Chapter Twenty Five - Part Two

Maxwell

I’m more than ready to barge in there and grab Charlie, demanding that she leaves, but I wait until she exits the house on her own. The presence of Dave makes the little blood I have left in my body boil. Hovering in one of the shadows across the street, watching her finally head to her car, relief begins to flood through me. Except when I see Dave chasing after her, I become more than agitated. I listened to him seduce her with a song and now I’m forced to listen to him stumbling over his words.

Balling my hands into fists with anger, I draw that blood out. My vision gets blurry with rage as I see her with her mouth on his. Although, when her sweet mouth starts swearing I feel a little better.

“Maxwell. Maxwell.” A soft whisper of my name sounds from behind me.

Being afraid of nothing and no one, I investigate. Making my way through a resident’s yard, I find myself on a sidewalk around the corner from Juliet’s house. A man stands in front of a black vehicle catches my attention. When he instantaneously turns around at my approach, I know he was the one to call my name.

“Hello, Maxwell.”

I don’t need to get closer to see who it is. “James. I’ve heard you were intown. What brings you here?” Especially here now, at this moment?

“I’m here to talk. Why don’t we go for a ride? I can accompany you back home.”

“I would love to but I have to keep an eye on Charlie. You’ve heard of her, right? from Morgan. Sweet girl, Morgan.”

“Yeah. She’s one of kind. She has also told me about Charlie’s little problem with a stalker of sorts.”

“You can say that.”

“Sadly, I’m afraid I can’t let you keep a close eye on Charlie at the moment. This stalker...vampire that’s after her insists that I take you back to your suite, make you keep your distance for the moment.”

Shock and confusion overwhelm my senses and I just stare at him. “You’re working with him?”I finally say. “What does any of this have to do with you, James? Or the better question is who is he and what does he want with Charlie?”

“I’m not working with him so to say. He’s outside Morgan’s apartment as we speak. If you don’t come with me and if you interfere, he’ll kill Morgan. It’s nothing against you or Charlie, but I can’t let him hurt her. I’m sure you would do the same if the roles were switched.” He opens the door, waving me inside. A flash of his fangs proves he’ll attack if he needs to.

Without wanting to start a fight that will no doubt wake all the residents in the neighborhood, I reluctantly enter the car. I can’t help but to clench my teeth together as we start to get farther away from Charlie.

“It’s not that bad, Maxwell. Charlie will be fine, he assured me of that,” he informs me, but the hatred that grows stronger from him saying Charlie’s name makes it difficult to listen to him speak. “Morgan would never forgive me if she were to find out I helped in Charlie’s death. She looks up to her and I’m grateful that if I decided to take Morgan as my bride that she’ll always have Charlie as a friend.”

“If he’s at Morgan’s apartment, then who’s at Charlie’s house?” I know the answer, but I have to hear it to make it real.

“His soon-to-be bride.”

“Who?” I demand.

“I don’t know her name. All I know is that someone from your past is going to kill Morgan if I don’t keep you away from Charlie. I can’t lose her, Maxwell, she’s all I have. You at least have Grace if something were to happen to Charlie.”

I have Grace…who cares if I have Grace or not. Charlie’s my companion, my light in this dark world. Without her it won’t matter if I have dozens of people around, because not one of them will stop the pain I will feel if anything happens to her. “From my past?”

“Yeah, no idea who. All I know is that out of all the years I’ve known you I have never seen him before. This revenge he has for you must go way back.”

“You better hope nothing happens to Charlie, James, or I’ll be the next one to threaten Morgan.” I don’t care if Morgan is sweet girl or not or if Charlie will be hurt by her death. She would be a small price in the great list of pain people would pay for Charlie’s harm.

“Well, let us hope it doesn’t come to that. After this I’m no longer in the mix. I made that clear and I’ll make it clear to you as well. I won’t help on either side of this fight and I won’t tolerate Morgan being threatened either. We’re in the same boat here, Maxwell, please understand that I had no choice in this.” The pleading in his voice is all I need to know that this is killing him as much as it’s killing me, but his bride has a better chance of walking away from this unscathed.

I refuse to talk to him on the remaining ride to the hotel. I keep telling myself that there had to be a way that he could have prevented this from happening, that I could have prevented this from happening. Thankfully, the ride doesn’t last that long. The driver remains in the car as James escorts me to my room. He blocks the door with his phone in his hand.

“Waiting for a call?” I ask.

“Yeah, actually. When his girl leaves the house she’s going to call him and then he’ll call me. At that time, you’re free to go. Just as I’ll be free to go to Morgan.”

Just about to the walk into my suite, I debate whether I should start that fight I should’ve started outside of Juliet’s house. I decide against it. I’m more than willing to put Morgan in danger to save Charlie, but Charlie won’t forgive me if I let that happen as well as having no faith in her protecting herself.

The silence in the room makes my ears ring. My leg bounces on the ball of my foot with nervousness that only doubles in size with each second that passes. Putting my head in my hands between my legs, all I can do is wait. I tell myself over and over again that everything is going to be fine, but then I feel it. It’s like going head first into a brick wall, as Charlie’s fear and pain flood my senses.

At first it’s anger then a strong guilt, but then slowly fear trickles in. That small amount of fear triples within seconds. My breathing hitches and my head throbs, impossible and unneeded actions, but the bond creates them. Her pain is my pain. Some people say it’s a warning to prepare yourself for the worst. No matter how awful I feel, I can sense a glimmer of hope, her fighting.

She can only defend herself so much even if it is against a human. This person working with him most likely has been training for this very moment to keep the odds in her favor. And just like that, out of nowhere, searing pain makes me scream out…she’s hurt. Then it stops. Her terror fades away ...slowly she faded away.

James stands on his feet with a pitiful expression on his face. He hopes that he wasn’t wrong about anyone hurting Charlie tonight. It seems like eternity, but after a quick glance at the clock, only ten minutes pass before the much anticipated ringing of James’ phone.

The relay of phone calls last longer than they should have. I begin to have second thoughts that Morgan might not be as safe as James was informed. As best as I can I try to eavesdrop on the conversation, but I can’t hear a word the person on the phone says. All I have to go by is the nod and occasional yes from James to know he’s pleased with his performance. I stand up straight away after he pockets his phone.

“It’s time for you to leave, James. I could have told you a while ago it was safe for you to go, but seeing that my bride was being beaten, I was a little preoccupied.”

A flash of my own fangs makes his hands go shaky. He fumbles with the doorknob before he disappears. He might have played tough guy earlier, but now with no one’s life on the line, he knows I mean business. I punch the drywall, creating a large hole in the wall. How in the hell did I allow this to happen? I race out of the building taking a side door so I don’t run into James in case he still lingers.

I race in a manic flash of fury to her house to find the front door open and her lying in a puddle of her own blood.

I scoop her up in my arms and to my relief she groans in protest. Thank god.

“Where were you?” she mumbles.

“I’m here now.” Is all I can get myself to say. My own guilt eats at me. I let her down. I repeatedly told her I could protect her and I didn’t.

I gently place her in the passenger seat and set out for the hospital. The scent of her blood is nothing I can’t handle. However, all that changes when I shut the driver’s door. The intoxicating smell attacks my senses. Unwillingly, my fingers grip the steering wheel as I talk myself out of the dark place I refuse to go down. Before when her blood was spilled I had control over my urges, but it’s been a while since I’ve fed.

Charlie moans in pain as speed down bumpy roads and jerk the car around tight corners. One final squeeze of the steering wheel brings me back to reality. Charlie needs a hospital and a hospital is where we’re going to go.

In half of the time it should have taken to get there, I squeal into a spot in the emergency parking area. Making my way around the car to gather her in my arms without drawing attention to myself, we make our way inside. The nurse at the desk covers the shock on her face from the blood that rolls down both of our arms.

“She needs stitches,” I tell the nurse.

A nurse immediately rushes out from behind the closed door signaling me to follow her. Some relief melts into my bones as lay her on the table, medical personal all around.

“Hello…” He looks over some papers in search of her name. “Are you her...boyfriend?”

“Yes. Someone attached her, I found her on the floor...bleeding.”

“We’ll get her all stitched up, see if she needs a transfusion, some fluids. I promise she’s going to be fine.”

“Charlie…Charlie.” He softly calls her name. She sturs. “Charlie can you tell me what happened?

At first she groans, the bright lights blinding her prevents her from opening her eyes. She tries to move her injured arm, but yelp in pain as it twitches. “Someone broke into my house and attacked me,” she replies in a quiet voice.

“Attacked you?” His suspicious eyes move to look at me. The snap of rubber gloves hitting his wrist echoes within the room.

“I...don’t know...who. A woman, she was waiting for me...in my house.”

The doctor removes the makeshift bandage to reveal a slow ooze of blood seeping out of the deep cut. “Did she do this to you?”

Charlie nods. “She had my knife...I tried to take it away from her...but she cut me in the process.”

“You’re okay now. You’re safe.” He starts to open packages of sealed utensils that a nurse brings in. It seems like time stands still as I watch him remove a needle from a sterile package and insert it into a small glass vial.

“You’re going to feel a pinch, okay. I need to numb the area before I stitch you up.” Without waiting for her to reply, he starts to poke the needle inside the gash in several spots.

Charlie sucks in a breath each time the needle pierces her skin. Thankfully it only takes a few seconds and within no time he starts to thread the wound together. The strong-willed, overbearing Charlie unintentionally shows weakness as she refuses to look at the needle. She also refuses to look at me.

I’m not entirely sure that the numbing solution is even working because every time he punctures her skin she winces with pain.

Mid-stitch the sliding door opens to reveal two uniformed men. “We’re hoping that Ms. Preston can tell us about what happened to her tonight.” One of the officers says.

“She already told the doctor everything she knows. It was a woman, she didn’t see her face. She broke into her home waiting for her.”

It takes Charlie a few seconds to reply due to the pain she’s experiencing. However, she nods her head through it with gritted teeth agreeing with me on what happened.

“Are you aware of anyone that would want to hurt you?”

Charlie bites her bottom lip as the last stitch is pulled through. “No.” Her voice seems to be getting stronger.

“If there’s anything else you would like to add to your statement when you’re better, just come on down to the office. Have a good night.” Just as fast as they came in, they leave.

“You’re all fixed up, Charlie. You can take some pain relievers for any discomfort, but you should heal up without much of a scar.” With that said, the doctor waits by the open door for us to follow him out.

I mumble a thank you to the nurse behind the desk before exiting the building. Charlie leans against for support all the way to the car. With the window still rolled down, we head back to my place. To my joy, Charlie doesn’t protest, but then again she barely can keep her eyes open.

Once we arrive back at the hotel, I gather her up in my arms yet again. This time she protests, but I ignore her and carry to my room. I place her down on my bed just like all the other nights, but the second her head touches the pillow she bolts up right.

Her accusing eyes finding me. “How come you didn’t come Maxwell?”

I can’t find my words, so she continues in lecturing me. “Really…nothing?” Apparently she feeling better, because there’s an argument lighting up her eyes. “Not one word to explain yourself with. Is this because of Dave? You let me get attacked because Dave kissed me?” I can see the trouble she is having in finishing her sentence.

“No. Would never let you get attacked.” My eyes instantly go to a bandage on her arm. “I wanted to help you, believe me, it was killing me.”

“Killing you? I was the one getting sliced and diced. Why didn’t you come? I thought you said you could sense when I’m in danger. If it was killing you, why didn’t you come?” she accuses me on the verge of tears.

“He’s threatening people to help him do his dirty work. He had…”

“He had who?” I can see the hand on her good arm ball into a fist at my refusal of helpful information.

“James, he had James keep me away.”

“James, who the hell is James?” Any sadness from before vanishes.

“You don’t know? James is Morgan’s boyfriend. Your assistant’s life was in danger if James didn’t hold up his part.”

“Wait…Morgan’s boyfriend that she told me she met in church is a vampire?” Confusion distorts her features.

“He most likely implanted that memory to make him seem more appealing to her standards.”

“I thought you said you can’t do stuff like that.”

“We can’t get rid of memories, but we can make memories. They still don’t last forever unless the donor believes them on a higher level. Morgan obviously is attracted to James and clings to the knowledge that he’s a churchgoer. Therefore, there’s no need to continue the influence. It would have worked on you, but you’re a little more stubborn than most.” In all honestly, I have no idea if Morgan knows that James is a vampire or not. She could be hiding James’s secret just as Charlie is hiding mine.

“I just want to change out of these clothes and lay down.” She mutters. She remain sitting on the bed and doesn’t shuffle to the edge until I back away to the door.

I shut it behind me, cursing myself. “Damn it.”