Page 2 of Blood Ties
“Oh my god...” I heard Chris groan as he took in the sight of all the blood on the floor.
“Gaby...” Shawn sighed, “What did you do?”
My head slumped between my shoulders. “What I had to.”
Neither of them spoke as they stood by. I’m sure their curiosity was piqued, whose wouldn’t be, but I suppose they both were putting the pieces of the puzzle together. It wasn’t difficult for anyone with some supernatural knowledge to figure out that I was attempting to turn Grayson.
I sat there for what seemed like forever before I heard my name.
“Gaby?” Shawn spoke, his voice holding none of its normal vibrancy.
I opened my eyes seeing nothing. If it was dark before it was obscure now. The pitch darkness swarmed around me distorting my vision for a moment. I could no longer feel the sun in the sky which suggested that it was past dusk. I shifted abruptly, my muscles arguing against the move. I turned to Shawn who I could barely see.
“What time is it?” I wondered.
He and Chris both pressed a button lighting up their phones. They exchanged a look before Shawn spoke. “The sun set an hour ago.” I didn’t know how long I had closed my eyes for, but it didn’t matter. An hour had passed since sunset and Grayson still hadn’t risen.
Overwhelming despair took me. My chest ached and my eyes burned with grief. Leaning over Grayson, I buried my face against his chest. My bloodstained hands clutched his shirt as I sobbed. I cried for him. I cried for what he lost. I cried because I hadn’t gotten to him in time, because I hadn’t had enough blood for the transition.
Shawn approached me placing his hands on my shoulders trying to pull me away from the man I loved, but I refused to budge. All I could think to do was blame myself and Anton, but he was dead. It wasn’t like I could hunt him down and kill him again for vengeance. There was no reprieve from my guilt. I had brought this chaos into his life when I came into it. I knew my world was dangerous and I brought that danger with me. He was killed because of Anton’s infatuation with me, along with Anton’s obsession. I cried for several minutes not finding an end to my grief in sight, when I heard a small groan.
The hunter in me became alert. My sobs cut off instantly like a switch had just flipped them off. I sat up trying to track where I heard the noise. I looked to Shawn and Chris, both had wide eyes silently saying they heard it too.
“Gaby?” A hoarse voice croaked.
I hovered over Grayson, no longer feeling the ache in my body. It was like the pain vanished.
“Grayson?” I begged, hoping my blood deprived mind wasn’t playing evil tricks.
His face contorted in pain. I watched in awe as his hand reached up to clutch his throat. All the while I could not move. I just stared in shock.Was this real? Was he really awake and talking to me? Did the transition work?
“Gaby, it burns,” he groaned his hand still grasping his throat.
The sobs broke free once more, only this time they were happy tears. “Oh my god, you’re alive!” I threw myself on top of him. He grunted as I landed hard on his chest.
“Of course. You think you can get rid of me that easily?” he mumbled. I laughed even though when he spoke his words held no humor. “Gaby?” I sat up looking at him through tear stricken eyes. He double tapped his throat.
I shook my head completely forgetting about the thirst he must be feeling too wrapped up in my joy that he was talking. “Of course.”
I turned to Shawn who moved quickly to the spot where he had sat the blood bags. I looked over at Grayson who seemed to be asleep, but with no heartbeat and no breathing. I briefly thought that I had just hallucinated him waking up and talking to me. I shook him to make sure he was still alive.
“What?” he groaned almost hostilely.
I knew from experience that exhaustion came with the transition, at least until you fed. “You have to stay awake.” I wasn’t going to lose him over not feeding soon enough. Grayson groaned, clutching his throat. “I know baby. I’m going to make it stop burning, okay?”
He gave me a single nod. I reached my hand out for Shawn, who immediately put a cold blood bag against my palm. I scooted my way towards Grayson’s head, lifting it onto my lap. Ripping open the bag with my fangs, that I didn’t even know were out, I tilted his head back carefully to make the blood flow easier down his throat with little effort on his part. “Drink,” I commanded and he did. Once on bag three, Grayson’s hand covered mine, holding the bag to his lips.
“What about you, Gaby?” Shawn questioned quietly. I simply shook my head. I wanted to make sure Grayson was fed. He needed it more. “Gaby...” Shawn sighed. I shot him a glare and with my current honey green eyes replacing my normal sapphire blue ones, it silenced him.
It wasn’t long before my eyes began to lose focus; exhaustion and blood loss finally were catching up after the endorphins began to wear off. I felt them begin to roll back in my head.
“Fuck it,” Shawn groaned just before I felt blood spill against my lips. Instinctively, I opened them graciously accepting what I truly needed. It was cold, but it didn’t matter. It was gone too fast to care.
My eyes cracked open, but Grayson was no longer resting on my lap. He was kneeling beside me with an arm wrapped around my waist supporting me. I looked into his eyes and saw anger boiling in them. I felt his gaze scan over me and his grip tighten in response. He then turned to Shawn.
“One of you, give me your shirt.” They both went to remove theirs, but Chris was slightly faster. He handed over his button up shirt while still wearing a simple white t-shirt. Grayson placed Chris’s shirt on me covering the shredded remains of my tee and my exposed skin. “We have more blood in the fridge at the apartment.” I didn’t hear anything else. My eyes closed and I drifted off. Even in my exhausted state I savored the feeling of resting against the man I loved. For all I knew, it might be the last time.
CHAPTER TWO
