Inject Me Sweetly / Dusk Until Dawn

:Inject Me Sweetly: Chapter Sixteen

An explosive crack of thunder sent me jolting awake. My eyes were wide and alert as I glanced around the room wildly, confused. When lightning flashed by my window I jumped, my heart leaping into my throat. Immediately my gaze went to my bedside, but Vincent wasn't there. Anxiety crept over me as another crash rang through my room.

After a few moments of sitting up in bed, feeling the pounding of my heart, I decided I'd try to block the noise and fall back asleep. Pressing my hands over my ears as tightly as I could, I slipped under the covers and closed my eyes. It didn't help. The thunder was so loud it nearly shook the manor.

"You're kidding me," I muttered irately, emerging from my blankets again. "How many times must it storm here? I'm sick of it!"

My gaze was attracted back to the window, where I watched a fantastic bolt of lightning light up the dark sky. For a moment I was mesmerized, but when the thunder came, I was terrified again. There was no way I could fall back asleep.

Grumbling to myself, I pushed myself out of my bed, and onto the freezing wood floor. Shivering, I padded to the door, slipping out into the hall silently. It was eerily silent as I traversed through the empty halls. Especially since vampires were supposedly creatures of the night. A smile crossed my face. They were about as much of creatures of the night as humans were.

I stumbled through the hallways blindly, knowing where I wanted to go, but not knowing how to get there. It was incredibly hard finding my way around the maze of halls... I paused when I realized something rather important.

I had no idea where Vincent's room was.

Thunder rumbled through the hallway, causing my pulse to quicken again. I started walking again, mentally cursing myself. Why hadn't I thought about that before I left my room? Vincent had never showed me his room before! Scowling to myself, I decided to just got whosever's room I came across first. They'd have to put up with me.

A clamorous crash came from the left, literally making me jump. For a moment I thought it was an unreasonably loud crack of thunder until I heard a grunt of pain. Curious, I came to a halt, turning in the direction the sound had came from. I came face-to-face with a door. Listening hard, I slowly moved closer to it. After a moment there was a thud and a groan.

I instantly recognized Joel's voice.

Pushing open the door, I found myself blind in the pitch black room. "Joel? I called into the darkness.

There was no coherent response, just a moan of pain. Worried, I moved forward slowly, putting my hands out in front of me to keep from bumping into anything. My hand trailed across the wall, searching for a light switch. After a few seconds I found the light switch and flipped it.

I blinked to adjust my eyes to the sudden light. When they were accustomed to it, I glanced over the room, trying to find Joel. My brows furrowed together when I couldn't see him. Was I hearing things...?

"Emily..."

My eyes dropped to the ground where they landed on Joel. A startled gasp escaped my lips when I realized he was covered in blood. For a second my vision swam before me and I fought the urge to gag. There was so much of it... He had a large, gruesome gash across his chest, which he was holding with a bloody hand. Smaller scratches were across his face and hands, as well as a deep purple bruise. I couldn't pull my gaze off the sickening sight.