Midnight CEO After Dark

31.

I woke up with a jolt and groaned as every bone in my body cracked from sleeping on the cold hard floor of this caged cell. "Ouch." I whinged in agony as my body pulsed with hunger and pain.

"You're getting old." I turned my head to see Henry sitting on the bottom step. "You get any sleep?"

"No. Thanks for asking." I snapped at him as I peeled myself off the floor dramatically.

"You know I had to do this," Henry said, just watching me from the step.

"Yeah, I know." I clicked my neck back into place.

"I've spoken to Claudia, and she told me about how you drank from her when you were possessed..."

"I told you that." I protested.

Henry nodded his head. "She also told me she is worried the devil will kill you if he finds out."

"Not IF, my friend, the word you are looking for is WHEN."

"I spoke to the witch doctor, who assures me he can heal the bite marks before we get to our world. He also said if you stay away from Claudia for a while, you should be fine in a few nights." He clapped his hands together once. "And by a few nights, I mean forever, Jake."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out on my own."

"I have also spoken to everyone on this ship, and they have agreed to stay silent on this issue. As far as anyone or anything on this ship is concerned, it never happened." He stood up and walked over to me slowly. "If you had just come to me in the first place, none of this would have happened."

"I thought you would want to..." I sighed. "I'm sorry. I should have come to you."

Henry nodded. "I consider you family, Jacob. I thought you knew that."

"It wasn't personal, man. I don't ever go behind your back, but I thought I could just make this go away. I didn't want to disturb you. That's all."

"And how did that go?" He said, raising his eyebrow sharply.

"I'm sorry." I leaned against the bars of the cage.
"Is Claudia alright?"

"She's ok now. Concerned about you." Henry put his hands in the pockets of his black jeans. "She genuinely cares about you, Jake."

"I know. I never meant for this to happen. I guess I just have a way of screwing everything up."

"No, you just think with your undead heart and not your head. It's pretty remarkable. A vampire who puts others' feelings first is unheard of in our world. You can't help who you are." Henry grabbed onto the bars of the cage. "But from now on, I think it's best if you stay away from Claudia. This is hard enough on her as it is."

I nodded and looked at the ground.

"We are due to arrive on land anytime now, and I trust you to be responsible. I'll let you out of here, but if you feel anything out of the ordinary, I expect you to lock yourself up again. You get one chance, Jacob. If I have to lock you up again, you will be staying there for the rest of our voyage. Do you understand me?"

I just nodded and kept looking at the ground.

"Very well, I will unlock this door when we reach land. Until then, I suggest you take some time to have a good hard think about how this situation with Claudia is going to end. The closer she becomes to you, the harder it will be for her to go, and might I remind you that we need her to go with the devil."

"I get it. Damn. I'm not a toddler." I mumbled, looking away from him.

Henry sighed and rubbed his temples. "We are so close now, Jake. We probably have a few more nights to go, and we are home. I need to know you are all in. I can't do this without you."