Closing Time

49.

"Mike." His grip around me was like steel. The hand on the back of my neck was like a vise holding me down. "I can't see."

"You don't need to." He replied curtly. "You had feelings for this human and it will permanently scar you."

"He... Lou made him kill himself, right?" I asked, still struggling to get out of his grasp.

"Yes."

My throat tightened up. "Let me-e see." My voice cracked. "Let me see, Mike! Let go!"

"No." He denied again, voice loud in the quiet of the bar. "Your origins have now been revealed. We can't have your unbalanced emotions being turned on us with the weapon you have."

"I won't hurt you!" I yelled into his shoulder, feeling a tear slide down my face. "JUST LET ME GO!"

"Fine."

Surprise crossed through as Mike relaxed his grip on the back of my neck. I stumbled back, my eyes rising catching a glimpse of the bloodied wall, of cracked bottles where Will had been standing right before my vision flashed white.

An intense heat built around me. I felt my hair lift with the fast motion encompassing me. The only tangible thing around was Mike's hand wrapped around mine. My breath was forced out of me. I somehow managed to squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for the journey to end. Mike was taking me somewhere.

It was sudden.

The heat around me vanished, air returned to my chest. I felt my hair hit my face as it we stopped. My legs carried me forward, still feeling the momentum right back into Mike's hard chest. I opened my eyes, nose pressed against the fabric. All I smelt was detergent. Mike had no scent of his own.

"Did you love him?" He asked quietly, his chest rumbling with his words.

"No." I replied, my voice a whisper as I felt the lump crawl up my throat. "I didn't. But I... I still cared for him."

"A lot more than you expected?"

"Y... Yes." More tears fell down my face. "I didn't want to like him anymore."

"I believed as much." He sighed, his breath stirred the hair on top of my head.

Mike shifted, and I felt a hand land on top of my head again. It stiffened, but he wasn't holding me down. He was... He was reassuring me.

"What are you doing?" I mumbled slowly, looking up at him.

His blue eyes were blank as usual. "I've seen other humans do this. It's supposed to feel better."

"It... is." He had changed from when I'd first met him. I closed my eyes, letting my head rest against his chest as the tears came. "Sorry you have to go through this." I mumbled through the lump in my throat.

"Feeling's mutual for you, Ryleigh."

I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my nose against his shoulder as I just... let go.

All the frustration, the anger, the anxiety, the pain, the guilt, the shame the sorrow sprang up like it was a geyser. My body shook as I cried quietly into his shoulder, my mind going back to everything.

It hurt.

It really did.

My heart was twisting, writhing like someone was crushing it in their hand. It felt like hell. It felt like I wanna die. It felt like... too much.

My lips parted to let out a loud sob, hands tightening in Mike's shirt as I finally started crying with my whole heart. Yelling into his shoulder like it had wronged me. Yelling into his shoulder like it had betrayed me. I'd been betrayed. I'd been hurt. And I'd taken my revenge. Now I wouldn't ever have to see Will again.