Revenge

Chapter 17

When I came to, I felt like I had been trampled by a horse. I groan at the pain in my body and the pounding in my head. I blink a few times to clear the darkness away but when it stayed, I went to sit up, only to realize I couldn't move. Once again, I'm thrown into a state of panic, my breathing picking up as I try to move again. The clattering of chains drown out my panting as I struggle against the bounds, blinking against the darkness.

I couldn't stand darkness.

I couldn't stand being trapped. 

Sobs rack my body, echoing in the space as I'm thrown back to that night. I was trapped, just like I was then, but this time, there was no one to come for me. I couldn't breath, I was choking on my own cries as I struggled to get in air that I was too panicked to realize I didn't need.

I wanted to shout for help but there was no one to help me and even if there was, I couldn't get anything past the sobs. It wouldn't stop, I couldn't stop. 

I didn't even realize the reason I couldn't see anything was because I was wearing a blindfold until it was torn off and Dante appeared above me. He grabbed my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. "Breathe, Elliot. Look at me, breathe. Follow me," he took in a deep breath and I mimicked him through my sobs. "Out." He let it out and I followed suit. Sucking in shaky breaths and letting them out until my sobs became whimpers and my whimpers became nothing more than sniffles.

Once I was calm, he let go of me, leaning back with a sigh. I watched him walk away from me and the panic came back and I jerked at the chains, making him stop and turn back to me. "Don't leave! P- Please, don't l- leave me h- here like t- this."

"I'm not leaving, Elliot," Dante pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes in frustration. "I just don't know what to do."

I said nothing to that. I didn't know what to do either. I worried at my lip, once again forgetting I had fangs and wincing when they went right through my skin. I could feel the blood dribble down my chin. I went to wipe it but my hand snagged, the chain around my wrist rattling. I close my eyes before they can well up with tears again. 

Where would I be if I had of chosen Lyle and Marcel? I wouldn't be tied up in this bed in Gods only knew where. I should feel some sort of regret for choosing Dante. He could kill me at any moment and I couldn't even blame him if he did. But I spent weeks hating myself for letting him go the first time, I wasn't going to do it again. 

I felt something on my chin and open my eyes to see Dante dabbing at the blood with a cloth. He notices me staring and pulls away, tucking the cloth away. 

"You're a vampire," he states and I nod. He frowns. "You didn't try to kill me." 

"Because I love you."

He grimaces. "Vampires can't love. They are soulless creatures that burn in the sunlight- Elliot?!" Dante rushes over to me in alarm when tears start falling down my cheeks. 

"It's s- so stupid," I cry as Dante looks at me in confusion. "But I'm only now r- realizing I'll n- never get to g- go in the sun a- again."

His expression shuttered. "Oh, Eli." He's silent for a moment, watching me cry before he takes a key out of his pocket and starts unlocking my chains. When I'm free, he pulls me onto his lap and a latch onto him. "I suppose if you were going to run away, you would have went with your vampire friends, huh?"

"I'm never leaving you again," I promise then pull away quickly, making him tense. "My father forced me to, I didn't want to. He said he'd kill you if I didn't and I'm so sorry I hurt you but I had to and-" Before I could work myself into a panic again, Dante cupped my cheek while his other hand rubbed soothing circles into on my lower back. 

"I know, it's okay. When I finally told my sister about what happened, she immediately came to that conclusion. I'm sorry I didn't trust you and I'm sorry I left you. You wouldn't be like this if I never left," he looks away but it's my turn to grab his face.

"I'm glad you left. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if something happened to you."

He shuts his eyes, refusing to look at me. "I want to believe you're still you but every time I look at you," he opens his eyes. "I see eyes that belong to a demon."

I flinch. I hadn't looked in a mirror in awhile and I could only assume my eyes were red. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I was just as freaked out when I saw Lyle's eyes and I've only known vampires existed for a couple months. Dante's spent years, not only knowing of them, but learning how to kill them. His hatred for them runs a lot deeper than mine. 

My heart sinks when I come to the realization that he may never love me now that I'm like this. 

"You didn't kill me," my voice comes out as a whisper, scared that if I spoke any louder, he would hear the tears I was keeping at bay. "Do you still want to?"

"It's not that I want to. For as different as you are, you still act like the Elliot I love and this is just hard. I want to believe you're still you and you haven't given me a reason not to but... You're a killer now, whether you want to be or not. How can I live with myself if I let you walk away and you hurt someone?"

"I'm not going to hurt someone!"

"You still need to drink blood to survive, right? How can you promise me you won't hurt someone?"

"Marcel said we don't have to kill to feed." I quickly explain everything that Marcel told me, hoping it would help him understand that not all vampires were monsters but when I'm finished, he's still skeptical.

"You're trusting the word of a vampire? And one you just met?"

"I trust Lyle. He wouldn't stay with someone whose evil."  A sudden rumble of voice make me jolt. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"I hear voices. Where are we?"

"We're in a motel on the outskirts of town."

I rush over to the window and Dante's shout went unheard as I threw the curtain back. Burning light swept into the room- And when I say it burned, I meant burned. I bolted to the other side of the room as Dante rushes forward and tugs the curtain closed. When he comes back, I'm curled in the darkest corner of the room with my knees drawn up to my chest as I watch the sizzling skin on my arm knit itself back together. 

Dante kneels down in front of me. "Are you alright?"

I shake my head, cursing myself for crying again. "I'll never get to feel the sun on my skin. I'll only get to go out at night. What kind of life am I going to have now?"

Dante brushes the hair back from my face, his fingers gently brushing against my scalp. "We'll figure it out."

I perk up. "Does this mean you're staying with me?"

"You said Marcel's goal is to take down the rogue vampires that are hurting people. I don't like the idea of working with vampires but I'm not stupid enough to pass up the opportunity for information and the ability to put an end to this mess once and for all."

He wasn't staying for me. I should have known. I shouldn't be hurt by it. I knew he wouldn't want me now and yet, the pain the gripped my heart was unbearable. It felt like I was losing him all over again. 

"Elliot?" Dante questions and I force a smile, careful to keep my mouth shut. 

"Right. Let's go find them, then."