Hex Marks the Spot

Chapter Two

Glass Half Empty
Glass Half Full
- "King" by Lauren Aquiline -

Chapter Two

Nichole's brain stuttered for the briefest moment. Her sensory system was being overloaded. Acrid odors were assaulting her from all directions, causing her nose to wrinkle and her head to roll side to side in disdain. While her muscles felt like they had been flash-burned with acid on the inside. However, what really had her mind reeling hadn't fully set in yet, and it wasn't how oddly quiet everything was.

She was still Nichole Bray Dante; and Nichole Bray Dante was still alive and breathing.

There was still blood beneath her dark skin and Nichole struggled to understand why. Why was she still here? Still breathing? Still bleeding? It wasn't that she didn't understand what had happened, because she did, what Nichole didn't understand was why she wasn't beginning over.

Why hadn't she died?

Why wasn't the wheel turning?

Yanking herself into an upright position, she glanced around the unfamiliar room of spaciously decorated dark walls with their tall stuffed bookshelves. The large glass window to her left showed how late it had gotten, was too bright for Nichole to look through. So, she kept her head down and studied the dark desk below. Her distraction didn't last long, not with the tenderness in her mouth or the damp area covering her right side. They brought about a brief recollection of the previous events, which left Nichole shivering.

The attack had been completely unexpected. She hadn't been spared the time to be startled before her offender's teeth sunk in. Nor, ready for the pain she had forgotten about.

Forgotten? No, that wasn't right. That memory had just been locked away. It had belonged to another life. To which one though? Who had she been when that vampire had attacked her? Was she younger then or older? Had it occurred in a time already passed? Or, was it still years away?

'It doesn't matter.' It didn't, not really. Whether she remembered a small echo like that or not wasn't a big deal. Not when it was just another death to add to her growing collection. 'I should write it down though.'

Nostrils flared and Nichole's face twisted into a grimace as phantom pains surged through her neck and left arm. As for her physical wounds, they continued to tingle numbly.

Three abrupt knocks had Nichole's head shooting up. "May I come in?" Not a word slipped past tightly pressed lips as she straightened her spine. A door, which had been left ajar, slowly open as a stranger to Nichole cautiously entered. A small, friendly smile flashed across his pale face as their gazes briefly met.

The friendly demeanor he presented was unsettling when she took note of the red tinting in his vividly golden eyes. It left the hairs on the back of her neck standing.

"I'm Doctor Carlisle Cullen." He paused, and it was unclear to Nichole if the doctor was simply waiting for a response or if he was just letting his words settle. "How are you feeling? You lost quite a bit of blood."

Another step was taken and in response, the muscles beneath black skin tensed, so he stopped and smiled kindly again.

"That was quite the harsh tumble you had. How does your head feel? Is there any nausea? Pain? ?" Nichole's shoulder rolled inwards as her eyes flickered to the bandages wrapped around her right arm. "I numbed the areas around your wounds with lidocaine before suturing a few of your larger cuts." Nichole's attention switched from her numb and tingling appendage to the man before her. Her silence didn't seem to be causing any issues, quite yet, and Nichole briefly wondered just how long his good doctor facade would last.