Chapter Five, Betrayal

Chris puts the car in park in the driveway, like he has done every evening after school. I unbuckle my seat belt, then scoot over to him. I take his face into my hands and kiss him. His lips respond, igniting my desire for him. He deepens the kiss, letting his tongue finds its way into mine. I moan into his mouth, and he pulls back, leaving me stunned.

"Why did you stop," I say in shock.

"It's not you Kristen, I just don't want to go too fast," he says as his face falls, I can see that he is torn.

"I'm not like other guys, it’s not the right time," he explains as he pleads with his eyes. They look sad, and I find myself hurt. I have known from the start that he is different; it’s just a kiss. Maybe I read him wrong all this time. Maybe he’s not that into me like I am him.

When will it ever be the right time?" I ask as I move back over to my seat.

He sighs, "trust me when the time comes, it will be right and right now being not the time."

My frustration boils over as the rejection starts to consume me. I go to get out of the car, when I feel his hand grab me by the waist, pulling me back in. He turns me toward him, then pulls me over to him. His strength takes me by surprise. His hands find my face, and he pulls me to where we are touching foreheads.

 "Don't read bad things in this. I just want it to be right, that's all," he says as he closes his eyes, and a sad smile plays at his lips.

I feel bad now, "I'm sorry; it's just that I have fallen in love with you." I gasp when I realize I just let my true feelings slip. I'm shocked that I finally got up enough nerve to say it.

 I fell for him long ago; it probably was love at first sight. I held this secret in for so long, and now I just let it slip. His eyes spring open, and his eyes look almost on fire. He closes them again, and I sit there waiting for him to say anything.

"Say something," I urge, as I shift in my seat. I want to run. This feels so awkward. What if he doesn’t feel the same way. Did I just scare him off? I start to panic.

"That is what I was waiting for," he says as he leans over to me, taking my face into his hands. He then places a kiss on my forehead. I'm holding his hands that cradle my face. "That is music to my ears, I was hoping you felt the same way," he finally says.

"You love me too!" I say, almost in shock.

"Yes, I have for a while now. I just wanted you to love me, too," he tells me.

This is a revelation, and I'm now grinning from ear to ear. He pulls me to his chest and cradles my head. "You are so special to me. You will never know how much I love you," he says. I’m wrapped in his scent that is intoxicating, as I listen to his heart pounding in his chest. I don’t want him to ever let me go. I wrap my arms around him, pulling him closer to me when I hear my name.

"Kristen!” Shit, why does she do that? I pull away from Chris to see Marie waving at me from the porch.

"I got to go before she comes out here and pulls me out of this car. You know she will," I say with a laugh. He kisses me quickly on the lips before I get out of the car. I run toward the porch with pure adrenaline coursing through my veins at his admission to me.

I finish getting ready for bed. I grab my phone to send Chris a message. I’m thrilled that we took another step in our relationship. I love you. See you tomorrow. I send the text with a smile on my face. His text comes only a minute later. I miss you already. I love you too. See you tomorrow. I know I’m grinning like an idiot as I read his text message several times. I place my phone on charge next to the bed, then slip under the covers. I can’t wait until tomorrow. I close my eyes and drift off.

Screams rip me from my nightmare as the same images that I see every night haunt me. Trying to calm myself I slip out of bed to head to the bathroom like I always do, a moving shadow moves in the corner of my eye, freezing me where I stand. I slowly back as far away as I can in the opposite direction. I only come aware of the wall when it stops me dead in my tracks. I'm looking around for inspiration for a possible escape. My heart races as I start panting like a trapped animal ready to be had.  I want to scream, but I'm too scared. It's them, they found me, I got to getaway. I got to run, but my feet are frozen. I have no way to escape this time, and if I scream, they will get me before Marie could come to my aide. If she would even recognize it from my usual nightmare screams.

My fear rises, knowing I have no other choice but to confront them. I find my voice, "Who are you? What do you want?" I choke out as I stay planted against the wall.

 The figure of a man moves toward me, I'm in full-blown panic mode. Chris comes from the shadows, the moonlight lighting up his face. Everything evaporates, and I feel totally drained with relief that it's him. He's not saying anything as he approaches me. He’s not acting right. Something must be wrong. I catch a glint of red on his face making my heart leap, is he hurt?

"Chris, why are you in my room in the middle of the night," I ask as I move off the wall. He stops but doesn’t look at me. He doesn’t say anything. "Chris, talk to me," I demand.

 I go to step in his direction to seek answers, but before I get even a foot forward, I'm pinned against the wall by Chris. He's got my wrist held with his hands, and his face is past my face leaning on my shoulder. His body is holding me in place, and I cannot move. I can feel his body tremble, but his sudden actions have me scared. The last time I had someone holding my wrists, was my uncle. I don’t like the feeling.

My adrenaline is at its peak, and my heart is pounding against my ribs. I try to calm myself down. "What's wrong?" I whisper.

 I can feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he's panting. "Please talk to me, you're scaring me," I plead with him. I can only figure he is waging a war within himself because he hasn't moved. "Chris," I shout.

He jumps a little as if I had finally snapped him out of his trance. His words come out in a sad whisper, "Please forgive me for what I'm about to do."

 "What?" I say, as my mind goes blank and fear spikes through my body.

He moves his head down in a fast motion toward my neck. He releases one of my wrists to grab my head to pull it to the side. I take the opportunity to try to push against him, but he's too strong. I freeze when a sharp pain slices through my neck. It burns and stings as if he was ripping my neck wide open. I cry out as the pain radiates from my neck. I find his hair and grab a handful to try to pry him off, but he only grunts and continues to suck my neck. I feel something warm drip down my neck, and the situation becomes like a nightmare. He's drinking my blood.

Am I still asleep in my nightmares? My Chris would never attack me like this.

"Please, stop! Chris stop! You're hurting me," I scream, pleading for him to stop.

He releases my other wrist as he wraps his arm around my waist, he draws me closer to him, holding me in place. His lips are on my neck, not the way I had ever imagined they would be.   

"Why?" I ask in a soft whimper, as I grip his shoulders to try to keep myself steady, I can slowly feel my body grows weaker from the blood loss.

My legs are getting weaker, and I know if he doesn't stop, I'm going to die. "Stop this, you don't drink blood! What's wrong with you?" I beg.

 He continues to suck on my neck, and I know it won't be long before this man that I loved so dear, takes me out of this world. Tears run down my cheeks as I try to keep the good Chris in my mind, not the monster that he's become that was now set on killing me.

 "I love you," I say as a sob overtakes me. His body stiffens, then I feel his mouth leave my neck.

He doesn't pull back to where I can see him, which is a blessing, because I did not want to look at the monster he had become, all covered in my blood. I can't bear to see him like that, it would rip my soul apart.

 "Kristen, trust me, I have to do this," he says almost in a whisper.

 This didn't make any sense because now that he knew my true feelings, he was going to kill me. I was so stupid! A foolish girl with only a dream, and now it was going to get killed.

"Why?" I plead.

"It's your destiny," he says and then sinks his teeth into my neck again, making me scream out in pain once again.

I try pulling and pushing at him, but I have no strength now. I feel myself slipping into the abyss, and the darkness is getting closer. My knees give way, and my body slides only a fraction down his body before his arm pulls me back up. He continues to support my body with his arm that is wrapped around my waist. He cradles my head with his other hand as he continues to suck my neck.

He pulls away and shifts to where he's now carrying me in his arms. My head wobbles back and forth against his chest. He walks over to the bed, placing me down gently. The bed shifts with his weight as he sets down beside me. I can feel the tears still running down my cheeks as I cry. I look over at Chris, and it's like seeing him for the first time.

His eyes are fire red, which rocks me to my core. It looked like he was consumed by fire on the inside. His face is sad, he looks down at me, and his mouth is still stained from my blood. He reaches over to wipe a tear from my cheek, making me flinch in fear. I plead with him with my eyes. I can’t bear to be touched by him. His hands have hurt me, I want nothing to do with him.

"Please don't be scared," he says as he strokes my hair as if to soothe a wounded animal. I can only imagine what he sees in my eyes.

"Try to keep an open mind. I will show you a world that you never knew existed," he says as he sits up and pulls his sleeve up.

 "What are you?" I ask with fear laced in my tone.

He says nothing but looks at me with sad fire eyes. He sinks his teeth into his wrist, and blood flows from around his mouth, leaving a trail down his arm. He pulls back and looks over at me.

"Please don't fight me," he says as he sinks his teeth back into his wrist.

When he pulls back, his blood runs down his chin. He scoops me up, and I'm face to face with him. He places his lips on mine, and my eyes grow wide. I'm so confused that I kick my legs and my arms try to push at his shoulders. He parts my lips with his tongue, the warm blood flows into my mouth with a metallic taste. I try not to swallow, but as he assaults my mouth, it slides down my throat, threatening to come right back up. His tongue continues to caress mine as his lips move. It's erotic but sickening at the same time. He finally pulls back, and his eyes still burn red, this time, I see the pain in them.

Only earlier he told me he loved me and now he betrayed me. He drops his head down, making his blond locks fall forward. "I'm sorry," he says with pain in his voice.

 I say nothing, I have nothing to say to him. He looks up, and there are tears in his red eyes. Why would he betray my trust like this? I go to look away, only to be scooped into his arms. He buries his face into my neck, making me push him away.

 "Don't," I say, I'm cut off as my body starts to jerk, my head goes back, and my arms and legs thrash around violently. I'm on fire, and all I can do is scream.

I can feel my body thrashing around, he must have known this was going to happen. I can't do anything but be a prisoner to my own body. Every cell explodes with fire as if I'm being ripped apart. My screams are deafening screams I had never heard before that claim this night. My head burns, and I find that I can't breathe. I try to suck air into my lungs, but they will not fill. I'm suffocating and burning from the inside out. I can't bear anymore, I want to die, I want it to claim me. I want this all to end. Everything goes black.........................