Author's Note- One more chapter after this. After all, this only part one if you guys want a series....
Chapter Thirteen:
"Oh my God," He lifted me into his arms, not caring that I was getting my massacre all over him. I kept crying as he hugged me close to his chest. He was running a hand through my hair the whole time as he carried me up to the house. Why wasn't he drilling me?
I clutched his shirt with shaking fingers, distressed to the max.
"You're okay," He told me, helping me to the bathroom. Jane had already filled the tub up for me, ready to help me out.
"I'm sorry-" I began in a broken voice. I was, sorry about everything I'd ever done. I was disgusted with the fact that I had no idea what had happened ore how I'd escaped all of that.
"No," Declan shook his head. "Logan, I swear if you apologize for this I will be more upset than I've ever been with you. Did they hurt you?"
"Can we talk when I'm not covered in blood?"
"Yes," He kissed my cheek, wiping the blood off his mouth after. "I'm gonna go-"
"Okay," I shut the door after him, took off my clothes, and spent the next hour getting blood out of my hair.
***
"I woke up in an auditorium and met a whack job who sent me to the back room. They- inject these people will a serum that calms them down. They bought me back- and I blacked out," I was wearing Declan's sweatshirt and shorts with a towel on my head. My skin still itched as though there was still blood on me. We were with the group in the living room.
"I'm so sorry they took you. I should've-" Declan was blaming himself for what happened to me. Even though it wasn't his fault at all.
"I took a walk on my own accord," I took a deep breath. "I'm fine. I was only gone for a few hours-"
"No, you were gone for ten hours," He whispered, pulling me close.
"I was only awake for a couple of them," I closed my eyes to keep from crying. He pulled me tighter into his embrace, even though he was already holding on for dear life.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Tristan stood up. "I think you two need to talk. The porch is a lovely spot." That jerk had the nerve to wink as he left the room.
***
I stood up, slowly, making my way to the door. Declan had a firm grip on my hand, refusing to let go of me ever again. I wondered if he'd let go once he knew the whole story...
The wood let out a creak of protest as we headed for the steps to sit. I sat down first before he lowered himself next to me. We just stared at each other for a minute- making my stomach feel like angry bees were attacking me from the inside out.
"I'm sor-" I began.
"Nope. Don't you dare apologize," He gave me his signature smirk and pressed his lips to my temple. I knew he meant every word he was saying. But there was also everything he wasn't saying aloud that was overwhelming me.
"I don't hate you," I whispered, squeezing his hand. He squeezed it back, looking down at my nails. They were bleeding from how badly I'd been biting them. Fighting my insecurities, I looked out at the dirt and ants crawling over the rocks.
"I know," He said softly. "I'm so sorry."
"For the fight? Not as sorry as I am," I faced him, wrapping my arms around his torso. He held me tightly, clenching his jaw.
"For everything. For freshman year. For homecoming. For anything I hurt you with," His blue eyes begged with me. "Imogen, I spent so long telling myself I had to hate you- I should've been falling in love with you instead."
I nearly choked. "What?" I didn't hear that right.... Did he just use the L-word???
"I convinced myself to hate you for no reason. All those times I made you cry, just because I'm selfish. I hurt you. You're beautiful and too smart for me and out of my league," Declan was talking in a voice so quiet I could barely hear him.
"It's whatever," I shrugged.
"It is not," He frowned. "I ruined you."
"You did," I admitted. "And (cue nervous laugh) I would change it if I could. But this..." I looked down at his hand stroking mine gently. "This I wouldn't change."
Declan put his forehead on mine and closed his eyes. I closed mine too.
"Remember when I tried to kiss you?" He asked after a while.
"Yeah," I sighed. "I should've let you-"
And then he was kissing me into oblivion.
His lips were soft and moving in sync with mine, sweet and patient. He pulled me closer and continued kissing me. My stomach exploded into a million pieces with every second. I wanted to feel like this forever. This is the moment I wanted photographed.
Sure, it was in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and the world had basically ended but I didn't care. Love was beautiful and magical and was so much better than feeling nothing.
I broke away for air and smiled at him, my forehead still on his. Lowering my face, I tried to hide my blush. He tilted my face up to his, making my face heat up even more.
"I love you." We said at the same time.
***
"Finally!" Tristan cheered as soon as we walked back inside. Our hands were linked and something tells me Declan was staring at me. He hadn't stopped looking at me the whole time after he kissed me. The expression on his face was the same; a smile on his lips and his eyes soft, understanding almost.
"I know!" Jo jumped up and down. "They remind me of Anna and Kristoff!"
I laughed at her reference and leaned down to hug her.
Declan gave me a fake pout as I lifted her onto my back for a piggy back ride.
"You can share my attention," I rolled my eyes and went to talk with the others. Declan was right behind me, giving me a devious smile everytime I turned around.
He was so weird.
***
Around ten I let Jo and her parents have their own room. For whatever reason, Declan let them have his master room. Even if he was less of a jerk, it was still something I'd expect from Alex- not him.
I paced the hallway a couple times, trying to shake off the exhaustion coming over me. First, I'd put my hair up, then take it down again. Then, I was jumping up and down a little as I walked. Eventually, I was rubbing my eyes to try and keep them open.
"You are pathetic," Declan chuckled under his breath. "Just go to sleep."
"No," I yawned, rubbing my eyes again. My arms were being swallowed whole by the sweatshirt.
"Yes," He threw me over his shoulder, which only resulted in my pounding on his back with my hands. I knew he was gonna make me lie down, which is the very thing I was afraid of. I was worried of what I'd see after I closed my eyes.
"Declan!" I exclaimed, trying to kick myself free. Even though he was just holding me it made me anxious. I didn't want to be held against my will.
He set me down on the floor next to the bed. I put my head on my knees and tried to fight my queasy stomach. Suddenly, an arm was around me as he lowered himself next to me.
"So," He smirked.
"So?" I inquired.
"I can take the couch- if you, er, don't want me in your room," He volunteered. I looked up at him and saw his genuineness in his bright blue eyes. Honestly, I didn't want to be alone.
"It's okay," I told him, playing with my fingers.
He kissed my forehead and smiled against my skin. I shivered at the cold on my bare legs and feet. Slowly, I stood and crawled into bed, curling up under the blanket. For a second he just watched me, a faint impression of a grin on his lips. I looked awful to be honest; hair tangled and my clothes rumpled.
"What?" I asked.
"You're so pretty," He curled up next to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Arguable," I rolled my eyes, instinctively touching my hair to fix it. He simply grabbed my hand and held it, taking in every inch of my face.
"Take the compliment, Logan, and don't ever deny it," He pulled me closer with a soft look of happiness. I curled up closer to him, feeling warmer and safer with his arms there to hold me tight.
"Declan?" I asked, kissing his lips to wake him up if he was asleep. He kissed me back of course, making me feel like an idiot for ever believing he would sleep before me.
"Yeah?"
"Remember how you talked about that other girl a couple weeks ago? In the bowling alley?" I asked.
He looked confused a second. "There isn't another girl. There never has been, Imogen."
I frowned and put my forehead on his, letting our noses touch. "Okay."
"Do you believe me?" He asked quietly.
"I guess," I whispered.
"Well, I need to make that an 'I'm sure'. I love you, Imogen Catherine Logan," Declan was confident as he spoke, making my heart flutter.
I knew I was still smiling even after I fell asleep.
***
My hands snapped free from the restraints my hands with long claws instead of nails.
I dug them into the neck of the woman next to me, cutting into her skin like it was paper. Blood oozed in droplets before flooding out onto my fingers. I knocked the guns off the table, effectively shooting and killing my guard. The other fell back against the wall, giving me time to bite out of his throat.
His skin was warm and soft as I ripped a chunk out of it, swallowing like it was a piece of meat. Blood coated my lips and salted my tongue as I continued to pull him open. Eating, eating, eating.
The woman came next.
I used my claws to cut into her like a frog in biology. Her heart was still beating as I dug around inside her chest for something unfathomable. She was helpless now, slowly choking on her own blood and dying right under my firm grasp.
I watched the life leave her eyes before I dug in.
My face was getting some of the splatter as the warm liquid oozed onto my fingers. It ran down my arms in a sickly way as I finished off a good portion of the woman. I couldn't stop, even though I was slowly feeling less of the blood lust with each second.
I fell back against the table, watching my vision reverse from its dark haze. My head hit the tiles as I caught a glimpse of my fine work. Before I could scream, I felt pain filling my veins once again.
Pain was flooding over me now in my mouth, stomach, and nails as they reversed back. Intense burning filled my veins as I snapped back to being human.
I passed out before I could throw up.
***
The hardwood floor was the first thing I hit, blood dripping from my nose after I smacked against it. Tears filled my eyes as another scream emerged. I was still screaming as I took a minute to realize I was just- dreaming?
"Imogen?" Declan was out of bed and hovering over me with his hands on my soaked cheeks. I was now crying and breathing so heavily it was shocking. He pulled me off the ground and helped me to the restroom. I sat down on the toilet with a tissue on my nose, attempting to stop the blood gushing out of my nose. Sweat inched down my back as he looked me over.
"Talk to me, baby," He wiped the blood off of my face gently.
I shook my head and inspected my nose in the mirror. It wasn't broken. Thank God.
"You don't just wake up screaming for no reason. Don't try and make it look like it isn't important," His blue eyes were sleepy as he inspected me. I smiled and ran a hand through his messy hair.
"Sorry," I managed to say, feeling the blush creep onto my cheeks. Looking in the mirror, I brushed out my hair to calm myself down. I was hoping that he couldn't see my shaking hands.
He noticed.
Hands met my waist, spinning me around to face him. "You aren't okay."
"I-" No explanation came.
"Imogen," He had a warning tone. "Don't lie to me, beautiful."
I looked down, realizing how close he was to kissing me. He closed the distance, gently meeting my lips with his.
"I love you," He confessed.
"I love you, too," I put my forehead on his and turned to leave. I went into the kitchen and looked at the clock. It was only five in the morning, so I took my rifle and sat on the porch.
He sat down next to me and shivered a little.
"Go back to bed," I said softly.
"No, not unless you will," He pulled me into his lap and kissed my shoulder because that was what was closest to him.
"I can't," I said through a yawn. "I don't like sleeping when I dream."
"Then we'll stay out here and talk," He hugged me closer to him.
"About what?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked. I laughed.
"By apocalypse standards? Sure. We'll be life partners or whatever," I looked over my shoulder to give him a cheeky grin. He had the smallest little freckles on his nose- nowhere else. And he had beautiful eyes- the kind you can fall into.
"Imogen," He whispered. "You're like music."
"Music? Never heard that one before."
"Music. A symphony of beauty. Everything about you from the emotion and the blend of instruments. The instruments are all the things that make you beautiful. The emotion is how I feel. Overall, you are the type of thing people listen to and look at over and over again," He said this smoothly, confidently.
"Wow," I whispered.
"I did pretty well huh? I mean, I'm no Augustus Waters but eh?" He shrugged. I kissed him quickly to reassure him. He responded by pulling me closer and kissing me slower.
"I am kissing Declan Blaze," I realized aloud.
"I'm kissing Imogen Logan," His eyes twinkled. "Took me long enough."
"Wow," I exhaled, looking at the boy I'd fallen in love with. "Are you ready to leave in a couple hours?"
"Definitely," He looked me over. "Anywhere as long as I have you."
"You are crazy, Blaze," I rolled my eyes at him. He rolled his eyes back.
"But you love me."
"Love and apocalypses. Winning combo, right there," I laughed.
Author's Note- I know. It's sappy or whatever. I know some of you -cough- Hailey- cough- dig the cheesy nonsense so...... One more chapter for part one so I can take a break before- if you guys want one- a sequel is written. So now it's up to you; sequel or the next project up my sleeve. THERE WILL BE ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR PART ONE SO LOOK FORWARD TO IT. Remember to vote if you love Declan Blaze or Decagen or heck, if you love Tristan because who doesn't? Comment which you voted for lol. :) Sorry for the grammar errors...