Chapter:   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Night Vengeance

Chapter Nine

"That still didn't give you the right to bury me!" she exclaimed, attempting to control her quaking body.

Needing to soothe her, Justin approached to take her in his arms but Rae quickly moved away.

"No! Don't touch me!" she said as she walked towards her back door.

As Justin moved to follow, Rae held up her hand, inserting an invisible barrier between them. His eyes widened in astonishment as he staggered back, unable to follow her.

"No. You're not coming in. I need some time alone," she said and closed the door leaving him standing alone and bewildered under the night sky, wondering what had just happened.

Rae sagged against the closed door and sighed. She knew vampires slept in the ground, but to wake up buried…she shuddered at the memory. She looked at her dirt-encrusted fingernails and shuddered again.

She pushed away from the door and within seconds was under the shower. She scrubbed and scrubbed the dirt from her clothes, her hair and body. Tears silently drifted down her soft cheeks as she thought of the look of bewilderment on his face.

He hadn't deserved her anger for she knew vampires slept in the earth, but she couldn't help herself, terrified she'd masked it by getting angry. Rae stepped out of the shower, shucked her wet clothes and wrapped a thick terry cloth towel around her body. She walked into her bedroom and went to the window, looking out over the backyard.

She gasped in surprise to see Justin sitting on one of the granite benches; she thought he would have left. His elbows perched upon his knees and his head hanging, he looked so forlorn.

Suddenly, as if he sensed her watching him, his head snapped up and he looked straight at her. Rae's eyesight, much improved since becoming a vampire, saw the tears in his gray eyes and was ashamed of her angry outburst. She could see the longing and love in his gaze and knew she couldn't leave him out there.

She opened the window and leaned out. "Come inside so we can talk," she said.

Justin kept eye contact with her as he slowly stood and walked to the door. He turned the knob, went inside and waited.

"Go to the living room, I'll be there in a few minutes," her voice drifted down from upstairs.

He entered the living room, sat down on the couch and waited for her. A few minutes later, Rae entered, wearing a beautiful silk kimono with dragon designs on it. In her hand she held two glasses of deep red wine.

"Can vampires drink wine?" she asked.

Justin nodded, she handed him a glass, walked over to the easy chair and sat down, pulling her legs under her. She was very pale and he knew she needed to feed, he could feel the hunger beating at her but he didn't say anything, he waited for her to make the first move.

Rae sipped her wine to fortify herself. She needed to apologize for lashing out at him. Her normal routine of drying off, putting on her kimono had calmed her somewhat and the wine was warming her insides.

"Justin…uh…I…I'm sorry about earlier. I understand that now I need to sleep in the earth, it's just…" Rae closed her eyes, her hand grasping the stem of the wine glass a little tighter. Her breathing quickened again as her thoughts turned to when she'd awakened in the earth and was clawing her way out.

Justin immediately set his glass on the coffee table and knelt down in front of her. He pried her fingers from the stem of the glass and put it next to his, then he picked her up, sat in the chair and pulled her on his lap.

"Shhhhh, it's alright Rae," he whispered, his hands, soothing, caressing her back and stroking her hair. "It's over, you're safe inside. I'm sorry you awoke deep in the earth. It's my fault, I thought you'd sleep longer than you did and I would have had time to bring you in the house."

Rae could feel his remorse and knew he meant it. Her fear slowly receded, she nuzzled closer, her arms circled his neck, as her tongue tasted the salty skin at the hollow of his throat. Justin closed his eyes and groaned. He felt the desire rising inside him; he wanted to continue but the hunger beating at her also beat at him, they needed to feed.

He pulled on her hair to pull her head back and look into her glazed eyes. "We cannot continue this, my love, we need to feed," he said.

Rae's glazed eyes cleared and she nodded. "First I need to finish what I wanted to say to you," she said.

Justin nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"Waking up in the earth really scared me," she said, looking down at her fingers that were playing with the buttons of his shirt. "Ever since I was a child, I've always been afraid of closed-in places. I can't explain it. All I know is that I panic whenever I'm in a place with no way out. So waking in the earth, surrounded by all the soil…I couldn't take it," she said looking up into his eyes. "I need you to promise me something?"

"Anything," he said as he twined his fingers with hers.

"Promise me that I will never again wake up buried. Will you promise me that Justin?" she asked, her eyes imploring him.

Justin immediately pulled her close, "Never again Rae, I promise," and he lowered his head, sealing his vow with a kiss.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Stanley Parks, the lab tech, stepped into the smoky bar. The toneless voice on the phone had said to meet him here. Drunken patrons sat in their chairs, their heads on the tables; even the bartender was drunk he saw. He looked around and saw a hand rise, beckoning him over. This must be the man he was supposed to meet.

 

©2006 Romance at Heart Magazine.

©2000 Angel Young.

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