Bite, p.70
Bite, page 70
I completely forgot about Rob running into him since I was so absorbed in Mark’s explanation. But I can understand David’s concern. My husband’s mind now completely belongs to Ursela so he shouldn’t have been able to still care about us enough to give us a warning. Then I suddenly remember that Rob said he had a message for me from Sam. Maybe whatever it is will clarify our doubts and why he let Rob go will make more sense to us. After taking a deep breath I plead to Rob, “Now can you tell me the message Sam gave you for me?”
He looks over at Charlie who nods while saying, “Go ahead and tell her before she bursts.”
I smile since I do feel the urge to start bouncing up and down because deep down in my heart I’m praying that it’s good news. I even start to imagine that maybe Sam is not really under Ursela’s spell and he’s only pretending to hold her off from setting off her plan. I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up but anything is possible and I have to believe that even though my husband is trapped with that bitch, deep down inside he still love me.
Rob walks up to me and I feel my anticipation building as I wait for him to repeat Sam’s message. He leans closer to me as he whispers, “You better read it from my head. He specifically requested that.
Puzzled I simply reply, “Okay. Just relax your mind so I can see. For some reason, your thoughts are fuzzy to me.”
With a sly grin Rob responds, “We all have our secrets Gina.”
I lightly laugh and I take a few deep breaths while we both relax our minds. He looks intensely into my eyes while I focus on his mind and I start to see his thoughts more clearly. Once Rob opens his mind to me, I find the memory of Sam and when I do, I almost feel my heart beat again. He still looks as handsome as the last time I saw him. But there’s sadness mixed with malice in his green eyes and I feel overwhelmed with mixed emotions. I focus harder as his message begins.
“Gina, run. Don’t come after me. Don’t try to come rescue me. You know what’s coming and if we cross paths, I will be against you. There’s nothing you can do for me now. I’m sure once upon a time I loved you and was the man you hoped for but that man is gone now. There’s no reason for you to come back and meet your doom. Besides, you seem to have another to keep you company so now you can be with him. This is the only warning I’m giving you. Run. Goodbye Gina.”
The message finishes and my body is numb while my heart begins to break. My hands are shaking and the ground feels like it’s opening up under my feet to swallow me up inside the Earth. Charlie looks at me with concern as he asks, “Gina what’s wrong?”
Without meeting his gaze I just mumble out, “Why would he say that? Why is he pushing me away? Doesn’t he want me anymore?”
“Gina what are you talking about? What did my brother say?”
I don’t answer and my legs feel like jello where I’m unable to stand straight. “Charlie, look to see what Sam told her,” Harry orders harshly while rushing to my side.
While I feel my father supporting my body, in a soft voice I keep repeating, “Why is he doing this?”
After Charlie sees the message, he relays it to the rest of the group. Harry tightens his arms around me while Evan asks, “What did he mean by another? Is he saying that there is someone else that wants her?”
With anger appearing on his face Charlie replies, “Why don’t you ask Gina? Sis, anything you’d like to tell us?”
I’m stunned by his accusing tone and I feel my fury rising as I respond, “What are you insinuating?”
He narrows his eyes while muttering, “Oh I think you know what I’m talking about.”
“No I don’t so why don’t you enlighten me,” I hiss defensively.
“You and Joseph that’s what I’m talking about!”
Everyone looks at Joseph who grimaces. I’m too stunned by Charlie’s response to be concerned about how Joseph is reacting. I break free from Harry’s arms as I walk up to Charlie’s face and scream, “Are you serious? Are you fucking serious? You think Joseph and I are messing around? Charlie you’ve got to be kidding me! How can you stand there and accuse me of something like that? How can you question my love for Sam?”
“Well it’s interesting how all of a sudden you are so close to Joseph. Something must have happened for Sam to say what he said.”
My anger explodes into a full rage and I use all my strength not to slap him right across his face. With venom in my voice I roar, “Fuck you Charlie! After everything I went through, how could you say that? I gave up everything for him! I didn’t just give up school or a job or a car. I gave up growing old and having babies. I gave up tanning at the beach and enjoying a pepperoni pizza. Charlie, I gave up my morality! I gave up my life for him! If that doesn’t prove my love for Sam then I don’t know what else will!”
The tears begin to stream down my face and I collapse to the ground. Charlie remains stunned and when my words sink into his thick head, remorse begins to appear all over his face. “Gina…I,” he stammers but he then remains silent when he can’t find the right words to say.
I try to control my crying as I whisper, “I love him Charlie. I took my vows and I plan to honor them. I would never do anything to hurt him. Sam is my heart and my world and it’s tearing me apart that he’s not with me. You have no idea what’s going on inside my head but I’m struggling every minute to keep it together.”
Harry hugs me as he says, “We know that sweetheart. We know how much Sam means to you.”
“If you did, I wouldn’t have to stand here and defend myself.”
Charlie is still speechless but Joseph is also angry. He walks up to him and with malice he spats, “You are way out of line Charlie! Nothing happened between Gina and I. We are just friends and nothing more. Yes I did kiss her but it was all me not her and it was a stupid mistake on my part. She loves Sam and she would never do anything to hurt him. Look at her Charlie; she’s falling apart over this.”
Charlie glances in my direction as Harry continues to soothe me. As he tries to keep me steady on my feet, a sudden pain hits my chest and I crumble to the ground. I clutch my chest as the pain continues to overwhelm me. Everyone starts to panic and with urgency Mark asks, “Gina what is it,” and starts to walk over to me but I hold up my hand as I scream, “Don’t come any closer!”
He backs away as David asks, “Kiddo, what’s wrong?”
I grit my teeth as I reply, “I don’t know. What’s happening to me?”
Steve furrows his brow as he says, “Oh shit I remember this.”
Tiffany asks, “What are you talking about?”
“I remember when I saw Gina like this when she had a pain in her chest. It was back at school in the computer lab.” He glares at Rob as he asks sourly, “Surely you remember right?”
Rob grins slyly as he responds, “Actually you two were hiding behind the bookshelf so no I don’t remember.”
Watching Steve, I feel a strange sensation come over my body and I turn my attention to Mark. As I stare at him, the scent of his blood begins to fill my nostrils and I feel my fangs grow out as I rise to my feet. He notices me staring at him and he nervously asks, “Why is she looking at me like that?”
I grin and in a voice that is not my own I reply, “Just you wait and see.”
As I begin to walk over to him I hear Charlie yell, “Stop her!”
I feel myself moving towards Mark but my motive seems to change and I no longer want to drink his blood. Something is telling my mind that he needs to be destroyed instead. I get ready to leap and as I spring forward, David gets in front of him to protect him. But I’m already in motion and my fist goes straight into his chest. As he roars out in pain, I smirk as I hiss, “That’s what you get for getting in my way.”
He lets out a growl and I try to bite him but he hurls me across the yard and Alex and Evan immediately pin me down.
“David, are you okay,” Charlie asks as he checks the wound.
David snarls as he responds, “Oh I’m just peachy. How’s kiddo?”
“She’ll be okay but you need blood. The wound is not so bad but you’ll need just a little to help you heal.”
“Great,” he says while wincing.
While Evan and Alex are holding me, I finally settle down and feel myself returning back to normal. I look over to where David is on the ground and at the shocked look on my friends’ faces as I ask, “What’s going on? What happened to David?”
Mind Over Matter
(Charlie)
Peering into Gina’s eyes, I can see that she really has no idea of what just occurred. That worries me greatly. “Do you not remember anything? Do you not remember going for Mark and attacking David instead,” I ask cautiously.
She quickly shakes her head, as she responds, “No I don’t remember the last few minutes. It’s like a total blank to me like I blacked out or something. Did I really do what you said? Did I hurt David?”
Her expression reminds me of Sam when the venom was trying to take over his mind while he fed and he wouldn’t remember anything during those moments. Now looking at his wife, I begin to wonder if the same is happening to Gina as well.
Focusing my attention back to David, I calmly ask him, “Did you pick one?”
He nods as he says, “I promise not to take too much. The last thing I want is for kiddo to scream at me.”
“Okay.” I peek inside his head and when I see his choice I say, “Diane, can you come over here please? We need your help.”
Confusion on her face, she walks over and asks, “What is it? What can I do to help?”
In a rapid motion, I grab her arm and quickly slash her wrist. She lets out a little yelp and I bring her wrist to David’s mouth where his fangs are already out. He latches on and begins to drink as Diane lightly moans and relaxes so it’s not too painful for her since she knows he’s only going to take enough to help him heal. Looking around, Alex, Rob and Joseph all have their fangs out as they watch intently and it doesn’t take a genius to know what’s running through their minds. I glare at them as I order, “Stand back and don’t inhale! Joseph you go farther! I know how attracted you are to her blood!”
He nods and moves so he’s over by where Gina is but his eyes never leave Diane’s wrist. She starts to wriggles a bit and Gina calmly says to her, “Diane hold still and it won’t hurt as much.”
She nods while responding, “I know. It’s just uncomfortable on my knees.”
She smiles and keeps still as David continues to feed. Once I see he has the amount he needs, I put a mild shield around her so he will free his grip of her. But he wasn’t expecting my shield and I feel his bite change before he let’s go. Crap, Gina is not going to be happy.
Diane stands and looks with amazement that he didn’t kill her while Evan closes the bite marks for her. Harry helps David to his feet and makes sure that he’s alright to stand on his own. Once I see that they are okay, I go over to Gina who is also on her feet. With sadness in her eyes she says, “Charlie I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did what I did.”
“It’s okay Gina. It wasn’t your fault.”
She looks over at David while softly saying, “Thank you for making sure he didn’t kill her.”
“You’re welcome,” I respond.
“Charlie, what happened to me?”
I need to give it some thought so I reply, “Why don’t we go back inside the house. David needs a few hours to rest and I think your friends might want to relax a bit as well.”
She gives me a half smile as she says, “Okay.” Everyone begins to head inside while Evan assists David. When he is on his way upstairs to sleep for a couple of hours, Gina calls after him and says, “David, I’m sorry for attacking you. I honestly don’t know what came over me. I hope you can forgive me.”
The sadness returns in her eyes and he appears conflicted. “Aw kiddo don’t give me the puppy dog eyes. I forgive you okay? Just don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“I promise,” she says while grinning. “Get some rest and we’ll see you in a bit.”
He just nods but as he climbs up the stairs, I read his mind and see that he’s glad Gina is okay. David actually cares about someone. Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything.
“Now that we’re done with all the mush, can you explain why Gina attacked him in the first place,” Diane asks with a slight grunt.
I look at her in surprise as Amber says, “Diane what the hell?”
“Is it me or has she been hanging around David a bit too long,” Joseph asks with a smirk.
Alex laughs as he says, “That’s all we need, another David.”
She rolls her eyes while muttering, “Oh well excuse me if I want to get to something more important than mush.”
Tiffany and Amber are staring at her dumbfounded and I groan. I decide to get this over with now instead of handling it like I did with Tiffany. I wince as I slowly say, “Well there is a reason for her sudden change in attitude. Smell her.”
Confused Gina sniffs Diane and when she detects what I’m referring to, she shouts, “Are you kidding me? He marked her?”
“What,” Diane exclaims while fright spreads across her face.
“Yeah when I threw my shield on her, it must have blown his concentration and he accidentally marked her.”
“Gee that’s never happened before,” Harry says sarcastically. “He seems to have trouble while he’s feeding doesn’t he?”
I roll my eyes as Diane asks, “Are you serious? So now I belong to David?”
He is almost at the top of the stairs but he stops to say, “Look at it this way Curly Sue, be glad that’s all I did. I could have drained you dry.”
“David, go upstairs before I hurt you again,” Gina snaps with a little smirk. He just winks at her with a sarcastic smirk but continues up the stairs. Once he leaves Gina asks, “Okay now what the hell happened to me? Why did I attack David?”
I’m still trying to grasp what exactly happened myself. The look she had in her eyes was unlike anything I’ve seen before but the change in her voice is what’s concerning me. It was not her voice at all. I start to develop a theory but I know it will not go over so well with the rest of the group. But instead of leaving them in the dark and make up bullshit, I clear my throat as I say, “Although I don’t know how, I think Ursela got inside your head.”
“What,” she screams with alarm. “But how?”
Trying to find a way to say it without making it seem like it’s her fault I respond, “I believe that she’s tried to get you under her control before but you’ve been on guard so you always kept your mind well protected. But when you were crying moments ago, she probably saw that as your weakness and she just let herself in.”
“I agree Charlie because when she spoke, her voice was definitely not hers,” Alex says with concern.
I sigh grimly as I add, “Which means she’s been keeping tabs on you trying to find any holes to make the venom work the way she wants. She wants you under her control.”
While Gina gives all this some thought, Mark adds, “Well then does that mean Ursela now knows where we are? I mean she got into Gina’s mind so she’ll know that we’re here.”
The others hiss at his question but I close my eyes as I groan. “This time that could be possible. Before Gina was in tune to Sam but now that Ursela got inside her head, it’s likely she could have picked it up where we are.”
“Charlie this is a perfect spot for an attack. If they want to, they can come from any angle to ambush us,” Harry points out.
“We have lots to think about,” I say. “For now let’s just be alert and make sure no other vampire gets close to the house.”
The others nod as Gina says, “Rob thank you for coming here and warning us. I won’t ask you to stay since this is not your fight but you’re welcomed here for as long as you like.”
He smiles as he responds, “If you don’t mind Gina, I think I’ll stick around for a while. I’m sure you could use an extra set of fangs to help protect your friends.”
We all chuckle as Tiffany says, “Okay scary comment Rob. There are humans here you know.”
“And don’t even think of using us as snacks either,” Diane adds with David’s sarcasm. Great, she not only has his essence but also his attitude. This should be fun.
While everyone goes about their business, Gina approaches me. Her mind is replaying our conversation before David’s injury and seeing it again makes me cringe. I was a total dick and way out of line with her. Now I have to do the hard thing and apologize. Shit!
“Okay we should practice some more while everything is calm now,” she suggests.
Okay I can do this. I take a deep breath and say, “Before we do that I owe you an apology for earlier. I am very sorry. You did give up a lot for my brother and I should have never questioned your loyalty to him. Will you please forgive me Gina?”
She smiles warmly at me as she replies, “Charlie he’s your brother. Of course you’re going to defend him. I accept your apology.”
Relief washes over me as I say, “I’m glad.”
She gives me a big hug and then says, “Well now we should get to work.”
“Yes. You ready? I’m going to push you hard and I don’t want to hear any whining. Not one peep you understand me?”
Gina gives me a mock salute as she responds, “Sir yes sir!”
I can’t help but laugh and it reassures me that our relationship is back to normal. For the next few hours, Gina continues working on getting inside my head. A couple of times she comes close to where I don’t feel anything but when she pushes too hard, it feels like she’s using her hands to feel inside my brain. That’s not good.
