Page 87 of His Obsession

A groggy voice answered the phone. “Liz? What’s wrong?”

My voice shook and broke to the point I didn’t think he understood me. “Alek… help me…” I sobbed. “Where… where are y-you?”

“I’m coming, sit tight,” he said. He sounded more awake now that he heard my panicked voice.

I tried explaining that I sent him a text, but the phone clicked, signaling he hung up. I was by myself once again, waiting for Hell to swallow me whole.

I was pathetic. I knew this. How was it I could be so strong when facing my most formidable demon, but when nighttime fell and my dreams came alive, I suddenly became a fragile person?

I was weak.

The night was my weakness, my daylight to vampires, my silver to werewolves. I could only sit and wait for him to come to rescue me again, frozen in fear and terrorized by night.

My tears had stopped flowing, but my eyes burned, and I knew if I looked in the mirror now, they’d be red-rimmed and puffy.

My door cracked open, and Alek stepped into my darkroom. His eyes searched the bed, then the room, his gaze coming to land on mine huddled in the corner. His face filled with worry, his body tense. He came and sat next to me, pulling me into his reassuring arms.

“The same dream?” he whispered.

I shook my head and whimpered, tucking my face tighter into his chest. I chewed on my bottom lip. “Worse.” It was all I could choke out.

It had only been a few days since we had our talk, and I walked out, and he hadn’t come to me at night. Allowing the nightmares to tangle me in their web and suck me down to depths I didn’t know existed.

The same night I walked out, I woke Lucy in a fit of screams. I guess she came running into my room with a baseball bat to find me hysterical and uncontrollable. She couldn’t do anything to console me, and when she tried to get close, I became violent and tried to attack her. She finally had to lock me in my room and call Alek, who came over right away. I don’t remember any of it except me waking up to Alek saying my name and telling me to calm down. Lucy was so upset she went to stay with Jake for the rest of the night.

“Do you want to talk about it?” His soft lips touched my forehead as his arms cradled me.

I shook my head.

Alek stood, bringing me with him, and carried me to the bed, his warm body crawling in beside me.

“Please don’t leave me,” I begged, holding on to his shirt so tight I could hear the seams snapping.

“Relax, Liz,” he whispered, prying my fingers from his shirt. “I’m not going anywhere.”

∞∞∞

I rolled to my back, put my hands over my head, and stretched, the morning sun warming my face. The sheets beside me were cold as I placed my hand to the spot Alek laid next to me.

A pang of sadness squeezed my gut like a vice until the bathroom door opened. Alek stood in the doorway, rubbing his head with a towel, no shirt, and sweats low on his hips. The melancholy evaporated, and my heart picked up its pace, and I gave him a lopsided smile.

“You keep looking at me like that, and I’ll never get anything done today,” he growled, ruffling his hair a little more.

“I thought you left.”

“I told you I wouldn’t.”

I nodded and chewed on my lip.

Alek tossed the towel on the end of the bed and sat down beside me. His damp onyx-black hair and five o’clock shadow gave him a rugged look I wanted to get lost in.

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and cupped my face with his warm palm, his thumb gently prying my lip from my teeth. I watched his intense gaze and tried to imagine what was running through his mind.

“I’m sorry I left,” I said, as my eyes trailed down to his chest and studied his tattoo. The bloody, gaping hole showed a gruesome image of shattered bone, torn flesh, and a missing heart. I now knew why he refused to talk about it. It made sense. His mother’s death tore his heart out in the most violent of ways.

“I understand,” his whispered words close to my lips.

I swung my legs around, tucking my feet underneath my butt, and placed my palms on his chest. I was hesitant to kiss him, to connect our lips for fear of rejection; what if he didn’t feel that way anymore?