Black Veil Vampires

Chapter 17

What I didn't know, was that Mike was only 1/2 asleep. He sat up and looked at me, asking what's wrong. I lied, telling him nothing and without prying, said ok. After that, we both got up and he disappeared into the shower while I wandered into the kitchen. I lingered for a while, staring out the window for about 10 minutes when I heard the water shut off in the bedroom.. Mike was done in the shower.

I shifted my position and stretched, then figured I should begin breakfast. From there, I grabbed a small pot to boil eggs and turned on the water to fill the pot. When the liquid came out of the faucet though, it wasn't water- It was blood. I let out a shrill scream, dropping the pot with a clang in the sink and turned, only to see Eric was about 3 inches in front of me.

He made an attempt at grabbing me, but I struggled, letting out another scream. I got away, pushing past him to run, but he grabbed my forearm and I turned again to punch him, but this time it was Mike, not Eric.

"Why don't you calm down and tell me what the hell is going on??" He said, annoyance in his voice. I looked into his wild eyes, but while being wild, they were calm and serious.

"Th-The s-sink. B-B-Blood poured into the p-pot" I stammered. He looked over at the sink, then to me and a second later, he let me go and walked cautiously over to the sink. He extended his arm and placed it on one of the knobs, turning it slowly. And what trickled out was, not blood, but water. He looked at me, then into the pot and dumped it out... Water.

"What the hell Blake? Are you colorblind? It's water, not blood." He said, clearly annoyed. "What the hell is going on with you?" He asked, walking towards me. He snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me in close, hugging me while we swayed back and forth.

"I don't know." I whispered, closing my eyes. "I just want it to stop." I said more to myself than to him.

"Me too." He mumbled "Why don't you go lay down?" He spoke softly, guiding me to the couch. I chewed on my lip as I sank into the cushion, then laid back as he pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and threw it over me. In 5 minutes, I had fallen asleep on the old couch, but in 6 minutes I was having a nightmare.

~Dream~

I was struggling for breath and flailing my arms, taking short gasps of air as I came up above the dark liquid. I tried screaming stop, but I was only choked by the crimson blood that rushed down my throat as I looked around, scared, at the 3 men; Andy, Ian and Mike, who pushed me under again. Above the rim of the tub, I could hear Ian and Andy laughing, while Mike's hands gripped my throat and finally, cut off my circulation as I closed my eyes.

~~

I woke up to screaming, taking quick gasps of air. I was shaking violently. I looked around for a moment, tears in my eyes and saw Mike above me, his face was bruising and there was a cut by his eye, his lip was cut and his nose was bleeding.

In a weak voice, I managed to ask him what had happened.

"What happened. What. Happened??" He asked, his voice low, rising in anger. "I was in the in the kitchen and you stopped breathing in your sleep, so I ran over and you started beating me! Damnit Blake, I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but I have had just about enough! Either you stop trying to get attention and act normal, or I will turn you in to child services so I don't have to deal with you." With that, he stormed away into the bedroom and slammed the door, locking it.

I sat there, shocked, looking blankly at the bedroom door for a moment, then sighed, looking away and picking at my chipping nails. I looked down to my hands; they had blood on them.. Mike's blood. My wrists were bruised from where he was holding me down, trying to wake me up and get me to stop hitting him.

I cussed under my breath and flopped back onto the couch, my eyes closed for a few minutes until I heard the floor creaking. I thought it would be Mike coming out of the room, but when I opened my eyes, looking up, I saw Eric standing about me. A shudder ran over my body and tears pricked my eyes. It was taking everything I had to not scream right now, because I knew what Mike would do, so instead, I got slowly off the couch, the figure watching me, and took off out of the cabin, the door slamming behind me, crying as I ran.

As I ran and ran, I was hoping I wouldn't be followed by Mike. Right now, I would rather be followed by Eric, but at the same time, I just wanted to get away from Mike, from Eric.. From everyone and everything.

I ran straight, not stopping for about an hour and 1/2. Finally though, I did stop by a large Oak tree and leaned against it, breathing heavily. I wonder if Mike knows I left.. If he followed me.. I wonder if Eric knew where I was and if he followed me. I decided that, at this point, I didn't care anymore and with that, I slide down the tree and sat in the wet leaves, closing my eyes and drifted into sleep; exhausted from running.

~~

I woke up to branches cracking and leaves crumbling. My vision was blurred and I was still groggy from the sleep I'd just had.. The sun was setting now, I'd slept at least 3 or 4 hours. When I saw, though, who was standing in front of me, I was right awake. I stood quickly and looked at him, stammering.

"I-I-I-I t-thought you w-w-were d-d-dead." As I spoke that, he took a few steps closer to me, pulling a leaf from my hair and stroking my cheek.

"I guess you thought wrong." He said, cracking a smile. I gulped, a bead of sweat forming on my temple as he came closer, placing his lips on my neck, picking me up as I struggled, shaking.