Bitten – Episode 15
Chapter 15 ♀
My shoulder ached uncomfortably as I sat on the couch, watching the rest of The Brothers Grimm- Sebastian’s choice. After growing bored of playing videogames, he’d popped in the movie, claiming it was his favorite. Now he was currently dead asleep, his head against my shoulder, his angular jaw pressing right into the hollow spot on my neck.
Heaviness weighed upon my eyes as I fought to keep myself awake. The day was almost over- that meant Vincent, Fiona, and Joel would be back with the King and Queen to let me know how the trial went. Anxiety washed over me at the thought. What was the verdict? Was it good… or bad? I shook my head vehemently, not allowing myself to think negatively. Positive thoughts led to positive outcomes.
I winced as Sebastian jerked in his sleep, digging further into my skin. As much as I wanted to shove him off me, the more rational side of me figured he needed sleep, so I left him alone. Shifting slowly, I tried to move his jaw from my shoulder to my arm. To my annoyance, my movement only caused him to lean even more on me.
“Dang,” I muttered, making a face in discomfort.
Sebastian’s head suddenly snapped up, a wild expression adorning his face. He blinked a few times, looking confused. A sigh of relief left my lips as feeling began to return to the numb spot where his jaw had been. “Did I fall asleep?”
“Yep.”
He frowned. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t apologize,” I responded with a shrug. “Next time just choose a better movie,” I added jokingly.
Rolling his eyes, he turned back to the television, just as the credits started rolling. “Figures. Are you hungry?”
“Uh,” I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was a repeat of this morning.
He seemed to sense my unease and a wry smile spread across his face. “Right. Why don’t we just let Vincent cook for you when he gets back?”
A sheepish smile crossed my face. “Sorry, Seb.” When I realized I’d called him by his old pet name, my face flushed. “Wait! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s fine,” he responded with a deep chuckle. “I don’t mind if you call me Seb. It’s only Fiona.”
A frown quickly replaced my sheepish look. “Sebastian…”
“Yes?”
“Um, I don’t know if I should say this or not, but… Maybe… Do you think Fiona still calls you by your pet name because she might still have feelings for you?” His face went blank at my words. For a moment we sat in an awkward silence. My heart pace began to quicken as I realized maybe I shouldn’t have said that. “I’m sorry, I-”
“You think so?”
I blinked. “What?”
Sebastian gave me a serious look. “Do you think Fiona might have feelings for me?”
“I-I can’t say for sure,” I replied, my eyes widening. “It’s just a thought- don’t base any reasoning off of it. It’s just… Well if she didn’t, wouldn’t she revert to calling you Sebastian?”
He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Perhaps…”
“You know, I could try to find out for you…”
“Find out what?”
“If she likes you,” I explained, dropping my gaze. “I might not be here for much longer, but…”
A wary expression passed over his face. “I’m not sure.”
.
.
I cocked my head. “Why?”
“What if the answer is no?”
A moment of silence passed between us.
“I highly doubt it will be a no,” I told him quietly. “You two were in love and then forced apart. If you never fell out of love, then Fiona probably didn’t either. It also explains the awkward interactions between you two. Maybe she doesn’t want anyone to think she still loves you in case they try to force you two apart even more. It could also be that she feels as though it isn’t right to still love you, even though it causes you problems…” I trailed off, realizing Sebastian was looking at me blankly. Warmth spread across my face. “Sorry, I’m babbling…”
He shook his head. “No, no. You have some interesting points.” The corners of his lips twitched up. “It’s a nice thought- thinking Fiona might still have feelings for me.”
“But?”
His smile grew. “How did you know there was a but?”
“I could hear it in your voice.”
“I will still be King,” he started, his face sagging. “There’s no way around it. It’s not that I don’t want to be King-I’m proud to have gained the title-, but because of it, there’s no way to be with Fiona. If it was up to me I’d drop the crown in a minute, however, I can’t let Ashton have it.”
My stomach twisted uncomfortably. That wasn’t very fair. He had to choose between the kingdom and Fiona? “Why can’t Ashton have it?” “He’s not fit to be a ruler.”
The sudden edge to Sebastian’s voice threw me off guard. I stared at him for a moment, trying to form a coherent thought. “I heard he wasn’t… exactly good,” I finally mumbled
“He’s not,” Sebastian agreed. “It’d be a bad idea to let him become King.”
“So there’s no way for you and Fiona to be together again?”
He smiled sadly. “I’m afraid not.”
“What if you were a surreptitious couple?” I inquired, my eyes widening. “You wouldn’t have to let anyone know! That way you guys could be together without a problem!”
The smile on his face faltered. “I’m not sure how that would work…”
“Couldn’t it though? You two would just have to be careful!”
“What if someone found out?”
“What if?” I repeated.
He nodded. “There’s the chance. If we were to get together, we could be found out. There’s no guarantee it will work out in our favor, Em. Besides, obviously fate isn’t in my favor.”
“There is no way of guaranteeing anything! The mystery of fate is solved the moment it becomes now, and never before then!” I protested, clenching my fists. For a moment Sebastian stayed quiet, eyeing me. “That’s quite a thing to say, Em.” I blushed in embarrassment. “It’s true though…”
“Maybe,” he concurred, nodding his head. “As appealing as that sounds, I don’t know if I could take the chance. It’d be putting everything on the plank.” I frowned. “I think it could work out.”
“Are you a hopeless romantic?”
“No!”
“I think you are.”
“I’m not!”
“So what you’re saying is that Fiona and I should have a… proscriptive
relationship?”
.
.
I stared at him. “What does that mean?”
“Forbidden,” he informed me. “Especially by law. It’s fitting, is it not?”
A grin flashed across my face. “Very much so.”
He sighed, letting his shoulders sag. “I don’t know, Em…”
“I think-”
“They’re back,” he suddenly stated, sitting up right.
My eyes widened. “They?”
“My parents and the rest,” he explained, pushing himself off of the couch. “Come on, Emily.”
I took his outstretched hand and he swiftly pulled me to my feet, immediately dragging me towards the stairs. Stumbling a bit, I managed to rectify myself and follow after him quickly. His hand never let go of mine as we ascended the stairs and headed down the hallway. I had no idea where we were going, so I allowed Sebastian to tug me along.
Eventually we entered the main living room, where the rest of Sebastian’s family was gathered. All eyes snapped to me at once. Vincent’s gaze dropped down to my hand that was still intertwined with Sebastian’s. He snorted, looking away again. I glowered at him, slowly pulling my hand out of Sebastian’s.
“Where’s Joel?” I questioned, deciding to break the silence. I wasn’t ready to bring up the main subject yet.
“He went off with his friends,” Luella informed me, a gentle smile gracing her face. “It’s been awhile, Emily. How are you?”
I smiled back at her to the best of my ability. “It has. I’ve been okay. How about yourself?”
“Busy,” she responded with a small chuckle.
“Understandable.”
“Let’s all take a seat,” Solomon suggested, leading his wife towards one of the couches.
Sebastian started to steer me to one of the couches as well, but I ducked out from under his arm, staggering towards Vincent. Before anyone could protest, I plopped down in the seat next to him. He cocked an eyebrow, gazing at me curiously. I ignored him, looking toward Fiona who, like I’d planned, had sat next to Sebastian. A small, satisfied smile took place on my face. “What are you smiling at, stupid?”
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“Oh, Vincent. How I missed your sarcastic self. I actually had a lot of fun today without you around.”
“And I had a lot of fun deciding your fate,” he snapped back.
I pursed my lips at him. “Whatever.”
The King chuckled. “Now children…”
“So what was the verdict?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
All the vampires before me exchanged surprised glances. I waited patiently, my hands clenched into tense fists. There were a few moments of quiet before someone decided to speak.
“They’ve decided to silence you,” Vincent declared gravely.
My head snapped towards him, my eyes growing wide. “What? Are you serious? They’re going to kill me? Why? What happened? What’s-” “Vincent!” Luella cried, cutting me off. “Stop teasing her!”
He snickered as my mouth dropped. “You’re a jerk!”
He smirked. “Thanks.”
I glared at him, but felt relieved. Since he’d joked about it, the verdict obviously wasn’t death for me. “So what’s going to happen?” .
.
“Before you get upset, I promise I tried every thing possible in order for them to let you go home,” Solomon started, his green eyes piercing into mine. “They were really tough to budge. What they say goes…”
My heart skipped a beat. “W-what are you trying to say?”
“You’re stuck here forever,” Vincent deadpanned.
It felt like a bus had plowed me down. Forever? Tears sprung to my eyes at just the thought. “I-I…”
“Vincent,” the Queen said scolding. “Stop teasing her!” “Yeah, Vivi, lay off,” Fiona added, smiling despite her words.
Sebastian, on the other hand, didn’t look even slightly amused. His expression probably represented mine- but mine was probably more murderous.
“You’re such an ass!” I cried, glaring at Vincent with as much hate as I could gather. “Why do you keep doing that?” “It’s amusing,” he responded simply.
“No it’s not!”
The King frowned. “Vivi, stop harassing Emily.”
He waved his hand at his dad in dismissal. “Whatever.”
“What’s the real verdict?” I inquired, already feeling worn out. I wasn’t sure I could deal with it now.
“As of right now, they’re talking about letting you go home. There are a few things that have to be discussed seeing as a human whose memory we can’t erase doesn’t come along very often. I can promise you that you are certainly going to be able to go home,” he continued, smiling gently. “For the next week though, you’ll have to remain here.”
I gazed at him, processing his words. “Just a week?”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized.
I shook my head. “Don’t apologize!” A relieved laugh left my lips. “I thought you were going to say that I’d have to remain here for a year. A week I can handle easily!”
Luella smiled at me. “You’re taking this much better than I’d anticipated.
Especially as seeing how the first time you were told you’d be staying here for a
week you were nearly hysterical.
I ducked my head. “Well…”
Sebastian chuckled. “It was different back then, right? You thought we were all blood sucking monsters.”
“Sorry about that,” I muttered, feeling my face grow hot. “I really have been afraid of vampires since I was little.”
“Understandable,” Solomon responded amicably. “A week won’t be so bad.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I… Wait. What about my family?”
“Another week in California?”
I grimaced. “So much math homework…”
Chuckles filled the room. I laughed along with them, even though on the inside I wanted to cry. Two weeks of math homework was an inconceivable amount. Especially since I was horrid at it in the first place.
“It’s getting late,” Luella commented, sighing quietly. “I think I’m going to go to sleep.”
The King murmured his agreement, standing up from his seat. “We’ll see you tomorrow, Emily.”
“Goodnight, Emily,” Luella added as she and her husband exited the room.
“Night!” I called after them, waving.
Fiona hopped to her feet. “I guess I’m going to go as well. Night Vivi, Emily. Sweet dreams, Seb,” she added, grinning cheekily at him, as if it was an inside joke.
He smiled at her, his emerald eyes twinkling with mischievous. “Actually, I’m tired
myself, so I’ll accompany you.”
“You sure?”
“Positive,” he responded, pushing himself off the couch. “Night you two.” “Night,” I said, doing my best not to smile at them. They definitely made a cute couple.
Sebastian paused before exiting. “Thank you, Emily.”
“Thank you?”
“For today,” he responded with a soft smile. “I’m taking your words into account…
Maybe you’re right.”
I scratched the back of my head. “It’s no problem, Seb.”
When they left the room I sighed contently, sinking back into the sofa and splaying out my arms. My left arm landed on something warm and hard and I jumped violently. Vincent rolled his eyes at me as my heart leapt into my throat. “I forgot you were here,” I admitted breathlessly.
“Obviously.”
I twitched. “Whatever. I’m going to bed too.” Irritated, I shoved myself away from
the couch, not sparing him a glance.
“Sorry.”
I paused. “Sorry?”
“For deluding you earlier,” he clarified, keeping his voice low. “It was a dick move.”
“Not to be unexpected from you.”
He snorted. “Thank you.”
“Apology accepted though,” I continued, refusing to look at him. “I didn’t believe
you anyway.”
“Yes you did.”
“No I didn’t.”
“Yes you did.”
I froze, suddenly feeling his cool breath caressing my ear. My gaze shifted to my right side, where Vincent was standing. A smirk formed on his face as my face flushed. I took a step away from him, frowning.
“Are you really tired?” he questioned.
“Um…”
“Um isn’t an acceptable response.”
I gave him a sarcastic look. “No.”
“Good. Then let’s go eat something,” he ordered, grabbing me by the elbow. “I’m starving and want company while I eat.”
I stumbled after him, surprised. “You want my company?”
“Sure.”
“Really?”
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He ignored me, continuing to drag me down the hallway. I stared at the back of his head curiously. Did he really want me to go with him? The thought made my heart feel lighter. If he kept his up, we could actually become friends… “Wait a second.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “What?”
“Do you really want my company, or is it because everyone else is sleeping?”
A wicked smile crossed his face. “Who knows.”
