Chapter Thirteen

   This wasn’t the best place for us to be after our first night alone. Me, him (us) and a bunch of his mates. Only two words came into my mind – Oh, great.

   ‘I’ll be one minute; feel free to go on ahead,’ Mike had said, as I walked towards the front door.

   I turned around, asking, ‘And where are you going?’

   ‘That’s for me to know and you not to.’

   ‘Fine.’

   ‘Fine.’ And he stood there watching me go through the door.

   I tried my hardest to not make a noise but the door’s hinges definitely needed oiling.

   ‘Hello?’ I called through the long cream, beige-carpeted hallway. I’ll just poke around then, I thought casually. I walked on in, leaving the door ajar behind me, and trod down the corridor until I reached the first door on the left. Listening in, I heard the fuzzy voices of a television.

   Now I sat on the comfy, black leather sofa near the window. I was hugging one of the cushions close to my chest and my chin on the edge of it. My legs were crossed beneath me.

   ‘Have you bitten anyone yet?’ asked Jonas; he had short, spiky black hair, blue eyes and he had a muscular, broad-ish build.

   ‘Nope, and I don’t want to, ever.’

   ‘You don’t mean that. Anyway, you won’t have a chance of resisting if you come along with us...’

   ‘Like I’m going hunting with you lot.’

   ‘Ah, come on; it’ll be... fun.’ I took in the hesitation.

   ‘Leave it, Jonas. I’m taking her out on my next one.’

   ‘Oh, you’re taking her out.’ He winked at us; and in the heat of my ‘getting on’ with Mike’s friends, I threw the cushion right at his head (with a smirk on my face).

   ‘Butt out, Jonas,’ I scornfully (yet playfully) said when he had thrown it back.

   ‘Yeh, yeh; like we’re going to back out of this.’

   ‘Out of what? This...’ saying as I flung my arms around Mike’s waist and (for the sake of it and that he suddenly faced me) smartly pressed my lips against his. He pressed his lips back against mine, while he forcibly unlocked my hands from behind his waist.

   ‘Get. A. Room!’ shouted Ian, as another cushion flew through the air and hit us in the heads.

   ‘Ow! Hey, Ian!’ Mike shouted back. ‘If you don’t like it, leave. Simple as that.’

   ‘No, it’s you two who will have to leave. This is the social room, not the private room.’

   ‘Yeh, social meaning we share everything,’ Mike retaliated.

   ‘Ooo, sharing... What, even her?’ Jonas commented, sarcastically.

   At that, I bared my teeth and growled, then added, ‘I’m not something to be shared or owned.’

   ‘Hmmm...’ He nodded his head and then turned it sideways. I scowled at him secretly; Mike was chuckling beside me; hands still clamped to mine, entwined.

   ‘What...?’ I asked him, with innocent eyes.

   He shook his head with a smile. ‘Nothing.’ Kissed me one last time on the cheek. ‘Later,’ he added, whispering in my ear.

   The sun had set by now. The dim light of the moon shone through the window but we still had the lamp on in the small spare room (or, as I had found out, Mike’s room whenever he’s visiting). The mood in here was relaxing; I wanted to sleep but knew that wouldn’t really happen.

   We were sat on the bed; Mike leaning his back against the wall and me leant on his chest so he could kiss the top of my head if he wanted. Our arms were wrapped around each other’s chests, though his hands rested on the small of my back. Since we entered the room we hadn’t spoken. However, I could sense he was working something through his mind. How I felt it I couldn’t describe, all I knew was he was thinking about a situation. I let him be and resorted to my own thoughts and worries – some weren’t comforting and made me squirm inside.

   Unfortunately, I let my mind wonder too far. Why was it so hard? They were only words after all – maybe I’ll get another chance. Or would I? Everything relied on my actions from here onwards – and may be not just that. My spine shivered and my shoulders suddenly tensed. Mike squeezed his arms around me, pressing me closer into him. I felt his breath against my hair as he sighed.

   ‘Tif?’

   ‘Yes?’

   ‘There’s something you still have to tell me, remember?’ At that, my chest felt empty; my heart couldn’t decide whether to beat faster or not at all.

   ‘Yes, I remember.’ Pulling my knees up a little, I thought it through in my head. A slight pressure came upon my head and I closed my eyes and relaxed as I realised he had pressed his lips against my hair.

   ‘I’m ready to listen when you’re ready to talk. I’m not forcing you to say it but its better if you say it now. The earlier, the easier.’

   ‘Alright...’ And so I told him. Told him of how I felt when I moved to where I was only a day ago, my first day of school, my first class and everything that unfolded after.

   ‘He doesn’t seem to understand much about being mature,’ Mike said after I had finished showing him the last text Jake had sent me, and all the others I had in my inbox. ‘From what you’ve told me, he sounds like trouble. Good thing I came along when I did.’ I smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

   ‘You saved me from many things, Mike, including myself.’

   ‘Mmmm,’ he mumbled as he gently kissed my lips. ‘The others should be out by now.’

   ‘Mike...’ I said with warning eyes.

   ‘Hey, woh! I didn’t mean anything by it. Honest.’ I narrowed my eyes but placed a smile on my lips, which let him know I wasn’t about to leave but he puppy-eyed me anyway. However, narrowing my eyes wasn’t a good idea because my head started banging inside. I thought it could either be because I was so tired from being up about thirty two hours straight or because I was only just getting used to the changes happening to me. My eyes closed and my head drooped, both out of my control.

   ‘Tif?’ he whispered. ‘Do you have a headache by any chance?’

   ‘Yes. Ow, and it hurts. How did you know?’

   ‘Lucky guess,’ he said with a shrug. ‘It’ll get worse unless you feed it.’

   ‘Feed it?’

   ‘It being you-know-what and feeding meaning hunting.’

   ‘So... what you’re trying to say is it’s trying to get out to suppress the need?’

   He nodded. ‘Come on, we’re going out.’ He almost flew off the bed, pulling me with him.

   ‘Ow. No; Mike, not now, please?’

   ‘Yes; now. It’ll only get worse and you don’t want that. I know you don’t like the idea but neither did I; and now look at me. If needs be, I’ll do the actual hunting but you need the blood part over and done with.’ My arms were folded and my head turned away. ‘Alright, but think of it this way: you’ll be begging me to take you out because the pain will be too much. And if I refused, you’ll only end up doing what I did.’ He paused to allow it to sink in. ‘So... would you rather now and have me there through it all or later, when your morals are shattered and I have to pull you back together?’ As harsh as his words were, I knew he said them for a reason. The pounding in my head intensified a bit and I could barely keep my eyes from closing (they burned with a heat from within me). ‘Are you coming or not then?’ he asked as a final beckoning, and held out a hand to me.

   ‘Alright,’ I said, finally giving in, ‘You’ve persuaded me but I do this for the both of us.’ Taking his hand, I walked level with him and we went outside.

   As the night air hit my senses, I closed my eyes, inclined my head and sniffed the air (in a similar way to a fox as it carefully comes out of its den). It soothed my headache slightly and the burning settled.

   ‘This way, follow me.’ We continued down the road and at the end turned right. There were no street lights down this route and we could hear no cars nearby. The air seemed colder outside and the only light was the oranges streams from the street lamps. He let go of my hand and paced on ahead awhile; I tilted my head to the side, wondering. He stopped and stood as still as a statue; if I were still human and out for a night walk, then I may never have noticed him. All was silent around us, not even a light breeze. I resorted to analysing the surroundings; the layout, the landscape, the walls, the windows – everything – any small details I could discover from the street. Mike’s stillness and silence began to worry me and I put myself on edge – my senses and nerves became a little more receptive. I slowly paced up to him, stopping about a foot behind him.

   ‘Mike?’ I whispered under my breath; a whirl of mist rose up into the night from my mouth.

   ‘Sssh...’ he whispered back. I pursed my lips tight shut. The cold air made my spine shiver and goose bumps to appear on my arms. The burning behind my eyes grew again and now I felt the flames that lay inside me. The flames grew, higher and higher, until tears flooded into my eyes to extinguish them. A battle raged in my mind and conscience; a hissing as the tears steamed as they touched the heat of my eyes.

   ‘No...’ I growled.

   ‘No?’ His voice sounded distant – a whisper in the dark, in a tunnel. The cold around me deepened, but the heat inside deepened further into my soul – if I was still human enough to have one.

  Instinct took over – I lost control of my own body and actions. The snake inside me reached out as the last of my tears evaporated with a final stream.

   All I could do now was watch the world from a window; through my eyes but not as how I may see it.

   Mike had now turned to face me – the light of his eyes had gone. His irises were now pure black – full of fear. He slowly raised his arms and gently held mine in his grasp.

   ‘Tif...? Come back to me.’

   I felt the muscles of my eyelids and eyes as they moved to give him a malicious stare. I felt them but without my consent. The beast within me had released itself upon my body, and I was now contained within my own mind; my conscious power wasn’t strong enough to chain it back up. ‘Tif?’ From just my name, I knew he was calling for me.

   ‘Your friend is no longer here.’ My voice came out, though it held a villainous tint to it. A crooked smile touched my lips and all I felt was hatred at myself for being so weak.

   ‘Don’t try and bar her up, I know Tiffany is there...’ Mike continued calmly. ‘Tif, if you can hear me, and I know you can, fight her. Fight against its hole. She’s...’

   With a swish of her limbs, my vampire grasped his arms as he had to my body. Through my connection with myself, the muscles in my fingers clenched and I felt my nails dig into his skin.

   ‘You cannot help her; and I am weak and the only prey nearby right now is you...’

   Clamped in my mind, I gasped – No! I thought. No, not Mike, anyone but Mike. Please! I screamed at her and scraped at her prison (that was my mind) with the little consciousness I still had within my control. It wasn’t for my fear of her in command of my body; it was fear that I’d let her (me) put Mike’s life in danger. Mike! I screamed as my neck muscles drew my head closer to his neck; teeth bared, death in my eyes (or her eyes). The more I screamed his name, the stronger my consciousness became. I fought true and hard against her devilish thoughts, until she snapped her head back and began trying to close me off again; but to no avail. Having already gained some ground, all I had to do now was push against the doors.

   Piece by piece she drew back into her confinement. I could feel my body attach back to my will; finding that I had somehow fallen to my knees and leant backwards. My shoulder blades were resting on his thigh, which he had bent up and was knelt on his other knee. His arms were clamped around my upper body, trapping my arms against my sides. There was no energy left to spare; none to even move my fingers the tiniest bit. Everything was still a blur; everything I felt, smelt, saw and heard. I managed to open my eyes.

   ‘Tif, Tif,’ I saw him mouth to me from above.

   ‘Mike,’ I just about whispered; and that was it – all my energy evaporated away with that last word. All went blank and dead to me.