BANE

CHAPTER FOUR - BEAT (Part 1)

Holden knocked on the door of his apartment; despite living there for three months, he still had no key. There had not been a single time that he had been out of the apartment without being accompanied by either Corbin or Layla, or at the very least Victor, who had a spare key. Holden had been able to enter the building itself as another tenant was leaving, but now he waited. He knocked once more and took the time to text Victor, letting him know he had in fact arrived home safely, while waiting for a roommate to let him in.

The door opened, startling the distracted blond. Corbin was surprised to see him. "You came home? I didn't think I'd see you back so soon."

Holden walked in and placed the paper bag on the kitchen counter. "I heard you came to apologize last night."

"You heard? So I take it you don't remember it actually happening."

"No, sorry."

"Don't apologize. I was the asshole, not you. I was wrong to judge you like that," Corbin noticed the faint marks on the other man's neck, and reached out lightly touch them. Holden flinched. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Holden stepped past him and sat down on the couch. "Is Layla at work?"

"Yeah," Corbin joined him, sitting on the opposite end.

Holden sighed to break the silence. "...I would never hurt her. You know that, don't you? Layla reminds me of one of my sisters. We were really close. Part of me still can't believe she's gone... that any of them are gone."

"I'm so sorry. I can't even fathom how that feels, at least I still have half of my family. I doubt I would have lasted my first year here without Layla to look after and protect. I made it my full-time job to keep her safe... I guess I'm having a bit of trouble letting go of that still."

Holden nodded. "I get it. I..." The room spun when he turned his head. The colourful painting behind Corbin seemed more vivid than ever before, and the lines danced around the canvas as if they had come to life. Holden blinked, his eyes hurt. His fingers began tingling, then the sensation spread to his arms and throughout the rest of his body.

Corbin watched as the blue eyed man twitched uncomfortably and gripped his head. "Are you okay? You look funny."

Holden blinked a few more times to focus his eyes on Corbin. "Yeah, must just be the hangover. I'm going to jump in the shower and take a nap. I'll be fine in time for work," He hurried to the bathroom, careful that it would not be too obvious to the other man that he needed to use both walls to support himself as he walked down the hallway. What was going on, he wondered. The tingling sensation faded away, replaced by an intense ache throughout his body. Holden turned on the hot water and crawled into the tub as his legs gave out underneath him.

The heat helped soothe his aching joints, but did nothing to ease the worry that he had made a big mistake. Was it the blood causing him to feel so sick? As disgusted as he was about doing it, Holden had not been able to deny his curiosity any longer. Ever since he first stepped into the butcher shop in search of Layla, he had been consumed with thoughts of trying blood. Still, Holden could not see how drinking a bit of pig's blood could cause him to hallucinate and feel physically ill. "Unless..." He said aloud. Had Lucas drugged him somehow? Victor and Layla had both warned him that it was dangerous to enter the shop alone, and it was painfully clear that Lucas did not like Holden coming around. He stood and quickly showered while his legs felt strong enough to support him, then walked over to the mirror to shave.

Holden winced when he nicked his throat with the sharp razor. He tore a small piece of toilet paper and held it to his neck to soak up the blood, but when Holden looked back up at the mirror, he yelped. His normally light blue eyes were a deep violet colour. He immediately felt inside his mouth, but his teeth were not sharp like Corbin's were, and when Holden looked at his reflection again, his eyes were blue. Another hallucination? He forced an uneasy laugh in an attempt to convince himself. Making sure not to run into Corbin in the hallway, he went straight into their shared bedroom and laid down on his bed, hoping a nap would solve all of his problems.