Blood Lust

Chapter Fourteen: Cutting Ties and Butterflies

Joy ripped open the mirror cabinet, finding a pair of scissors.

She clasped them, roughly gripping portions of her hair and aimlessly chopping at the thick tresses.

Strands of hair cluttered at her feet, sticking to the sink. Thick curls fell in chunks, her brows furrowed; lip snarled as she hacked away.

The finished product was an uneven mess, but Joy, for the first time in a long time, she felt like she could breathe. She didn't feel suffocated. She took long, thirsty gasps, running her fingers through her short cut.

She was free from him.

~.~.~

When the front door eased open, Joy was propped up on the windowsill, cigarette between her teeth. She cupped her hand over the match flame, and she could feel his stare burning into her. It was as intense as heated embers being put out against her skin.

"Isaiah always told me he liked my long hair." She breathed out a puff of smoke. "So I cut it."

Tobias was carrying a plastic bag in one hand, the paper bag containing the pharmaceuticals crinkling about, while in the other he had brought her dinner. She hadn't eaten too well at the hospital, and he couldn't blame her, the food was foul.

He wasn't expecting to come home and find that she had sliced off her hair. Not that the length didn't suit her. She looked lovely regardless. And her reasoning for committing to chopping off her luscious locks were out of spite for Isaiah. It made him happy she took the little step to changing herself, but he very much worried this was merely a mood swing.

The vampire snatched his wandering eyes away, setting down the bags he carried.

"While you do look lovely, I am more concerned as to where you got that cigarette. I could be sworn I've cleaned the place of those-"

Joy pointed to the potted plant beside her. She lifted the fake stem, exposing the empty space within.

"I used to hide my shit in here all the time." Tobias pinched the bridge of his nose, but his shoulders relaxed. He supposed she could have it. She would be leaving tomorrow morning, so there was no harm in one last hoorah.

"Are there any other secret stashes?" Joy shook her head.

"No. Just this one." Tobias was relieved until she spoke again. "But I can't say for sure that Isaiah didn't have any."

And so he scoured every inch of the apartment once more, searching every crevice, beneath tables, under the bed, odd places, while she finished off the cancer stick.

Tobias sat across from Joy, giving her the cheeseburger and fries. It was slightly cold now, but that didn't seem to bother her.

"So this place. It's good right? You checked it out?"

"Yes, I wouldn't send you to a place where I didn't fully trust the staff. But this place is well. Your therapist is a vampire. She's been doing her job for many years, and a generous amount of humans have given her good reviews from the various place she worked."

"Hmm." She didn't ask anything else involving the place, but Tobias continued anyway.

"They will guarantee your comfort there. I spoke with them about your treatment, and they assured it will be nothing like abruptly stopping at home. You will still experience symptoms, but they won't be as intense. They will explain more to you when you arrive in two days."