Bite, p.66
Bite, page 66
He swallows hard while nervously responding, “It’s okay Gina.”
“No it’s not. I shouldn’t have gone this long without hunting. I could have killed you.”
With concern heavy in his voice Harry adds, “But you’ve always been able to control yourself before. I’ve noticed little changes in your behavior all week and I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before. Something is definitely going on with you sweetheart.”
I take a seat on the floor as I give Harry’s words some thought. I feel Tiffany starting to walk over to me and I quickly jump up as I say, “Don’t come closer! I’m not sure that I’m fully myself yet. It’s better if you guys stay over on that side of the room.”
“Gina I’m not afraid of you,” she says.
“I know but I’m afraid of myself.”
I feel Harry put a hand on my shoulder as he gently says, “Come on sweetheart, let’s go hunting.”
I just nod as Joseph says, “I need to go too since I didn’t get to feed because Charlie sent me back.”
“Tell me about it. Kiddo, do you think you can have another episode after we eat,” David asks.
I’m about to respond but he gives me a wink and a slight smile so I let it go as I smile back. With sad eyes Tiffany asks, “Gina, are you gonna be okay? I’m getting really worried about you.”
I gaze at her and suddenly my body seems worn out from the events of the past week. I let out a deep sigh as I answer, “I hope so Tiff.”
Trying to make his voice sound upbeat Mark says, “Well you go grab a bite to eat and maybe by the time you get back, you’ll feel a lot better.”
“Yeah maybe you’re right,” I say while my smile grows a little wider.
David smirks as he says, “Well we could eat in. After all,” he pauses to reveal his fangs and then continues, “there’s nothing better than eating at home.”
Evan chuckles as he adds, “Absolutely. We can start with Steve since he smells the best right now. Garlic free.”
The others, including my friends, just laugh it off and I know they’re only joking but my mind can’t help but react. I lift up both David and Evan and before I do anything David pleads, “Ah come on kiddo, we were only joking.”
“Too late,” I say and after giving them a sneaky grin, I toss both of them out into the backyard. I run out just as they both get up on their feet and I just shrug while I say, “I was only joking kiddo. Pop you and Joseph ready?”
David is set to retaliate but Charlie blocks his path as he says, “Let it go man or your Hummer will end up like my Lamborghini.”
David growls as he says, “She better not even think about touching my truck.”
“What happened to your Lamborghini,” Amber asks.
“Why don’t you ask your friend?”
Her gaze lands on me and I shrug as I respond nonchalantly, “Oh Charlie pissed me off so I crushed it into one giant metal ball.”
“Wicked,” Steve says with astonishment.
Charlie says with anger, “Glad you think so. You still owe me a car Mrs. St. James!”
“Sure, sure,” I reply using a quote from one of my favorite books. I hear Tiffany squeal at the response and I take off running with the boys right behind me.
This Is Harder Than I Thought
(Charlie)
I couldn’t believe how much my sister-in-law was suffering but the stress from this past week finally caught up with her. We tried not to push her too hard but Gina insisted on practicing every minute she could. Practically every minute of the day she would take turns with each of us maneuvering around our heads until she almost gave herself headaches. She is determined to perfect being inside Ursela’s head no matter how much it’s killing her.
I blame myself for letting her go this long without hunting and I should have looked ahead so I could have been more ready when Gina tried to bite Steve. Better yet, none of us should have left her alone with her friends in the first place no matter how much she protested. Good thing for Joseph’s speed otherwise he could have gotten back too late and there would have been blood all over my rug. The horror.
While the others accompanied Gina on her hunting trip, I figure I would reassure her friends since due to the way their hearts are beating they are scared shitless. I walk over to where they’re sitting and ask, “Are you all okay? Steve?”
“Yeah I’m fine. Really I am,” he replies while giving a weak smile.
Mark softly asks, “Things are really that bad for her?”
I look sullen as I reply, “Yeah. Gina has really been trying to hold it together but Sam not being here is really tearing her apart.”
Tiffany sighs as she says, “I can’t imagine what she’s going through. I feel like I’ve been a shitty friend. I should have been here for her the moment she came back and told me he was gone.”
“There really wasn’t much you could have done and maybe it was best you weren’t here. For the first day she was quiet and didn’t really say much and when she did, Gina was a real bitch.” I shrug my shoulders as I softly add, “We didn’t take it personally because we knew she was in pain.”
“Yeah I guess,” Tiffany mumbles. She pauses for a moment and asks, “How have you been doing? I imagine it must be hard for you too.”
I smile at her concern as I reply, “I’m doing okay.”
“You can look in the future right? Why don’t you see if Sam does come back and how she defeats Ursela so at least Gina will know what she has to do,” Amber says.
That thought has crossed my mind several times for the past week. I even looked ahead to see the outcome and everything Gina does. I know what happens to her as well as my brother. I saw the entire battle with Ursela. I saw who lives and who dies. And in hopes that things will change when decisions are constantly being made, I swore to myself that I would tell no one.
I shake my head as I murmur, “I can’t do that because the future can always change. It’s not completely set in stone so anything can happen. It’s best if she doesn’t know potential outcomes that may or may not happen.”
“Yeah but maybe knowing something might give her a chance. Especially if she can prevent someone from getting hurt or worse,” Diane says.
“Yeah she’s right. If something bad is going to happen, you know Gina will want to do what she can to prevent it,” Steve adds with vigor.
I wish there was a way I could make them understand not telling Gina is the best way for her to succeed. The things I saw will fuck up her head for sure and completely take her off her game. I know they mean well and they think me telling her about my vision would help but it would do more damage than good. I warily look at all their faces and when I stop at Tiffany’s she watches me with concern as she softly asks, “Is it really that bad that you are too afraid to tell her?”
I just sigh as I feel my heart breaking. Out of all of them, she is the one I would rather confide in about my vision the most. But instead of spilling the beans to her, I reply, “If I tell Gina of what I saw, good and bad, it will alter her strategy and the outcome. It’s better if I don’t tell her anything. She’ll be able to focus on the task at hand and not on trying to change the future, which could result in a bigger disaster. Sometimes not knowing the future is the best way to deal with the present.”
They think about my response as I sit in a chair with my head down in my hands. I replay the vision over and over in my head torn with what to do while I feel a gentle hand rest on my shoulders. Tiffany whispers in my ear, “Don’t feel you have to carry the burden of what you saw alone Charlie. I’m here if you need to talk to someone. Remember that.”
I reach up to hold her hand while still looking at the floor and I politely murmur, “Would you all excuse us for a moment? I would like to speak to Tiffany in private.”
And before they give me a response, I spring up and lift her into my arms before I take her outside. I smirk when I hear Mark say, “No fair. Why does she gets to know and we don’t.”
“Well you’re not the one he’s totally in to,” Amber says with a giggle.
I take her out into the backyard and set Tiffany down on the far end of the pool. I’m shocked that she isn’t angry for my sudden movements but instead shows concern as she says, “Talk to me.”
Feeling her mood through my mark, I calmly say, “You’re still angry with me.”
“Charlie that’s not what I’m referring to. Tell me what you saw that has you so upset.”
I smirk while I respond, “Well I’m not telling you my vision either so we might as well talk about something.”
She lets out a frustrated sigh as she says, “I’m not going through with you this again. I can’t do this back and forth with you anymore. One minute I think you love me and the next you are as cold as ice. It’s totally stressing me out.”
“Okay,” I say and I look towards the house to catch her friends peering out through the glass doors. When they see I’ve caught them listening, they scramble to move and Mark gets Diane’s elbow right in the eye. I chuckle while Tiffany screams at me, “Oh no you don’t! You better focus Charles St. James! You wanted to talk so let’s talk.”
I turn my attention back to her as I say, “I hear you loud and clear Tiffany Montclair.”
She walks up to me until she’s directly in my face and asks, “So what’s it gonna be Charlie? I want to know once and for all exactly how you feel about me. Do you love me or not?”
What do I say? Once again my golden hair angel is leaving me speechless. Do I love her? There is no question about it. I love her with all my heart. Did I want to be with her? Absolutely. Right now I’m fighting every urge in my body to not take her upstairs to my bedroom and show her how much I want her. But the final question I have to ask myself is did I want Ursela to know how special she is to me so she can hurt her? Absolutely not, so what choice did I have? I never looked into the future to see if Tiffany and I would ever be together because my heart wouldn’t be able to handle it if it turns out she no longer wanted to be with me. So I have no choice but to take the gamble and hope things work out later on. For right now, I have to let her go for her safety.
This time I want to be a bit gentler than how I was at the bonfire. I look at her intensely as I reply, “Yes I do love you. I don’t want you to ever doubt that.” She is about to smile but I kill her growing good mood as I continue, “However, I can’t be with you now.”
The frustration returns to her face. “Call me crazy but didn’t we go through that part before?” I start to reply but she holds up a hand to cut me off as she continues, “Look Charlie I know you’re worried about me but I’m in the loop now. I fully understand how serious the situation is. What happened to Sara really opened my eyes so I know not to fuck around here. You don’t have to push me away this time.”
I study her face as she speaks and I almost back down from my decision. There’s no doubt judging by her facial expression that she is telling me the truth and I believe she could handle anything thrown her way. But I want to keep her safe and avoid her getting caught in the middle as much as I can. I take a deep breath and firmly say, “I understand what you’re saying but this time I’m sticking to my decision. You and I cannot be together.”
My words hit her like a punch. Tears begin to well up as she asks, “So this is really it?”
“Yes,” is all I can say while I mentally kick myself for breaking her heart, again.
Trying to prevent the tears from falling, Tiffany sighs. She starts to walk back to the house but she stops and faces me. “I’m really sorry that you feel you can’t be honest with me and tell me everything. I still feel that you’re keeping things from me, which I can’t understand why. I know it can’t be that you have a hundred babies out there but there is definitely something going on that you won’t tell me. But I will say this; for Gina’s sake I will be polite and if there’s anything I can do to help you get Sam back, I’ll do it. But after that don’t expect anything else from me. No showing up at my house or trying to clarify things later on and definitely no more getting in my pants. I’ll give you one more chance to tell me everything now or that’s how it’ll be from now on. What do you say Charlie?”
I sense the others returning because I hear Gina mentally say Charlie you have to tell her she’s marked or tell her you have to hold off being with her because of Ursela. Damn it Charlie tell her something.
I reply to her No I can’t while I say to Tiffany, “I will respect your wishes and after all this is done, I won’t bother you again.”
Her mind is screaming obscenities at me and calling me a coward. Maybe that is part of the reason. Maybe I’m afraid to let her see that I’m terrified to admit that if I didn’t do this then Ursela will kill her. She will find out that Tiffany is marked but I’m prepared to say that she is my human for feeding purposes only. But if Ursela learns I love her, Tiffany will be kidnapped and tortured until I succumb to Ursela so she can use my gifts for her selfish gain. That is one of the things I saw when I looked into the future and it’s a part of the vision I wish I never seen.
Tiffany rushes back into the house as the others return from their short hunting trip. While listening in on my last thought Gina asks, “Are you certain?”
I wiggle my finger while replying, “It’s not very nice to listen in on other people’s thoughts.”
“Blow me. Is that what you saw? Will that happen?”
Frustrated David asks, “There you both go again. Do you want to fill the rest of us in or is this a private conversation?”
Tiffany didn’t make it all the way inside the house and she is standing by the glass door listening in. I glance in her direction so I can politely ask, “Would you mind waiting in the house please? We’ll be there in a moment.”
She shrugs as she responds, “Sure. There’s nothing keeping me out here anymore.”
The sting of her words feels like a slap to my face and I wince as I watch her walk inside the house. David rolls his eyes as he mumbles, “Great, more mush. You St. James’s are truly killing me.”
I ignore him as Gina says, “Okay Charlie, tell them what you saw.”
I stare intently at each of their faces as I say, “Ursela will discover that I marked Tiffany. It is imperative that you only let her think that Tiffany is my feeder and nothing more or she will die.”
“How does she find out,” Joseph asks.
Harry answers, “She probably has spies everywhere now. We better get them to Alex’s now before we’re not able to get them out of New York at all.”
I nod as I say, “I agree. But do you all understand my request? Ursela won’t just simply bite her. She’ll drain some of her blood first to rid her of my mark. Then she can really punish me when she kills Tiffany only instead of doing it quickly Ursela will feed on her slowly until Tiffany wishes for death to come. It’ll be pure hell for her.” I let the despair spread on my face as I gravely add, “I can’t let that happen. You all have to promise you’ll help me prevent that from happening.”
Evan pats me on the back while saying, “Come on Charlie, you know us better than that. We got your back on this no doubt.”
“Yeah we won’t let anything happen to her,” Joseph adds.
I smile as I say, “I know. Thank you.”
David smirks as he says, “Now that the mush is over, let’s get on the road.”
Stake Through the Heart
(Gina)
It took a little over half an hour but once we got everyone situated in David and Charlie’s cars, we are finally ready to go meet Alex. Riding with David is Diane, Amber and Steve while Evan and Joseph will ride their bikes. Mark will go with Charlie while Tiffany rides with me in Sam’s car. It’s a little painful being in his car without him but while trying to be positive, I tell myself he’ll be with me for the return trip home.
Once we get out of New York and end up on the I-80 heading west, I glance at Tiffany who is steady gazing out the window and my heart goes out to her. She really had strong feelings for Charlie and now they can’t be together because his vision showed her death. That we can deal with but Tiffany not knowing Charlie’s vision just makes things worse for her and she feels completely rejected. My anger grows and the list of why I hate Ursela keeps escalates to an immeasurable number.
I glance at my best friend while I murmur, “Tiffany are you okay?”
She takes a moment before responding, “Yeah I’m fine.”
Yeah sure she is and I’m a monkey’s uncle. I give her hand a light squeeze as I say, “Come on this is me bitch. I’m still the same Gina. You can talk to me.” She slightly smiles as I continue, “We might as well talk about something because we still have a long way to go before we reach Alex’s house.”
Tiffany positions her body in the seat so she’s facing me and lets out a deep sigh as she says, “I just don’t understand what happened. Everything was going great between me and Charlie but then everything had to start falling apart the moment I had to pressure him about us telling the whole damn world. Since that night of the bonfire he’s been acting weird towards me where I don’t know which way his feelings are going to go anymore.” She tucks her hair behind her ear as she mutters, “Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I should have left well enough alone and we would still be together. He’s probably just using that Ursela chick as an excuse because Charlie just doesn’t want to be in a relationship with me and I refuse to have just a causal fling with him. Ugh I don’t know what to think anymore.” She lets out a nervous laugh as she adds, “I shouldn’t be surprised. Relationships and me just don’t click because I always find a way to ruin them.”
