The Sweetest Kill: A Young Adult Paranormal (24 page)

“Mother.” I snap.

She looks unrepentant, “He should be aware of your warning signs, Shoshanna.”

“I’m not a child. I don’t need you to interfere.”

“Then stop acting like a child and I wouldn’t need to.”

I flinch in my seat, as though she slapped me, “How am I acting like a child?”

“Perhaps we should leave.” Dad announces from beside me.

“No,” I tell him while keeping my eyes on Mom, “Mom has something to say and I want to hear it.”

“We have given you every advantage you could ask for, Shoshanna.” She says and I refrain from rolling my eyes. I’ve heard this so many times before. “We sat by and watched you destroy yourself and act selfishly, but did you ever think about us? Did you think about the grief we had? The pain? No. You thought only of yourself and your needs.”

“And that makes me a child?”

“Your unwillingness to be anything but selfish, makes you a child.”

I’ve heard enough. Getting out of my chair I walk out of the dining room but she follows after me. I hear my dad calling her name, but she ignores him. I’m about to climb the staircase but she catches my arm before I can. I try to wrestle my arm from her, but she tightens her hold on me. I feel the familiar panic grip my heart at her touch.

“Let me go,” I plead.

Shh… just be quiet.

I start pulling harder against her as the sickening voice whispers in my mind. No, no, no! Don’t touch me! Let me go!

“No,” She hisses, “You want to be treated like an adult you’ll act like one and listen to me. I have put up with this for long enough. I have listened to doctors defend your behavior and damn me for it. I have paid for treatments that only made you worse, and listened to your unending tears of self-pity. It is time for you to grow up and face reality.”

I pull on my wrist, again but she doesn’t let go. I feel tears wetting my cheeks and a wave of nausea hit me. She has to let me go. Please, I plead to her in my head, just let me go. I pull again but this time she pushes me against a wall, really trapping me as she continues to berate me.

“I lost a child already. I will not lose another one, Shoshanna.”

“Let me go!”

“No!”

I feel myself tremble and I try to say something else, anything really but my mouth is so dry. Not to mention that I can’t seem to get my thoughts straight. All I can hear is my mind yelling at me to run, but I can’t because I’m trapped. God, why can’t she just let me go?

I hear mom say something else, but I can’t make it out over the buzzing in my ears. She tries to pull me against her, but I pull back as hard as I can. Suddenly, Mom’s hold on my wrist disappears and I throw myself against the nearest wall. Sliding down the wall, I sit on one of the stairs and put my head in my hands. A hand touches my shoulder but I flinch away from it.

“Look at me.” The familiar voice of Tobias, demands. I lift my eyes and the room spins a little, making my stomach heave, “It’s okay.”

“I-I…”

“I’m going to pick you up now, okay?”

I shake my head frantically, “No!”

“Okay.” He quickly relinquishes, “What do you need me to do?”

“I… need… room.” I tell him between deep breathes.

He steps back from me and I put my head in my hands again so I can try to stop my head from spinning. My wrist feels like it’s stringing from her touch and I clutch it against my rapidly heaving chest. I feel like all my limbs are going to fall off my body, they’re shaking so hard. I curl myself up into a ball and try to stop it.

“You need to leave.” I hear Tobias say.

“I think you’re right.” Dad agrees solemnly, “Haruko, leave her be.”

“Shoshanna, stop this.” Mom orders and reaches out towards my face but I flinch away, “I’m your mother.”

I don’t answer her. Instead I just keep my head in my hands and start counting in my head. Sometimes focusing on the numbers help. Sometimes. Not always.

“T-Ten…” I whisper, “N-Nine… eight-t… s-seven…”

“Please, Mrs. Belle, just go.” Tobias sighs heavily, “For both of your sakes.”

“F-Five… four… three… t-two…”

“Now.”

“One.”

When I open my eyes, I see everyone is gone. Everyone except for Tobias and I. He’s near the front door, looking up at me. I watch his eyes switch from golden brown to crimson red again and almost feel relief. This is the one I know. This is the one I feel safe with and that thought is terrifying.

Predestined

“How are you feeling?”

I glance up from my book and frown when I see Tobias’s cautiously standing at the end of the bed, watching me. He’s been asking me the same question every chance he gets for the past two days. I’m getting sick with it. I need a new question or maybe I just need him to annoy me. All this walking on egg shells has me edgy.

Mostly, I’ve been hiding myself in our bedroom since the whole mess with dinner. Dad called when they got back home, apparently, Tobias had given them the number to this place. He apologized for Mom and her behavior, before asking if I was okay. I assured him it was fine and said I knew it was just the wine talking. We both knew I was lying but accepted it anyway. We often did that where she was concerned.

I understand her pain, I feel it too every day, but it wasn’t like I tried to be there for her. I tried at every given opportunity, but she always pushed me away. I think she blamed me for not being the one that died. Mom and Charlotte were always so close, while she and I never seemed to get along. Maybe we were too different, or maybe we were too much alike. I don’t know, but we never connected. We still don’t.

“I’m fine.” I grumble, as I shift in my seat and try to concentrate on the book in my hands.

“Hungry?”

I frown at page in front of me, “I’m fine.”

“Bored?”

I drop the book in my lap and groan, “I swear to god, Tobias, you ask me one more question and I’ll open the blinds. Understand?”

“You’re avoiding the question.” He scowls but I can tell he’s also amused. Yup. The corner of his mouth is twitching upward, a sure sign of amusement.

Rolling my eyes I cross my arms over my chest, “No, I’m not bored. I’m not hungry and I’m feeling fine. Now leave me be.”

“You’re very snippy.”

I pick book up again and start reading it as I speak, “And you’re very annoying.”

The book is suddenly taken from me and thrown on the side table, out of reach. I pout at him but he uses his advantage by giving me a light kiss. He’s been doing this a lot lately, I’ve noticed. Since the break down in front of my parents and Tyler, he’s been very hands on. Little kisses and caresses here and there, but nothing close to what happen in the emerald room.

“I just want to make sure you’re alright.” He murmurs, looking me right in the eyes.

I let out a steady exhale, “I’m fine, Tobias, really.”

“Good, because I have news you’re not going to like.”

I arch a brow, “What kind of news?”

“We’ll be expecting some guests.”

“Guests?” I echo, “What kind of guests?”

“Vampires from my conclave.” His voice is solemn. He is obviously not happy about this, but I sense there’s little he can do about it, “It seems that you’ve sparked interest in some of the higher ups.”

“What the hell is a conclave?”

“Didn’t we already cover this?” He sighs.

I shrug, “I don’t remember. Tell me again.”

“The change from human to vampire can be taxing on not only the mind but the body. When some are changed they can go wild, insane really, and that is where much of the harsher vampire lore comes from. Half crazed creatures, unable to cover their tracks. Only feasting indiscriminately for pleasure.”

I shudder at the imagery before frowning at him, “Okay but what does that have to do with a conclave?”

“The conclave was created to control the making of vampires. Permission is needed and a correct environment established before someone can turn someone. To create another these days, one must go through many hoops.”

“So you’re more of a council of elders?”

He smiles a little, “In a way.”

“Are you old enough to be included?” I tease.

“Since I’m three hundred and twenty-four years old, I guess I’ll leave that judgment up to you.”

“Holy shit.” I breathe as the blood drains out of my face, “When were you turned?”

“I wasn’t.”

I frown, “Huh?”

He smirks at my eloquent response, “I wasn’t turned or made, Shoshanna. I was born a vampire.”

My voice is very faint when I ask, “How is that even possible?”

“As I said at the dinner with your parents, my mother had a hard time carrying children. Bodies carrying the mutation are harder to change. The body fights against anything foreign and recognizes a child as foreign. Most of her pregnancies ended in miscarriage, it was very difficult for her but I was considered a miracle not only to her but to the species in general.”

“Jesus. How does that work? The birth, I mean.”

“The birth, from what my mother tells me, was horrific, but I was perfectly healthy. I lived the first part of my life looking normal. I could walk out in the sun but I would get sunburn rather easily and I certainly wasn’t as strong or as fast as I am now. I would live off of animal blood and could even ingest human food but I didn’t like it. Doesn’t caress my pallet as wonderfully, I must say. “

“But you’re a full-fledged vampire now.” I frown.

“Yes but that was after a hundred years of being young. Like Tyler, I didn’t age correctly in that half form. By the time I was a hundred years old, it would appear to you that I was only aged to my twenty-fifth year.”

“What happened to make you like you are now?”

He watches me warily as he speaks, “I had my first kill. Human blood triggered my full transformation. It was instantaneous and very painful. My body changed completely and I became something much more dangerous.  If my parents weren’t there to guide me, I would have gone insane with blood lust.”

“But you’re rare, right? I mean there aren’t a lot of vampires born, right?”

“No.” He assures me, “I am one of twelve ever born.”

“Is that why the conclave is interested in me?” I ask, “Because of my connection to you?”

“Yes.”

“And why is that?”

“Because when a vampire is born, instead of made, it is said that they are without a human soul, that they must find that conscious in another. Someone whose blood calls to them and brings them peace.”

The intensity in his eyes has my mouth going dry. I clear my throat and try to change the subject, “Sounds a little too romantic for you lot.”

“Does it sound that way to you?” He asks softly, his fingers tracing the line of my jaw lightly, as he speaks, “See, at first I didn’t believe. I thought it was some old wives tale, much like all the other ridiculous myths humanity has associated us with.”

“What about now?” I whisper, swallowing thickly.

His ruby eyes meet mine, “Now, I believe it.”

My heart thuds in my chest and my stomach churns. I don’t know if it’s a good sort of churn, or a bad one. All I know is that I don’t need to be a genius to realize what he’s telling me. At least I think that’s what he’s telling me. Parting my lips, I inhale sharply as he continues to stare me down, daring me to ask the question I want to ask. The question is, do I really want to know?

“You… uh… are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Me?”

His lips quirk up a little, “Yes.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I just am.” Tobias smirks.

“Yeah but how?”

He rolls his eyes, “Call it a lucky guess.”

“If I called it that, what would you call it?”

He sighs, exasperated, “You’re being deliberately obtuse, of course I’m irritated.”

“C-Can you elaborate?” I ask, my head still reeling with this bombshell, “What does it mean? For you and for me?”

“It means that you belong to me,” He says and I scowl, which he notices and adds, “And I belong to you. I know you don’t love me. This is too soon for you and that’s fine but you need to know that I’m willing to wait until you do.”

“Wait?” I repeat faintly.

“Yes, for as long as you need.”

“You knew about this since that first night didn’t you? That night I asked you to kill me, you knew what I was to you, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And yet you offered me that deal.”

He has the grace to look ashamed, “Yes.”

“That was shitty of you, you know that, don’t you?” I snap.

“Yes.”

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, before opening them to stare at the shuttered windows. Florence jumps onto the bed with a meow and pauses when she sees Tobias there with me. She stares at him for a few minutes with her large yellow eyes before walking over my legs to get to him. I lift a brow, feeling a little betrayed, when she rubs her head against his hand.

“What’s it doing?” Tobias asks me as he keeps as still as possible.

I roll my eyes, “Surely, this isn’t your first run in with a cat.”

He doesn’t answer and I gape at him, “Is it?”

“Animals are naturally distrustful of us. They can sense the danger we present.”

“Huh,” I grunt, “Well, she wants you to pet her.”

Tobias doesn’t move so, with a sigh and yet another eye roll, I grab his hand in mine. Lifting it off out of Florence’s way, I set his hand lightly on the top of her head before brushing it along the length of her back. I guide him a few more times, before he starts to take more control of it and slowly I take my hand back. I watch him cautiously pet Florence and feel a small smile come to my lips.

“She likes you.” I comment.

“The feeling isn’t mutual.” He mutters but keeps petting her.

“Tobias, why did you tell me all this?”

His black eyebrows furrow as he looks up at me, “What do you mean?”

“You’re usually not this forthcoming, so there has to be a reason why you’re suddenly telling me all this. So what is it?”

“There’s something else I want to do before the conclave comes here.”

“Which is?” I prompt when he hesitates.

“I need to mark you, as mine.”

My voice goes fault, “You need to what now?”

“The marking is a sign to the others that you are mine and they cannot touch you. As I’ve said before, some will try to take you away from me. You’re a weak point for me, and others will see that as an opportunity.”

“An opportunity for what?”

“My destruction.” He tells me simply, “I could go mad without you. Lose all my humanity, if anything were to happen to you.”

“That’s… horrifying.” I breathe.

“Quite.”

“H-How would you mark me?”

He shifts on the bed beside me and takes my wrist in his grasp. I don’t feel trapped when he does this, mostly because of the purposely light hold he has. It’s clear to me that if I wanted to pull away, I could. He pulls my monstrously scarred wrist to his lips and kisses the scars softly. Tobias looks me in the eye the whole time he kisses up my arm and all the way back until, suddenly, he bites.

I inhale sharply, but exhale with a moan, as he starts to suck on the wound. The warmth isn’t gradual like before, it’s quick, incredibly quick. I let out a groan at the feel of complete relaxation as the sensation takes over. It’s very similar to morphine, I note, absently. He surprises me though, by suddenly stopping his feed and pulling back so he’s kneeling in front of me.

His mouth is stained with blood, my blood, and I find it strangely hypnotizing. I wonder what my blood would taste like. I shake my head and am about to ask him what he’s doing when he abruptly hovers over me. It’s surprising enough to cause me to flinch back into the pillows but he doesn’t cage me in. Instead he balances himself by clutching the headboard behind me.

“Consent.” He growls.

I blink at him, “W-What?”

“Accept our bond and consent to the marking.” He tells me thickly, “Consent.”

“I…”

He leans down and starts kissing my neck, all over the side scarred by the blonde vampire in Viktor’s building. The scar tissue makes the electric hum seem dull, but everything else is on fire, as he kisses in that curve between my neck and shoulder. My back arches a little and he sneaks his hand under there to splay his fingers on my lower back, keeping me against him.

“Consent, please, Shoshanna.”

“O-Okay.”

“No, you have to say it. I can’t bite you until you say it.”

That doesn’t make any sense, but I don’t have the breath to argue. I sigh as he scraps his teeth against my neck. Why does that feel so good when he does that? Inhaling sharply when he nips at the lobe of my ear, I clutch at the back of his shirt. He starts grinding his hips against mine and I groan loudly in his ear. It’s clouding my head, making everything hard to comprehend.

“I-I… I need a minute!” I yell.

He pauses and pulls back to look down at me, completely bewildered. What? Did he think I was really just going to blindly agree to be his love slave for the rest of my life? From the look on his face, I’m thinking he did. I snort out loud. He wishes! Laying back on the pillows, I try to catch my breath and collect my thoughts.