Do Mine Eyes Deceive Me...A Gorgeous Sadistic Vampire?

HARRISON

Blood deprivation. That's what I was experiencing right now. I'd just come back from a hearing at the ICOI about what I did to Malachai Bakker. I'd only snapped his neck and tore off a few limbs. After all, his head eventually moved back into place, and the limbs grew back. Unfortunately, any unprovoked attack on another immortal resulted in some sort of sentencing. In this case, they'd thrown me in the woods. I was surrounded by trees and animals. It disgusted me.

I hated nature, really - it was just bothersome. The pesky bugs every where, the dirty, mossy smell of everything. Or maybe it was just because I hadn't smelled her for so long, that everything now had a bland, dry fragrance.

Dammit - I thought about Joanalie again. She and Devlin must be having a fantastic time right now. I could see it in my head

"Oh Devlin, you're so funny. I bet he is probably wandering around aimlessly pining after me," Joanalie laughed from her place on Devlin's lap.

"Thank you, darling. Now, why don't you come here? I have some mentoring to do," he hissed. Then, they were kissing.

Then, Devlin's mouth went lower and he was sinking his vampire fangs into her neck.

I winced, and lye back against my rock, looking upward into the sun. Okay, so I didn't hate everything about nature. The sun was magnificently glorious.

Of course, it immediately reminded me of her . . . again. I really needed to stop that. It was my own fault if I pushed away the only being to ever care about what happened to me in centuries. I broke her jaw. Then, I left her with a monster who I once thought was worse than myself. Now, I left her with him to protect her.

I wanted to smack myself upside the head. Devlin was always up to something. He smooth-talked his way through existence and they all fell for him. He always had sneaky motives and impure intentions. But I'd rather have her impure than dead, I suppose.

"Must you always think the worst in everybody?" a voice asked from somewhere near. I opened my eyes, not realizing they'd been closed.

"No, but in your case it's the truth," I growled, sitting up straight as a pin. Then, I saw him. The same creature from my nightmare only a few moments ago. a wave of fierce jealousy washed over me so passionately that I had to struggle with every ounce of self-control I possessed. He'd been spending time with her every day while I was stranded out here in this God damn Godforsaken jungle!

"Touchy, touchy . . ." Devlin noted, circling the clearing with an awkward lope that was a cross between a vampire's smooth stride and a werewolf's canine prance. "But, I didn't come here to patronize you. I came to let you know the havoc you've wreaked on a certain girl."

I thought of the pain to come. I selfishly didn't want to hear about what a great time he and my 'wife' were having. Wait - great time? He said havoc.

"Shouldn't you be back at the house. I don't think it wise to leave her alone. Have you noticed she is sort of a magnet for trouble when it comes to Immortals?" I asked. A smile almost made it's why to my face, but it wouldn't push through.

"She's not alone. But, yes, I have quite noticed that she's a mischievous one," he laughed as if remembering something.

I suppressed cringing and stood stiff as a board, waiting for him to continue.

"You kidnap her, you bite her so she will become a vampire soon, you treat her like dirt, you show no interest in her whatsoever, you leaver her alone at an Immortal Banquet where she is almost taken advantage of, you let her run away from you and almost get killed by wild Immortals, you desert her for days at your own house, you let her jump out a window, and then you confuse her by taking her to your little sanctuary that's who knows where, and you snap her jaw, and then desert her again."

It was all so painfully true, I was infinitely surprised I didn't crumple pathetically to the ground. I had done all of those things. I was the monster.

"Yet, she still misses you. She still cares about you. She's afraid to get close to me because of you. She cries in her sleep because of you. You're all she thinks about day and night - believe me, I would know. She wants to be a vampire, so she can be with you. She's afraid that the reason you left is because she did something wrong," Devlin said, his voice growing husky and pained.

What was this? Joanalie blaming herself? She still wanted me to come back to her after all I did? And Devlin showing compassion . . . toward my human. Either he was a spectacular actor (which I didn't doubt) or there was a possibility he actually cared about her, and I was pushing her right into his arms.

"If only I had known . . ." I whispered to myself.

"Yes, and now you're stranded out here until your party and I've got several more days with her to prepare her for her transformation. I'll see you soon, buddy. I guess I'd better teach Joan how to dance," he giggled. It was an actually giggle. Disgusting.

Then, he was gone and I was left alone once more. Only after he was long lost, did I realize that his hair was short and light brown. Joanalie liked that kind of hair. He'd been reading her mind, too. He wouldn't have known all that stuff about my sanctuary otherwise. The bastard.

I needed to see Joanalie. I would be counting down the milliseconds until the party.