"Remmie, how could you say that!" Torren points his cue at Remmie, a muscle twitching in his jaw.
"Well, technically what we did was the equivalent of rape, we forced her into a bond she has been fighting against for months." I cover my mouth trying not to gasp, If Remmie is right then it's not them that essentially raped someone, it was me. Whatever is wrong with me that causes the bond is to blame, not them. I'm grateful they helped me, but honestly I don't want the bond any more than they do.
Torren positions himself to take his shot. "I don't think she will see it that way. Besides, I'm not entirely sure we are bonded to her, I don't feel any different, do you Derrin?" He sinks two balls, then rounds the table.
"Rem's right man, we shouldn't have let her feed from us, I feel like she's in my head. From the moment I met her, I knew there was something about her that was different but this, man, this is insane. Iwanther, all the fucking time and that ain't right."
Torren takes another shot and misses, passing the cue to Derrin, he leans against the wall near the TV.
I want to tell them that I feel the same way, but Derrin's right, even I felt the connection when we first met. There was and still is something there, drawing me to them all. I shift my weight, making the floorboard beneath me squeak.
Torren glances at the door and I duck back out of sight. "She fed from me too and I don't feel differently towards her."
"Don't lie man, we can see the way you've been looking at her. You treat her just like those human cops do, as though she's a freaking miracle. It's fucked up man, I don't want to be tied to her or any chick. I say we just leave and see if it wears off."
"We can't just leave Derrin, what if she gets worse? What if she needs more blood and there's no one here?"
"Torren, listen to yourself man, you're obsessing over her and she only fed once. What do you think would happen if you let her do it again?" I can hear the anger in Derrin's voice and I can't help creeping closer to have another look.
"Do whatever you want, I'm not leaving her. I like her. Besides she's one of us, we wouldn't abandon each other, why would we abandon her?" Torren lines his next shot up and sinks another ball before missing again.
Remmie takes a drink from the glass in his hand. I can't see from this angle what is in it, but I'm fairly sure it's alcohol. "I think Derrin is right, Torren. The amount she took, it weakened me. As much as I like the girl, I don't think it's safe to be around her." Tears well in my eyes at Remmie's statement. Everyone who comes near me gets hurt or ends up going insane, Remmie's right, they'd be better off without me.
Torren turns to face the door again and I back up, I'm not sure I want to get caught eavesdropping on this conversation. "You two want to leave then leave, but I'm not going anywhere. That girl is one ofus." Torren growls.
"You're making a mistake man, that girl is nothing but trouble." Derrin's voice sounds louder now, I hear footsteps coming towards the door, moving as silently as I can, I run back to my bedroom and slip back into bed.
The tears finally fall as I lay there listening to them walk away. I don't care if any of them stay now. I don't care if anything bad happens to me, everything I touch turns to shit.
* * *
"Hello?... Oh, Torren, where's Rose?"I lie still listening to Jase talk to Torren.
"She's still sleeping. She's okay, just needs to rest. I checked her wound and it's healed completely, there's nothing to worry about. She'll probably need to feed again tonight though. The amount of blood she lost will take a few days to recover from."
"Thanks for keeping an eye on her. Where are the others?" Richard asks.
"They left, they're both a bit worried about the bond. We're hybrids, we shouldn't be feeling the effects of the bond the way we are."
"Maybe you should stay away from her then. The less you see her, the quicker the effects wear off." Jason's words have me sitting up in bed.So that's why Richard stayed away after I fed on him.
"Have either of you ever thought of completing the bond?"
Completing the bond? It can be completed. Why would they want to do that? It's bad enough as it is.I creep out to the landing at the top of the stairs.
"What do you mean?" Jason asks, sitting down on the bottom step. I can't see his face but I can hear the curiosity in his voice.
"Well the bond is supposed to happen when she feeds off someone and they have sex. Not that I want that to happen, to be honest, I want her for myself, but if the bond were completed that might stop the overwhelming effects."
He wants me for himself. What the hell does he mean by that?I creep closer, this conversation is getting interesting and it's a great distraction from the earlier one between him, Derrin and Remmie.
"Torren's got a point, I was actually coming back to suggest just that. I have a theory that the closer you are to her, both emotionally and physically the easier the bond is to manage. I felt like I was being torn to pieces just going home." Remmie shrugs, his eyes flick to the top of the stairs where I’m hiding but he doesn't let on that I'm listening in.
"Let's deal with the bond problem later, we have some bad news; Miss Tranbol got away. We also found out that there are other teachers at the school who were in on it. We've managed to catch two of them, but they are refusing to talk. Without knowing who we can trust, we're going to have to see if we can flush them out." Richard scuffs his shoe on the foyer rug. I frown at him, usually he takes his shoes off at the door.
"Well, you know we can be trusted." Derrin says coming into the foyer from the kitchen.
"I thought you were leaving." Torren smirks at Derrin. Remmie looks up at me again and winks. "So, you're staying under cover a while longer?" Remmie cocks his head to the side, his eyes still on me. I get the feeling he is waiting to see how I react to his questions.