Once Bitten *On Hiatus*

𝕾𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖞

• 𝓝𝓸𝓪𝓱 •

I'd never felt so empty in my life. Not even when I went into the foster system did I feel like this. I felt broken, hurt. So damn angry that we didn't get to her sooner and that Zero had been in her room. I wanted to know what he'd said to her. What led up to him stabbing her.

If we hadn't come, would he have killed her? Was that his plan the whole time? Or did he finish her off because we caught him?

Of course he would have. He cut arteries in her thigh. If she wouldn't have called out to Seraph, she would have bled out alone. Or worse, Zero would have stayed and watched as she died. But all of these what-ifs...

Why couldn't I just have acted quicker? I'd seen him move the knife from her stomach. We could have healed her. But none of us moved in time to save her from that last knife wound.

Luca helped me back to Kite's office. I didn't want to go. I wanted to go back to her. I knew it was futile, but I wanted to try to heal her.

"-left her with Titus?" Seraph's voice cut through my thoughts.

I looked up at Kite as Luca sat me down.

"I didn't have a choice," Kite's voice was strained. "I told him not to put her in the fire."

My chest ached. I wouldn't even be able to be there for whatever funeral Titus deemed necessary for her. Kite asked for a burial, but they usually just burned bodies. It was easier. Burials were saved for "important" people. Titus made his disgust for her clear. She wouldn't be considered important to him.

I blew out a breath, closing my eyes and leaning forward, resting my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands.

A selfish part of me wanted her to be changed, but another part of me knew that she'd hate that. I'd planned on asking her if she would consider being changed, later down the road. To see if she would want to be with me...

I glanced up.

With us...

Luca reached over and rubbed my back. 

"Out of everyone to be left alone with her," Seraph growled.

He was angry too. I think we all were. None of us thought Zero was in South District. He wasn't supposed to be. But I wondered if he felt responsible, because he could feel her fear long before we actually made a move to go help her.

To go watch her die.

To go watch her fucking plead with her eyes to not change her.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes to try and stop the tears. I'd do anything for her. But I was so angry I just left her there for Titus to deal with. Like she was nothing. Like she was just another fucking human. He didn't give a shit about her. If he did bury her, he'd throw her in a shallow grave and call it a day. He wouldn't say kind words like she deserved. He wouldn't sit there and talk to her. No one but Titus would be there.

What kind of a burial would that be?

"Hey," Luca said.

I let my hands fall and I looked over at him.

He looked sad too, and I knew it had been more than just sex for him. He liked her. She had that effect on people.

I shook my head. "Where did they bring Zero?"

Kite looked defeated. "If I knew that, I wouldn't be here. I assume they took him away to be held for a while, because he touched what I claimed...but to be honest, I don't know where they'd keep him."

"The dungeons?" Luca continued to rub my back.

"I don't think so," Kite said. "I'll find out though."

"How did he even get into her room," Luca asked.

Seraph sat down. "I don't know. The door is always locked, isn't it? And I was just in there with her..."

When he trailed off, we looked up at him. We'd known he went into her room, but I wondered what happened in there. Why he was suddenly staring off into space.

"He was in there," he whispered. "I didn't feel him."

We all stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I didn't feel him in the room with us," he said. "But he had to have been. Something felt off for a second, but the feeling went away so quickly I didn't acknowledge it."

What in the world did that mean? Did Zero have the ability to block out his presence? If so...how long and how often did he watch her without anyone knowing? Did he keep tabs of her every move?

We couldn't know any of this for sure without asking him directly, and I think I'd sooner kill him than ask questions first. Because in the end, it didn't matter. She was gone. He finally did the worst possible thing he could do.

He assumed we would change her. Force her to become something she hated for our own selfish desires. And while I wished I could have made that decision...I wouldn't have, nor would I have allowed any of them to try either. But none of them did. We watched her die.

Kite had every right now to kill him. To make an example out of him. But...it was too late to make an example out of him, wasn't it?

I knew Kite would kill him as soon as he got the opportunity, and I hoped he made it last. I hoped he made it hurt. I hoped he allowed me the chance to hurt him as well, for taking the one person I'd die for away from me.

I rubbed my chest and closed my burning eyes. I wanted her back. I wanted her to laugh with me. I wanted to tease her about her books. About her fiery attitude. I wanted to eventually ask her to become one of us. On her own terms. I wanted to spend eternity with her.

What good was eternity if the one I wanted to spend it with was gone?

*****
A/N: Remember to trust in the magic of...me? 😅😂

Since it's the weekend, I'm going to *try* to have a couple more updates. Then we'll be back to Fridays 🫡