The Nightmare Before

"I'm bored. You guys are so boring." I informed Brendon and Mike as the three of us sat around in our normal hang out; the library.

Mike giggled, "Sorry we're not as exciting as Bill."

"I'm sure we could be." Brendon smirked, "If you gave us the chance."

"Stop being gross!" I demanded.

"Hey!" Brendon defended, "We aren't the ones who were up all day yesterday."

I managed to hide my blush long enough to growl at Brendon, "Shut up." I scoffed, "I should tell William to get rid of you two for saying that." Their smiles immediately fell.

"Cam," Mike said, "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

"We were just teasing." Brendon said nervously, "Please don't tell Bill."

"Tell Bill what?" William strolled in the library and sat down next to me on the couch, resting his hand on my thigh.

"That Bren and Mike are being freaks. Like normal," I said. The two shot me grateful looks.

"Oh, I already knew that." William grinned.

"You're in a good mood." Mike observed.

"I have some news." William said proudly.

"What?" I wondered grabbing his hand and lacing our fingers.

"We know where the hunters are." He beamed.

"You're kidding!" Brendon exclaimed. William shook his head, obviously excited. More excited than I'd seen him in a long time.

"No, we have an informant and we know where they're staying."

"That's awesome!" Mike laughed, "When are we going?"

"I'm not sure." William shrugged, "Why don't you two go tell everyone else and tell them that there will be a meeting tomorrow night." Brendon and Mike nodded and left; eager to spread the news. I turned to William and grinned.

"That's great babe." I leaned over and gave him a long kiss. His arms wrapped around me and he pulled me onto his lap. My hand ran through his hair and he pulled me close, kissing me with pleasure. But when we pulled away he wore a frown.

"What's wrong?" I asked, giving him another peck on the lips to cheer him up. I felt him sigh and I stopped kissing him, "William?" I asked suspiciously.

"Cam," He began; pained, "I can't let you come with when we take out the hunters."

"What?!" I exclaimed, "Are you kidding me?!" I quickly ripped myself out of his grip, hopping up from the couch in an outrage, "This is bullshit William!"

"Cam," He said tiredly, like he was expecting just that reaction, "please try to understand my position-"

"No!" I yelled, "God-You always fucking do this!" I shook my head and stormed out of the library, stomping my way up to our room. I heard William following close behind.

I ignored him as he called my name. I hurried into our bedroom and slammed the door in William's face, locking it quickly. Pointless, because he just materialized in anyway.

"Cam, babe. Please just calm down-" He pleaded.

"Calm down?! No! I can't believe you! I-I can't even fucking talk to you! Get out!"

"Get out?!" That seemed to annoy him and he raised his voice, "GET OUT?! You can't tell me what to do! This is my room! My mansion! My followers! And you're mine too! So you will not tell me what to do! And you will not complain to me! You will do what I say! And I say you're not coming with us! No way in hell!"

"I am not yours!" I shot back, matching the level of my voice to his, "You can't tell me what to do-"

"Oh yeah?!" His lip curled and he appeared next to me so fast I was caught off guard, "You wanna bet?!" He asked, grabbing a handful of my hair and yanking my head back, revealing my neck.

He spun me around and we were staring straight into a large mirror that hung over a big desk in the room, "See these?" he pulled my head back even more and ran his fingers over two holes at the base of my neck, forcing me to stare at them through the mirror, "That means," He leaned down and brushed his lips over the bite marks, "That you belong to me."

I growled, spinning around and giving him a forceful shove. He stumbled back a few feet, glaring at me, "You wish." I spat turning on my heels and making my exit. As I bounded down the stairs I saw a collection of 10 or 15 vampires in the living room, gaping at me. Our audience, apparently.

"What the hell is everyone staring at?!" I snarled, brushing past them and out the front door. Just another William vs. Cambria fight. These were usually routine. Although they had been getting progressively worse.

I walked briskly down the street, not bothering to think about where I was going. I just needed to get away from William. I was sick of him not trusting me and not listening to me. I was sick of him always thinking he could boss me around and thinking he owned me. I was sick of everything about him.

My hand reached up to massage my neck where William had jerked it. That was new though. Never before had he gotten physical like that during our fights. And we had had some nasty, vicious fights. But he had never laid a hand on me. That was what scared me.

I walked some more and came across an empty park. I wandered through it until I found a picnic table. I made myself comfortable there. Sitting on the table and resting my feet on the bench. I hung my head so I could continue massaging my neck. This was all so messed up. I felt helpless whenever I was with William. He never let me do anything.

My mind trailed off in thought. What I really wanted to know was what was he hiding from me about my human life? And what was I even like in my human life? I wanted to know why I did the things I did. Like how did I develop the habit of biting my nails? Why were s'mores poptarts my favorite food? And why did I have a fetish for hats?!

Mid-thought an icy pair of hands replaced my own and rubbed my neck, "I'm sorry." William leaned down and whispered in my ear. I shrugged out of his grip and jumped off the table. He did the same.

"Cam, please." He came up behind me and grabbed my hand twirling me around to look at him. He frowned, "Are you crying?"

"No." I lied quickly brushing away my tears.

"Cam," William said in disbelief, "I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean for it to go so far." He gaped at me as more tears slid down my cheeks, completely unsure of what to do, "I'm so sorry baby."

"Whatever." I muttered.

"No." He said more forcefully, "I was an idiot. I didn't mean anything I said back there and I most definitely did not mean to hurt you. I just wish you could understand my point of view. It's going to be dangerous, Cambria. I don't want you to come if there's even the tiniest chance of something happening to you. I couldn't live with myself if one of those disgusting hunters even laid a hand on you.

"I want you to be somewhere where I know you're safe. But regardless, I was overreacting. I get a little over protective sometimes but I was out of line...yelling at you like that and," he placed his hand on the back of my neck, resting his forehead on mine, "I'm so sorry." He sighed, staring at me with hopeful eyes, "Come back home with me?"

I shrugged, looking back at him ashamedly, "I'm sorry too."

"You have nothing to apologize for." He pulled me into a tight hug and I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging back. We pulled back and he gave me a deep kiss.

"We're good?" He confirmed. I smiled, leaning in for another kiss, "We're good."