Dragoned in Half

No Escape-Salvatore

Until this day I have no regrets about the decisions that I have made. Seeing the horrific things from the man that I loved hurt me beyond belief. When I heard of the things that he was doing to our kind I believed them. I had once upon a time seen his rage and I had Avery run from it. All those years ago and we have been running ever since.

For decades I have felt the connection to Slater. In my anger and my fury at him I have all but denied that it existed. Today however, I have no choice. I have to follow it to where he is so that I can put a stop to him once and for all. I should have put a stop to it all those years ago, but because he holds my soul, I could not. Avery has always been the strongest of us. When she found out what he did, she so easily rejected him. I don't know if i could have done the same in her position but i know that it wasn't only herself that she was thinking of.

When we returned after our trip in the forest and he shared our relationship, I was finally happy. Both of the people I loved were in my life and we were happy. We hid our relationship in public because of others but alone, we only had eyes for each other. It took us months to truly understand the bond. To understand why each of them could hear their dragons but could never let them out.

Avery hid for so long that her dragon called out for a bond to Slater. She thought that it would upset me if she too wanted him. When I found out though it was the opposite. The thought of having them both together brought me more joy than you could ever imagine. I had always felt bad when the needs for one would take over my needs for the other and one would be excluded. So we set a date.

I had never imagined that something would destroy such a joyous union. That so many things would factor into the best day of our lives. I had to work the day before our union was set. I got home late that night but knew that Slater would be with Avery. We still lived in the same house but Jim was hardly around. When he was, he stayed in his room and he left us alone. He didn't even help to take care of the bills or the expenses. As long as he had his steady supply of drink then no words were exchanged.

When I came home I immediately knew that something was off. The house smelled of death and was chaotic. I remember sensing that Slater was here but no one else. Avery was nowhere to be found. I took the stairs to her room two at a time in a craze as I thought that something might have happened to her. What I saw however was my lover, Slater, holding a knife as he stood over the body of our step father.

Jim's eyes lay in my direction as I looked into them. I could tell that there was no life left in him. Slater rushed to me as he dropped the knife and enveloped me in his arms. In pure shock I pushed him away as the scent of blood grew stronger. I looked at him in horror seeing what he had done and could say nothing else.

"There is no need to be afraid anymore. He is dead. The horrid man is finally gone from our lives and he can't hurt any of us" He said with anger as he kicked the body. Unable to look at the scene a moment more, I turned and ran for the door. I searched out my connection to Avery as I ran to her.

When she first saw me her smile disappeared as she screamed at my appearance. Seeing that i was covered in blood i quickly shushed her before anyone else decided to check out the screaming woman in the forest. When I explained to her about what I saw, I told her that we had to go. My mind was racing in the moment as I thought about my little run through town covered in blood. They would think that I did this. They already thought the worst of me for what I was.

"We can't leave Salvatore. We have to go and get Slater" She yelled at me as I tried to pull her from the forest.

"He is a murderer. How do you know that he will not do the same to us? How do we know that he will not do this again?" I yelled at her. My dragon screamed inside my head telling me that there was a reason but I couldn't listen. I was doing this for our own good.

"He would never hurt us. He loves us, "she screamed.

"We cannot take someone on the road who could so easily take a life. You didn't see how happy he was about what he did Avery, I did" I told her as I pleaded for her to come with me.

"I can't just leave him, Salvatore. We need him" she says as she cries. I pulled her into my arms as I held her.

"WE don't have a choice" I told her.

"But Salvatore....I......Im pregnant. Our babies.....oh god" She cried. I was so shocked by the news but happy nevertheless. I grabbed her face in my hands as I kissed her. She thought for a moment as she looked into my eyes and I saw her decision. She would run with me.

"Would I at least be able to say goodbye?" She asks as she looks at me.

I fight with her on it when I believe that it is too dangerous. Not many would know that Jim was missing but there isn't a way that no one saw me as I ran through town covered in blood. Someone would connect the dots. We agreed that she could. I would stay in the forest nearby and out of sight as she did. That moment had to be the longest wait of my life. When she returned hours later, we hopped the first train out of West Virginia and we never looked back.

As the memory ends its replay in my mind I look around the forest. I know that I am close to him as I feel my body humming. It's a feeling that I haven't felt in years. Seeing the cabin ahead, I know that it is where he must be waiting. I am forced to freeze outside of the cabin when I hear two hearts though. It seems that someone was able to find him before I was. Fuck.