In My Veins (18 page)

Rushing past Ellie I heard David calling
me and running after me.

“David let her go… she’s hurt. She needs
to be alone.” I heard Ellie say sympathetically to him. Too angry to even
notice that she actually sounded sincere I rushed out of the house as fast as I
could.

Where do I even go?

*
*
*

I knocked on Tiffany’s apartment door
fully aware that I was crying my eyes out and probably looked like a wreck to
her neighbors. She lives in a nice apartment building. Very city chic. But her
neighbors don’t get the concept of privacy as they stay out most of the time in
the apartment ‘yard’.

She opened the door happily then her
expression changed upon seeing mine. “What’s wrong Kar!?”

“James…” I sobbed.

“Oh my God… come in!” She hugged me and
pulled me inside her apartment to give me my medicine for bad days…tea.

She poured me a big cub of my favorite
tea in my favorite cup at her house, the turquoise one with polka dots. I sat
on the couch and took her white sequined throw pillow and hugged it.  A nervous
habit I’ve had since high school.

She sat across from me with her cup of
tea and stared at me with a worried look, “What’s wrong? What happened with
James? Did you two fight?”

“Yeah… I don’t really want to talk about
it though. I just needed a friend….” I said sadly.

Tiffany chatted with me about the most
random things attempting to get my mind off of James. But it wasn’t working.
The smallest things would remind me of him and my lips would quiver from
holding back more sobs.

Tiffany’s phone started ringing. After
she checked who the caller was, she looked at me and gave me a worried look.

“Who is it?” I asked whispering as if
they could hear me before she even picked up the phone.

“Daniel…”

“Go ahead, I’m going to head out now
anyways…” to where I don’t know. I stood and proceeded to open the door.

And it was already dark already. James
would have been furious with me for being out at this hour alone.

“James’s looking for Karina?” I heard
her say out loud causing me to close the door again. I turned around and waved
my hands to let her know to not say anything, “No sorry I don’t know where she
is. Did he try her apartment? Oh he already went and she wasn’t there? No she
wouldn’t be at her parent’s house. Maybe she went to a hotel. Oh…no…okay yeah
I’ll let you know if she comes here…”

After a moment she hung up, “James is
looking for you. Apparently he’s been calling you.”

I nodded and felt my jean pockets for
the phone and got nothing. “I must have left it at James’s…”

Why is he looking for me? I thought he
wanted nothing to do with me…

“Um… I’m going to go. I’ll talk to you
tomorrow. Thanks for everything today.” I said and opened the door again. “And
I’m sorry that you had to lie to Daniel.”

“Kar, you’re my best friend. Are you
sure you want to be alone? You should stay here…”

“No. I’ll be okay…”

I called for a cab and went back home. I was hungry
but I didn’t feel like eating. I stared in my pantry and sighed. Only
non-perishables since I wasn’t sure when I’d be back home.

Instant Korean ramyun or Instant Japanese
ramen were the only choices I had. Both mixed in with my cry fest would make my
face bloated like a balloon in the morning. I closed the pantry and marched to
my room.

I changed into my comfy clothes, black
lounge pants that belonged to James; he had left them here last time he was
here, and a black cami. I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling. One of the
reasons why I agreed to this particular apartment building even though I had
found a cheaper one at the time was the rooftop garden. Many nights I would go
and lay on the bench staring at the smog covered stars and barely visible moon.

I ran up the steps to the garden and
took in the semi-fresh air. It was weird, but I loved the sound of nearby
traffic. I loved the idea that people were out and about living their lives.
Going to work. Losing work. Falling in and out of love. That was life.

This was inevitable. The first man I
fall for and I lose him.  I should have known… no one ends up with the first
person they love. I have to have my heart broken a couple hundred more times
before fate decides it’s enough. I’ll go by the supermarket in the morning, buy
enough ice cream to help me survive the week and give myself two more days of
crying.

I finally had calmed down and had my
eyes closed taking in the scent of the rose bushes and the cool breeze when I
felt someone sit by me. I quickly sat up and looked at the person in shock.

James handed me a single rose and smiled
sadly.

 “What are you doing here…?” I asked and
quickly wiped my cheeks.

“I missed you…” He said sincerely and
waved the rose so I’d take it.

I looked at him and felt my throat close
up and my lips strain to quiver. I took the rose and told myself not to cry. I
rarely cried but I have been a crying mess the past few hours.

I couldn’t help myself. I practically
pounced him as I sprang from my seat and hugged him throwing him back on the
bench. He laughed and hugged me back.

“I don’t want us to break up…” I said my
voice muffled in his clothes.

“I don’t either…” He said softly as he
buried his nose in her hair. “You smell like roses…” he whispered, “You have no
idea how hard this is for me. It’s an internal battle not biting you to get rid
of my stupid craving.” I pulled away to look into his red eyes and frowned, “But
you’re so worth the battle.”

He pulled my chin up so I wouldn’t be
able to move and he kissed me gently. I could feel that he was holding himself
back not to lose control.

The past twenty-four hours or so were
horrible. James and I arguing about what to do. Me not listening and almost
dying thanks to a monster that is apparently related to James. James almost
dying but instead becoming cursed forever. Then he broke up with me.

And now…it’s back to perfect. I looked
up at him still in his embrace and analyzed his face as he looked at the stars.
He’s still the same James. Just different hair and eye color. I mean… he’s sort
of in the entertainment business so I guess he could get away with sunglasses
in the building and at night.

“What are you looking at…it’s making me
nervous.” He said giving me a sad smile and making his reddish eyes sparkle.

“You make the look hot.”

He had a forced smile, “I’m sorry I ever
asked you out… now you’re stuck with a monster.” he said sadly, “if you want to
leave… I’m giving you this last chance. Tell me now… and I’ll never bother you
again.”

“And if I want to stay with you?”

“You’re stuck with me forever.”

“Forever huh?”

“Yes.” He said and pulled me to his lap
so that I was straddling him. He wrapped his arms around my waist as I looked
at him in his eyes.

“Be careful, forever sounds like a
proposal.” I joked and kissed his cheek. He hugged me making me rest my head on
his shoulder.

“That’s exactly what it is if you
agree…” he said with his deep voice.

“Are you kidding James?” I said pulling
myself back to look at him eye to eye again.

“Are you kidding when you say you want
to stay with me forever?”

“No! I wouldn’t kid about that.” I said
defensively making him laugh. The first
real
laugh I’ve seen from him in
a long time.

“Then no, I’m not either.... when David
told me you were with Collin I knew what you were doing… My heart dropped
to my stomach. You risked your life to break this stupid curse. I can’t see
myself without you… and if something had happened to you---”

“Then why did you send me away?”

“I don’t want you stuck with a monster.
Because Collin bit me…it caused the curse to be permanent. I can’t go out
now…ever. Unless I have sunglasses and a beanie or something but I’d still get
attention.”

“Why won’t I turn if Collin's bite did
that to you?”

“That’s not how it works baby. You were
never cursed, thank God. So it had no effect to you… except that horrible
wound…” He frowned and touched the awful bandage David made me wear. He looked
back at me and smiled, “So…what do you say? Will you marry me? Even though I’m
this…”

“I really wish you’d stop referring to
yourself as a monster. You’re not a monster.  You have a good heart. A monster
is someone that is heartless, curse or not. You saved me James. He wasn’t going
to stop…” I shuddered at the memory. “Of course I’ll marry you.”  I smiled
and kissed him to seal the deal.

Suddenly James pulled back. I didn’t
think much of it since he’s trying the whole
‘control so I won’t eat your
blood’
thing but he started looking around like he heard something.

I hate when he does this because it
gives me a mini heart attack every time. I heard a low throaty growl escape him
as he held me tighter against him. “What is it James?”

He put his finger to his lips. I looked
in the direction he was looking and saw the tall rose bushes move.

Then I saw it, someone was coming out of
the bushes. I felt James tensing up and holding me tighter and closer to him. I
didn’t even realize he had made us stand up…and he’s carrying me again as if I
weighed nothing.

I looked back at the bushes and Collin
came out and stood there.

“What is he doing here?” he whispered to
me. Pointless to even whisper since Collin most likely hears anyways.

“Why the secrets? I’m here to make
peace.” Collin said almost sarcastically.

“Get the fuck out of here!” James
growled. I looked up at him and his teeth were showing and looked sharper and
scarier than seconds ago.

“No need to get defensive. See...” He
smiled to show his normal teeth. I looked at his eyes and they blue. Not the
usual bright red I’m used to seeing him in. Maybe he’s telling the truth.

But it doesn’t change the fact that he’s
the reason why James is so miserable now. “Baby let’s just go inside…” I
whispered in his ear, hopefully really
really
low enough that he Collin
wouldn’t understand.

“May I come too…? I want to talk to you both.”
Collin asked.

“You’re never coming anywhere near Karina
again, you hear me? You’re lucky she’s here right now because if she wasn’t I’d---”

“James…” I stopped him, I hate hearing
him like that. It’s not him.

“Sorry baby…” he smiled at me
apologetically.

“I’m really sorry…” Collin said and got
on his knees surprising us both. James and I looked at each other with furrowed
eyebrows mirroring each other. I tried to get out of his hold but he held on to
me tighter and gave me a disapproving look.

Collin had his head down, “I’m
so
sorry… I didn’t know this would happen to you James…” his voice quivered, “Well…
I did know it was possible… I had heard of it. But I didn’t know it would
actually happen. I wasn’t thinking… I just wanted more blood and you were in
the way of Karina…”

I cringed and held tighter to James
knowing the blood talk would just get him angrier.

“When I saw that Karina risked her life
for you, and even though she was scared and didn’t trust me, she didn’t even
try to run. Then when you came she risked her life again to try to fight me
off. I just… that’s when I let go…” he started, “The only reason I was
attacking Karina was because Jennifer told me to. She said she’d prove her love
for me to break the curse if I got rid of her.”

I gasped. “Jennifer? Jennifer wanted me
gone that badly?” Well judging from the past two days of no work and working
from home she practically got her way.

“What’s your point?” James growled, “You
already did the damage. Are you coming to finish?”

“No. I broke up with Jennifer after what
I did. I saw the real love you two had for each other…I saw that what Jennifer
was feeding me was a lie.” he looked straight at James, “I did some research… a
lot of research actually on our curse. There’s still hope for you… there are
gypsies in Europe and Asia that could help… “

“Where?” I asked hopeful.

“There are a few countries that they
still are common. I know of one who lived in Romania. She helped my father
break his curse.” He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and placed it on
the floor. He grabbed a rock from near the rose garden and placed it on it so
the wind wouldn’t blow it away. “I get that you’re angry with me… so I’m
leaving the paper with her name and village info here. She roams around so it
could be a different village or even country by now. But it’s a good start. I
hope you two can forgive me one day… and I truly wish you two the best of
luck.”

Collin stood and walked away slowly away
from us.

“Let’s go inside.” James muttered.

“What about the paper… shouldn’t we at
least look at it?”

“Last time we listened to people’s
advice…”

I felt a pang of guilt. Last time I was
the one who listened to advice and cursed him for life.

“Baby, that’s not what I meant…” he said
apologetically.

“I’m
really
sorry James…” I
involuntarily pouted trying to hold back the tears. I need to stop crying.

“I know. It’s okay… it’s not your fault.
Let’s go inside…it’s been a long day we both need rest…”

I nodded and rested my head on his
shoulder as he carried me to my apartment. Hopefully that paper will still be
here in the morning…

I woke up feeling really hot. Like
really
hot. I peeked open my eyes and saw that James was practically wrapped around
me. Not sure if it was for protection or so I wouldn’t run away. I tried to
ignore the creepy chill I got from his face being buried in my neck. 

I planned on waking up earlier than James
the next morning to get the paper from the rooftop. How am I going to escape
him?

I am going to just slowly slip out of
his grip. I’m going to think goo and be slippery goo.
Think goo.
As I took
a small breath before starting to slip away, his grip got even tighter, almost
blocking my breathing. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked his voice
deep and sexy. I ignored the tickles it sent down my body. He nuzzled his face
some more then brought it up to look at me.

He looked down at his clinginess and
quickly let go looking almost frightened. “I’m sorry…” he said wide eyed.

I couldn’t help but stare at his teeth
as he was out of breath breathing with his mouth open. They looked super sharp.
Just moments ago that was by my artery.

 He noticed my line of vision and
quickly closed his mouth. Feeling guilty, I had to fix it. I smiled and pulled
him down on top of me and pressing my lips to his. Hopefully he’ll be convinced
that’s why I was looking at his lips. “Good morning baby.” I said and looked at
his surprised face. “Hungry?”

He looked at me wide eyed. “No not
really.” I noticed his eyes went straight to my neck. I fought with myself not
to cover it with my hands.

“You should eat something… or else
you’ll be really hungry later.” And it will be harder for you to control
yourself. “I only have instant noodles though.”

He made a face, “In the morning?”

I shrugged, “Better than nothing till we
go to the market.”

I think he sensed what I was trying to
hint and he nodded. I quickly went into the kitchen, deciding I’ll just get
ready for the day after I feed him food. I threw in anything I could get my
hands on that would taste good in the soup. Maybe I’m being a little paranoid
with the whole keeping him full and not hungry thing, but it’s better for him
so he can be comfortable around me.

As we were eating I noticed he was
watching me the whole time. He was a total lion. And eating with him made it
feel like I was caged in with one. And I was the marinating steak. It seemed to
be working though, as our meal progressed he started de-tensing his jaw and
talking more comfortably with me.