Chapter 2: Chapter Two
When I came to I was sprawled over a bed. A bed. Meaning not mine. I woke up with a vicious headache and a thousand questions. What happened last night? That one particular question floated in my head as my eyes darted back and forth across the unfamiliar room. It was a motel room. The sheets were beat and yellow where they should be white, the furniture was old and of splintered wood. The TV crackled and buzzed, struggling to get a signal to pass through its ancient antennas. The curtains were drawn and a beam of light hit the floor from the sun outside. I groaned and held my throbbing head for a second before letting my hands fall limp over my lap. I gasped, mouth wide open, but no other sound would come out. The scream was stuck in my throat as my eyes stared at the stains of blood on my hands in utter horror. The events of last night came back in spurs, flashing across my head like tiny movie clips that I couldn't quite make out. My head ached all over again. The one memory clear in my head was of sharp, glinting teeth. A trembling hand rose, brushing my neck to feel the bumps where the guy from last night had-
My own brain cut itself off. I was going crazy no doubt. Yet I still jumped off the bed and my feet pounded as they thumped heavy on the cheap wooden floor. The bathroom looked worse than the room outside but I was more concerned with a mirror, which was nowhere to be seen. What bathroom doesn't have a mirror? My hand flew back to my neck and the skin was still bumpy and tender to the touch. I hyperventilated and fell back against the cool, cracked tiles of the bathroom wall. I didn't care that the cracks poked at my back and scratched as I slid down. I drew my knees in tight against my chest and curled up as my brain worked on pushing all the horror deep down where it could never be found. No matter how hard I tried though, everything still remained just below the surface. It taunted me and tortured my mind as it shoved this new found reality so far it punctured through the surface. That's when I finally found my voice and a throat ripping scream filled the echoing space around me.
My breath caught as soon as I heard the knob of the front door juggling. I scrambled to my hands and knees and shut the bathroom door, happy that it had a lock on it. It clicked and my heart drummed in my chest, fighting with my ribcage for keeping it concealed. Footsteps approached the bathroom and whoever was at the other side was cheerfully whistling a show tune. Something peppy and oddly familiar, making it all the more nerve-wrecking. Footsteps stopped and I could see the shadow from under the door. Three knocks, a pause between each, filled my ears and a small whimper escaped my lips.
"Aww! You're scared. You shouldn't be, darling. I won't hurt you."
I jerked as the familiar voice snapped something in me, making all the events of last night rush back to me. The beach, all my friends were drunk, Noah got too handsy, I ran, I was at a beach house party, Charming got me out of the mess, we were alone, he got close. To close. His eyes, oh god his eyes were something out of a horror movie. And his teeth!
"Come on, doll. Open up." He pounded on the door.
It took me a while to realize that the scream that filled my ears and gave me a vein popping headache was coming from me. I was gripping my neck and every inch of me shivered while cold, chilling sweat covered my body in a thin coat.
"Damn it. Stop screaming. You do that shit even in your sleep." Charming- no. Not Charming. The monster said. He sounded annoyed now and he jiggled the knob.
"Cute," he said. The door knob twisted and groaned before suddenly snapping right off. I flattened my back against the shower wall and watched in horror as the door slowly swinged open. The guy looked a lot worse under the light. Last night he was mostly covered in shadows, but now? Under a bright light his skin was paper white, arms and legs were lanky in contrast with his large figure, cheeks sunken and dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he's had a thousand bad days and couldn't get a clue of what beauty sleep was. I don't know what I'd seen in him before, but now it was a different story.
"Come on. Get up. Before long you'll understand. Tonight is your death day. We should celebrate."
His words brought about a shudder and I tried so hard not to let it all sink in. If it did I'd snap and there was no coming back from that, I could feel it.
"Hush. It will all be alright." He crooned. His voice was close.
My eyes snapped open, not even realizing I'd closed them. He was only inches from me, crouched in a way that looked like he was ready to pounce. I gulped back a scream and hit my head so hard against the wall I saw stars.
"Wh-who are you?" I managed to whisper. My voice couldn't go above that, not with the amount of screaming I've done.
He smiled wide and cocked his head to one side. "My name is Leon, precious."
His voice dripped with bad intentions even when he called me by pet names. His face went from something mockingly polite to a predatory grimace. His hands, cold and rough, shot out and yanked me to my feet. Clearly he was tired of playing nice.
"I said, get the hell up." He growled.
The heels of my feet dragged on the floor as Leon tugged me by the collar of a shirt I hadn't realized I had on. I was tossed on the bed and soon after being released I scrambled to a corner of the bed, my back pressed hard against the headboard.
"Hush!" He warned and turned towards me with a bottle in hand. The color was white and blocked its content. It was already open and Leon walked to the side of the bed where I was and then pushed the bottle in my hand. I had stopped breathing all together and gasped for air.
"Drink."
When he ordered me it hadn't occurred to me just how thirsty I really was. I didn't want to drink though. I was afraid he would poison me.
"Drink! Damn it!"
At that I chugged because Leon flashed me his teeth, sharp and elongated, and those horrific eyes from last night. Fear didn't let me register at first and after a few swallows my eyes grew wide and I spit out red. The thick liquid spurt all over the yellowing sheets and tainted it further. I coughed about a thousand times and all the while Leon laughed a loud and hearty kind of laugh. When I scurried off the bed he didn't make any move to stop me. I landed on the floor and crawled to the bathroom only to purge right into the shower, nearly projectile vomiting all red.
"Boy. That was too good." Leon chimed as I lay on my side and quivered. He came over and crouched, his cold fingers caressing down my arm and at the curve if my waist. He made a sound of satisfaction that caused my stomach to churn, but there was nothing left in my stomach to chuck up. I was pulled by my feet and then forced to straightened into a seating position. Leon looked bored crouched in front of me and considered something with a hand cupped at his jaw. It was disturbingly incredible how he could change from one mood to the next in the blink of an eye.
"I was hoping I didn't have to do this, but we have important matters to attend to and I can't have you looking so grotesque." Leon's words were kind of distant, mostly I was distracted by the way his eyes swiveled. It was so hypnotic, but a part of me was still conscious. The conscious part was shoved away, like it was an outsider looking in. It kicked and screamed and tried to snap back into my body, but I was now following Leon's order without even a hint of hesitation.
"Good girl. Now go shower and put on something attractive."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone