Mitchell didn’t look at her and, surprisingly, that hurt more than all his anger. How could he not look at her? Amelia just didn’t understand because she couldn’t seem to look away. Like a moth to a flame, she was hopelessly drawn to him. After a few tense moments, he let out a deep sigh and sat down, purposely on the other side of the room from her.

Eric must have taken it as a sign. He sat down beside Amelia on the floor and started rambling. “Okay, here’s the Cole’s Notes version. You’re Mitch’s soulmate. When he became a vampire, he lost his soul and it attached to you which created a bond between you guys. Sort of linking you together so he would be able to find you. That’s why he could enter your dreams. When he bit you, it strengthened that link. Now he can feel everything you feel, hear all your thoughts, talk to you through his mind. But it’s not just him; you can do all this, too. It has something to do with our sick mind control powers. It’s pretty cool.”

“I kinda already figured all that out, Eric. Why do I feel like you’re holding something back?”

“Because he is,” Mitchell said in a small, unsure voice. “But it doesn’t matter. The rest is not important. I’ll be careful.” He ran his fingers through his hair and still avoided looking at her. “It’s safer for you this way.”

“As Eric said, it enhances his mind control powers over you,” Luke continued, clearly ignoring Mitchell.

“Luke, stop it,” Mitchell pleaded. “She doesn’t need to hear all this.”

Amelia studied him more closely and noticed his aura had changed again. Was that normal? she wondered. It seemed to change with his feelings. It was now a muddy forest green, and he was radiating jealously mixed with guilt. “Actually, I think I do need to hear this.” The clarity of her voice surprised her.

“No you don’t, Amelia.” He looked up at her, finally, with pleading, sad eyes. “Just leave it. Why don’t you go and rest. I think you’ve heard enough for now.”

“Just like I predicted,” Eric said, and promptly stood up and crossed the room. “The kaboom is coming. Just wait for it. She’s about to blow.”

“Shut up, Eric,” Amelia snapped. Her face was hot, her neck was boiling and her head was throbbing from her tightly clenched teeth. “I don’t need to rest. What I need is the truth.” She jumped up, too quickly, and a hot flash of pain ran through her head. Through all the commotion, she had forgotten about the lump and it took her a moment to catch her breath.

“Come on, love, just sit down.” Mitchell leaned back in his chair, letting his arms dangle off the side. “You don’t need to get all worked up over this.”

“I don’t want to sit down. What I want is for someone to tell me what’s going on.” Amelia winced at a sharp, stabbing pain in her stomach. The pain moved from her stomach to her chest, then to her thighs and she doubled over, gasping for breath. “What’s happening to me?” she screamed. All of a sudden, the pain was everywhere, like hundreds of knives jabbing deeply into her flesh. Her lungs felt as if they were collapsing, falling in and she couldn’t catch her breath. She dropped to her knees and screamed. She was burning from the inside out. It was like hot lava boiling within her, burning through her flesh, and she kept screaming in agony.

“Amelia,” Angelle cried, her voice sounded panicked but oddly far away. Within seconds, she was hovering over Amelia, stroking her hair. Amelia screamed again. And again. Even to her own ears, it sounded horrible. Like a wounded dog. “Mitch, stop it. Just stop it.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“She didn’t want to sit. She didn’t want to rest. Dammit!” Angelle looked outright horror-struck and started rubbing Amelia’s back.

The pain started to slowly fade and Amelia stayed curled in a fetal position on the floor, panting and gulping in mouthfuls of air. After what felt like hours, she managed to sit up on her own and gently pushed Angelle away. She didn’t want to be touched, not now, not by anyone. “What have you done to me?” Amelia gasped, hugging her knees into her chest.

Mitchell cast his eyes down and rubbed his face roughly. “I’m so sorry, love.”

“Tell me what you’ve done,” Amelia said through clenched teeth, keeping herself in a tight little ball, gently rocking back and forth.

“It’s all part of the bite,” Mitchell said so softly she barely heard it. “Like Eric said, it strengthens the link between us because we are already connected. It also gives me an edge of control. It’s a way for me to keep you safe.” Amelia looked up at him with wide eyes. He thought he was keeping her safe? “The pain you’re feeling is my fault. With the stronger link, anytime you try to do something that I don’t agree with you will feel it.”

“You knew this would happen and you still did this to me.” Amelia didn’t say it as a question. He met her straight on, squarely in the eyes, but didn’t say anything and she laughed. It was a harsh, broken sound, like plates crashing to the floor, shattering into little shards. “You know I think I could’ve handled the vampire thing, and I can deal with you being able to read my thoughts and never having secrets from you because frankly, I’ve never hidden anything from you anyways. What I can’t accept is that you knew that biting me could hurt me and yet you did it anyways.” She paused and looked at him fiercely. “You know what, never mind.” She threw her hands up in the air. “I’m done. I’m leaving.” She turned on her heels, straightened her shoulders, jutted her chin up and with purpose walked away. Amelia had just reached the doorway when she felt the stabbing pain return in the pit of her stomach.

“Amelia, wait,” Mitchell called. It was not a request, his voice simmered with authority and there was no mistaking it: he was demanding that she stop. She turned back to him with a defiant stare. He was standing now, looking like he didn’t know whether to go to her or not. He looked uncomfortable and to her disbelief, that gave her a touch of satisfaction. It was petty and shallow but she was glad he was feeling something.

“Don’t,” she said, keeping her voice in control. “You can feel it, right? You can feel what you’re doing to me right now.”

“Yes, sort of.” Mitchell’s whisper sounded hollow and raw, and somehow full of guilt and pain. He shifted his gaze to the floor, shifting slightly, back and forth, from right to left. “I don’t actually feel the pain. Vampires don’t feel pain the same as humans, it’s just sort of uncomfortable. But I can feel how much you’re hurting through the bond. I know you’re in pain, I just don’t feel it the same way.”

Amelia felt cold. Cold and numb and disgusted. An uneasiness twisted her stomach into a knot, inching tighter and tighter every second. Not knowing what was coming, or if she would be able to make it out of the room, she swallowed hard, straightened her shoulders again and took a deep breath. “And yet you still keep doing it.” She smiled a humorless and distant smile. “I always thought you were just a figment of my imagination. I can’t even begin to count how many times I wished you were real. I take all those wishes back. You’re not a dream. You’re real and nothing but a nightmare. I can’t believe I ever thought I loved you.” Without giving herself a chance to chicken out, she left as quickly as her legs would move.

Eric’s whispered voice reached her just before she left the room. “Kaboom.”

CHAPTER 16

Amelia made it to her room. She didn't know how, she really hadn't thought she would get there. Every step she had taken was like fighting against a raging current: drowning, and then coming back up for air, only to be pulled under again. The chain at her heart constantly pulled her back staggeringly hard, and a few times she just wanted to give up, run back to Mitchell, throw her arms around him, and tell him, tell him she was sorry and she loved him. But she couldn't. Amelia knew that wasn't an option. She didn't want to love him, she wouldn’t, she was sure of it.

She closed her bedroom door and sunk to the floor in a soggy mess. Tears poured down her cheeks. "This can't be happening," she whispered to the empty room. Mitchell couldn't be here. Vampires don’t exist. Her head was spinning, thoughts rushing in too quickly to understand and she felt cold, chilled to the bone. So cold that she thought she just might never be warm again.

How could he do this to her? There was just so much she didn't know and didn't understand. He had bitten her. Did that mean she would become a vampire? She didn’t think so. Amelia thought about every story she had ever read or movie she had ever seen. What was real? She knew they couldn't all be real. She remembered her first night; they had eaten garlic bread and they all went out in the sun. So was anything real? What could hurt them? What could she use against them? And did she want to hurt them?

Amelia leaned her head against the door and drew in a few shaky breaths. Soulmates. She didn't want to believe it. Soulmates weren't real. There was no such thing as the perfect person. One person for everyone and only one. It was a fairy tale. A romantic notion created only to help people get through the cold, hard reality of life. But she could feel it. They were connected and no matter how much she told herself that she didn't love him, it was inevitable. She did and she would even if it killed her.

Amelia wasn't going to let that happen. She had fought too hard for too long. As if she had hit a brick wall at one hundred miles an hour, she knew what she had to do. She had to get out of there, away from Mitchell, away from all of them. She had known from the beginning they were all just too good to be true. They had been nice to her and she had been so desperate for friends that she had let her guard down, let them in, and they all had betrayed her. How could they keep this from her?

Amelia pulled herself off the floor, went to her closet and grabbed her bag, stuffing clothes in frantically, not caring what, just whatever would fit.