The Vampire's Requiem [malexmale]

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen (Newell)

I woke up feeling heavy and sore.

I could very faintly hear someone snoring lightly. The sound of blood rushing through veins, two hearts beating a steady relaxed beat that indicated the people were asleep. I could hear people moving around and talking outside of whatever room I was in.

I finally forced my eyes open, grimacing at how heavy they felt. I reached up, rubbing at my eyes before blinking a few times to focus on... Xed. My eyes widened, seeing him sitting at my bedside. His head was resting on the bed, however, and he'd fallen asleep. I was surprised he hadn't woken up before I did. Xed was a very light sleeper and it only took the slightest shift in breathing to wake him, but he remained quiet. For a second, I thought he was dead, but the first heart beat in the room was his.

The next was Hunter's. He was lying on the floor, sprawled out on his bed under a thick fleece blanket and his pillow folded half under his head and half over. I frowned, looking away from him back and Xed before looking down at my torso.

I grimaced at the amount of bandages wrapped tightly around my torso. I gingerly touched my ribcage, waiting for the agonizing pain of feeling them still broken, but much to my relief, they'd healed on their own. I sighed in relief, dropping my hand back down to the bed before tilting my head to look at Xed again.

A frown worked itself onto my face as I watched him sleep.

Where had he come from? And Hunter? Had they followed me here? Were the werewolves letting them stay here? Not for free, I figured. Werewolves were extremely overprotective of their packs. The fact that they hadn't slaughtered us all on the spot was shocking.

Why had they come, was my second question.

I couldn't even try and think of a reason. A little voice in the back of my head told me it was because they wanted me back, but I knew better than to cave into that voice. It seemed that no matter how much everyone stomped on hope, it always managed to whisper in the back of your head. It made me sick.

I shifted slightly, hissing past clenched teeth as pain rocketed through my ribcage. Xed was awake in an instant, sitting up straight and staring at me. He paused for a second, stifling a yawn and reaching up to rub hard at his eye before looking at me with the same emotionless stare. I stared back at him before narrowing my eyes at him.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded. I saw something flicker in Xed's mismatched eyes, but I didn't quite catch what it was before it was gone. Xed stared at me calmly and just cocked his head in Hunter's direction. I frowned and turned to look at Hunter, then looked back at Xed.

"You didn't kiss me in my sleep, did you?" I asked. Ouch. Where did that come from? It didn't matter because I could definitely catch the hurt in Xed's eyes this time. He got up and left without another word. I sighed, leaning back against the pillows again.

"Nice move, Clyde." I blinked and looked over to see Hunter sitting up, reaching into his pocket and taking out a packet of cigarette. I glared at him as he stuck a cigarette between his lips and took out a lighter.

"I didn't know you smoked." I said, trying to change the subject. Hunter raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and blew out a cloud of smoke, waving his gloved hand through it.

"I didn't know you were gay." He replied.

"Yes, you did."

"I did. I just couldn't think of a better comeback," Hunter admitted, making me raise an eyebrow, to which he snorted, "Shut up, it's, like, eight in the morning."

"It's ten."

"Ten. That's still too early. If you two hadn't of had your lovers spat, I would still be asleep. But the air's too thick with awkward." Hunter said, then made grasping motions at the air before taking another drag on his cigarette. I rolled my eyes and looked away, coughing at the way the tobacco smoke burned my sore lungs.