My Beloved (22 page)

"How long will it last?" Wendy asked with a yawn, feeling like nothing happened besides feeling like she hadn't slept in days.

Darcy silently closed the box with an inaudible click of the old latch before he answered. "Not as long as I'd like. Maybe a month. It would be longer but with your change coming up, it will burn up faster. Normally it's up to six months. I'll leave you two alone." When he passed Asher and Anya, he gave Asher a very heated glare before knocking his shoulder past him and stalked out. What was that about?

"We'll leave as well. C'mon Asher, let's go get that dinner you promised me," Anya said and Wendy had the 'ah-ha' moment.

Darcy was jealous, of course he would be. Rolling Wendy’s eyes at the stubborn duo, she let her eyes close. Before she fell into a dreamless sleep, she felt Vincent kiss her forehead.

Vincent

Looking down at her, he never felt so relieved as to see her peaceful. It wasn't fair that she was constantly being attacked by his past. Part of him thought how better off she would be if he never existed. However, what's done is done, and he knew that if he left now, it would kill them both. Knowing she was safe, he got up quietly and slipped out of the room, only to find Darcy pacing back and forth with a murderous expression on his face.

"I hear Anya is on a date," Vincent said lightly, not taking offense from Darcy’s warning growl. Vincent rarely feared anyone, and Darcy was far down his list.

"I can't believe her! Here she comes all 'When are you going to see me not as your daughter?' and 'I love you,' then she pulls this?! What the hell?!" Darcy pointed a finger at Vincent with a determined look. "She's trying to make me jealous! I knew it! Oh, if she thinks I'm confessing to her now, she's got another thing coming! I will not be outplayed!" he declared and stalked out of the room.

Vincent looked bewildered after him and shook his head. Darcy was only digging himself into a hole he may not ever be able to get out of. In the short time knowing Anya, he got the impression that she does not back down easily. Both of them were idiots, Vincent decided before checking in on Wendy. It has only been a few minutes but he needed to be near her. No matter how much his fangs almost pulsed to bury within her neck, he would resist. Vincent knew this was only the beginning for the next couple of days.

Soon he wouldn't be able to be in the same room with her, let alone the same house. Darcy already informed him there was a room in here that he will lock himself into so he wouldn't be tempted before it is time. When he walked back into the room, he flitted to her side and brushed stray tendrils away. She murmured in her sleep inaudibly before slipping deeper into sleep. Vincent thought back to where he thought he was talking to her, but in reality it was someone else. The change had been so swift and so fluid that he didn't notice and that scared him.

It means the vampire had been watching Wendy for a while now to learn her habits. Sure, it shocked Vincent when 'Wendy' brought up the subject of sex but not enough to raise suspicion. It had to be Megara though. That vampire was a poisonous flower. Beautiful to the eye but incredibly deadly. She only needs to possess you for a moment before she had one of her many 'followers' stake and/or kill you. But the fact she didn't want to kill Wendy but be her scared him even more. She must know he would never leave Wendy for her, so if she were to become Wendy... he shuddered to think about it. Megara was crazy enough to do it too.

He has to keep a close eye on her. Although with the protector in her system, it will keep all of it at bay. Bending over, he kissed her softly, just light enough to not wake her. He would die for her if it meant she'd be safe and happy. For now he will get rest with her since it won't be too much longer before he won't be able to be near her.

Wendy

Scrubbing her face of sleep, she turned over and saw Vincent asleep next to her. Staying quiet, Wendy studied him. His raven-colored hair was splayed over his pillow while his jaw looked strong as ever. His large hand was on top of her hip in a show of possession. As her eyes scanned his face, her neck started to really throb in a way that wasn't ignorable. Hissing quietly, she put some distance between the two of them. That small sound of pain had his eyes snapping open.

"Firefly?" he questioned but his nostrils flared. In a millisecond he was across the room, away from her with his arm over his nose and mouth.

"V-Vincent?" she questioned with a stutter when a ripple of pain went through her. It was worse but still livable. Every cell in her body was trying to push her to go over to him and offer her neck to him. It was such a primal feeling that she literally had to hold onto the bedposts to stop herself from going over to him. Her knuckles turned white with the effort. His eyes were completely black. No whites whatsoever and it scared her as well as excited her. Her body seemed to know what he wanted as her body wanted to give him exactly what he was craving.

"Stay away," he growled, making her skin zing. His voice was rough and with the timber of his voice so low it made her body tremble.

"Darcy! Anya! Asher?! Help!" she called out, knowing that without help, neither of them was going to stand it much longer.

The door busted open with an annoyed-looking Darcy. "What now? Oh," he muttered when he took in the situation. Shaking his head, he flitted to Wendy's side and grabbed her before getting out of the room. He handed her off to Asher.

"Go. Take her on the other side of the house. I'll deal with Vincent."

Her body began to flare without being in the same room as him. "Ow! No, let me back in there!" she called out and just as she did, she heard a feral growl that made her shiver in slight fear.

"Sorry, but I'm not letting you near him when to him, you look like a Big Mac with fries," Asher muttered and quickly ran to the other side of the house. It seemed the farther away they got, the more the pain intensified.

"Oh God, I'm supposed to endure this for the next two days?!" she cried out and tried to claw at her ever aching neck. Asher restrained her without difficulty despite the fact how she was using all of her strength. "Let me go!" she screamed and managed to hit him between the legs. She was dropped to the floor with a groan of pain. Wasting no more time, she sprinted back to the room.

"Vincent!" she called out in some kind of voice that seemed a lot more alluring than usual. It surprised her, but all she wanted was for him to bite her. When she got into the room, she gasped and held back a scream. The pain and need was still there but fear was overriding it.

"Shit! Get her out of here!" Darcy growled and continued to hold Vincent down. Wendy covered her mouth in terror as his black eyes glared back at her. He was snarling viciously and trying to break Darcy's hold. Darcy cursed. "Never mind, forget her! Just stick him with the silver!" he ordered when he was starting to lose his grip on him.

Vincent let out a roar when he saw Anya come at him with a syringe filled with what looked like liquid metal. He flung Darcy off of him and made a B line for Wendy. She tried to turn and run but it was too late as he pushed her roughly against the wall. His hands held onto her upper arms and squeezed painfully. Just as his mouth was about to descend to her neck, he suddenly pulled back with a pain-filled cry. Stumbling back, it gave Wendy enough room to dash to Darcy's side and see Anya holding a now empty syringe. Now that he wasn't as dangerous, her pain was flaring up again, making her want to run to him.

"Run!" Vincent growled in a wicked voice. Wendy blocked out the pain as much as she could along with the want for him, and ran out of the room with her heart pounding. She ran into Asher who caught her around the waist.

"You're lucky I'm so forgiving. Otherwise I wouldn't think twice about spanking you for kicking me the way you did," Asher semi joked and carried her off, undeterred by the growling vampire just inside the next room.

"It hurts," she whimpered as she tried not to thrash about. Asher sighed as he placed her on a bed that was in the guest room. Her eyes caught something shiny and she had to gasp when she saw chains on the bedposts. "W-What are those f-for?" she stuttered, her fear coming back to the fore.

"I don't think we need them yet, but eventually, we'll have to detain you," Asher spoke with a grimace. She groaned as another wave hit her but she was angrier now.

"Why didn't he tell me?!" she yelled, trying to focus on anything but her neck.

Blowing out a breath, Asher took a chair and straddled it backward before looking at her. "I could see why he didn't. I mean think about if he had told you before, you would've been worrying like crazy."

Wendy was losing her focus fast so she shook her head to clear it. "B-But they pumped him with silver..." she trailed off with a whimper. 'Oh God, could this get any more painful?' she thought but had to scream as she arched off the bed when a tidal wave consumed her. Asher pulled over to her and wiped away sweat with a damp cloth he got from the side table. They must have readied the room beforehand, she thought briefly.

He tried to keep her mind preoccupied. "They had to. You saw how he acted when he saw you. In his state of mind right now, all you're to him is a meal. It's why we'll need to continue to pump him with the stuff because when the time comes to finally turn you, he won't be able to stop. But with the silver in him, he'll be more subdued and able to think a little more like himself."

Wendy tried to nod but all she could do was scream.

"How is she doing?" Anya asked from the doorway.

Wendy could hardly focus but strained to hear their conversation through the ringing in her ears. She felt delirious!

"As good as she can be. How's Vincent?"

This piqued her interest and she tried harder to listen.

"He's a little better. Might have to give him another dose of silver though. He's now in the room tied up with the titanium chains, so he won't be going anywhere in his weakened state."

Wendy shuddered as a ripple of sharp sting flashed through her.

"P-Please..." she gasped before her mind shut down and she passed out.

Anya

"This is insane," she muttered when she saw Wendy sag against the bed. At least she could escape, even just for a little while.

Asher snorted, gaining her attention away from the girl on the bed. "Are you saying you wouldn't go through this for Darcy?" Anya glowered at him and promptly turned on her heel and left the room. "I thought as much!" he called out with a laugh, making her grind her teeth and clench her fists. To think she actually asked him to dinner! It was a disaster! All he seemed to know was how to annoy her! Shaking her head, she stomped down the spacious hallway.

Whoever ended up with that bozo needed to get their head checked, she thought with a slight quirk of her lips. On her way to see how Vincent was doing, she grabbed an apple to toy with. When she got to the room, she could hear him hiss and cuss at Darcy, which made her want to smirk. Sticking the apple in her mouth, she bit it enough to hold it in her mouth so she could tie her silky brown hair up. She then fixed her red mini leather jacket that stopped at her rib cage. She took a chunk out of the juicy apple but stopped abruptly when she realized what she just did.

She just fixed herself up before seeing Darcy! Wanting to punch a wall, she yanked the hair tie out, knowing he liked it better up. Readying herself, she took another bite before stepping into the room. Her high-heeled boots clicked on the cement, making both vampires look in her direction. Vincent hissed menacingly at her, making her roll her eyes. She's had to deal with her fair share of idiotic vampires in her lifetime.

"Anya," he greeted like cardboard. Vincent thrashed against the chains but they all knew he was too weak to break them.

"Go. I'll babysit the hungry monster," she spoke, only looking at either the wall or Vincent. It hurt too much to look at Darcy. Once this was all over, she was going to try and leave again.

He stood up and went to leave but paused at her side. She held her breath, thinking he might say the one thing she was longing for. But with a slight shake of his head, he left the room, with her heart.

Wendy

"Oh God! Please make it stop!" she screamed so loud her throat felt raw. She was now tied up after the last hour of trying to get past Asher to find Vincent. If she thought earlier was bad, this made it seem like a bee sting. Her muscles ached from not being able to relax and keeping them tense.

"Damn it, Wendy! You're bleeding," Asher said in exasperation.

Her wrists were bleeding because she was trying to slip the chains off, but it was tearing at her skin. She growled at him, yes, she literally growled in anger. Throwing her head back, she screamed once more.

"Good God, she has a pair of lungs," Darcy muttered, walking in.

"Just kill me already!" she shouted and arched off the bed, trying to almost get away from herself and the unspeakable anguish. Her blonde hair matted against her forehead from the sweat and blood smeared her upper arms along from her lips from biting them so hard.

Asher came over and wiped away the blood. Normally it would hurt but she wasn't focused on small pains like that. No, she was focused on the monumental fire coursing through her neck and radiating off the rest of her body.

"This sucks. Please wait a little while before you do this to Anya. I really don't want to have to go through this again," Asher muttered, making Darcy whip his head to the side to look at him with wide eyes.

"Who said I was going to?! Even if she wanted me to do it, I doubt I would. I mean, I'd be better off just letting her stay human." Darcy denied Asher's claims.

Wendy saw the hunter roll his eyes but everything was becoming blurry again as unconsciousness licked at the corners of her mind.

"You two are so stupid. Why don't you stop wearing your ass as a hat and look around you? You clearly love her, and she clearly loves you. It couldn't be more obvious if you were to dance around with a sign above your head saying, how you care for her. You may live forever but she won't. Think about it," Asher finished while wiping the sweat away with a cool cloth. "Isn't this a trip, me being the voice of reason?" he said with a shake of his head as Darcy left. Wendy let herself slip and welcomed the small reprieve from the pain.

Vincent

His veins burned from the silver in his system, but the very small part that was still sane was glad they did it. It meant he couldn't hunt down Wendy and drain her like he wanted to. The more animalistic part wanted nothing more than to find her and rip her throat to drink her sweet blood. The scent caused his mind to haze over this morning and he was literally seconds away from snapping at her. He felt like a monster but he just couldn't stop hissing and fighting against the chains. Anya looked bored and was now playing some sort of game on her phone involving pigs. The lack of respect made him angrier.

"Let me go!" he growled at her. His vision was turning red, which meant his eyes were no longer a solid black but a blood red. It's what happens to vampires when their body is insane with thirst. It's the only time they can drain a human and actually kill them, otherwise they are incapable from drinking that much.

Anya sat up more straight, and glared at him. "I don't think so, Dracula. Now can you shut up? I'm on the last level," she muttered and went back to her game, completely at ease as she kicked her feet up and placed it on the chair next to her. Vincent thrashed against the chains again when he wanted to kill her. Sighing, Anya let her phone sleep and looked at him, irritated. "Can you stop growling and hissing like some animal? It's annoying."

Vincent knew she was playing with him but he was angry anyway. The monster in him wanted to rip out her heart for showing such disrespect.

"Don't make me give you another dose of silver, because I will!" she warned him but he didn't care.

All he cared about was finding the delicious-smelling girl. The monster didn't even recognize Wendy as his Beloved, which infuriated Vincent. He was hanging on by a thread but he'd hang on, for Wendy. Although this animal was now in charge of his body, he would be damned if he lost himself. If that happened, Wendy would die. Snarling at Anya, he bared his fangs at her.

"Okay, you asked for it," she muttered and picked up a gun from behind her. She pointed it at him and pulled the trigger.

He screamed when the silver vial emptied from the dart on his chest. He was hoping she'd be stupid enough to deliver the silver by hand so he could kill her. His body felt like it was burning and you could almost hear his blood sizzle. Steam literally started to come off of him from the burns.

"You bitch!" he hissed and tried at her again but now his body was far too weak and Vincent could think a little clearer. The red haze had receded, but it was only day one. There was another day to go and it was only going to get worse.