Bad Taste (Part I) // Colby Brock

146 - Rebecca

We got too close to the house and Colby had to stop so we could swap places. He got out of the car and I got out with him, but not before he'd opened my door for me. He slammed it shut, our eyes locked together. The severity of the situation was slowly falling on the both of us, reminding us that this was really about to happen: I was about to walk willingly into a feeding house. Almost on my own.

"I love you," Colby said as he took my face in one of his hands, "so don't get hurt. I need you to live."

I smiled at him. "I pull everything off, this outfit included. I think it'll be fine." He smiled back and kissed me carefully on the lips. It was the kind of kiss that made me feel delicate, and I didn't like feeling delicate.

My body moved against his as I took a hold of his shirt, balling my fists in it. He grabbed onto my hips probably harder than he should have, pulling me impossibly close to him. My heart was fluttering in my chest, my whole body responding to his. He just had this effect on me.

Only when Angela honked the horn did we pull away, ripped into reality. Reluctantly, I released my intense hold on Colby's shirt and even smoothed it out for him. He rolled his eyes before placing a kiss on my cheek. "Do you need my help getting rid of that mark?" He asked.

I pouted. I actually pouted. "I forgot about that," I admitted.

"Me too, until just now." He paused. "We can always make a new one tonight."

I grinned. "I like the way you think." He chuckled as he lifted his wrist to his mouth. I heard him take a bite more than saw it, considering this road was dark. As soon as his arm was in front of me, I latched onto it, taking in some of his blood. It wasn't the best taste in the world, but there was something about this that was just... erotic.

Colby pulled his arm away after a few moments making me whine. He smiled, wiping the excess from my lips then kissing me again, this time only for a second. "I love you," he said.

"I love you, too."

"Remember not to get hurt."

"I'll try my damned best," I promised. That was all I could do, really, because there was no guarantee whatsoever that I would be returning to him all in one piece tonight. That, for the first time, actually scared me.

With one last goodbye, Colby darted off. I was sure he wasn't going to go far at first, at least until he knew I was in the house of thirsty vampires.

Angela was in the passenger seat of Colby's car, somehow, putting her in my eyesight as I continued to drive down the long road. I had bad memories attached to this place—so many that just seeing the road was making me want to turn around. I hadn't wanted these memories resurfaced one bit.

"I'm so sorry, Becca. What I did to you wasn't cool... at all. I was a shitty sister back then and I know this probably isn't helping at all but... I just wanted you to know that. I've changed, a lot, and it's mostly due to Aryia. I'm lucky that you led me to him, honestly." She paused. "But you also helped me change, too. I saw you were happy with a vampire and I realised I could be, too, without being used by them. You're seriously an amazing person and I'm grateful to have you as my sister."

I didn't reply at all to that, but deep down, I knew I appreciated every word of it. I knew I loved my sister in some way, even if it was hidden, that love and respect I had for her was still there. It was still her, the girl who saved me from monsters under the bed when we were little or took all the blame when I was the one who did something wrong.

She was the good kind of older sister until the first time she met River.

That man had done more to damage my family than anyone else and he was going to pay for it. I was just glad I was a part of the group that was going to be his downfall, because there was no way I was living the rest of my life in fear of him.

"All of the rooms are soundproof including the main house," Angela whispered when she pulled up to the driveway, where there were already tons of cars and several young men and women alike getting out, "so we can talk freely in any room where one of them isn't."

"Great," I muttered.

We climbed out of the car together, looking the same for the first time in years. No one looked at us because we seemed to be no different to anyone else. Angela convinced me to smile and giggle with her as we strode toward the porch. No one stood in front of the door, which was left open from the last group who'd walked through it.

She gave me a look then wrapped her hand around mine. We were inside a second later, the air suffocating me. I could smell booze, sweat—disgustingly—and very possibly rotten flesh. I didn't want to think too much about that, though, because I could feel a few eyes instantly snap to me.

Angela held my hand tighter as she lifted her head. I followed her lead, striding confidently forward through the room. I could see a couple of doorways leading elsewhere like to a kitchen, a stairwell, and possibly a bathroom.

We were headed for the kitchen straight away, which apparently wasn't very unusual. Angela paused to start chatting with one of the other regulars but I didn't bother with her or them. I was focused on examining everything about this place that I could, from all the windows to all the people I would have to navigate through. I was making escape routes.

When Angela was done, she walked away from me toward the main room, where most of the feeds and feeders were. The way she just attracted attention straight off the bat made me cringe. Oh yeah, they knew who she was, and they probably knew she was easy.

She was distracting a vampire from facing the stairs. He looked about the right height to be River, from what I remembered, and the haircut looked the same, so I immediately guessed that it was him. Before I could go storming over to kill him myself, the mission came back into my thoughts. Now wasn't the time for that.

A vampire was currently leading another girl up the stairs, their hands locked together. I took that as my best chance of getting away without being noticed.

With Angela still being a wonderful distraction, I hurried to catch up to the vampire and his new feed. They didn't even look at me until we were at the top of the stairs when his eyes met mine. He raised a brow but didn't say anything, picking up his girl and zipping her into the nearest bedroom.

My eyes drifted to the door at the end of the hall. That was the room Angela said was River's, which meant it was the room I had to search to find information on him.

Quietly, I hurried across the hallway. I hoped that these shoes, which weren't boots, weren't too loud as they'd blow my cover before I'd even gotten close.

With no sign of anyone finding me, I carefully opened the door at the end of the hall.

And what I saw made me want to scream.