Chapter 14 - Smell...

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*Warning*

Slight nudity in first pic.

Short Chapter

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When Alex woke up a few hours later, she was all alone. The spot on the bed beside her was cold; as if abandoned for quite some time. She shifted onto her back and thought back on the things she did, the things she said. A blush colored her cheeks and she wondered what came over her. She couldn’t help but smile. The Alex she knew a week ago would never roll in the sack with a man she hardly knew. Hardly? She didn’t know him at all. Apart from his name (the way she learned of it, again brought a blush to her face) and the fact that he was a guy who knew how to please (and that he did), he was a stranger still. Her job and him being a vampire were the main things that screamed -what the hell are you doing?!

The smile faded from her lips and she sat up, glancing at her cell-phone on the tire-table. It was 4.35 in the morning. Realizing the length of the drive back to HQ, Alex quickly picked up her clothes that were scrambled all around the room. She called her trusted cab company in hopes they were serious about their ‘Open 24 hours’ sign. The phone kept ringing and ringing as she wiggled herself into her pants, when finally someone picked up. It was Gregory, the owner of Day & Night taxi. Turned out the sign was half true, because he had just gotten there to open up for the first shift starting at 6. There were no cars available so Greg offered to drive her himself.

The building was silent when she arrived at HQ 25 minutes later. So quiet Alex wondered if everyone was still asleep… She punched in the security code and entered the front-door. A pleasant warmth welcomed her inside and she made for the stairs as quick and yet as quiet as she could. Halfway up the stairs she heard a door close in the distance. She quickened her pace and was a door or two from her room when another door opened… behind her.

‘Someone had a long-night’

Alex had forgotten that Charlotte had an early job this morning. She went to bed right after they came from Prescott and Preston, the occult shop. Clearly busted, she turned around and let out a very defeated sigh.

‘Were you trying to sneak in? I hope that’s not how you do it on jobs’ Charlotte saw fit to muse this early in the morning. Alex didn’t exactly find it very funny as she looked up at Charlotte’s face. It was starting to get lighter outside. Morning was creeping up on the night once more.

‘So, what was it? You have boyfriend or something?’ Charlotte’s face was still the same as 2 minutes ago. Not smiling and not angry, just no emotion. The exact word to describe her expression; emotionless. Alex winced at the word; boyfriend. Not the word she’d choose when speaking about Chase. She only saw the guy twice now and both times he fed off her. Boyfriend would not be the right words under the current circumstances.

There’s little that escapes Charlotte’s eyes and Alex’s wince wasn’t one of them.

‘Look Charlotte…’

‘No, I don’t wanna hear it! And just so you know, I wasn’t prying into your life. Fact is I’m glad for you that you’re able to have something normal in your life, but there was a hint of a warning in my question. Lillian doesn’t like it when your attention is divided. She wants it completely on the job; 100%.  Distractions always lead to casualties. If she finds out about a boyfriend, she’ll make you work twice as hard, just to make it a point that you can’t handle them both’

‘I can handle them both’

‘I’m not the one that needs convincing Alex’ Charlotte said checking her silver watch. She needed to run by Kat in the basement to reload her guns. The last heist took out all of her ammo.

‘So, are you gonna tell?’

‘What are we in fourth grade? I don’t care about any of it; it’s not my life, making it not my concern’ She glanced at her watch again and decided the time was ripe.

‘Where are you going?’ Alex asked, not knowing what else to say at Charlotte’s obvious dismissal of her late night. ’Found another 15 rebelling new-borns on Elkstreet’. ‘Fifteen?? Do you need back-up?’

’15 I can handle, I only call for back-up when there’s more than that’ Charlotte turned on her heels and walked towards the stairs; leaving a dumbstruck Alex lost in her own sea of thoughts. Fifteen? Guess you don’t become one of the top three on just dumb luck. The biggest number she ever had was 5…

‘Oh, one more thing. If you’re worried about Lillian finding out about your late night, don’t be!’ Charlotte said already descending the spiral staircase. She was almost out of view when she added ‘Knowing Lillian, she already knows what time you came in’

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RiverBlossom Hills – South

Astor Residence

‘I don’t see why he has to help us, when clearly his wound hasn’t completely healed yet’

‘Be careful Binny, you’re beginning to sound like you care’

‘I do care!’ She said giving Marina a bewildered look. ‘More about the fact that if he keeps that wound bleeding, we’re never going to be rid of him…’ she added in a whisper, looking at the plot of soil Raven was now fertilizing.

‘Oh hush, you old hag! If you’re going to nag every time you see him, you might as well leave him to me okay! I’m perfectly capable of taking care of his injuries, besides weren’t you the one that said we should keep a constant eye on him?’ Marina bit back.

Binny was momentarily stunned by the sharpness of that bite. True, she did say that; and now that that was exactly what they were doing, she had another thing to bitch about… Was she really nagging?

‘I just don’t trust him, is that such a bad thing?’

‘No, Binny, it’s not a bad thing. What’s a bad thing is you nagging about it every chance you get. I know you don’t trust him; you don’t need to remind me. And your attitude towards him; I mean, put a camera in his room if you have to, but the least you could do is not treat him like a prisoner’ Marina glanced at Raven moving on to the next bed, wincing at the pain each wrong move gave him. ‘He’s helping to repay us for helping him. He has done nothing but show us respect. Will it hurt to return it?’

Marina knew Binny hated it when she turned the roles on her, but it was necessary sometimes, like now for instance.

‘No, it wouldn’t… and I’m thirty-five’ she added pulling a face. Taking the other shovel, she moved to the next bed to spit the soil. Her answer spiked a giggle in Marina. ‘Whatever you say Grandma Moses!’ she teased, putting some seeds in the fertilized soil.

Binny threw her another sneer, before digging into the soil. With the three of them they would easily be able to cut their work time in half. Leaving open the whole of the afternoon to either rest, or do something fun. Marina couldn’t really see how putting Raven and Binny in one room would result in something fun… A smile crept its way to her mouth as she bent down to put in some seeds in the already fertilized soil. Lost in her thoughts she didn’t see the shovel shift in the dirt, landing with a dull thud on her hand.

Marina didn’t notice the pain until she removed the shovel. A sharp pang shot up to her brain making her eyesight blurry for a moment. She looked at her hand where a liquid red was slowly visualizing until it spilled over. At that moment a violent gust of wind set in making the cut burn and causing Raven to freeze up.

The moment the sweet smell of her blood reached his nose it almost sent him into frenzy. It was intoxicating; like a refined red wine… aged to perfection. He had to keep his distance because he was losing control fast. At the rate this was going, the afternoon would not see her alive. How long had it been since he last fed? A week; two, maybe even three… Raven was surprised he had been able to hold out that long. The urge that he felt rising was that of a caged beast wanting to break free. He could already feel the blood rushing up to his eyes.

‘Excuse me, but I think I’ll be over there…’ he said while taking a few steps backwards and turning his face, his voice hoarse. ‘Wimp…’ Lubinnia whispered loud enough to still be heard. Marina squint her eyes at her and looked up at Raven, standing with his back towards her. ‘You can’t take the sight of blood… can you?’

‘No, that’s not it…’ he started to protest when the smell, stronger now that she was close to him, reached for him again. Beckoning him to let go and just take what he knew he wanted badly. ‘Actually, yes, that’s pretty much it’ he said, turning his head once more and moving a bit further from her. He could feel the veins react on his face, creeping to the surface. His eyes fully red now and his breath labored. Go inside, go inside now, please… I don’t want to hurt you- Raven tried to will her inside, gazing at her out of the corners of his eyes..

‘I think I better wash off the fertilizer, it could get infected’ Marina said examining the wound.

Yes, anything… Just get inside the house before it is too late… Raven’s gums were already starting to hurt; trying to make way for its twin companion.

‘My first-aid kit is in the bathroom under the sink’ Binny said as Marina walked passed her on her way to the house. ‘Thanks Bin, I’ll be right back!’

Raven was having a hard time keeping it together. Even though she was gone the scent still lingered. It was dissolving too slowly for his taste. His head was throbbing and his vision blurred for a minute. He closed his eyes shutting out each and everything his mind would try to register by just looking. Lifted his head, he took in a deep breath and let it out bit by bit. The pain in his gums seemed to subside. When he knew for sure his eyes weren’t red anymore and he felt like himself again, he turned around to continue fertilizing the garden, only to be met with Lubinnia gazing at him.

The way she looked at him; arms crossed, eyes squint. There were question marks all over her face.

Raven met her eyes, a frown on his own face. After a minute or so, he dropped his gaze seeing that she would never and they’d be at it all day.

How long had she been watching me? What did she see? Raven wondered as he continued fertilizing the soil; watching her out of the corners of his eyes, taking care not to turn his back on her.

Lubinnia didn’t quite understand his reaction to the blood. Her mother, wherever the hell she was, had also been squeamish whenever there was blood, but not like this. Binny was trying, she promised herself she would, but he was making it awfully difficult. His reaction was strange, different… She had a feeling there was more to this… But what?

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Author's Note:

This might be the last update for a while... Rough estimate a week or 3. Evaluations are due at school and I have a lot of work to catch up on. If that's out of the way, I'll have more time for Tamed. The next chapter also has a lot of Photoshop work, so I can't get into it now... Sorry, you guys! See you all real soon!

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