Bad Taste (Part I) // Colby Brock

164 - Rebecca

I listened to him. Probably for the first time in my life, I listened to what this man—also known as Julian or River—had to say, and I stopped pretending. My eyes flung open at the same time as the switch in my head flipped. I didn't have any weapons or a stake, nor did I have any sort of plan besides attack. I had to hope it'd work out for me.

A thousand and one frustrations all came out at once as I swung my arm towards Julian. Seeing his face only made me angry, even when he easily dodged my attack. He stood up but I followed, every bone in my body prepared to fight. I could tell that it knew who this was because I was on full alert, unlike when I'd fought Cassie or Kevin or Colby—or even Mike when he'd come at me unexpectedly. Everything was extremely slow.

When I went for another attack, I heard—in normal time—someone running toward me. I swung to the side, smacking the vampire coming towards me across the chest. Either Markus or Harry, I didn't care. They flew into the couch while the other one came for me; Julian was just watching.

After struggling with the two vampires, knocking one down only to turn to the other, Julian finally got involved. I'd just flung back the man I learned to be Markus when Julian zipped at me. I went for him, but Harry was already trying to attack me, so I didn't get a chance to do any damage. In the time it took for me to start to push Julian away, Markus had recuperated. Harry got a hold of one arm, Markus got a hold of the other, and Julian grabbed me by the throat.

"I admire that you tried to fight us, Rebecca. You always have," Julian mused, a disgusting smile on his face. "You're a peculiar little thing, aren't you? I don't know how you did all of that, but I'm intrigued to find out."

"Fuck you," I growled, thrashing around against my captors. Neither were affected and neither was Julian. In fact, he was smiling more.

"I always have loved your spirit. I just wish your enthusiasm to push me away would be reversed."

"Never gonna happen."

Julian sighed. "It will. I'm not keeping an eye on you for nothing." He paused. "Although, I do need to have a word with one of my lovely employees. It appears the information I'm being given isn't complete."

I waited for something else to happen, but the three vampires surrounding me went completely still. Like statues. I saw something in their faces that made them look concentrated; worried, even. Suddenly, butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

Oh hell yes.

"Let go of me!" I yelled, purposely loudly. I started to thrash against Harry and Markus, hard, while Julian took a step back from the three of us. His eyes were situated on the window, which I finally recognised. We were at the feeding house in the living room, only it was much quieter than it'd been once upon a time.

Although I didn't doubt my boyfriend one bit, I screamed. I wanted him to find me and to find me now.

Harry looked nervously at Markus, then at Julian. "What should we-" Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud bang behind me. The moment of distraction was all it took for Julian to disappear without a trace, but that wasn't what I cared about at that second. I screamed again, this time managing to break my arm free from Markus's distracted hold.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed, trying to grab me again. The slightest breeze brushed me before he was ripped from in front of me. I watched Markus slam into the wall, a tall figure watching motionlessly. I'd seen that figure in the dark so many times now that I didn't doubt who he was for one damn second.

Harry was caught off guard enough that when I turned on him, I was able to take my arm back. I was going to fight him; to let out all of my anger and frustration, but Mike and Kevin dragged him away before I could even hope to do any damage. I noticed, after half a second, that Elton and Corey were holding onto Markus, which left me completely free, Julian missing, and my boyfriend standing in front of me with black accenting the top of his cheeks.

Fully vamped out.

Like a different switch had flipped, we suddenly went for each other. I wanted to feel safe again; to feel like nothing in the world could hurt me. Being around vampires constantly reminded me of how weak I was, but being around Colby reminded me of how strong I was, too. And what his blood did for me couldn't have been a better example.

We fixed each other; made each other whole.

The second we collided, every bone, muscle, and organ in my body melted into his. My hands scrambled for something to grab of his, just so I could feel him. One of my hands ended up at the back of his head in his hair whilst the other was clutching his shoulder. He squeezed me as tightly as he could with his arms around my waist, pressing our bodies so incredibly close that I might as well have actually melted.

Despite my shoes, I was reminded how small I was compared to him.

As soon as the initial shock of seeing each other passed, Colby pulled back and grabbed my face with one of his hands. His touch didn't feel cold or hard; it felt soft and warm. It felt like home. "I love you," he snapped—yes, snapped, "and I need you. Don't you dare do that to me ever a-fucking-gain. Got it?"

I was staring into his eyes, only capable of nodding my head. He stared at me harder, waiting. Only when his one hand squeezed my waist did I find my voice. "I got it. I won't," I promised. "And I love you, too."

"Funny way of showing it," he growled but didn't say anything else. He slammed his lips into mine and let his fingers tangle into the hair at the side of my head. I was sure that I whimpered, but I didn't care. I was only concerned with holding onto him as tightly as I could. His lips, though harsh, were caring and soft, telling me with every ounce of feeling in his body that he was pissed off with me. I completely understood it.

So much so that, when we finally, reluctantly pulled away, I looked him directly in the eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry."

And I meant it.