Chapter 49 - Dread
"What the heck do you mean Nan?! How could he think that..." I trailed off feeling like I wanted to vomit again. How could my life keep taking all of these unexpected turns, it wasn't natural, and I had just about had enough of it. It almost felt like Will and I were just never going to get our moment. Yeah, we were supposedly soul mates, but how was it that fate would come in between us every single freaking time?
"Darling, I'm not quite sure. It could be the brain damage, perhaps it's caused some form of amnesia. Or a vampire may have used their hypnosis on him. We're not quite sure at this stage but the doctor has recommended that we do all that we can to keep him positive and happy, give him a reason to pull through. Once he is ok we could try the hypnosis on him." Nan told me, trying her best to contain her concern.
"But why the hell do I have to go along with this?! Wouldn't it be better for him if we were just honest?" I pleaded, seriously not wanting to have to lie to him. I knew already how much this was going to damage Will, and most probably our relationship too. I didn't even want to think about what I'd do if Ash tried to kiss me.
"Because darling, he has no one else. If you break his heart, he may just give up. He doesn't really have anyone left anymore, not even family." Her words made sense. I felt incredibly heart broken for the guy, he was an amazing person and the last thing that he deserved was to have his entire life taken away from him. I wanted so badly for him to get better, and if this was what it had come down to, then I guess I had to give it a try.
I took in a deep breath and let out a large sigh of frustration. It was the last thing that I wanted to do but I had to go and suss it out at least. Nan opened the door and led me into the room. I made my way over towards the bed and Nan walked out, clicking the door behind her, leaving just Ash and I alone.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and held back the tears that threatened my eyes just from looking at him. He looked so helpless, and appeared to be in a world of pain. I grabbed onto his hand tightly, just like before. This immediately caused his eyelids to twitch, and I realised that I had probably startled him, perhaps waking him from a broken slumber.
"M-Miranda? Is that you?" He whispered, beginning to open his eyes. I shifted closer towards him.
"Yep, I'm here Ash." I whispered back, fighting back those dreaded tears. I could see his eyes now, and although they were slightly red and puffy, they were just as gorgeous and heart-warming as ever. I knew then that they had looked alive because of me, and that I had to do all that I could to keep it that way. He suddenly began to wriggle around and pull himself into a sitting position, his face twisting in pain as he was doing so.
"Ash! Stop, don't move, it's only going to make things worse." I pleaded, him completely ignoring me. I could tell that his pride had gotten the better of him and he didn't want to be lying around all helpless if he could help it.
"I'm fine. See? Now come here." He said whilst flashing me an incredibly cute smile. I was happy to see that he was somewhat back to his silly old self. He shuffled over and was patting the space beside him, gesturing for me to move up and lie down with him. I hesitated for a moment but realised that I really did want to feel his warm skin against mine, to exchange the affection that he'd missed, somehow reassuring myself that he really was ok.
I sat down next to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, squeezing him as tight as I could get away with without hurting him. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me back, stroking my hair with his hand. "I love you Miranda." He whispered into my ear, making me feel incredibly guilty. I was sure that the type of love that he was referring to was not the type that I had felt for him. I did love him, of course, but only as a friend. I was afraid that what he'd just said to me had meant much more than that.
"I, I love you too, Ash." I whispered back, shutting my eyes tightly, and not being able to help the images of Will filling my mind.
"So tonight's still on then? Are you going to go suss out Summer's little date?" He asked me, clearly having remembered the situation. I then had a little bit of hope that perhaps he remembered everything else, too. I needed to find out in the most subtle way possible.
"Um, yeah, my grandma's organising everything. So, you're not, um, jealous then? That Sum's got a date?" I asked, hoping that this would reveal the truth behind the matter.
He just chuckled at my question, and pulled away from me slightly, forcing me to look up at him as he cupped my cheek into his palm.
"Why would I be jealous, silly. I love you, and only you. You should know that by now." He said as his eyes were boring into my soul, and I knew then that he genuinely meant it. He adamantly believed that I was his. But how the heck did this happen?! I was so damn frustrated but at the same time I couldn't help but melt inside. I felt so incredibly sorry for the guy that I couldn't possibly break his heart, just yet. I just smiled at him softly.
He was now stroking my cheek with his thumb, and his eyes were wondering in between mine and my lips. Oh no. Please no. I was hoping so badly that he wasn't anticipating to kiss me. But I was gravely wrong. He began moving towards my face, eyes locked onto my lips, and I had to swallow back the lump that had formed in my throat. I needed a way out of this, and I needed it now.
I was running out of time then when his lips were literally centre metres away from mine. He tilted his head slightly and I felt his warm spine tingling breath on my cheek. I melted inside a little at his close proximity but immediately shook that away, remembering how much I was in love with Will. I couldn't possibly do this, even if it were all fake.
It was too late now. I couldn't come up with a decent enough excuse to get out of it, and before I knew it his lips had very softly pressed onto mine. I instantly felt mine tingle and I wondered that if I held this for long enough it wouldn't seem awkward when I pulled away, before he decided to stick his tongue down my throat.
I couldn't help but realise how amazing his lips felt though, and the longer they remained on mine it was becoming increasingly hard to pull away. Luckily for me, that familiar BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP had startled the both of us, breaking our embrace. Most of the time I was furious when my phone had interrupted very intimate moments in the past, but this time I was extremely thankful.
I pulled out of his hold and reached into my pocket. "It's Summer, she's meeting him at Woodside Lake." I told him, suddenly becoming extremely anxious. I looked at him wondering if he'd remembered that, if he'd remembered what Summer had told him.
He just smiled at me understandingly, as if too proud to admit that he hadn't remembered this. "Yeah, that's right."
"Ash, what do you remember? What was the last thing you can recall, before waking up here?" I asked, curious as to how badly affected his amnesia, or hypnosis, was, wondering if grandma had already explained to him why he was here.
"Um, not much, really. Just bits and pieces. I remember us, though. The way I feel about you, all the times we'd hung out. I remember Summer, and our plan to figure out who'd been texting her. I don't remember a thing about being attacked though." He said, looking completely shattered that he could not even recall his own life.
It must have been a daunting feeling, and I didn't even want to fathom what it would have felt like. And just great. Why did the way he felt about me have to be one of the only things he'd remembered?! I then realised that what he'd remembered couldn't have been a simple hypnosis, it must have been the genuine feelings that he'd felt inside. He really must have cared for me the entire time, and there I was so oblivious to the fact. Oh how stupid I felt right then.
"Ash, I better go sort this whole thing out, tell Nan of the plans. I think I'm going to go tonight too. I need to be one hundred percent sure that Sum's safe. This is all partly my fault so I feel like I at least owe her some protection." I told him, eager to get out of there, and back into Will's arms. But I was also dreading it. I was dreading facing Will, knowing that I'd just kissed Ashton. It was completely out of sympathy though, and it hadn't meant a thing to me. Well, not entirely, anyway. I wasn't sure then whether I was going to simply tell Will about it, get it out in the open in hope that he'd understand, or whether I would hide it from him, until this whole mess blew over.
"Good luck Miranda, please stay safe." He told me before I hugged him one last time and leaving the room. Will was waiting for me right outside the door, and I could see the pained expression on his face. I then remembered that he did have inhumane hearing, and that it was likely that he'd heard the whole thing. "H-how long have you been standing there?" I asked him, already preparing for the worst.
Will raised an eyebrow at my question, and walked right up in front of me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him. "Your Nan already told me. This isn't going to come in between us though, ok. I won't let it. As much as this pisses me off, we need to do what's right. And if being selfless is the answer, then I guess we have no choice." He whispered into my ear, making me utterly melt inside. I realised then just how strong our bond was, and that nothing was going to come between it. I decided then not to bring the whole kiss thing up, whether he knew or not, he completely understood, so we didn't need to speak of it right then.
"Will Summer just texted me back, she's meeting him at Woodside Lake at 7:00pm. In the middle of freaking no-where. We better go tell grandma." I whispered back, as I pulled away from him to look at him in the eyes. He leaned in and gently took my lips into his, but the second that he did, he froze, his body stiffening up. I snapped my eyes open wondering what the heck had just happened, and he pulled away from me, looking at me oddly.
"Will?" I asked, completely confused.
"It's your lips, they taste like bl-" He was cut off when my Nan came bursting out of a nearby door, and headed straight towards us. Oh shit. I was sure that he was about to say blood, and it had probably come from Ash's lips, his wounds not having healed up completely. I then realised that there was no way that Will had heard me kiss Ash, and this had probably broken his heart. He looked at me one last time, hurt consuming his features, before turning and heading into his room, locking the door behind him. Just freaking great.
"Miranda? Darling? Is everything ok?" She asked me, snapping me back into reality.
"Yeah, um, well, not really. This is killing me. I can't stand seeing Ash the way he is, but this is seriously damaging Will and I. Are we ever going to be happy together? You said we were soul mates, why doesn't it ever seem to work out?!" I shouted at her frustratingly, tears forming in my eyes. And instead of becoming offended by my words, she instead took me into her arms in a warming embrace.
"Shh my dear. It's ok. If you are destined to be together, then it will work out. You need to remember this." She told me soothingly, somewhat subsiding the tears which had begun to trickle down my flustered cheeks. I pulled away from her, remembering the important information she needed to know about Sum.
"Summer messaged me back. She's meeting him at Woodside Lake at 7:00pm. I think it takes about an hour to get there so we better get moving." I told her, pulling away so that I could wipe the tears away from my face.
"Fantastic. I'll go let everyone know. Are you sure you want to come?" She asked with much concern.
"Yes Nan, it's the least I can do. Besides, my powers are getting stronger, you could probably use the extra help." I said with a slight smile.
"Ok then dear, go get your things and we'll head down there."
I headed straight for my room and freshened up, feeling a little bit crappy after having spent most of the day crying. I wasn't sure that I was ready to face Will yet, and like Nan had told me, if we were destined to be together then it will work out, and right now I needed to focus on the whole situation with Summer more so than anything, we were running out of time.
I made my way down the stairs and into the hall by the front door where everyone had appeared to be gathering. Beth and Jacob were standing by Nan, who was instructing a group of very well built and quite attractive young men, all appearing to be armed with weapons. I counted there to be five of them in total, assumingly vampires.
I greeted them all and found out that Beth and Jacob were not going to join us, something about having important business related arrangements on tonight. Two of the men were going to take one car and follow Summer there, three of them were going to take another car and go straight to the lake, while myself, Nan and Will were to take another and follow the three men heading straight to the lake.
It turned out that they were all highly trained vampire ex-military security that had been working for Beth and Jacob for years now. Again, I planned on questioning Will about their occupation later, becoming increasingly curious the more odd information I'd find out about them.
Will made his way down the stairs and Nan announced that we were all to leave. We made our way out into the garage and hopped into the cars. Nan was driving Will and I who sat in the back seat together, and we were following on behind the three vampires. Luckily for me Nan had the radio turned up quite loudly, listening to some corny Elvis CD, hopefully drowning out any sort of conversation that Will and I would have in the back seat.
Will and I had still not spoken since the hallway just outside of Ash's door, and I felt a slight bit uncomfortable. I hated it though, and I couldn't bear for things to be awkward between us any longer. I looked over at him and noticed that he was focussing quite sternly onto the scenery moving past us. I swallowed my pride and reached over to take his hand into mine. I noticed him flinch at my very touch, and instantly knew that he felt that spark of electricity too.
He slowly moved his head around in my direction, and finally set those amazing glowing eyes onto mine. I shifted right up next to him, and wrapped my arms around his torso. He hesitated for a moment before finally wrapping his arms around me.
"I'm sorry Will, for everything. I love you so much, I don't want anything or anyone to come in between us." I whispered, as he lifted one hand up to cup my cheek. He was staring at my lips now, and moved in to capture them with his. He kissed me so gently that it made me completely melt inside. I kissed him back instantly, as we moved our lips against one another, neither of us daring to deepen the kiss with a tongue. I mean, my grandma was just a few metres away, and that would have been way too awkward.
Although the more I kissed him, the more it had turned me on, and I wanted nothing more than to be locked away in a private room with him right then. We continued to kiss each other quite softly and passionately, both fighting back the strong urge to grope each other and take this further than was appropriate.
I think then that we had been kissing the entire hour long drive there, when we were interrupted by the car slowing down. Nan cleared her throat and the mesmerisation that he had put me into was momentarily broken. My face flushed an intense shade of red at the realisation that we had just been making out in the back seat of my Nan's car for almost an hour. Woops.
Will just smiled at me cheekily, and I couldn't help the smirk in return. I noticed just how black his eyes were then, mine probably having been the same. We jumped out of the car, the crisp spring air pulling me from an almost frenzied state. If I'd have kissed Will for any longer I could have sworn that I would have been begging for him to bite me.
"So, what's the plan now?" I asked Nan, feeling a bit like I was going into this blind, having absolutely no idea what was about to happen. I also felt increasingly anxious now, my vibes going severely crazy. I wasn't sure what on earth was going to go down tonight, but I had a feeling that it was going to be extremely significant, and that I had to prepare for the worst. I hated this feeling but I knew somehow that it was my destiny, that everything that had happened to me over these past few months had ultimately lead to this night.
"We're going to head in with these lovely young men, hide out a fair distance from the lake, in hope that we can't be tracked but close enough for their inhumane eyesight to see what is going on. We must stick close by. If you sense anything around you, you must let us know immediately." She told us, as we approached the other three vampires at the edge of the forest. The lake wasn't that far in, so I'd assumed we didn't have to walk a great distance.
We made our way in, retracting from the path, which was the obvious option to take, not wanting to be seen by Summer or anyone else that were likely to be there. We were walking for almost five minutes, when a blood-curdling scream had startled the group of us, causing our heads to snap in the direction that it had come from. The vampires had all noted that they sensed someone in the distance, and ordered for grandma and I to wait there while they all headed for the scream, including Will.
I swallowed the lump in my throat as the anxiousness in my stomach was going insane, almost unbearable. Something wasn't right, and I knew it. I turned around to face Nan, but I was completely shocked when I saw that she wasn't there. She was gone. They were gone. Will was gone. Had they all seriously left me?! I began to acutely panic, my stomach doing a thousand flips, and my heart beating so hard that I thought it was going to explode out of my chest.
"Will!? Nan!" I shouted out, in hope that someone would hear me, but nothing. What the hell was going on?! I turned around to run in the direction of the scream when I hit something extremely hard. It caused me to stumble back and hit a nearby tree with my back. Suddenly something, or someone for that matter, had slammed into me, grabbing me by the throat quite firmly, causing me to choke. The wind had been knocked out of me from the impact against the tree, and I was struggling to open my eyes because of it.
Suddenly I heard a chuckling sound coming from whoever it was that had held me to the tree. I felt so extremely sick in the stomach now, completely dreading opening my eyes, to see what monster stood there in front of me. I very slowly pried my eyes open, and the dread that I had felt was completely legitimate.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here. Just who I was expecting."