The Guily Ones

Upside-Down

Authors Note and Trigger Warning: This one turned out to be a bit... gorey? As in the written version of a splatter film. As a lot of you probably lived through as well, last week was ... well. Let's just say there are a lot of feelings I needed to let out and when revising this chapter, my hate towards men thinking they have the right to govern a woman's body... I'm not American, but I am shocked and appalled at what happened last week. Just know this is your save space over here. Feel free to to a little escapism in my little story and stay for as long as you like, maybe vent a little if it helps. Let's mourn and cry and scream so we can be ready to stand back up and fight, for when it counts. 

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It took a moment for me to regain my bearings.

If I ever had to admit it, I'd probably rather die than give Eric's ego another boost, but whatever he'd just done to me had knocked me off course—completely. My legs were shaky, weak as jelly, and my pulse pounded so hard I could hear it thrumming in my ears. As for the rest of my body... well, let's just say a cold shower wouldn't be enough to fix it. Maybe a cold bath. In the Antarctic. For an hour...

Despite everything—the blood loss, the trauma, the endless fights, death, and sleeplessness—I felt energized, focused, strong, invincible and desirable.

God help me, but I felt like I'd just had amazing sex. Minus the actual sex part, of course. Well... almost. His blood was still pulsing through my veins. I could see why someone might get addicted to this feeling. To his blood. His body. His... But that wasn't the point.

I shook my head and scolded myself.

For heaven's sake, we were in the middle of a battle, and I couldn't stop thinking about sex. And Eric. Or sex with Eric. Which, if this little taste was anything to go by, would probably be mind shattering.

"Get your head out of the gutter!" I hissed at myself, flinching as a snarling vampire was hurled my way, turning into a glibbery mass of dead vampire, splattering said mass on me in the go. I gulped, raining in my urge to puke. At least that woke me from my stupor. From the room ahead came a deep, satisfied laugh. As smug as it sounded, I knew it was Eric's. The bastard had heard me. So much for not feeding his ego.

Perfect, Ashley. You're really nailing it today.

I closed my eyes, just for a brief second, feeling the rush of energy surging through me. When I opened them again, I was finally focused and took a quick scan of the room, looking for some way to be useful. But it didn't seem like there was much left to do. Monroe and Eric were still tossing each other around, smashing through expensive paneling, paintings, and tacky plaster as they threw each other across the room.

The marble floor was littered with goo and slime, which, as far as I could tell, were the remains of several vampires. In the center of the chaos, Pam was tearing through the newly arriving vampires with a kind of casual elegance. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she found the whole fight a bit boring—if not for the gleeful grin that showed off her sharp fangs.

At least someone was having fun.

The girl we'd come here for was nowhere to be seen. I prayed she'd made it out and at the same time feared for her, wandering alone and unprotected through the city streets. I vowed to go after her – if I survived this mess that is – even though I had no idea where to start looking.

I scanned the room again and realized Tom and James were also nowhere to be found. My feelings were... conflicted. Part of me hoped they were now part of the slime at my feet. But they were also the only family I'd ever known. To say it was complicated would be an understatement.