In My Veins (17 page)

He sighed, “Does it really matter
why
I wanted to kill you?”

“Well yes.”

His eyes brighter and a low guttural
growl escaping his throat. I don’t know why he’s getting so defensive I said he
could bite me. I’m not running away.

He stepped closer and grabbed my arms. It
all happened too fast.

Before I knew it he dipped me low pulling
my hair back painfully making my head fall back freeing my neck for him. I felt
him slowly bringing his head closer to my neck. I felt his warm breath prickle
on my skin giving me goose bumps.

I suddenly felt guilty once his lips
were on my neck but that was quickly erased when I got the piercing pain. I
felt it. It’s such a weird feeling to feel your blood being sucked out of you.
And I felt even guiltier when a rush went to the pit of my stomach and lower. 
It felt so good. I hated myself for thinking that it felt good. But he bit into
my skin harder. I scratched at his arm to get him to stop, that I didn’t want
to do this anymore.

But the curse. I need to get rid of it
for James and his family. How much would he need to take to make the curse go
away?

Didn’t he get enough?

Once I started feeling lightheaded I
started hitting his arm but he growled. My hits were weak and pointless since I
was losing strength and my legs had started to feel numb.

Then I felt him being pulled back and
someone holding me or maybe I was floating. I looked up and I saw David staring
down at me.

I had never been so happy to see him
look at me like that. He looked angry and worried.

He took his hand and pressed it against
the painful wound I had on my neck now and looked somewhere else. I cried out
at the pain from him pressing against it. I wanted to pull his arm away but I
was still weak.

I slowly turned my neck to see where he
was looking and saw a blur of two people fighting with each other.

My eyes were shutting but I knew it was
James. I forced it open to see if he was okay.

Collin had James on the floor. He was
pressing his shoulders on the floor and James was struggling.

“Collin just had
your
blood so
he’s stronger…” David mumbled to himself or to me…not sure. Considering how he
said ‘your’ like it was my fault, I’m assuming he was saying it to me.

Collin quickly clamped onto James’s neck
like a shark. James’s eyes met mine and I knew I had to do something. This was
my fault.

With all my strength I pushed David away
from me and jumped up to run to them. David tried to stop me but I pushed him
away again. I ran up to Collin and tried to pull him away from James’s neck but
he growled at me.

“Please stop Collin you can have me!” I
cried.

“Go with David!” James growled at me.

“No! Please let him go!” I sobbed and
continued trying to pull him away. “Please stop…”

Suddenly Collin stopped growling and
stepped back. David pulled me back. I didn’t even know he was behind me still
and stepped in front of me.

Collin’s eyes met mine and he looked
almost remorseful. He frowned and looked down at the weak James.

He rustled his hair and yelled
dramatically before dashing off.

Not even caring about Collin to go after
him I pushed David aside and fell on the floor next to James. James tried to
stand up to go after him but I held him down.

“Baby, are you okay?” I cried and looked
into his red eyes. He groaned painfully instead of answering me.  I looked at
his wound and it wasn’t bleeding although there deep bloody holes indicating
that monster’s fang marks.

He clenched onto his heart and yelled. “David
what’s wrong with him!” I cried.

David sat by me and was on the phone
explaining what happened to someone. Not listening to his conversation I talked
to James. His eyes didn’t leave mine.

He brought his hand up to caress my
cheek as I talked to him. He gave me a bittersweet smile and looked like he was
saying goodbye.

“Why are you looking at me like that
James? You’re going to be okay!” I cried. He shook his head. I looked at David
and his expression was shocked and sad. I realized that he could hear the conversation
David was having on the phone.

I looked down at James who was still
staring at me. His eyes were full of tears but he wasn’t letting them drop. Not
being able to control myself anymore I started crying too. I brought my face
down and kissed the side of his head where a tear finally escaped and rested my
forehead on his.

“Please do not look at me like that James.
I’m so sorry…. This is all my fault….” I cried.

David got off the phone.

“Get her out of here…” James struggled
to say, “It’s dangerous…”

I looked up at David to refuse. “I’m not
leaving James here. I am staying with him or going with him.” David didn’t even
give me a chance to argue as he grabbed me and dashed me out of the building. I
hit his back and yelled at him to go back but it was no use.

David’s had had me at James’s house for over an
hour. He wouldn’t tell me about James. He wouldn’t talk to me. He threw me in
James’s room and closed the door locking it from the outside, “If you so much
as try to open the window, I will hear you.” He warned from the outside of the
door.

I sat on his bed and hugged his pillow.
It smelled like him. The sexy and masculine, woodsy and spicy. It was magnetic.
But it was cold. I missed his warmth. I already missed his arms around me.

It was my fault.

I shouldn’t have listened to Lana. What
will happen to James?

I put his pillow down and headed to the
door. I tried wiggling the knob to open it but it was locked. I saw the key
slot and found it weird that it had a lock from both sides. I knocked on it,
“David, let me out.”

Silence.

“Please…”

The door swung open but he dashed away.
He was mad at me.

I walked out of the room to find him. He
was sitting on the couch and looked stressed. “David…please tell me where and
how James is…”

He looked at me and glared, “Why the
fuck did you run away? We wouldn’t be in this mess if you had just listened!”
he yelled.

I cringed, he was right. “I thought it
would help him---”

“Even if it would have helped, it
wouldn’t work because someone told you what to do. You guys have to figure it
out on your own. Didn’t he tell you this?” he said.

“No…”

“Now you know.”

“Well he saved me in the spur of the
moment, moments ago, wouldn’t that break the curse?” I asked.

“I don’t think there’s a curse to be
broken anymore…” he mumbled.

“What do you mean?” I asked thinking the
worst. My knees felt weak and I was sure I was about to fall so I tried to walk
to him. I made it to the seat next to him.

 He sighed, “I called our uncle. The one
you saw at the barbeque. He’s pretty good at these things. He says if you’re
bitten by someone with the curse you’re stuck a monster forever. Or the curse
is basically impossible to break.”

I felt my stomach twist.

“Can I see him?” I asked barely able to
get my voice out.

“No. It’s not safe… now that he’s
permanently like that we don’t know how he’ll react to you…”

“Permanently?”

“As in twenty four hours seven days a
week. Yes.”

“I want to see him…” I said with a shaky
voice.

David looked at me with a sad expression
and sighed. “I’ll talk to him and see… but for now he wants you here with me, never
out of my sight and far away from him as possible.”

“Please David I have to see if he’s
okay… I have to see him.” I begged.

He sighed and took out his phone. He
texted something and I stared at him. Did he text James?

“Yes I texted him.” he replied.

“How did you know I was wondering that?”

He laughed, “It’s obvious. Especially
when it comes to you and James. You two wear your feelings on your face when it
comes to each other.”

He looked at his phone again and stood
up, “Let’s go. He wants to see you.”

I nervously stood with David at James’s
parent’s house. Judging by the cars, Jenny’s not home and neither are his
parents. I’m somewhat disappointed since Jenny’s the only sibling that actually
likes me and I would hope still liked me. I sighed and David patted my back
reassuringly. I was surprised that he was actually being nice.

Ellie opened the door and glared at me.
“What do you think you’re doing here?!” she yelled at me. David stood in front
of me to protect me from James’s sister’s well deserved wrath.

“Hey…it’s not her fault. She went there
to risk her life to break the stupid curse. It might have worked if Collin
didn’t try to bite his neck off.” He said calmly.

I have to keep telling myself she’s like
this to protect her brother but I couldn’t help but wonder if the curse went
onto the women in the family if she would have already killed me.
She loves James…
she doesn’t hate me. She loves James…. she doesn’t hate me.

Ellie glared at him and back at me.
She
totally hates me…

She stepped aside to let us into the
house, “He’s in his old room.”

I followed David into the house past Ellie.
We went down the hallway of the rooms and we were reaching the end turn which led
to his room. I glanced at the large framed black and white family pictures on
the walls while we walked down the hallway and smiled at the childhood pictures
of James. He still has the same infectious smile.

I felt nervous. Way more nervous than
when I would have to do speeches in college. I was scared. Not scared because
they had no idea how he would react, scared because he might hate me.

What if he wanted to see me to break up
with me? It
is
my fault that he’s stuck like this. If only I told him my
plan first or figured out a better way to avoid David when I went to Collin he
wouldn’t have come after me.

David knocked on James’s door but there
was no response. He knocked again and said that he was going to open the door.
After waiting a minute for a reply and getting nothing, He slowly opened the
door.

I peaked in past him and saw James
sitting on his childhood bed in the corner of his room. But it wasn’t the same James.

I knew it. I could feel it. He was
different.

He seemed cold.

He
looked
different too. His
previously perfect dark hair is a disheveled jet black mess. It was scary but
hot at the same time.

He’s not even looking up at us. He’s
playing with a lighter. Just turning it on and off staring at the flame. His
eyes are blank with no emotion.  But the glimpse that I could see I could
see that it was back to its fiery red color.

Once David closed the door James shut
the lighter lid and looked up at us. Well me. He wouldn’t even look at David.

James smiled, but it wasn’t the heart
melting smile. It was cold and distant,  “Hi baby…”

His voice was different too. Just like
everything else, it was the same…but different. It was almost cynical and low
sounding.

“Hi…” I replied nervously.

I looked at David and his eyebrows were
furrowed and he had taken one step ahead of me. Ironically I felt safer because
of him.

What am I saying? Why do I even need to
feel safe? James is the love of my life not a monster. I’ve known him for over
half a year…we practically lived together the past two months.

“David… could you go get me a glass of
water or something? I would like to be alone with Karina for a moment.” James
said still not breaking the stare with me.

“I’ll just tell Ellie to bring it…” David
hesitated and looked at me but I couldn’t get my eyes off of James. I wasn’t
sure what I wanted. I wanted nothing more than to run into James’s arms but
this wasn’t
my
James.

“Please bro. Just ten minutes.” He said
finally looking at him. I felt a chill go down my spine once he broke the
staring.

David sighed as he looked at me, “If you
need me just call out for me. I’ll be able to hear you,” He hesitated leaving
but he eventually did, closing the door behind him. But not all the way. It was
still half an inch open. That added to some of my comfort.

James snickered at the door and looked
back at me again. He gracefully jumped off of his bed and started walking
slowly to me. I felt my heart rate increasing… why do I feel scared of him? The
way he was walking toward me was like a cat about to jump a mouse. No. Way
scarier than a cat, a lion.

I bumped into the wall trapping me
between the wooden desk on my right and the door on my left. I didn’t even
realizing I was walking away from him.

Should I run away?

No of course not. I love him and he
loves me. He wouldn’t hurt me.

He finally reached me and pulled me into
a hug. He rested his head on my shoulder as he hugged me and I felt another
chill go down my spine. His face is so close to my neck that I could feel him
grinning.

“I missed your scent…” he mumbled
running his nose down to my collar bones. A chill went down my spine and goose
bumps covered my skin, “But why are you scared? I wouldn’t hurt you.” He pulled
back and smiled showing his fangs. He slowly started walking around me as if he
looking for the best piece of meat. I felt like prey with Collin before, but
this was much worse. I felt like I was in the lion’s den as a cat toy.

The door opened with David pulling me
away from his grip and shoved the glass of water at him. James looked at David’s
grip on my arm and laughed. He went back to the corner of his bed and drank his
water as he looked at me with hungry eyes.

“That was definitely not ten minutes.” James
said casually.

“I think we should go…” David said
making his grip on my arm tighter.

“NO! She’s
mine.
I want to be
with her, alone!” James practically growled making me jump.

“I really don’t think---”

“It’s okay. I want to be alone with him
too…” I said cutting him off making them both look at me in shock. They both
can sense and hear that I’m scared. I’m not even like them and I could see the
difference in everything I was doing because of fear.  But it’s just my body.
Even though my body and brain are saying
‘run for your life’
, I want to
stay.

David hesitated but eventually let go of
my arm and slowly walked out of the room. “This is so stupid…” I mumbled while
walking out of the room.

James stayed where he was and stared at
me. I took a deep breath and started walking towards him not taking my eyes off
of his. I slowly slipped off my slippers and crawled on his bed surprising both
of us.

I crawled over to him in his little
corner and cuddled in his arms. He hesitated at first but then held me. My
heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest and run back home on its
own.

“You’re so scared.” He said as a fact.

“I’m sorry…”

“For being scared? It’s not your fault…”

“No… for everything. I thought I could…”

“It’s okay. I know you did it for me…”
he said as he gently swirled his finger on my arm giving me goosebumps. He was
talking like the James I knew. He didn’t sound like he was looking at me like
pray.

We stayed quiet for a moment as his hold
on me got tighter. He twisted us so that he was on top of me. He was snarling
at me, flashing his sharp fangs. “Still want me?”

His grip was so tight that I couldn’t
even think about anything else but his hands pressing my shoulders into his mattress,
“James… you’re hurting me.”

He groaned and buried his nose in the
crook of my neck, “Do you still want me to make love to you? Because I’d be
like this. I’d definitely not be able to handle myself now.”

I bit my lip not wanting to say anything;
he was just trying to scare me off. His hands squeezed me again and I was sure
they were going to bruise and suddenly became loose.

His body fell on top of mine and his
face stayed near my neck. “Karina…I think we should break up.” he said against
my skin. I felt my heart drop to my stomach.

“What?” I asked pushing him away from me
so I could look at him.
Please tell me I heard you wrong.

“I can’t do this…you deserve better than
me. I’m a monster. There’s no hope of me ever being normal now. And I am
struggling so much to control myself when you’re around. I can’t do this
forever…”

“James…no…” I struggled and grabbed his
hand.

“David!” he called out, I looked at the
door and back to him, “Please James I don’t care what you are I love you….”

“I love you too… which is why I have to
let you go. I can’t trust myself around you.”

“James…” I said trying not to cry. I
felt someone’s hand on my arm. I looked back and saw David with his sad smile.

“Please go… David said he’d stay
with you till we figure out where Collin went and what he wanted.” He said as David
pulled me off the bed away from him.

I angrily slapped David’s arm away, “I
don’t want David to protect me. I want to be with you James!”

“We have to break up Karina…”

“James!”

“Karina! I swear if you’re around any
longer I will want to hurt you and I will like it too much to stop. You need to
go!” he growled showing the fangs to scare me again.

Furiously I glared at him and turned
around. I couldn’t see him like this. I had to go.

“You’re lying. You wouldn’t hurt me.” I
whispered knowing he could hear me as I marched out.

He just wants me to leave. I’ll give him
what he wants.