“I feel bare. I didn't realize I wore my secrets as armor until they were gone and now everyone sees me as I really am.”
~Veronica Roth, Insurgent~
Layla.
"Hmm," Harry began, tapping his chin lightly while pursing his lips, trying to act as if he wanted to appear to be thinking hard. "Perhaps you could tell me your favorite color?"
I laughed. "Really?"
He shrugged. "We agreed on light subjects, Layla. That's the lightest topic I can think of right now."
I leaned back slightly against the wall beside the busted mirror. I glanced at the various broken bits that still covered the floor, and grimaced a bit. Someone was going to have their work caught out for them after cleaning up that mess, I felt sorry for them. "My favorite color would have to be dark green."
"Why?" He asked, cocking his head.
"This subject seems to be getting heavier now," I said with another laugh, and briefly thought about why I had always chose that as my favorite color. "I think it's probably because when I was little all I could see was dark green around me. Whenever my parents were still alive, I think we lived in an area that was surrounded by trees, even more than when I was at my foster lamia home."
"What happened to your parents?" Harry suddenly asked.
My brow frowned slightly, and I bit the inside of my cheek. "That's kind of a darker subject for this conversation, Harry, and I didn't even get to ask you anything yet," I said, slowly.
"Fine. Ask me something then," He responded, a bit quickly.
I let out a long breath, and tried to think of something small that I had always wanted to know about him, but only one thing stuck out to me, and I wasn't sure if it would got with the small and light topics we were trying to list off. "What was the world like when you were human? Did vampires rule, like they do now?"
He laughed a bit. "Now you're asking me two questions," He said, but then began to answer them anyway. "It was different, a lot different, than it is now. Vampires didn't begin to rule until about a hundred years after my transformation, but that was only because there weren't many of us around yet."
I nodded softly. "Can you be more specific? The word different is so vague."
"There wasn't as much technology as there is now, for one. That iPad you have was invented in the year 2012, I believe, and it's over four thousand years later. It's still pretty popular, for some reason," Harry said, once again tapping his chin with his index finger. "Anyway, the world seemed much bigger when you were looking at it with such a small understanding of it. I was a farmer boy, one that wanted desperately to fight and die in battle just so my own children had something to live up to. I didn't want to be one of those pathetic people that just had families and worked, I wanted to do something to better my country."
"Sounds pretty brave of you," I softly commented, and bit my lip.
"I used to think that too," He said, and sighed quietly. "But then I realized, to late of course, that the real bravery that I should have been seeking would be to have stayed home and kept my mum safe. My head was so far up in the clouds, and I was so naive, that I can't believe it took all of this happening." He paused to gesture to himself, showing that he was speaking about his transformation. "For me to see it."
I stared at him, studying the way he spoke about his human life. He didn't seem bitter, at least not in the frightening way, or even angry, more so annoyed, of his idiotic behaviors. I felt bad for him, but I still needed to know more. "You were changed because you were so naive?"
Harry exhaled and gently tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. "Kind of. I was changed because I couldn't, and wouldn't, see the truth. I forced myself not to believe that something was wrong, when in reality, something was very off about this particular person."
I nodded slightly. "Well, seeing as I asked you a billion questions instead of one, it's your turn to ask me something."
"Alright," He said, then cocked his head, as if he were trying to figure out something deeper about me. "What happened to your parents?"
I bit the inside of my cheek. "I thought we were staying away from dark subjects, and just sticking with the light ones?" I said, trying not to show how timid I was about the topic.
Harry.
It was funny, Layla was always the one human that I truly believed could hide every emotion she felt, but right now, I could read her as well as a book. She was afraid, not of me thankfully, instead she feared the topic about her parents, probably almost as much as I feared the one about my transformation.
"We were," I said, and shrugged. "You got a bit deeper than just my favorite colour, so right now I want to go a little deeper as well."
She bit her lip and began to play with her fingers that had been placed on her lap. She said nothing, and her gaze was cast down toward her tangled digits. My hand slowly went over the top of hers, and I noticed just how pale I was compared to her. Layla didn't have the tan skin that most women crave, but her skin contrasted against me, she might as well have. Sadly, the only reason for that would have to do with the fact that I was dead and that she was alive. Blood ran through her veins, and her heart could beat, but I couldn't do either.
"I'm just curious, babe. You've never talked about them," I softly said, and squeezed her hand.
"Didn't they tell you at the auction why I lived with a lamia family?" She asked, glancing up at me through her lashes.
I shook my head. "No. They're vague with details like that, only telling the things that they think are important."
She looked a deep breath, and closed her eyes. "When I was a baby, the human section of the Isle I lived on became infected with a disease, one that killed over half of us. The vampires were able to rescue most of the people that weren't infected, and I was one of them, but sadly, my parents were not. So they gave me to my foster lamia family," She said, very softly, almost as if she were hoping that if she whispered quietly enough that I wouldn't hear her.
I squeezed her hand again, and I felt spark of guilt fill the pit of my stomach, because I knew more than she did. I know what happened, and what didn't, I just wanted to hear the story that she had been fed as a small child. There wasn't a disease like that, not one that would make the human population drop like flies, my kind would have easily prevented much damage from being done on the humans.
But I couldn't tell her any of that. I couldn't tell her the things that actually, and crush her image that she must have had about her parents. Who was I to deny her the right of thinking that they were good people?
"Well, love, I have some business to attend to, so I will have to leave you right now," I said, and put my hand against her cheek.
Layla opened her eyes, those gray eyes that could see practically right through me, now full of tears and pain that she had been holding on the inside for such a long time now showing through. "Okay," She whispered, and sniffled.
I pressed a kiss against her forehead, and lifted her into my arms, cradling her to my chest. "You need to bathe, and change, so I'll let you use my shower and sleep in my room," I said, and rested my chin on top of her head as I carried her out of her bedroom. "Well, if you want to," I quickly added.
She laughed quietly and nodded. "Okay. That sounds good," She agreed.
>>>>
"Just yell if you need anything, babe," I said, mentally grinning at the way she was clutching the clothing I had just given her to her naked chest. Somehow, I had managed to walk in on her taking off that bikini, and she immediately grabbed the large shirt and boxers from me to cover her bare body. It was amusing that she was still shy around me, especially after I had seen her, all of her, but then again, after what I had said to her I couldn't blame her for being a bit reluctant.
Layla nodded, and I noticed the blush in her cheeks darken with whatever she was thinking about. "Okay."
I faintly smiled and nodded before backing out of the room, and slowly closing the door behind me. I paused, and cocked my head before grunting in annoyance. My feet carried me down the hallway at a slow vampire speed, and I stopped at the door of my office. I walked inside and closed the door. "You told me five minutes," I hissed to Allen, and felt my ego rise slightly at the way he cowered.
"I-I, I'm, I'm sorry, sir. I was here within three minutes, but you were with your blood servant and I didn't want to disturb you," He awkwardly stuttered out.
I huffed and rolled my eyes as I walked over to my desk and picked up the blood bag. "Fine. Call someone to come by and fix this window. I don't want whoever is out to harm my blood servant using it as a way to get to her," I said and waved him away.
"Right away, sir," He said, and vanished, the door opening and closing at a quick pace as he exited the room with his vampire speed. His fear had got the better of him, I suppose.
I laughed and shook my head as I sat down in my chair then held the blood bag up to my face. Instantly, I inhaled the scent and felt my mouth water. This small plastic bag contained Layla's blood, and I was amazed that this liquid helped to keep the both of us alive. Neither of us could survive without it, and I wasn't even sure which of us were more dependent on the substance.
On the one hand, Layla needed it to continuously flow through her system, keeping her body resistant to various germs and viruses. But on the other hand, I needed it to give me the red blood cells full of oxygen that anyone needed to live. Vampires aren't able to create the red blood cells that carry oxygen, so that's why we need blood to give us a fresh supply.
No one was sure if that was the exact reason we needed it to survive, but that was what I had been told by scientists that were hired back before vampires rose to power. It seemed that it was no more than a thousand years later that I realized I was only able to have a certain type of blood. Those were dark times, darker than anything else I could remember a part from the days or so leading up to my transformation.
I shook those thoughts from my mind, and exhaled as the phone on my desk began to ring. I picked it up, and held it to my ear. "Styles," I snapped into the phone, and pitched the bridge of my nose ease the tension I felt.
"Gosh, what crawled up your ass and died, Harry?" Justin chuckled from the other end of the phone.
I scoffed slightly, and rolled my eyes. "Nothing. What do you want?" I asked in a gruff tone. It was slightly more calm than before, but still completely business like.
"They want to speak to you, and they claim it's an urgent matter." All hints of humor disappeared from his tone, and he even sounded vaguely worried.
I sat up in my seat and looked down at the blood bag in my other hand. "Is it about Layla?"
"I don't know, mate, they didn't say anything specific about what they wanted to talk to you about, and I didn't ask. You know how secretive and cryptic they can be sometimes," Justin responded in a softer tone.
I sighed, and nodded stiffly to myself. "Yeah, I know. Get back to them and say that I'll be done there tomorrow around three PM. Things are hectic over here at the moment."
He was silent for a moment. "Because of her?"
"Yes," I said, deciding it was better not to lie.
"I still don't know, Harry," Justin said, and I could hear the vague fear in his tone.
"I'm not telling her, Justin. I've already told you that I won't," I snapped, knowing that he was going to try to beg me once again.
He sighed. "I know. But, I just, I, I don't know how I'm suppose to tell her any of this. She doesn't even know me."
"Well, you need to tell her soon, before she figures out that the story she was told about her parents death was a lie," I said, and lightly squeezed the bag in my palm.
"What exactly was she told?"
"That they died from some stupid disease that knocked out nearly half of the human population on her old Isle," I said with a faint scoff and rolled my eyes.
Justin snorted. "Not very creative on their part, mate. That could easily be disputed."
"I know," I responded and leaned back against my seat. "But it's better than her knowing the truth about it, especially without finding out the reason behind it." I suddenly felt anger replacing the guilt I had felt before, and I took a deep breath to try to settle myself.
"She won't understand. I know she won't."
"You obviously don't know her well enough then," I said with a faint chuckle, still trying to distract myself from the anger built up inside of me.
"And you do?"
I growled under my breath. "Don't push my buttons, mate. You know what happens when you do that," I warned me.
"Well, I'm just saying, Harry. You don't know her any better than I do. Heck, I've known her longer than you," He stated.
I rolled my eyes. "Just because you've known her longer doesn't mean anything," I snapped and took another deep breath before speaking again. "Look, this isn't going to solve anything, and it's distracting us from discussing the important issues here."
Justin sighed, and I heard various papers shuffling in the background. He must have been at his desk in the back of the warehouse. "You're right."
"I know, I usually am," I smugly commented, and chuckled to myself. "Tell her soon, alright? I don't care how you do it, but you have to be the one to do it. It's not my place."
"Just give me a few days, and I'll figure something out. I just don't want her to be afraid of me, or even hate me."
I looked over at the glass that was laying on the floor, and sighed quietly. "Don't worry about that right now. Her fear and hatred aren't something you need to be focusing on. This is what's best for her."
"Alright," He said and hung up without another word.
I sat the phone down on its receiver that was located on my desk, and looked down at the blood bag in my hand. My fangs lengthened, and I sank them into it, savoring the flavor that had been ignited on my tongue.
Layla.
Don't think about, Harry. Don't think about Harry.
That had been my mantra ever since I had climbed into the shower, but it wasn't working. I had no desire to think of him while I was naked, especially after he had walked in on me while I was taking off my bikini. It was weird that I felt this way around him, he had seen me naked before, so why should I feel this way so suddenly? I'd seen him naked before, and he wasn't shy around me.
Yes, my subconscious hissed in my mind, But he's also seen and has been seen by a million other girls. Of course he's not shy.
I frowned slightly, and shook my head. Thinking of him that way wasn't making me feel any better. In fact, it irritated me beyond belief. Just wondering about those other girls, and what exactly they had seen and done with him was enough to make me go absolutely crazy.
Had they seen the way that his muscles effortlessly flexed when he would drag his body on top of of theirs? Or even how his jaw would tense with his upcoming release? I knew I wasn't that special, people had seen the things I did, but there was still a part of me that truly believed I saw it in a different way.
It was stupid, that much was obvious, but who was I to deny myself the ability to believe that? If I could feel that way about this situation it might just help me get through all of it.
I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair in a hurried pace, it was obvious that not thinking about Harry had just blown up in my face. It appeared that he would always be on my mind in some way or another, so there wasn't anything I could do to change it.
Once my hair was rinsed out, I shut the shower off and reached for the towel that Harry had placed beside the shower, probably for himself. I was now vaguely reminded that this was the place that Harry would have done his own showering. He had been naked in here, most likely alone, on more than one occasion...
I frowned at my own thoughts, and shook my head. "Since when am I a horny teenager?" I asked myself in the lowest mumble I could manage. The last thing I wanted was for Harry's vampire hearing to pick up my words, he would have figure out what I was thinking about, and I would have been mortified.
The towel was wrapped around my body as I walked over to the mirror, and looked at myself, shuddering faintly. My gaze went down to my hand, which was still covered in cuts. Harry forgot to give me blood to hear the cuts, and now that I had showered they were beginning to bleed and sting again. I gritted my teeth, and took a deep breath.
I waited for the next couple of minutes for Harry to smell the fresh scent of my blood, and come rushing in to see what was going on, but nothing happened. I frowned, feeling a bit of disappointment before I shrugged it off and dried my skin. Once I dry enough, I pulled on the shirt that Harry had given me along with the boxers, then breathed out a small sigh of relief. It felt good to be in actual clothes again.
My fingers grabbed a few pieces of toilet paper from the stand, and pressed them against the cuts that were bleeding at a slow pace. I knew that the oozing would stop after a few minutes, but I kept pressure on them because the ache lessened at the contact.
Slowly, I eased myself out of Harry's bathroom, then walked into his bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I looked around, and relaxed as I noticed that it was empty. He was most likely trying to give me space, but still wanting me to feel safe at the same time. I walked over to the bed, and sat down on it, grabbing my iPad in the same instant.
I turned on the screen, and noticed that I had about four missed Skype calls from Eleanor. The application was still fuzzy and new to me, but I vaguely knew how to work it. I tapped on the screen, and opened the application, silently thanking it for keeping me logged in. I couldn't remember my user name and password, so it would have been trouble getting logged back in.
I tapped on Eleanor's icon after noticing the green check mark, signaling that she was still online, and hit the video call button. As it rung, I smiled at how easily it was for me to work it after only being shown how once.
"There you are!" Eleanor's voice came loudly over the speakers, and I quickly turned it down. "I've been calling you for ages. I even tried to get Louis to let me use his phone to call Harry's phone, but he said it wasn't a good idea. I swear I asked him about ten times before he sent me to my room."
I blinked. "What's wrong, Eleanor? You're not usually the most defiant person." It was a shock to hear her say that she had to be told more than once no by a vampire when she normally got the hint. She was the well behaved one of the girls that were sold.
"I had to make sure you were okay after what happened. I didn't want to freak out in front of everyone back at the beach," She said, a bit timid.
I frowned. "Did you get a feeling?"
She sighed and nodded. "Yes. I got the feeling from you that only, or at least from whenever I have experienced it, means death to that person. Your aura has darkened too, I can barely see it now, but it's not the same."
"What does that mean?" I asked, and glanced around my body, almost as if I could see my own aura for myself. "How is it not the same?"
"It has red flecks in it, and the dark and beautiful look to it has pretty much vanished, Layla. Something bad is going to happen to you."
A chill ran down my spine, and I shook my head. "No. Nothing bad is going to happen to me, Eleanor. Harry has promised to keep me safe," I said, a bit stiffly.
She frowned, and her eyes were wide with fear. "Layla, something tells me that this is inadvertently come from Harry. I don't know who will do it, how it will be done, or even why, but I just know it will happen, and it'll be soon."
I gulped, and shook my head. "You're lying," I said through my teeth. "You don't even have a fucking gift. You're only saying that because you want to scare me, and you want me to be filled with paranoia. I'm tired of people trying to dictate how I live my life!" I raised my voice at her.
Eleanor's expression darkened, and I wasn't sure if it was from the anger she had building up, or even if it was from the fear she had for me as a friend, but I knew she was about to explode. "I am not trying to dictate your life, Layla. I'm scared out of my wits for you, and I don't want anything bad happening to you. I know you don't believe in my gifts, no one does, but that doesn't mean that they aren't anymore less than truth. Something is going to happen to you, and I don't what it is, but it's going to happen regardless of what anyone does. It's marked on your soul, Layla. That's not something you can just run away from."
A soft let my slightly parted lips, and I felt my limbs began to shake. It might have been from the fear, or even from the coldness in the air due to my wet hair, but it didn't seem like anything could stop it. "You're a fucking lying bitch, Eleanor!" I nearly screamed, and hit the end call button.
My face was buried in my hands as I quickly sobbed, and shoved myself off of the bed, my iPad fell to the floor with a clatter. I knew without a doubt that Harry probably heard everything, but he still stayed away from me. I wanted comfort, and I wanted to be shown that everything would be okay, even though, from Eleanor's perspective anyway, nothing would be okay for me anymore. I was practically marked for death, she had claimed, it had been imprinted on my soul. Nothing could stop it now.
I hugged myself, and ran to the door, trying not to let my feet trip over the carpet, then opened the large wooden door. Harry was no where in sight, and I decided that I needed to be back in my own bedroom. Maybe things would seem more normal if I was in there instead of his bedroom.
The door was opened, and I sniffled slightly with a frown. Had Harry closed the door when he carried me to the bathroom? I think so, but I couldn't have been sure because my face had been pressed against his chest. I wiped my eyes and slowly inched into my bedroom, glancing around the familiar setting. Finally, my tense posture relaxed and I walked toward the bathroom before I remembered the mess that had been left on the floor.
However, once I looked into the room, the floor was clear of all the glass and the mirror above the sink had been replaced. It looked as if there had never been an incident there at all. I wiped my eyes, and slowly inhaled through my nose.
Gem, I thought to myself, or one of the other maids had probably cleaned up. Harry wouldn't want me to get hurt.
I winced at that thought and crossed my arms. What Eleanor said was wrong, I knew it was wrong. Harry would never let anything, or anyone, hurt me. He was so overly protective that it would be impossible for something like that to happen to me, so I shouldn't even bother worrying over it. That was what she wanted, she wanted to provoke fear in me.
My feet carried me away from the bathroom, and over to my bed. I collapsed onto it, and huddled a pillow to my chest with a soft sob. I turned my body slightly, and bit my lip at the sound of a paper crinkling. I looked around and slowly lifted the blanket to find a piece of paper beneath the fabric.
With a faint frown, I sat up and unfolded the paper. Then as I read over the words on the piece of paper, my heart nearly stopped, and I began to wondered how he could have gotten this here without being caught.
If I were with you, right now, then I'd be wiping your tears away, baby. I know that this whole separation thing must be hard on you, and I'm sorry for taking so long to get you out. However, I meant what I said in those woods, I will be getting you away from that artificial bastard, and you're going to be mine again. I missed my chance with you once by not showing you how much I care for you, Layla, but not this time, no, this time I'll show it to you. I'll show you the world.
All you have to do is wait for me.
I love you.
-D
This is slightly shorter than my updates have been, but I'm hoping that since this is a quick update that I'm forgiven. :)
I just had to use that quote, haha. The Divergent series is one of my favorites, and I think that quote is perfect for a couple of my characters in this. :)
Anyway, what do you guys think? I know I was teasing you with information, but just remember, this is foreshadowing so you'll know more very soon! :D Also, guys, the flashbacks that show up in chapters may seem boring, but they are far from it, and if you don't like them then I'm sorry. They will continue when I see fit because this is my story, and I just want you all to have a better understanding of Harry and Layla, it gives them more depth, and that's something a lot of characters lack.
Anyway, I love you guys and your comments, I really really do. You're all amazing to me, but I just had to say that because some people don't like the flashbacks, and they just want the chapters to have Harry and Layla interacting with each other, and nothing else. I wish this story could play out like that, guys, but it can't. The plot is snapping into motion, and this will be an emotional journey for me, so I hope it will be for you too. :)
Sorry for this freaking novel length author's note. I'm tired, and rambling about stupid stuff that doesn't matter. :/
Let me know what you think, please, and vote if you enjoyed. :D It'd mean the world. <3
Trailer on the sidebar. >>>>