Bad Taste (Part II) // Colby Brock

206 - Rebecca

"Wh... Do I... Do I have to ask?" Dad muttered amid the silence. I couldn't look at him anymore; I couldn't move away from Colby. I needed his comfort and I needed him right now, when everything else felt so distant.

"Julian got to her while we were all distracted," Colby said almost too low to disturb me. I still didn't move or stop the flow of tears. "We found her like this."

Dad exhaled in frustration. "That fucking vampire. I'm- I don't even know what to fucking say. She's... She can't comeback?" I felt Colby shake his head. "My girls..."

"Grieving but untouched," Aryia answered. I heard a sigh of relief that ended shaky, then soft footsteps and I finally peeked out just enough to watch Dad walk over to Mom. Angela was stood with Aryia just like I was with Colby: hands resting on his chest alongside her head and tucking as close as physically possible. The only difference was that they were still so close to her.

Dad knelt down next to Mom's body and reached out to carefully brush back her hair. Her face was untouched, pristine. She hadn't fought with Julian or cried. Her death had been peaceful, likely wanted in some way. She'd have wanted Julian to bite her and she'd be too lost in euphoria to realise she was being killed. She'd had a problem and we'd failed to save her, but at least she wouldn't have known what was happening to her... right?

Now that I was looking, I couldn't stop. It seemed Dad couldn't, either, because he never looked up at me or Angela or anything else, he just stared down at his wife. He'd loved her, I knew he had, even if she never showed any of that love in return.

The worst part was that I knew how it felt to lose a significant other... but I'd gotten a second chance with him even after he basically died.

Dad wasn't going to get that.

This was it.

That thought had me hiding away again. Colby's arms drew me closer to him as though it was possible and he brought his head down next to mine. He wasn't just comforting me, this was a hug, and it was something I really fucking needed. Beneath his suit jacket, I let my arms slide all the way around him and took in all of his scent that my human nose could. He smelt amazing, obviously.

After a couple of seconds, his head jerked up as if someone had called his name. He stayed like that, listening, then he let out a soft sigh that brushed my shoulder. I didn't want to move to find out what was happening, but he didn't give me much of a choice.

His body; his heat slipped away as he drew back to lift my face up with just the side of his finger. I met his eyes and saw they were purely blue: human. "Baby, I need you to go to your dad for me," he whispered without breaking the eye contact. I felt a small sting of panic but I knew I couldn't cling to him forever.

Dad was already there and waiting when I sadly nodded and let go of him, reluctant. I noticed them share a look before Colby took a few steps to the side. I attached to my dad instead while he turned to the group, who were all here and in a huddle now, in which he joined. They were talking within half a second, leaving me trying to stop the tears in my dad's arms. Angela was with us, too but she wasn't clutching to Dad like I thought she would be, she stood to the side staring down at the ground in another world entirely.

I'd beaten her to that long ago when she was begging for it not to be true.

Hearing Colby's voice kept me sane as he gave the others instructions. I didn't know what they were talking about exactly, I could only hear a muffled sound, but that was enough for now.

"This is the worst thing that could've happened tonight," Dad whispered to us without looking away from the body still. "Everything was going so well, Becca, Angie. Everything was fine. She was starting to get better... at least I think so. I was doing so well with convincing her not to go and-" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "I'm sorry you have to see her like this, girls."

Angela scoffed. "I saw worse. I used to go with her, remember?"

"I know you did but that doesn't mean you've seen her dead, Angela," Dad growled back. Angela was only scoffing because she didn't know how to grieve this properly. Neither of us did because we'd never had to bother with any of this before. Dad could tell that; he knew that, but we weren't the only ones grieving now.

It was going to be a tough couple of weeks for all three of us, I was sure.

As soon as my bitch kicked in, it was going to be a tough time for everyone.

However, the bitch was nowhere to be seen yet. I stood with my dad and I didn't feel like going out to punch something or someone, I just needed to figure out how breathing worked again. It seemed like I never would; it seemed like all this sense of dread would never cease. That's what they all say, right? It felt like the mourning would never end?

Yeah, I could see why now.