If I Had A Heart

Chapter 19

"No. You can't make me," Regine grunted, crawling away from him towards the door.

Staring down at his hands, all he could do was smile to himself, letting out a small laugh under his breath. Her eyes narrowed.

"The opportunity's gonna come Regine and when it does, you won't be able to do anything but hurt someone to get what you want," he said with an easy shrug. "I wont have to make you do a thing."

She wasn't thinking straight. Nothing he had said since showing up had put her at ease but Regine couldn't help that misguided cocktail of hope and desperation guide her decisions. Instead of turning around and running the complete opposite way from this psychopath sitting casually on her bed, she rose from her position on the floor and took a step forward, feeling herself reach for his hand. She took it in her own and looked into his eyes, knowing how completely crazy she was about to sound.

"Unless you – "

She paused, reluctance washing over her face as she prepared herself for the words she was about to say.

He stood up slowly.

"Unless I...what?" His curiosity was piqued, she could judge that by his quirked eyebrow, yet something inside her could tell he already knew what she was about to ask of him.

"...help me," she heard herself say. Rough, nearly panting with need. The weakness in her voice forced her to look away from his gaze in shame.

"What do you think I've been doing all this time, hm?" he asked, gripping her waist tightly with one hand and sweeping a lock of hair over her shoulder with the other, leaving her throat exposed. His gaze flickered to the exposed flesh for the briefest of seconds before returning to meet her eyes, which were quickly filling with unshed tears. She was growing more frustrated but fought to control herself.

"You cannot be serious. Toying with me isn't the same as helping me, David. Please. Just let me drink from you again and I'll deal with the rest when it comes." She allowed herself to caress his face with her hands, palms moving down his cheeks to grasp at his neck, fingers weaving into his hair in an attempt to garner some kind of sympathetic reaction from him. Anything that would get him to see, to really understand how much she needed this.

His skin was like ice and Regine wondered if hers felt like that now, too. His eyes fluttered closed and he breathed deeply, giving her the slightest bit of hope that she was somehow getting through to him. Her fingers began to trace along his jaw and cheek once again. He seemed to enjoy her caresses briefly before bringing his hands to rest over hers, pulling them away from his face.

"What'll you give me for it?"

Regine spluttered.

"Give you? Give you for what?"

He only smiled wider at the baffled yet frightened look on her face. "My blood. If it's the only thing keeping you from turning these little...friends of yours into a full-course buffet line, why don't we at least make this a little more fun?" He let out a dark chuckle then. "For me at least."

She went still in his arms as her hands dropped from his face. Panic surged through her as the last fragments of her self control were slipping away. She questioned if she had even heard him correctly.

"David, what do you mean?"

He licked his lips and leaned forward, inhaling her scent before murmuring in her ear. "I've been around a long time, sweetheart. Longer than I'd care to admit." His voice turned into a velvety whisper, his cool breath sending sharp chills down her spine as he moved to grasp her waist. "I gotta keep myself entertained somehow."