Rock the Viper (21 page)

I slump back down in my chair and run a hand down my face. I really don't need this and I don't fancy a night sitting there with Jacob and Hans sorting this shit out. But I make the phone call to my mother cancelling on them. She's not happy and makes sure I know it.

I grab my phone and car keys and reluctantly make my way to Frankie's. When I get there I find Jacob sitting alone on a table watching the stripper on stage. I walk over and pull a chair out and sit down, “Where's Hans?” I take a look around to see if I can see him anywhere.

He sits up straighter, “He will be back in a minute, he went for a piss.” He pushes a drink in front of me, “Here drink this while we wait.” I pick up the drink and take a sip.

I notice Jacob watching me so I turn to face him, “If he is as bad as you say he is, I will need another one of these.”

He smiles, “Drink up and I will go and get you another one.” I down the drink and he takes the glass from me which I think is odd, as we usually leave them on the table for the waitresses to pick up. He looks down at me, “Enjoy the show,” He nods his head in the direction of the stage and walks off to the bar to get me another drink.

I look around the room wondering where the hell Hans is, and what is taking him so long. Jacob comes back, hands me my drink and says he's going to look for Hans and walks away. I sip on my drink and I'm approached by one of the dancers, whom I have been friendly with in the past, and she offers to take me to a private room for some fun. I smile and make it very clear I'm not interested and she moves on to the next table.

I've finished my drink and Jacob and Hans are still nowhere to be found. So I stand up, but I stumble and grab my chair to steady myself. I feel light headed, the room spins and I feel like I'm going to be sick.
I've only had two drinks, there is no way I should feel like this.
I try and walk, to head in the direction of the toilets, but I have to hold on to chairs and tables so I don't fall down. Everything starts to blur and then I feel arms go around me. I look to see who it is and I can just make out Jacob’s face. I try and speak but nothing comes out.

“Come on mate, let's go somewhere so you can lie down.” I try and tell him I’m not his mate but my mouth won't work. What the hell is happening to me?

I feel myself being lowered and then I'm flat out on my back. The voices come next and I hear Jacob and a woman speaking. I try and lift my head to see if it's Peppa, but then I think,
why would Peppa be with Jacob?
I open my eyes but they aren't working, I can only make out blurred images. I hear Jacob say, “I will be about twenty five minutes.” And then nothing till, “Just fuck him,” comes to me.

I think to myself,
fuck who?
The woman starts talking to me, she strokes my face when she says, “You’re a pretty one. What did you do to piss him off I wonder? I know it has to be a woman, it's always a woman.”

I try and ask her what the hell she is talking about, but I can't get the words out and then darkness. I stir to the feeling of someone on top of me and I find myself lifting up my hips and I must of said, “Oh Peppa, yes, ride me baby.” As a voice comes back to me, “I'm not Peppa. Oh, is that her name?”

Not Peppa, what does she mean she's not Peppa.
And then I panic, a woman is sitting on me doing god knows what and it's not Peppa. I try and move my arms, my body, anything to get this woman off me but she’s still there bouncing away. I shout get off me but then the blackness takes me again.

I come back to the light when I hear screaming and then another voice telling me to wake up.
Wake up? I am a wake.
And I try and move. And then I hear my Peppa, she's telling me to wake up and I say her name.
So it was her bouncing on top of me.
And I smile at that thought.
I'm so in love with her. She has the perfect pair of tits and her pussy. I love the taste of her pussy.

I’m jolted from those thoughts when I hear that voice again.
It's not Jacob who the fuck is it.
The blackness takes me again and it's not till I feel the cold air on my face that I wake again. I feel my face being stroked and then I hear her voice again, the woman who I’m going to spend the rest of my life with, my Peppa.
I love you Peppa
and I drift off back to sleep thinking of her.

Chapter 22 (PEPPA)

I tried to stay awake to watch over Noah as he tossed and turned most of the night. My mind couldn't switch off at the thought of finding out Juan is a vampire. I must have fallen asleep at some point, as I awake to the feel of a kiss to my lips and a hand running up and down my arm. I smile and search for the lips again with mine, when I open my eyes Noah is staring back at me.

I lift my hand to stroke his face and say, “How are you, do you feel ok?” He places his hand over mine and kisses my forehead.

In a hoarse voice he says, “I feel like shit. I feel like I've gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson.” And he tries to laugh but coughs instead.

“Do you remember what happened Noah?”

He moves away from me and lies flat on his back. I move onto my front and look down at his beautiful face. He stares at the ceiling and doesn't say anything for a while. I hate the silence, so I open my mouth but he speaks first, “No, I don't remember, but Juan told me what happened.” Juan's name leaves my lips and I close my eyes.

I feel Noah run a finger over my lips and I open my eyes but lower my head before I go on to say, “Did he tell you everything?”

A voice from across the room makes me jump and I sit up and my back hits the headboard. I hear Juan sigh, “I'm not going to hurt you Peppa, I love you. I would never hurt you. And if you mean did I tell Noah I'm a vampire, yes I did.”

I look over at Noah, who starts to sit up but doesn't look at me. I shake my head, “I... I can't wrap my head around this, a vampire Juan? What am I supposed to do with that? You don't exist.” Noah sits next to me and takes my hand in his and I turn my head and with confusion on my face I ask him, “Do you believe what he is saying, are you ok with it?”

He looks over at Juan and then back at me, “Yes, I believe him, I'm not sure how I feel about it right now. I still have to deal with last night and Jacob.”

Juan's voice comes again, “You have nothing to worry about where Jacob is concerned, you will find his letter of resignation on your desk when you go back to work and he has left town.”

I look at the clock in Noah's room and it's 10 am. I should be at work but then the voice of Saul telling the stripper from last night that she won't remember anything that happened, plays through my head.

I look over at Juan, I can just make out his figure in the darkness, “What did Saul do to Jacob?”

Before Juan answered, Noah said, “I don't give a fuck what Saul did to Jacob, if he's made Jacob resign, I will shake his hand. He's gone that's all that matters, he won't be bothering you any more Peppa.”

Juan shifts in his seat and I haven't taken my eyes of him, “One of our powers is mind control, Saul put the thoughts in Jacobs head and he acted on them.”

I hear Noah say, “Good,” but I'm not happy and I feel my anger rise and through gritted teeth I ask, “Have you ever used mind control on me Juan?”

His answer comes quickly, “No, never, I haven't used it on either of you, I promise.”

I put my head in my hands and mutter, “Why Juan? You should have told me.”

“Yes, I agree, I should have told you, so you didn't have to find out the way you did. But I couldn't say, oh by the way Peppa, my name is Juan Cassidy and I'm a vampire. I didn't know that night would change everything. I knew I needed to tell you and the closer we get it plays on my mind more. I’m scared Peppa, scared of losing you.”

I lift my head, I can feel the tears gathering, but I fight to not let them fall, “You're scared? How do you think I'm feeling right now? I gave myself to you, to you both. I trusted you. Damn Juan, I love you, it's not every day your boyfriend tells you he's a vampire. I don't know what to do with that or what you want from me. Do you want my blood is that it?” I have no idea where the blood comment came from.

He stands, “I need blood to survive, and yes, your blood calls to me, but not in the way you're thinking. I don't kill humans. That's where the mind control comes in. I take what I need and then make the human forget. But since you came into my life, I have been feeding from animals. What do I want from you Peppa? I want you, no, I want both of you to accept what I am, to accept me. I'm a vampire who's Entwined with two humans, and like you humans, I want to be loved.”

I look over at Noah to see what his reaction is. He is staring at Juan, but showing no emotion. I guess he is as lost for words as I am.

I turn back to Juan, who is now sitting back in the chair and has his head in his hands. My thoughts turn to,
can I accept him
and the answer is, I don't know. I know I love him, but a vampire. Then I think,
what does Entwined mean?

Juan’s head snaps up, “I can explain the Entwining, if you want me to.”

A frown appears on my face and I raise my hand, “Wait a minute, I didn't say that out aloud.”

He interrupts me, “I can hear your thoughts Peppa. When you're emotions are high, I can hear what you're thinking.”

Noah's voice comes next, “So every time I have been around you, you know what I'm thinking? Do you know what I'm thinking now?”

Juan laughs, “Not all the time, when you are angry or turned on, that's when I mostly hear you. But I can tap into your thoughts if I want to.” He looks at me, “But I don't.” He turns back to Noah. “You're thinking about the time I took of my T-shirt and gave it to Peppa, as you were thinking how much you would like to lick my snake tattoo.

I shake my head as I try and clear the image of the snake tattoo out of my mind and I hear Noah say, “Shit you're good.”

I watch Juan smile over at Noah and I decide to throw a thought out there myself, “I'm glad you two are bonding but I'm having a really hard time here.” Juan quickly turns his attention back to me.

“Sorry Peppa, I know this is hard for you, let me explain the Entwining and what it means.” Noah gets of the bed. “I need a piss.” And he walks off to the bathroom.

I look around the room and notice the sunlight coming through the curtains and I laugh at myself with what I think next and say out loud. “I understand the odd hours now. I should have seen it then. Going to sleep when the sun comes up and waking when it goes down. How come you're awake now?”

“I'm fighting it. This is more important to me, making sure you and Noah are ok.” Noah comes back into the room and sits back on the bed next to me and we both sit and wait.

Juan runs a hand through his hair and sits back in the chair. “As with you humans, they say there is a soul mate out there for everyone. It's the same for vampires when we meet our Entwined. Our souls reach out to each other, entwine and become one. That's what happened to us all on that Friday night and why when we are all together we feel connected. It usually only happens between a pair but for some reason I have you both and couldn't be happier.”

My first thought is,
you knew what happened that night and again didn't say anything.

“No Peppa, that night was as much a shock to me as it was to you both. I promise I didn't know till a few days later.”

I'm getting frustrated now and I get off the bed and walk over to stand in front of Juan. I look down at him, “What else have you been hiding from me Juan? How am I supposed to trust you when it feels like nothing we had is real.”

He gets on his knees and takes my hands in his. He looks up at me with apprehension on his face and says, “Don't ever doubt what I feel for you is real. I may not be human, but I feel like one, my humanity still exists. Yes, I need blood to live and my heart no longer beats, but I’m not a monster. Peppa, I don't kill. If my heart did beat it would beat for you, everything about this situation is real. I need you. Please don't hate me and try and see it from my point of view.”

The tears flow then and I pull my hands out of his and walk to the bathroom. I make sure what I say next is loud enough for them both to hear, “I need some time to think, to work out how I feel about this.” I walk into the bathroom, shut the door, make my way to the shower and turn it on. I then take my clothes off and get in.

It's doesn't take long for me to crumple, and I find myself on the tiled floor holding myself, trying to keep it together. I don't know how long I stayed like that. It wasn't till I felt myself being lifted and a towel wrapped around me, my mind kicked back in. I look around the room for Juan and when Noah lowers me to the bed he says, “He couldn't fight it any more, he had to go and sleep.”

Noah climbs on the bed and starts to dry me with the towel, “I went to your room to get you some clothes. They are at the end of the bed,” He climbs off the bed. “I going to go and make a cup of tea and make something to eat. Come and join me when you are ready.”

I watch him walk out the room. I don't want to be alone with my thoughts and I quickly get dressed and join him. We drink, we eat, but we avoid the elephant in the room.

My phone rings and when I answer it's the police. They tell me they found no evidence, and I was free to now go back to my home. My heart sunk at that idea, I wasn't sure I wanted to go back. I looked over at Noah who was staring back at me. He walks over and leans back on the counter, “I take it that was the police?”

“Yes, they didn't find anything and I'm now free to go back to the flat.”

He takes my hand in his, “I will call someone first thing Monday to go in and clean it all up. And then get someone to go in and paint. That could take another week or so.”

I give him a small smile, “Anyone would think you didn't want me to leave.”

He pulls me in for a hug then and gives me a quick kiss, “I don't Peppa. I want you to stay here with me. I hate the thought of waking up and not seeing your face each day. Please don't go Peppa, stay and move in with me.”