He dropped the bat to the floor then he unlocked Colton’s wrists and mumbled, “See you tomorrow, vamp,” as he headed toward the door.
“Looking forward to it,” Colton mumbled, keeping the pain from his voice as he collapsed onto his hands and knees.
Three days later, exhausted, starving and weak, Colton braced himself for Selena’s appearance and another blood-letting. He doubted he had anymore to give after today. He flinched when he heard the key turn in the lock. Only his eyes moved to the door because his head was too heavy. He couldn’t keep himself from groaning when he saw Selena walk in. “I’ll be empty after today if you don’t feed me,” he mumbled through clenched teeth. For some strange reason, Selena didn’t come back with some smartass comment like she usually did. Instead she was deathly quiet, and skittish. He watched her with renewed interest as she walked towards him. Her eyes kept darting back to the door, almost like she was checking to see if she was being followed, or watched. He looked down at her hands and it finally dawned on him: she wasn’t carrying any empty blood pint bags. He squinted as he looked at her face again as she got closer. Something was different about her - something about her eyes. They didn’t look like Selena’s eyes. They didn’t have confidence and evil in them – instead they had fear……and pity. She looked at his gaunt face, at his starving eyes, and slowed her pace. “Colton?” she whispered, “Colton, it’s me. It’s Tess.”
“No it’s not. I’m delirious and you’re trying to make me believe things that aren’t true. You are not Tess.”
“Colton. Look at me. I had to cast a spell to make me look like my sister, but it’s me, it’s Tess. I’ve come here to help you,” she whispered.
“Help me how? Are you going to set me free?”
“I can’t. I haven’t found the keys yet.”
“Then how can you help me?”
“Can, can, can you feed without killing me?” she stammered.
He stared at her several seconds before he finally answered, “I don’t know.”
She pulled the sleeve up on her shirt and moved her wrist towards his mouth as she said, “I’ll take my chances.”
It was at that moment that he knew it was her….and that she still loved him. He pressed his lips closed, refusing to bite her, “Tess, don’t, please,” he mumbled.
She put her hands on his cheeks, “Colton Renner, you listen to me. This is my fault. You being here, hurting, dying, is my fault. But I’m not going to let you die, Colton. I’m not. I can’t because I love you. So feed dammit or I’m going to kick your ass.”
What little strength he had to fight with evaporated when he felt her love, “Oh God, Tess, please don’t. Please don’t make me do this.”
She reached up with her other hand and lifted his lip, exposing one of his fangs. She used it to pierce her wrist, knowing that the moment the scent of her blood hit him he wouldn’t be able to fight anymore. She was right. “Damn you,” he whispered as he fangs sank into her flesh. The instant her blood began to flow into his mouth, his mind was gone – he had no idea where he was, no idea who he was feeding off of, the only thing his mind knew was that he was starving and this was the nourishment that he needed and his body told him that he was going to take as much as he could. His burning throat swallowed the lifesaving elixir as fast as it could. His mouth pulled as he swallowed, increasing the flow into his body. He began to feel alive again with thoughts and emotions. His brain began to think of something other than starvation. And the first thought that popped into his mind was Tess. Beautiful Tess. His heart thumped hard in his chest as he replayed her words in his brain, her pledge of love for him, her stubbornness, her….Oh my God, Tess! He thought with a start. His eyes popped open and he forced his fangs to retract, even though they didn’t want to because he hadn’t come close to replenishing what his body needed. She was limp in his arms. Her arm flopped to her side as he released her wrist. No, God, no, he had killed her, was his first thought. He pressed his hand to her chest, silently praying that he would