Charlotte After Dark

Chapter 5

Before I knew it, I had lunged at the man like a wild cat. I tossed Gwendolen to the side like a ragdoll before leaping on top of his body, my hands securely wrapped around his throat. I didn't know if vampires could suffocate or not, but I was going to try with all my might. Gwendolen picked herself up from the ground before straightening herself up. Daintily, she stepped over me and the man before entering his apartment. 

"Get her off of me, Gwen," he gurgled as my grip around his throat grew tighter. 

"I'm quite sure you can to that yourself, Cormac," Gwendolen said as she made her way to the bar, pouring herself a glass of what looked like scotch. Not that I had experience with alcohol. "Besides, it's kind of like watching one of those 'When Animals Attack' videos. You just can't look away." 

We struggled for a few moments more before Cormac exclaimed, "GWEN!" 

"Oh, fine, edagito," she said with a quick flick of her wrist. We were both separated, and flung into the air. I collided with one of the walls, while he slid across the marble floor. I was beginning to understand what Gwendolen might be, and she was right: I never thought I would have believed it until now. I felt anger boil in me as I lay on my back, heaving heavily in a feeling of desperation, grief and indignation all rolled into one feeling. 

Gwendolen had brought me to the very apartment of the person who hadn't even attempted to save Chloe and me from our attackers. Instead, he had chastised them for doing it so publicly without any attempt to even help us. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. Most of all, I wanted some kind of revenge. I felt pinned by something heavy, like it was crushing my chest. At first, I thought my anger was so great that I felt it physically, until I realized that Gwen was the one who was restraining me, but how? 

"If you promise to play nice, I'll let you up," Gwen said. "Agreed?" 

Reluctantly, I nodded in agreement. Quickly, the heavy feeling on my chest disappeared, and I was finally able to lift myself and once again look into the face of the person I hated the most at the moment. 

He seemed so much skinnier and lanky when I had last seen him, but now he was much more muscular. However, the face was the same. His face, just like the faces of Sergei and Luca, would be burnt into my memory forever. His head was covered in deep chestnut brown hair and his face was inset with dramatic gray eyes. I hated his stupid, attractive face already. 

Cormac had already risen from the floor and was sulking towards Gwendolen. 

"Just help yourself," Cormac said, rubbing the back of his neck the waving Gwendolen off. 

Gwendolen only smiled seductively. 

"Stop that, I'm your cousin," he said, removing the glass for himself. "Are you even old enough to be drinking this?" 

"I'm older than I look," she responded. 

"Yeah, well, so am I," he said sarcastically before plopping down in a large arm chair that faced a fireplace.  

I still felt like I was fuming, like smoke was billowing from my body as I looked at Cormac. I hadn't even realized that I was pacing the floor in front of them, resisting the urge to lunge at him once more and rip his throat out. Wait a minute-did I really want to rip someone's throat out? I almost felt disgusted with myself, but it felt OK at the same time. It was OK to want to tear him to shreds. I could tear him limb from limb if I wanted to; I was surely strong enough. 

Once again, I became conflicted with myself. My instincts made me want to do violent, horrible things to Cormac, but my heart and the sane part of my mind told me they were wrong. My head became clouded with confusion. This whole vampire thing was getting much more complicated than I thought it ever would.