Immortal Love Book #3. Lost

7. "You're not the type"

Dennis' eyes looked like someone else's. The familiarity I had once found in those eyes was gone, and a deep void had taken its place. He had dead eyes. Alexander had unchained him to the wall and chained him to a chair instead. I was sitting on a chair across from him, with a prudent distance between us.

"Do you want me to leave?" Alexander asked after pulling the chains one more time to make sure they were strong enough to hold Dennis. I shook my head. I didn't want to be alone with Dennis. Alexander nodded.

"So, is this official?" Dennis' voice caught me off guard. I hadn't heard it in so long. I didn't know what he meant. "You two." he nodded at Alexander and me.

"What would you feel if it was?" I asked. Maybe it was a ridiculous question, but I didn't know what to do. I didn't have experience in turning vampires' emotions back on. I sounded like a therapist.

"I would feel hopeless. The one thing I have feared since we met would have become true. My pain would be unimaginable." Dennis said. I slightly gasped. Alexander shook his head.

"He's fucking with you." Alexander said. I sighed. Dennis laughed.

"You're so unbelievably desperate for this to work that you're starting to look stupid." Dennis said. Alexander gave him a menacing look. "Right, she's your girlfriend now. So sorry." he said in an ironic tone. I rolled my eyes. He was being insufferable.

"Dennis." I said his name. He looked at me with his empty eyes. "I love you." I said. I didn't know if I still meant it, but I needed to see his reaction. If the Dennis I knew was still in there, I would imagine those words would have an effect on him. I saw Alexander look down at the floor once I said it, and I then knew Merissa was right. He was in love with me, or at the very least, he had very strong feelings for me. I felt my heart skip a beat. Stella, focus.

Dennis looked at me, and for a second, I saw him. The Dennis I fell in love with. The Dennis that came into my world and changed everything. The one that taught me what love was supposed to feel like, and the one person on this planet that had hurt me the most. He was there, I could see him. But just one second later, he was gone, and the void came back.

"I don't love you." Dennis said. I was stunned. "In fact, I never loved you." I looked at Alexander. He shook his head.

"Don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth." Alexander said. I nodded.

"No, it's true." Dennis insisted. "Every minute I spent with you was torture. I had to restrain myself at all times, how could I love something like that?" he said. I had thought of it. The second I found out how much Dennis fought his urges when he was with me, I wondered if he ever even enjoyed our relationship. And now here he was, telling me he hadn't. I knew I was supposed to take everything he said with a grain of salt, but I couldn't help but wonder.

"So, you lied the whole time." I asked. Alexander gave me a disapproving look. I knew I wasn't supposed to engage with him in this way because it was exactly what Dennis wanted, but I couldn't help it. Dennis nodded.

"The only good part of our relationship was the sex." Dennis said to my surprise. I frowned. " 'Couse let me tell you, she is amazing at it." he said. I nearly gasped. Alexander stood in front of him and punched him in the face at vampire speed. "Right." Dennis spat out blood on the floor. "You probably already know." he said. He kept insinuating that Alex and I were together, maybe there was something behind it.

"I think that's enough." Alexander said, turning to me. I frowned.

"We just started." I pointed out. Alexander sighed.

"Maybe this was a bad idea." he said. I shook my head. We had to try.

"He's protecting you. How cute." Dennis said ironically. His tone showed nothing more than inconvenience.

"I'm fine." I said. "You don't need to defend my honor." I said. I didn't mean to offend Alex, but I realized that with him here, I wouldn't get anywhere with Dennis because he'd always try to protect me from the things he'd say. Alexander did seem a little hurt with what I said.

"Can we go outside and talk?" Alexander asked. I nodded. I followed him out. "I don't think this is going to work." he said.

"Why?" I asked. He crossed his arms on his chest. He seemed nervous or anxious.

"Because I feel like he'll hurt you more than you can hurt him." he said. I appreciated his attempts at protecting my feelings from getting hurt, but I could handle it.

"I can handle it." I said.

"I know you can, but do you really want to?" he asked.

"I don't want to, but I have to. You said it yourself, this is the best way to get him back."

"But is he worth it?" he asked. I took a second to answer.

"I owe him this much. I know he would do the same for me." I said. Me and Dennis had gone through so much together, and he had helped me realize who I was and to find my place in this world. I owed him this.

"I understand." he said as he nodded. He then ran his hands through his hair. "Do you really think you could save him?" he asked. I nodded.

"When I told him I loved him, I saw something in his eyes. I saw him for a second. It was brief and it was subtle, but it was there. I know he's in there, I just need to reach out and get him back." I said. Alexander looked at me for a second before saying what I had already thought.

"He keeps talking about us." he said referring to me and him. I nodded. "Maybe you can work with that." I nodded again. "Are you sure you can do this?" he asked.

"I have to" I said. Alexander sighed and ran his hands through his hair one more time. I took a deep breath.

"I'll have to go in alone, though." I said. His expression indicated me that he knew it was coming. I smiled softly and walked into the room again. This wasn't going to be easy, but it was necessary.

"If you need anything, knock on the door twice." he said. I nodded. He only left me alone in a room with Dennis because he knew I could handle it if he tried to hurt me. Besides, he was chained.

I sat across from Dennis again, and his eyes were still dead and emotionless. I looked right at them. I thought maybe eye contact would help reinforce our connection. He didn't seem to care. I sighed.

"Why do you keep talking about me and Alexander?" I asked. He didn't say anything. "It must make you feel something if you keep bringing it up." I said. He smiled like he thought I had no idea what I was talking about.

"I'm just trying to piss you off." he said. "You and him."

"Why?"

"So you'll leave me the fuck alone." he said. I really didn't know what I was doing. "But it doesn't seem to be working." I took a second to think about my next move, but before I could, he kept talking. "I don't actually believe you'd dare, actually." he said in a challenging tone.

"I'd dare to do what?"

"Sleep with him." he said. So, he didn't actually believe it, he just liked to fuck with our brains.

"Why not?" I entertained it.

"Because I think that, deep down, you know you'll never love anyone as much as you love me, so what's the point?" he caught me by surprise.

"But sometimes people just have sex. It doesn't have to be a promise of true love all the time." Dennis seemed slightly shocked by my words.

"You're not the type." he said. I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry to break it to you, Dennis. But I'm no saint." I said. He smiled flirtatiously.

"I know that." I rolled my eyes.

And we kept talking for a while. I asked questions that could lead him to show emotions, and he dodged them perfectly. I tried to establish a connection with him, and he'd make some inappropriate comment that would throw me off. I tried to empathize with him, and he laughed in my face. After a few hours, I felt defeated, and a little hopeless. There was wither no way for me to get through to him, or I was doing something wrong. And whichever was, it was extremely frustrating.