Memories

Chapter 16

I opened my eyes to find myself laying on a couch. Alexander stood nearby with a worried look that changed to one of relief when he saw I was awake. He handed me a bowl of tomato soup. I blinked as I took it and began to eat it warily.

"You had me worried. The wound of yours on your stomach wouldn't stop bleeding when I was reapplying your bandages." Alexander spoke.

I sat there staring at him in shock with my spoon of tomato soup just an inch from my mouth. I slowly placed the spoon back into the bowl of tomato soup and took a deep breath. He stood there looking at me as if waiting for me to blow up. I moved the bowl of soup onto the table before looking at him. He flinched and backed up with a flicker of fear crossing his face.

"Thank you for bandaging me up, but I would have preferred if you asked first." I said while he stared at me in shock.

"Y-You didn't yell at me...why?" Alexander asked.

"Because I've learned yelling won't get me anywhere if the person you're yelling at is the person who helped you out." I spoke as I attempted to stand.

"W-Wait! Don't get up yet!" Alexander gasped as he went to catch me if I fell.

I rolled my eyes as I picked up the bowl and limped towards the table. I sat down at the table and finished my soup while Alexander stood there near the couch with a shocked look. He sat down across from me and began to watch me eat.

"Um...do you mind not watching me eat?" I asked.

"Sorry. It's just... I'm trying to figure out why Jason and Damien were so worried about you. You may look weak, but you're stronger than you look." Alexander said, catching me off guard.

"Um...thanks? Was that a compliment?" I asked him.

"A compliment, April." Alexander chuckled slightly before picking up my empty bowl and spoon.

I watched as he walked into the kitchen to put away the bowl and spoon. The second I saw he was gone, I immediately began to unwrap my bandages and look at my wound. I stared at it in shock. It had healed a lot more than yesterday and it looked more like a scar at the edges whereas towards the middle, it was scabbed over.

He said I was bleeding profusely, so then, how did it scab over and start becoming a scar? I was getting this feeling that Alexander wasn't all he said he was. I was close to death two days ago, but miraculously recovered at a pace too fast. Was that why my stomach still felt like it was being scorched from the inside out? Was it because of the R2A? Was it saving me instead of killing me like I assumed?

"So, I went back to the vampire lair while you were out and drew up a map of the outer structure of the place along with how many vampires were at each entrance and how long it was between their shi-" Alexander was saying as he walked into the room.

I had my fingers in my hair with my palms covering my eyes. My elbows we're on my legs while the bandages that were around my wound was sitting on the table. My shirt had fallen over my stomach and my hair seemed to be a curtain hiding my face.

"April...are you okay?" Alexander asked nervously.

I sat up and looked at him. The second he saw my face, he walked over and hugged me gently. I tried to move out of his hug, but within a few seconds I was crying. It wasn't like I didn't deserve to cry for a bit. I lost so many people in the past four years that I deserve to cry and mourn them.

"April, what's wrong?" Alexander asked as I hugged him back and cried against him.

I couldn't even form a single sentence. I was a sobbing mess; a complete opposite of my composed, short-tempered normal self. Alexander continued to hug me until I flinched at the sound of thunder. I didn't even realize I had started drifting off to sleep. It was a bright mid-afternoon when I woke up, but now there is a storm and it is pitch black outside.