What You Deserve

Though it was obvious that she didn't have to ask, as I could see her motioning for me to stand, she still had posed the question - as if she could only do so if I accepted her offer.

Silently, I rose to my feet, glancing back at the chair as I felt the skin tear further on my back, and could see crimson staining the otherwise gray cushions. "Don't you..." I looked over to Eve cautiously, "already know my answer?"

To this, she only gave a gentle smile, "is it not polite to ask, and not assume?" I shrugged at it. I supposed it was normal for some to be polite.

In a quick movement, Eve had vanished from my side, only to reappear at the end of the room, where I hadn't noticed prior had held several large pillows. With only a second passing in between her first step and her second, she returned to the same position she had been prior to going to retrieve a pillow.

"This will hurt," she cautioned, dropping a pillow on the ground, "but the least I can do is give you at least a little comfort. Staying on the chair won't work - you'll fall off," Eve looked informatively at me.

I nodded a l little, and sat down on the ground, "what do vampires use to 'bite' with?"

Eve smiled at this question, almost seeming apologetic, as she pulled lightly on her upper lip, exposing her teeth. Her canine was sharper than mine, I realized, instinctively running my tongue over my teeth. "There's a gland behind the tooth, which, when the tooth has enough pressure on it, is released. I suppose you could compare it to the need to go to the bathroom... you choose if you're going to at that moment, or not..." she glanced back toward the door, "and regardless, it releases eventually after the pressure is placed on it - often why vampires who have bloodletting partners either eat food, or press on their teeth with their tongue. But that makes the little saliva we produce hurt people if it touches them." The woman had said this rather quickly, though I had managed to catch all of it, through the urge to rock back and forth to try to distract myself from the pain pulsing in my arm and back.

With a quick motion to lie down, I listened to her instruction, and looked at her nervously.

"Shut your eyes - you may as well. It's going to hurt badly enough that you'll want them closed anyway." This sentence worried me further, and I shut my eyes, feeling my breathing quicken.

"How long will this take?"

There was a short pause before the woman's response, "the bite? About a minute or two to make sure there's enough venom to course through before you can die from your blood loss, and have it course through fast enough to provide a little less pain. The process itself? Anywhere from a few minutes to a day or two," she shrugged. My eyes shot open at this comment, and she looked at me sympathetically, "I'll try to inject as much as I can to minimize the time.."

A chill slipped down my spine, thinking of whatever contents the venom held rippling through my veins... Then I thought of what Frank had told me about Alicia's death.

Poor, poor Alicia. She had never known what was in store for her until it was far too late.

It made me wonder if she had really felt anything those last moments of her life. Had she been in severe pain? Or pretty much unconscious to the world around her? Did it feel like her limbs were being torn off? Or perhaps soothing, like a waterfall running through her skin? Thinking about it, I wondered if she flailed her arms, grabbing for whatever comfort she could find.

"Ready?" Eve ran her long fingers over my face, and covering my eyes for a second, as I shut them, before removing her hand, to tilt my head to the side and brush my hair away from my neck.

"As much as I'll ever be," I inhaled deeply, clenching my eyes shut in fear of the pain that was soon to come.

At first, I didn't feel much. A slight pressure, a small popping sound, and liquid dripping from my neck.

Only seconds after, did a roar threaten to break the door down that separated us from the hallway, and the being that had emitted such a sound.

Feeling the cool air of Eve's breath rush against my face, I realized that she hadn't expected such a sound, but I couldn't open my mouth to question her, as the pain finally set in.

There was no creeping feeling as it did, just immediate flaring. My throat began to burn, and I could feel a faint stinging sensation, as it was obviously flowing through my veins.

Not able to help it, I let out a gasp, and small scream, before the roaring grew, and I heard something slam against the door with such force that the floor shivered in fear of the one behind it.

Soon, the door swung open with a snarl, and I heard a voice shout, "Eve! What the hell are you doing?"

A woman.

Eve removed her mouth my throat, and the blood began to seep from the wound she had inflicted upon me, the pain growing worse as she did. Had a minute even passed? "Lin-z!" I felt her jerk back, "where are the others?"

Lin-z's voice still held a snarl, "you had no right to touch her! She was mine!" I could feel her suddenly closer, and a loud thud.

Eve was no longer beside me.

"Now I have to take care of everything my self before they get here," Lin-z huffed, as I felt her rigid body touch mine, and a more violent jab in my shoulder. It burned worse than I could have imagined - nothing like Eve's bite, that had been gentle, but ripping into my flesh upon impact, and attempting to drain the blood from my body.

Another roar ripped through the air, and I heard the clanking of one of the disturbed knights of armor fall to the ground. Another tear in my skin, and Lin-z was gone, while more snarling lit up the air. A screeching sound lifted into the snarling, and I heard footsteps rushing from the room.

Was Eve still there?

The roaring died down.

What about Lin-z? Who had pulled her away from me?

Oh, god, the burning. The burning was getting worse. Even the blood growing in my throat felt icy in comparison.

"Jade?" a familiar voice questioned. A man, but not my Frankie. A man who had lost somebody dear to him in a far too similar way, but by his own hands. How could he handle viewing such a mirror-like scene? Now, I could hear panic filling his voice, "Oh god.. where are the others?"

I realized now, that my eyes were open, but the room seemed far darker than it really was. Was I crying? I couldn't tell.

All I knew was that my body burned, and my senses seemed to have died, as the only thing in the world I could truly identify was the pain making it's course through the little blood left in my body.