Friends never Leave

MICHEAL

" They can't be here for her" I say"for all they know Cataline is dead, you showed it to me, right, so they can't know of her" I say over again more in an effort to convince myself than convince Jason, he is calm, staring into space, darn, I run my fingers through my hair, I am usually the calm one not him, but this affects me directly, if for any reason they know of her then it might be trouble.

Jason hadn't shown me everything that happened with Cataline, he only showed me how he met and turned her and after she died and he buried her, I hadn't asked because it was his past to share, but now everything has changed, Jason is clearly worried about the brothers being here, if he thinks they might be a threat to Bella's safety then it must be serious, whatever the Cataline lady had been or done was serious, and now Bella was a copy of her. We still didn't know what exactly Bella is, but it isn't an everyday experience to see the exact copy of a person hundred years after their death, the only difference between Bella and Cataline so far is their hair, Cataline had long golden hair, and Bella has short black hair, but according to Jason every other detail down to her scent was identical to Cataline, and two different people just didn't share the same scent neither were they that identical.

"She'll be fine,I'll protect her with my very life" Jason assures me placing a hand on my shoulder.

*FLASHBACK*

I am lying on a cold bare wooden table,my eyes are shut tight,I am struggling to breath, and there is a burning sensation in my chest. It is squeezing and suffocating me, I feel like my heart is burning, my heart beat is abnormally fast,my heart threatening to explode with each beat. I want to reach out and rip out my ribcage so I can set my heart free, but try as I may, I can not lift a single muscle on my body, I can't even scream. I was on that table suffering, dying yet I saw not, I was somewhere, everywhere but nowhere, watching myself burn.

After what seemed like forever, my heartbeat begins to slowdown, the slower my heart beat the lower the fire burned, the fire was put out with the very last beat. I am no longer on the table but in front of a black sea, I can't see beneath the surface, it is still, not a sound.

I notice my hands are sticky, when I look at them they are bleeding, thick heavy blood. The blood isn't from my hands, there is a hole in my chest and it is covered in blood dripping down my elbow and unto my palm.

I feel a force push me towards the sea, like the sea is calling out to me, and my legs move forward on there on accord towards it.

As I get to the water, my feet touching it's icyness, a big drop of blood as if on cue drops into the water and it begins to boil,my legs move forward inside the raging water, deeper until I am completely covered. I raise my hands struggling to get back to the top, but I had forgotten how to swim and continue to drown. Just then my eyes fly open and I sit up with so much speed I roll off the wooden table, my heart beating slowly steadily betraying my panic.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

I close my eyes tight struggling to keep my emotions under check

" You have to feed"

"I'm okay" I reply

"You're not Mike, you won't do her much good if you leave yourself weak and vulnerable, starving won't change the fact that you need blood or you'll die really slowly and I've heard it can be excruciating" his mouth draw apart in a sly laugh,I wince from fake pain,leave it to Jason to find humor in everything.

"But I can't..I begin to say when he cuts me off

" I'll watch her, I'm not here to admire your beautiful home you know"

"Thanks, I'll go tonight" I smile at him and we both walk inside the house with Jason making one of his bad sex jokes, bad in all sense.

Jason has been by my side since I was a kid, I knew him as uncle Philip while growing up, he had been the family Gardner and my friend, he wore the facemask of an elderly man and was always helping me out, he was my friend, and my confidant, the only other family I recognized besides my mom.

After she died when I was 13,he took custody of me because my mom had written that in her will, no one understood why but I was more than happy to move in with uncle Phil, the cause of my mom's death was never found but thinking about it now, I feel there's a lot Jason is keeping from me, all the years I've known him, he has never given me a reason to doubt him, and I won't start now, I had other things to deal with now, once they were done I'll have that conversation with him.

Bella is seated in front of the TV changing the channels absentmindedly,she glances up at us as we walk in the door.

" Is everything okay now" she ask looking at us

" Yeah, everything's fine, pretty boy is good now" I say patting Jason on the back

Jason pass me a confused look and walks towards Bella

" I have no idea what he told you,but don't believe it ever"

He says sitting besides her,he sits at the edge of the sofa keeping enough space between them,I know he still has a hard time being around her because she reminds him too much of the woman he loved, he hasn't said anything about her but I felt it during the link, when he showed me his past, I felt what he felt.

" But you don't know what he told me" Bella was arguing

" Oh, I don't need to know what he said to know it was a lie, my lady" he replies her.

" You talk like a man from a different century, always so formal" she says giggling softly,he smiles showing his white teeth," my face truely betrays my time"

" He's old at heart" I chirp in laughing

Bella smiles and looks at me,her eyes stopping on my lips,she doesn't know what her looks do to me. Since I came back almost a week ago I haven't been physical with her,the farthest I have ventured is hold her while she sleeps,it takes all of my self control to stop at that,but I can't go beyond. I can't place my lips on hers when all I want to do is move it down to her neck and bite down,the emotions would be too much for me and I might lose the little control I have,I can't give in to my emotions when I'm with her,I can't think of making out with her even, because if I lose it for just a second she'll pay with her life.