Touch Me ✔

Chapter Seven

My feet carried me purely based on directional instinct, taking me up the stairs and back towards Theo's room. If only I hadn't left the sanctuary in the first place I wouldn't have the images burning through my mind's eye on repeat. I had been insane to think it was okay to follow Theo without a direct order from him. No doubt it had been a test of his, to see if I was an idiot enough to put my nose where it didn't belong.

I found his room just as I had left it. I shut the door behind me, leaning against it dramatically. My breath had all but left me. My limbs were shaking excessively from adrenaline. I bolted from the door to Theo's bed, collapsing onto it completely. I closed my eyes, but the only things behind them were the images of the man being devoured by the family of vampires.

Something within me had been triggered by the sight. I felt a sick heat in my veins, like a fever of some sort. I pressed my face into the fabric of the bedsheets, clawing at the surface desperately. I felt as though I was fighting a battle within me; fighting for control of my own body. A part of me wanted to fling myself back to those vampires and offer myself to them. It was something else entirely that prevented me from doing so. If I had to describe it, it would be an animal inside of me versus me.

The door to the room opened slowly, but I quickly sat up and pushed myself to the other side of the bed in response. Theo stood in the frame once again, casting his dangerous eyes over me quietly. He was covered in blood, so much so that I knew it had to be a show of some kind. He never had appeared to me in such a state and facts whispered in my mind that vampires didn't go long without feeding. This wasn't his first; this was only the first time he had allowed me to witness a version of it.

He took a small step towards me. It was enough for me to freeze, the muscles within my body tightening as though the one step had electrified me. He didn't hold the allure the other vampires had, but that animalistic part of me still called for me to offer myself. It was desperate, but I didn't know why. What was the purpose in stepping so close to death? Shouldn't I aim to survive? I feared if I moved, I would present myself equivalent to a chicken seasoning itself before stepping into the oven obediently.

Theo made a satisfied noise in his throat.

"I thought that would bring you to your senses," He stated darkly, "Now you know what you're trying to cuddle with, Katia." His words were hard to hear much less understand. But I knew now he definitely meant for me to see the horror him and his family were capable of on whim. What he didn't know was the topic of the battle raging within me. He mistook my stunned state as a fear of what he was and because of this he was satisfied. I released the breath I had been holding, gearing myself for a response.

"I'm not afraid of you," I managed breathlessly, sounding more frightened than I meant to be. Theo's eyes narrowed, surrounded by the smeared blood of his victim. He smiled sarcastically, flashing his stained fangs ominously in further attempt to prove his murderous capabilities. The idea of having those fangs ripping into my flesh sent a dark chill through me.

"You stink of fear," He answered, watching my frozen form with contempt. He rolled his eyes away from me, officially bored of my presence, and left for the bathroom to no doubt rid himself of the blood that coated him. I was able to struggle with myself for several minutes after Theo left me alone.

I clung to the bedsheet as though it were a lifeline, his words echoing in my mind alongside the images of the feeding I had witnessed. You stink of fear. It was a challenge if ever I had heard one. Theo had a way of digging through my being for responses. He expected my fear; it was the most basic reaction of a human to have when witnessing a vicious murder. It was both my desire to contradict him and the pull of the animalistic part of me that caused me to step off of the bed.