The Vampire's Claim (boyxboy)

Chapter 10: The End. Right?

"Fuck, my head."

When I came to my mind was a mess, like a ton of melted crayons swirling together and my stomach felt like I'd eaten rotten cotton candy. The rest of me didn't fair better. My bones were lead. At least, the few I could move felt like lead. Most of me just felt a prickly numb sensation.

Overall, I felt like I'd gone to hell and back. Five thousand times. 

"See I told you he'd wake up just fine," a whimsical voice chided through my haze. "Have a little faith in me, please."

"I feel like shit," I slurred out, wincing at the furry taste on my tongue.

"Don't worry, you look exactly how you feel." Emilia, that's whose voice it was, I realized as wheels in my head restarted. I stared at her in a daze, blinking. Once. Twice. Thrice.

"The hell!" I screeched, fumbling unsteadly to shaky feet. "You tried to kill me!"

"If I tried to kill you sweetheart, you'd be dead I assure you," she corrected. "I did exactly as asked; you should be grateful."

"Grateful? Grateful?! Why the--" my voice died, heart-stoping, as what I saw clicked.

Eskil. 

He sat not even a foot away in an armchair, delicately nursing a tea. His hair fell slightly into his face and he moved it behind his ears when he finished sipping. His eyes caught mine-searing red on green--as he rendered me useless. 

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I couldn't think.

His eyes flicked with emotion briefly before he nodded impassively, setting the teacup down in front of him. "Hello Kyle."

Hello, Kyle. The words vibrated through me restarting my being and I struggled to grasp what happened from my memory. "What—I—it worked?"

"Of course," Emilia scoffed, clearly offended by the doubt in my tone.

"I--but--it--how?" I didn't look away from Eskil. I wasn't sure I could, I was shell-shocked. For the past few weeks, everything had been building to this moment--to reuniting with Eskil--and now that he was here I didn't know what to say or do except blubber like a goldfish.

"The pendant is a protective charm, of sorts. It served as a connection between Eskil and you. When you momentarily died it alerted him and he responded by coming to your aid. You're welcome."

I blinked. No, I must have heard that wrong.

"Died?"

"Momentarily."

I exploded. "Died? Died?! There wasn't a way to, I don't know, call him on the phone or something?  Something that didn't involve me dying?" 

She grinned. "Now Kyle, where would the fun in that be?"

Fun? Was this amusement to her?

She didn't get it. None of them got it. All of them sat here listening with stone-cold faces to how I died and weren't bothered by it in the slightest. I know we hadn't known each other long but wasn't it common decency to not kill people? Did my life not matter to any of them? 

I wasn't some toy to be played with, who cares if it gets dirty or broken, it doesn't matter. I was a person. I mattered.

Fuck her. Fuck them. Fuck this. 

"Whatever. I don't care anymore. You got your necklace back," I nodded at Eskil, "you found your master," a nod at Rhys, "and I'm sure you got something out of this too," Emilia grinned at her nod, "so everything just rainbows, butterflies, and unicorns again. I've done my part. I'm down. With all of you. Have a great eternity and see you never."

I stood up, not even making it a step before Eskil blocked my path. He frowned, his expression full of distress.

"Please. Stay." The words were soft, lyrical, barely breaths and uttered so rawly, so intimately. They tickled my ears, echoed in my veins, and pounded in my heart.

Please. Stay. 

Yes, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to stay. What was I doing before? Why did I try to leave to begin with? That was ridiculous. I should stay. 

I felt myself nodding, words failing on my tongue as my mind blanked.

Please. Stay.

"That's not fair to the boy," Emilia said, breaking through my daze.

I blinked, suddenly feeling lightheaded, as I tried not to fall over. Eskil grabbed my arms to help support me when I staggered. I was too disoriented to shake him off. 

"Should I teach you something new Kyle? I'm sure it would interest you. Did you know vampires are capable of using a skill called persuasion on humans so that they can control them? Such a useful little skill to trick their prey, don't you think?"

"Woman!" Rhys sprung towards Emilia. Her cat--er, her familiar--stood up hackles raised and hissed at him.

Unbothered Emilia held up her hands in surrender. "So violent. I only leveled the playing field. Kyle has every right to know what he's up against--of who he's up against."

Persuasion? As in convincing me to do something, like staying when I wanted to leave?

"Just now, did you do something to me? Did you use 'persuasion' on me to control me? Did you try to stop me from leaving?"

Eskil's jaw ticked. A moment. Then two. Stiffly, he nodded.

I felt sick.

"That's exatly why I'm done with all this," I said, shaking his hands roughly off me and shoving past him to the door.

"Stop." For a second, I thought he tried to persuade me to stay again. But no, the order wasn't for me. It was for Rhys. He had started at my leave, but at Eskil's command, he stopped. He looked conflicted, glancing between Eskil and me.

Eskil's attention wasn't on either of us. His back faced me, his focus solely on the necklace he stroked in his hand. Something in his hidden expression must have warned Rhys to let me go because Rhys took a step back and turned away.

"Good Riddance," I muttered as the door chimed closed behind me. All this nonsense was finally over. So why did I feel like it had only begun? 

Yeah another chapter out! What what what what. Hope ya'll enjoy. Message and comment what you think. Until next week!