"Aww, come on Sammy, lighten up, it's nothin' personal, ya kno' tha'."
Cooper's attempt to placate makes him the target.
"What is this? Why are we doing this, and why are *you* encouraging it?"
"Encouragin' wha' zactlay?"
"Oh, I don't know Cooper," I huff, annoyed by his playing dumb, "I never realized you were…*into* this sort of thing."
I sense Derek's impatience with us as I throw out vague accusations. Coop and I stare at each other. His calm could be interpreted as apathy if I didn't know him better. He attempts a silent explanation with his eyes but I'm not getting it. It's clear I'm not going to get plain answers or get my way this time.
"You two are going to do what you're going to do," I resign bitterly, "so just make it quick."
Cooper's focused look turns sympathetic.
"Sam, don' worry. It til–"
Our heads snap to attention at abrupt movement. The girl tries to make a break for it, aiming a kick where it hurts. Of course, Derek sees it coming like the rest of us. All she did was give him an excuse for aggression.
"You're not as smart as I thought."
'Wonderful, perfect…' I sigh, knowing exactly where this is headed and brace myself.
He throws her tiny frame harshly on the ground. She makes an involuntary squeak when she hits head first, wincing as her body follows into packed earth. My teeth shift slightly, bloodthirsty thoughts clouding my better judgment, the escalating thump of her heart is all consuming. I lock myself in place, shutting my eyes in an effort to steady my senses.
It doesn't help much, I envision her in my head. Liquidy wide doe eyes and a quivering mouth. Vulnerable, weak, the ideal prey.
"Wait," I hear the faint word, see it form on her bowed lips inside my head. Her heartbeat is hypnotic, climbing, beckoning. She's begging me, and all I want to do is dig my fangs into her throat. Slice into that prominent artery, let that sweet nectar flow. The pulse of her neck is beating like hummingbird wings, pulling me in…
"No, *STOP*!"
A cry plucks me from the deranged daydream. Head filled with the sound of her pulse, my eyes force open and focus right on her. I've mindlessly crept closer to the two of them. Derek is on top of the girl, pinning one wrist down. She's wailing at him, flailing her free arm like a maniac. Unfortunately for her, fighting is a waste of energy. Or worse, it'll rile Derek further.
He backhands her with a lot more force than necessary. My canines nag and sharpen. He's letting *it* get the better of him and I can't help but be affected by the violence. This needs to stop. I glare at the two of them, engulfed by ferocity. Breaking them up is out of the question, I might rip his head off then take hers off too. My eyes start to burn, teeth clicking as I clamp down.
He palms her jaw, fingers clawing into her cheeks, there's no gentleness in his embrace when he pulls her to look at him again. Derek's unhinged, I see the fire building in his eyes as he's swept away by his personal demon.
Another slap, this time the scent of citrus sweet blood spreads through the air. I clench my fists, tightening my posture, willing myself to stay put. I'm going to lose it.
"Now, now Derek, dere's no need fer tha'," Cooper tries to reason with him, unsuccessfully.
I can't take my eyes off the young woman's battered face, the tug of crimson pooling in the crease of her spit lip. Derek is barely here anymore, he's emanating insanity. I wonder if he's fighting himself like I am right now.
'You've really done it this time Derek…'
"Ey, Ya still wiff us?"
'What a dumb question, of course he's not. I'm barely here as it is.'
But to my surprise Derek's psychotic aura dims. Cooper may actually be pacifying him. He's notably stiff as he swipes his hand from the young woman's face. We hold our positions, not moving at all as it may be the tipping point for us both. I'm a thread away from attacking him and dragging that girl away to drain her.
'Mine.'
It's growled in my mind, foreign yet known. More than a word, more than a desire. The internal vibrating essence of demonic hunger.
'No, that's not right.' I shake my head through the haze of primal urges, taking one step back. The air is heavy like it wants to push me closer to her. I hold my breath, not wanting to take in the scent of her cloying blood more than I already have. Derek doesn't make any more brutish passes but he still wears that maddened expression.
Out of nowhere, the girl spits directly in his face. I can't believe how feisty this one is. That was ballsy and incredibly stupid. My eyes fix to Derek like a hawk, waiting for his certain retaliation.
Time seems to slow as he becomes critically unstable. I watch him slip away like sand through fingers then feel myself fall away too. I sense the strain in my eyes as I fight my own feral half. The suspense has me itching for violence, my muscles tighten in response. Hyper aware, rage flows over my arms and I smell chaos in the air.
He thrusts out a hand, locking his fingers around her throat. I cut a snarl short that escapes my curled lip.
'She's mine, everyone else is collateral.'
I see myself tackle Derek and smash my fist into his face for touching what's mine. I stop the action before it starts making it feel as though I've jumped out of my skin.
'...I'm snapping.'
The brief absence of sensibility has me internally panicking. Cooper's words break over me like dawn – I *really* don't need to worry about Derek, I'm the one who's bordering on complete loss of self-control.
Tensing again, I immediately lock on movement behind Derek, Cooper's hand. He reaches out for his shoulder trying to be a grounding force to bring him back to earth. He barely places it before it's aggressively knocked away. Derek's gone.
I watch his soulless eyes descend before he tears the front of that poor woman's shirt clean off. Her ample bust and flat stomach exposed with ragged remains of her top barely clinging to her shoulders. The action hits me hard, shoving me back to reality. My anger flares hotter, though I regain a dose of much needed rationale.
"That's enough, Derek!" my tone is so aggressive, I don't recognize it straight away.
This is my line, I didn't make an effort to retain my humanity only to be hurled down deeper into Hell. Provoking him is no longer a concern, and the 'line' is, apparently, nonexistent for this shell of my brother.
But then I sense a change. Did I actually get through to him? He indirectly glares, boiling and agitated. I'm past the point of caring. With one grievance said, the rest seems to pour out.
"I never thought your impulsiveness would have you sink this low!"
Derek whips round in retort.
"You've got to be kidding me, Sam! You have no right to be so self righteous."
His look of reproach drills into me. And he's right, I'm a golden standard hypocrite. I'd feel remorse if I weren't so damn livid.
This girl can't seem to dig her own grave fast enough. She takes a swing as he turns back, there's a glass ball cupped in her hand. Derek doesn't even attempt to avoid it. We all watch blankly as it inches for contact, it's the last thing this girl will ever do. And maybe it's for the best, let's end this.
An abrupt howl of pain fractures the brief silence and it's not coming from the girl, it's coming from Derek.
Cooper and I instinctively lunge back. Our eyes wide, glued to the horrendous display. Derek is screaming, rolling on the ground as the side of his face turns to putty. How did that woman get her hands on something like that? I catch her making a break for the bushes.
The smell of her blood envelopes me. It's stronger, making me forget the acid scattered about. Blood orange sweet, I hear every drop of that overpowering fluid roll off her hand and crash to the earth as she scampers away. The inner demon I temporarily beat back roars to life, enthralled with the idea of nabbing and ripping her to shreds.
Thought materializes into action and I'm suddenly at her back. My fingertips brushing strands of her dusty hair. I can feel her precious warmth. The fear of her sweat a potent tang snaking between my lips like a vicious kiss. Her pulse, a chorus of angelic song and tormented screaming. My stomach is a dry pit of intense hunger. It feels like weeks, months, *years* of drought.
'No, I'm not giving in. I am *not* giving into this!'
I fight myself to stay put once more, agonizing over the fact I'm *letting* that delicious girl escape. It's a physical stress on the body not to reach out an inch more and grab her by the hair. She clumsily stumbles over to the Reaper's ground as I lament my decision.
Her pulse is deafening, carrying through her body and into my ears as if we share one heart. I'm considering snatching her up anyway and taking my chances with the Reaper. My skin is vibrating with the need to kill. I skim the grounds, listening for a lurker, searching for a hint of lethal energy. All I can hear is that damn blood flowing to the rapid thumping of a heart.
My canines make a drastic shift as the incredible hunger wreaks havoc on my crumbling resolve. She continues to crawl until she falls over faint and exhausted. I observe Cooper from the corner of my eye, stopped at the edge of the Juniper bushes to scan beyond. The stony vigilance is exotic to his routine cheer.
The woman points her broken necklace at Cooper like a dagger as her hands violently tremble. She may as well be threatening him with a spoon.
Red drips from her wrist. The wound is compelling as the mouth of a gentle stream. I can almost taste it, hear it darkening the soil with a soft 'plat, plat, plat'. The cut on her lip has slowed but I could easily fix that with the press of my mouth to hers, the nick of a fang. She takes a deep breath which encapsulates me in her perfume all the more. My fingertips curl into my palms hard enough to break skin.
Our eyes meet and she jumps. Damn it, everything this woman is doing is wearing down my will power. I grind my teeth in dismay. I just want one taste, but know better. In my state, I'd lick up every last drop of her.
Her wide doe eyes stare at me, mirroring my recent daydream, and that strange feeling of pity spreads through me again. If I resist taking her life, the Reaper will finish the job. Her gaze flicks back to Cooper and all the color leaves her face. She cowers, crab walking backwards. I glance his way to see what he could possibly be doing to get that reaction out of her.
Ah, not Cooper, Derek. I'd forgotten about him for a moment. That girl really did a number on his face. I watch him stalk forward, and the grounding awareness of the situation comes flooding back as concern. I recognize that look – tunnel vision. At this moment I need to put aside all issues with my brother and do what I should have done from the start, stop him.
Cooper makes the first move before I can utter a word, simply putting his hand out to block.
"Let me pass," he says, it's combative and hardly discernible. He's teetering on the edge.
"Ya can't go in 'dere Derek, ya know tha'."
"Let me pass, Cooper."
The girl scurries toward the Reaper's woods as Derek lunges at her, held back by Cooper alone. I struggle not to do the same as she limps away at a dreadfully pathetic pace. Though her fading aroma does my head good, that sweet fragrance will forever be etched into my memory with painful clarity. It makes my throat ache and my stomach twist.
"The Reapa took ou' three jus' this year, Derek! Not count'n tha usual. I knew one of 'em, 'e was much older than I. It's suicide, don' be foolish!"
I'm again yanked from my longing as their struggle ends with the snapping of teeth. Cooper releases him, unwilling to lose his nose over it. Derek's eyes are illuminated red and indiscriminately ready for the attack.
"Whatevas in 'dere is veray powerful like one o' tha Thorn," he urges, still attempting to talk him down, "Ya don't mess wiff tha likes of um. Ya go in 'dere, ya won't come back."
"Not this one, the Reaper doesn't get this one. I'm leaving, Coop. She's mine."
As he pivots to pursue, I relent. I can't let him go, no matter how angry I am with him.
"Derek!"
I'm partly relieved when he turns to face me, but quickly become aware that my endeavors to sway him will not pay off. I can see it in his cool anger. It's Derek, he's not frenzied or out of his mind, he knows exactly what he's doing.
'Why are you throwing your life away? Are you an idiot? The girl isn't worth your life! You're selfish, I can't save you a second time...I won't forgive you. I won't forgive myself. You were supposed to be better than this...better than me.'
Thoughts crash through my skull like a broken dam. I rush through it all, every possible thing I could say. But as I read his eyes, while he does mine, I know nothing will convince him to not go after her.
He stares at me, silent, not even a one word response. Then he breaks contact to seek his runaway.
"Derek!" I shout again. He doesn't turn back this time, already passing beneath the forbidden trees. Cooper jerks me back as I start after him.
"Get off of me, Coop!" I yell, batting him away, "I'm not going to let him run off to his death!"
"Did ya naw listen ta anythin' I says?" he urges, swiveling me to look him dead in the face, "Don' be daft. Goin' in 'dere an gettin' yerself killed is naw gonna save 'im."
"What! Am I supposed to just stand here? Don't you care, Cooper? Dammit, you encouraged this! You could have stopped him back when he first laid eyes on that damned girl. Why didn't you stop him?"
I can't let this be the last time, the last conversation. Angry and hating each other? I will never be able to forgive myself if it ends here, if he gets himself *killed*. What kind of family lets that happen?
"Wha' are ya gonna do tha' ya haven' tried alreaday? Derek made 'is choice. Ya can't control 'em...ya can't save 'em."
"But I can, Coop."
His eyes are intense as they stare me down.
"Ya *can't*," he says, words slowing so they can truly sink in, "Don' throw away yer life cause it won't bring 'em back 'n it won't undo wha's dun."
He's right, yet it doesn't make anything better. I feel ill catching a glimpse of energy in the Reaper's claim of the wood, it's ominous. No doubt, there's something awful lurking back there tonight. Fighting a thing like that in its own domain, I don't stand a chance.
I spot a cell phone on the ground, it must have belonged to the girl. I stoop over to pick it up. No battery. That's unfortunate, a working phone could have forced this to end differently. Maybe then Derek would still be here. She'd still be dead, but with significantly less pain. I'm not sure why, but the thought of her dead, distinctly bothers me.
How did this night spiral so terribly out of control?
I stare into the black screen before crumpling it like a piece of paper in one hand. Crushing it into an unrecognizable lump of metal and glass dust.
My gaze swings hopelessly to where I last saw Derek. I make a futile wish for him to come to his senses, to head back to us through the trees before it's too late.
Cooper hasn't taken his eyes off me, I've never seen him so distressed. I can't do to him what Derek did to us, even if the thought of abandoning Derek goes against the little virtue I stand for. I hate feeling like a coward, helpless to do anything.
Useless, like I always seem to be.