Chapter 10: Chapter ☼ X ☼

When my eyes opened, I was staring up at the dark sky. Through the leaves from the tall trees I could see stars in the night.

I don’t know where I was.

I was cold and I was getting scared.

The leaves were rustling around me. I had this feeling like something was coming for me but I couldn’t move. I tried to lift myself up but I was stiff.

“...Help...” I thought someone would be able to hear me.

But I couldn’t scream. My voice was barely a whisper as I tried to get myself up.

I blacked out again didn’t I? That’s the only way to explain it. The last thing I remember is Henri being in my room, and I let him bite my wrist. After that, everything is blank.

Something breathed on my face. A quiet whine came from the animal that brushed up against me. I couldn’t move to acknowledge it. I groaned from the stiffness that I felt, but the warmth that was coming from the animal was enough to make me feel better.

Another animal howled quietly.

I felt something tugging on my hand.

And my leg.

There were wolves surrounding me. They found me. I was relieved that they were here. I don’t know how I would feel being alone. I’m not even aware of where I was. I definitely don’t know how I got here. I have to stop wandering around. I was lucky to be found, but if there’s a next time, I might not be so lucky.

Something warm pressed to the side of my cheek. “Gabriel...” Ty was next to me, feeling my skin. He brushed away some of the leaves that made it on me.

I was on the brink of tears.

There was this overwhelming sense of fear and guilt and shame that drowned me and I didn’t know how to control it. I don’t have to be scared because he was with me, but I couldn’t help but think that it won’t always be like. I can’t keep blacking out like this.

I knew better than to let Henri come close to me. I knew better than to let him bite me. I was the one that urged him and I knew not to. He even warned me, and I still wanted him to. The pain was so much to handle that he had no choice but to force me to calm down. He warned me and I didn’t listen.

Now I ended up in the woods by myself at who knows what time and my parents are probably freaking out about me.

I was beginning to panic. Tears welded up in my eyes as I tried to say something, but Ty shushed me quietly. “Let me take you home.” He lifted me off the ground in his arms. I saw the other wolves that were wandering around us, sniffing me and Ty.

I didn’t want to cry in front of them, but I just didn’t feel good.

My hands clutched tight onto Ty’s sweater. I hoped that this wasn’t some weird dream and that I was still stranded somewhere. I was so grateful that they were all able to find me. Who knows what would’ve happened if they didn’t.

Ty brought me home.

It was four in the morning. My parents weren’t awake. Apparently, I walked out of the house normally without them waking up. That made me feel a little better. At least they don’t have to know that this happened. I can’t keep worrying them.

Ty helped me changed my clothes and got me in bed.

I was bundled up in my blanket but I didn’t lay down to fall asleep. Now I was wide awake. It was probably the fear of something happening again.

Ty was looking around my room. After a while of him not talking, I figured he knew that Henri had come by. He can probably smell it everywhere. Maybe even on me. It’s not like I thought I’d be able to hide it. His sense of smell is impeccable. I just thought I could still talk to Henri as if all this didn’t happen.

That’s not the case.

I let my curiosity put me in a bad spot.

Ty is not happy.

It’s like there was this lingering cloud of anger surrounding him. I knew better than to get curious. I knew better than to let Henri touch me. I shouldn’t have insisted.

“He was here.” Ty finally said.

It wasn’t a question. Ty already knew. I just pulled tighter on my blanket to keep myself covered. I couldn’t look Ty in his eyes to have this conversation.

“He said he doesn’t want to be involved in what’s going on.” Whatever was going on. Channing and the others are probably on a search for the vampires and might be trying to get rid of them. Henri said he didn’t want to be involved. “He wouldn’t hurt me-”

“You ended up in the woods because of him.” Ty was being calm, but I could tell he was hurt. I heard the strain in his voice, how he tried to hold back his anger.

And he’s not wrong. “I’m sorry.” I apologized to him. I didn’t want him to be mad at me. “I didn’t think he would control me again.”

It was probably because of the pain.

He said it was intolerable and he wasn’t kidding.

At first, Ty didn’t say anything. He had this blank expression on his face. Then he took my hand, flipping my wrist over. He didn’t know what I meant before, but now he could see my healing wound on my wrist. It didn’t look that pretty, but I couldn’t feel it. If it’s causing me pain, I can’t feel it. Whatever Henri did, he made it bearable. But, this is the second scar that Ty has found that wasn’t put there by him.

Ty let go of my wrist and got up.

Without saying anything else, he left my room.

I was left with this sensation of guilt, and it didn’t want to go away. There was nothing I could tell myself to make this feeling any better. Ty was definitely pissed off, and there’s not much I could do to make it right.

I shouldn’t have done anything.

All of this is my fault.

I went to school despite not feeling well. I had to hide it from my parents. The last thing I need is for them to continue to worry about me. Like hell was I going to mention the incident this morning. That would just make everything much worse.

When I went to my locker, I was surrounded by three of the older Martin brothers. Cina, Brendan, and Channing were just standing around me, and I wasn’t sure what they wanted from me.

They were there last night. They know what happened.

If they were going to ask me, there’s not much I can give them. I never know what’s going on. Sometimes, I think it’s a terrible thing to be out of the loop, but now it just seems like it’s for my own good.

Cina had lifted my wrist to see the scar. It hadn’t healed well. There were multiple puncture wounds from the bite, and they were not small. My skin was a bright red from the irritation, but I couldn’t feel anything. “Whew.” he looked amazed. “Guy’s got a mouth on him.”

I snatched my arm back from him. The last thing I need right now is him making comments. All of this is bad enough, his statements are not needed.

“What do you want?” I asked bitterly.

“To make sure you’re okay.” Channing was the one to answer.

I drew back a bit, kind of regretful that my tone wasn’t the friendliest before. Channing always took it upon himself to make sure nothing happened to other people. He did say I became his responsibility when I got myself involved.

“Yeah.” Brendan scoffed. “Ty lost his fucking shit this morning-”

This is not the conversation I wanted to have. I turned away and began opening up my locker. “I already know he’s mad at me.” I don’t need to be reminded.

“At you?” Cina was confused, but so were the other two. “The hell did you do?”

“I let Henri bite me.”

“That’s why you smell like that.” Cina snickered.

I just sighed to myself and tried to regain composure. I already wasn’t feeling well, and being irritated wasn’t going to help me.

“Gabriel.” Channing said my name, and I had this feeling like he was going to scold me. I was actually scared. “When Ty goes after him, I won’t stop him.” That was just a head’s up about the situation. He said when, not if.

Ty will do it.

“Henri told me he wasn’t going to get involved, and I trusted him.” I told them. “I know it was stupid, but I was literally friends with him before all this crap started so I’m sorry I had a soft spot.” Again, my half-hearted tone came out, and with the way Channing was handling everything -considering he’s the one in charge- I better watch how I speak to him. “I’m sorry,” I apologized.

For all of it.

I was just stressing them out and I didn’t mean to.

They were quiet as I put my things away in my locker. I didn’t have anymore to say to them, and I actually planned to go to class. By myself might I add since Ty wasn’t here. He’s that mad that he’s not at school. What are the chances that he’s off trying to find Henri to kill him? Probably seriously high.

“Well, we’re level headed, so we’re going to take care of you, pumpkin.” Cina leaned against the lockers right next to me. I just rolled my eyes at his comment.

“Since the bracelet broke, we had to figure something out for you.” Brendan said as he took something out of his pocket.

It was a small silver bar with two black pearls at the ends of it. The pearls were from the bracelet that broke. They were still shining with that ominous glow, like they still worked to ward off evil. I just didn’t know what I was staring at otherwise.

“You’re getting a piercing.” Brendan seemed happy to say.

"

" I asked.

I’m surprised that was the first question out of my mouth, considering that I’ve never wanted a piercing before. The thought of a needle going through my skin wasn’t pleasant.

“It’s going on your ear-”

“You’re joking!” Its like I could already feel the pain. “My parents will never let me get a piercing.” I won’t get away with a bar in my ear. My dad will lose his mind.

And it was just yesterday he got confirmation that I’m dating Ty. Adding a little spell of what looks like “rebellion” will make him lose his mind.

“Your hair can cover it.” He was looking at my left ear. “It’s literally going to go right here.” He pinched where he planned to actually pierce me.

feeling wasn’t pleasant, so there’s no way I’m getting my ear pierced.

“I don’t want it-”

“Clearly, you need it if you have a for that vampire.” Channing said as he crossed his arms over his chest. The way he looked at me definitely said I wasn’t going to get away with not getting the piercing.

“Relax.” Brendan said to me. “I used to give myself piercings all the time.” He was smiling. This was the first time it looked like he was actually enjoying himself.

He used to have a lot of piercings, but he took them out. I just didn’t know he was the one giving himself his own piercings.

I wasn’t happy about this.

“Can I at least think about it?”

They weren’t going to give me the time to do that. They were already leaving without giving me an answer.

“Industrial piercings are hot.” Cina winked at me before following after his older brothers.

I wanted to tell them that I was serious about not wanting the piercing but it was too late. The fact that Channing didn’t say anything about it meant that he was on board with the idea. I know they want a way to keep the pearls on me, but I’m super sure they could’ve made another bracelet.

I touched my ear.

My hair will just barely cover it.

And it’s going to hurt.

This is what I get for causing trouble.

Baron and Cana were staring at me. I was sitting on the couch, my legs twitching because I was nervous. My hands were tightly clasped in my lap and I was trying my hardest not to get worked up. Cana started to laugh, but he didn’t find it funny. It was almost like a warning laugh, like he couldn’t believe I said yes and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

“You sure?” Baron asked after a moment of staying quiet.

“Brendan is a little too needle happy.” Cana rolled his eyes. “You let him do one, then you’ll wind up with ten.”

“This does make me feel better.”

The two of them looked at each other, then shrugged. “It’s like Channing with his tattoos. He was allowed to get one, then all of a sudden he has his whole back tattooed.” Baron said.

“That kind of pisses me off cause I asked mom first, but she let him do it.” Cana said.

“Yeah well, Channing barely ever causes trouble. You were a fucking mess.” Baron laughed loudly, his voice full and deep.

Cana did not appreciate being called out. “Like you were any better.” he was quick to say.

Before Baron could make another comment, Brendan came back, and he had all these things that I know he doesn’t need but brought with him to freak me out. He’s really going to put a needle in my ear. I know there are other options. There are definitely other things they could do but they really wanted me to keep the pearls on me without having any issues.

“We’re starting this again, Brendan?” Baron asked him.

“I had a good business going in the upstairs bathroom at school until some girl got her own piercing infected by using fucking table salt when I told her what to use.”

“That was you!” I turned to him sharply.

I remember that rumor going around two years ago. Apparently a sophomore was giving people a variety of piercings for cheap in one of the bathrooms at school. Apparently that girl he’s talking about got her belly button piercing infected and told her parents about it. Then all of a sudden, the piercings in the upstairs bathroom just stopped. I had no idea that it was Brendan until now. As much as it makes me feel better that he’s given people piercings before, I don’t like that I have to get one.

Brendan put gloves on after he set everything down. “Just relax, and this will be over in ten minutes.”

I think ten minutes is a little too long.

I watched him clean two needles. I wasn’t exactly excited to have those in my ear.

“This is protecting you from vampires, Gabriel.” Baron laughed like he did before, loud and hearty. It wasn’t reassuring.

That didn’t make me feel better either.

I feel like this is karma for letting Henri bite me yesterday. If I hadn’t let him do that, then this wouldn’t be happening.

“So...” Brendan started slowly as he gestured for me to lay down on the couch. I wasn’t exactly compliant so he pushed me. “Your wrist is going to hurt like hell when this thing is in.” he warned me. “I got some of my mom’s ointment that might help tone down the heat.”

My body was shaking. “It’s f-fine.”

“You got this, Gabriel!” Cana was very reassuring.

And as nice as he and Baron were being, that didn’t stop my heart from racing. I wasn’t concerned about how bad my wrist was going to hurt. I know this piercing is going to be worse. I know I’ve experienced worse pain, like Henri biting my wrist, because that brought me to tears, but who’s to say that getting my cartilage pierced won’t do the same thing?

This is going to hurt like hell.

Ty came over to my house at midnight. We stayed down in the basement since it would be easier to talk without getting in trouble.

“Does it hurt?” Ty gently moved my head to the side so he could see my new piercing.

Let's just say Brendan and his brothers had to hold me down to actually pierce my ear. What made it worse was that I had to get two. Numbing my ear is one thing, but this is unbearable.

“It feels awful.” My ear was still hot, and Brendan warned me that it was going to feel like that for a while. “I tried to fix my hair to cover it, and when my finger touched it, I screamed.” It hurt that bad.

I had to get my wrist bandaged too. It felt like my entire arm was on fire because the wound hadn’t healed yet. Apparently the ointment I drowned my wrist in numbed the pain enough for me to get the wound wrapped, so there’s that. Right now, my wrist feels sore and I can’t move it around as much as I would like.

My ear feels like it's on fire. I want to say I've gone through worse, but I don't think this can compare.

“Whose idea was it to pierce my ear?” I asked him.

“Well, we wanted to do something that wouldn’t too obvious.” Ty said. “Brendan said to make it a piercing so it can’t be taken off.”

“Unless it’s ripped off my ear.”

“If they think the piercing is the problem.” He tilted my head to the side again to look at it. “It’s to protect you.”

“I know.” I sighed. “Ty, I’m sorry.” I wanted him to know. I had to make sure he knew that I was sorry, that I didn’t mean for this to happen. “I just...he said he doesn’t want to be involved, and he was my friend. I shouldn’t have let my curiosity put me in danger like that.”

I know what I did wrong, and I was sure that I wasn’t going to do it again.

Ty didn’t say anything. His hands dropped from my face, and he kept quiet. I had this feeling like that wasn’t a good sign. I wanted to apologize again, but I kept quiet, giving him a chance to think about what he wanted to say.

I hope he’s not mad.

But if he is, I wanted to do what I could to make sure that everything right.

“I should get going.” He turned away. “I just wanted to make sure you were fine tonight.” he said as he went towards the door.

My mouth opened and I wanted to ask him not to leave. I hesitated because I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do. It just felt like...Ty didn’t want me.

I definitely did not have a good night yesterday. I was upset with myself because Ty was mad at me. I mean, he won’t talk to me much right now and I know it’s my fault. I was sorry about it, but it seems like that doesn’t matter. I can’t imagine how much I hurt him by doing something as risky as I did.

I regret it.

Not because my wrist hurt and my ear hurt, or because I couldn’t sleep last night. I regret it because Ty’s mad.

How do I handle him not talking to me? I know he’s quiet all the time, but that’s just because that’s how he is. Now he’s not talking to me because he doesn’t want to, and that hurts.

My mom dropped me off at school in the morning. They were worried about me driving, and I guess I deserve that. As I was walking inside, I saw all the brothers standing together, talking among themselves. I planned to ignore them, not because I didn’t want to talk to them, but it seemed like they were doing something serious and I didn’t want to bother them.

But the twins waved me over, and I couldn’t pretend like I didn’t see them. So I walked over to the group of brothers who were standing around their cars. I didn’t say anything when I got over to them, but there was this chill in the air.

They were discussing something serious for sure.

“I want to try a little experiment.” Channing said to us.

I don’t know why he’s telling me he wants to do an experiment...unless it involves me. I don’t know what it was so I didn’t say anything yet.

The rest of them were quiet.

“We need Gabriel.” Channing added, since that seemed to be the important part of this.

I couldn’t come up with a reason why he would need me, but I didn’t get a chance to answer to that because Ty spoke for me. He was quick to say no on my behalf. Whatever the experiment was, I can’t be a part of it.

Channing didn’t look annoyed but it would only take seconds to get him there. He decided to explain himself to Ty anyway. “The only way to find Henri is if we use Gabriel as bait. And we know he won’t hurt him.”

“Why do you want him?” I asked.

“There has to be a reason he says he doesn’t want to get involved.” Channing said. “If he thinks we’re dealing with something we can’t handle, I want to know that now before we do something drastic.”

“We were able to kill two vampires, but nothing’s changed.” Brendan said. “It’s like they’re ignoring us.”

“It means they don’t think we’re a threat.” Channing said.

And that was definitely a problem.

“You don’t need Gabriel to find Henri.” Ty said, and it sounded like he wasn’t going to say it again.

“I wasn’t asking you-”

“I said no.”

There’s a high chance that Channing and Ty were going to get into it right here and now with the way they glared at each other. I don’t want Ty fighting with his brothers, and he knows this. I put my hand on his arm to calm him down, and he looked at me sharply.

I wasn’t going to tell him I can make my own decisions.

That would make this worse.

“We could have this over and done with right now.” Cina said to Ty, which did not make this any better considering that Ty was upset.

Brendan chimed in as well to give his opinion, and then it became a full blown argument between them. It took only a few seconds for Jackie to side with Brendan and Cina, and he wasn’t nice about it either.

I couldn’t say anything.

Channing had stayed quiet while his younger brothers continued to argue about the situation. Ty thinks the situation will escalate and putting me in the middle of it will make things worse. The others just want to use Henri as a messenger. Channing hadn’t said much about his plan and what he wanted to do after he found Henri. I didn’t have this feeling like he would kill Henri. At least not yet.

So the vampires are ignoring the wolves threats.

Channing doesn’t like that so he wants to find whoever is controlling them.

He thinks Henri knows.

Channing walked away from the group and I followed behind him because this would be the only time I would be able to say what I think without Ty cutting me off. We walked a good enough distance away just so we could talk privately. Channing turned towards me when we were far enough away. The first period bell already rang so there weren’t too many people in the parking lot.

“Ty thinks this is dangerous.” I said quietly. I believe him, too. With everything that’s been happening, the last thing I need is to put myself in danger. “I feel like Henri wouldn’t hurt me, but I don’t know what it would be like if he’s threatened.” I said anyway despite my gut feeling to keep quiet.

“You think he’ll come talk to you if you ask?” Channing asked.

“He will.” I said.

Henri said he wanted friends that didn’t hurt people.

He’s actually making an effort to continue talking to me despite the divide that widened between us.

“I can’t say I’ll be nice.” Channing warned me. If he kills Henri then he’ll justify it.

“Ty’s not going to be happy.”

“I can handle Ty.” Channing said, his tone cold. He crossed his arms over his chest, and I saw his jaw clench. He didn’t want to talk about him arguing with Ty. “I just need to know what you think.” He said.

I could hear the others still going at it.

I can help. But there’s a chance I can get hurt.

Ty’s just trying to protect me.

Channing wouldn’t ask my opinion unless he’s conflicted. “Do you think Ty is wrong?” Is that what his gut is telling him?

“He’s the only one of us that’s thinking clearly.” He said, more so to himself, but I heard his comment. Channing is doubtful. If he’s feeling like that then I’ll get nervous.

Channing walked by me so he could go back over to his brothers. I followed as well, still hearing Ty and his brothers arguing about the situation. When he saw me walking behind Channing, he stopped talking immediately, only to grab me by my hand and drag me away. I know he would be upset so I didn’t say anything. Ty will do everything in his power to protect me so me going against that won’t help.

I can make my own decisions.

I know Ty is scared for me, but I can make my own decisions. I said this last time.

I planted my feet on the ground and yanked my arm away from him. He turned around abruptly and looked at me, his dark eyes with a wild flare to them.

“Ty, you shouldn’t be this upset.” I was concerned for him. He’s never this mad. “Henri wouldn’t-”

Ty cut me off before I could finish. “I don’t care about what he wouldn’t do to you. You don’t know what could happen.” He said over me.

Ty is mad because of me. I’ll take full responsibility for it, but I’m the only person Henri will talk to and that’s the only way to find him. He just disappeared after I found out his secret, so now I see him when he decides to come find me. I can help get this problem resolved as quickly as possible.

For the whole day, Ty wouldn’t speak to me. He’d stand next to me, but he wouldn’t talk. He wouldn’t look at me, he wouldn’t say anything, he wouldn’t even listen to me. All he would do was be near me because I know he never likes letting me out of his sight. He’s still angry with me and I know that he doesn’t feel good about me but Channing wouldn’t put me in danger without having some kind of plan.

I wanted to not worry but Ty being angry wasn’t helping.

I hadn’t talked during school. I was quiet because Ty was.

Honestly, I had no clue what Channing was planning on making me do. His concern with Ty though made him change the circumstances. At the end of the day, I texted Henri to meet me at the library, and he didn’t hesitate to respond. I got this bitterness inside me because I felt like he was betraying him. Even if I’ve been having issues because of him lately, I still felt like I shouldn’t do this. I believe that he doesn’t want to be involved. I believe that he doesn’t want to hurt me.

So if something happens to me, it’s my fault for believing him.