Living For The Night - Chapter 5

“Sabina?”1

As Sabin began to wake from her deep slumber, she became aware of the voice outside her door. “Sabina? Are you there?” Sabina threw off her quilt and rushed to the door.2

“Matt? What are you doing here?”3

Matt entered the room, nervously motioning toward the stairs. “I saw your parents weren’t home, and, well, I needed to talk to you about something.”4

Curious, Sabina motioned toward the blue and white couch in one corner of her bedroom. “Sure.” As he settled in, she wrapped herself in her quilt and sat on the floor in front of him. “So what’s up?”5

Matt took a deep breath, and then began. “I really don’t know Sabina. I mean, the police have been hounding me nonstop. They won’t leave me alone. They keep asking me the same questions over and over, my parents think I’m lying and they barely talk to me, and…” he paused, staring down at his hands. “…and there’s something I didn’t tell anyone. And really I didn’t think it was of any importance, but maybe it is.”6

Sabina sat straight up. “What is it Matt?”7

He sighed, and looked up. “That night, when she was at my house, I told her a secret. Something that I had never shared with anyone before. After I told her, she told me she also had a secret. But then she realized what time it was and said she had to go home. And then she left without telling me the secret, so I have no idea what it was.”8

She stood up and began to pace her room. “I was her best friend and she didn’t tell me she had a secret.”9

“Am” Matt quietly whispered.10

Sabina glanced over at him. “What?”11

He cleared his throat. “Am. You said ‘I was’. You meant to say ‘I am’. You still are her best friend.”12

She sighed and plopped down on her bed. “Matt, I know you like being optimistic and all but…it’s been a year, and no word. I think I’m beginning to believe the police. I don’t think we’re going to see her again.”13

Matt jumped up, angrily kicking away a stuffed bear that lay in front of him. “How could you say that?” His voice rose to a yell. “You’re just going to give up on her like that? How can you call yourself a friend? She needs you! She needs us! She’s alive somewhere, and she’s just waiting for us to help her!”14

Tears streamed down Sabina’s face. “I think you need to leave,” she whispered.15

Matt shot her one angry look and stormed out of her room, slamming her door behind him.16

Crying harder, Sabina slumped to the floor. She didn’t know what to do. In her stormy mind, she was lost. She missed her best friend.17

Matt was also lost. He was upset with himself for getting so angry at Sabina, but also angry at her for even suggesting that Flame wasn’t coming home. As he drove away from Sabina’s house, hot tears stung his eyes. Who was going to help him?18

*~*~*19

Somewhere deep in the dark, a girl was running. She recognized the shadows following closely behind her, and hoped it wasn’t too late to change her fate. As she began to breathe harder, the shadows picked up their pace-soon they would overtake her. With a yell, the girl tripped and hit the pavement hard. The shadows let out a wail, almost like a chuckle, and bore down on their next victim. Once again they had won…20

Flame sat straight up in bed. Yet again, a nightmare had awakened her from sleep. This same nightmare had been waking her up for almost a week. Sighing, she threw back the covers and walked to the window, peering out into the dark. Off in the distance, a final shred of light was disappearing over the horizon. Damn, she thought, I just fell asleep. She knew that anymore sleep was impossible, so she dressed silently and headed downstairs. There were a few vampires up and about, but most were still out cold, preparing themselves for their nightly feed. 21

She tiptoed into the living room, where one lone vampire sat in front of a little black and white television. She decided to be friendly. “Can’t sleep?”22

“No.”23

The voice surprised her. “Luke?”24

He continued to stare at the TV. “Yeah. What do you want?”25

Flame cautiously sat down beside him, making sure there was at least a few inches of couch between them. “Why aren’t you in bed?”26

He was silent for a moment. “Can’t sleep.”27

She sighed. “Me either. I’ve been having nightmares.”28

“That’s nice.” He began to get up.29

Flame touched his arm. “Luke, please wait I want to talk to you.”30

Luke shrugged her off. “What could you possibly want to talk to me about?”31

She sighed. “I’m sorry about that day; you know, the day you and Tariq fought. I shouldn’t have let that happen. I shouldn’t have been so mean to you. I’m sorry.”32

He rolled his eyes. “Sure you are. Look, what do you want? You always seem to choose favorites when you need something.”33

Flame was shocked. “Excuse me? I don’t want anything but at least your friendship. I miss you! Why can’t you accept that?!”34

Luke got up and started to walk away. “This conversation is over.”35

“Luke! What is the deal?! You don’t ever care about me! That much was obvious enough. It was obvious that you care about Lilith much more than me! Why are you making such a big deal out of this?”36

Luke spun around, his eyes glowing with anger. “I tried explaining to you what happened with Lilith and I. But you were too stubborn to listen or to care. Then I ended up getting my ass kicked. I’m done trying with you Flame. I’m through.” With that, he stormed away. 37

Flame just stared as he walked away, she knew he was right. He had tried to tell her, and she hadn’t listened. A part of her was angry, and was glad to see him walk away. However, the bigger part of her hated seeing him so angry and hurt. She still had feelings for him. She still got butterflies every single time he was near. She frequently found herself wondering why she had pushed him away so many times.38

Tariq continued to pursue her. After his fight with Luke, Tariq had decided that wooing Flame would involve making rude remarks about how badly he had beaten Luke. In reality, it didn’t woo her at all-it just made her angry feelings worse.39

Most of the time, she just walked around the house, watching the other vampires with longing. They all had such a tight bond, and she knew she could’ve had that bond with Luke. Lilith sure wasn’t helping matters either. She walked around with her head held high, smirking at Flame every time she was near. She also kept flirting with Luke, touching his arm and blowing him kisses. He, however, seemed like he didn’t want anything to do with Lilith. A small victory at least.40

The thing that bothered Flame the most was her secret. Now that she was spending more time alone, she had more time to think about it. The secret that she had almost told Matt, and now wished she would’ve. Every single time she thought about her pregnancy, she thought back with regret.41

Pregnant with Matt’s baby, she had been terrified that if she would have told him, he would run away, like a lot of teenage fathers tend to do. Not to mention, her parents would’ve killed her. Instead of telling anyone, she kept the burden to herself, hoping that when the time came, she could deal with it herself. 42

After two months, people began commenting on her weight gain. So she decided to tell Matt about the baby. But then that night had been cut short. She still wondered, however, what had happened to her baby when she had been turned.43

Sighing, she stretched out flat on the small couch, and was soon asleep.44

When Flame awoke, she found Tariq sitting beside her. “Tariq! How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone?”45

Tariq placed his hand on her thigh. “I don’t care how many times you tell me, I know you still want me. So how about you come with me to my room just like old times?”46

Fire in her eyes, Flame slapped him across the face. “How dare you!”47

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Tariq had her fragile neck in his grip, squeezing as tightly as he could while still allowing her to remain conscious. “You listen to me you dumb slut. You don’t talk to me like that, and you NEVER hit me. Do you understand? You need to learn your place. If you don’t respect me, then we have a problem. Is that clear?”48

Flame gasped for air, attempting to squeak out a response. It wasn’t working.49

Tariq tightened the grip on her neck, a look of pure evil in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. Could you repeat it?”50

Flame’s face began to turn color, and the room began to spin. She wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be awake. She pried at Tariq’s hand, but it was no use, he wasn’t budging. She was terrified. If she was immortal, how was she feeling this much pain?51

As she began to struggle, Tariq climbed on top of her, pinning her down so she couldn’t move. “Right now it would be so easy to make you mine again.” He smirked down at her, and ran his free hand through her hair.52

“What the hell?!”53

In an instant, Tariq was no longer on top of her, and her neck was free from his grip. She coughed, trying to regain her breath. As she became more aware, she realized that Luke was standing in front of her. She peered around him and noticed Tariq on the floor, out cold.54

Luke sat down beside her and placed his hand on her chin, tilting it upward to see her neck. “There’s definitely going to be some bruising.” He studied her face, and took her hand. “Are you okay?”55

Flame shook her head, tears beginning to stream down her face. “I don’t think so.”56

He grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her. “What happened?”57

She began to sob. “It was all so fast. I told him to leave me alone, he made a comment about me coming back to him room, I slapped him, and then he grabbed me.” She began to shake. “I was so scared.”58

Luke wrapped his arms around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Even though they weren’t on the best of terms, this moment felt right.59

Flame knew that this was not going to help her get over him, but she felt safe.60

Luke was also glad he was there. If he hadn’t hate Tariq before, he REALLY hated him now. There was no way he was going to threaten Flame and get away with it. 61

Suddenly Tariq sat up, causing Flame to jump and hide in Luke’s arms.62

Tariq did nothing. He looked between them, wiped blood off his face, and smiled. Turning to walk out of the room, he chuckled to Luke. “You’re going to regret this.”63

Luke sighed, and stroked Flame’s hair. “Don’t be scared of him, he’s all talk.”64

Flame shuddered. “Somehow I don’t think so. He tried to kill you, and now he tried to kill me. He means business.”65

He held her tight, and she buried her face into his shoulder. “What does he want from us?”66

Luke shook his head. “I don’t know, but whatever it is, he’s not going to get it. You stay strong, you hear me? I’m going to do my best to keep him away from you, but I can’t be with you every second. You have to try your hardest to stay away from him and be on your guard.”67

She began to speak, and then hesitated. “Luke…”68

“What?”69

She opened her mouth, and then closed it again. “Nothing. Never mind. It’s not important.”70

He stood up. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your room.” 71

As they walked upstairs to Flame’s room in silence, both of them could not help but lean close to each other. But then again, they hadn’t been this nice to each other in weeks.72

When they reached her door, Luke smiled, and kissed her on the cheek. “Goodnight, Flame.”73

As Flame shut the door, she felt like a teenager on her first date again. The giddy feeling was resuming its attack on her stomach, and her smile once again reclaimed its rightful spot on her face. Maybe things were improving after all.74