Bound to You

Eliza fell asleep almost immediately after Zack had started driving, not even trying to keep herself awake so that she could try to find some remote clue as to where Zack had taken her to. She leaned her face against the cool glass of the door, and closed her eyes. She heard soft music wafting through the speakers of the car; music that sounded amazingly beautiful. She recognized Zack’s voice as the one singing, and was surprised that someone as cold as he could possess such a warm voice.

As she was finally slipping into the comforting darkness of sleep, she felt Zack’s hand grab hers over the console, wrapping his fingers around her palm, his thumb rubbing circles on her warmed skin. In spite of herself, Eliza realized that she was no longer mad at him, and smiled at the small showing of affection from her captor.

Though, as she spent more and more time with him each day, she was beginning to see him not as a captor, but rather a savior.

-x-

“Wake up.” Zack told her a few hours later. Eliza’s eyes fluttered open, and she took a few minutes to adjust herself to her new settings before she sat up. She heard soft panting noises coming from the back seat and looked to see Luka, and she gave Zack a confused look.

“When did you—“

“He was already in the car when we got in.” He told her, his voice quiet. “Stay in the car for a minute.”

Eliza sighed softly as she watched Zack open his door, and watched as he walked around the hood of the vehicle before he opened her door and stepped aside so that she could get out. She got out of the vehicle and then let Zack grab her hand in his, not fighting it. He smirked at her.

“What happened to your feisty personality? Don’t tell me I’ve changed that about you already,” He taunted, egging her on. Eliza narrowed her eyes, knowing that he was only testing her temper. She decided not to give him the satisfaction of winning the battle and kept her mouth shut, walking into a large house. It looked like a castle on the outside, though a modern one by any means; the architecture was sharp and refined, the windows arched at the tops. The home itself was built out of river rock. Zack took her inside the house, shutting the door behind himself and then led her up a flight of stairs to the second floor. He didn’t say a word as he walked down before her, and he then opened a bedroom door, leading her to the same bedroom she’d first woken up in when she’d been kidnapped.

“I’ll join you in a few minutes.” He told her quietly. “Luka, stay and guard her. Don’t let any one in, including the others. Eliza, unless you want to continue what we started at my private home, I recommend changing into some actual pajamas and not lingerie. You know where the closet is.”

Eliza found that she could only nod; she was confused as to how Zack was able to talk to the wolf-dog and expect it to listen. She looked down at the dog, who was gazing back up at her with a friendly gaze, his tongue hanging lazily out of his mouth.

She sighed and walked into the closet, pulling her clothes off and then finding a pair of pink and white striped lounge pants and a white racerback tank top. After a little digging, she found a pair of comfortable rabbit slippers in the back.

She walked back into the main bedroom, sitting on the bed and looking up at the sky through the ceiling window, the stars staring back down at her. She wondered how it was possible that she could see them in the City of Evil.

“It’s an illusion that I’ve created for the room.” Zack’s voice said from the doorway. She averted her gaze over to him, almost smiling.

“What do you mean an illusion?” She asked him. He smiled and walked into the room, closing the door and locking it. He walked over to the bed, pulling his clothes off of his body slowly as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“I am a vampire, and we come with certain…abilities.” He told her, leaving a hint of mystery in his sentence. “Among them is the ability to create an illusion to make a space more comforting or disturbing, whichever you’re trying to create. I know you miss Tennessee, so I thought I’d put a few stars in the room for you.”

Eliza’s eyes widened; she couldn’t believe that Zack was being so kind to her tonight. A part of her wondered if it was all for show; if he had ulterior motives. Another part of her, though, wondered if he was being sincere. She just couldn’t be sure.

“Thank you,” She said quietly. Zack nodded, before turning off the lamp on the bedside table. He situated himself on his side before pulling Eliza flush against his body, closing his eyes, his breath a ghostly whisper across her skin as she too closed hers.

Neither of them said anything as they fell asleep.