The Midnight Within

Chapter 37

The world was awash in the sickly feeling of nausea and Daniel wanted nothing more than to keep his eyes tightly shut and wake up in his own bed but the cold hard concrete under his bruised back refused to play along with this fantasy. His head rolled to the side as hazy images of people dancing and a tall blond woman with the eyes of a summer sky beckoned him to come dance with her. He rolled over with an effort he didn't think he had and began to cough. It hurt and he froze as yet another round of nausea rolled through him.

The vision of the dancing blond vanished as he brought himself up to his elbows. Disoriented he tried to shake the cobwebs from his head. It felt like he had been hit by a semi and all he could think about was the feel of Black's mouth against his throat. ~ Why did you leave me ~ What had stopped him? Driven him away, leaving Daniel alone and in pain.

Unable to hold his own weight he collapsed back onto the cold hard dock like a house of cards. Groaning he managed to roll over onto his back and had to cover his eyes from the blinding lights. This was not supposed to be the way it worked, he felt cheated and was soon aware of a spreading ache inside his body that no drugs or drink would quell. Laying motionless he thought he hear Mia's frantic voice but what would Mia be doing here? His head was gently lifted and he squinted up into Zakk's worried face. He was reminded of a night he had drank a bottle of Chartreuse by himself, Zakk's expression had been the same that night too. Movement made his stomach roll as he forced a smile for Zakk, managing a weak murmur of sound. " Please kill me. " He whispered before being plunged into merciful arms of darkness.

" Why? "

" I don't know why? "

" And you didn't tell us sooner? "

" What did you want me to say Zakk? That I was being haunted, or whatever the hell you want to call it by a trio of vampires? You would have laughed your ass off at me like Ed did to Charlie in Fright Night and you know it. "

" I would have told you to stop eating Shrooms while roleplaying and watching shitty horror. So what does Daniel have to do with it? "

" Best guess? Jackson Carver. "

" Britt's dad hired someone to do what? Kill him? Or just mess him up? "

" I don't know Zakk. All I know is that I ran into him on the way in. He told me not to go in there but I was not going to just leave. Of course he hit on me...." Mia shivered, she had never been a fan of Jacks.

" This is bad Mia, really bad. Um, where's kasie? " Zakk looked over his shoulder at the blood stained couch and felt his stomach roll.

" Out back. " Mia swiped at her eyes again. She had cried more in the last two days than in

her whole life. " I couldn't leave her sitting there. I tried to drag her to the garage and couldn't. "

Stifling a sob, she went down the hall to the closed bedroom door where Daniel had been sleeping for several hours now. They had talked about taking him to the hospital but in the end Mia just wanted to go home. Zakk was all for getting both of them checked out but she had insisted they go home and was quick to remind Zakk that the more places they went to more likely it would be that they would get reported, so in the end they ended up back at her place.

Zakk didn't know what to think. Mia sure as hell thought they were Vampires but Zakk's rational brain told him otherwise. Dangerous? Yes. Vampires? Not so much. Then again, had Mia not kissed him back at the club he would be dead right now. Shuddering at the memory he realized how many people might yet be hurt by them if they couldn't find a way to stop them.