Bound

Don't Let Me Go | Eva

My legs didn't move the way they should.

My body didn't move the way I needed it to.

I heard everything, felt everything, smelled everything, and as I flung open Hale's door in a frantic flurry of anger and confusion, I was met with a dumbfounded stare.

"Decency," Hale said, having barely tugged on a pair of pants. "Do you happen to have any?"

I froze where I stood while the 2 servants who followed me up were dismissed by a glance from Hale.

In seeking him out through my overloaded senses, I somehow didn't realize he was in his bathroom. I tried to speak over my embarrassment, but my face began to feel hot as every thought fled my mind. Every question I had was replaced by anger at my embarrassment. I bit my tongue trying to force words through the heated pulsating of my brain, but I bit down with a force I didn't mean to apply. In an instant, the heat dispersed, and my body began to run cold and clammy. My eyes lowered, and I parted my lip in confusion at the pinch of pain as blood quickly pooled in my mouth.

Before I knew it, I had managed to give myself a piercing with my newly returned fangs. The blood began a trail from my lips to my chin, and I brushed it off with the back of my hand leaving a bright red smear. A glance up at a concerned Hale only deepened my internal trembling, and my mind began to spiral.

He took my bloodied hand by the wrist and pulled it out in front of me.

"You're still human."

I wiped my tongue over the fangs, tasting the sweet aroma from earlier.

"You're body and your blood are still human."

Still, no words. The pain in my tongue deepen and a panic gradually sat in as I was unsure of whether I trusted his word. Everything kept telling me I was no longer human. Each sign of vampirism drove me further and further from my identity as one of the warm-blooded. Sinking my fangs into my tongue and enjoying the taste overstepped the boundaries of considering myself human.

"Prove it."

I blurted out.

His eyes widened at my demand.

"Prove that I'm human."

His gaze drifted to my lips still coated in blood and back up to my eyes again. Thinking hard on his next move, a brief flicker of bloodlust through his eyes took me aback. He let go of my wrist and took a few steps closer, and while I wanted to step away, I couldn't out of fear I might send myself running into something.

Body flush again mine, he reached to cradle my face. He stooped down placing his lips on mine in a gentle kiss. I pulled away, watching as feelings of regret overcame him until I returned his gesture with more passion.

Though not cold to the touch, his lips were cool as they met mine. They tempted me to melt at the invigorating feeling of his touch and his body so close to mine. My thoughts scattered, replaced by the warmth building within me among thoughts of never wanting this to end and needing more. We pulled away only to kiss for the third time when neither of us was satisfied and this time I could feel the brush of his fangs against me. When we finally could pull away, he kissed my chin where I can only assume the remaining blood had been. It sent tingles down my spine, forcing me to take in a breath. His hands threatened to leave my face and once again I embarrassed myself not wanting him to let go. I clamped my hands over him, squeezing them inside my own, tightly on purpose this time.

I hung my head low, only able to imagine the look on his face.

Surprised? Wide-eyed with a hint of disgust? Perhaps even a smirk of amusement at my expression pained by an unwillingness to seem like I desired him. I couldn't bear to look up, but once I did, it proved worth the risk when I saw a severely flushed Hale unable to look away from me in his astonishment. I almost giggled at him, but the moment he noticed my silenced laugh, he fell back into a neutral face allowing the tinges of red to begin to fade.

"Do you plan to let me go any time soon?" He asked sounding a bit annoyed at this point.

I gripped even tighter.

"On one condition."

He tilted his head with interest.

"Stop trying to let me go."

My heart fluttered at the idea of elaborating, but the times where I could truly get words out were rare. It was when I didn't think and simply spoke, so the only choice I had was to say as much as I could before I concealed my thoughts again behind a shroud of resentment.

"You hurt me, you cause me to get me hurt, and yet you end up trying to make it better even though the damage is already done. If you're gonna go through all the trouble and put me through all the trouble, then don't do it just to let go in the end."

His flush had since passed and his jaw held clenched with a face bordering on a scowl.

"You're asking me to make it worth it?"

I dropped my arms to my sides, leaving his hands holding my face firmly.

"I'm asking you why Yvette tried to kill and why me dying wasn't the best ending for both of us...and-."

I stopped, unable to think enough about whether I wanted to say my next words. The anger... It was always the anger lingering in the back of my mind that brought me to question my humanity, and as her name crossed my mind, I could feel a fiery resentment building.

The words made it out as I felt my fangs extend longer.

"Who's Avemaria?"