FIFTY | DAZED AND CONFUSED
"Scarlett? Shit-" Words, my name, hit my ears like a booming assault. I cry out even louder, clapping my hands over my ears and squeezing tighter into the ball I've curled up in.
"Sunshine, look at me-" My skull's being split in two as my ears attempt to focus on the roaring sounds around me.
"Hey, honey, it's okay-" *Make it stop! Please, just make it stop!*
"Red, open your eyes-" Pine, parchment - *Wolven*. The familiar scent combinations hit my nose like a breath of fresh air. "You're safe-" *Blue*? I can feel him in the back of my mind, finally there with all his *blazing* emotions. Emotions that only throw more gasoline onto the fire of my own roiling storm of emotions. "Open your eyes-" He begs, but it's all just too much. The most I can do now is stop from screaming as the sounds slowly begin to die down to bearable levels. But then...I'm still waiting for the pain I know is coming.
*The claws, the teeth, I know they're coming. They want to kill me. To destroy every inch of me until my very soul is wiped from existence*.
"Give her some air, Zane," I'm pulled from the overwhelming warmth of Blue's body and set back onto the ground. The cold hard earth - no - that's not right. There's grass here. Grass and something gossamer-like cupping my cheeks. Something cold. *I'm not there. I'm in Azure territory. I'm safe.* "Princess?" The smell of overly-ripe strawberries and iron fills my nose. It's a scent from the present. A scent I've grown accustomed to over the last few days.
"M-Mica?" I croak rawly, daring to peek through my eyelids to see my shadow leaning over me. I've never been so happy to see those blood-red eyes.
"Yeah, hey, princess." His expression softens a little and he gives me a gentle smile. The beautiful rare one I've only seen a few times. "There you are." He sounds as relieved as I feel now.
"Mikyle, can you take her home, please." Mom asks, her worried face just visible behind my shadow. "I-I'm sorry, Wisty, but I need to stay here a little longer. I'll come home as soon as I can." I just nod at Mom's words, wrapping my now jerking arms around myself to try and hide their uncoordinated movements from the onlookers.
"H-Home?" Blue chokes from Mikyle's other side, looking like he's just swallowed something foul.
"Yes, Lady M." Mikyle ignores Blue's words, but I can't. I glance at my mate again, catching his eyes for a second before Mikyle scoops me into his arms effortlessly. Suddenly all I see is Mikyle's face. "C'mon, princess, let's get you home." He tells me softly.
"Hold on there, *buddy*-" Blue growls, his silvery-grey eyes blazing liquidly. He's gripping Mikyle's shoulder so tightly I can see his knuckles turning white but Mikyle barely seems to notice.
"If you don't want to lose you arm, pup, I suggest you remove it. *Now*." Mikyle looks at Blue coolly, but his eyes are glowing now. Tension so thick it's almost tangible grows thicker by the second as the two men stare each other down.
"Mikyle, stop." I say firmly, knowing at least one of them will listen to me. "Just take me home." I try to muster the same tone that I used to order him before - the one Hale called compulsion - but I don't feel that coldness when I speak. I'm probably not strong enough to do it right now and Mikyle seems to realize this...or maybe he can feel the way the rest of my limbs have begun to twitch. The muscles are seizing painfully, contorting against the bone and making me wince with each spasm.
"Yes, princess." Is all the vampire says to me, still using that gentle tone. "Move, pup." He growls at Blue.
"Red?" Blue's voice is restrained when he says my name, but I don't look at him, afraid of what I'll see and what I may express.
"Home, Mikyle." I say again, more firmly, and squeeze my eyes shut, pressing my face into the vampire's neck to hide my pained expression as the tightening of my muscles spreads from my limbs to my torso.
- - -
"Are you feeling any better?" Mikyle asks an hour later. I'm curled up on my bed, wrapped in my warm sheets, freshly showered and dosed with potion. I'm not numb like before, but the pain and spasms have gone, leaving only a dull ache in my bones.
"Yeah." I mutter and close my eyes tightly, burying my face in the soft surface of the bedding. "I shouldn't have gone." I groan, grinding my face into the flat plushiness, recalling Mom's worried face, the way she told be she couldn't leave... *I ruined her special day*.
"No, you shouldn't have." Mikyle agrees coldly. I look up and shoot him a glare. He's on his usual spot on the floor between my bed and the bathroom door, staring up at the ceiling emotionlessly. "You know, maybe if you trained you could be strong enough to fight it." He says thoughtfully. *Train? Trained for what? How can you fight the Blooming?*
"Stop spouting nonsense," I growl at him, sitting up long enough to chuck my pillow at him. He's a blur of movement for a split second before I can see him clearly again.
"Princess, do you know how vampires are so well coordinated?" He's suddenly sitting up, my pillow in hand and looking at it thoughtfully.
"Uh...genetics?" I frown at him. "Maybe instinct?" I guess, suddenly feeling like I'm being lectured.
"Practice." He throws the pillow back at me at lightning speed and the soft thing knocks the wind out of me. The force of the blow knocks me off the bed and into the waiting arms of my shadow. "You're very clumsy." He notes with a smirk, face too close, yet again. Heat rushes to my cheeks at his comment.
"And you're a jackass." I snarl back, using his proximity to try and smother him with the pillow.
"Perhaps," He laughs, ripping the pillow from my grasp and tossing it back onto my bed - still cradling me against his cold body. "But I'm your jackass," My stomach drops out and I feel my eyes widen at his remark. "For now." With that, he deposits me back on my bed and takes a step away from me. "You should reconsider seeing the Coven's doctor." He tells me soberly, eyes filled with concern and all traces of his usual humor gone once again.
"I don't want to be dependent on blood-" I begin the old argument tiredly, rolling my eyes at the man. My back hits the bed roughly and I'm being pinned down - I don't even have time to gasp in surprise as I find myself staring up into the inferno that are my shadow's irises.
"Princess, *wake up*. You're part vampire." Mikyle's suddenly in my face, eyes wild and burning bright red, one hand wrapped around my throat. I swallow against the light pressure of his grip, aware that he can easily crush my windpipe if he wanted. "One way or another, the bloodlust *will* be part of your life. It's up to you if you let it control *you* or you learn to control *it*." He hisses in a low tone.
"B-but-" I begin, but his grip tightens in warning and I'm struggling to breathe.
"You *will* loose yourself to the change if you don't try to get ahead of it." His eyes darken a little as he searches my eyes, the crazy draining from them in increments. My heart's drumming in my ears now, racing out of a mixture of fear and...longing? "I refuse to watch that happen." His hand relaxes against my neck, becoming gossamer light and caressing the already-healing inflammation.
Without warning, he leans in and presses his lips to the side of my neck, right over the thrumming pulse. I suck in a breath, feeling my heart jump in surprise in my chest. His cool lips trace up the side of my throat, his warm breath fanning out across my skin and sending sparks of heat through my body.
"M-Mica," I stutter, utterly confused and thrown by this situation. So much so I can't even begin to decipher the odd feeling exploding through me. I feel his hand on the side of my neck now, holding me in place and his lips make their way up to my jaw, then to my ear.
"Do you want me to stop, Scarlett?" He breathes my name like a prayer before lightly nipping at my earlobe. The shock of hearing my name like that brings me out of my trance. I can't stop seeing bright, silvery-grey eyes, and that expression Blue had when we left last night.
"Yes." I gasp, pulling back, my eyes wide. Mikyle isn't there, though, he's leaning against the door frame, jaw set and looking impassively at the opposite wall.
"We're going to the Coven tomorrow." He tells me coldly. It's not a request. Not something that's up for discussion...and I can't seem to muster enough energy to fight him on it. When I don't immediately argue, he just flicks off the light in my room, still not looking at me. "Get some sleep, princess." He pushes off the doorframe and walks into the kitchen, leaving me to stare after him, wonder what the hell all that was about.
