Chapter forty nine

Chapter forty nine
He chuckled, "Very typical of you, Leon. What if we both throw ideas around? Are you open to that?"

I nodded, agreeing to work with him.

We exchanged ideas, and I came up with the most absurd one that would surely be dramatic enough to let us have a shot at winning the prize.

"Marianne will kill me!" Richie kept commenting.

"Do you want the first hunt or not?" I asked, not playing with him.

We debated around my idea, with him challenging it. "Can I think about it for ten minutes?"

I nodded. He ended up sliding down the couch to rest his head against my lap. I don't know why I kept running my fingers through his hair.

He was staring at the ceiling, seeming to be deep in thought. He sighed, standing up. "You are putting my life in danger. I can't do that." His face had changed.

I stood up to reach his level. I was looking into his eyes, and I hated that his eyeballs weren't still. He was trying his mightiest to avoid eye contact.

He broke eye contact, shaking his head. "Marianne will kill me. She won't lock me in the dungeon this time. You don't know how much she values you, Leon."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not like you're going to kill me. Besides, it is my idea. Do it for the children."

He asked to be excused, leaving me to go outside. I followed him, but I met with Seren at the door. She blocked my exit.

She sure as hell did seem angry. She pushed me inside the house and closed the door. "What are you trying to do? What are you doing, Leon? Do you know you can get killed?"

I surprised myself when I snatched my hand out of her grip. I truly don't know what's wrong with me.

I backed away from Seren. "It's a game, Seren. You said to do it for the children! I am submitting my team's promise. I submit myself to be Richie's blood bank. He was starved in the dungeon, and I know that the vampires in your Coven have not had human blood in centuries. Let's break that tradition tonight and let Richie feed, right in front of everyone."

I raised my hand up in surrender, backing away from the fuming Seren.

She shut her eyes close, then opened them. Her eyes softened. She called my name three times in the softest way possible. She opened her arms and I ran to fall in her arms. She tightened the hug.

"I'm sorry, Leon. I should've seen this coming. Hurting yourself won't make what happened disappear. You will only feel more pain..."

I cried in her arms. I didn't want to open myself this much to her. But, I needed to.

"Drew has hurt me, Seren! I have these scary thoughts in my head and they don't seem to go away. I'm hurting..." I whispered the latter.

"I know that you feel like hurting yourself is the only answer, Leon. It's not. You can't put your life at danger like this. Marianne and I care deeply about you. You don't have to die inside alone, Leon. We are here for you."

I shook my head over her shoulder, with the tears flooding down my face, drenching Seren.

"You don't understand, Seren. Every night, I think about what Drew did to me. He killed the man I loved, he kept me a prisoner of my own thoughts, and I am still thinking about him. He has damaged me. I can't think of nothing but hurting myself!"

It's true. I can't think of nothing but to hurt myself. I thought that letting Richie feed off of me would bring me unimaginable pain to numb the pain of Drew.

Tonight is one of those days, and I can't get him out of my head.

"He hurt me, Seren!" I cried.

"I know, Leon, and I am sorry. I am sorry for what you are going through. I can assure you that hurting yourself will not make you feel any better. Try to let go of Drew, Leon. You are safe here with us, and as long as we are still alive, we will never let any of the Harimots get near you."

That was quite an ambitious promise to make.

The door opened to reveal Richie. His eyes were a bit darker than I'd seen them. He had traces of blood on the corners of his mouth.

He cast down, wiping his mouth. He cheered, "What did I miss?"

Seren and I broke the hug. I wiped my face with my palms.

Seren kissed my cheek, then she pushed past Richie, saying, "Nice try, Richie," then she left.

Richie shrugged, "What did I do?"

I lightly chuckled, wiping my face again with my palms. "You missed nothing. Where did you go?"

He smiled, "I had gone to feed. I'm still hungry, but at least I won't lose control when I-"

"-The deal is off, Richie. I don't know what I was thinking."

I caught a sigh of relief from him, but he played nonchalant by saying, "Oh no, right when I was looking forward to tasting human blood."

I don't honestly know what I was thinking. Like I said, there is someone compelling me. This is not me. I've never reached this level of wanting to harm myself.

It was a spur of the moment thing, and it just washed over me.

"Back to the drawing board, I guess. What promise would you like to make, Mr Leon? What more do you want to give me since you were so generous earlier?"

We laughed about it, but I was still not okay.

Richie ended up confessing that he was the one that called Seren to come talk to me. He offered me a shoulder to cry on if I felt like I was not myself.

"I know what you are going through, Leon. Remember that I have been through this, and I want you to know that we are all here for you. Seren and Marianne will help you like how they have helped me..."