Tobias (A CURSED BOYS NOVEL Book 1) (16 page)

 “We were working and… I don’t know. There was an explosion and then I was here.”

 “You passed out. We were in the area and saw the explosion; so, my idiot brother here thought it would be a good idea to run in and play hero. He saved your life.”

 Tristan indicated me when he spoke. I looked the worst out of everyone here and I even had the burn marks to pull it off. The minion thanked me about a dozen times while crying. He was horrified by the sight of burnt and mutilated bodies on the ground, but didn’t ask any more questions; instead he took off down the road.

 Tristan and Jasper dragged me over to a truck and threw me onto the flat bed in the back. It hurt, but the cold air felt amazing.

 Tobias and Jasper jumped in the front of the truck and the rest of them piled into the back with me. Was this really happening? After all this time being tortured, was I finally free? It all seemed like a fleeting memory as I watched the trees pass above us.

 It felt too easy; this had to be a dream. I closed my eyes and waited for the water to come. I don’t know how much time passed, but it wasn’t long enough before my brothers pulled up in front of the house. I wasn’t ready to face Willow yet. Not after everything that had happened.

 “Time to get up uncle T.” Jonathan said while he and Daniel picked me up. I tried to open my eyes, but I was way too exhausted.

 “Tobias?”

 Colton actually sounded concerned. I tried to open my eyes again, but it was no use. My body wasn’t obeying me anymore.

 “Tobias!”

 Colton tried again, but got no reaction from me. The little shit even slapped me across the face. I wanted to reach over and punch him in the face, but not even my arms were listening to me. I wonder if this was what it felt like to be in a coma, you can hear everything and feel everything but, no matter how hard you try, you can’t move or talk.

 “He’s gone too long without blood, his body is shutting down. We need to get him inside.”

 Tristan came around to the back of the truck and helped carry me in. We didn’t get far before Willow showed up.

 “Oh my God, Tobias!”

 My brothers put me down on the couch and Willow was at my side instantly. I felt her take my hand and it sent warmth through me. I tried to squeeze it to let her know that I was okay, but nothing happened.

 “What is wrong with him, what happened? Tristan, what did you do? I told you to save him not kill him.”

 “He’s not dead, and I didn’t do anything, so my balls are off the menu. He just needs to feed.”

 “So get him something to eat!”

 The voice was a girl’s voice, but I’ve never heard it before.
Who the fuck was she?

 “It’s not that easy, he needs blood.”

 “You don’t keep bottles of it lying around?”

 “I’m sorry; I must have missed the local advertisements on stores stocking blood. He doesn’t drink blood from a bottle, he needs it from a person so unless you’re volunteering-“

 “I’ll do it.”
My cupcake growled at them all.

 No
. There was no way in hell I was going to feed on Willow. I hadn’t eaten in weeks; I knew there was no way I would be able to stop once I started.

 “You can’t Blueberry, he would probably kill you. I’ll send Jasper into town to grab someone.”

 “Are you guys kidding me? Willow, do you even hear what you are saying. He is going to kill whoever he feeds on, and you’re ok with that?”

 “He needs to eat, Jennica.”

 “I understand that, but what I don’t get is how my sister can justify taking someone’s life.”

 Willow's sister was here? So, that's who unfamiliar voice belonged to. I did miss a lot while I was out.

 “She’s right. We can’t take someone’s life just because Tobias needs to eat.”

 The arguing continued back and forth. The guys were set on finding someone to sacrifice, but the girls kept trying to come up with another solution. I wanted to tell them all to shut the hell up, but my mouth was completely useless.

 “Fuck this!” Willow growled.

 She was clearly tired of being cut off and everyone ignoring her. I didn’t hear what she was trying to say over everyone else’s yelling. I thought she might have stormed out of the room, but I was dead wrong. Before I even knew what was happening, the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

 It was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted and I couldn’t get enough of it. The taste invaded every part of my body and before I knew it, my hands reached up and clasped Willows arm, holding it in place as the hunger inside of me continued to drink.

 I could hear everyone else yelling, but I couldn’t make out the words that were coming out of their mouths. I knew I was taking too much blood, but no matter how hard I tried to pull away, the hunger had complete control.

 “Tobias…” Willows voice was a whisper as her body went limp.

 Tristan caught her, but I still couldn’t make myself let go. It was like I didn’t even have control over my own body anymore; the hunger did! I felt like someone hit me in the head with a steel pipe and I saw stars before everything around me went black.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

WILLOW

              It’s been three days since Tobias was brought home. He keeps himself locked up in his room and gave his brothers orders that I’m not allowed in to see him under any circumstances. My sister sort of hates him at the moment because of what happened the other night, but she doesn’t know him the way I do; she’s only seen the worst side of him.

 I sat at the kitchen table poking at the food on the plate; I swear everyone’s been trying to fatten me up since I got back, but I haven’t been able to keep anything down lately. Jennica thinks it’s because my body is rejecting food due to prolonged starvation.

 Colton thinks it all in my head, but I think that’s just because he insists on disagreeing with Jennica about everything. I haven’t found a single thing that the two of them agree on.

 I’ve tried to see Tobias every day since he’s been back. Last night I even waited outside his door for four hours and he still wouldn’t give in. I think I make his brothers a little uncomfortable because every time I was told I can’t go in I’d glare at them and they'd cover their crotch.

 Tobias hasn’t been able to leave the house to feed since he’s still healing, but now that he’s conscious again, thanks to my blood, the guys have been sneaking blood bags from the blood bank in town. I guess having a ghost in the family who can walk through walls whenever they want really helps.

 Jennica has tried to talk me into moving out with her. Says this place is a death trap for the both of us, despite mine and Amelia’s pleas for her to give the guys a real chance. Between Tobias losing control and wanting to kill me, and Colton picking a fight with her every chance he gets, she’s pretty set on hating this place with a passion.

 My bruises were starting to fade a little, but I was a long way off from being healed. My shoulder didn’t hurt as much now though, since the guys picked me up some pain meds while they were in town.

 “Hey, earth to Willow!” Jennica said while snapping her fingers in front of my face.

 I looked up from my plate to find her leaning over the island I had been sitting at with an expression saying I’ve been flat out ignoring her.

 “Sorry, what were you saying?”

 “I was saying that you need to get your scrawny ass upstairs and start packing your shit. This place is toxic.”

 “The only thing toxic in this house is you, doll face.” Colton chimed smugly as he walked in wearing just a pair of pajama bottoms.

 He reminded me a lot of Tobias, just a younger version of him and a little mouthier. I'll be the first to admit my little sister is a cheeky little bitch, but I swear Colton gets joy out of pushing her buttons.

 "I'm pretty sure you got that backwards, jerk."

 "No, I think I got it right the first time."

 He offered her the biggest smile I'd ever seen on someone which showcased a perfect set of teeth and a single dimple on his left cheek. Jennica was fuming as she flipped him off, and then stormed out of the room.

 "I bet any one of you that Colton and Jennica are the cause of world war three." Tristan said and slapped a hundred dollar bill on the table.

 "I'll take that bet." Jasper said with a grin and began fishing in his shorts pocket for his wallet.

 "Oh knock it off you two, and leave my sister alone." I added directly to Colton in a warning.

 Colton held his hands up in a surrendering motion and backed up like he was innocent.

 "Pussy!" Jasper coughed in to his hand, which made everyone else laugh.

 "Did you just call me a pussy?"

 "Well, you are what you eat."

 "That’s funny, because I don’t remember eating a sexy beast this morning."

 I shook my head as Colton flexed his muscles to show off the Celtic flame he had tattooed on his bicep close to his shoulder. He was definitely a mini Tobias. Jasper grabbed him in a headlock and began messing up his hair, which started a full on wrestling match on the kitchen floor.

 I slid off the chair and waved goodbye to Tristan and headed upstairs to find Jennica. I stopped as soon as I caught a glimpse of Tobias's bedroom door left open a crack. I wanted to go and tell him off for refusing to see me, but a part of me was scared of him. I thought I had seen him at his worst before, but nothing compared to the other night.

 Even when Alexander tortured him, Tobias refused to feed on me, so I never thought that he'd actually try to kill me, but I guess that’s what you get when you are stupid enough to cut your wrist and feed a starving comatose vampire your blood. I didn't blame Tobias for what happened.  I made that choice on my own, knowing there was a chance I could have died; I just didn’t want him to hate me for it.

 I bit my lip as I stepped closer to his door, but paused before knocking when I heard Amelia's voice.

 "You can’t avoid her forever Tobias. She was ready to storm that place herself to get you out!"

 "Exactly, she's a fucking idiot! Who does that? Who willingly risks their own life; repeatedly I might add, to save a lost cause like me?"

 "Someone in love."

 Tobias and I both tensed at her words. I couldn't fully see him through the small crack, but I could see enough to know he stopped pacing. Alexander also claimed that I loved him, but it had never actually been discussed.

 "Willow doesn't love me."

 “Yes, she does! So it’s time for you to pull your head out of your ass and accept it, before you lose the only good thing that has ever happened to you!”

 I couldn’t stand here and listen to them anymore, so I turned and headed towards my room as fast as my feet could carry me without making any noise. Unshed tears burned by eyes and I needed to get as far away from Tobias as I possibly could right now.

 Jennica was already sitting on my bed when I got there. I knew I’d only get lectured if she saw the tears in my eyes, so I avoided eye contact with her and walked straight to the bathroom and closed the door.

 “Hey, you ok?” she asked.

 “Yeah, I just really needed to pee.”

 Lamest excuse ever, but at least it worked. I closed my eyes and took slow breaths to try to stop the tears and fight the nauseous feeling growing in my stomach.  It was making me dizzy and the room felt like it was spinning. I was beginning to wonder if the pain killers were making me sick all the time.

 I sat down in front of the toilet and pushed my hair back out of my face. I knew I was going to be sick. I leaned over the porcelain bowl and emptied the entire contents of this morning’s breakfast. The nauseous feeling was making me feel like I was over heating and everything around me seemed a lot louder than usual, which made me jump at the sound of knocking on the door.

 "I said I'm fine!" I snapped unintentionally.

 "You sure don't sound fine."

 I got up and flushed the toilet, then walked over to the sink to brush my teeth and avoided looking in the mirror, since I already knew I looked like crap and I didn’t need any reminders. I picked up a hair tie that sat on the counter and tied my hair up in a messy bun before grabbing a washcloth and getting it wet.

 I draped the cold cloth across the back of my neck and finally returned to my room to find Jennica and Amelia standing outside the door waiting for me.

 "What?"

 “Maybe you should go see a doctor." Amelia said.

 "And tell them what, my super natural boyfriend and I got locked up and tortured for three weeks? I'd rather not get thrown in a padded room. I'll be fine. It's just the pain meds I'm on. I think they are making my stomach act up."

 "So now the psycho who tried to kill you is your boyfriend again?"

 I could feel Jennica’s judgmental eyes staring into my soul.

 "Yes... No... Maybe, I don't know! It would be a lot easier to answer that if he would actually let me see him or even just talk to him. He won’t even return my text messages!"

 "You're texting the creep?"

 "He's not a creep!" Amelia and I snapped in unison.

 Great, the whole surround sound thing was contagious. Jennica rolled her eyes at the both of us. Clearly she thought Amelia and I were delusional.

 "You don't even know him Jen; you haven't even given him a chance."

 "I know enough! I met him for ten minutes and he tried to kill my sister, which kind of ruined any chance I could have ever given him, Lo."

 "I love him."

 The words seemed to hang in the air forever. No one said anything and I felt like I could barely breathe. The way I felt about Tobias wasn’t a secret, but this is the first time the words had ever come out of my mouth.

 “Awesome! I’m going to have a homicidal psychopath for a brother in law.”  Jennica said as she walked away and threw her hands up in defeat.

 “Don’t hold your breath. I’m pretty sure he hates me, and even if he doesn't, he doesn’t believe in love.”

 “Wow, you were right sis, he’s a total catch.”

 I rolled my eyes at her sarcasm and climbed into bed. I really wasn’t feeling up to defending Tobias at the moment.

 “He doesn’t hate you; he’s just having a hard time dealing with everything that happened.” Amelia said and climbed into the bed beside me.

 “And I’m not? It wasn’t exactly a picnic for me either.”

 “I know, but it’s different for him. Just give it some time and he’ll come around.”

 I didn’t want to give it time; I was very impatient when it came to Tobias. I didn’t want to argue though, so I just kept quiet and laid back in my bed. My stomach hurt from being completely empty and from the butterflies that still seemed to be floating around since I confessed my love for Tobias out loud; and both the girls looked at me as my stomach made a growling noise.

 “Ugh, don’t you two give me that look. I don’t even want to think about food; but, I could totally go for a fruity Popsicle.”

 They both laughed, and then Jennica headed down stairs to see if she could find something to appease my picky stomach, while Amelia called Tristan on her cell phone to send him on an errand in to town to pick up a new TV and a blue-ray player for my room. We were going to have a ‘girls only weekend’ to forget about our boy troubles. Well, to forget my boy troubles anyways.

 Jennica returned with a box of Popsicles in her hand and her face completely flushed with irritation. It didn’t take a genius to figure out Colton must have been in the kitchen when she went down.

 “Every time I look at his stupid face I can’t help but think ‘really? That’s the sperm that won?’ and it drives me fucking crazy!”

 Amelia and I couldn’t stop laughing. I’ve never known anyone to get under Jennica’s skin the way Colton does. It was rather amusing.

 “In his defense, four other sperm won before he did.” I said and the look she gave me made me laugh even harder.

 “Don’t worry; he’s not always that bad. I think he likes you.”

 “Ha! That boy doesn’t like anyone but himself.”

 I finally sobered as Jennica handed me the box of Popsicles. I opened one that looked like a rainbow all twisted in to one and the second I put it in my mouth fruity flavor exploded all over my tongue. It was just a Popsicle, but in that moment it was the best tasting thing I had ever eaten.

 “I think Tobias is going to town with the guys.”

 Amelia and I both looked at Jennica staring out the window.

 “Why do you say that?”

 “Because a very beat up clone of Tristan just climbed into the back of a truck with the ass hat from hell and their brothers.”

 I jumped off the bed so fast I was surprised I didn’t fall on my face. I reached the window in time to watch the truck drive off and, sure enough, there he was sitting with three of his brothers and one of the guys they brought home with them.