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I wake up with a start,my heart pounding against my ribs, adrenaline flooding through my limbs until I’m jerking at the restraints, the metal clanging loudly in the room.
It’s full dark but my eyes are starting to adjust. The window shows dark clouds moving outside and the night sky beyond. I don’t know how long I’ve been lying in this bed for but from the ache in my muscles and the soreness around my ankles and wrists, I’m going to guess it’s been several hours at least.
I let out a heavy sigh and lift my head to look around, noting the emptiness with relief. It could be just after sundown, it might be the middle of the night. But Valtu hasn’t come back for me.
What did he mean when he said it was his company that humans can’t handle?
What company?
I thought he lived up here all alone.
I close my eyes and sink back into the bed, the cuffs cutting into my skin enough to make me moan uncomfortably.
I hate to say it, but maybe everyone was right. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. I just don’t know how I could handle being in the same world as Valtu and not being with him. More than that, I don’t want to live in a world where people like Bellamy, people who take and take without consequence, are just allowed to get away with it. Not just get away with it, but actually thrive. If the rumors are true and he’s not aging, that means he’s cracked some sort of code and living his best life, perhaps an immortal like me.
No, even though I’m currently chained up to Valtu’s bed in some secret location in the Bavarian Alps, and even though it’s not the Valtu I’ve loved and lost, I know I don’t have much of a choice here. I could have gone on as new vampire Rose Harper, but I’d never be able to live a long and happy life if I knew that my love was out there, nor would I be able to ignore the fact that justice would never be served. It’s a big risk I’m here, and if there’s even a small chance I might not survive the night, it’s still a risk that needs to happen.
You don’t just stop loving someone because they stop loving you.
You don’t forget about a relationship because someone else forgets it.
No matter who he is now, what he’s done, who he’s become, he is still the man I love. It might not be on the surface, but it’s still there, buried away. That man was my home. He is still my home. And I’m going to do whatever it takes so that he sees that, so that I can become his home again too. Our hearts belong together because we had true love, and true love never dies.
Except he did kill you, remember, a voice says inside my head.
That he did. I really thought I would feel nothing but anger and betrayal at the first sight of his face, but those feelings were so far away. They still are there, despite the circumstances, despite seeing firsthand again how easily he succumbs to the darkness inside him.
But, as he tasted, there’s darkness inside me too. Maybe that’s why we’ve always returned to each other.
The darkness in me calls to the darkness in you.
I sigh, my heart feeling especially tender. I know I’m doing this because I love him and I believe in him and I believe in us, but I can’t pretend that it didn’t sting while being with him tonight, tasting him, touching him, making him come undone like I have done countless times before, while he looked at me like I was nobody. He treated me like I was a snack or a toy for him to taste and play with before he gets bored. He looks at me and he only sees something to use and, fuck that hurts, and I know that pain is going to get worse the longer this goes on, I’m afraid I won’t be able to—
My thoughts come to a sudden halt.
I go still.
There.
I can hear something in the room with me.
I hold my breath and concentrate, ignoring the sound of my heart which is starting to whoosh loudly in my veins. I lift up my head and look around but the room looks the same as before. Empty and dark.
But there’s that sound again.
A cold trail of fear rolls down my spine.
It’s a wet gurgling sound. Followed by a mewling sound.
At first I think maybe there’s a kitten or a cat in the room with me, perhaps it’s always been there, but then it doesn’t quite sound like a cat either. It’s more human and yet…not.
Suddenly there’s a short gasping cry that echoes.
Oh my god.
It’s…it sounds like a baby.
