41. Insomnia
Alex's POV
After numerous psychological exams by some of the best doctors in the pack, I was determined to not only be rid of the darkness, but basically incapable of getting it again. They had expressed how good it is that I wasn't babied through the whole thing or I would have thought that giving in was the best option and done it over again. Now, I was sitting in my room trying to sleep, but I couldn't for the scent surrounding me. Even the sheets smelled like him, but I couldn't imagine deleting the scent. At the same time, it was making me want to ball my eyes out and curl in on myself.
Instead of giving in on myself, I crawled up onto my roof. The air was humid, and I was sweating as soon as I slid out. "Hey moon!" I chirped as I lay down on the shingles. Being three stories off of the ground always gave me an adrenaline boost, and I could see why Ash had always hated it when I did this.
"Wherever you are, I love you. I will hold you inside of my heart forever, my beautiful soulmate. Our son is absolutely adorable, and I just know you would love him."
As I laid my head back down onto the shingles, I could have sworn there was a rustling in the woods, but I chalked it up to the wind. Suddenly, a song I had been sung when I was young came to mind, and I began to sing. It was a sombre love song once created by my mom, and I could recall the words perfectly.
"Alone in the woods,
She calls to me
'closer my love
So we can be free'
Her sweet sweet voice
Velvety clear
I follow the sound
Til it's all I hear
In the wintery night
I run after her
To a deep blue lake
Where the snow will gather
Before my eyes
A beautiful girl
A temptress they say
Alone as a pearl
Love at first glance
How magical the risk
I followed her in
Nothing was amisk
With the sun that there rise
A long way in the east
I recognized
She was the beast
My heart was torn
My body much worse
Beware; young one
Of the wanderer's curse."
The song had been designed to frighten me into staying out of the woods at night, but it also taught me not to trust everyone. People in this world just want to take advantage of me, and I couldn't be their pawn. Like the boy in the song. He assumed that just because there was a beautiful outward appearance, the inside was pretty too. However, he was wrong, and he ended up dead in a forest somewhere. Some everyday people are like that.
My mother... She was an interesting person herself. A beautiful woman who seemed to have a heart of gold, but her intentions were twisted. Suddenly, I heard Dan crying, and I walked carefully back into the room. I tried feeding him, changing his diaper, and even singing a generic lullaby, but nothing would stop the baby from crying. I tried to hush the little bundle as much as possible while running across to my father's room, and he was luckily just getting ready for bed. "The baby won't stop crying; I've tried everything I can think of. I figured you might know what to do."
"I might, but you might get weirded out. Either that or you'll like it and everything will be okay."
"What is it." My father walked over to his counter, and I saw him preparing a bottle. Strange, he said I should be breastfeeding Daniel. However, when he walked over, I realized what he was holding. "What the hell?" As soon as he put that bottle full of blood near my baby, he basically stole it and began sucking on the bottle. "Woah."
"It was Jackson's idea to try it since that's what they did with the children back when he was with his coven. We noticed that he wasn't growing super well, so we were just experimenting. I guess now he needs it. Congratulations, you are the proud owner of a vampire baby."
I looked down at little Dan while he sucked, and I was reminded of Ash. When I had first began getting my blood cravings with Dan, my soulmate had taught me how to hunt. It was hard at first, but when he drank, he looked so at peace. His body would grow totally still except for the bobbing of his Adam's apple when he swallowed, and it was one of the few times I saw him truly relax.
While my little baby wasn't as still or controlled, he still looked like his father. Head tilted slightly forward, all attention focused on getting the nutrition his body craved. Once he was done, I thanked my father before going back to my room. Dan had settled into sleeping in my arms, and I smiled at the cuteness of the baby. I wish Ash was here to help me raise the child like he was, but I guess Jackson will be good enough.
I sat Dan into his crib before trying to get some sleep in my own bed. The king sized matress was so empty without him here, and I wondered how I ever slept before. Wait... I know! I walked down the hallway towards Ally's room, and I made sure that I couldn't hear anything intimate before entering the room.
Ally was already asleep and Vic was no where in sight, so I just got in next to him without asking. As a kid, I would have slept with my dad, but he had Jackson now. Ally... He had Vic, but I still didn't like him. It's going to take me a while to forgive him for hitting my brother.
I heard the door click open, and I pretended to be asleep. Light footsteps approached the bed, and I put my focus into staying calm and relaxed.
"Ohhh, Allystar." What is Marc doing in my brother's room at 12:30am? "I came in here with a job to do, but it might be foiled by your prescious brother. You've been messing with me for too long, Canfield, and today was the day your time runs out. Who knows? I could kill you before your pathetic brother wakes up. It's just a soulmate; get over it."
I never expected Marc to be a traitor, but I couldn't reveal myself yet. First thing I learned in my training; wait and listen. "Oh he doesn't know... I was working with them all along! They told me I could see Winston again, so I had to. I spilled our plans, every last one, and I made sure my coven survived. The Harsin Coven is not easily swayed by insignificant wolves. Of course, the whole dead soulmate thing was just added flare, but I got a second taste of power as the temporary Luna. These people trust me... And I'm going to rip it out. Starting with these two boys."
Suddenly, the baby monitor in my back pocket revealed Dan crying, and that's when I realized. There's a few of these stationed around the pack house in the places I hand out. My father has one, so let's hope he was awake for that whole monologue. My opportunity... It's rising.