The Vampire's Requiem II [malexmale]

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen (Daimonas)

I woke up to a faint beeping sound.

At first, it scared me. I didn't like the sound machines made and I didn't like how cold I felt. I blinked my eyes open when I felt a white light shining against my eyelids and found myself staring up at a clean white ceiling. I blinked rapidly, reaching my hands out to push against walls, but there were no walls. I grabbed onto metal bars, and a hand landed over mine, making me gasp and snap my head, blinking quickly against the bright lights.

Starling was sitting beside my hospital bed, his hand resting over mine. His black dyed hair was tousled and hanging over his face, his piercing silver eyes. He was wearing his jean jacket over a zip-up hoodie and black jeans down to a pair of bulky boots. He was looking at me in relief, a faint smile on his lips that instantly calmed me.

If he was smiling, we were safe. We had to be.

"Starling?" My voice was hoarse and I paused to cough. Starling snapped out of his daze of staring at me and bent down, bringing up water bottle and handing it to me. I nodded to him in thanks, taking deep gulps of the water that soothed my aching, sore throat. I gave him the bottle back and sank back against the white sheets, grimacing at how cold it was. I bundled the blankets closer up to my nose, peering over at Starling, who grinned now.

"How're you feeling?" He asked. I paused, shifting and looking around thoughtfully. My chest still hurt and my lungs still ached when I sucked in deep breathes, but aside from that, I felt like I was okay. Just sort of beat up.

"I'm okay... You?" I asked, rubbing at my eye tiredly. Starling shrugged.

"Grounded for four months. No skateboard. No computer. No phone. I think I'd of rather come home with a busted leg." He explained. I scrunched up my nose.

"What's grounded?" I asked. Starling smiled.

"Right, Newell and Xed probably don't even know what that means. It's some weird thing that parents think will stop their kids from doing crazy shit."

"Does it work?"

"Hell, no," Starling exclaimed, making me grin, "It's ridiculous. I hear in some werewolf packs, if a pup disobeys the alpha, they kill it. But I think I rather be grounded than dead, so I guess that's all right." He smiled at me, studying my face intensely, his smile fading. I felt my heart jump at the way he stared at me and the heart monitor jumped with it, making my cheeks flush. His smile grew more teasing and I looked away awkwardly, reaching up to brush some of my hair behind my ear.

"So, uhm, what about Newell and Xed?" I asked nervously, remembering the way Newell had been laying limply on the sofa like a doll. He hadn't moved and while I still heard his heart beat, it still didn't reassure me very much. Starling leaned back in his seat for a moment, cocking his head before leaning on the bar on the side of my bed.

"They're all right," He replied, making me sigh in relief, "It sounds like they kinda made up too, since they're both coming here to pick you up." I slumped against the bed, relieved by the news. Starling smiled, reaching his hand out to rest over mine. Goosebumps crept across my skin and I bit my lip, looking up at him.

"U-Uhm, Starling?" I asked quietly.

"Hm?"

"Ah... Sorry, I freaked out before," I stammered, making Starling frown curiously, then realization coming to his face, "I just... Well, it's kind of a long story." Starling shrugged, leaning forward on my bed.

"We have until Newell and Xed get here. Try me." He said. I hesitated. I wasn't sure if it was okay to tell him or not, but I'd already broken most of Newell's rules in one day, so sure, why not? I started off from the moment I had taken up residence in Julian's head, explaining everything I had seen and learned from Julian. I even admitted to how attached to him I had become, which was hard to admit, because not many people knew it.