The Underling || Bruno Mars (Discontinued)

3.

3.  

After Bruno left, Michael released me and I slumped to the bed.

“Well, that was certainly quite the show. The angry dramatics, the equally dramatic exit.” Michael sounded bemused. “Since now the curtain has fallen, I must leave. Before something regretful happens between the two of us,” he added underneath his breath, blue eyes darkening. “I will be seeing more of you, Miss Isis. Perhaps in an hour?” A gust of wind blew over my face. “Oh, and Miss Isis?”

My eyes rose to meet his. He was paused at the staircase. “Go easy on the boy. I'm sure a deep understanding will bloom between the two of you soon.” He winked and added in a mutter, “Hopefully, you aren't terrible gardeners.” He gave a small bow. And then, he was gone.

I tried standing, intending to go up those steps, knowing it was the way out of here, wanting to run, try to scream for help, but my joints locked up. The frustrated noise I produced made me wince. It sent a vibration in my throat, made it ache more. I couldn't move. My legs, my arms, even my neck. All I could was blink.

But laying down on my side and curling up tightly worked. It was extremely difficult not to believe I was dreaming, or in some kind of twisted nightmare. A wildfire raged in my throat. The screaming had exacerbated the pain of having no moisture there. I had no moisture in my body at all. Tears never spilled, no matter how much my body racked with sobs.

When I thought about stretching out, my legs straightened. When I thought about escaping, they froze.

I didn't know how long it was before, as if a hand had been thrust into my chest and one finger was beckoning me forward, the word Come whispered throughout me and I was finally walking up the twelve steps or so. Just not to my freedom. The large wooden door at the top was completely wrecked, the frame and wall around it cracked with splintering. I remembered the sound of snapping when Bruno left, and this must have been it. I could only see the color beige through its small, square window. The metal handle was crushed into a tiny, jagged ball. I twisted it and pushed. The door fell to the side on its hinges, broken.

I was outside.

In some kind of hallway, surrounded by high beige walls except to the right of me, where the wide cobblestone pavement continued and disappeared somewhere I couldn't see. Yellow flowers lined the walkway. The gray sky sprinkled warm rain on me. I stuck out my tongue, letting it soak. If I wasn't so thirsty, I would have found this disgusting. My fifth grade teacher told me it was basically dinosaur piss since Earth's water was recycled. If so, it tasted so good in this moment.

“Isis.” 

I jumped, nearly biting my tongue. Bruno stepped out of the shadows. He still wore all dark clothing, his hair damp from the drizzle. My blood pumped fast. My legs yearned to run, but couldn't.

He jerked his head. “Walk with me?”

I stayed where I was. When he'd walked out the basement, his expression was blank. But had I angered him, since he left? He didn't seem angry now. He looked cautious, gentle. As if I were an animal he didn't want to scare away.

“It's okay to be afraid,” he said, voice soft through the rain. Thunder sounded. The wind lifted my hair and flapped my dress.

I licked the rainwater from my lips, forced myself to speak. “You're only a half vampire.” Vampire. I'd choked out the word.

A tiny smile played about his lips as he began to circle me. “You think that means you should fear me less? You should fear me more, if that's the case.” I turned as he moved behind me, about five feet away. “I can eat human food but I can't survive off it. I have a vampire's hearing, eyesight, sense of smell. I have a vampire's strength.” He stopped at the broken basement's door. He pressed a palm to the window, seemingly gently, and the glass shattered as if someone broke it with a hammer. “I heal like a vampire.” He plucked a shard off the ligneous frame and quickly cut his palm. I inhaled sharply. He held his palm up, showing me. The blood dripped fast to the cobblestone and when the rain cleansed his hand, I saw nothing there. No blood. No gash. No scar. “I have a vampire's speed.” All of a sudden he was in front of me. I gasped, stumbling backward but he caught my wrist, that definite, powerful feeling jolting through me. He placed the palm of my hand over his chest. “My heart still beats and my skin's not cold, except when I'm thirsty. I'm stronger than any other vampire, Isis. I'm faster than them. The complexity of the two systems—human and vampire—working together inside me generates so much power.”