Take Me Under

My hands were fidgeting slightly as I sat in the living room watching, but not really seeing, the show that was currently airing. The only thing I was paying attention to at the moment was the phone call I was supposed to be getting from Jess.

“What’s up with you?”

The question I could tell was pointed at me came from one of the guys who just walked in the house, after returning from wherever it was they'd been.

“Nothing.” I mouthed back at him.

“Adam, dude, you’re sitting there staring at the TV, not even actually watching it, and you can’t sit still for more than 5 seconds without looking at the time or checking your phone. Is it Jess?”

Curse my friends for knowing everything about me, including my weaknesses. I guess it’s easy to know what they are, considering it consists of only one person.

“Yeah, now shut up before I kick you for knowing too much shit about me, Neil.” I said back to him. He laughed softly and began his walk over to sit down next to me.

“It’s not like I’m the only one, dude. Brad and Barry know there’s something up with you too. I was just the lucky one to be chosen to come ask you what the problem was. So, what’s going on with her now?”

“Nothing, man. I mean, nothing really. It’s just, I told her to give me a call every hour while she was out. She was supposed to leave at 8, and I’ve been texting her, and I’m not getting a response, and she hasn’t called.”

“Where did she go?”

“She went out to a rave at the factory on the other side of town.” I replied, looking at Neil now to see what he had to say. Surprisingly, he squinted his eyes as if to say, what the hell are you talking about?’

“What the hell are you talking about?” He asked. I know him too well it seems, too.

“What do you mean what am I talking about? She went to some rave at the abandoned factory on the other side of town, exactly what I said.” I replied back. Dunce cap much?

“Uhm…” He started to say. Okay, I don’t like the sound of this now.

“Dude, what? Spit it out. What’s wrong?”

“We just came back from the store, and we drove by there, and there were no cars whatsoever parked there except for an old Firebird and some kind of SUV. Other than that, the place was deserted.”

That was exactly the news I needed right now.

“Fuck.” I mumbled. “FUCK!”

I got up from my seat and began pacing, trying to think of what to do.

“What is it?” Neil asked from his still seated position.

“They got her. They got her. Neil, they got her!” I exclaimed loudly. Barry and Brad walked in from the other room upon hearing my outburst.

“What’s going on?” Barry asked first. Neil stood up now, and all eyes were planted on me.

“Her friends. That fucking group of people that Jess was hanging out with, those are the vampires that were trying to find her!”

“What?!” They all blurted out at once.

“Yes! And I tried to get Jess not to go with them, but she wouldn’t listen, and I thought that since there was going to be a lot of people there that she would be okay, at least until I could talk to her in person and tell her the truth. Fuck, I’m so stupid!” I broke out, reaching over and slamming my fist into the wall, leaving a big gash as plaster fell out onto the floor as I pulled my hand away.

“Adam, stop! Listen to me, this isn’t your fault. She didn’t listen to you. There’s nothing else you could have done but tell her exactly what you told her.” Brad chimed in, all of them watching as I licked the blood off my knuckle and then wiped the rest on my jeans.

“Well, we have to go get her, right now.”

I turned and started walking to the door, but Barry was in front of me in a second, blocking my way.

“You can’t go in there all half-cocked with no plan of action. Your emotional right now, and the only thing on your mind is getting Jess. But you know what, they are waiting for us to come for her. So, suck it up, get your head on straight, and let’s do this right.”

Damn him for being logical.

“All right. So what do you suggest then?”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Upon finally regaining consciousness, the realization of my predicament was this: I’m. Fucking. Screwed.

“Père, quand allons-nous de l'éliminer?” Tasha spoke to Charles. I never knew they spoke a different language. Then again, I also never knew they were vampires who wanted to kill me.

“Bientôt, mon enfant, très bientôt.” Charles replied.

If this situation wasn’t awkward; me sitting there, tied up, with my back to a random pole in the middle of the factory and my ass on this dirty floor while they mingled, most likely plotting my death; I don’t know what was.

“Since when do you speak a different language?” I joined into the mingling. They all looked at me with sour tinges in their eyes.

“Since we got turned over a thousand years ago.” Charles replied, slowly making his way over to me again.

“Oh. Well, that makes sense, I guess. What kind of language is that, anyway?”

“It’s French.” He said, squatting down in front of me with a smirk on his face. I returned it and said:

“Well, since you know French and everything, what’s French for, ‘get the fuck away from me you ugly, disgusting monster’?”

I knew I was going to get hit or something along those lines. But with a cocky personality like mine, how could I not pass up a burn like that?

“Fucking egotistical bitch!” He spat ferociously at me, before gripping me tightly by my hair and back-handing me. I could feel blood start to ooze from the already deep gash on my forehead. Charles quickly leaned forward and began licking the blood off my face as if he were a dog licking their owner’s plate. It was repulsive.

“Get off!” I shrieked, yanking my head out of his grasp and knocking mine with his in the process. I was dizzy, and it felt like any second I was going to pass out again.

“Don’t mess with me, little girl. The only reason I have to not kill you right here and now is because I know you’re little boyfriend and his Scooby gang will be coming for you. But, you know what, until then I think I’m going to have a little bit of fun with what we do have.” He said, joyfully. I snapped out of my state then, and my eyes locked onto his immediately.

“What--what do you mean?” I asked, cautiously.

“Lenny!” He announced, looking behind him as he said it. I looked too, and saw Lenny, Tasha, and Bran accompanying three more people out from the other side of the room. It wasn’t until they got almost right in front of us that I realized who those three people were; my mom, my dad, and my brother. They were thrown to the floor by their carriers almost directly in front of Charles and me.

“Charles, you don’t have to do this. They’re not part of anything!” I just about screamed as Charles stood back up and walked over to my family.

“Not part of anything? Jess, Jess, Jess; if your parents and brother were as useless as you made it seem like they were, would you have that look of pure fear in your eyes right now?”

“What the fuck do you expect me to do?! They’re my family!”

“They’re the family that you always complain about and always say you hate. It won’t matter too much if I just--“ He stopped as he leaned down and sunk his teeth into Richie’s neck and ripped away a big chunk of skin. “--take a little taste.”

“STOP! Please, stop, Charles!”

The blood was gushing out of Richie’s neck. Charles nor any of the others in the room made an attempt to stop it or help him. He was going to die. He was going to die right in front of my eyes. Charles leaned down again and began sucking at the wound he made. Richie wasn’t moving. My parents weren’t moving. It was as if they were…already dead or something.

“What’s wrong with them?” I blurted out tearfully. Charles was still drinking the mass amount of blood that was leaking from Richie. If I wasn’t so worried and distraught at the moment, I would probably be throwing up.

“I’m talking to you!” I yelled at him again. This time, he ripped his mouth away, blood covering half of his face. His fangs were out, and his eyes were even more wild than they were the first time I saw them. He jumped up and lunged at me crazily, wrapping his hand around my throat, his face mere inches from mine.

“They’re already dead, you fool! I didn’t plan it that way, but hey, it's still working out, right? They’re still fresh, if you want a taste.”

“Get away from me!” I cried out, tears leaking from my eyes uncontrollably.

“Give daddy a kiss, m’love.” He whispered, before pressing his lips against mine in a fierce battle, tongue and all. The blood on his face automatically went into my mouth, and I almost threw up at the taste of my own brother’s death. I groaned, moaned, fought dearly; but my force was no good compared to his. When he finally pulled away, it looked to me that all the blood that was just on his face was gone, and now in my mouth, staining it and tainting it. I cried mournfully.

“Don’t be such a cry baby. You know you liked it.” He muttered to me as he stood back up.

“I--I fucking--hate you.”

“Life’s a bitch, pumpkin, and then you die. Get over it.” He said, looking down at me with pity in his eyes. The minute he began to walk away from me, I belted out the loudest, breathiest, most rage filled scream I think I ever have in my life.

“Help me! Somebody please help me!"

I didn’t look to see, but I knew Charles was going to throttle me for this. I didn’t care. I was broken. My heart was aching, my body was sore, and I felt like I was going to explode from emotion.

“You fucking bitch! Shut the fuck up!” Charles exclaimed loudly. He was back on me in a second, gripping my hair as raised his hand again. I closed my eyes waiting for him to hit me harder than his other strikes. But instead, I heard another noise; I heard someone else’s voice, and my heart slowed dramatically.

“Touch her again, Charles. I fucking dare you!”

I opened my eyes and looked to the left of me. My eyes were still a little bit blurry, but I knew immediately who it was.

“Adam!” I yelled, almost happily, at the sight of him and the guys; the guys I knew were my real friends, and the guy I knew now I needed more than anything else in the world.

“Ah, Adam, come to see the show finally? Brad, Barry, Neil, great to see you too. Why don’t you all come in and take a seat as I finish this bitch off?” Charles returned.

Adam’s eyes lit up with anger as he began walking toward the two of us with only the most violent intentions.

“I swear to fucking god, Charles, I am going to rip your undead heart out if you touch her again.” Adam advanced, almost making it to us before Charles tore me away from the pole I was attached to and held me directly in front of him.

“Ah, ah, ah, lover boy. I don’t think you want to do that.” Charles said, yanking my neck to the side and scraping his fangs against my skin.

“Adam!” I cried out. The amount of fear running through me was almost unbearable. If I didn’t get out of their soon, I knew the outcome wasn’t going to be pretty.

“Okay, okay! Just please don’t hurt her.” Adam begged, backing up again.

“That’s a good boy. That’s a good, good boy. Now, Jess, why don’t you answer something for me, dumplin’?” Charles said, stroking my hair weirdly and making a sound as if he were sniffing me.

“Wh-what?” I stuttered out.

“Do you want to be a vampire?” He whispered in my ear, but still making it loud enough for everyone else to hear.

“No.” I replied strongly.

“What was that?” He questioned me.

“I said…NO!” I screamed suddenly, elbowing him in his side.

He grunted, one hand letting go of me for a second and allowing me to start fighting him for my getaway. Adam, Barry, Neil, and Brad began their moves too, automatically going after the others standing in the room. I broke away from Charles’ hold and started running to Adam. That’s when I felt something that I’ve never felt before, and I stopped dead in my tracks. Pain ran through me; absolute, white hot pain. I dropped to my knees, and that’s when I heard Adam’s voice.

“Jess!” He yelled out.

I still sat in the same place. I was shaking, and I suddenly couldn’t feel anything below my waist. It was like my legs weren’t even there anymore, even though I could see them as clear as day.

“Oh, my God.” I blurted out.

Adam was behind me in a second, holding me in case I fell backwards.

“Jess, stay with me, okay?” He said to me.

I could feel one of his hands on my shoulder. Something was wrong with me. I didn’t know what it was, and I didn’t know what he was doing.

“A-Adam…what’s going on?”

“Fuck, you’re bleeding so much, baby. Oh, my god. You need to stay still, okay? I gotta get the knife out.”

“Knife!? Oh, god. He stabbed me. He stabbed me.” I returned, beginning to panic more than before.

“I know.” Adam said.

I heard a gross ripping sound after that, and then I was falling back into Adam’s arms.

“Stay with me, Jess. You need to just stay with me, baby.” Adam said to me.

“Wh-where’s Charles?” I asked, realizing my breath's were becoming harder and harder to take. I saw Adam look up for a moment, then look back down at me.

“The guys are taking care him. Don’t worry about that, okay? Just focus on breathing."

A second later, I heard running footsteps, and then the guys were standing over Adam and I.

“What the hell happened?” Barry asked, kneeling down next to us and looking at my fading form.

“She was running away, and he must have thrown a knife that he had at her. He fucking stabbed her.”

“We have to move her. We’ve gotta get her out of here.”

“No! Barry, if we move her, she’ll bleed out even faster than she already is. I don’t want to have to…” Adam stopped what he was saying and sighed heavily. I couldn’t help but look at him, wondering what he was going to say after that.

“A-Adam, what are you talking about?” I asked him. He looked down at me again and smiled a bit.

“Nothing, babe. I’m just trying to think is all.” He replied back. Barry reached over and grabbed Adam by his shoulder, shaking him roughly.

“Adam, listen to yourself! She’s dying. Do you hear what I’m saying? She is dying. I think you know what you have to do here. Now, just do it. If she dies before you can do it, you know she won’t be able to be saved.”

“Barry, stop! If you’ll just listen to what I’m saying for two seconds. I don’t want to do this to her. She doesn’t deserve this, and this is one of the reasons she left me to begin with. I can’t put all of this on her.”

“Adam, she is going to die. Do you not understand what that means? Would you rather save her, or would you rather never see her again? If you don’t do it, then I will. I’m not going to let her die because you don’t want to ‘put her through this’.”

“Okay! Jesus fuck. Just get out of here, all right? I need to do this alone.”

I still had no idea what he was referring to, but my heart was beating faster and faster as the seconds passed, and I knew half the reason for that was because of the wound in my back.

“What’s going on?” I asked him after the guys left. He looked down at me again and smiled, tears beginning to run down his face.

“You know I love you. I love you so fucking much. If there was any other way for you to come out of this alive and completely healed, I would jump to it in a second.”

“What are you talking--“ It hit me right then what he was referring to, and my heart stopped, figuratively speaking. “Adam, you’re gonna…bite me?” I asked cautiously. He looked away for a second, before looking at me again and nodding a little.

“Don’t be afraid, Jess. You know I would never hurt you. You’re dying, and this is the only way I can save you. I know you said that you wanted nothing to do with me and my life, and that’s fine. If you want to leave me and never speak to me again after this, I’ll understand. But what you need to understand is that I wouldn't be able to walk this earth any longer knowing that you’re not. I love you too much to lose you, especially knowing it’s my fault. I can’t do it. You mean too much for me to even begin to explain. It’ll hurt if you don’t want me anymore after this, but I’ll deal with it if it means you’re able to walk out of here again.”

My mind was still functioning what he'd just said. My heart was aching for him. He’s all I’ll ever want, and I know this now. Even after this, my heart will still beat for only him. I know now that I’ll never be able to live without him either.

“I love you.” I whispered to him.

He leaned down and kissed me passionately, one of the most intense kisses we have ever shared with one another. It was hot, but at the same time, completely full of love.

“I love you too.” He whispered back. "Everything's going to be okay, Jess. I promise."

"...I know."

He planted a soft kiss on my cheek, before turning my head to the side. He breathed shakily into my ear, and a couple seconds later, his sharpened teeth pierced my skin; intense pain filling my whole body once again.