****Alexis
I was startled awake by an odd sound. It took me a minute to figure out what it was. 'Chains? What the Hell?' I kept looking around but couldn't see anything. It was too dark. Then I realized why I had heard chains rattling. Someone had lowered the chandelier to change and relight the candles. When I got a closer look at the someone, I realized it was Joanna, the women that had been Mary. "Can I ask you something?"
She glanced over her shoulder and said "I guess so."
"Are my friends really alright? All of them?"
It took her a few minutes to answer. "Your friends are fine."
"Where are they?"
"They're safe." Again it took a little while to answer.
"Are they here, too?" She didn't answer, so I assumed it was a yes answer. "What about Melanie?"
"He knows she's your favorite, so he never touched. Neither has anyone else."
She answered quickly, and that sort of made me wonder. "Vincent?" No answer. "Charlotte?" Another no answer. "Myron? Garret?"
"They are here, but it's not what you're thinking."
I tried to sound as calm as I could. "And what am I thinking?"
"That he's hurting them, but he's not. I've never seen leave anyone alone. I don't think he even wants to hurt them."
"What do you mean?"
She gasped quietly and whispered "I've said too much. I have to go." She quickly pulled the chain for chandelier, raising it to its rightful place, and hurried out of the room.
I barely caught sight of her as she sped off through the doorway. I glanced back to where she had been and noticed something sitting on top of the piano. I couldn't tell what it was, so I slowly got up to take a look. It was a small box of matches. 'I wonder why she left it.' As I picked it up, I shook it. 'Empty. Why would she leave it.' I slid the box open and found a tiny piece of paper. It read THEY'RE HERE. 'What does that mean? They're here? Who's they? ...' My mind started screaming 'Vincent! Melanie! The others! They're here!'
As I tried to calm myself down, I heard the door open. I barely turned halfway toward the door, before someone had grabbed me from behind and frantically bit my neck. They had missed the normal stop everyone usually goes for and got the meaty, muscle part of my neck where it meets the shoulder. It hurt like hell, and I screeched in agony. I felt the familiar burn of their thirst, so I quickly got to work, taking it away. They seemed to crumple toward the floor a little with each change my blood took. After they shoved me away from them, I breathlessly said "Next time hit a vein not a muscle." I glanced up to see who it was. "Mr. Swanson? ... But you were human.-"
"I did my job. I was the reason you had to come to the hospital. Now I'm one of them."
"Is it really so much better than your life before them?"
As he stood up and started backing toward the door, he sneered "Yes. It is."
After he left, I picked myself up off the ground. I had almost forgotten about the matchbox. In the slight ciaos I had dropped it. I found it under the bench to the piano. 'I should probably get rid of this.' I thought, glancing around, and went to the bathroom to flush it. With all the mirrors it was hard not to notice the blood on my shoulder, so I went to the closet to grab something else to wear. I did like the red dress, but not if I was wearing it for Damian. 'Oh, well. It's ruined, now.' I opened garment bag after garment bag. To my utter surprise and humiliation every bag had an elegant dress with a pair of matching shoes. 'I don't think there's a pair of jeans or a T-shirt in here anywhere.' I gave up and just grabbed a bag. I didn't open it until I got out of the shower. It was breathtaking. It was a pearl white, calf length, shiny silk, low cut, halter top like dress. The shoes to match where a short heal with straps that made a crisscrossing design that went a little above my ankles. 'Wow. This is beautiful. ... Nothing I would ever normally wear or have a reason to, either.' I put it on and glanced around at the mirrors. 'Huh. Not to shabby. Even if I do say so myself.' I didn't notice right away that Damian was standing in the doorway. When I did, I almost fell over when I jumped half out of my skin and spun around, backing myself up against the counter. "Jesus! ... Don't do that. Don't you know it's rude not to knock first?"
"I didn't want to interrupt. You look beautiful." He eyed me over for minute. "Breakfast is on the table. I thought you might be hungry."
'Be nice! Make him trust you!' My mind scolded. "I am. Thank you. Will you be joining me?"
A smile played at the corners of his lips. "I'd love to." He held out his hand to me.
Even though the thought of him touching me made my stomach churn and my skin crawl, I took it with a forced a smile. "Anything in particular you'd like to talk about?"
As he wrapped my arm through his, he said "Anything you'd like."
"Alright." I didn't know what to ask first or how to ask, but I wanted to know if the note in the matchbox was what I had thought. 'I think I'm going to be sick!' We were almost to the table, when I took a shot in the dark and hoped for the best. "You didn't really say before, so would you tell me where Vincent, Melanie and the others are?"
I must have struck the wrong cord, because the next thing I knew, he had me against the wall behind the table. "You need to forget them. Do you understand me?"
"I just want to know that they're safe at home. I'm sorry." With his arm crushing my throat it was difficult to talk or breath.
As he slowly lowered his arm from my neck and backed away, I coughed and gasped for air. He stepped toward me and grabbed me by the shoulders, gripping them hard enough to bruise. I cringed away, reflexively. In a quiet voice, he said "You need to forget them, Alexis."
As calm as I could, I spoke slowly and quietly, but my voice was still shaky. "I don't think I can. They're part of me, and I'm part of them. ... They're family to me. ..." His grip was getting tighter with each word, so I decided to tell another of my secrets. "When I heal someone, I end up with a little of them in me, and they end up with a little of me, too. Only one other person knows." His grip loosened, slightly. "Melanie knows, and, now, so do you."
"Why Melanie?"
"She saw me heal someone in pretty bad shape. She asked me something, and it just sort of came out with my answer."
He let his hands slowly slide down my arms and looked at me carefully. He gestured toward the table, and I hesitantly stepped passed him and sat down. "Will you explain it to me?"
I nodded and carefully said "It's hard to explain. ... When I heal someone, if I'm not careful, I don't just take their pain as my own. I take a piece of them. I can also give them a piece of myself. I have to be careful to give back only what's necessary for healing them."
"You sound like you're speaking from experience."
"I kind of am. I healed this women once and gave and got more than I was suppose to."
"What happened?"
"I've got a few of her memories, and I think she has some of mine, too."
"Who was it?"
"Mary. She was the first person I ever healed, besides myself."
"It hurts quite a lot when you heal someone."
