Coveted [New/Revised Version]

WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU DRIVES YOU INSANE

MUSICAL INSPIRATION: THE ANIMAL I'VE BECOME by THREE DAYS GRACE

Valentine felt utterly drained.

Today proved to be especially trying. Since Iris's scent hit him like a juggernaut, he battled a terrible unbearable thirst unlike any other. Having smelled her tantalizing scent a second time practically shattered his control. He mustered every ounce of control and self-preservation to get away from her, leave, and not turn back to follow her.

Along the drive, he thought things like what that would do to his brother and him. How it would destroy, if not claim, their lives. He thought of how it would affect the girl's family. How it would cause them grief and pain. These were feelings he knew all too well and still dealt with in the past two years.

He also thought of what it would do to him. How it would destroy him. How he would become a terrible monster like to the ones who took his parents from him. He couldn't live with himself, even if it was for a short while, if he brought that kind of suffering to someone else. He knew better than anyone the terrible, enduring scars on the soul the loss of loved ones caused. Therefore, he didn't play the hand of God and kill her.

He drove as fast as his car allotted without stopping until he was home.

Valentine examined his room.

Across the way were a leather couch, a flat-screen TV, and a door that opened into a marble bathroom. There was also a closet full of his still unpacked clothes. He sighed heavily at the last. Was there even any point in unpacking? He suspected they wouldn't be staying for long.

He fell back on his bed, dog-tired. His eyes stared blankly at the white of his ceiling. This house, built manually centuries ago, was Jayden birthright. His older brother, always the intuitive one, had modified very few things to bring it into the modern world while retaining its natural, historic qualities.

Valentine's jaw locked at the mental rumination of the day's events.

He hated losing control and feeling weak. He hated being subjected to his thirst. He especially hated a feeble, little human girl had this effect on him. Her very existence was now despicable to him. He also hated what she was about to make him do.

When it came to battling the thirst, Valentine wasn't as strong as other vampires were. He was imprinted, which more than complicated things. The whole purpose of an imprint was to have a reliable source of fresh blood. It would sustain and keep the imprinted vampire stronger for longer. Deprivation of it had the opposite effect. It made it harder to be in control once the vampire was hungry.

Of course, it would be easier to break the imprint to stop this physical weakness but that would cause too much pain to both parties. Breaking an imprint meant death. Mortal and irreversible. It was not something one willingly underwent.

Valentine used his mind to reach out and summon Annabelle, the girl with whom he was imprinted. He marked her as his a couple of years back during the time he and his family used to vacation in Westmyth. He was about seven when he first saw her. Of course, there was no romantic intent on his part at the time. He merely thought she was an interesting creature and wanted always to have her.

Young as he was, he didn't fully understand the impact of an imprint.

Regardless, he bit her. His parents were livid at the discovery of this. Their eight-year-old child already imprinted! However, they didn't sever the connection. If that kind of pain were Hell to a mature vampire, it would be positively devastating to a small child's psyche.

After he first left, he could still feel and see her but a few months of distance dulled their newly formed bond. Perhaps it would've been wiser to break the imprint then, when they felt next to nothing between them but the urgency to do so was never an issue. Thus, it was never done. Even at Valentine's most fragile, the very idea never crossed his mind.