The Chase

The Chase Ch. 11

Thad's P.O.V

I didn’t let Ginger’s hand go all the way down the stairs, or even when we entered the room the others were. I wanted them to see that she somewhat trusted me even if they didn’t. Donovan approached us.

“How’s Sadie? I want to know,” Ginger demanded.

Donovan crossed his arms, “What I want to know is why he doesn’t look like Swiss cheese,”

I opened my mouth to say something, but Ginger spoke before me.

“Because we may need him,” she sighed, “So how is Sadie?”

“She stopped screaming not long ago, but now she’s awfully quiet,” he said, “Come take a look.”

Donovan led us to where Sadie was laid on a couch. Luke was watching her closely and another female was nearby. As I approached her, Luke cocked his gun and pointed it at me.

“Don’t hurt her,” he warned nervously, his finger floating above the trigger.

“Relax,” I said trying to sound casual, “I’m just seeing if she’s okay.”

He didn’t lower his gun as I walked forward. I felt Donovan’s gaze burning in back, like he was daring me to make a wrong move. I closed my eyes and focused in on the sound of the girl’s heartbeat and breathing. She was putting out a lot of body heat.

“Well, as you can probably tell, she’s definitely not a vampire. I think she has a fever though, and her breathing’s a little shallow. Waiting to the last minute to save her probably put her body through hell,”

Luke lowered his gun and nodded. I walked back over to Ginger and put my arm around her waist without even thinking about it. Donovan glared accusingly down at where my hand rested on her hip. He looked like he was going to say something but the tall, blonde female in the corner interrupted him.

“How bout we go make something for you guys to eat? I bet you’re hungry after all that,” she said with an uncomfortable laugh. Donovan looked indecisive for a moment, but nodded and sat down in a nearby chair. Looks like I’m not the only one who likes to eat. Ginger took me by the hand and led me into the kitchen after the blonde girl.

“This is Emma,” she said.

“Nice to meet you,” I said, trying to actually get on someone’s good side. She smiled nervously and nodded, then turned around got some stuff out of the refrigerator.

Luke and Donovan came in to help after a while, and I sat down at the table and simply watched them interact with each other. It’s not like I could cook or anything.

My eyes lingered on Ginger multiple times. I felt like I couldn’t let her out of my sight. Donovan noticed a couple times and rolled his like I was sizing her up for my next meal. Little did he know I had already gotten my fill for the night. I smiled at the memory of her legs wrapped around me, the heat from her body seeping into mine. I still had the faint, sweet taste of her blood lingering in my mouth, and I could smell her scent still clinging to me.

After a short time, everyone was sitting at the table eating. Ginger sat beside me and I placed my hand on top of her thigh. She jumped a little bit at first, but it was probably just because my hands were cold.

“So,” Donovan finally broke the silence, “You going to tell us why you’re still here bloodsucker?”

I looked nervously at Ginger, who was just shoving her food around her plate.

“Because were dating,” I shrugged, deciding acting like it was no big deal was the best option at the moment. Donovan’s fork clattered against his plate.

“But not because we wanted to!” Ginger blurted next to me. It was completely silent, and everyone’s gaze fell on us.

“It’s hard to explain,” I sighed.

“Well, we have all the time in the world for you to explain,” Luke said leaning back in his chair.

“It happened when I drank her blood,” I started.

“Wait, you’re not ‘dating’ Sadie too are you?” Luke said looking worried. I shook my head.

“No, it’s…different,” they looked at me with expectation in their eyes, “Our emotions are kind of glued together. We’re attached to each other now.”

“So you’re messing with her mind?” Donovan said.

“No! It’s not like I can tell her how to feel or anything,” I said, getting agitated.

“What’s going on?” Sadie’s faint voice drifted from the doorway she was leaning on. Her eyes widened and she backed away a little bit. She swayed a little and Luke rushed up to steady her.

“I can leave, if you need me to,” I looked up at Sadie. She shook her head and walked over to the table with the help of Luke. I could tell she was trying to be brave as she sat down at the table and got something to eat. I could tell she was going to need it with the way she was fumbling around with her silverware.

Since she kept glancing nervously up at me, I tried not to look in her direction so she wouldn’t be so frightened. I mean, I had just tried to kill her.

Ginger was right, though; I needed to control myself better. I’d known that for a long time but it seemed so much more important now than before. Especially now that I felt I needed to watch out for Ginger. I couldn’t imagine accidentally hurting her. Sometime in-between this and living with Enoch, I had long since forgotten who I was.

“So Bloodsucker,” Donovan said getting up to put away his plate.

“Thad,” I corrected him with a nod.

“You honestly think we’re really going to let you stay around here?” he finished, ignoring my comment.

I shrugged, “I was hoping so, I think Ginger would like me staying around,” I lifted up my hand and put my arm around her. She looked at Donovan.

“He’s not going to hurt anyone, right Thad,” she said sternly while looking up at me. I nodded.

“He certainly proved that earlier, didn’t he?” he scoffed. I looked away, it wasn’t’ like I could argue with him there.

“Well, what if we come up with a little agreement?” he said look down at me. I gestured for him to continue. He pulled out his gun and spun it around his hand.

“Every time you pull one of your little stunts,” he pointed the gun in my direction, “I get to put a bullet in you.”

“No, there is no way-” Ginger started to protest.

“Deal” I got up and put my palms face down on the table, leaning in to stare him down.

“Great,” he said with a grin, “Deal starts now.”

And with that, he picked up a knife from the table and made a small cut on his hand. I clinched the table as the smell of blood filled the air. As I winced in pain, all four of them waited for my reaction.