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“Sammy! Sammy! Look at me!”
“Don’t worry...I’ll make it all better...”
“Trust me...”
“Drink. When you wake up, you’ll feel much better...”
Her voice echoed loudly around him, encompassing his surroundings as blood poured from his wounds.
“I promise...”
She leans in close, griping his chin with her nails, angling her torn wrist in front of his lips. “I’ll make it all better.”
His body aches as desperate pleas fall from his trembling lips, leaning as far back as his broken body would allow – Alexis only chuckled at his futile attempts, eyes bright and full of glee. He would never forget that. She enjoyed watching him cower away from her. It spurred her on.
Rain erupted from the sea of dark clouds above them, soaking his clothes as tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Alexis was none-the-wiser, snarling when Sam’s eyes snapped shut, out of fear more than spite. “Don’t want to look at me?”
“I can heal myself.” He ground out, pushing himself further away, gritting his teeth as his side exploded in pain at the motion of the car door dragging along the ground. This was bad. “I can do it.” He repeated, unsure if it was to convince himself or Alexis. Not that it mattered. He could barely think straight.
Alexis stays silent, violently lurching forward, plunging her nails deep into his shoulder, drawing blood as Sam fought back a scream. His eyes snap open, meeting hers as he pushes her arms away, ignoring the pain gnawing at his skin – he looks away but it’s too late, her trance washes over him.
“There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Alexis grins, voice sickeningly soft and sweet. “Now drink.”
Her blood is hot and acidic as it slides down his throat, staining his chin with her wrist pressed so close against his lips.
Alexis murmurs something he can’t quite hear before she leans closer, pressing light kisses to the base of his jaw, moving downward to his neck, settling on his pulse point with a delighted hum. She gives no warning as her fangs tear into his skin, leaving him dizzy and delirious. His vision blurs and darkens the longer she drinks, panting and breathing heavily.
He could no longer feel the rain against his skin as the world fades away.
The next thing Sam remembers is waking up to Alexis’ roaring with anger, screaming – along with two other voices he didn’t recognise. He’s shaking before he can stop himself, seething with anger, burning with rage.
He touches his chest, horrified at how empty and hollow it felt, no longer thrumming with the overwhelming amount of power he wielded. He felt sick. He felt empty, dead. All he ever wanted to do was heal people, and if he couldn’t do that, what was the point?
Anger soon gave way to sadness, and then mourning as a cold realisation struck him sharply;
His powers are gone and have taken his soul with them.
…
Sam opened his eyes to darkness, pleased to feel the warmth of the sheets under him. Blinking rapidly, heart pounding, he woke up a bit more as his eyes adjusted to what wasn’t darkness, actually, just dimness. Faint light bled into the room through filmy curtains at the window, recognisable as the orangey glow of streetlights.
There are arms wrapped around him, his mate’s arms. He feels safe. Sam slowly sat up, glancing over his shoulder at his sound-asleep mate, grinning as the hue of the streetlights illuminated his freckles. He didn’t often have nightmares like this, so he slowly made his way out of David’s grasp, walking into the kitchen with a heavy sigh.
This wasn’t the first time he’d had nightmares about his turning. Sam found himself becoming accustomed to seeing himself bloody and helpless on that damned road, with Alexis coaxing him to drink from her. He tried not to let it get to him, on better nights he’d simply go back to sleep, bury his face in the crook of David’s neck and feel all his troubles fade away.
It didn’t help. Not this time.
Sam made himself comfortable on the couch, gently smiling at the sight of the switch controllers on the coffee table in front of him. Asher and his mate came around earlier, they’d played a couple of games, and ordered some food and Sam couldn’t remember the last time he felt so...at home if that was the right word. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so comfortable and safe. The normalcy of his life, right now at least, felt strange. Sam wasn’t quite used to it.
With everything that happened between him and Alexis, along with the aftermath of his turning, peace was the last thing Sam thought he’d find.
But he found it.
And he loved it.
“Thought I’d find you here.” A groggy voice remarked, half-startling Sam out of his thoughts as David emerged out of the dark and sat beside him.
“Sorry...” Sam began, voice soft, low. “I, uh...didn’t wanna wake you.”
David noticed how fidgety his mate was, Sam would always play with his hands whenever he was nervous or wanted to talk about something. Was it the nightmares again? Sam had mentioned them a couple of times, but David never pried, he never bombarded him with questions about them.
“Another nightmare?” David slowly asked. Sam was breathing heavily. David reached forward, looking into Sam’s eyes for any signs of backing off, or that he wasn’t comfortable being touched. When Sam nodded, David softly traced his hand up and down his arm. Sam’s breath settled a little and David moved his touch slowly up his mate’s shoulder line, along his neck, stopping to caress his cheek. David didn't take his eyes off Sam’s for a second. His eyes were so beautiful, light and angelic. He waited until Sam gave him a small, crooked smile that revealed the tips of his fangs, before sighing and closing his eyes.
“Yeah, sorry.” Sam’s voice was hoarse and strained, barely above a whisper. He took a ragged breath, swallowed, and started blinking his tears away. “I usually fall back asleep just fine after taking a couple of deep breaths but...it was worse this time...” Sam’s voice gradually drifted off, giving way to a peaceful silence falling between the pair.
“C’mere,” David mumbled, holding Sam in his arms as the vampire sighed heavily. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. We can...watch one of those insufferable rom-coms you like.”
Sam gently scoffed, leaning into David’s touch. “They are not insufferable, you just don’t have a good taste in movies, is all.”
“Whatever you say, cowboy.”
David's chest rumbled with laughter, a stark contrast to Sam's which was moving slowly up and down. “There's...something I’ve been meanin’ to talk to you about...” He bit his lip, looking into his mate's eyes for any sign of exhaustion, frowning at the dark circles forming beneath them. What was he thinking? It was the middle of the night and David had been working his ass off, lately. He needed sleep. Not to be kept up by his problems. Sam stayed quiet, averting his gaze down to his hands, fiddling with his thumbs. “But I don’t want to keep you up or nothin’ I know you must be tired.”
“True, but...” David held Sam closer to him, loving the feeling of clasping his mate in his arms. “You’re my mate and I care about you, so if something’s bothering you, I want to know and I want to help. I don’t ever want you to feel like you can’t tell me anything because I might’s had a long day at work. You can always talk to me, okay? I’ll always be here, whenever you’re ready.”
Sam gently smiled, murmuring a small “thank you before inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. “You’ve met Vincent before, right?”
“Yeah, he and his partner went on a double date with Ash and his mate a couple of days ago, I’ve heard. Why?”
“Then I suppose you’ve heard of Alexis? Williams first progeny.”
“Don’t know much about her besides she owns a couple clubs and bars here and there, heard she’s trouble but not much else.”
Sam waited a few moments before continuing. “She and I... knew each other, before I joined the clan 13 years ago, now. Crazy how time goes by, but anyway. I met her whilst I was attending D.A.M.N when I was still a freelancer. One thing led to another, and we started...uh, well, you know.”
David raised an eyebrow. “Fucking?”
Sam spluttered, feeling heat crawling up his neck and settling on his cheeks. “Pretty much.” Sam stopped for a second, thinking of the right words to say next. What were the right words? Was there any right way to go about this? This was never going to be easy. Somewhere deep down, Sam knew it. “We both agreed to keep things casual. No strings attached. I was busy studying at the academy, she was busy with clan stuff, it was just easier to avoid anything serious, I suppose.”
“Long story short, she caught feelings, I didn’t.”
David stayed quiet, giving his mate all the time, he needed. Making it clear there was no pressure on his part. No expectations. Just patience and understanding.
“We met up one night at some fancy restaurant, the night I called things off with her. She didn’t take it well. We had it out and I decided to just drive her back home, give her some space, you know.”
David hummed, eyes still on his mate.
“We were in my truck; I was driving to her place to drop her off.” Sam let out a shaky breath. “It was pouring...Alexis and I were still arguing and maybe if I’d just ignored her or paid more attention to the road I would’ve--
“Would’ve what?”
“We were arguing back and forth and the next thing I know we’re being ploughed halfway through an intersection. It T-boned on my side. I got hurt real bad. All I can really remember while still in the truck is Alexis screaming and bleeding. Then she dragged me out. She wasn’t as badly hurt as I was, vamp healin and all that.”
“I was a healer back then, a proper one. I told her I could heal myself but she—she didn’t wanna listen. I kept...trying to move myself away from her whenever she got close, once she started talking about turning me. I told her no, David.” Sam murmurs, looking into his mate’s eyes, forcing his tears back. “I begged her not to turn me, but she didn’t listen. She said she’d make it all better than she tranced me and made me feed on her while she fed on me.” Sam tilts his neck, pulling the collar of his top down to reveal puncture marks on the pulse point of his neck. “Still got the marks to prove it.”
“Sam...” David softly held his hands. “Thank you, for telling me—for sharing this, with me.”
Sam flashed a sad smile. “She and I tend to stay away from one another, especially during clan meetings and such, even then it's awkward.”
David’s eyes suddenly filled with dread and worry. “Shit, what if she invoked you or--
Sam laughed low. “William took care of that. He invoked her to never be able to invoke me.”
David released a sigh of relief. “I hate the thought of anything bad happening to you, especially if it has anything to do with her, now.”
“Can we just...stay here, for a while?” Sam mumbled through the yawn escaping his lips.
“Course we can.” David pulled his mate close, till his head was on his chest, arms around him, resting his own head on top of his mate’s, tracing patterns into his sick as a comforting silence met them once again. Sam shuffled and laid his head on David’s head, content with the feeling of his mate’s strong and steady heartbeat being close by.