^^Malik. Why yes, he is drop dead gorgeous ;)^^

"A simple hello can lead to a million things."

Chapter 3

A Night to Remember

Eden's POV

"Okay, kid. Wakey wakey," a voice grumbled. My eyes slowly blinked open as a groan fell past my lips.

"Uh uh," a finger waved in front of my face, "no complaining."

"He just woke up, Marco," another face peeked through my hazy vision, "be nice."

"I am being nice," Marco scoffed, "you don't see him on the floor, do you?"

I rolled to my side, slowly lifting myself up as I rubbed at my eyes. I blinked up, eyeing the two men before me. The room was dark but I could slightly make out Marco's large figure looming above me, arms folded across his broad chest. Tommy took a step forward, reaching a hand out to help me from the bed.

"Sorry about waking you up like this, Eden," Tommy whispered, "I tried to convince him to sleep somewhere else but the guy's so fucking stubborn."

"Hey," Marco hissed.

Tommy merely shook his head, "come, we'll find you another bed. There's gotta be at least one empty bed available somewhere. Someone needs to be taking the next shift."

I watched Marco climb into bed with his thick winter clothes still on with a raised brow.

"Ignore him," Tommy said, showing me out the door.

We walked quietly through the halls. Tommy peeked into every room we passed only to shake his head when there were no empty beds. I could see that he was slowly growing more and more aggravated as we moved farther and farther down the hall.

"For G-d's sake," Tommy clicked his tongue as he peeked into another room only to find no empty bed in that one as well. "Is anyone on duty at all?" He scratched the back of his neck.

I merely shrugged and we continued in.

As we rounded a corner my eyes locked on something that caught my feet in their tracks. There, across an opposite hall, stood Malik. His legs pressed against the wall, his arms crossed over, as he stood staring at a door across from him.

My head tilted.

What is he waiting for?

"I'm so sorry, Eden," Tommy's voice sounded a few feet from me, "I can't-"

His words cut off.

I turned to see him eyeing me feet from him.

"What are you doing so far away, Eden?"

"Oh, umm, just thought I saw something interesting."

He raised a brow, "hmm."

"I think I'm actually going to stay up," I quipped, "all this walking kinda woke me up," I made a show of stretching my arms.

"You only got four hours of sleep, Eden," Tommy's brows knitted together, "you're going to be exhausted tomorrow."

"Ah, I'll live."

Tommy sighed and shook his head.

"Alright," he rose his hand in a small wave, "I'm gonna go to sleep." He turned down the hall and back to the room we came from. I watched him go before taking a step back and eyeing the scene before me.

Dark hair swept past his face, covering his bright eyes as he scanned the door. A vein ticked against his jaw line before it flew open and a perky blond stepped out with a bright smile flashed across her face.

She leaned forward, whipping her hair to the side as she whispered in his ear with a squeak to her voice.

My hands tightened.

Her arms wounded around his as she pressed her breasts to his chest. His eyes fell, a hint of a smirk pulling to his lips as he eyed the curves of her body. She pulled herself close and off they went down the hall. I could only assume they were heading to his room and the idea alone caused my stomach to lurch.

I immediately wanted to turn around and find a corner to crawl into. A safe, dark place to bury this memory into the back of my subconscious. Locked away and forgotten. So that's exactly what I did. I pivoted on my heels and carried on in the opposite direction.

I walked and I walked until my feet hurt and my vision turned slightly dizzying. There I stood in an intersection between two long walkways. It was a small, circular section tracing a tall fountain in the center. I found myself drawn to it for reason I couldn't quite explain. Water poured passed the lips of a gigantic fish sitting in the center of the fountain, eyeing me as I did it.

My feet moved first, mind lost as I was carried me to the fountain like a fly to a light. I found myself seated along the stone rimming, immediately taken by the constant flow of water. My fingers dipped, breaking into the water as I seemingly lost myself amidst the clean liquid gliding across my rough palm.

And it was then as my mind wandered that a shadow cast against my shoulder and a soft chuckle pulled beside me.

"You're so taken by the water."

My head tilted to the right, pulling my eyes from the water to meet a familiar pair of blue eyes. The edges of his eyes scrunched, his lips pulled to an amused smirk.

I merely shrugged and turned back to the water.

"Done with the woman already?" I played nonchalance, laughing through locked teeth.

Malik cleared his throat, "woman?"

"The perky blond," his brows knitted as I spoke. "Sorry," I laughed beneath my breath as I lifted a hand, "I saw you guys when I was passing through, looking for a bed. Didn't realize it was a secret or anything." His eyes continued to drill into me.

"You know that sounds an awful like stalking."

Clear accusation fell passed his lips, sparking anger in me as my mouth suddenly grew tight. I could feel my slowly dropping from their sockets and I had to will them back before I got myself killed.

"And you sound awfully paranoid. News flash, no one cares who you fuck."

His eyes widened and he seemed momentarily stunned into silence. Though I took no care and went back to playing with the water.

My fingers brushed against the stone of the fish and it was once my fingertips reached one of the smaller of fish's fins that Malik finally regained his voice.

"I'm sorry."

I hummed low in my throat.

"Eden."

To that, my head lifted.

"I'm sorry," Malik took a breath and ran his fingers over his hair, "ever since I took over for my father, I've had a lot people watching me. Sometimes it's hard to tell who's asking a question out of curiosity or out of payment."

"People care who you sleep with?" I laughed at that.

"Yeah," Malik laughed along with me, "apparently so."

I took a breath from my laughter and tilted my head back, eyeing him upside down.

"You know, you have a very good memory," his brows scrunched at that so I continued, "for remembering my name, I mean. You only met me once and briefly at that."

"It's actually quite the opposite," Malik scoffed, "I have the worst memory. It's an accomplishment enough that I remember my own, really."

"Really?"

"Really." He took a breath and placed his hand beside mine, "you must have just peeked my interest."

"Me?"

"Um hm," he hummed, eyeing his hand beside mine.

I quirked a brow and drew my attention back to the water.

Water was very scarce where I came from. Only a bucket was given to us every few days to bath in and that was it. Unlike humans, we didn't need water to survive so the men in white felt no need to give us more than what was needed which to them was a bucket of soapy water once we began to smell worse than the rotten fish they left us with.

I never realized that water was so clear, I thought as I ran my fingers through the see-through liquid. I was so used to seeing it white and overflowing in bubbles.

"What about fish?" His silken voice filled my ears.

I gazed up at Malik with a raised brow, "what about them?"

"Well," he peered up at the stone statue above us, "do you like fish as you do water?"

My nose scrunched up. A memory, a brief flash of a picture of a couple bloody fish beside my feet, stinking up my small cell that for weeks until the men in white had taken them out. An experiment, seeing which animals we could feed off of and which we couldn't. Vampires can only feed off of mammals, fish were in comparison to bugs. Creatures that filled the earth that we wouldn't dare come near with a ten-foot pole.

"No," I shook my head in disgust, "gross."

He laughed. "Why that's hardly fair. You like where they live but not them themselves? That's like appreciating a forest but not the animals in it."

My head titled.

What's wrong with that?

"Do you like this..." I peered around the room. Where was I exactly?

"Base?" He finished for me.

I nodded.

"Well, of course," he chuckled, "I do run it."

"Do you like everyone who works here?"

His brows knitted though he gave no reply.

"Then, I'd say," I lifted a finger, "it's quite normal to appreciate a living space and not those in it."

He burst out into laughter, frightening me and nearly causing me to tumble back into the waterfall if not for him quickly catching me around the waist. After steadying me, his hand remained against my waist.

"I'm fine now," I pointed to his hand.

He sucked in his lips before letting out a sigh and squeezing my waist, causing me to flinch.

"You're so skinny, Eden," his brows scrunched, "when was the last time you ate?"

I pulled his hand from my waist and shot him a glare.

"Today." My last dosage of blood must have been two days ago, considering I walked for at least a full day.

Well, shit.

He hummed low in his throat, clearly not believing me. Though what was he going to do? Force feed me his stupid human food?

I shivered at the thought.

I'd kill him if he tried.

And considering my mental state at the moment, I was quite serious.

I continued tracing the lines of the tall statue, allowing for my thoughts to wander.

How did someone find a stone so big?

"A dear friend of my father's made the statue for him when he first started his leadership position here," Malik's voice brushed frighteningly close to my ear. I leaned to the side, away from his silken breath brushing against my shoulder blades. I eyed the sharp crevices, engraved scales, and realistic features with awe.

"He must've been an amazing artist," I breathed.

"Still is."

I turned my head to Malik, "he's still alive?"

"Um hm," Malik's eyes caught mine and a small smile pinched his lips. He shook his head with a laugh, "going on sixty-eight this year and still thinks he's twenty."

"Still stuck in the past," I tilted my head up. "Huh."

A soft breath brushed past my face.

"Aren't we all?"

A shiver ran up my spine as memories most unwanted trickled in like escapees through barbed wire.

"I would hope not."

Not when you have memories like mine.

Malik laughed.

"Those with good pasts wish to relive it, hoping to never forget." My eyes pulled from the statue, searching Malik's face as he spoke. "And those with pasts of horror are constantly reliving it, hoping to forget."

"Which are you?" I asked in a whisper. 

His eyes met mine and my breath sucked out of me. The overwhelming sorrow that laid beneath them was all the answer I needed.

There was no need for words for his eyes told me more than I ever needed.

I swallowed. "Me too."

His brows knitted and eyes searched mine. His mouth opened as I leaned back on the stone, waiting for his response. Though just as a single breath fell past his lips, his mouth shut and he shook his head, turning back to the fountain.

My brows knitted.

I leaned into his space, catching his eye. He swallowed, eyes dropping to my lips.

"What?" I whispered, "what were you going to say?"

He sucked in a ragged breath, "I can't remember," and he dropped his eyes to the water puddling beneath the statue's large fins. "Or rather," he let out a light breath, "you most probably wouldn't want to hear it."

"Try me."

He laughed. "Are you sure?" he said, peeking up at me through his thick lashes.

"Of course."

He nodded. "Well," he took a breath, "it's just that...sometimes I feel so alone, lost within memories I'd rather not relive. Hearing that you do as well. Well," he chuckled low, "it makes me feel less alone, is all."

"That's all?" I laughed lightly, "you made it seem like you were about to declare something far more embarrassing than that."

"Is declaring my own loneliness not embarrassing enough for you?" Malik quirked a brow.

"Absolutely not," I breathed out, "isn't everyone lonely one way or another?"

"Are you?" 

"I guess," I leaned on my arm, "but unlike you, I'm not embarrassed to state it. I've never had anyone to care for or care for me. So," I shrugged, "for me, it's quite normal."

"Do you wish you did?" 

My head tilted, head peering up quizzically.

"Someone to care for," his eyes softened, "or care for you?"

I shrugged, "Nah."

"Really?" 

"You sound so surprised." I quirked a brow.

"Well," he chuckled beneath his breath, "it is in human nature to crave company."

Good thing I'm not human, then.

"Do you?" I threw his question back at him.

"Of course."

Stupid question. I could tell from the blonde he disappeared with earlier.

"Well," he sighed, lifting himself up. "I've got to get back," his eyes set on me and he licked his lips. "You probably should get to bed, Eden. It's quite late and you've traveled so far," he patted my knee, "you must be exhausted."

I nodded, watching as he dusted off his pants.

"I really do hope you find someone who you'll crave for company, Eden," Malik sighed, peering down at me. 

"Why is that?"

"Well," Malik chuckled, "it's not quite normal to want to be lonely. Don't you think?"

My eyes narrowed.

"Is it?" My breath thickened, "Why I think accepting loneliness is far more normal than fucking any cunt to warm my bed."

His smile dropped and I turned before I could see his expression. I raised a hand in goodbye before turning down the hall. I nearly jumped in surprise when my eyes landed on an empty bed through the door on my right.

Well, would you look at that. I shook my head with a quirked smile.You just missed it, Tommy. Just one more hallway down.

I stepped through the doorframe and slumped onto the bed, taking no notice of my surroundings before I closed my eyes and fell back asleep for the last time that night.

Whelps, that's all for this chapter. What do you guys think so far? Eden's thoughts are going to be a bit drier than you guys are used to but that's just Eden, he has a bit more of a bite. His humor is a bit darker than any other characters I've ever written about and his words...a lot dirtier but I'm finding it a bit charming in a strange way :,) Till next week! Love you guys tunzzz!! *blows kisses*