Watch Me Fall; Chapter Four: Proof

I let out a choked sob once I was sure Aaron wouldn't hear and grabbed the two handbags angrily. I got to my feet and began to walk back to my apartment building when a gentle pulling sensation refused to let my body go any farther. I sighed in anger and turned around, walking instead towards the alley that I'd met Thao in twice this week. About fifteen minutes later, I found it. This time, Thao wasn’t there. The tugging at my body grew and pulled me through the streets until I was at the door of the house I'd, only moments before, refused to see again.1

I knocked and was let in instantly. The small woman who opened the door pointed down the hall and I followed it to a door that led to the staircase. I went down the stairs, through the white door, and sat in one of the chairs in the circular room. Frustrated, I threw the handbags onto the empty table and waited for Colin to arrive and make some smartass comment. Instead, the air in the room went cold and frosty as a woman with blond hair and a perfect face slid into the seat across from me. I avoided her eyes as I recognized her from two nights ago.2

"So, Sky's little pet has finally shown up. You're lucky he didn't go looking for you, or you wouldn't have made it through the night." She sneered, her beautiful face contorting with a hint of contempt. She grabbed a handbag and pulled out a large balloon. A snifter appeared in her hand as she bit into the balloon with her teeth. The punctures leaked out a thick red liquid and the room smelt of metal once again. She swished the contents of her glass, then brought it to her lips and drank a little. I watched, amazed, as her skin suddenly took on a rosy hue. Her complexion was no longer chalky, but perfect and glowing. Her full lips grew plump and moist and her eyes became a darker shade of red near the pupils. I watched in fascination and she starred at me with open dislike. A few minutes later she drained the glass and popped open another balloon. This time she offered it to me.3

"Have a taste. This batch is especially good, nicely aged, about thirty years." I shook my head, suddenly disgusted. She shrugged and shot back the ruby liquid. I pushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear as I became more and more uncomfortable and the ruby on my wrist glinted. It seemed to catch her eye and in an instant her hand was around my wrist.4

"You little bitch. How dare he give you this? It's supposed to be mine!" She slapped me and the force cut the inside of my cheek as it hit my teeth. I fell off the chair and glared at her. She came over to me and ripped the ruby off my wrist so the chain bit into my skin and made several small cuts. 5

"Mika, stop." The blond froze as an expression of slight fear took control of her features. She turned to face Sky and her face changed in a second. 6

"Of course, Sky my love. Your pet fell, I was just helping her up." Sky raised an eyebrow at her and looked at me as I got to my feet and rubbed my cheek. Sky walked over to me and let his hand run down my jaw and across my cheekbone. The prints from Aaron's and Mika's slaps burned but the coolness of Sky's skin eased the sting. I looked at him and he smiled gently, then turned and backhanded Mika. She stayed silent as she fell into a bookshelf.7

"The pendant please, darling." Sky said in a voice that suggested he'd just kissed rather than slapped her. Mika, shaking in either fear or anger, handed him what he wanted and stood up. "Thank you. Now go see Colin, he has something for you." He turned away from her in dismissal and she growled. I peeked around Sky and saw her purple smoke dissipating into the air. Sighing in relief, I let Sky led me over to a chair. He sat down and pulled me onto his lap with me facing him this time. He avoided looking at my face while he did up the clasp of the silver chain so the ruby hung around my neck. He then took my hand and examined my wrist.8

"Is this the only blood she drew?" He asked quietly and I shook my head hesitantly.9

"The inside of my cheek's bleeding too." I said quietly as I watched Sky. The sight of my blood had him transfixed and he leaned towards my wrist slowly. I held my breath, aware that if he really was a vampire I could be in trouble. Sky inhaled the smell of my blood then kissed each tiny cut. My blood stained his lips lightly while his kisses sent my body jolts of desire. I began to breathe again shallowly as Sky's kisses came to an end and he looked up at me. 10

"Better now?" he whispered. I nodded and made the mistake of looking in his eyes. His once honey brown orbs shone with a deep red glow. I could feel my mind growing numb as his gaze overpowered me. Soon, without thinking, I was leaning in to his body. My hands wrapped around his neck and his held me around my waist. His triumphant smirk didn't sway me as I kissed his lips softly. Sky kissed back and I opened my mouth when his tongue slid gently across my lower lip. I moaned a little as his hands slid down my body to my ass and pulled me closer. 11

The kiss ended much too soon and as we broke apart I felt that same sense of loss, only stronger. Sky kept his hands on my ass to keep me firmly against him. It was a few minutes before I started to feel normal again and in that time, I thought about my circumstances. Here I was sitting in the lap of a hot 'vampire' who definitely knew how to kiss a woman. He'd given me a ruby pendant and was supposedly my owner. A blond bitch was after the ruby around my neck and wanted this incredibly hot man all to herself. Now, of all things, I was lusting after him as well. 12

"Is it so bad then, Eshana, to be a pet? Not so many are as caring as I can be." I frowned and looked at Sky. He was looking down at me with secretive eyes that glowed with lust, but it was a lust for something other than physical company. 13

"I'm not your pet, Sky." I said gently as he leaned in to kiss my jaw. I heard a soft growl come from his throat and the brand in my elbow tingled in disapproval at my words. 14

"The sooner you learn to accept that fact, the sooner I can give you more." He whispered, slightly frustrated, into my skin as his lips and teeth gently brushed down along my collarbone. I shivered and my hands tightened around his neck to keep him close.15

"I already have too much." I stated, unsure of why I was arguing with him when all I wanted was to give in to whatever he wanted. At my words, Sky pulled back and frowned at me, his lips forming a perfect arch. 16

"What makes you say that?" He asked, his gently caressing tone vanishing into a harsh, almost degrading one. I looked down at my hands as they slid from around his neck to rest between our bodies. 17

"Do I really need a ruby? Mika said I don't deserve it, and even if I don’t like her I have to agree with what she said. You supposedly own me, yet I haven't been held captive or made to believe it at all. I've got an annoying butterfly on my elbow and it burns whenever I don't agree with you or any other stupid men in this house, and you've randomly given me a ruby necklace that some blond chick is after. To top it all off, you believe your vampires and you drink a metallic smelling red liquid that is either real blood or led based paint, and you can disappear in clouds of smoke. All of that...That just means either your crazy or I'm crazy, not that I'm your pet or that any of this is real." I finished my little speech, happy that I'd finally gotten to rant about what was on my mind when Sky wasn't working magic with his kisses to make me forget. I snuck a look at him as he sighed and leaned back in the chair, letting go of my ass to rub his temples. He looked frustrated and a little angry. I went to stand up and move, but he told me to stay put and the butterfly on my arm wouldn't let me refuse without shooting painful spasms through my body.18

"When then what, pray tell, do you need as proof?" he finally asked in a resigned voice. I looked at him, disbelief written across my face.19

"Proof? Proof of what? That neither of us is crazy or that you own me?" 20

"Proof of everything, so you'll stop questioning me and my authority over you." Sky looked straight at me while I thought of what I wanted and I avoided looking into his eyes.21

"Let's start with the most provable thing and work up to the craziest." He nodded and sat back comfortably. I shifted in his lap so I wouldn't fall off. "How do I know that you really own me?" 22

"I thought that would have been obvious." He said as a smirk came to his lips. I scowled at him and he grabbed my arm. "Your butterfly brand, of course. You already know that if you disobey me, it burns. What more proof do you need? Do you want a collar and name tag?" I pictured myself suddenly as a dog on a leash and shook my head. 23

"No, I'm fine without one. But that still doesn't mean you own me, that means you put some sort of weird curse thing on me." Sky sighed and pulled my arm out so the inside of my elbow was visible.24

"Watch." He said, then brushed his fingertips over the invisible mark gently. The butterfly came back at his caress, red as the ruby around my neck, and then began to fade. The last few outlines of the wings and body spelt a word. "It says Sky." He stated needlessly and I frowned.25

"Fine, the brand is your ownership tag, but that still doesn't make me your pet." I looked at Sky with a sly smile and he gave me an incredulous look.26

"What in hell does that make you then?"27

"Your wife, of course." 28

"What?" The look of shock on his perfect face made me smile. To me, the idea of being a wife was just as distasteful as being a pet, but if it worked against him…29

"A husband puts a seal or a brand on a wife when he claims her, only it's in the form of a wedding ring. In this case, it's a butterfly and a ruby." I stated logically, hoping that I could outsmart Sky and make him let me go. I had very few doubts now that I did indeed belong to him somehow, but I refused to just accept it. If he wanted me, then he"d have to fight to keep me.30

"The butterfly is a way to make sure that you remain obedient to me by delivering pain when you don't listen. I've never heard of a wedding ring that hurts the body when a woman refuses to listen to her husband." I stared at Sky's nose instead of glaring into his eyes. He'd made his point, the wedding ring was a bad comparison to the butterfly.31

"What about the ruby then? That still marks me as yours since little miss bitch recognized it." 32

"The ruby is so that I can find you if you ever choose to run away or manage to disobey me and survive through the pain. My blood's in the center, and blood calls to blood. I'll know exactly where you are as long as you're wearing that necklace." I watched Sky's face as he explained the ruby. For some unknown reason, I knew he wasn't telling me everything but I let it got for now.33

"And if I take it off..?"34

"You won't. You're going to keep it on until I take it off myself." As an order without loopholes, I knew I wouldn't be able to get around it. I glared at Sky full in the eyes. I could immediately feel the lulling sensation as my brain started to go foggy but I pushed it away and let my anger and frustration take over my mind instead. 35

"Fine, but that doesn't explain why bitch face wants it." 36

"Her name is Mika, and she wants it for other reasons." Sky said simply, not giving me an answer to my intended question. 37

"Whatever. You own me, that's kinda proven now. Next I guess is to prove that you're not crazy."38

"To do that, I have to prove that I am a vampire and that the balloons you bring are filled with blood, not red led based paint." He said with a light smile on his lips. I smiled a bit in response. 39

"Yup. So..?" 40

"Why don't we start by getting rid of your stereotypes," he suggested. "First off, we don't burn to ash in the sun, it's just very uncomfortable. The light gives us something like a migraine, I guess. It's painful on the eyes and it irritates the skin. Aside from that, when we're in the sun our skin is translucent like fog so we avoid it to stay hidden. Next, we really do drink blood, but we rarely kill for it. We have shares in various blood donation clinics, and we also have live donors who let us bite them. Mostly, we keep pets as donors." At this, I cut him off.41

"So, I'm going to be bitten then?" I asked trying to sound casual about it. I wasn't sure if the idea repulsed or excited me, but I sure as hell wasn't going to let him bite me without at least knowing it would happen.42

"Yes, you will be. Now may I finish?" I nodded and he continued. 43

"Taking blood from live donors can happen in a bunch of different ways. Some is through IV, other through sex. Mostly, we try to make the person as comfortable as possible so they don't feel it as much. Because blood can have various diseases and immunizations in it, we go on cleansing once every five years even though we aren't susceptible to disease or illness. The cleansing is for our health; It's like being an alcoholic, eventually the toxins are harmful to your body. We inject ourselves with a special serum that eliminates the toxins and refreshes our system. Now, Hollywood is bound to get something right, because we do have retractable fangs. We also cannot enter someone's house without being invited in unless they are a pet or a relative's pet. And yes, we can turn humans into vampires but it's very rare that a human survives the change. Vampires can also be born but only under very special circumstances. We do have weddings, but there is no divorce in our culture so marriage isn't taken lightly. There are no kings, queens, lords or any sort or hierarchy. We do have communities, but it's continental and there are no real leaders. Since there are only six communities, the rules are pretty much the same no matter where you go, with a few cultural and climate related variations."44

Sky paused and shifted me on his lap so I was sitting close to him yet again. I put my arms back around his neck loosely and leaned into his body. He nuzzled his face to my neck before he continued.45

"We don't have wings and we can't read thoughts unless we've tasted someone's blood and have seen their face. Smoke is our way of transportation, but we can only travel to a place we've been or seen clearly enough to picture it properly. We don't have the ability to turn invisible, but we can move fast when we want to. Not all of us are rich, but mostly we own big businesses and companies. We do have some people in politics, but they try to avoid becoming to prominent or well known. Some of us have the ability to shift into an animal but that depends on age and mental capacity. Vampires do die naturally but no one knows how long they live since they're mostly killed in human accident or by other vampires when one becomes to influential or greedy. Human exposure to vampires is restricted to pets since people fear what they don't understand, so we choose our pets carefully. Human pets living with vampires stay young as long as their owner is alive, unless they're set free. Our saliva is an aphrodisiac and anesthetic as well as a healing agent and can cure most injuries. Our blood can heal internal injuries and broken bones if need be, and doesn't change humans."46

"That's all good to know, but it still doesn't prove anything." I said even though I knew I was letting myself be convinced by his words. Sky's lips on my skin sent delicate shivers through my body and I bit my lip lightly.47

"It should. I've told you more than you knew before." I squeaked and Sky laughed softly, sending pleasant vibrations across my skin. His hands, no longer resting on my thighs, began to climb up body. I felt him run his fingers across my stomach and around my hips, up my back and then around my waist. I pushed my chest closer to his to stop his hands from running over my boobs and making me moan. 48

"How did...you...mmmmh" I mumbled. Sky had begun to suck at a spot on my neck and I was sure he'd leave a mark. My hands ran up his neck and into his shaggy dark hair. I grabbed his hair and pulled on it gently, and he stopped sucking on my neck. Slowly, he sat back up and left a trail of light kisses on my jaw.49

"I tasted your blood earlier tonight, Eshana, after Mika left us. Your cuts are healed, and I have access to your thoughts." He whispered placed a kiss on the corner of my mouth. Instinctively, I turned my head and placed my own kiss on his soft smooth lips.50

"Oh... Damn." I laughed a bit at Sky's frown. "Do I have access to your thoughts too?" He smirked.51

"No, it's a one way connection."52

"That's not fair!" 53

"Ahh, but life isn't fair, Miss Valkyrie." Sky's smirk disappeared and was replaced by a forced smile tinged with annoyance. I turned to see who was interrupting this time and my heart stopped beating. Standing in front of me was a very hot, very dangerous looking replica of Sky. The only difference I could see was the eyes. While Sky's were a natural honey brown, this man's eyes were as black as charcoal and as hard as steel. I looked between Sky and the stranger once again, then felt my heart give out completely. 54

Twins.