Empire of Vampires ✔️

Chapter Fifteen

A/N: ^rare shirtless pic of James
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Andrew awoke a few hours later back in his own dorm, wondering if he'd had the freakiest, most realistic dream. His head felt foggy and his eyelids were so heavy that he could barely open them. He felt something cold and hard pressed against his head like a block of ice. He opened his eyes carefully to find James staring right into them with a burning intensity. Andrew felt the world swaying around him as his memories rushed back; everything about this boy terrified and intrigued him.

'Careful, you mustn't fall asleep again,' murmured James, his voice gentle and caressing, forever at odds with his fierce eyes. 'You might have a bit of a concussion.'

Andrew glanced up to note that the pressure on his head was from James's hand, the heel of his palm pressed firmly to the bump, his fingers idly tangled in Andrew's hair. He was leaning close and Andrew caught a faint whiff of cherry blossom soap. His hair was still damp with wet strands falling over his face, and he had carefully washed off the blood from his still bare chest.

'Um.. I'm okay..' Andrew gulped and fidgeted.

James slid his hand away, his fingers lightly tracing down Andrew's jaw. They accidentally brushed against his pulse as he did so, and made it go even faster. Andrew suddenly yearned for it to be back, the cold must've been helpful to his bump because now his head throbbed and his gut wrenched.

'I'm not planning to kill you, you know,' James said suddenly as he rose to his feet in an agitated manner.

'Oh.'

'..Oh?' James sounded incredulous. 'That's all you have to say?' 

'Um... thank you?'

'There's nothing to be afraid of,' the vampyre added off-handedly as he moved away to stare out the window, trying to seem indifferent. Andrew wished the words he was saying were true.

'How can I believe that when you killed so many children, and... and innocent people?' Andrew stammered, finishing his sentence bravely although James had now swiveled away from the window and was now striding hotly towards him.

'I didn't kill them.' James was right up against his face now, breathing heavily, his nostrils flared. Andrew gulped a little as he shrank back in fear of the angry, fanged boy. James was kneeling on the bed directly in front of Andrew, trapping him with one hand on the wall beside his head.

Andrew felt dizzy as he glanced up at the vampyres bare chest, remembering how it had been covered in blood. The fangs still protruded from his mouth, unwilling to retract after they'd been interrupted mid-feed. A droplet of water trickled down his still damp hair and splashed onto Andrew's pale cheek.

For a single point in time, neither of them were breathing.

James suddenly looked away from the human, shattering the frozen moment. He wordlessly slid off the bed and stepped away to stare out the window.

Andrew watched him with some trepidation, not knowing what to think. The memory of them feeding was still imprinted on his mind and he couldn't shake off the gnawing feeling in his chest. He wanted to believe what James had said; about how he hadn't been the killer behind all the murders on the news. But if it wasn't him then who else could it be? 

James still hadn't uttered another word. He was just standing there glaring out the window with a furious expression on his face. Andrew thought that he might have been inclined to actually believe him; if he didn't look so terrifying right now. He could hardly recognize this person as the boy he'd molded dragons with just days ago.

Andrew shivered as he watched the vampyre silently move across the dorm and slipped out of the room, closing the door gently behind him. 

Once alone, Andrew let himself truly freak out. He paced the room till the sun came up, dragging his fingers through his wild hair. The more he thought about it the more confused he felt.

He'd read stories and watched movies about vampyres and he knew, according to legend, that they needed blood to survive. Which meant the twins had obviously killed before... but had it always been only bad men? Could they even survive on just animal blood?

And then there was Marie; Andrew had almost forgotten about her part in it. If not James then... was she the one behind the lily murders? Andrew was somewhat curious as to what she might say to him. Would she pretend that it had never happened? He couldn't imagine her feeling as bothered about it as James had done; she was probably just telling him to chill out right now.

~~~
A/N: Do you think Marie is just telling James to chill out right now? xD