Holes

C11: Go

Chapter11-Go

Mya's POV.

Michael brushed my hair off my shoulder with shaking hands. Michael, the vampire who'd kidnapped me in broad daylight, claimed me as his, kept me locked away in a basement, and defended me against a number of crazy girls, human and vampire, was shaking. He was scared.

But why?

He leaned into me and just as my breath caught in my throat, he licked the wound, cleaning the blood away and helping it heal faster.

When he pulled back, his eyes watched me carefully, assessing my emotions. He smiled just a little before connecting his lips to mine. His hands were slow and cautious on my skin as were his lips. It was like he was trying to keep a piece of glass from falling out of his hands and breaking.

"We need to go. Alvarez will know she's gone and come looking for us." Jack said.

Michael pulled me into his arms, strong and protective around me. "You're safe now, Mya. I won't let anything bad happen to you again."

"We can't go back to your place." Eddie said, holding a now sleeping girl in his arms. "Alvarez knows where you live."

Michael nodded. "Then we'll go to yours."

Eddie seemed hesitant but nodded. "Let's go."

I hid my face in Michael's chest just as it started raining. Once out of the city, we went into the woods, where the canopy of trees and leaves kept us dry. The lack of blood was starting to take its toll on me and it wasn't long before I fell asleep, finally comfortable. It was something I hadn't been in a very, very long time.

"Are you cold?" Michael asked as he took off his jacket.

I nodded, watching Eddie stroke the girl's hair from her face. She was still sleeping though I figured she needed it to recover. When he'd grabbed her after she hit the tree, he'd snapped her neck to keep me safe a little while longer.

Michael helped pull the jacket around my shoulders, covering my wet hair with the hood.

"Who's she?" I whispered, zipping the jacket shut. My thin nightgown had been ripped when the vampire attacked me and from my bare chest and the new tattoo I had, I didn't want anyone to see that part of me.

"We found her on our way here. It was Eddie's idea to adopt her."

Eddie glared at Michael. "I didn't adopt her. She was hurt and I helped her."

"You could have fed her your blood but you didn't. Now she's your responsibility."

"You wouldn't have taken care of her if you had bit her."

Michael said nothing and it made me wonder what he would have done. Sure, he was taking care of me, more care than I'd ever expected from him, but what would he do if I were a vampire?

The girl stirred and covered her eyes with her hand.

Eddie looked down at her, her head in his lap. "It's alright, Alex. We stopped so you could rest."

"Did I hurt her?" She whispered, louder than she probably intended to.

Instinctively, I moved closer to Michael, even though their wasn't much room left between us.

"No, she's alright."

Alex sat up and her red eyes immediately landed on me.

Michael growled, a deep rumbling in his chest, his eyes glancing at Eddie. "If she hurts her again, I'm killing both of you."

Alex moved back against Eddie and took his hand in hers. "If I don't get blood, I'm going to hurt her."

"Let's get moving then." Eddie said. The two of them got to their feet, along with Jack, who'd been quiet the whole time.

Michael pulled me into his arms and stood up, staying behind them as the ran, keeping his eyes on Alex. "You can go back to sleep, Mya. We're still pretty far from Eddie's."

I nodded and rested my head against his chest. His steps were even and gentle and I barely moved at all in his arms. I let myself drift off once more to the sound of his feet hitting the ground. All I could think of was getting somewhere safe, somewhere with Michael and Eddie and Jack.

------

"I'm sorry I couldn't get anything better. This was all he had." Michael said, handing me a bowl of soup. At that moment, it was exactly what I wanted.

I nodded and took it. "Thank you."

He nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed.

I watched him as I ate, waiting for him to say something, anything. I hated the silence, especially when I didn't know what to say or what he would say to me. I didn't know if he was mad at me or if he was just... upset. He seemed to be upset a lot more since he got me back. Was it my fault?

"It's not you." He said softly.

"What?"

"I'm not mad at you."

"Oh." I took a bite of the soup just for something to do.

"Mya, I-" He stopped himself, his eyebrows bunching together. He got to his feet and started pacing, his arms crossed over his chest.

What was he thinking? What could he be thinking that would make him so... frazzled? He hadn't been talking to me solidly since he found Jack and I. If I hadn't done anything wrong, what was it?

"You wouldn't-" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You wouldn't understand." The look on his face made me think I would.

I set the soup down on the bedside table and got to my feet. His eyelashes cast shadows down his cheeks as he looked at me, watching me.

I walked over to him and took his hand, stopping him. "You can talk to me, Michael."

He shook his head and let go of my hand. "You're the one person I can't talk to." Then he walked out of the room, leaving me staring in silence.