"The bond." I growl out spinning back to face the two of them. Although truthfully, it’s both, I don’t want to get too close especially with the unwanted bond that forms. "You saw what the bond did to Marcus, what if knowing the person makes it worse?" I ask, turning to face Richard head on.
What if the bond forms both ways and I end up falling for them and make the biggest mistake of my life?
His nostrils flare and I gulp, knowing I'm pushing my luck by talking to him the way I am. "What if knowing the person makes the bond more manageable?" Richard fires back.
"Are you really willing to risk your own life to test that theory? Because if the bond makes you a crazy murderer, then I'll put you down myself!"
Richard throws his hands up in the air and goes over to the alcohol cupboard, pouring himself and Jason a drink. “Bloody stubborn woman!” I glare at Richard’s back but keep my mouth shut. It’s not worth the effort of fighting with him right now.
"Look, I know you're scared, but would you really risk other people's lives all for the sake of not creating a bond with us?" Jason asks, walking over to join Richard by the kitchen sink. Jason is acting like he doesn't care one way or the other on what I do, but even he thinks feeding from the two of them is a good idea.
Do I really want to try this? Could they be right?
"Isn't there a way that we can just have you donate the blood, get a kit or something, at least then the bond won’t form." I toss the half full blood bag back onto the table, it drips onto the wooden surface if I keep holding it, I'm going to drink it all and they clearly want to hash this out right now.
"It's faster if we do it this way, cheaper too. We might live in this huge house but don't forget, we aren't made of money." Richard scolds gently as he too stares at the few drops of blood that leaked from the bag.
I look around the room, once more taking note of the uncomfortably opulent surroundings, the fridge and freezer take up most of one wall, the sink, benches and breakfast bar give the rest of the kitchen a homier feel but it’s the giant windows above the sink that I love the most. They give you the perfect view of the forest surrounding the property. I know they didn't buy the place; it was left to Jason when his parents died, they were rich lawyers but when they took on a huge case for the government they were killed by a hitman. I don't know the details, but I do know Jason has never given up trying to find out who did the hit.
When Jason joined the police force, he met Richard, they became best friends and when Richard found out that Jason was at risk of losing his parent’s home because he wasn't earning enough to pay for the repairs that were needed, he offered to live with him and help out. Jason's parents left him a small fortune, but he can't touch it until he is twenty-one. Imagine living life like that, knowing you've got the means but not the opportunity to use it. I think it would suck, but Jason and Richard make it work, together.
The day I moved in with them, I thought they were gay lovers. Imagine my surprise when they told me about Jason's parents. I still think they have something going on between them, after all what red-blooded man could go months living with a beautiful young girl parading around in barely anything and not want to get into her pants?
It certainly leaves me wondering if they are or aren't gay.
"Don't even think about going without, we can't risk you attacking all those students on Monday. You will be going to school. You need to get used to being around other people your own age.” I almost groan as he puts emphasis on the word ‘age’ as if they’re so much older than me. The truth is, we don’t even know if I actually am seventeen, it’s not like there’s a test that can determine someone’s exact age.
He keeps speaking and I miss some of it, but I manage to tune in enough to catch the gist, “… and if you can't live amongst the humans then we'll just have to give up everything we have here and go live out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere there's no people. Then you'll have to survive off our blood alone." He pauses rubbing his temple. "Or worse, live off the blood of animals." Jason's dramatic speech is delivered with a smirk on his face as he tries to lessen the blow but I know he’s right.
When I first came here they tried giving me animal blood, cow to be precise. The blood was disgusting. Tasted like ash and made me want to throw it all back up. Which I did mind you, but these two don't know that. They just think it made me very sick. I spent two days after that in bed with a fever and unable to eat anything, not even human food until it was all out of my system.
I'm losing my grip; Richard is talking again and I've missed half of what he was saying as well, "... you see what it's doing to you? Neither Jase nor I want to see anything bad happen to you. Just let us help you."
"Fine, but if you two go crazy who is going to protect all those students from the two of you?" I'm more worried about who will take care of me if anything happens but a small part of me is too scared to admit that because in my opinion the effect of that stupid bond is scarier than me losing my shit and feeding on a few stupid teens. “At least I can stop, you won't even know what you are doing is wrong until it's too late."
I snatch the blood bag back up off the table. I can't keep starving myself. Besides if I fill myself up now, I shouldn't need any more until tomorrow evening, I know it's just delaying the inevitable but I have to do something and worst-case scenario I’ll just have to go steal some from somewhere. Flashes of the last time I stole blood float through my mind…
* * *
It wasa week after they began feeding me animal blood, I’d just gotten over the sickness from it when the hunger hit me so badly that I knew I had to do something. I climbed out the window and took off for the nearest hospital. The darkness didn’t bother me much, but knowing I was alone made me feel like someone was following me.
I had snuck into the laboratories in the basement of the hospital, knowing that was the best place to find blood bags without too many people seeing me. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the security guard who was manning the desk after hours. He caught me just as I was opening the fridge where they stored the blood bags. I’m not sure if the loud noise I made breaking the lock is what alerted him or if there were cameras but he grabbed me from behind and slammed my back into the wall.
It was one of the scariest moments of my life. Of course he turned out to be the man who Jason and Richard now get their blood bags from, but their punishment for me sneaking out was how I ended up with the monitoring anklet on my leg.
I can't risk another punishment, Richard was right, it's not the bond itself I'm worried about, it's losing the only two people who have ever shown me kindness. I care about them more than I'm willing to admit.
I toss the empty bag into the bin under the sink and walk back to the table where Jason is sitting. "You've got a little..." Jason's hand comes out of nowhere, his finger gently rubbing the corner of my lips. My heart stammers to a stop.
"At least she has a little colour back in her cheeks." Richard says as though Jason touching me is perfectly normal.
I'm frozen, incapable of even thinking straight as Jason slowly drags his finger along my lips. "Shouldn't waste it." He whispers. My mouth pops open in shock and he rubs the blood against my tongue. The move is so unexpected and erotic, a moan slips out of me, causing my blush to deepen.
"Ahem." Richard clears his throat making both Jason and I jump. "Bedtime Rose."
I shake my head; I don't know what the hell just happened but damn that was weird. "Night." I mumble as I head towards the stairs.
"Don't push her like that Jase, you'll only scare her away." Richard's voice sounds worried. I pause halfway up the stairs; curious what else they might say.