Love Sucks

His Own Personal Blood Bag - Chapter Three

"If your heart tells you something but your mind tells you something else, which do you believe? Both are just as apt to lie. In fact, they play at deceit all the time. Mostly they balance each other, giving us that crucial reality check. But what happens on the rare occasions when they conspire together?"

Neal Shusterman, Bruiser

***

Abbi awoke guttering, and choking, her hands going to her throat as she fumbled around in the darkness. She could feel the smooth satin sheets tangled in her feet, and a heavy unwanted comforter enveloping her in a sweaty warmth.

This was not her bed.

Abbi struggled to free herself from the bondage, but there was something else locking her to the mattress. Her fingers probed the smooth surface of the limb, carefully drawing back when she realized what it was. Someones arm?

A laugh tickled her ear, one that she had become accustomed to hearing, even in the short hours of their acquaintance. Nathaniel.

Her blood turned icy cold, and fear washed through her body. Abbi made a noise through her teeth, it sounded like a hiss and only made Nathaniel laugh louder. "Is something wrong, Love?"

Instead of answering him, she started to thrash about, her arms flopping into his hair, trying to pull herself away. His grip was iron. A frustrated sob escaped her lips as she attempted to move from his hold on her waist; her flailing only made it worse. Nathaniel hugged her to his chest, a warm purr rumbling from his lips.

"You smell good. " He murmured, nuzzling her. "Its intoxicating." His lips barely grazed her neck, and a fire sparked in her chest. In matter of seconds, the slightest of Nathaniel's touches had her freaking out.

"Get away from me!" Abbi snapped, using whatever might she could muster to push him away. Nathaniel's arms constricted, but much to Abbi's surprise, he released her, his expression bewildered. She leaped from the bed, but the darkness was overpowering her sight, making it difficult to see. Abigail could feel a silken material hugging her body in what she recognized as a nightgown. When did he change her clothes? Where was her mother's dress?

"Abigail-" He moved; she could hear the blankets rustling and the frame creaking.

"Stay away from me, you psychopathic cannibal!" Abbi screeched, groping for anything, anything at all that she could use against him. Her hands came across something thick and rectangular. A book. Abbi braced herself, looking around frantically as she held up it up, ready to strike.

"Abigail ... " Nathaniel said again, this time his voice reprimanding. She could suddenly feel him behind her. How had he moved so fast? Not thinking as she flipped around, Abbi slammed the book down on something hard.

"Ow!" Nathaniel exclaimed. He didn't sound hurt but more surprised. That was disappointing.

Abbi pictured him rubbing his fingers carefully, while his face twisted in pain and smiled at the thought.

Abbi darted to the right, still gripping the book and trying to find an exit. But Instead of running into a door she clunked into a hard surface. Her hands felt the velvet material hugging the surface, and it took Abbi a moment to realize that it was a window she'd hit. Longing for light, Abbi flustered with the hem of the curtains and spread them open wide.

Sunlight rinsed into the large bedroom, blooming across the wooden floors. She saw Nathaniel's staggered expression and flashing figure as he jumped into a shaded area of the bedroom in which the window's rays barely missed. He looked almost angry, until he realized, at the same time she did, that he was standing directly in front of the door.