Bound By Blood Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

 

Scales rippled underneath her skin; waves of heat escaped her lips in bouts of short gasps. Sweet pain surged through her body, her venom boiling in her veins. The shirt she wore shredded to bits of cloth, falling in front of her doubled up body. She hastily removed her pants before they received a fate like her shirt. Taking a step forward, talons clicked along the stone, sending shivers down Lauren's spine. The moon was full tonight, effectively lighting Lauren's path before her, and her clearing. Damien and Roxanne had gone out to round up a couple of mortals for them; Lauren elected to stay behind to work on her ‘alter ego’, as Roxanne liked to call it. Little brooks of steam streamed out of the slits that served as nostrils as she breathed in and out. Stretching her muscles, she willed them to unfold her leathery wings away from her body. With her wings expanded, it seemed as if the trees as snaked forward a couple of feet.

Lauren could feel the heat boiling in her belly and decided it was time to ease the now growing intolerable pain. She lifted her massive head and burped a stream of fire, sending soaring into the night air. Large purple eyes watched from the shadows of the trees, sparkling with amazement and fear. Just then the wind stirred the still air and picked up the creatures scent and sent it flying towards the dragon’s nostrils. Lauren snapped her head into the direction of the creatures hiding spot.

Ears laid back, the creature slinked off into the belly of the trees, his own belly grazing the ground. His tailed tucked itself under his belly, and a whimper escaped through his sharp teeth. Lauren growled towards the moving bushes, shooting a stream of fire towards the direction of the intruder. A howl of pain echoed throughout the clearing, leaving a toothy grin on Lauren's snout. She transformed back, shielding herself from the trees as she tiptoed towards her salvaged pants and reaching for the extra shirt she brought. Looking at the tattered remains of her first shirt, Lauren concentrated on the fire harboring deep inside and breathed out, sending a torrent of fire at the unfortunate shirt, watching it burn before her eyes.

A sigh escaped her lips as she slipped the shirt over her head. The moon hid behind the clouds as she made her way back to the house but peeked its cold head back out, laughing at her misfortune. Nothing that Lauren did held the tears back as they fell freely down her cheeks. The sorrow that invaded her every being evolved into sobs and shudders. The weight of the world came crashing down on her at that moment as she fell to her knees in the beckoning grass. Life was so unfair and cruel. Confused and alone, she cried her heart out, watching as the pieces fell onto the blades of grass. Blades, knives, her dagger; Lauren pulled out the dagger that rested at her side. She fingered the edge of it and winced when the blade opened her finger. The lump that was lodged in her throat grew to outstanding proportions as she steadied the dagger at her wrist. Drawing the edge across her wrist, Lauren watched as her venom followed behind the blade and then the tears came. The dragon inside of her growled its disproval, but she hushed the beast with another cut. This time, Lauren couldn’t hold the scream back.

Damien lifted his head off the couch. He looked over at Roxanne, who obviously heard the scream too. They disappeared quickly and reappeared in the foyer.

“Lauren!” Damien cried. He looked around frantically, searching for her.

“She’s outside! I can smell her venom!” Roxanne cried, bolting out of the door. Damien followed swiftly behind her, jumping over hedges, making it appear as if he was flying. Roxanne turned the corner and lost her footing on the gravel but quickly recovered her footing, catching up to Damien who had passed her up. He got to Lauren first as he slid to a halt at her crumpled body.

“LAUREN! Wake up! Come on baby! Wake up!” Damien cried, holding her body to his, resting his cheek on the top of her head, and gently rocking them back and forth. Roxanne bent over and retrieved the dagger from the grass.

“This was self-inflicted,” Roxanne said softly, turning the dagger over in her hand.

“What? She didn’t do this to herself, there’s no way,” Damien growled, baring his fangs at Roxanne. She took a step back, brandishing the blade at him.

“Look at it! You can’t tell me that someone just walked up to her way out here, cut her wrists, twice, and then just left it here!” Roxanne cried.

“Maybe Darius did this! Maybe he’s trying to get us to think she is doing this to herself so she can go back to a hospital and become vulnerable again,” Damien retorted.

“Please, even Darius isn’t that smart. Lauren did this to herself; times are really hard on her right now,” Roxanne replied, staring at him.

“Roxanne?” Roarke’s voice echoed in the court yard. Roxanne’s head snapped up, cursing under breath.

“Get him out of here!” Damien snapped, glaring at her. She jumped up and took off at a run towards his voice. He saw her approaching from behind the house and he took a step towards her.

“Hey,” he said happily. Roxanne stopped in front of him, breathing heavily.

“Hey yourself, what are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly.

“You forgot your jacket in my car, and it’s supposed to get pretty cold tomorrow, I’d hate for you to be shivering,” he replied, holding her jacket out to her. Roxanne blushed, reaching out for the jacket. Roarke grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms, crushing his lips to hers. She gasped, growing rigid in his arms but relaxed when she felt herself kissing him back. He pulled back first, his breathing ragged and his cheeks coloring. Roxanne bowed her head, smiling despite herself.

“You don’t have to hide anymore,” Roarke whispered, pulling her to him again, scraping his fangs lightly against her neck.

“No, I don’t, not with you, not anymore,” Roxanne whispered back, shivering from his teeth.

“I see some trees that provide a lot of hiding places,” Roarke suggested playfully, tugging on her sleeve. The venom roared in Roxanne’s ears as she willingly followed him towards the coverage of the trees. Damien watched the pair depart before swiftly making his way across the yard, cradling Lauren close to him. When he reached the closed door, he simply passed through it, clutching Lauren tighter.

“I didn’t know that was your other power,” Lauren whispered, her eyes parted slightly open, looking up at him.

“Are you ok?” Damien asked staring down at her while he made his way to the couch. She nodded her head and buried her head into his chest, breathing in his scent. He eased down onto the couch, careful not to jostle her too much.

“Make me feel safe,” he heard her whisper. She looked up at him through teary eyes, clutching the front of his shirt.

“I’ll do anything for you,” Damien whispered, kissing her softly on the tip of her nose. Tears slid from her eyes, and dotted his shirt as he held onto her for dear life.

“Why did you do it?” he asked quietly. Lauren closed her eyes and leaned into him even more.

“The pain was overwhelming…I…I just couldn’t take it anymore,” she answered, her voice cracking with so much emotion. Damien looked down at her, watching the tears slide down her face when she grabbed him behind his neck and pulled his face to hers. Their lips met in a gentle kiss; he could taste her tears on her lips and the fire that crossed them. His hand slid into her hair as the kiss turned from soft and gentle to hard and desperate. Lauren pulled back, staring at him through watery eyes, and hugged him hard.

“I don’t want to hurt anymore,” she cried into his chest, the tears soaking through it. Damien held her close, resting his chin on top of her head.

“You won’t, I won’t let you,” he whispered, affectionately stroking her hair softly. Roxanne walked into the living room with a goofy grin plastered on her face but it soon faded away when she saw Damien and Lauren.

“How is she?”

Damien looked down at the vampire in his arms and noted she was fast asleep.

“She’ll be fine,” he answered, not allowing his eyes to leave Lauren's features.

 

“Damn it!” Darius growled, rubbing ointment on his burns, flinching every now and then. Lara watched him with a smile as she peered through the window from the outside, upside down, clutching the stone walls of the exterior tightly. (She loved this power that all vampires received; all were able to be like Spider-Man and cling to almost every surface imaginable.) Her heart stopped when she felt something sliding down her back and looked behind her to see her shirt falling down, pooling around her shoulders.

“Crap,” she shifted her attention to her shirt, using one hand to straighten it out and tuck it into her jeans. When she looked back into the window Darius was still rubbing ointment on his stomach and his forearms.

“What are you doing?” a small voice asked, startling Lara. She lost her grip and fell past Darius’ window and grabbed onto a stone that protruded from the wall. Her eyes wondered upwards, noticing Caitlin hovering near a balcony.

“Just admiring the latest horror show, you?” Lara asked crawling towards the balcony. Caitlin watched her and touched back down on the stone floor.

“Well, I got bored so I figured I would come and find you and then I found you…sneaking a peak at Darius,” Caitlin replied impishly, fiddling with the hem of her cloak. Lara growled at her while swinging her legs over the railing of the balcony.

“Oh yes, because he is Prince Charming, and I’m such a sucker for jerks,” Lara responded and started to smooth out the wrinkles in her shirt.

“Where are you going?” Caitlin asked, noting Lara’s choice of clothing. She wore a black tank top, her lime green bra straps showing on her tawny shoulders; the top rode up a bit, exposing her lower stomach and the belly button ring and the tattoo hovering just above her low rider jeans.

“Just because I’m a vampire doesn’t mean I don’t have to have a social life. I’ll be back before the sun comes up, so don’t wait on me,” Lara replied with a wink. A frown formed on Caitlin’s face, clearly showing her disproval.

“I want to go,” she whined, following Lara into the manor and down the stairs.

“Maybe when you’re older, love,” Lara said with a wave of her hand and Vanished.

“Teenagers suck,” Caitlin growled, stomping off to her room.

 

“Excuse me, but you look a lot like my next girlfriend,” the man slurred, sloshing his drink around in his glass, his eyes wandering over Lara.

“Really? Because you remind me a lot of the guy I castrated last week. Who knew microscopic surgery could be so hard,” Lara said sarcastically, rolling her eyes while sipping her drink. The man paled and walked off muttering about how he needed another drink.

“That was pretty good, where’d you hear it?” another man asked sitting beside her.

“Ha, I just made it up honestly, the guys in here are pathetic,” Lara mumbled into the rim of her glass.

“Well, not all of us are pathetic now,” the man said, feigning pain and clutching his chest.

“Are you so ignorant on your own species? How old are you? You must be what, 28, and in a bar trying to pick up shallow girls, something must be wrong with you,” Lara replied, turning in her seat to look at the guy. He had broad shoulders and piercing blue eyes, brown hair that fell into his eyes and very nice fitting clothes.

“Actually, I’m only 20, and I’m here with my brother, he’s the pathetic side of my species, I’m just keeping to myself and at the present enjoying a very stimulating conversation with a striking young woman,” he answered, glancing over at Lara.

“Good answer. My name is Lara Goodrich,” she said, extending her hand towards the man. He caught it in a firm grip, going through the motions of a hand shake.

“The name’s Bruce and this is Amy, my girlfriend,” he said, leaning back so Lara could look at the girl next to him. She was a brunette with blue eyes, similar to his, and she wore a small black dress.

“Hi, nice to meet you!” Amy said loudly, extending her hand towards Lara. Lara took with a half smile on her face, her stomach growling with frustration.

“Likewise,” she mumbled. So much for dinner, Lara noticed a scar on Amy’s arm, just below her shoulder.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how did you get that scar?” Lara asked; her eyes transfixed on Amy’s arm. Amy’s hand darted up to her arm, covering the scar.

“Oh, that, ha, I got that when I was younger; I liked to play with knives,” Amy managed to spit out, her eyes darting back and forth between Lara and her fingers. Lara eyed her suspiciously and took a deep breath, instantly her nostrils flaring, and her eyes melting into silver pools. That scent. This girl is Amy Lewis, Lauren's heir! A snarl rippled through her throat startling Bruce.

“Whoa, are you hungry or something, Lara?” Bruce asked, glancing at Lara.

“I’m fine, Amy is it? Would you like to come with me to the little girl’s room?” Lara snapped quietly. Amy stared at Lara with a deer in the headlights look.

“S-sure…” Amy stuttered, pleading at Bruce with her eyes to come up with an excuse to let her stay. He didn’t catch on.

Once in the bathroom, Lara locked the door and threw Amy against it.

“What are you doing here?” Lara shouted, baring her fangs in Amy’s face.

“Good question because I don’t even know! Let go of me!” Amy yelled, struggling against Lara’s hold. Lara growled deeply, hoisting Amy higher against the door.

“Where’s Lauren? And no lies this time!”

“Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies,” Amy retorted.

“Do not play with me on this, I’ll give you a scar to go with this one,” Lara hissed, squeezing Amy’s upper arm.

“Fine, I’ll tell you! After Darius came to the hospital he managed to somehow change into Roxanne, then he injected some kind of clear liquid into me and it was lights out after that. The next thing I knew, he was standing over me, telling me it was time to wake up and, not even making this part up, told me I could leave freely. Back to the mortal world,” Amy finished in a whisper, staring down at the seething vampire. Lara dropped Amy to the floor and Vanished, leaving behind the sickly odor of death. Amy stood up and straightened her hair and dress and walked out of the bathroom quietly.

 

“Where is he?”

“He went out tonight ma’am, you just missed him,” the guard replied, shaken by Lara’s ferocity. Lara Vanished again, profanity streaming from her mouth long after her body was gone.