The Consort (MalexMale) 《COMPLETE》

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It takes hours to get Fiona into the house. Hours. It doesn't help that both Kelly and Bogdan are in earshot of her cries, neither of them coming to her rescue. Eventually we make our way into the apartment and I coerce her into bed, assuring her that this all will be sorted out by the time she wakes.

"H-he doesn't remember me," she whimpers. "And he never w-will."

Tears stream down her face. Every word is a wheeze all on its own. She's defeated and broken. I cuddle next to her and stroke her arm. It may not be the touch she wants right now, but at least it's a human touch – one filled with enough warmth and emotion to not push me away.

"He loves you," I whisper. "Even if he doesn't remember it right now, he'll learn to love you again."

As soon as I let my words spill into the saddened air, I know they're the wrong ones to say. It's forbidden for a vampire and a human to be together. Not only is it illegal, but also it's actually so abhorred that people who choose to live a life with a vampire are shunned from human society.

Forever.

Even if it wasn't, Fiona's now a part of a movement to rid the world of vampires. Being with Kelly isn't just against the rules now; it's against her moral compass as well.

"I'm sorry," I quickly say afterwards. "I don't know what I'm saying."

Fiona sniffles and squeezes her eyes shut. "Finn. I know you're trying, but I just need to be left alone for a while."

"You sure you don't want me to stay?"

She shakes her head. "I just want some time to process t-this. Please. Just go."

I nod and kiss her on the forehead before slipping out of bed – a bed whose sheets still hold the remnants of Kelly's shampoo and body wash within its fibers. I readjust the covers around Fiona's trembling shoulders. She sucks in a staggered breath and cowers.

I want to tell her how sorry I am, but I'm so out of sorts that I'm worried my words won't come out right. Instead I stand by the door for a few lingering minutes, listening to her shallow and jagged breaths as the last slivers of sunlight slip below the horizon.

When I close her bedroom door behind me, an unbearable weight of guilt and sadness comes to rest on my shoulders. Even if it wasn't me who turned Kelly, I'll be the one to blame for it. I was the one who left him behind, after all, and I don't know if Fiona will ever be able to see past that.

"...hungry. It's unbearable."

Kelly's voice gives me pause at the end of the hallway. He sounds the same but different somehow. It's like his voice is richer than it was before, a velvet coating layered over it.

"That'll go away," Bogdan replies after a pause. "Eventually."

Another stretch of silence. I lean against the wall, careful not to make a noise and remain out of sight while the two of them continue their conversation.

"I want blood," Kelly hisses. "And to fight. And have sex. And run. All at the same time."

Bogdan chuckles. It's the first time I've heard it. It's a gravely and throaty sound, and my stomach flip-flops with a desire to hear it again and again.

"All normal," Bogdan reassures him. "But all will pass. Except, perhaps, the bloodlust. That takes centuries to dissolve."

The last thing I should be thinking right now is Bogdan's journey after becoming a vampire. Yet all my thoughts start spinning around Bogdan being in this position many, many years ago. At one time he felt like Kelly feels now. At one time he was hungry for blood, hungry for violence...hungry for sex.