Lilith (5 page)

"So Dean,"
she poked her head around the other side of me, "where are you two headed tonight?"

Dean cleared his throat.
"Um, we, we're going to go to dinner and then maybe see a movie. It all depends on how much time we have."

“Well have fun.”
She said and walked back into the kitchen.

"You ready?" Dean asked.

I started to move forward when my dad reached for my arm.

"Be back by 9:30, it's a scho
ol night, you got that Dean?"

"Yes sir Mr.
O’Brien. I'll take good care of her."

My dad smiled at me softly. I could see the worry
written all over his face.

"I'll be fine dad okay."

He let go of my arm and closed the door between us. Even when I'd been dating Weston, my dad hadn't been this over-protective. Guess since I was older, he was worried more about things I'd pretty much done already. Dean pulled me down from the step and smirked.

"You look really good." He motioned with hi
s finger for me to turn around.

I turned
halfheartedly, it was like being put under a microscope. Dean’s fingers slipped around mine and pulled me towards his truck. When we were safely out of sight, he pulled me in close. I held my breath and looked up into his face. His eyes were a bright intense blue. He brushed the side of my face with his hand, tilted my face up towards him, and touched his lips to mine.

It was like
fire erupted between us. Hot white heat traveled from the touch of his lips and radiated down the rest of my body. Both of his hands slid around my back and pulled me closer. Every part of the front of my body touched the front of his. I sighed in pleasure. He ran a hand up my back and into my hair.

Nothing about his kiss gave me the impression that he thought of me as just a friend. I
grinned into his lips and parted mine in invitation. He drew back unexpectedly. Why had he broken the kiss? He rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. I could still taste him on my lips, still feel the tingling sensation of his touch running down my spine.

"Sorry, I just don't want this to go too fast too soon. Is
that okay."

I
moved my head away from his. His breathing was still unsteady, and I pushed him away playfully. He opened the passenger door and helped me inside.

"I hope you like Mexican food."

I didn't trust myself to speak. I was afraid my voice would either not be there at all, or come out in some ridiculously high octave. He pointed to the seat next to him and I slid over. He buckled my seat belt and handed me his Ipod. Score one for chicks everywhere, I was in control of the music!

"My mom told me about this place in Pismo that makes
homemade tortillas. It’s right on the beach and if we make it there in time we'll be able to watch the sunset."

I scrolled through his song list trying to get my brain to start working again. Weston's kisses had never been one tenth as hot as Dean's were. I hadn't heard from him in a while either, I'd have to send him an email and see how his first se
mester at Cal Poly was going.

"Pacey?"

I looked over towards him. What had he said? He reached for my face angling his head to the side he made sure our mouths fit together perfectly. The kiss was short and sweet, I groaned in protest.

"Ok, so, did you hea
r anything I just said or not?" He said.

I opened my eyes and stared at him
blankly.

"Not then, okay it's cool. Be careful though, any more ego stroking like that and my head won't be able to fit in the truck."
His eyes were twinkling.

We
couldn’t have that, no way was I going to let him think he was that good.

"Oh come on! I'm no
t that brain-dead" I laughed.

The drive to Pismo wasn't long, an hour at most. He had pretty good taste in music too. No hip-h
op, or rap thank God. I could only abide rap if it was set to rock music and not about some dudes ho and his 40. I liked rage against, something that had a rap sound but didn’t have stupid lyrics.

"We're here." Dean nud
ged me softly with his elbow.

"Ok."

He got out of the truck and motioned for me to get out his way as well. He gripped my sides and pulled me to the ground. I liked the way he made me feel. Small, feminine, and protected, sometimes, having a guy take care of me was nice. That didn't mean I wanted to bow down and kiss his feet or allow him to beat me if I back-talked. It just meant I liked it when he made me feel important.

The waitress gave us a seat in the upstairs balcony. She stared at him blatantly, it was pretty freaking rude. I rolled my eyes when she
beamed after he said thank you.

The food was good but half way through
dinner, I got a strange text message. My phone was vibrating when I flipped open the screen. It was a picture of me and Dean kissing. His black truck in the background. I hadn't seen anybody hanging around when we were out there. So how could somebody have a picture? The number said unknown caller. I tried to respond but it wouldn't go through without their number. Weird.

"Hey look at this." I held my cell up for Dean to see. He almost ch
oked when he saw the picture.

"Where'd that come from?"

I shook my head and looked at it again. There was a message at the bottom when I scrolled down.

I am going to kill you for touching him
.

I gasped and Dean pulled th
e phone from my limp fingers.

"What t
he---who sent this?" He asked.

I shook my head in response and rubbed at t
he chill creeping up my arms. "Do you think it was Lexie?" I said.

"Do you?" He said.

"Maybe, probably, but why would she still care. It's not like she'll win you by being a psycho. It just doesn't make sense."

He nodded in agreement and I forwarded the pic to
Rhiannon.

H
ey Rhi, just got a crazy text, check it out, let me know.

I hit send and picked at the
food still left on my plate.

"You want to go home now?" Dean asked.

I sighed but shook my head no. No way was I going to let some crazy girl ruin my date with Dean.

"We could go watch the sunset on the beach.
..." I said.

Dean smiled a
nd motioned for our waitress. "We're going to leave, can I get the check?"

She frowned and
walked away without speaking. Dean paid the bill and we left. He went back to his truck and got a blanket. We walked together hand in hand onto the sandy beach. It was unnervingly quiet; there were no other people or couples walking through the sand. He spread out the blanket on the ground and pulled me down to sit beside him.

"Are you upset?" He whispered the question next to my ear. I could feel hi
s warm breath tickle my neck.

"A little, I don't get it. Why woul
d Lexie go after me this way...it doesn't seem like her."

"Yea I can understand that. She's more of
a public torturer right?"

I agreed silently and sighed.
My phone vibrated again and I pulled it out of my back pocket. I braced one hand on Dean’s leg and he grinned.

"A lit
tle more to the right please." He said.

"Please? Yea so not happening sparky."
I muttered. He chuckled and pointed to my phone.

"Oh, yea. Let's see."

P you finally kiss lover boy and this is how I find out. It’s weird, not like Lexie at all. Call me later I want deets LOTS of deets. Oh yea tell butch I said nice job!

I closed the screen and felt my face turn red, Rhi always did know how to embarrass me. Butch aka Dean had a smug
little grin plastered to his face. Boys.

The sunset was beautiful, the sky turned shades of purple, pink, and orange. When I looked over at
Dean, he was staring at me instead of the sun. I nudged him in the ribs and he smirked.

"I know it's going to sound cheesy but you're way prettier
than that stupid sun."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, the boy was cheesy, but it d
idn't make him any less cute. We sat and watched the dark waves for what felt like hours. When my phone vibrated, again my pulse started to race. I was probably over-reacting it could just be Rhi. But as I stared down at the three caps locked words, I knew the truth.

TONIGHT YOU DIE

Chapter Five

Fever Pains

The phone fell out of my hand and onto the blanket. The text wasn't alone either. Below the words was a picture of me and Dean sitting on the sand. Dean reached for the phone and swore under his breath.

"We're leaving...
NOW." He said.

I jumped up
and walked closely beside him. Dean walked so quickly it was hard for me to keep up in my little heals. They kept slipping into the sand. I could feel the small grains lodging themselves between my toes and behind my heel. It was really uncomfortable. When we reached the sidewalk, I tried to get Dean to stop but he sped forward.

He didn't realize he'd left me behind for a few moments. It was enough time for my
stalker to make their attack. As I stood to reach, down and take off my shoes and empty them of the offending sand. Something large jumped out of the shadows. I fell to the sidewalk on my side and pain radiated up my hip and into my stomach. And they were on me, ripping into the flesh at my neck.

There was so much pain I was drowning in it, I could feel the skin being ripped apart. I hadn't heard Dean reach us, the sound of his feet was muffled by the crashing waves and the heavy breathing of my attacker. I screamed, thrashing my hands
trying to wound the heavy body.

I must have connected
with some vital part because they whined and hissed in pain. Dean was pulling me from the ground before I could get a good look at them. All I saw was my own hair blocking out the darkness. All I felt when it was on me was the pain still throbbing at my neck and shoulder.

When we reached the
truck, Dean threw me into the passenger seat. He locked the door and ran around to the driver’s side. He threw the truck into drive. I placed one shaking hand on my neck afraid of the damage. My neck burned in pain at the touch. I could feel the wet torn skin underneath my fingers. It had to be bad. I looked down at my wet hand and saw the bright red blood.

"Oh God, Pacey, are you okay?" He pulled over against the screeching tires and blaring horns of oncomin
g traffic into a parking lot.

It was lit up brightly and full of other people. He was dialing his cell when he came around to the passenger door. He took off his black button up shirt and pressed it against my neck. I tried to shoo him away so he wouldn't ruin his nice shirt, but my eyes were drawn to his bare
chest.

I started to feel a little dizzy and I asked Dean if I could lay down, just for a moment. He kept yelling at me to keep my eyes open, but the warmth was pulling me down into the welcoming waters. My eyes fluttered sh
ut and everything went black.

When I woke up I was laying on a gurney being rushed down the hall of what I assumed was a hospital. The bright lights hurt my eyes so much I had to keep shutting th
em to keep out the burning pain. Dean was running along beside me. His shirt was still gone, I smiled when I opened my eyes and saw him.

"Dean, you're hot." I whispered.

The nurse snickered. "Nice to see you're awake Miss O’Brien. Do you know where you are? Don't try to speak just blink"

I looked up into her soft face. She had
jet-black hair and soft green eyes. I'd never seen her before, but I'd never been in the ER either. I tried to move my arm but it felt strangely numb. It moved but fell down beside me in a thud.

"You're going to feel a little out of it, we gave you something for the pai
n."

I looked down at my arm and saw the intrusive IV sticking out of it. It itched terribly. I reached over to try to scr
atch and she stopped my hand.

"Don't that's the only reason you're no longer out. We're pumping fluids into you. You're lucky you did
n't lose more blood."

I was pushed through an open doorway into a brightly lit up room. Dean was stopped w
hen he tried to follow me in.

"Stand here
Dean. We need to check her injuries." The nurse that had been speaking to me came forward again, she held my hand and squeezed gently.

"You're going to be fine."

People were all around me moving and using terms I'd never heard of. I felt a tug on my neck and closed my eyes, the warmth was everywhere surrounding me. It was like a warm bath, pulling me into its soothing waters. I felt myself slipping deeper and deeper inside it. Until I no longer heard the voices around me.

My eyes flashed open and I saw the
bright lights above me again.

"She's back. Get me more
sutures and flush the wound. There, you see it a small jugular hematoma. We must have unclogged it during initial examination. I think we've got it. Get me another bag of O neg and some platelets."

I could feel something pulling on my neck but it wasn't painful, just strange. My whole body felt numb, like I couldn't qu
ite wake up and make it move. I closed my eyes against the bright lights, and someone pulled on my lids. I wanted them to stop it didn't feel right, intrusive.

I tried to speak but couldn't. The sounds faded away again but the warmth, the nice inviting warm water never returned. It was too bad it didn't it felt so good, so calming. And everything went black again, I was falling deeply into th
e pools of black and nothing.

When I woke up again the bright lights were gone. Something wasn't right I tried to speak b
ut something was lodged in my throat. It felt horrible. I tried to touch my neck but someone had my hand.

"
Connor, Connor she's awake go get a nurse...hurry." My mom's voice was wrong, like she'd been crying.

I felt someone else touch my left hand and tried to look over by my
neck felt so heavy and stiff. Dean leaned closer so I could see him; he had on a blue scrub shirt. Guess the nurses didn't want him distracting patients or female Doctors. When he'd been shirtless, I couldn't take my eyes off of his yummy stomach. It hurt when I tried to giggle. Dammit, what was wrong with me.

M
y dad must have come running into the room because I heard him yelling.

"See, see she's awake take that hor
rible thing out of her dammit."

I rolled my eyes, even
now, I knew he was being a butt head. You don't speak to Doctors like that. A nice looking middle-aged man came forward and looked into my face. He had soft brown eyes, and a stark white lab coat.

"Pacey, can you hear me, no don't try to talk." I watched him shine a small fla
shlight into both of my eyes.

"If you haven't guessed yet, you're in the hospital. The reason you can't speak is because you had to be incubated. But I can re
move that now if you're ready. No don’t try to move blink once for yes and twice for no."

I blinked once
and he reached forward unhooking the tubes.

"Now I need you to take a deep breath and breathe out on 3 ok, 1, 2, 3." The horrible intrusive thing was pulled from my throat. It itched
and ached terribly inside, like I'd been screaming for hours.

"That better?"

I blinked once again and tried to speak.

"
Yesses." My voice was raspy and soft.

"Oh thank God. I was so worried."
My mom’s voice was shaking, I looked over into her crumbling face.

"Mom."

"I'm here baby."

"Do you remember what happened?" The doctor asked softly, I looked back over
at him and blinked twice.

"When yo
u first got here your wounds had been successfully blocked, thanks to Mr. Charleston here. I fear that if he hadn't been with you and seen so quickly to your wounds you might not have made it."

My mom sobbed harder at his words. He glanc
ed at her and patted her arm.

"After you were picked up by the ambulance you were brought here. Upon
examination, we accidentally unblocked the small nick in your jugular. We were able to stop the bleeding and you should be just fine. We had to stitch up the worse of the damage. I'm afraid you'll probably have some pretty big scars."

I rolled my e
yes, like that even mattered.

"But like I told your family and boyfriend, you should be fine. There's no reason to think otherwise. The worse of your injuries has been mended. Your voice will probably be rough for a few days, but that will go away with ti
me. Do you have any questions?"

I shook my head no
and he patted my uninjured arm.

"You're a real trooper. They say your heart stopped twice on the way o
ver. You're a very lucky girl."

My m
om sobbed again and I sighed. The doctor left the room and a nurse came in to look over my wound. It was the same one from before.

"A
h so you remember me do you."

"Yea." I said.

She looked over at Dean.

"Sorry, it was hospital protocol, nobody gets to go shirtless, not even som
eone that’s so fun to look at."

Dean flushed and I giggled. I gu
ess I had said that out loud.

"You sc
ared the crap out of me Pacey." Dean said.

I looked ov
er into his face and frowned. "Sorry."

He sat down and moved closer.
"Geez, don't be sorry, you didn't do that to yourself. I'm sorry I ever took you out there." His eyes went down in shame and I whispered.

"Hey, it's not your fault either. I
don't even know what happened."

My dad cleared his th
roat and walked into my view. "They say you were attacked by someone they think has been threatening you. The doctors aren't even sure what caused your wound, they said it was...pretty bad."

"Hey daddy. Sorry
I didn't make it home by 9:30."

He
frowned then looked at me in anguish. "Baby you don't ever have to have a curfew again if you promise me to never, ever make us worry like this again. I---" He rubbed his face with his hand. Mom got up and hugged him.

He came
closer, kissed my head softly, and whispered. "I love you baby."

My mom motion
ed for him to leave the room.

"We're just going to go get something to drink, do you want anything Dean?” He shook his head no
and squeezed my hand tighter.

"I was so scared." He
leaned down and kissed my hand.

I moved my fingers up and motioned for him to come closer. I puckered my lips and then smiled. He got the hint and stood up and bent down, ki
ssing me softly on the mouth.

My whole body felt like it was on fire
and not in the just been kissed good way either. I opened my eyes and groaned in pain. The morning light was creeping in through the blinds covering the window. When I stared down at my ugly hospital gown I remembered where I was.

The IV in my arm was pumping ugly yellow liquid into my open vein. It felt like glass was moving up my arm. What kind
of hospital pumps you full of stuff like that? I itched at it hoping it would somehow lessen the horrible feeling. The door to the room opened announcing someone's arrival.

"Hi there Pacey. I'm going to be you
r nurse for the day. I'm Gina."

I stared at her and nodded, immediately
missing my nurse from before.

"Do you need to use the res
troom at all?" Gina asked.

I groaned. "Yea."

"Here I'll help you." She said.

My eyes opened like saucers when she
came around the side of the bed to help me stand.

"N
o no, I can do it by myself."

"Here just let me unhook you from the IV, and I'll wait in here. You can just pull the cord or
holler if you need help."

I was grateful she wasn't going to watch me. It was creepy eno
ugh I had to walk around in the stupid gown. Why did hospitals fashion them that way to begin with did they need to have your butt hanging out for a reason. I walked back into my room and sat down shakily. Sweat was pouring off of me.

"I need to check your blood pressure, and temperature, then I'm going to clean and redress your wounds. If you
want, I can show it to you then too. They say it’s a doosey. Rachel, that was your nurse from last night, she said your heart stopped twice too. You're pretty lucky."

My heart was beating into my throat. I could feel my mouth water with nausea. I was going to be sick. The new nurse must have noticed because she grabbed a pink little kidney shaped bowl to put in front of my face. She went into the bathroom
and brought out a wet washcloth.

"You f
eel really warm." She came forward with a thermometer. I opened my mouth and she placed it under my tongue.