The Midnight Within

Untitled Part 38

" You're not worthy, you need to go back. "

" I am and I want to be here. "

" Go back, leave before they kill you. "

Daniel sat up on the ornate bed. He wanted her to turn around and face him, look him in the eye and tell him to go but she kept her back to him. Her voice was full of sorrow when she spoke again. " You're weak, they will tear you open and dance on your corpse. "

" No, I can prove to you I am not. " He reached out for her but she was across the room and still refusing to look at him. Her long blond hair spilled down her naked back teasing him as he pleaded for her to turn and look at him.

" Go back now, they are waiting for you. "

" I want to stay. "

" When the time is right you will find me. " She was on the bed with him, her full dark lips curling suggestively up at the corners. " Go now before I change my mind and keep you forever. " She leaned in, fangs peeking from under her dark upper lip. He reached for her and was suddenly falling into a darkness that was filled with longing and pain.

Dragged from a fitful sleep, awash in dreams of blood and hunger, anger and lust. His head pounded unmercifully as he squinted against the light from the bedside lamp. His stomach felt as if something was trying to claw it's way out from the inside and he suddenly wanted to puke again. Instinctively he slid closer to Mia's warm sleeping body and slipped his arm around her small waist. She murmured sleepily, curling into his chest.

He was still half asleep himself as he brushed his free hand over the exposed swath of skin between her shirt and jeans. He rested his head gently against hers. She really was stunning and it killed him to know that like everything else in life she too could be lost to him forever. He wished they could just stay like this, free from their worries, but he knew, or rather that something inside him had been changed. The darkness he had harbored for so long was spreading through him like a fast moving cancer.

Had he really been living a lie his whole life? Or had it been the people he thought loved him and then turned on him that were living the lie? Did it even matter anymore? The feelings that Black had awakened in him were nothing like he had ever experienced before, and he had experienced quite a bit in his short life. The euphoria he had felt when bitten was better than any drug or sexual encounter, he had ever had. He needed, no wanted that feeling back.

Shuddering Daniel tried to steady his breathing as the smell of soap and dragons blood wrapped around him. The ache deep inside shifted, moving uncomfortably downwards, leaving him hot all over. His fingers slid upwards, over Mia's belly, his thumb grazed one hard nipple as his mouth found hers. Still asleep Mia pulled him closer, letting him kiss her fully. He knew it was wrong yet needed to feel her warmth, wanted to feel connected to

something again. His heart ached as memories of other lovers bounced around inside his brain only to be replaced by thoughts of a different mouth, a mouth that tasted faintly of death.

He had so much power and no fear. They were free in a way he could only dream of. He wanted to be free of his mortal coil, afraid of no one, and who was the blond woman? How did she fit into any of this? All he knew was that he wanted their world and maybe that's what had drawn them to him in the first place. His own desire to escape the pain he had been hiding for so long.

" Forgive me. "

Reluctantly he pulled away from Mia's warm embrace. He slipped from under the covers and quietly gathered his cloths from the chair in the corner and crept out into the murky hallway. He didn't know where he was going but he knew he could not stay there. It wouldn't be fair to either of them. He dressed quickly, put on his shades and headed for the door. This time it was Zakk who was snoring in the recliner with both cats curled up on his legs. From his pocket he took his Zippo, the one that Zakk had always coveted and put it down on the coffee table. He took his coat from the hook and quietly let himself out into the predawn darkness. Shoving his hands into his pockets he reached the sidewalk and headed towards Lake st.

Kate's house was dark as was all of the houses on the block. A few had some string lights still on but otherwise it was a deserted landscape. He walked past his house, still cordoned off with yellow tape. It looked forlorn and empty with it's dark windows and Jessie's uncarved pumpkin sitting on the steps. He couldn't have felt more disconnected than he did at that moment. It felt like a dream, one he was not going to wake up from. He needed to make a choice, either walk away from the life he had known or fight the feelings inside and go back to Mia's and ask his friends to help him and then what? Black wasn't done with him and if Jack really was out to get him then being anywhere near his friends would leave them in danger. He needed to stay as far from Mia and Zakk as possible to keep them safe.

There was something seriously wrong, he could feel it deep inside. It was not something a doctor could fix, he knew that. He also knew that Black was the only one who had the answers he needed. He also needed to get his stuff from Chester's without getting picked up before he could get there. He should have taken the keys to the Stanger but his mind had been in so many different places that it never occurred to him. Hanging his head he dug out his smokes, pulled his hoodie up over his head and began to walk again in hopes he would run into someone who could give him a ride.