The Kiss of Death

Chapter 9

Eleanor's POV:

    I take a big step back and turn my eyes down to the ground, waiting for whoever was on the other side to speak and giving myself a chance to prepare for this day. I know that Will has to be different now, that he can't be my Will in front of anyone else, but it doesn't mean I'm looking forward to being treated like crap all day. I figure if I just keep my head down and avoid interactions with anyone else, maybe I'll escape the worst of it. I know that he wouldn't hurt me but if someone else thought that I'd overstepped or misbehaved, he'd likely have no choice but to dole out some type of punishment to satisfy the others. 

    "Your royal majesty." Matthias bows, performing a grand sweeping gesture in a very overexaggerated sign of respect. A quick glance tells me he's paying me no mind but I dare not chance him catching my gaze so I avert my gaze back to the ground and keep my hands fisted at my sides, nails digging into my palms, to remind myself not to move or touch anything.

    "Oh shut up Matt, it wasn't funny the first time you did it and it's not funny now." Will responds flippantly, moving about the room to check for any straggling items that may have been forgotten. 

    "Well why break tradition?" Matt murmurs. I can hear the mischievous grin in his voice and can tell that he means well but seems to really enjoy teasing Will. They must be good friends if he's comfortable enough to tease him so openly. I frown slightly, brows furrowed, as I try to decide why Will could see any redeeming qualities in a leech who doesn't seem to care much about anything but his own amusement. Granted, I haven't known him long, so maybe there's something there that I simply haven't seen. I bring my eyes up to glance in his direction again and quickly look back down when I notice he's staring at me. s**t.

    "I was coming to give you a wake up call, but it looks like you've been up for a while. All your bags are packed, you're up and dressed." He gestures to the bags and then to Will as he continues to speak. "Hell, you've even gotten your new pet dressed and ready to go." He saunters over to me, moving to stand so close I can feel the warmth of his breath hitting my face as he speaks. "What, no midnight snacks with this one?" He grins and roughly grabs hold of my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.

    I barely recognize the whimper that leaves my throat as I glare up at him, not nearly strong enough to jerk my face out of his hold but desperately wanting to be away from him. How is it that I haven't even done anything and already I'm being treated like slime? His hold is so strong that I wouldn't be surprised if it left bruises behind. "I don't see even one bite gracing her neck. What's the point of a pet if not to feed on it?" He murmurs, inspecting my neck and ignoring my look of disdain.

    I can't see Will from this angle but I can feel him through the golden string that connects us together as soulmates and I know that he's extremely bothered at his inability to step in to help me without sending alarms blaring through his friends head. I know if our circumstances were even remotely normal, he'd have stepped up in a heartbeat to pry his filthy hands off of me and free me from his harsh hold. He remains silent minus the sound of his shoes shuffling across the floor as he moves to the door and opens it wide.

    "Oh, I see!" Matt raises his voice excitedly as he releases my face and turns to face his friend once again, grinning widely. "You must have decided on this one for s****l gratification, am I right?" He laughs, his voice thundering throughout the room. "I didn't take you for the dominant type, but I suppose having complete control of one's partner could be a turn on. Plus I know only too well how extremely enjoyable it is to feed in the middle of sex." He wiggles his eyebrows at Will, chuckling some more to himself as he turns back to study me once again.

    "I can see the appeal though, she does look rather tasty. Although I wouldn't have pictured you to go for this type. She's a little plain, kind of mousey if you ask me." He murmurs, grabbing a strand of my hair and running it through his fingers. Disgusted with his inspection of me, I wrench away from him, not caring if he seems offended by my actions as I turn my back on him to look for Will. 

    Pain seers through my scalp as he latches onto my hair and tugs roughly until I'm pressed snuggly against his chest, my back to his front, and he jerks my head aggressively to the side to bare my neck to him. "I don't know who you think you are little one, but I promise you, I'm not the one to disrespect. I'll snap your neck in a second if you're not careful. Don't turn your back on me unless you're ready to face the consequences." He scrapes his teeth across my neck, a bead of blood dripping slowly down my neck to my collarbone. He licks his tongue over the small scratch, catching a small bead of blood. "Mmm.."

    "Enough!" I jump when I hear Will's voice echo throughout the room, the booming voice startling us both which causes Matt to release me. The tone in William's voice must have really surprised him because he almost throws me away from him in his efforts and I fall right in to Will's arms. What the hell have I gotten myself into? The day hasn't even really begun and already I've crossed some invisible line I'm supposed to have known about and been threatened because of it. 

    I take a deep calming breath and pull away from Will almost immediately, apologizing under my breath for falling into him as I shuffle back onto my knees to kneel on the floor. I don't know if it's what's expected of me, but I know I want to cross all my T's and dot all my I's if that keeps Will from having to punish me. I expect that cruelty from Matt and any other ghoul we come across, but I don't ever want to know what Will's harsh touch could be like, unless of course I find it in the bedroom.

    I shake my head to clear away my wayward thoughts and blush a deep red as I glance up at Will from under my lashes. He's already turned his back to me and appears to be ready to knock his friends head off the way he's got him cornered by the door. 

    "I can punish my pet when I see fit, I don't need your help! If you'd bothered to ask, I've informed her that she is not to let any other vampire touch her, let alone feed from her, and you have now forced her to infringe upon both of those rules. Keep your hands to yourself Matthias before I have to put you in your place for the first time in decades!" He pauses and brushes both hands through his already messy, albeit stylish hair in a gesture that confirms just how aggravated he's become. 

    He turns to glance at me, dares not to offer any kind of reassurance or kindness in case his friend is watching too closely, and then turns away, not bothering to look my way again. I shudder, strange cold chills running through me as I process his cold look and this strange turn of events silently to myself. Remind me not to get too close to the best friend, he seems to not give a damn regardless of Will's warnings. If I should cross him when Will isn't around to protect me, who knows what could happen.

    I very slowly climb to my feet  but continue to keep my gaze to the floor, I don't want to draw any more attention to myself than necessary. 

    "My apologies Will. I didn't realize you were so serious about this pet, you've never shown such domineering behavior towards any of your other pets before.." Matt trails off and rubs the back of his neck in a gesture of awkwardness. It's clear he doesn't spend a lot of time apologizing. It's also clear that he holds Will in high regard if he's willing to break his social norm to keep his friend. "It won't happen again." He bows his head, sheepishly looking to the floor as he waits for Will to respond. 

    Will, having turned towards his luggage to pretend to be busy as he tried to calm his nerves, slowly turns back to face him, his eyes softening only slightly as he considers his friend and seems to find his apology genuine. "I'm glad we're agreed." He nods once before heading to the door and gesturing once over his shoulder for me to follow. "Would you send someone for my things? I'd like to leave early to get the required papers for my pet to travel home with me." 

    "Of course Bex." Matthias replies as he grabs one of his lighter bags and makes his way out of the room as well, though he stops at the front desk when we continue out to the carriage, likely to request that some bellman fetch the rest of his bags. 

    I stop when we reach our ride, glance back at the luggage cart that I'd hitched a ride on the first time into the city and sigh heftily, wishing that I didn't have to sit through another lumpy uncomfortable ride to get to the hospital. "W-" I pause and wait for Will to glance back at me, one quizzical brow raised as if to ask me what I need. "Would you boost me up?" I murmur under my breath, my eyes not meeting his. "Please, Sir." I tack on the last bit to try to seem extra respectful in case I'm not supposed to speak to him in public. After all I am a servant girl, a pet, and he is a king. I mean, he will be, someday.

    He frowns and nods once, walking back toward me and the luggage cart and grabbing my waist with his big and very strong hands. He lifts me up with seemingly zero effort, then plops me onto the seat inside the cart. "It's a short ride to the hospital." He murmurs, his eyes searching mine as he shuffles his feet unconsciously. "Then we'll head back to city hall so I can drop off the paperwork and we'll search the city for roughly a dozen young women to take back home with us." He frowns and tears his gaze away from mine when I release a short strangled cry of grief. 

    I know who he is, I know what he is, but I never once thought to look back at who he'd been before we ever met. Before he knew that he was mated to a human, how did he treat my kind? How many other women has he stolen from their homes? How many young girls did he feed from or torture? How many pets has he kept and for how long? What did he do to them while they were in his custody? I can practically see the guilt all over his face, even as he tries to hide it away from me. 

    Am I in love with a monster? Can I forgive all of his past mistakes? And if I did, what does that make me? Some kind of monster too? I turn away from him too quickly and stare out at the trees beyond the Inn, willing the knowledge away and wishing yet again that things were different. "Thank you." I murmur under my breath, still not turning to meet his eyes. I can't stand to look at him again until I've calmed my nerves and sat with this for a while. I need time to think.

    He clears his throat and turns away, climbing into the wagonette to begin our journey. The driver, some man I've never seen before, takes charge at the reigns and sends the horses trotting down the road with one yip and a slap. I stare out at the sun, having just risen above the trees, and consider my situation. 

    In just one day, I've been torn away from my sister, mated to a monster, and made into some sort of pet that'd better watch what she says and does if she wants to live to see tomorrow. My sister is likely being held as something similar or could possibly already be dead. My parents are still waiting for us in the city of light if they even made it there themselves, and now I have to witness and possibly even help in the abduction of young girls just like me.

    I can feel my breath becoming more labored as I struggle to come to terms with my life now. The stress causing one big lump of anxiety to form in my chest and throat, restricting my breathing and making me dizzy with worry. I had one job to do, get Ed and I to the city safely. That was it. That's all I was told. And somehow, I'd managed to screw that up so royally, that I may never reach that city or even see my sister ever again. I may as well have killed us both myself.

    I squeeze my eyes closed tightly and count to ten as I focus only on leveling out my breathing. Even I know that getting myself all worked up isn't going to solve anything right now. It's best that I keep a level head and just tackle one problem at a time. Right now the goal is clear. Just follow Will to town, make it through this day without getting killed, and tomorrow we can make our way to Eddie. 

    I open my eyes and fix them on the ground, watching as the gravel shoots out from under the wheels as we make our way down the road. Maybe I can ask around about Ed, see if any of the women we pick up today have seen her or if they have any idea who could have nabbed her. Maybe somebody saw what happened. I mean it isn't much to go on, but it'd be a start in the right direction. 

    I continue on with that train of thought until the carriage comes to an abrupt halt and I'm almost sent flying across the luggage. "Damn.." I mutter under my breath angrily, looking around to see why we've stopped as I rub my ankle where it had pressed against a sharp edged box to keep me from falling out of my seat. 

    I must have been lost so deeply to my own thoughts that I hadn't even noticed that we'd arrived until we'd already stopped outside of the building. I've never been to this hospital before but from the looks of it, there isn't much to offer by way of service here. We'll be lucky if they have a decent filing cabinet. Surely they wouldn't have stopped here if there were any other hospital nearby. The building looks more like a small home than a hospital. Two stories, can't be more than four beds and two baths from the looks of it. This town really needs to put some funding towards running a decent hospital. 

    "Come." Will appears seemingly out of nowhere and startles me once again out of my own thoughts. "I'd like to get this handled quickly." He murmurs. 

    I nod once and step up to stand on the edge of the cart before dropping down to stand beside him. "Yes, sir." I look up at him, studying his face as he grabs my arm gently and leads me up to the house. He murmurs very low, almost indecipherable, into my ear as we reach the front step and he knocks on the door. "I would never hurt you El.. I've got a lot of regrets in my life, but I'm going to make it all up to you, you'll see." He turns ever so slightly to press the smallest of kisses to my temple before pulling away to be greeted at the door by a single young man.

    "I'd like to get my pet up to date on her shots." He murmurs as he steps over the threshold, dragging me along behind him. "I'd also like to collect the records so that I may travel with her and provide proof of that to anyone who should ask." 

    "I see, I will need some identification from you as well as proof of insurance and a license to obtain a pet." The boy rattles off without looking up from the paperwork that he's been studying as he rounds around a small desk that sits at the edge of the front room overlooking the foyer, and takes a seat. 

    "Of course." Will nods, pulling out his wallet and dropping all three requested items onto the desk without pulling his arm away from where we're still linked together. He places his wallet back in his pocket then turns to wink at me and rolls his eyes in an attempt to make a funny face.

    I smile and turn back to look at the boy who then drops his paperwork down on the desk with a flustered sigh before snatching the cards and setting to work filling out the request from. When he's finished with the cards, he turns back to hand them to Will, raises his head up to meet his gaze and I get a good look at his face for the first time since we've stepped into the building.

    "Oh shit." He fumbles and drops the cards onto the floor as he makes eye contact with me at last, and I can see the recognition in his face. "Eleanor?" He mutters automatically, not stopping to think before the name slips off his tongue. I shake my head very subtly and watch as he catches himself and drops down to retrieve what he's dropped before he rises again to finally return them to Will's outstretched hand. He turns to look at me again and frowns, staring dumbfoundedly at me as he tries to process what my being here must mean. That I've obviously been caught, and that my sister is nowhere to be seen.

    "Hi Nik."