My Precious Nightmare

26: Cure'n Love

"I've got some bandages for your finger," he said, even as turned his face away.

His face was pale, despite having heritage from the middle-east. Its sharp lines seemed less severe with his eyes closed and his thick lashes spread across his cheeks. She trailed down his firm jaw, down his rather slim throat, to the curve of his broad pale shoulders and chest, as he still hadn't found himself a shirt. There were scars there she hadn't seen before, now brought out by the sunlight. Slim, silver things, criss-crossing every which way. Without thinking, she reached across the small space between them to touch a rather large, deep scar over his heart.

He flinched at her touch. "What are you looking at?"

"This scar." It was bumpy beneath her fingertips, contrasting with the smoothness of his skin. "It's right over your heart."

He said nothing, nor did he move. Only once she realized what she was doing and pulled her finger back did he let out a long breath.

"Come out. Let me fix what I've done."

Once more she allowed him to touch her as he took her hand and led her from the golden sunlight back into the dark room. As her eyes adjusted, he tugged her onto the floor and took her injured finger as though it were made of glass. She blinked, making out the plastic bottle he was opening. He dampened a cotton ball with it and dabbed at the cut like a butterfly landing. Even so, she bit her lip against the sting. As he cleaned the blood and set to wrapping the wound in gauze and cotton tape, she took another chance to really look at him. The silver scars were once more hidden by the room's shadows, but if she strained her eyes she could just see the largest one over his heart.

"What happened?" she asked. "I mean, if you don't mind telling. It's alright if you don't."

He tore the tape with his fingers. Then he sighed. "Lea, you can ask me anything you want. After what I've taken from you, I can't deny you anything. I got that scar when I asked a friend to kill me, another vampire like myself. He was strong. We had even managed to find some chains."

The matter of fact way in which he said it somehow made it sound even sadder.

"But you're here..." she said.

The little grin told her he knew what she was thinking.

"When I woke up, not only had I killed him, but I had killed six other people as well." He put the spool of tape over the bottle of alcohol. "I haven't tried something like that again, heh. But, these are grim things that have nothing to do with you. Don't you want to know anything happy?"

"Like what?"

"Well," he gave her a crooked smile. "I have been alive for an awfully long time. I met Abraham Lincoln, once. In person."

Her eyes went wide. "Oh. Wow. What was he like? Do you remember?"

Before he could respond, the door opened.

"Alright, Lea, we're set to go." Sky froze. Then her expression sharpened into the face Lea recognized from Sky's gang days. "What are you up to, vamp?"

"Just cleaning up her finger," said Husani calmly. "Where are you off to?"

"Home." Sky stomped over and hauled Lea to her feet.

"Wait, Sky—"

"Then I'll guess I'll be visiting you sometime tonight," said Husani. "No refreshments, please."

Sky, who had been hauling Lea towards the door, stopped with a snarl.

"Like hell! I see your muzzle around again—"

"You'll what?" and Husani's tone had taken on a deathly chill Lea had heard before. As he lifted his eyes to Sky they shone red. Even as Sky wordlessly opened and closed her eyes, he rose, every inch of his bare chest and blood-stained black jeans confident, sure, and taut.

Lea tugged on her friend's grip, but Sky seemed to have shut down, including any muscles that would have released her grip. She could see her friend's knees begin to tremble. Her lips buzzed, but Lea couldn't hear what came out.

"What was that?" Husani asked, resting a hand in his pocket.

"I'll kill you."

Lea tried to say something, but was once more cut off.

"I'm going to be teaching Morianton how to kill me once he gets up and about. If you stick around, I'll teach you too." A sharp smile that said he had Sky right where he wanted twisted his mouth. "It's not like you have something at home you want to rush to."

Sky flinched, but there wasn't much to say to that. They had been talking rather loudly the night before. She supposed neither of them realized it would be coming around to bite them in the butt.

"Wait, teaching him to kill you? Did I hear right?"

"Yes," said Husani, who tried to smile, though it came out as a grimace with his lengthened fangs.

Sky pointed a finger at his mouth, paused, scrunched the finger into a fist, jerked the fist around, dropped her other hand from around Lea's wrist, then settled for putting them in her pockets. She did, however, manage to aim her nostrils at Husani.

"I ain't no Buffy," she puffed. "Come on, Munchkin."

At last, Lea managed to get her arm free.

"I can't!" she cried.

"Like hell!"

"If I can make a difference, I have to—"

"What, be a hero? This isn't a game, Lea. Don't make me carry you."

"Please, Sky, I can—"

"Do what? WHAT? Nothing, you hear? All you are to these guys is food—I'M your best friend! Don't you even care about what this is doing to me?"

"Sky..."

"If I were to lose you—I can't—" Sky's voice was breaking up, and she had started to retreat. "You haven't even thought about my feelings once, have you? Hell, you don't even have a clue..."

"Sky, wait, I didn't mean it like that. I just want to help, and there are people dying out there right now."

But the lanky girl had already backed into the door and, in one swift movement, flung it open and fled outside.

Lea ran to the door, hand outstretched, but knew she had no hope of catching up. Not only were Sky's legs longer, but the other girl creamed her in the athleticism department. That didn't mean her heart didn't keep racing as though she had.

When Husani's warm hand touched her shoulder, she shrugged it off. She wanted to say something snappy to get him to vanish, but her throat had tightened up too much.

So he waited before touching her shoulder again, as gently as he had handled her hand.

"I'm sorry, Lea."

She clenched her eyes against the tears that came out anyway.