Seven Feet Under (temp. Hold till after Wattys 2016)

Chapter 7. Post-Bite

Law 15

One's comfort lies in those they trust. So show those around you compassion and respect. Without it, one's back would always be turned to check for shiny metal.

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Wilde tried to take a step towards me and I flinched, rather wanting to scream. He was the boy that had flirted with kids he'd known forever, the boy who let blonde be kid confidence. He was the boy who did ten pulls ups for an army recruiter just to show off, not for the free pencil. He was the boy whose only secrets relied heavily on distance to keep them quiet. Who knows? Maybe the girl he'd wanted more than me was one of them, too: a vampire.

The mystical creature, which was heavily domesticated to Neverland and Stephanie Meyers novels, was now real and staring back at me the exact same way. He didn't looked dead in his eyes, rather just in an extremely anxious state like any other teenage boy on the hook. He looked like Wilder, the only thing he'd ever looked like to me. But Wilder wouldn't be a hopeless and pretty mess from the woods anymore, rather a liar and pretender.

"The whole, 'I don't know where they're taking us' or why they'd 'take you' thing was just an act, some sort of ploy?" I spat, starting to boil and blister inside.

"I was put on the inside to help find recruits a couple years ago. Then, when we found the right ones in that town, I was transferred." I didn't dare to look him straight in the eyes, but I could tell he wasn't lying. Not that I would know, I guess. He'd been lying to me since the day we met. "They can't do it without help from people on the outside."

"They?" I glared at the wall now. "Just say it. Say 'we.'"

"Mads-"

"No!" I yelled out, clenching my fist open and shut in attempts to calm down. Could he sense the blood pumping faster through me? Was he thinking about how it tasted, dripping onto his tongue. "You don't get to call me that."

"You need to calm down. You've been through a lot."

He sighed and began pacing a little. That's when the chord struck in my mind. The fact that he knew meant...

"Wait a second. You helped them from the outside." I was getting my original strength back quicker than humanly possible, probably from a vampire drink I'd been given. Within a few minutes I'd gone from deadly pain to enough anger to push myself up and push him around. "That means you told them to take me."

"It's not like that." I was now standing, back against the wall, even though I barely needed it. The rush of strength was exhilarating. "They get the scores and I evaluate from a distance at first. I barely knew you when it started. I wouldn't have-"

"You son of a bitch!" I charged at him and brought my fist back to slug him, even though I knew he would catch it with whatever speed trick his kind had. Surprisingly enough, he didn't even have to. Instead, he had to catch me.

The room suddenly began to spin and I felt faint, weak once again in his arms. My new frailty delayed the plan to fight back and was preceded by the need for someone to hold me up.

"What's happening?" I uttered out, my head getting lighter.

"It's a side effect of the blood. It stopped the venom and cured your injuries, but it makes you weak soon afterwards." I wanted to ask what he meant by 'blood', but I was too tired to talk. He moved one hand out from my upper back and used it to scoop me up around my knees, carrying me like some damsel in distress and he was Prince Charming. If only Disney had taught me about plot twists.

A few voices began to echo, getting closer and further at the same time. I couldn't tell which was just me and which was actually due to distance.

"Don't worry about them," Wilder's voice faded in, not an echo but still too far, "or anything. I'll explain it once the blood wears off, I promise. Trust me, Mads."