**I have mentioned this in the description, but this story does deal with topics of abuse. I will give a warning just in case it bothers anyone any time it is mentioned, so this is a warning that this chapter deals with the subject. In no way shape or form am I romanticizing it, rather the exact opposite and I'm pushing to spread awareness of both signs and possible mindset of an abused victim. I want to make that very clear. Abuse isn't a sign of love. Any who, shout out to one of my best friends for motivating me to update cause I wasn't about to for another couple of weeks ❤ Enjoy the chapter!**
A bright light broke through the darkness of her unconsciousness.
In her haze, the irrational side of her believed maybe God did exist, and he finally was granting her the sweet relief she craved for so long.
Joy wanted to reach out for the light, but as she lifted her hand, she felt someone grasp it, plastic strings tickling her arm as they lowered her limb down.
Distorted voices began to slip through her clouded hearing, muffled noises becoming piercing as she began to fully wake.
Shadows hovered in the beam of the light, blocking the godly shine.
Her chest tightened as her eyes began to focus, her heart hammering a mile a minute.
Nearby she could hear the rapid beeps of a heart monitor, forcing her upright and nearly knocking her head against one of the blurred shadows.
"Miss, it's alright. You're safe. You were in an accident and have been brought into a hospital. You're being cared for."
Though the words were meant to calm her, they did anything but that.
Her struggled breathing became audible as she began to peer around at the white walls.
Fuck.
Fuck this wasn't good.
Her eyes were wide as she glanced down at her arm, finding a needle probed into veins. A plastic tube connected to that needle, thick red liquid pouring from her flesh into a tube held by a nurse.
Joy immediately snatched her arm and blindly gripped the needle, ripping it from her veins causing a surge of pain to pour through her and spew blood every which way.
She grabbed the nurses arm roughly and ripped the tube from her, tossing it onto the floor, while doctors began to grip her limbs and hold her down despite the chaos of her limb spewing blood and her screaming, all of which fell on deaf ears to Joy.
Shouldn't hear clearly, her brain still in a haze after her cocaine trip earlier.
However she could think clearly, and if these doctors got her blood, they would know she was high as Hell.
She would he facing hard time and that wasn't something she would risk.
"Get off me!" She tried to writhe from the grasp of doctors that had gotten permission to tie restraints on her frantic state, but that was only intensifying the panic that was pouring through her.
Through the commotion of doctors and nurses whizzing about, in the corner of her eye, she noticed a syringe being prepared and she shrieked, tears beginning to swell in her hazel orbs.
She didn't know how her body would react to a sedative. Whether it would be death or not, her body was fighting to survive, just as it had been trained to all her life. She desired to die constantly, yet she was always fighting to live. Why? She didn't know, and she never has.
"Don't!" A hand rested against her head, meant to console her but it disgusted her and she snatched away, continuing to squirm.
With all the commotion, it must have reached the hall, for the door flew open and a hand wrapped around the one that held a syringe near her arm.
"You are not supposed to be in here, Mr-"
"Tobias, pleasure to meet your acquaintance." He finished. "I know her. She'll calm if you just allow her space, won't you?" Joy couldn't see him, her sights dizzied by all the beings in the room, but she brought herself to nod as she settled herself back against the bed with deep breaths.
A nursed remained at her side, tending to the open vein that was still spilling heavily.
Joy would rather bleed out than have to hand over evidence of her body being pumped on illegal substances. Isaiah would not be happy at all. He wasn't too happy last time he had to retrieve her from a police station, explaining to the police with some sorry ass excuse and a promise to get help.
"Don't stick me with nothin' until I call my boyfriend here." She hissed, shutting her eyes to everyone and increasing her brows. "I'm fine." She muttered. "Aint nothin' wrong. I just wanna call him and go home."
And then she was hit with the realization that she had completely fucked his car.
He definitely was not going to be light with her on that, and she believed deserved whatever came. It was her fault for driving so recklessly.
She had no one else to call but him. She didn't have a choice.
Noticing she calmed, the doctors loosened the restraints and moved away from her.
"If you touch me with anything, don't think I won't have a case with this hospital." She threatened.
The doctors decided to leave her alone, regroup and figure out a way to help, but it was clear she didn't want any.
They left her room, leaving Tobias to approach her bedside, taking in her sunken eyes and skeletal appearance. She looked so lively under the dim lights of the club, but now she appeared to be part of the living dead.
"You should really allow them to help you." He murmured, watching her weakly lift her arm in his direction, before she clutched his shirt and nearly ripped him over the hospital bed.
"They didn't help me then, and they sure as Hell ain't gonna help me now." They were inches apart, Tobias' breath hitching in his throat. "And if you don't quit following me, you ain't gonna have no legs to follow me with."
Joy then shoved him back on his heels, her attention turning to the side table and reaching for the phone.
Tobias adjusted his shirt and straightened it out, watching her dial a number. When she spoke to the person on the other end, her tone was soft and fragile, rather than mean, like how her words were towards him.
She had such a lovely voice it send shivers down his spine. Her utterances became even more exotic when her native tongue snuck into her english, causing excitement to pulse through him. The way each word rolled off her tongue could be described in semblance to the softness of cherry wine and the pleasurable resonance of the velvety liquid swishing around the glass. It was something any man would want to listen to after a long day at work, her voice alone so intoxicating, one would be drunken merely by having her whisper sweetness into their ear.
"You need to leave, before Isaiah gets here." She warned, her cherry wine voice shifting into the harshness of rocky waters.
"I want to be sure you're alright-"
"I would have been fine if you haven't jumped out in the middle of the road like that!"
"You also would have killed a mother and her children." A look of horror briefly casted across her features, and then she became more vengeful.
"Get out."
"No." Joy folded her arms and grinned, shaking her head.
"You're making a big mistake getting involved, Tobias."
Tobias moved to the chair near the bedside and shrugged his shoulders.
"So be it."
~·~·~
It didn't take long for the man by the name of Isaiah to arrive.
He strode in, tall, and his expression riddled with annoyance when his heated gaze seared into Joy.
He was like a grizzly cloud that hid the sun, waning her skin almost instantaneously.
A vampire.
Tobias straightened in the chair, the aura he gave leading him to his accusations.
She shifted in discomfort, keeping her eyes steady with her fiddling hands before her.
"Where's the car?" Was the first thing he inquired her about. Not about how she was, not about any of her clear injuries. He asked about a worthless scrap of metal.
Joy mumbled something, however it wasn't clear.
"What?" He hissed, taking one step in her direction and snatching her face in his grasp. Her eyes were forced to meet his angry gleam, her trembling hands lifting from her lap in distrust, but she didn't push him away.
"I don't know." She murmured. He clutched her jaw a little too roughly, causing her to whimper.
"You are petty if you lay your hands on a human in such a manner." Tobias scolded, rising from his chair. "Humans are frail, you are far stronger than they are."
Isaiah turned his aggression from Joy, to him.
"Who's this clown?" Joy trembled, her lips moving but forming no words. "I asked you a question."
"Tobias. He was a customer at the club." She answered rapidly. "He's the one that wrecked the car. He was the one who followed me."
Tobias opened his mouth to defend himself, but quickly shut it.
He didn't need to. He wasn't the one who was afraid of this low class vampire.
"This twig? I could snap him in half." Tobias raised his brow at a grinning Isaiah.
"That is awfully big talk coming from a low class vampire." Tobias took a step in his direction. "And it appears you pick on those weaker than you because you can't stand to lose a fight."
Isaiah had raised a hand towards Tobias, but it was a mistake because Tobias, despite his size, was a lot stronger. He easily reached for Isaiah's throat and hoisted him off his feet.
"You ought to learn some manners." His eyes glowed auburn from their usual dark brown orbs.
"Stop it! Let him go!" Joy shrilled, moving towards the edge of the bed.
Isaiah didn't hold any source of fear in his eyes. Nothing but a shit eating grin.
"Go on. Snap my neck. You'll only be hurting the doll." Tobias turned to Joy who clutched his arm tightly, her eyes pleading. He could see dark contusions already forming along her jaw where he grabbed her, and that was enough to push the envelope.
"Let him go!" But he only turned away from her, knowing that this wasn't the first bruise these received.
Seconds before the snap of his neck, Tobias was thrown across the room, his body clashing with the wall.
Joy's twinkling eyes met a pair to ice blue orbs.
"Apologies. It seems my servant has forgotten his place." The man glared over his shoulder at Tobias, who was gathering himself from the ground.
From the tense atmosphere, Joy knew this was another vampire. And extremely strong one.
"You would believe a King would have a tighter hold on his leash." Isaiah murmured. "I don't appreciate him stalking my Blood Bride. Frightened her near off the road."
"The only one she's frightened of is you." Tobias growled, his kind front falling apart and unraveling before her.
All men were beasts. Joy trusted not one of them. They were all the same to her.
"Tobias, that is enough. Leave the room and wait for me in the hall." The king ordered.
He had no choice, staring down Isaiah as he fled the room and slammed the door shut behind him.
The man with the stunning blue eyes turned to her, expression resembling stone.
"I’ll deal with him, he won't bother you anymore." Was all the King said to her before following Tobias and fleeing her room.
A few silent minutes passed before Isaiah returned his harsh gaze to her, his fangs elongating in ire.
"We're leaving now. You're fine." He grabbed her wrist, her bare feet padding against the tiled floor in efforts to gain her traction.
Joy shrunk into herself, knowing that she wasn't out of the woods yet with Isaiah.
Not even close.
~·~·~
Jon sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Tobias. You know the rules. She is not your Blood Bride. You have no right to interfere."
Tobias remained silent, his hard stare glaring at the wall behind Jon.
Ophelia, Yami, and Marissa all were asleep in the waiting room, using Kiroh as a pillow. They had a lovely night, and he was happy they enjoyed themselves.
Tobias, not so much. Maybe if they would have gone somewhere else, this wouldn't have happened.
Jon took a look at the girls huddled up beside one another and Kiroh tapping his foot impatiently.
"The sun is almost up." Jon mused, gazing out of the window at the lightening sky. "It's best we hurry home." Tobias remained silent, his posture sinking and his eyes falling to his feet.
Jon rested a hand on his head, continuing to speak.
"Tobias, you always choose to adore beings you want to help and nurture back to health. Sometimes you can't fix every broken toy you find. Sometimes they are shattered beyond putting back together, and there is nothing you can do but to move on and find a new one." Tobias glared at Jon, before turning his back to him.
"Anything can be fixed with time and dedication." He stopped in his tracks a hint of a prideful smile curling his lips. "Besides, you turned out well enough. It took four hundred years, but I finally have gotten you to love someone other than yourself." He murmured, taking a stride through the exit of the hospital doors.
Jon shook his head.
Once Tobias was set on something, he was going to commit to it. That was just how he was, and Jon could do very little to stop him. Even as a King, he would never harm his own. It would just be something Tobias would need to learn for himself.
~·~·~
"How was I supposed to know?" Joy cried with tears in her eyes. She felt so sorry for what she had done, but nothing would repay him for it.
"You shouldn't have gotten in the car while you were like that to begin with!" He raised his voice back at her. "You're stupid you know that? There was ten thousand dollars worth of coke in the trunk and now I have no idea where the fucking car is." Her eyes rolled upwards to prevent anymore tears from leaving her eyes, for her crying would just make him angrier. "I don't know how you even got through high school, with how dumb you are. Must've been doin' something on the side to keep those grades up."
Joy clutched her fist. "I-I'm not stupid." She murmured.
His posture straightened, craning his head over his shoulder.
"What?" From the stomach turning tone, she realized she made a mistake. Why couldn't she just keep quiet? "What did you say?"
Joy's lip quivered, her throat growing tight as she tried to speak the words again.
"Come on, I didn't hear ya the first time." But she knew he did. He was a vampire. He could hear her just fine.
Finally she just decided she would take what was coming. She forced her frightened voice from her clenched throat.
"I said I'm not-" It was numb at first, like it always was. Her body was shocked each time it happened, but it shouldn't be a surprise anymore.
Joy felt blood trickle from her lips, her stunned being attempting to pick herself up from the ground.
Isaiah ripped her hair back, causing her to cry out.
"You are stupid. Don't argue with me." Joy tried to get away from him, but he only ripped her back again. "Say it." He sneered.
Joy grit her teeth to stifle any loud cries that came so natural from years of this, something she thought she would be used to.
"I'm stupid." She finally broke, Isaiah then throwing her aside like a ragged doll.
Joy crawled her shaking being towards their bed, curling herself onto the sheets and hugging a pillow to her chest.
Isaiah didn't say anything else, his heavy footsteps heading for the door and locking it behind him.
Since she was a child, this had been her treatment. She wasn't raised in a home filled with happiness and kindness. She was raised in a house where she had seen her mother beaten and as long as Sam apologized that meant it was okay. Even if she couldn't recognize her mother afterwards because her face had been beaten in. Even if she called the police and arrested him. Even when he would call from the precinct and apologize profusely and beg her mother to bail him out. That was love in her eyes. She knew nothing else. A vicious cycle.
Joy had begun to cry, unable to soothe the fear she felt.
She didn't want this. She didn't, but she stayed because he was all she had and Isaiah knew that. She stayed because he gave her what she needed.
She hiccupped and choked out more sobs, smudging her makeup.
She was living her mother's life. A life she swore up and down she would never be trapped in.
Joy shut her eyes, leaving her wound unattended.
She lived her mother's life, and his strength didn't matter. Any man could've done to her what he does. He could kill her, but so can an ordinary man.
She was a mistake from the start. A stupid mistake.
~·~·~
She wasn't sure of the time, but she heard the jingle of keys and the front door open. Joy had always been a light sleeper. She could never sleep and fully allow herself to relax. A forced reflex.
Her breath quivered when she heard him approach the bed, her heart hammering in her chest. She clutched the pillow, and clenched her eyes when she felt him lean towards her and raise his hand over her.
Soon she only felt the gentle touch of his fingers through her hair.
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I didn't mean that. You're not stupid." Joy remained silent, her lips quivering. Oh she hated this. She hated this so much. This toxic shit.
She knew he didn't mean it, that he would do it again.
It was almost as if she were asking for a death wish.
"Let me see that." Isaiah sat her up and wiped her dried blood from her lip. "Come on, look at me, don't be like that." Joy glanced at him with pink eyes and out of instincts apologies left her lips, though she shouldn't have been the one to apologize.
"I'm sorry." Isaiah laid down, and stroked her sides.
"Don't worry about it. I took care of it." Joy glanced outside, and noticed the sun trying to stream through dark curtains.
"I love you." His sultry voice cooed, seconds before he drifted off.
She ran her tongue over her busted lip, her eyes vacant as they started at the curtains. Completely emotionless, she allowed the meaningless words to tumble from her lips.
"I love you too."