Just One Taste A Night (Fearless Vampire Killers Fan-Fic)

Chapter 22

~1 month later~

*Hayley's POV*

Things had been pretty quiet round the house, and in fact most of Grandomania: no recent vampire attacks that the guys had to go and deal with, no strange zombies or werewolves - cause apparently according to Drew you can get those - absolutely nothing.  Which I suppose was a good thing, but I don't know about the rest of them but I sure as hell was feeling on edge. It seemed too quiet and too... well, empty without any attacks or anything threatening our lives.

Right now I stood in front of the mirror in Laurence's room in nothing but my underwear. Laurence and Kier had gone out earlier to make sure that people in the town were doing okay and nothing too bad was going on there. I was looking at the scars that littered my body, and the bones that stuck out my skin. I looked awful. This was the first week that I'd properly managed to get up and walk about on my own, without Laurence or Drew there at every second to make sure I was okay. They'd left me on my own, and for that I was grateful.

But not for the way I looked. I traced my fingers over the ribs that were sticking out, round to the front of my chest where the scar from when Matt had stabbed me was. Looking down my stomach to the scars from where I first met Laurence, the ones from both the palace and from running through the forest, I smiled a little but not properly. It was a really bad time, but then again if that hadn't have happened then I would be dead. I would never have met Laurence... or Kier, or Drew, or Cyrus, or Luke... or Matt...

I felt tears well up in my eyes but I bit my lip to hold them back. No way was I going to cry now. My arms and legs seemed to have the worst of my injuries, some in which no one in this house except from me had seen. I didn't want them to know about that side of me.

There was a knock on the door and I jumped, scared of who it might be but when I turned round and saw Cyrus standing there I calmed down. "Hey," was all I managed as I pulled on one of Laurence's tops - too big for me, but that's why I wore it.

"Hey...just wanted to see if everything was all right?" he seemed, well, timid to say the least and I couldn't help but smile a bit more and nod at the question. He stepped into the room and over to me. Lifting my top up slightly, which wasn't a new thing for me as they'd almost all done it to make sure the wound was healing properly, so I just stood there letting him do it.

"It's fixing up well, soon it won't be as red at all," he put my top back down, smiling up at me before pulling me into a tight hug. I hugged him back and buried my face into his chest.

"You don't have to hurt yourself y'know..." I froze and felt my shoulders tighten - which he probably did as well, "I know I should only have looked at the stab wound, but I can't help but see them Hayley."

I couldn't move. Holy shit. I had nothing to say to that. All I could do was let the tears I'd been holding back free as they ran down my cheeks, staining onto his shirt.

His arms tightened more and he gently kissed the top of my head, "Hayley, you're beautiful, and you don't have to do that to yourself ever again."

"I-I-... I d-don't k-know what y-you m-mean..." it was pathetic but I was used to lying about these kind of things and as a natural reaction to these questions it sort of blurted out my mouth.

He pushed me back gently then tilted my face up to his, a sad smile on his face, "You don't have to lie about it either. I know what they are, and if you ever feel bad enough to think about doing anything like that again come talk to me, okay? I'll help you through it."

More tears poured down my cheeks and I practically fell into his arms again, sobbing hard. He didn't complain though and just let me, rubbing my back softly when I choked up or making the occasional sshh's.