• CHAPTER 126 - GIVEN LIFE, GIVEN LOVE, GRANTED DEATH

    I love him so much--I can't imagine another waking moment without him in my mind or my heart.

    All night, I refused to fall back asleep when Kai told me to, although I was so incredibly tired. I merely laid halfway on top of him and gently tugged at his hair, listening to his occasional sighs of satisfaction. I would kiss his face, everywhere except for his lips. His forehead, temples, cheeks, nose, and chin were all kissed by my thin lips. He merely kept his eyes closed and kept one hand up my nightgown and resting on my hip with his other hand lying at his side. I was a little uncomfortable with him touching me underneath my nightgown, but I would let him do as he pleased.

    Occasionally, we would lock lips and get somewhat carried away--tongues delving into each others' mouths and pressing against the inside of each others' cheeks. At one point, Kai removed the bandages around my neck--there were merely scabs left of the bite wounds--to air the wounds out and he pressed his lips against my clavicle and my chest bone. Very lightly and slowly, he would nibble at the surface of my skin in a few selective places.

    "Are you hurt anywhere else?" I whispered, halfway out of breath and playing with his bangs.

    Kai shook his head, "No; no acid knives this time." He chuckled.

    My face saddened and I avoided eye contact, "So where will I be sent away to?"

    He paused and opened his deep brown eyes--eyes of romance and enticement, "I don't know yet...probably America or Europe--just anywhere far from here."

    I closed my eyes, pursed my lips, shook my head lightly, and pressed my face against the hollow of his neck and sighed, "So you're thinking about a month? Or a month and a half?"

    The only thing Kai did was sigh; a sigh of confirmation. Between one and two months--that would fly by too fast. The past eleven months flew by in what felt like a mere three days. My days and months with Kai were all worth it; those memories would somewhat help me with the countdown, knowing I moved on from all that had happened to me, and it would let me know that I could find love before my death. God forbid, even if I would survive, I'd still become a forty-year-old virgin.

    Kai shifted a little and he had a look of discomfort on his face. His left shoulder moved sluggishly and his shoulder popped, followed by my flinching and highly audible gasp. Such a loud pop; that was his shoulder?

    "It was dislocated," he gripped his shoulder and rolled it around, checking to be sure the movement was right. "I waited for it to heal a little more before popping it back."

    He couldn't help but chuckle at my complexion of disgust. Such a grotesque-sounding pop and he merely shrugged it off. With me and my weak self, I'd be rolling on the ground in sheer pain. Of course, I was nowhere near the stature of a Vampire; my healing abilities were less of that than a normal human.

    "You're poor at healing yourself but you're wonderful at healing others," Kai cracked another corny line with a smile.

    "Must you end our romantic moments with corny lines?" I complained.

    "That's what comes out after a hundred and seventy-seven years of boredom," he shrugged.

    I smiled, "You're old,"

    We were both cracking jokes, but I was aching inside--I was pretty sure Kai was too. Our faces showed enjoyment in our distractions, but our eyes told differently. We could pretty much read each other without words. Of course, Kai could always read my thoughts but I developed the habit of reading his emotions; not only by his eyes but by his subtle actions. I learned to become more alert with my new family, allowing me to realize what everybody is truly feelings--I was nowhere near reading minds, though; I had no superpower.

    "You should be getting to sleep," Kai advised me for the fifteenth time, sitting up with his arm still around my hip. "It's unhealthy for you to stay up so long."

    "Whatever, Kai, I'm already anemic and I was born with a crappy immune system," I frowned at him. "There's not really anything I can do."

    "You like broccoli?"

    I nodded, "Steamed,"

    "Then there's your anemia solution," he chuckled. "Or red meat."

    "Before you ditch me," I stopped him, "could you give me some more inside information?"

    "Anything,"

    I bit my bottom lip and avoided eye contact, knowing he would become angry and mislead what I was about to say, "Can you describe to me what it's like...to turn into a Vampire?"

    His eyes quickly shifted to a deep, deep red and his complexion hardened, "Don't tell me--"

    "I knew you would take it the wrong way," I pressed my fingers against his lips. "Don't fret; I'm far from wanting to become one. I'm merely a curious girl. How different is it than a Werewolf infection?" I hesitantly asked, subtly flinching at the thought of when I was writhing in pain on that December night.

    "I refuse to inform you," he mumbled, looking away. "That's the one thing I won't reveal to you."

    "Why not?"

    "For starters, I couldn't fathom the thoughts that would pound in your head," he sighed. "And I don't want you to end up wanting to change for my sake."

    "I can't believe you still think I would want to change," I sighed. "Kai, you have no idea how much I don't want to change. That Werewolf venom was more than enough for me; if Vampire venom is worse, then I don't want anything to do with it. I'm not Bella Swan."

    He released a quick laugh out of my last comment, "I suppose you're not,"

    "I'm not going to do you to bear a freak-of-nature child just so you could change me," I laughed, lightening up the subject. "But just know that, if there was literally no other option, I'd--hesitantly but gladly--allow you to change me..."

    "Let's get you to sleep," he changed the subject and gently laid me down on my back. "Take it easy."

    "If I'm going to seep, you're joining me," I locked my arms around his neck.

    "I'm nocturnal," he frowned.

    I peeked outside the large window, "It's pretty much dawn. Come on, it won't kill you; you've slept at night plenty of times before."

    He merely rolled his eyes, sighed immaturely, and rolled onto the bed behind me. He locked his arms around my waist and pulled my back close to him--spooning. That position still felt awkward to me but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I enjoyed him being so close to me and holding me so close. As soon as his lips pressed against the top of my head, I passed out from lack of sleep.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    With a slight rapping at the front door, I jerked myself awake with yet another pool of saliva on my pillow. Kai's arms tightened a little more around my waist and he held me closer to him, sighing. I glanced at him over my shoulder--his sleeping face was beautiful. There was another knock at the door and Kai shifted a little, waking up.

    "There's somebody at the door," I mumbled as there was a third knock.

    "I've got it," he groaned from his tired state of mind while he was sitting up.

    I sat up and gripped his sleeve, yawning, "No, I'll get it; you sleep."

    Kai was already up and off the bed as soon as I sat up. He left the bedroom and I sat at the edge of the bed, stretching and gliding my slippers on. The alarm clock said it was about eleven thirty-two--Kai probably fell asleep not too long ago. I never bothered to question who was at the door; my mind was too tired to process much.

    As soon as I stood up from the bed, I heard something that sounded like a threatening growl. Was it from Kai? What was angering him?

    Sneaking out of the bedroom, I was slow but sneaky on my feet--another growl from Kai rang through the house. I circled around one of the corners to the front door and stood near Kai. Kai glanced back at me with red eyes and, when I looked ahead, I could tell why he was angry. The two men I feared worse were a mere seven feet away from me, the men from the mirror room. My murderers.