Sanders~ Book 2

26. Roman

"Hey, Ro?" I groaned slightly as I picked my head up off the table. Thomas was watching me with this concerned look and I smiled tiredly. "You ok?"

"Yeah... 'm just sleepy." His eyes softened a bit as I laid my head back down. "Virgil's gonna break."

"What?" I frowned as I sat myself up to stretch. I could see the anxiety in him and I frowned. "W-What about Virgil?"

"He's gonna break. I'm not surprised though, what with everything going on. He's exausted." Thomas narrowed his eyes and I laughed. "Sorry. I feel what he's feeling. I'm tired because he is. That's all..."

"How is that possible?" I shrugged watching as he got up to go get something. After what had happened at the library Thomas insisted we come back to the ME offices. He said he was going to get me something to eat. I was too hungry and sick to decline. Besides, he was right. I shouldn't starve myself or poison myself simply because the others need food too. A single blood bag can make countless of pouches. Why shouldn't I be able to take a few? I just don't know how long this war is gonna last. I watched him come back with a small styrofoam cup and the smell instantly hit me. He smiled sadly as he placed it in front of me. It took all I had not to down it right then and there. I'm not an animal. "Roman?"

"Do you... Do you have a family, Thomas?" I looked up to see him staring at his own cup and I frowned. He looked like he was remembering something sad again.

"Yes. I did. I had two sons... and a wife ironically." His eyes got real dark turning to a deep subtle red as he just stared down at the blood swirling in his cup. "They've long since passed on, obviously but... I also have a little girl." His eyes seemed to light up and I smiled. "She's not mine per say, but I've raised her like one. It was the least I could do... after what I did."

"Thomas?" He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and I smiled reassuringly. "It's ok. I'm not going to judge you..."

"Don't make promises you can't possibly know you'll keep." I narrowed my eyes as he took a sip of his drink. "If you make a promise you have to honor it to the end. Nothing is more important than your word." He looked like was about to cry. "I hurt the man I loved and did such an unthinkable thing to such a sweet girl because I was angry." The room seemed to go silent. The tension was palpable. He just sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I can only hope to keep my promise to her until the end."

"And what promise is that?" He smiled a bit before finishing his cup up.

"To never leave her." He glanced down at the cup in my hands and narrowed his eyes. "Drink Roman." I raised an eyebrow at him and he laughed. "Yes I know that isn't enough but I don't want to shock your body. So drink that and then..."

"THOMAS!" His eyes went wide and suddenly I found myself in a locker. Yes... like a school locker. I narrowed my eyes as this little girl in a dark cloak came running in and I tensed up. Thomas depreatly tried to hide the cup of blood but he froze hearing her footsteps. I watched as he spun around with this anxious smile and I frowned. "Thomas..."

"Heya, Bug." He froze for a minute getting this look of worry and I tensed up. Is this the girl he cared for like a daughter? "Bug, What's wrong?"

"I was worried... You've been gone for so long..." Thomas smiled sadly pulling her into a hug.

"I told you did I? I was never going to leave you. Never again." She started to take her hood off and I saw the look of fear in his eyes. He glanced over at me and I swear he was trying to tell me something. But what? I mean... why was I hid... Emmy?! My breath caught in my chest as she pulled away from Thomas with a smile. That fucking BITCH... 

"What are you doing here anyway, Thomas? You never explained..." 

"I'm close to the police station... plus I can get access to blood for 'forensic' purposes. Why not?" I could see he was anxious. It was written all over his face. I just couldn't get over the fact that Emmy was right fucking there in front of me. Deceit was right. This had to be some kind of trick. He's with them. He's with her... He's... "Aemila, you really shouldn't be up at this time of day."

"But Thomas..." His face went stern and even I had to admit feeling a slight bit of fear from him. He looked like an angry father. She started to tear up and I was in shock. How was this the same psychotic little girl that tortured her brother? How was this the same person? "Did I do something wrong?" Yes... many things. Thomas sighed as he looked down at the crying girl. How was she not even aware I was here? Certainly, she could smell me, right? "You've been growing distant since brother..."

"Aemilia." It was hard not to jump at the raw emotion in his voice. Emmy looked up and frowned wiping the tears off of Thomas's cheek. I was just lost watching everything happen. "What you did to him..." He froze and sighed looking away. "I'll never leave you. No matter what you do, Bug. Not until the end right?" She smiled brightly as she jumped around pausing only a moment to see the cup of blood on the table. Instantly her eyes went red.

"Thomas, who have you been seeing?" I could feel my body shaking. This is so not good. I could feel Virgil's anxiety amplifying my own and I just wanted to scream out. "You never drink blood out of a cup."

"I did today, Bug." She shot him this look and I frowned. He wasn't lying. He did drink some with me but still... Why hasn't he just told her I was here? Why hasn't she figured it out? What is he getting at? "Aemilia, please. I'll meet you back home I promise." She narrowed her eyes before sighing and putting her hood back up. "That's a good girl. I won't be much longer. Let Mark know I'll be bringing dinner home."

It wasn't long before Emmy vanished and I just about exploded out of the locker. I had him against the wall in a matter of seconds, the air turning into a literal fire as the rage burned through me. Thomas just smiled sadly as if accepting his fate.

"You are with her." His eyes darkened and I narrowed my eyes.

"If by with her you mean to care for then yes. I do not agree with her, but I don't have a choice, Roman." I tightened my grip around his neck and he just frowned. "It's my fault, ok?" I let go remembering all the time Virgil had whispered that. The look his eyes matched, the intensity of the pain behind them. "It's all my fault. Her... I tried. I did. 

"She's the one you hurt..." He shook his head and took a deep breath before looking up at me this sad expression.

"No, she was the worst kind of collateral damage... Virgil was.. the one I hurt." I found my fist in the wall just barely having missed his face and I sighed pulling it free from the hole I created. "Don't... Don't tell him I'm here."

"Why? Shouldn't he know..." His eyes went dark and I had to take a step back.

"What I did was unforgivable. If he knows I'm here... Don't tell him. Don't tell him and I'll still give you guys blood." I scoffed as he brushed himself off walking over to the table to grab my cup. He handed over to me and I laughed.

"Why?" He narrowed his eyes and I shook my head. "Why help us if you're clearly on her side?"

"I'm not on her side." My eyes went wide as I finally took the cup from him. "I will always be with Virgil, but..." He looked back towards the door with this lost expression and I frowned. "...I made a promise. One I intend to keep."

"To never leave her?" He nodded and I smirked a bit, my mind finally catching on to what was happening. I think I finally figured out the kind of person Thomas is. "You really aren't a bad guy are you, Thomas?" He sighed before walking off with this broken look.

"I just don't know anymore, Roman."