Page 37 of Beasts

“Would you feel more or less comfortable if someone stayed on the bed that's next to yours? Perhaps then you could get some sleep?” Nolan questions me. Truthfully, I think I would feel better. But I also don't want to throw Oliver under the bus any more than he already is.

“I'll be fine.” It's kind of a lie, but I'll deal with it. I look at the boys who are obviously going to stay up longer and discuss things. I can't help but think this is my fault. I shouldn't have accepted staying here. I shouldn't have gone snooping around when Nolan was turning into a werewolf. And I'm starting to really think that falling for a vampire was not a good idea either. Especially since now, he's going to have to choose between his life and mine.

I'm trying my best to fall asleep, but no matter how many minutes tick past, I'm just not getting there. I glanced over towards the door as I see this handle slowly turning. Under the cover of darkness, Oliver sneaks in through the door and closes it, locking it behind him. I lean up so that he knows I'm awake. He sits on the bed adjacent to mine facing me. “Are you okay?” He asks me.

“Truthfully, no. I don't know what's happening and that's kind of scary. Also, your dad scares the shit out of me.”

“Me too.” The moonlight isn't providing much light, but it does give a small hint of a smile away on Oliver’s face. “Listen, I know that you said that you'd be okay, but is there any chance that you'd let me sleep on the bed next to you?”

“Of course. I mean, I’d suggest that you could sneak under my covers, but I'm assuming you're not going to be doing that.”

“As much as I'd love to snuggle on a single bed with you, I really don't think that it's a good idea right now.”

“If you bit me, would that turn me?”

“No. But I still would like to avoid it.”

“If it won't kill me and it won't turn me, why you trying to avoid it?”

“I never said it wouldn't kill you. If I'm careful I won't, but you also have to remember I don't live on the same kind of diet as the rest of the vampires do. By the time I get around to having blood, I'm starving and I don't leave anything behind.”

“Unless it tastes fishy.” He gets up and sits on my bed leaning over me. He touches the side of my face and leans in to press his warm lips against mine. I don't want to provoke him in any way by grabbing onto him, so I just let him lead the way. I'm glad he's still trying. My lips barely get a chance to part as he breaks away.

“I’m sorry.”

“You need to stop being so sorry. You haven't done anything.”

“My ability to not really do anything is part of why I'm sorry. I don't want you to think it's you.”

“I'm happy to wait. Just don't stop trying.” He gets off the bed and lies down on top of the sheets on the other side. With everything going on, I'm not sure what he's going to do. Tomorrow when I get up, I'm hoping that I'll be able to help everyone come up with a new plan. The idea of either of us dying just doesn't seem very bright to me. Surely, there's another option. The question poses in the back of my mind. If the only other option to death is to be turned, can I really live my life as a vampire? There's probably a lot more to it than Oliver is letting on. But at least if I was a vampire he wouldn't have any trouble being near me, but that’s not a legitimate reason to be turned into something that you've been afraid of your whole life. All I know is that if I ever did meet the vampire that scared me so long ago, I'm not sure I'd be so keen to be one. The creature haunted my nightmares for years, the last thing I feel like I could bear is seeing it again. Yet, I didn't feel very afraid when Oliver bared teeth to his own father only an hour ago. I actually felt quite protected. I’m trying to think of a plan, I'm trying to think of anything that would get us all out of this safely. But my eyes are getting a lot heavier.

Chapter twenty-one

Restrictions

The sunlight wakes me up. As I look over to my phone, I realized my alarm has not gone off. Turning over, I can see that Oliver is no longer in the other bed. I guess he decided it was smarter to leave earlier in the morning. As I double check my phone again, I can see two missed messages, but I can also see that it's nearly lunchtime. I jump up quickly and change into my regular pair of jeans and a singlet. Before I dash out the door, though, I realize that there are still a few easy to see bruises up and down my arms. Picking up a light cardigan, I throw it on and leave my room. Inside the cardigan pocket, I'm surprised to find a hair tie so instinctually I use it to put my hair in a high ponytail. I take the steps a little bit fast, but I find my way into the dining room where I see a few of the guys chatting. The best thing I can do right now is to suggest that I will leave the house and they'll never hear from me again. Perhaps then Oliver’s father won't punish him, but as I step into the room, I can see that Oliver is nowhere to be found. It's not that it's particularly unusual for him not to be here, but I was hoping that he would be. The guys go a little bit quiet as they look up towards me.

“You don't have to give me the stink eye. I know I've caused some problems. I was just wondering if leaving would perhaps rectify any of them.”

“We don't want you to leave.” Reyes comments, which is surprising given that we haven't spoken very much.

“Yeah, we're really happy to have you here. That's not the problem.” Adds Hunter.

“The problem is what we're going to do about Mr. Pierce.” Hugh states. “We're all a little bit sick of him. The fact is we have a lot of restrictions, even some that you don't know about, and they're starting to do our heads in.”

“But I thought the restrictions were in place for a reason.” I respond. “I thought because you guys are young, it means you're vulnerable to losing yourselves to your…habits.”

“Nicely put.”

“Thank you.”

“But also slightly wrong. Yes, there are quite a few things that we can't handle ourselves right now. But in truth, most of those things would happen no matter how old we were. At the moment the only reason we live in this house together is because we need to go to school and at least this way we can keep an eye on each other. Mr. Pierce owns this house that's for sure, but it doesn't mean we should have to live under his specific rules.”

“Isn't that what you're supposed to do? If you live under somebody else's house? Follow their rules?”

“Not when it starts to impact who we are.” I almost didn't see Valentine in the corner of the room. He seems really disconnected, almost sad. “If we had been given the chance to be who we are and to learn to be what we are, then perhaps bad things wouldn't happen so often.” I can only assume that means that if he had taken the chance to be himself, then maybe the girlfriend that he once had would still be alive.

“We have to come up with a plan, something that Mr. Pierce would agree to.” Niles adds, playing with a deck of cards that was left on the table.

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