Bite Me

Chapter 5

Filtering through the darkness, beams of blinding light, no wider than pinpricks, caused Roxanne to stir where she lay. No longer was she on the cold tiles of the kitchen floor but now she occupied, in considerably more comfort, the full length of the sofa. Blaine and Zach had been courteous enough, despite the previous argument, to lift Roxanne's limp body from the heap it lay in on the ground and move her somewhere more pleasant to regain consciousness. Blaine was sat in the leather armchair adjacent to the sofa, visibly tense as he refused to take his eyes from Roxanne. He had his head rested in his right hand in a way which meant she was still within eyesight but he could attempt to rest. Zach had spent the two hours Roxanne had been in her comatose state beside her. At first he crouched down by the sofa thinking she would wake up sooner rather than later, but as the minutes passed and his knees became tired, he found it easier and less painful to sit on the floor, his legs tucked under him, waiting. Neither Blaine nor Zach acknowledged each other until Roxanne began to stir.

"Urgh. Hmm. What?" Roxanne muttered unintelligible words that sounded like nothing but noise as she stretched as if she was simply waking up in the morning. She still hadn't opened her eyes yet. Zach risked a look from her and to Blaine to see him no longer in his chair but by his side looking relieved. "What... what happened?" As soon as she asked her eyes fluttered open and she hurriedly sat up. Realising she was no longer in the kitchen, where she could last remember being, she looked around her surroundings only to be startled by the sight of Zach and Blaine staring at her as if she were a caged animal. "What happened?" She asked, clearer now, although she received no answer. Raising a hand to her head her face creased in pain. "My head hurts." She whined, she hadn't a clue why her head hurt nor how she'd done it so she looked to Zach for an explanation. He took her hand and surprised everyone by chuckling lightly, Roxanne only stared back beyond puzzled.

"I'm not surprised your head hurts, you hit the ground really hard." He was trying to make light of the situation but Roxanne didn't find it funny and gasped in shock as her hand flew to her head again. Zach immediately realised she wouldn't be happy if she had concussion and decided to continue a little more seriously. "I don't know if you remember what happened before this but you fainted and fell to the floor before I had the chance to catch you." Roxanne stared in Zach's direction, her eyes unfocused as she recalled what she could remember before she'd fainted. Blaine and Zach were arguing; she'd asked what it was about; she'd realised and acted innocent and then Blaine had...

"Oh. My. God." The words tumbled out of her mouth as if she were merely exhaling. Her eyes focused again and turned towards Blaine as she remembered the reason why she had fainted. Blaine had fangs. Blaine was like Zach. "You're... you're a vampire." The words were familiar to both Roxanne and Zach, they were the exact same ones she'd used when she realised Zach's hidden secret and now the same was happening with her own brother. How could this be happening? She'd never known vampires were real and now she had her boyfriend and his family and her own brother as living proof. Zach reached a hand out behind her back just in case the shock over took her again, he'd be sure to catch her this time.

"Roxy, don't look so scared." Blaine spoke softly, but the hurt was evident in his eyes. Tears threatened to spill over but he held them back as he'd always done. "I didn't think you'd faint." Roxanne gaped at him, at a loss for words, still in extreme shock. "Please say something. Anything." Zach squeezed her hand in reassurance and she looked at him building up enough courage to overcome her shock and speak.

"How could I not know?" Roxanne wasn't sure why that had been the first question she asked, it surely wasn't the most important. Neither was she sure if that was a question for herself or for Blaine, he answered her anyway.

"The same way you couldn't know about Zach. We have laws we have to follow we can't risk being discovered but I'm sure Mitchell explained that to you. I figured you'd get the whole lecture." Blaine rolled his eyes but his voice didn't contain any trace of his usual hatred when he spoke of any of the Pallavicini's.