Kidnapped By A Vampire

Chapter 49

ARABELLA

It's been great being able to see Theo and know he's alive, but he feels like a ghost to me. I can't touch him or anything. I could really have used a hug from him and it kills me that I can't hug him. Who knew a touch was so important. We spend most of the day just lying in bed without saying a word. It's been a nice silence, but I can tell he's waiting to talk to me so this silence won't last much longer.

"We have to talk about what you did?" He finally says. I sigh and turn to face him. I just wanted a little while where I didn't have to worry about anything serious. "You can't just give up like that. I couldn't stand to watch you starve yourself and push away your friends. If I really do die I want you to move on."

"Why are you talking like that? Would you have been able to move on if I were dead? Do you even know what you're asking me? It may sound dramatic, but you're my life. You've lived for hundreds of years, but I'm new to all this. Eternity is just unbelievable to me and you're asking me to live an eternity without you?"

"I almost did die. I don't know if the hunters left me alive on purpose, but they could have killed me that day. They're playing some kind of game and I'm done playing. We have each other now...I don't know what I'd do without you." He says honestly. "I haven't felt like this about someone and I've never been bonded to anyone but you. Maybe the bond would kill me maybe it won't. I just don't want to see you like that again."

"Do you think they'll be back?"

"They're not done with you, but we can stay one step ahead of them this time. We just need to figure out what they're planning." I was there and I'm not even sure. He didn't exactly share his plans with me. Just that he wanted to use me.

"Before we do that we need to figure out this." I say gesturing between the two of us. "I don't think I can take too much more of this."

"Joey and the others have already been looking into it. They may have found someone who can help." I sit up.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I didn't want to get your hopes up. It could be that only the person who did this to us can fix it." he stands and moves towards the door. "We can go meet them if you'd like?" I bounce out of bed. Does he even have to ask? He leads me out of the room and into one of the conference room where Vlad, Alexander, and Joey are sitting with a woman I've never met. I approach her and introduce myself.

"I'm Arabella." I say holding out my hand. She hesitates a moment before shaking it. The moment she touches my hand I feel like all of my energy is drained. I release her hand and collapse into the nearest chair. "What the hell was that?"

"You are a tangle of knots." She says studying me. She shakes Theo's hand too but it doesn't quite knock him off his feet like it did me. "You're not so bad." She looks to Vlad. "I can untangle them, but I don't know if that will fix this."

"Do what you can." She moves towards me again and I jump out of the chair.

"Whoa there. You're not touching me again until you tell me what you just did."

"When I was turned, much the same way you were, my powers were unique. I can look into a person and see their souls, or auras. Whatever you want to call them. I can tell when someone else with magic has touched them and in some cases I can undo what's been done to them. What you felt was me untangling some of the knots inside you. Your soul is so twisted I wasn't even sure where to start. It's draining to fix these because I have to use some of your energy to untangle it. If I didn't do that I would just pass out. I learned that the hard way." Souls? My heads spinning with the thought. I want nothing more than to be able to touch Theo again, but I don't like what that did to me. "It will likely take weeks to help you. It's unwise to put so much strain on your soul in one day."

"Do you feel any different?" Alexander asks. I think about it for a moment before shaking my head.

"It's unlikely. The knots I untied were easy ones. Newly formed. You." She says pointing to Theo. "I can do more for you." He lets her take his hand. The longer she holds it the more he sways on his feet. She lets go after a moment taking a seat herself. Theo does the same. I try to place my hand on his shoulder but it goes through. "That problem is probably in you." She says watching us. I guess that makes sense. I was the one stuck with the hunters.

I don't even want to look at her anymore. It's like she's stealing my energy from across the room. I walk out of the room and right into Peter.

"Hey." He says with a smile. "You look like crap. I guess that means you've met her." I nod and pull him farther away from the room.

"Can we trust her?"

"I think so. If those guys trust her then I have no reason to doubt them. Besides she worked her magic on me and I've never felt better. It's a hard feeling to explain. I'm sure you'll understand when she's done with you...I'm really glad to see you looking better." He says hugging me. That's what everyone keeps saying to me. I know they hated to see me like that, but it's hard for me not to be mad at them for what they did. It was my life and I should be able to do what I want with it. In the end I'm glad I didn't die because Theo was never actually dead. I can't seem to admit to them that I'm even a little grateful. "Hey we were gonna play a board game, wanna join us?"

"No, she really drained me. I think I'm just gonna lie down."

"If you change you mind you're always welcome to join us." I just nod as he walks away. It's going to be hard for me to go back to the way things were. I head back to my room and decide to take a bath before going to bed. My stiff muscles relax in the warm water. I close my eyes for a moment and when I open them again the hunter that held me captive is there sitting on the edge of the bathtub. My heart pounds in my chest.

"It's nice to see you again." He says twirling his fingers in the water.

"How did you get in here?"

"Oh, I'm not really here. Just one of the perks of keeping people like you around...where are you?" I glare at him.

"Like I would ever tell you. You lied to me. Theo isn't dead!" He sighs.

"I figured you'd find a way to fix that." I don't tell him that it's still not completely fixed. "I can see that I really hurt you, but it was the only way to get you to cooperate. Now I'm thinking to get to you I will have to go through your friends."

"Don't you dare." I growl.

"Come to me now and I won't have to, but make me wait and you will regret it." He stands. "Looks like my time is up here. Don't keep me waiting." With that he's gone.