Swan Song || The Lost Boys - & The One Who Found Them...

Chapter XII ~ ᛃ ( Jera ) Part IV - Drink The Wine, Taste The Blood

" Do you still remember what you said about having that thought when it first came to you? How it felt to you? "

My gaze dropped for a moment as I took a quick journey down memory lane to collect pieces of the scenario he was inquiring about.
" It was... unexpected? Sudden. I don't want to call it an epiphany but that's exactly how it felt that moment... Kind of... alien.

But then again, I have had similar moments before, so I didn't make much of it.

Why do you ask all those things though? What does any of it have to do with what you need to tell me..?? "

" It was me, Lily. "

" What? "

" Those thoughts you were having that moment; those thoughts that felt like they weren't even your own...
They belonged to me.

I was the one who made a decision for you without you being aware of it. "

I blinked over & over again as if to blink away my confusion, though to no avail.
This had to be a misunderstanding. He couldn't possibly imply that --

" I don't understand..?! "

" You do understand, Lily. You are just in denial...
& I honestly can't blame you ~ "

His look deepened, the fear in his eyes about to infect me as well.

" Dwayne, stop. This doesn't make any sense. You aren't making any sense!
There is absolutely no way one person can control the thoughts & decisions of another!
Do you actually expect me to believe that now?? "

" Is that a hill you are willing to die on, Lily? "

David's voice rang out alarmingly close behind us, a cool breeze against my back indicating that he was just a few steps away from me.

" ...Or are you open to the possibility that, in our very own world, we are also playing by our very own rules? "

My voice was trembling.
" I... I sure knew that vampires can communicate telepathically & even read each other's minds, but I've never heard that they can also influence other people's actions?! "

" Oh, I'm sure there's plenty of things you haven't heard about yet, my dear ~ "
David whispered, judging by the change in sound gradually closing the gap between himself & me.

" ~ for example that drinking the blood of a mortal being grants us access to its mind & allows us to become a part of it... Of course, that is if the victim hasn't caught our fangs & stays alive... which rarely ever happens. "

A tremor ran through my breath. From that moment forward I did nothing but stare into Dwayne's eyes as though hoping to find something in there that would help me take the burden off his shoulders, but instead it seemed to become heavier & heavier.

I felt like I had strayed into a nightmare...

" Dwayne..."
I spoke calmly, my fingers touching his cheek.
" Is he telling the truth..? "

He closed his eyes to conceal the shame, but I had already seen every ounce of it.

" Ever since I drank your blood your mind has become a second home to me, with your thoughts being a constant background noise that I hear just as clear as my own, however without any chance to silence it.

I knew that this would inevitably happen should I ever give in to the temptation, that's why I did not want to feed off you last night...
But I failed to control myself. I was too weak to resist your blood...