Entangled

20, Wanting To Unknow

Someone gently shook my shoulder, rousing me from sleep. I blinked my eyes open and turned over to see Storm crouching by the bed. Sunlight peeked in through the gaps of Inkas' curtains, telling me it was probably morning now. 

"Hey," he greeted, brushing his nose over mine as I reached over to touch his arm. "How are you? How's your head?"

A faint pounding was still going on towards the back of my skull. "Still hurts a bit. But I'm okay," I told him. Storm raised himself up a little to see behind me, humming softly.

"You've got quite a bump back there," he commented. "I'm going to search around for an ice pack and some water. Staying hydrated is good for headaches. Can you tell me the path to the kitchen? Or kitchens."

"This place is kind of a maze, you might get lost even with directions. I'll come with you. I really want to stretch, anyway," I replied. Storm pulled a face of soft disapproval, but I didn't pay it much heed as I began to carefully ease myself up to a sitting position. Storm held my arm as I rose, as if worried I'd get dizzy and tip over. My head started to pound harder with the change in blood flow, but after a few minutes it subsided back to a dull ache.

"Are you sure? I'm worried," Storm said, watching as I squeezed my eyes shut until the pain died down. I smiled at him, hoping it would reassure him.

"I'll be alright," I told him. "It's not the first time I've gotten my head bashed."

Storm's face turned sad and sympathetic, no doubt picturing my old pack beating me up over selfish things. I only shrugged a shoulder and moved to stand. Storm helped me get up, waiting patiently as my headache grew worse for a few moments again. Once it subsided, I held onto Storm's arm as we then began to walk out of the room and down the hall to the stairs.

"So many stairs..." Storm whispered, and I chuckled. 

"Definitely gets a little workout in," I replied. 

"How long have the vampires lived here?" he asked me as we descended.

"I think... four decades? Maybe five," I told him. 

"Do you know what brought them here? How your four Masters came to be in their positions?" he asked next. 

"I remember them telling me that they started of as just the four of them, close friends who were still young, barely out of fledgling status, and were rebellious and reckless. They caused a lot of trouble, but after a long while they finally calmed down enough to think about their future and what they wanted. They were so close that they were all basically in a four-way polyamorous relationship, and wanted to keep it that way. They decided they wouldn't mind starting a clan of their own, so they scrounged up enough money to buy this place, and got to work. Slowly but surely they gathered more vampires, turned more humans, until they had enough to have a presence in this city, enough to claim it and make changes to it as they saw fit. They established rules and rose as Head Vampires, and that's how it's been for a long time now," I explained.

"So... what are they planning to do with you?" he asked. We had reached the ground floor, and from there I led him to the kitchen, where he started fixing up an ice pack for me and I poured myself a big glass of water.

"I... wait, were you listening last night?" I replied, turning to look at him. Storm shrugged his shoulders, a little sheepish, and I couldn't help but smile at him.

"I was worried, and couldn't sleep for a while. You guys were right on the other side of the wall, so..." he said. "Are you mad?"

"No," I told him, coming up to the big guy and hugging him. "Why would I be? I think I should be asking if you're mad, because I told them about my power and now I'm really stuck here, and right after I told you I wasn't going to leave you."