidnapped... but this had a different feeling...
It wasn’t guilt... but something that felt good... something so good...
She couldn’t think of it, though... because every thought was scattered in her mind like puzzle pieces... and she didn’t know how to solve them...
But Cam finally moved over to her, pulling her arm over his neck and making her cry out at the burning pain, so he dropped it gently, and rolled her over...
“Why am I bleeding?” she cried. “Did you bite me?”
He shook his head. “You fell in glass... remember?”
She shook her head, face cracking a little. “What’s... happening to me?”
He looked to her hand and laced his fingers through hers. “I don’t know.”
She looked away then... only to the bundle of trashcans that lay in a heap next to them... “Why won’t you kill me...?”
“Because I’m not going to.”
“Why?”
“You really don’t understand, do you?” he said, wiping some tears away while his other hand still held hers.
“Understand what?”
He leaned down then, making her heart pound hard against her ribcage until their lips were inches apart. “I care about you, Winter.”
Her heart broke a little because she couldn’t understand his reasoning…
And she was about to start crying… but he moved first…
And he pressed their mouths together, making a shockwave of warmth burst through her entire body as she stared up at him in shock…
But she didn’t move away…
He was hot... he was burning...
He tasted sweet... but bitter from the blood staining his lips...
He smelled like earth and mint and pepper... something she had never experienced before...
She managed to raise a burning arm, unable to acknowledge the pain anymore...
Because how this moment felt... so hot, so sweet, and yet so bitter... she never wanted it to end...
And every part of her was responding...
And lightly... she touched his back, feeling his muscles move under his skin as he leaned down further, cupping the back of her head and holding her to him...
Both of them were shuttering... the heat from the other was unexplainable... how she tasted like chocolate and spicy from the chai she drank earlier... how he tasted like blood but... with a tang of breath mints...
And that’s when something pierced her lip, and he drew back suddenly, gasping...
Winter stared up at him, feeling something warm trickle down her chin... but didn’t really recognize it...
She tasted the copper... the metal... and she knew in the back of her mind that his teeth pierced her lip...
And she knew she was right when she saw his fangs extended...
Wait…
Hold on…
What just happened…?
Did he… Did he just kiss her?
What was happening?
“See?” he whispered despite knowing he looked terrifying. “You’re okay.”
She just stared up at him, eyes wide but not in fear...
In curiosity...
Because she’d never felt anything like this before... and she wasn’t sure if she liked it...
But she knew she didn’t dislike it...
And he leaned down, resting his forehead on hers and breathing heavily as if he just ran a mile...
She was calm now, though... so why was he still panting…?
Was it because he was overwhelmed...?
She looked to his fangs that he tried to hide with his lips... but it clearly wasn’t working...
But he picked her up, holding under her waist as he broke into a run again, making her insides sink deeper into her body... but she didn’t notice it... just stared down at her wounds that still burned...
But not as bad...
What’s happening...?
But he stopped in front of a hotel, this time jogging up to the main doors like a normal person, and continued his pace until they stood in front of the desk...
A blonde-haired girl stood there, searching through the computer while clicking the keys.
She looked up when she saw Cam, and smiled. “Hello, welcome to Stone Wove Inn, do you have a reservation?”
Cam shook his head. “I just need a room for a night.”
Why couldn’t they just go back to his house...?
Maybe he didn’t clean up the body yet... and he didn’t want her to see it...
“Alright,” she said, clicking the keys. “We have one room... It’s a king suite for one-ninety-nine a night.”
TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS?
Could he even spend that much?
But he nodded, making Winter give him a concerned look. “Yes, we’ll take it.”
It completely flew passed Winter’s mind that they were going to sleep on the same bed, mainly because she was still phased by the kiss earlier…
But the worker slipped two cards over the counter. “There you are. Room two-oh-three.”
He pushed one card back over to her. “One’s just fine. We’ll share.”
The girl looked to Winter, brows raised.
She clearly did not notice the bloodstains all over Winter’s shirt... mainly because at some point while he was running, Cameron draped his jacket over her chilled skin.
Though Winter was glaring up at Cam with a look that said, You’re going to regret this.
But the worker took the card back. “Alright.”
And he stuffed his key-card into his pocket that draped over Winter—once again—jogging to the second floor, up the stairs, to their room.
He pressed the coat pocket with the card to the door, hearing a loud beep echo through the halls and stepped in, kicking the door closed behind him.
He didn’t even bother turning on the lights, because the room was baked in soft golden sunlight that beamed through the window the bed was pressed against...
When he made it to the small sofa in the center of the room, he set Winter down onto it, peeling off his jacket, eyes searching the cuts all over her body...
“Jesus...” he whispered.
“Cam...?” she spoke for the first time.
“Hmm?” He looked to her then, eyes dark but his expression seemed genuinely curious.
“You were an angel before... right...?”
A nod.
“So... do you have some healing powers or something?”
He looked down to her blood-stained dress, sighing as if exhaling a bit of panic. “No... I mean... yes I have healing powers, but I’m not using them on you.”
“Why?”
“Because it involves me biting you, and I know that you’re going to be in an even pissier mood which I question how that’s possible, but with you, anything’s possible.”
She gave him a look.
He smiled then, but with a touch of playfulness. “Am I wrong?”
She studied his gaze for a moment, then responded, “No.”
“I rest my case,” he said, standing up and stepping over to the kitchen.
“Did you lose all your angel powers when you turned...?”
He threw some medical supplies he found in some cupboards on the counter. “Apart from being a daylighter, yes.”
“Isn’t it... scary that you lost everything you’re used to using?”
He stopped for a minute, looking down to the counter. “Yes... at first, but I got used to it.”
She could hear his breathing become heavier...
Was he upset...?
But she noticed he was shaking slightly... and after every second that passed... the shaking got worse...
“Cam... are you okay...?”
“I’m fine,” he said, throwing some more supplies on the counter.
“You’re shaking,” she noticed. “Are you cold?”
“No.”
And she was silent then, hearing his breathing become faster and heavier...
And when he got closer to her, the box of bandages was rattling with his tremors, and same with the ice-pack he shuffled out of the freezer...
When she looked to his face... his expression was hidden by his hair...
He kneeled down beside her, taking her arm and cleaning out the wounds with some rubbing alcohol and a cloth...
She whimpered at the pain, and tried to pull out of his grasp... but he tightened his grip.
And started stroking her skin with a thumb as if to sooth her...
“I know it hurts... but you have to deal....”
His breathing was becoming faster... yet shallower...
“What’s wrong...?” she said.
“Nothing.”
She caught his chin then, tilting it up so she could see his expression, but he pulled out of her grasp, standing.
But she already saw...
His fangs were extended... and he was piercing his lip... though she knew he was doing it on purpose... and she had a suspicion as to why...
“Oh...” she said softly, the symptoms implanting in her memories, “you’re hungry, aren’t you?”
He was silent, facing away from her.
Why did her heart sink into her chest at his reaction...?
“Do you have food...?” she wondered softly.
“I dropped it when you hit me,” he responded in the same tone. “And I had to run after you, so I couldn’t get it back....”
She was quiet for a moment, wondering if she should say what she was about to... but it spilled out before she could think first. “If you... heal me... can you feed off me, too?”
He turned to her then, brows drawn together. “Why are you suddenly okay with that?”
Because she knew how it felt to be so hungry... and how painful it must’ve been for him...
He was visibly shaking...
But she responded differently. “Answer the question, Cam.”
He looked over her for a moment, studying her. “Yes, I can.”
“Will I get my blood back?”
“Over time.”
She was silent, and he watched her think it over. “What do you mean by ‘time’? Days? Weeks?”
“Hours,” he responded.
She was thinking it over again, seeing him shake a little harder in the corner of her eye.
“Can you stop when I’m losing too much blood?” she wondered.
He nodded.
And she stared off into space, contemplating. “Alright... do it....”
He stared for a moment, as if he didn’t believe she would agree. “You sure?”
A nod.
“You said you don’t trust me, Winter.”
“I don’t,” she answered. “I just know how it feels to be as hungry as you are right now, Cam... I know how much it hurts... And I have a suspicion that you’re biting yourself because your blood is somehow repulsive to you and you get sick when you drink it.”
He raised his brows.
How did she know that?
But he stepped over to her, watching her stance to see if she would tense...
But she didn’t... just stared up at him... waiting.
He kneeled down in front of her, taking her hand and held it for a moment. “You know we could just go to a blood donation stand, Winter.”
“We both know you won’t last that long,” she responded.
He sighed, knowing that she was right.
But he looked to her wrist, staring down at the blue veins glowing through her soft pink skin... and he stared... watching the skin beat ever-so-slightly with the artery on her wrist...
His eyes glazed over... and he wanted to taste it...
He’d been so curious before... but now he could actually... taste it...
And before he could think it through... he sank his teeth into her skin, making a short little gasp escape her mouth at the sharp pain.
And he drank her blood... sucking the bitter red liquid into his mouth...
She watched as a couple drops escaped his lips and dripped down... onto the floor...
And she looked to him then, watching the skin of his throat move as he gulped down her blood repeatedly... as if he’d never tasted anything like this before...
And that’s when she started feeling weak... head growing fuzzy... back weakening into the sofa as he continued to drink...
Her eyes weighed, but she continued to watch him through lowered lashes...
“You were really hungry, huh?” she managed to say through paralyzed lips.
The pain was gone... all of it... every part of her that hurt felt so warm and soft... and she managed one glance down at her arms...
To see all the wounds shut... and where the glass sliced her skin... laid soft pink scars...
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*****
Cameron’s eyes shot open after a couple minutes, and he immediately tore his fangs out of Winter wrist, not even getting a reaction from her.
Not a yelp... not a groan... not even a gasp...
He looked to her then, seeing her gazing down at him softly through tired eyes.
His gaze dulled in panic, and he ran his hands down her now clear skin...
But it wasn’t her wounds that terrified him... it was the fact that he took too much blood... and that she looked as weak as a rag doll...
This never happened before... He always had restraint!
Why didn’t he have restraint now?
“I’m sorry...” he said quickly, “I don’t know what I was doing....”
“It’s okay...” she responded softly. “I let you....”
He looked to her then. “Why?”
“Because...” she whispered, eyes weighing more, “it felt... good....”
He knew she meant the healing magic, but he decided against making a smart as remark.
She fell forward suddenly, making Cam catch her.
“Oh, f—, no—no—no—no—no...” he pushed her against the sofa, tapping her face. “Winter, wake up. Come on.”
She didn’t respond, making his chest cave in. “Winter...” he said, patting her cheek, “come on. Wake up. Come on....”
Her head dropped and panic burned his veins like venom.
“Winter,” he said, patting a little harder, “open your eyes... right now... Now, Winter...."
Still no response.
He exhaled a curse, pressing his fingers to her neck to see if she was still alive...
But he knew she was... because she was still warm...
And her pulse pounded against his finger like a drum... and he took his hand from her neck, pushing her back against the sofa to see her face...
She was... alive... and her heart was beating strong... as if she didn’t lose a lot of blood...
Then why did she faint...?
He looked to her arm, grasped it and turned it so her inner wrist faced him...
The puncture marks from his teeth were healed now... like they had been for years...
He pulled her to his chest then, making her collapse onto him but he held her close...
She didn’t faint due to lack of blood... she fainted because he healed her... and when her body acted faster than it was used to for healing... she fell asleep...
He exhaled a sigh of relief...
Thank God...
He could feel his immortality kick in... and the bruises, cuts, and scrapes she gave him all vanished back into his normal pale skin...
It would’ve healed a lot... slower if he didn’t have blood...
And... he would probably die if he got hungry enough...
Blood was what kept vampires alive... it was their only energy source sadly... Not the sun, not food, and not water...
Blood only...
He shook his head, clearing his thoughts and lifted her up, carrying her over to the king sized bed in the room and lying her down onto the mattress, and he pressed their foreheads together...
He could hear her soft breathing... gentle and delicate... like she were a Goddess in the clouds...
So he climbed in next to her, draped some covers over her and pulled her to his chest, squeezing her slightly, not enough to hurt her, but to assure her that she was safe...
And partly to assure him that she was safe...
From him...
He didn’t know how... but this girl here... healed faster than anyone he’d ever known...
She really was special... wasn’t she...?
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