Chapter 20 - Afterwards

A couple of hours had passed. It was dark out now. I was sitting in the moth-eaten chair that Alexander had been sitting in. He was talking to a group of Reds I didn't know on the other side of the room. Nat was sitting on the ground beside me, keeping an eye on me. She was staring at the ground as if she were thinking hard about something. I stared at her, tried to get her vampire image in my head. It was all I could do at the moment. I noticed her light brown hair was thicker, her eyebrows thinner, her body was thinner, too. She was beautiful. Her red eyes were bright as if they still had some life in them. I looked away from her and at my hands in my lap. I put them together and thought of Aeryk for only the millionth time this evening. My heart felt as if something was pulling at it. I had to hold back more tears.
"Nat?" I asked softly. She turned her head quickly up to me. "Are you still in love?"



It was dark now. It had seemed like hours and hours had passed. We were at Aunt Mollie's again. Aeryk was still in break down with his head down, and silent tears dripping down his cheeks. He hadn't spoken since we had gotten here. Evaline was on his left side, holding Patrick to her. She had been scared. Scared when the Reds had taken him, that he would immediately die. Joshua was to Aeryk's right. He hadn't spoken, either. He had just been staring at the ground, not moving. Those four took up the couch. Mary was sitting on the floor with Riley. She was whispering comforting words into Riley's ear. She was crying softly. We had told Aunt Mollie everything by now. She was sitting in her rocking chair, thinking, not speaking like most of us. Evan and Derek were sitting at her feet, actually being quiet for once. I was leaning against the wall. I hadn't said anything yet, either. I was too busy concentrating on Rayne. Joshua broke the silence first.
"So, what are we gonna do?" he said with a monotone.
"I don't know, Joshua, I really don't," Patrick replied.
"Aren't we at least going to try to get Rayne back?"
"We can't right now, we have to wait for the Council."
"Why?"
"Because there are too many of them and not enough of us. We would lose a fight if we started one right now."
"But what about Rayne?"
"She's going to have to wait."
"But-"
"Joshua, that's the end of this conversation." Joshua looked back down at the ground and Patrick leaned back into the couch.
"What could they be doing to her?" It was Aeryk who spoke up. I must admit that it even surprised me.
"I don't know, but I'm sure she's fine, Aeryk," Patrick said.
"No, she's not."
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm not. We love each other. We can't stand to be away from each other. It's ripping me up inside, just thinking about what could be of her by now. She could be injured, raped, dead. I can't live without her." He broke into sobs again.
"Now you know how it feels," I said. I was still pretty angry with him. I still hated him for taking Rayne from me.
"Daren, do not speak to anyone like that when they are in so much pain," Aunt Mollie said.
"You should've seen me in London."
"Well, you're not in London now. Aeryk's heart is breaking-"
"Who cares? He will never know or experience the pain I went through just thinking about Rayne leaving."
"Daren, I think that's enough," Patrick said.
"No, it's not. You have to understand that he can't have the same bond with Rayne as I do. Evan, Derek, Ben, Tanya, and I all know this for ourselves."
"Hey, dude, don't get us involved," Evan said.
"I can and will do whatever I want," I said to him.
"Daren, stop it," Patrick said again.



Nat looked at me with complete confusion for a second. Then she answered, "I don't know." I looked into her eyes.
"Hm, no one ever knows anything anymore," I said and laid my head against the back of the chair.
"Are you?" Nat asked innocently. I looked back down at her. I smiled and said, "Yes. Yes, I am."
"I thought I was with Alexander. It was great at first. I didn't have a care in the world. But then, he made me kill my parents..."
"What?"
"I killed my parents. You haven't noticed them around, have you?" I shook my head no and she continued. "After that, it all just...went downhill. Nothing's fun anymore. I just kinda wanna quit this."
"Hmm."
"So, how are you and Aeryk doing?" When she said Aeryk's name, I had to let a tear fall.
"Um, we're doing great."
"Then why are you crying?"
"Because he's the man I love and I can't be with him now. I'm trapped in this Hellhole. He wouldn't come for me, he would die."
"Oh. You two really love each other that much?"
"Yeah, we do. We've even been discussing moving to New York with each other for a year."
"You're going away? For a year?"
"No, we can't now. Looks like I'm going to spend the rest of my eternal life with Alexander and his gang."
"Rayne, I'm sorry about this. Sorry about betraying you for Alex, for wanting to kill you, for everything."
"You don't have to be-"
"Yes, I do. I want to leave Alex. He's beena real jerk lately and I don't love him anymore. Heh, some relationship that was. I want to go Blue. Be a normal vampire like you and Daren." Just then, Alexander called Nat and I from across the room. We got up from where we were sitting and walked over to him.
"Yes?" Nat asked politely.



"No! I am not letting him get away with this!"
"Daren!"
"Shut up!"
"Daren?" Riley asked from where she and Mary sat. "Why are you getting so mad?" I looked at her with my eyes that were being filled with rage. She looked so innocent and harmless from there. She had always been my favorite of the Blakes. How could I lose control like this in front of her? I could barely handle myself. I put my face in my hands and screamed into them then ran out the front door. I ran up the street and could hear them calling my name and running footsteps. They were gaining on me. I ran faster, so did they. I was running as fast as I could. But they cought up with me, grabbed a hold of my arms and threw me down on the ground. It had been Patrick and Joshua. Patrick pinned me down and yelled, "Daren! You have to stop doing this! You can't lose control like that!"
"I know, I'm sorry," I said.
"Daren, I know you're hurt but try to keep control," Joshua said, kneeling down to talk to me.
"I'm sorry," I said, tears coming to my eyes. Patrick let me go. I sat up. I looked over to the house and saw that Aunt Mollie and the rest of the Blakes were staring, disbelief written all over their faces.



"Rayne, Natalie, you two have been awfully quiet over there. I was just wondering what you were doing," Alexander said.
"Oh, we were just talking," Nat replied to him.
"About what?"
"Just...stuff."
"Tell me."
"We were talking about Aeryk."
"Oh, that flea-bitten dog." My muscles tensed in anger.
"Don't call him that," I said. He looked to me with a smile.
"Rayne, how are you, darling? I hope all is well, of course. Come here." He motioned his hand for me to go over to him. I hesitated but slowly walked to him. When I reached him he held onto my hands. "Are you happy here? And tell me the truth."
I sucked in a breath and in a monotone said, "No, actually, I'm very upset here."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Is there anything we can do for you to make you happy?"
"Let me be with Aeryk and Daren again. I miss them."
He rolled his eyes when I mentioned Aeryk and Daren. "You don't need them, love. You have me here to protect you." As he said these words, he got up from where he had been seated on the floor and so quickly that I hadn't even seen him, came around behind me and laid his hands on my shoulders.
"I don't need them for protection. I need them for happiness, love, security. Everything that you can't give me."
"Darling, do you honestly think that I can't give you those things? I can give you that and more."
"I doubt it."
"Oh, don't be so pessimistic." He started to slowly wrap his hands around my waist.
"Get off me!" I yelled and threw him away from me. But as quickly as I had gotten him away, he came back. With one hand he held my hands together behind my back and with the other he held my neck tightly so that I could barely breathe.
"Alex!" Nat said in surprise and shock. He ignored her.
"I wouldn't have such and attitude if I were you," he whispered into my ear. "It could have...consequences." I tried to get away from his gripping hands but was unable.
"Alex, stop it," Nat said sternly. He held onto me for another moment then finally let go. As soon as he did, I backed away towards Nat. He stared at me with anger and desire flooding his eyes.
"Be careful what you do, love, I get angry very easily," he said and went back to sitting on the floor. The Reds grouped around him again and one by one began to murmur nonsense.



We had all returned to the house. I was shocked at myself for letting myself lose control for the second time. Having Rayne away really was getting to me. I sat in the kitchen alone, staring hard at the table, trying to think of what could possibly happen at this point. Patrick, Evaline, Joshua, Mary, and Aunt Mollie were in the living room discussing what to do next. Derek, Evan, and Riley were in the guest bedroom watching TV. Aeryk was in Rayne's room, most likely crying. I was half listening to what they were saying in the living room. They were trying to dicide on whether or not to call on the Council. Patrick had tried to call Ben earlier but he hadn't answered. I kept zoning in and out of reality, trying not to think of what was happening to Rayne. I was calm. Breathing in and out. In. Out. In. Out. I was in a sort of meditating state. I was completely numb, I couldn't feel any emotion. Then there was a sudden rapping on the back door. I jerked my head to see Kayla standing there, trying to get my attention. When I looked at her, she waved frantically as a signal to open the door. I got up and did so.
"Hey, where have you been the last couple of days?" she asked and gave me a kiss before I could answer. She sat down at the table and started talking again. "You have missed so much at school. The teachers are starting to wonder where you've been. Rayne, too. And Nat's been gone, too. Where have you guys been?"
"Kayla, um, I have some bad news," I said, kneeling down and putting my hand on her knee as if it would comfort her, but I was more getting ready for my reaction than hers.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Um, Rayne's missing." She stared at me with shock. She didn't speak. I went on. "You know that we're vampires. One of the very few humans that do. You don't know the details, though. You see, like you have a government with Democrats and Republicans, we have a Council with Reds and Blues. Blues are vampires like Rayne and me. We're normal. But Reds, well, they're a little on the crazy side. They over-hunt, kill for no reason, go an rampages regularly. And Rayne has been taken by one of the craziest of the Reds. His name is Alexander Cordilini. He's kidnapped Rayne and we've been talking with the Council to try and getr her back." She was speechless. She was trying to think of something to say. She had a puzzled look on her face.
"What's gonna happen to her?" she asked innocently.
"I don't know, but we're gonna find her," I answered.
"Oh, Daren, I'm so sorry. I hadn't realized it was this serious." She hugged me and held me there for a minute. We pulled away from each other.
"C'mon, I want you to meet some good friends on mine." I led her into
the living room. She followed cautiously. When we entered, no one was speaking, they all looked like they were thinking hard. I cleared my throat loudly and everyone looked up.
"Everyone, I want you to meet someone." They all looked past me and straight at Kayla.
"Who's this?" Patrick asked.
"I'm Kayla. I'm Daren's girlfriend," she said.
"Oh, well, nice to meet you, Kayla. My name is Patrick."
"Nice to meet you, Patrick." Evaline stood up and took Kayla's hand in hers.
"It's so nice to meet you. I'm Evaline," she said cheerfully. She had always liked meeting new people. Kayla gave her a smile and Evaline sat back down. Joshua got up and stuck his hand out for Kayla to shake it.
"Hi, I'm Joshua," he said shortly and she shook his hand with a smile. Mary just looked at her and said, "I'm Mary." She had never liked meeting new people. Kayla gave her a shy smile then looked down at the ground. Aeryk came down then. He was a horrifying sight. His cheeks were tear-stained, his hair was wet from all the crying, his eyes were blood-shot, and he had bags under his eyes. He gulped and weakly said, "Hey."

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