Tainted Fantasy

Chapter Seventeen: to mark and protect

Me and Vincent stayed inside the living room waiting for the others to return. After more then an hour Vincent encouraged me to go get some rest and that they weren't about to show up anytime soon. Now my eyes were fluttering open at the soft sound of my name being whispered on the other side of the room. I blinked my eyes, my mind trying to process whose voice it was.

 “Kim?” The voice spoke again, a bit timidly this time. I sat up. I looked at the figure in the doorway, nervously glancing past him. Damien was leaning against the wall in the hallway with his arms crossed. “Can I come in?” Sam's voice brought my attention back to him.

 I crossed my legs and pulled the blanket a little bit more over me as I nodded. He came into the room, moving cautiously and sat on the bed. His hand found my foot, buried in the covers. He squeezed it, shaking his head but not looking at me.

 “I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.” He stared at the wall across from us. My heart was pounding thinking about what had happened just a few hours ago. But I had to remember who he was, not what he became.

 I smiled at him, scooting down the bed and curling up into his side. I looked up at him. He finally looked at me when he felt my body touch his.

 “I'm fine. There's not a single scratch on me. I know that you're a vampire. I know what you need to survive.” I glanced at Damien, hoping he got the point as well and looked back at Sam again. “But no matter what, you're still Samuel.”

 He stared at me, then wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer against his side. I wrapped my arms around his waist as he nearly smothered me with his embrace.

 “You are one of the sweetest, but strangest humans I have ever met.” He said into my hair. I laughed against him. Strange. I could not argue with that. He squeezed me one last time before letting go and standing up. Without a second glance back at me he began to leave the room, stopping in front of Damien.

 “You have an eye for beautiful things, Damien. I'm sorry I almost took that away from you.” It was so easy for him to apologize, especially when he knew he was in the wrong. I liked that about him.

 Damien smirked at him, looking pretty smug. Typical Damien. Sam shook his head, I saw his smile from the side of his face. Then he disappeared from my vision, and I knew he had left the hallway. Damien was peering into the room at me now. Even in this darkness I knew he could see me as I stared down at the blanket covering my legs. He came in, shutting the door and sat down next to me in the darkness of the room.

 “Are you really ok?” He asked after he realized I wasn't about to say anything. I finally looked up at him, nodding slowly.

 “Are you?” I asked, seeming to take him by surprise. The silence was intense. I looked away from him. I could hardly see him anyways, but even if I could I knew I wouldn't be able to stand the way he was looking at me.

 “I almost lost you for a second there, didn't I?” His voice was low. I shook my head. Sam wouldn't have hurt me. He knew that. “I never want to feel that way again...” He spoke absent minded. The silence was tense once again.

 “Protective?” I frowned down at my hands that were gripped into small, tight balls. I glanced up. He smirked but turned away from me.

 “Worried...” He answered.

 “About me?” I raised my eyebrow at him, finding it hard to believe, even after everything that's been happening between us lately. He turned further away.

 “I was worried that I wasn't going to get to you fast enough, that I wasn't going to be able to protect you, that I was going to lose you...” He stopped talking abruptly.