Immortal Love Book #1. Awakening

31. "War is around the corner"

I dropped the phone and I fell with my knees to the floor. I covered up my face as the tears left my eyes uncontrollably and the overwhelming feeling of sadness filled me up. I couldn't believe it. Carl was like a father to me, and I couldn't believe he was gone. I hated to cry in front of people, especially in front of emotionless vampires such as Alexander and Jacqueline, but I just couldn't hold the tears in any longer.

"Stella." Dennis' voice made me look up. He was now awake, and I had to focus on that, and not on the fact that my stepdad was dead. He was still lying in bed, and his eyes were barely opened, but he was awake, and that was what mattered. I picked up the phone again.

"Stella, can you hear me?" my mother asked me between sobs.

"Yes." I said with a quivering voice.

"Come home honey, please. Stay put for the night and come home first thing in the morning." she said. I wondered if that mattered. I mean, if Alexander could walk in the sun, Darko probably could too.

"Sure mom, I'll be there as soon as possible." I said. "Is everyone else okay?" I asked, ignoring the pain in my chest that the news of Carl's death had provoked.

"The bar was attacked, and a lot of people got hurt. Luckily Merissa got away in time, but a lot of people died." my mother said with sadness in her voice. I swallowed more of my tears.

"Okay, I'll be there first thing in the morning." I assured her.

I hung up the phone and then I walked towards Dennis and sat next to him on the bed. Alexander was in his phone and Jacqueline looked at me like she didn't know how to deal with a person crying, but I didn't mind them. Dennis had his eyes open, but he didn't look hot and sexy as usual, he looked hungry and weak.

"Hi." I greeted him. His hand went to my cheek, wiping out some of my tears. I held his hand with mine and swallowed up even more tears that were accumulating in my eyes.

"What happened?" he asked. I took a deep breath. Where did I even start?

"War, basically." Jacqueline interrupted me before I even started explaining and she sat on the other side of the bed.

"What?" Dennis looked dizzy and confused, and he couldn't even sit up yet.

"You need blood." Jacqueline said looking at him. "He needs blood." she said now looking at me. I nodded.

I got up and walked to the fridge. I pulled out the last three bottles of blood and I hoped that was enough to make him get his strength back. I sat back next to him and opened one bottle of blood and guided it to his mouth. His fangs came out and he gladly received the blood. I could feel him regaining his strength as he drank rapidly. He finished the three bottles in record time while Jacqueline explained the situation to him, and I left the empty plastics on the nightstand. He had regained his color and he could sit up now, so he did. He also cleaned up his bloody mouth with his shirt and he retracted his fangs as Jacqueline finished explaining him what he'd missed.

"...oh, and Stella lost someone important, apparently." Jacqueline finished explaining, and the pain invaded me once again. I managed to keep my tears to myself.

"Who?" Dennis asked with a worried tone as he held my hand.

"Carl." his name came out of my mouth in pieces. A tear fell from my left eye and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath trying to avoid the others to follow.

I heard Dennis take a deep breath and then he hugged me. He surrounded me with his arms, and I felt less like shit. I cried on his shoulder for a moment, ignoring the people around us and just letting myself feel sad for a while. I didn't have time to grief, we needed to stop a war. I pulled away after a minute and I cleaned up my tears with the sleeves of the rope.