Chapter 30: :Inject Me Sweetly: Chapter Twenty-Nine

Waking up in strange places was something I was growing accustom to. Having an IV attached to me wasn’t coming as a surprise either. I glanced down at it, my vision blurry and shifting between focused and unfocused. It took a moment for it to settle on my normal eyesight. I turned my head, trying to get a good look around the room. My neck throbbed painfully and a grimace crossed my face. What…?

“Oh! You’re up!”

My heart skipped a beat and I shot up into a sitting position, looking around wildly, and forgetting the pain in my throat. When my eyes landed on Fiona I flopped back with a huff of annoyance. “Don’t scare me like that!”

She gave me an uncharacteristically serious look. “Don’t scare me!”

“W-what do you mean don’t scare you?” I snapped, putting a hand over my frantically beating heart.

“Disappearing without a trace?” she started, narrowing her emerald eyes at me. “Leaving that horrifying voicemail on Vivi’s phone? You nearly gave me a heart attack! And trust me when I say giving a vampire a heart attack is quite an achievement!”

I stared at her in surprise, my mouth hanging open. The voicemail… Memories of the night before rushed through my mind. Luca, my choices, Ashton… “I-I’m sorry,” I stammered after a moment. “But Ashton—”

“And then, oh boy, the look on Vivi’s face. I am going to have nightmares for weeks. Poor Joel…”

“What happened to Joel?”

Fiona solemnly dragged a slim finger across her pale neck.

“He killed him?”

“Well, no, Sebastian didn’t let him do that…”

“It wasn’t his fault!” I protested. Joel just had bad timing. I was the one who let him leave. “If it’s anyone’s, it’s mine. Vincent should be mad at me!”

She smirked. “Oh, he is.”

My heart sunk. “What?”

“How are you feeling?” she questioned, changing the topic. “You lost quite a lot of blood. About the same amount as the time Joel sucked you’re blood… Huh. You’re pretty prone to vampire attacks, aren’t you? I bet it’s because you’re a Blue Blood. They’re rare creatures…”

I grimaced. “Creature?”

“That’s what you referred us vampires to.”

“Sorry,” I apologized sincerely after a moment of stunned silence. Thinking back now, how could I have been so callous? I was pretty bad…

She waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. If you’re feeling okay now, my parents would like to talk to you.”

“The King and Queen?”

“The one and only.”

“Where are we?” I asked, taking another look around the room I was in. Nothing stood out to me. It was completely white and bare, aside from the bed I was lying on, and the drip that Fiona was now taking off of me.

She gave me an amused look, removing the IV from my arm. “You can’t figure it out? We’re at my house.”

My eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yep. Now I’ll be back, gotta go get my parents. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Okay,” I replied, relaxing back into my pillow. Might as well enjoy a few moments of silence until the questioning began. My eyes closed and I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

Fiona’s footsteps revealed to me that she was heading for the door. It squeaked loudly as she opened it. A tiny gasped escaped her lips. “Vivi—”

Vivi? Somehow I managed to fight the urge to sit up and snap my eyes open. If I could feign sleep, I wouldn’t have to face him. I tried to keep my breathing even and my heartbeat calm. If I didn’t, he could figure out I was awake by just that.

“Get out,”  I heard him order.

“She’s sleeping—”

“Go get everyone,” Vincent snapped.

Fiona huffed angrily. “Fine. Be nice, Vivi. It wasn’t her fault.”

A grunt was his response. Fiona sighed lightly before her footsteps started up again, going down the hallway. The door closed, leaving Vincent and I alone in silence. I focused on my façade, breathing in and out slowly.

“I know you’re awake,” Vincent commented in a hard voice. “It’s no use pretending. You were just talking to Fiona a few seconds ago.”

Damn. Slowly, I opened my eyes and smiled at him. “H-hey, Vincent—”

“Are you stupid?” he growled, cutting me off. “What don’t you understand about the fact you’re not supposed to be alone?”

I winced. I knew he was going to be pissed. “Vincent, hold on—”

“You should have said no when Joel asked to leave! He’s just about as stupid as you are—”

“Vincent!” I cried abruptly. “Shut up for a minute! Stop saying I’m stupid!”

“Well you are!”

“No I’m not!”

“Then explain to me why I found you near death on the ground in the middle of the forest,” he growled.

Wow. That sounded a lot worse than I figured it would. “That’s not my fault. Ashton’s the one that left me there.”

“Why would you even go anywhere with him?”

“I didn’t know it was Ashton until the last second!”

Vincent crossed his arms. “How could you not know?”

“Uh, I don’t know, maybe because I’ve never seen him before in my life? That sounds like a pretty damn good explanation to me!”

He stayed silent. I smirked smugly. Finally I’d outsmarted him.

“You’re too trusting,” he finally stated.

I rolled my eyes. “Sorry I don’t recognize an evil vampire when I see him. He must have dyed his hair, or something.”

“Was Luca with him?”

“Er, yeah. You know him too?”

Vincent scowled. “Luca tried to kill me once, of course I know him.”

“Really? Why? How? When?”

“I’m not here to talk about that,” Vincent snapped, shooting me a stern look. “What I’m here to talk about is your idiocy. How did Ashton even manage to get you? You were in a public place. I don’t know how you managed to get yourself kidnapped without being noticed. How stupid can—”

“You don’t have to be an asshole about it!” I interjected, giving him a harsh glare. “It wasn’t public at midnight! No one was around, Vincent! And you should know how I got kidnapped since you did it yourself a few months ago! Vampires are stronger than humans! You know, most people would be happy to see a kidnapped person alive, not angry at them and calling them stupid every five seconds! It’d be nice to know you cared!”

“I do care,” he snapped back. “Why do you think I’m pissed? I’ve been on edge all day because I’ve been worried about you, you stupid girl! It’s irritating me! I don’t want to, but I can’t help but be concerned over you! If it was any other human I could care less, but because it’s you it makes me angry that I couldn’t do anything.”

My next retort died in my throat. He’d admitted he was worried about me— that he cared about me. All the anger in my body faded. “Vincent…”

A deep scowl was still set on his face. “I knew. The one night I decide you’ll be safe without me, you aren’t. I shouldn’t have let you go alone. If I had, you wouldn’t have had to gone through that experience again.”

“It’s okay,” I told him, my expression softening. “It was just a bad coincidence. There’s nothing you could have done.”

He crossed his arms in a very childlike gesture. “So?”

I smiled. “I’m okay though.”

“I see that, stupid.”

“Didn’t I say to stop calling me stupid?”

In the blink of an eye, Vincent’s face was solely an inch away from mine. “You might have mentioned it.”

I took in a shaky breath, surprised at his close proximity. “H-how many times do I have to say it?”

He grinned. “Until you admit that I’m a good kisser.”

“Well, that’ll be never.”

The grin dropped off his face immediately. Before I could protest, he crushed his lips to mine. For the first few seconds I tried to resist it, afraid his parents might walk in, but I slowly gave in, allowing him to dominate the kiss. In a matter of moments I was breathless. When he pulled away, a satisfied expression was on his face. “How was that?”

“Kind of like rotten eggs…”

“Let me try again,” he requested, moving in.

I quickly pressed my palm to his lips. “No, Vincent. I don’t think I can handle another without throwing up.” It was funny how easily lies came when it came to teasing him.

He ripped my hand away. “God, Emily, care to beat down my self-esteem a little more?”

“Hey Vincent?”

“What?” he asked, annoyed.

“I really like when you say my name,” I told him honestly, smiling happily to myself. It made my heart flutter.

He did a double take, his eyes widening slightly. I beamed at him, taking in his almost-embarrassed expression. “Y-you’re stupid,” he finally muttered, turning his back to me.

I held in a giggle, settling for just grinning widely at his broad shoulders. Maybe he calling me stupid all the time wasn’t so bad.

The door suddenly burst open and in came a blur of blonde. Three seconds later it felt like a cement brick had flattened me. “I’m so sorry!” Joel cried, crushing me painfully against the bed.

“J-Joel! O-ow!” I wheezed, pressing myself into the bed.

“Get off,” Vincent ordered.

Joel immediately backed off me, his eyes pleading forgiveness. “It’s all my fault! I shouldn’t have left you! I heard the voicemail  on Vincent’s phone and nearly died! It never occurred to me Ashton might be at the fair!”

I held up my hand to silence him. “It’s fine. It didn’t occur to anyone. Don’t beat yourself up too much about it.”

“Vincent already did that for me,” he muttered disdainfully.

“Want s’more?” Vincent asked threateningly.

Joel shook his head rapidly. “No! I’m good!”

I laughed at him. “Vincent, leave him alone. He didn’t do anything on purpose. And I’m okay now—”

“Emily!” a new voice cried, a new form appearing in the doorway. “You’re finally awake!”

My eyes grew as round as saucers. “Sebastian!” Without thinking, I threw the blankets off my bed and scrambled to my feet, aiming to fling myself at him. Instead, as soon as my feet touched the ground, I fell forward, unaccustomed to my weight.

“Careful!” Sebastian advised me, his arms swooping down to catch me before I could touch the ground.

“Sorry,” I apologized sheepishly, my gaze over his shoulder to where Vincent had his arms outstretched toward me. He dropped them quickly. I gave him a look that told him I’d seen his gesture. He abruptly turned away from me.

Sebastian set me back down on the bed. His emerald eyes searched mine, worry evident in his. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “I think I’m getting used to it,” I joked.

He didn’t find it funny. “When I get my hands on Ashton,” he started in a low, dangerous tone.

“Emily!”

My head snapped to the door as once again a new person appeared. “Luella! Solomon!” I added after seeing the umber haired man join his wife. “Wow! It’s been a long time!”

Solomon chuckled. “It always seems like we meet when vampire attack you, doesn’t it?”

“I’m okay,” I told him before I could ask.

Luella danced to my side, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. “I’ve missed you so much! The manor is so silent without you and Vincent.”

Vincent snorted. “With Fiona here?”

“Fiona’s been dogging Sebastian around lately. It’s keeping her occupied,” Luella explained, releasing me from her death grip.

I shot a sly look at Sebastian. He returned it with an embarrassed one, dropping his gaze. At least he kept true to his words.

The bed sunk down to my left and I glanced over to see Solomon sitting next to me. “Emily, we need to talk about what happened last night.”

My chest tightened. I knew they were going to ask about it, but I didn’t know what to say. Ashton had never said I couldn’t tell them about the decision he was forcing me to make, but he also never said I could. Anyway, how was I supposed to tell Solomon that Ashton was making me choose between his son and myself? But I had to tell them! We’d both be in more danger if I kept it to myself.

“Emily?”

“After they took me from the carnival they took my blood to make sure I was indeed a Blue Blood,” I rushed, my gaze dropping to the ground. “T-they told me they wanted me so they could use my blood and sell it and stuff. They want me alive so they can, excuse my lack of vocabulary, harvest it. I told them no…” I hesitated.

Sebastian bent down in front of me. “What else, Em?”

I stared at him, trying to calm my frantically beating heart. “I-I… They said if I didn’t go with them, then they would kill you…”

His eyes widened. “Kill me?”

“Yes! They’re making me choose between us, Sebastian!” I cried, clenching the bed sheets in my fist. “How can I do that? I couldn’t choose you over me, Seb!”

“Calm down, Em,” he said slowly, putting his hands on my shoulders.

“Emily, why did they let you go?” Solomon asked. “I don’t see why they wouldn’t take you while they had you…”

“Father!” Sebastian and Vincent protested.

He smiled sheepishly. “What? I’m just saying…”

I shook my head. “No, I know what you mean. They gave me a week to come to my decision.”

“A week, huh?” he responded, furrowing his eyebrows together. “That’s not a lot of time…”

“I won’t let them kill you,” I promised, returning my attention to Sebastian. “I-I don’t know what I’ll do, but I won’t choose myself over you—”

He shook his head. “No, Emily. You’re a human. I’m a vampire. Who do you think has a better choice?”

“But—”

“That would be a stupid move thinking you would be okay with Ashton,” Vincent interjected, giving me a hard look. “Think about it. If you go with them, what about your family? What about your friends? What about Sebastian and Fiona and Joel and my parents? What about…” he trailed off, his eyes hardening.

I knew what he was going to say. What about me?

My chest tightened and before I knew it, I was fighting back tears. “I don’t want to choose.”

“Then don’t,” Luella said softly, placing a hand on my thigh. “You’re a human. What Ashton is planning is illegal for vampires.”

“And since it’s come down to threatening the next King, we can take action,” Solomon added. “We’ll keep you protected, Emily.”

“What do you mean by that? You don’t understand, Sebastian. They’re coming back for me—”

“You’ll stay here then,” Solomon decided. “If they come here, we can fend them off.”

“Fend them off? What does that mean?”

“It means we’ll make sure Ashton doesn’t take you, or me,” Sebastian explained, smiling gently at me. “There’s only three of them, right? There’s five of us here, plus our guards. They have no choice of beating us. We’ll throw them in jail.”

“Or kill them,” Vincent said darkly.

“You’re going to fight?” I gasped.

Solomon gave me a solemn look. “It’s the best we can do, Emily. We can’t let them have you. You’re part of our family now, whether you want to be or not. Sebastian can take care of himself, you on the other hand…”

“You’re a lot more fragile,” Luella finished.

My head was beginning to throb. I didn’t want anyone to fight. Even if the Rutherfords had the upper hand, Ashton could still manage to surprise them. What if someone died? My heart tightened at the thought. Ashton had said he’d kill Sebastian…

“I’m sorry,” I finally apologized.

All five vampires stared at me. “Sorry?” they echoed in perfect unison.

“I’m creating problems for all of you,” I elaborated, feeling like a complete idiot. “I’m putting Sebastian in danger…”

Sebastian shook his head at me. “We’re the ones who kidnapped you first… Well, Vincent is.”

“I’m not putting any blame on him!” I cried quickly.

Sebastian cocked an eyebrow. “Defending him?”

“I— What— No!”

Luella beamed at me. “Having you two live together seems to have improved your relationship! How nice!”

Solomon wrapped an arm around me. “I knew Vincent had a weird interest in you.”

“Father!” Vincent snapped.

Solomon looked at him innocently. “What?”

“Shut up!”

“Someone’s embarrassed,” Joel taunted quietly.

“Do you want my fist in your face again?”

“No! No! I’m kidding! Kidding, Vincent! Don’t hurt me!”

The King and Queen chuckled while Joel cowered in fear behind Sebastian. Vincent glared at the group. Sebastian sighed, turning to me. “I hope you don’t mind, Emily, but you’ll be staying here for the next week.”

A numbness spread through me. “Another week… here?”

Sadness dipped into his eyes. “You don’t want to stay?”

“That’s not what I meant!” I corrected, shaking my head. “It’s just, I finally caught up in math and now I’ll be behind again…”

He chuckled, ruffling my hair. “Vincent will teach you.”

Vincent snorted. “Yeah, right.”

I knew he would.

“Sebastian, you’ll have to go change everyone’s memories again,” Solomon stated, pushing himself off the bed. “Fiona is getting your things from your house at the moment, Emily.”

“Okay,” I responded, pushing myself off the bed. This time I was able to stay upright. “Vincent?”

His sapphire eyes snapped to mine. “What?”

“Would you make me something to eat?” I questioned, using the most innocent voice I could muster.

Silence filled the room as everyone waited for his answer. His eyes narrowed at me while his lips twitched. It seemed like he was having an internal struggle. Finally he let out a long sigh. “Fine.”

Luella and Solomon exchanged looks, both of them clearly surprised by his answer, Sebastian looked smug, and Joel smirked.

“Let’s go,” he demanded, hurriedly exiting the room.

I followed after him quickly, but before I left the room I caught Luella’s last whispered comment. “I think our son’s in love.”

Involuntarily, my heart jumped, but I tried my best to ignore it. Love? I almost laughed. That was impossible. Vincent didn’t…

My eyes traveled to the broad shoulders I had stared at earlier. Was it impossible? He had said himself he was interested in me. We had known each other long enough… He’d stayed up with me during thunderstorms. He got jealous easily… He was worried enough to the point he got angry…

I shook my head. Assuming things led to bad results. Right now, I’d just let things play out as they would.

“What do you want to eat?” Vincent asked me, glancing over his shoulder.

“Um, my favorite,” I responded vaguely, trying to keep the smirk that was threatening my face off.

Vincent faced forward again. “So you want a bowl of Cinnamon Life with sliced bananas?”

I blinked. When had he learned that?

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Yay, an update! Sorry they're so inconsistent. Every other weekend my friend Avarie is at her dads for four days, and usually I stay with them, which happened this week. Then I was at my mom's and my friend Anna's so it was hard to find time to write... Now I'm going to Chicago in two days for a week, haha. The beginning of July is going to be a tough month to update. But after that I should be okay :o

I hope you guys are having a good summer! :D Facebook in external link!