Page 110 of This Blood That Binds Us
Her cool hands traced my chin and up to my brow. My entire body was shaking in fear.
The full image still wasn’t coming into view. But I could hear my breath ragged. “W-What do you want with us?”
Her face was beautiful porcelain, her lips flushed with red. But it was her eyes that froze me into place, white and glossy. Void of any hope or light.
It was the woman who I’d been seeing in all my hallucinations. Was she a real person?
“Aaron...you have so many good qualities. So innocent. I can see you’ll be a valuable member of The Family one day.”
“What? Who are you!?” My hands were still being held down by something as she moved over to Presley.
“No, stop! Leave him alone.”
She ignored me and ran her fingers through his curls. Her white dress, almost see-through, dragged along our shag carpet. It was flowy, elegant, and clung to her hips. Around her were men, with cloths covering their faces, adorned in all black.Slacks and blazers with pointed loafers. They watched the woman like a hawk. Her every movement. Every word.
“Such handsome boys. No doubt your older brothers will be much happier with you by their side.”
Her face almost reflected sadness, her eyes fell to the floor, admiring her soft, sheer gown.
Who was this woman? I didn’t remember meeting her. She knew my brothers. And then it hit me. This was the girl they were talking about outside the frat house, the one Luke missed, the one he wanted to go back to.
Her eyes fell back on mine, and fear swallowed me.Her presence felt otherworldly. Bloodlust fell from her lips.What was this woman was a better question.
In the blink of an eye, she was in front of me again, her posture laid over me, seemingly romantic. Her lips grazed my ear. Despite her beauty, a feeling radiated off of her I couldn’t explain. Impending doom swallowed me as she caressed my skin. The room started to slow. My body was wobbly, and I couldn’t move my head up. A smile appeared on her red-stained lips. She brought a pale finger to her lips and bit down. A stream of black tar-like blood flowed down in droplets. In one graceful sweep, she brought that finger to my lips. The bitter taste of iron landed on my tongue.
“Copula quae numquam solvi potest.”
My world spun once more, and my old living room dissolved. I awoke to William biting into my neck. My hands were glued to the armrests of the floral chair. Kimberly was thankfully still resting peacefully across the room. Weakness carried itself through my upper body until my arms were numb. It was a struggle to keep myself upright. I couldn’t catch myself from falling forward. I squeezed my fingers on the armrests to try to catch myself, but my body weight was too heavy. Everything hurt.
William reached my chest just in time to stop me from sliding out of the chair. “There. Now let me look at you.”
He grabbed my face and brought my chin up to look at him. “That’s as close to death as I’d like ya to be.”
He was such a fucking prick. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t stop replaying the scene I had just seen over and over again. That was the first glimpse into my brothers’ secret life I’d ever seen. I had imagined so many different possibilities, but I never imagined...her.
“W-Was that memory? I don’t get what’s happening.”
“The body has a hard time adjusting to the mental recall. Reliving old memories is like experiencing them for the first time. When you experience moments, they pass without a second thought. It’s only when you are forced to relive them that you see and feel everything as it should be.”
None of the words he said made any sense.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot you enjoy being a cryptic asshole.” My eyes drifted back to Kimberly, who was still unconscious on the couch. I squeezed the armrests, trying harder to pull myself up. My body shook as I forced my muscles to bend to my will.
“Still making jokes, I see...” William’s smirk softened as he placed a hand on my chest and held me down. “Don’t struggle. Your pain will be over soon.”
“Don’t say that like you care,” I spat.
“I don’t relish makin’ a kid suffer the agony of a torturous, slow death, no. But there’s no other way to kill vampires. It can’t be helped.”
Said the guy who just bit a hole in my neck.
“I take it you do this often.” I fought hard to keep my eyelids open. But every so often, my head would fall. I still didn’t know who William truly was or if that was even his real name. And I was growing too weak to care.
“I specialize in killing vampires, yes.” William looked far away as he analyzed a fresh set of flowers on the table next to me.
“But you’re a vampire . . .”
His fingers grazed the petals on a white rose. “But I’m nothing like you. The easiest way to kill one is to be one. A fitting sacrifice to make for the greater good.”
