I Hope They Taste of Me Forever

The next week was damn near unbearable. She was everywhere I looked, draped over Hunter who seemed quite happy with himself and had no aversion to public displays of affection. If it weren’t for the malicious, taunting glares she shot me when she was sure no one else would be watching, the alleyway incident could have entirely been a figment of my imagination. As it was, I was beginning to wonder if those glares were also a mental fabrication.

Alleyway incident… I have far too many of those, don’t I?

I wanted to talk to Hunter more than anything. It was killing me. Of course, Emily was aware of this, and so made it her sole purpose to ensure that Hunter was never left alone. Emily wasn’t the only vampire in our midst awake to the fact that something was going on. Pete was frustrated that something was happening without his knowledge. He tried to get me to talk, several times, but I insisted that it was something I had to deal with alone. I did briefly consider the possibility of telling him who Emily was and watch him tearing her limb from limb, and perhaps I should have. It would have saved me a very moody and insufferable Pete for a week, not to mention it would have altered the demented path that we were soon to take. But no matter, I wouldn’t risk it. Who knew how strong Emily really was?

It quickly became apparent that I was never going to get Hunter alone on my own. A week was all I could stand before asking Pete for a hand. He certainly wasn’t happy, playing pawn in a scheme he knew nothing of, but after some carefully worded coaxing he finally agreed to help me. But hell if he was going to break character doing it.

“Emily,” Pete grumbled lowly.

The blonde turned her elegant head in his direction, eyebrows arched and her lips set in a slightly shocked expression. This may well have been the first time he’d addressed her existence since she began living with us over a month ago. She quickly regained composure and ran her tongue over her unnatural teeth.

“Yes, Pete?”

“Could I have a word?” His teeth were clenched, and I could hear the heavy pull of reluctance behind every syllable. “In private?”

Emily glanced momentarily at me, but I was ready for her. I’d painted a perfect frown of disapproval, confusion and partner concern on my face, so her flash of a smug grin that anyone else would have missed signaled that she was happy to abandon her post beside Hunter for a couple of minutes if it meant making me miserable.

“Sure,” she nodded and stood with grace and made her way down the hallway, led by Pete who was trying his best to keep his cool. Hopefully she’d think it to be sexual tension of some sort. I shuddered.

The moment she was out of sight I wasted no time in taking the remote and turning the television off.

“Hey,” Hunter protested through a mouthful of cereal, a couple of drops of milk dribbling down his chin and splashing onto the red sofa. It was almost cute.

“I need to talk to you.”

He placed his bowl of half-eaten cereal on the table in front of us and turned in his seat to look at me, a concerned frown on his face.

“Okay… What’s up?”

I took a deep breath, but I knew it wouldn’t magically make me more eloquent.

“It’s about Emily. She’s not good for you.”

He sighed and shook his head, a small smile on his face. I knew he wasn’t going to listen to me. He was completely captivated by her.

“Elle, I know you don’t like her, but she…”

“This has nothing to do with liking or disliking her,” I interrupted, steaming from the ears (or almost, anyway). “She’s a bad person… vampire… whatever. Being with her is dangerous.”

“No, she’s not. She’s a good…”

“Listen to me!” I yelled in whisper. “I saw her the other day when I went for a walk. She’s a Dandy. She’s best friends with Lena, Beckett’s spouse or whatever. I’m worried that she’s going to hurt you…”

He sighed and laughed again, making me all the more angered.

“What’s so funny? Why aren’t you listening to what I’m saying?”

“Oh Elle,” he started, shuffling a little closer to me on the couch. “I know you’re jealous of Emily, but you don’t need to concoct this ridiculous tale to get my attention. Especially not one that serious…”

“I’m not making this up!” I fumed. “I saw them together, I talked to them! She was wearing one of those flowing Dandy dresses and everything…”

“Come on Elle, drop it. It’s okay, you’re just jealous.”

“No, I’m not…”

“Yes, you are,” he chuckled annoyingly. I wanted to slap him. “But it’s okay… There’s no need for you to envy her. I’ll always want you more than her… more than anyone…”

And just like that, it was a repeat of the last time we’d been alone together. His lips were warm against mine before I could stop him, his strong hands cupping my face and brushing my hair away from my eyes. It would have seemed romantic. It would have looked beautiful. But it felt all wrong, and the shivers firing down my spine weren’t those of pleasure.

“Hunter, no…” I mumbled against his kiss.

“Come on Elle… We both know this is what we want…”

“HEY!”

We broke away immediately at the furious, rumbling sound vibrating through the air. Whipping my head to face the direction behind me, I’d never seen Pete so horrifyingly livid. He looked like the demon he was, and just the look of pure, passionate hatred in his eyes made me understand just how valuable he would be to the Dandies. Emily seemed to notice this too, her eyes glazed with awe at his essential power.

“Get your hands off her,” he snarled, advancing his way towards the couch.

“Whoa, man, I’m sorry…” Hunter leapt to his feet, hands out in front of him in a supposedly calming gesture. “Chill out…”

“Chill out?” Pete repeated in a sneer. “I’ll chill out when you get your manipulative ass out of this warehouse and stay the fuck away from my girl… And if I ever see your face again I won’t give you the opportunity to run.”

Hunter gulped and shot me a look. Whether it was one of apology or a plea for help, I couldn’t tell. Even if I could, I don’t think I’d be able to move or speak.

“Pete…”

He whirled around to the source of his name, and his vicious snarl told the blonde bitch that she would’ve been far better not to have said anything.

“You too. I want you both out of here. Oh what a pair you two are… Seeming like the sickeningly perfect couple but both scheming ways to seduce others who are actually happy… Trying to ruin a family… Who the fuck do you think you are?”

A few moments of silence followed his rant, before Emily straightened herself up and fixed her expression to stoic.

“I’m Emily Victoire, and I will leave here with dignity and of my own accord, not from being chased out by an egomaniac trying to convince himself he can ever be anything more than a monster.”

Before Pete could even retaliate or tear her to shreds, she was at the exit and beckoning to Hunter.

“Let’s go. I think we’ve overstayed our welcome.”

Hunter shot me one last look before following Emily. Just before they left, he projected the first thought he’d ever projected towards me, words that would haunt me forever.

Goodbye, Elle.

***

A tear slipped down my cheek, splashing into the bedspread and dotting it darker. Another tear followed it. And another after that.

I wanted to be back in my room. I wanted to be back in the room I’d awoken in two years ago just prior to meeting my rescuers. I wanted to be back in the room where the guys had nursed me back to health from when my enemy-turned-boyfriend had almost choked me to death. I wanted to be back in the room where I’d pored over vampire books, desperate to learn even the basics that my brother had deprived me of. I wanted to be back in the room where I received a rather unsavoury gift from a Dandy. I wanted to be back in the room where I got to know Brendon Urie. I wanted to be back in the room that usually collects my tears. But I can’t. No matter what I do, my room just smells of her. So instead I sat in Pete’s room, trying to fight down a nauseous feeling that I discarded as claustrophobia.

I knew why Pete had done it. It was the right thing to do. But as glad as I was that Emily was gone, part of me missed Hunter already. It was just a kiss, after all. He would have stopped, I know he would have.

I could hear the guys talking outside. Seeing Pete as infuriated as he was, the others didn’t question the dismissal of our other two members. I’d told Pete all he needed to know; everything I’d kept hidden. I told him about Hunter’s first kiss. I told him about Emily’s involvement with the Dandies. I told him how Hunter hadn’t listened to me. I guessed he’d passed on all the necessary information to the others. They’d all been concentrating on securing the passages out of the warehouse that Emily and Hunter had been aware of. Apparently there were even more tunnels, ones that not even I was aware of. Pete sent me into his room as they began poring over blueprints. He knew I needed time alone.

My cheeks were wet when I drifted to sleep, streaked in black residue from my eyes. But my mind was streaked darker; shades of Hunter, Matt and Travis. All the people I’d let close to me, all the people I thought I could trust.

All the people who had let me down.