Poisonous Pleasure (2 page)

Marcella nodded her head. Lips gently pushed against hers right before he vanished through the doorway.

Sharp pains raced through her stomach causing her to gasp and clutch to the blue cotton comforter. The tremors only last for a few seconds, but they were becoming more frequent in the last few days. While she tried to breathe her way through the spell, she listened closely for any sign Jason would return.

A twinge caused her to double over. It took every ounce of control for Marcella not to scream out. Tears streamed down her face while blood coated her mouth. When she realized she was biting the insides of her cheeks, she quickly stopped.

The sound of water turning on instantly set her at ease.
You can get through this, Marcella. It’ll pass. It always does. Just breathe.

Minutes went by and another pain brought a groan from her mouth, this one even worse than the last. She knew this wasn’t normal, she just didn’t know whether to call Jason. At the thought of his name, the twisting ache instantly disappeared. Soreness settled throughout her muscles while she tried to stretch out of the fetal position.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you all right?”

She looked up to see her boyfriend standing in the doorway, dressed and ready to go. “Fine.” Marcella wiped the fresh tears from her cheeks.

“No, you’re crying. I’ve only seen you cry once in the last four years. What is it?”

“Nothing, listen, I need you to take me home.”

Jason kneeled before her on the bed, resting his arms on either side of her thighs. She watched his blue and white striped polo shirt stretch tightly over his arms and chest. “Does this have anything to do with what you wanted to talk to me about?”

Marcella stared into his hazel eyes searching for something, possibly the truth behind this rumor. “If you’re referring to the email I received about you fucking Kasey at the party last weekend, then no, that’s not the reason. I don’t feel good. I want to go home.”

“Marcy, it’s not what you think. That’s what I wanted to speak to you about. It’s been bothering me. She says we…fucked, but I swear I don’t remember. I was drinking with the guys and I do recall her being there, but I passed out.”

Fresh tears came to her eyes. Somehow she expected this. Wasn’t that the typical excuse?
I was too drunk to remember.

“Take me home, Jason.”

“I swear, I don’t remember. For all I know, she’s lying. Marcy, I’d never…” He gripped her thighs tighter. The way his eyes pleaded to her just made the anger worse.

“I said take me home!”

Marcella jumped at her own voice. They usually never disagreed on anything. Rage she couldn’t even process began to take over her body making her tremble while she fought to contain herself.

“Jason, please take me home.” Feeling physically and mentally exhausted, the words barely left her lips as a whisper.

“Okay.” He sighed, and stood.

Not even waiting to see if he followed, she walked out of the house and got into the truck. Moving at all proved to be a chore. Her body throbbed with every step she took. Vertigo threatened the moment she became still. Blindly she reached for the dashboard.

“Tell me what’s wrong. If you’re sick, I can call my mom. She is a nurse.”

“I said I’m fine. Just get me home. That is if you can fucking
remember
the way there.”

Hurt raced through Jason’s features causing her own heart to break. Somehow she knew this was the end of their relationship. Without trust, they were nothing, and she wasn’t sure she could trust him. If he could have sex with filth like Kasey, who else had he slept with during one of his outings with the guys? Suddenly, she began to question everything about their relationship.

The ride home became a blur while she focused on controlling the pain of new tremors. Each bump made her want to scream out. The insides of her stomach contorted, twisting her into a million knots.

“We’re almost there, babe. Tell me what to do. I’ve never seen you so pale. Are you sure I shouldn’t be taking you to the hospital?”

Marcella wasn’t certain anymore. Death beckoned, she could feel it. The intensity of the pain reached a level she wasn’t even aware a human could withstand, but she feared if she opened her mouth she’d either go into a fit of screams or become violently ill.

Jason pulled into the driveway, easing to a stop. He had her in his arms, carrying her inside before she could attempt to refuse his touch.

“Oh my goodness, what happened?” Her mom came rushing forward as the door slammed open against the wall.

Bile pushed against the back of her throat while she fought to control her body.

“I don’t know. I got out of the shower and she was crying. She said she didn’t feel good. We got into an argument and she wanted to come home. On the way, she seemed to get worse.”

“Bring her to the guest room and let’s lay her down. We might need to call an ambulance. There’s no point in carrying her upstairs.”

The family pictures on the wall blurred as Jason moved forward. The whole room seemed to tilt for a brief moment before it came back into focus. The coolness of the comforter pressing against her bare arms turned Marcella’s skin to pure ice. She instantly started shaking.

“Here, honey, I got you a blanket. You need to tell me exactly what’s wrong.”

“My s-s-stomach hurts. Cold…”

“Did you eat anything earlier?” Her mom’s palm pressed against her head and cheeks checking for fever.

“The new r-r-restaurant in t-t-town, been going there f-f-for a few days now.”

“Food poisoning, probably. Thanks for looking after my baby for me, Jason. I’m sure she’ll feel better tomorrow and want to see you.”

“No!” Marcella fought to sit up. “Don’t come b-b-back.” Anger eased the pain, making the twinges somewhat manageable, but the cold chills wouldn’t stop. “Go to Kasey’s, I’m sure s-s-she’ll want to see you.”

Jason took a step back.

“Get out,” Marcella growled. “Get out! Get out!” The louder she screamed, the less pain she felt. No one in the room moved at her outburst, which only fueled the fury.

“I know you’re pigheaded, but definitely not deaf, Jason. I said get the hell out of my house!” She jumped off of the bed advancing toward him faster than she thought possible with the pain she just experienced. Still, he didn’t listen.

“Jason, I think you should go. Marcella’s upset, but I’ll talk to her.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he whispered against the shock. “Marcy, honey, I…”

“I’m not your anything anymore! Now leave!”

Heaviness settled in her chest as she watched tears come to his eyes. In that moment she hated herself for resorting so low. The pain wasn’t worth seeing her best friend hurt. They might have been young, but Jason still held her heart. She knew without a doubt, he always would. From the beginning they had an unexplainable connection.

“I’m going. You don’t know how truly sorry I am. I never meant to hurt you.”

Marcella watched her mother walk Jason out of the guest bedroom. Ringing in her ears with a combination of pressure nearly brought her to her knees. The front door shut, but it sounded as if her mother had slammed it. Voices penetrating through the wood left the conversation sounding hollow.

“I’ve never seen Marcella so upset. What happened, Jason? I thought things were going so well.”

“I messed up,” he said, sounding shaky. “I just wish I could remember. A girl is claiming I cheated on Marcella with her. I’m not sure, but a part of me can’t believe that. I love your daughter. I’d never do anything to hurt her. It sounds lame, I know, but I don’t think you understand. I couldn’t hurt her, ever, no matter how drunk I was.”

The sound of her boyfriend’s voice cracking made a sob escape Marcella’s mouth. She didn’t want to hear anymore. Why couldn’t she disappear for awhile, take a trip that lasted for months and come back when all of this drama blew over? She didn’t want to believe the man she thought she’d spend her life with could do this.

“You better hope nothing happened. My daughter loves you. I won’t sit by and let you hurt her. Now go home. I’ll try to talk to her, but I’m not promising anything.

“Thanks, Mrs. Jacobs. I really do appreciate it.”

Marcella climbed in the bed and tried her best to block out the voices. It wasn’t long before her mother came in and kissed her forehead. Pretending to be asleep, she felt fingers push the hair back from her face.

“Things will turn out the way they’re supposed to, honey. You’ll see. This thing with Jason will blow over. Just give it some time.” The softness of her mother’s words made Marcella’s throat tighten. It was almost impossible to continue acting as if she slept.

The light turned off and when she heard footsteps enter her parent’s upstairs bedroom Marcella finally let the tears come.

Images projected in her mind of everything she and Jason had shared over the years. Even though they had known each other their whole lives, and he’d always followed her around, it took until their freshman year in high school before he admitted his lifelong feelings. The word fated is what she’d always used to describe them. It just felt right. They were inseparable.

Years of friendship, and newly found passion clouded her. For the first time, Marcella welcomed the pain, feeding off of it, letting it cleanse the hurt she felt deep inside her heart. While questions plagued her mind, only one stood out above the others. Why would God, if there was such a thing, give her something so beautiful if he only meant to tarnish the perfect illusion? She wasn’t sure, but she knew only one thing, she stupidly wished she’d never been born.

* * * *

A voice clearing brought Marcella out of her thoughts. Tears clouded Marcy’s eyes, leaving the candlelit room blurry. She wasn’t sure when she’d stopped speaking or how much she had actually told, but Gwendolyn obviously was becoming impatient.

“I’m sorry, where was I?”

“You were going over your heartbreak.” The blonde vampire sat on the bed, leaning forward. The fullness of her lips was slightly parted.

Marcella noticed the woman seemed intrigued. She never thought by telling her the story it would also open so many of her own wounds. But of course, she still hadn’t even really broken the surface of the hardest part. It loomed ahead, the thought alone, enough to close her throat completely.

“Yes, well, I was very heartbroken, but also a bit selfish. You see, if I could live that night over again, I would have never left the situation as I did. Many regrets still haunt me, some I can never fix.”

“Tell me what happened next. It’s been such a long time since someone has captured my attention like you.”

Marcella raised an eyebrow. “But Gwen, we know how this ends, or at least where the story rests. Here we are…everything leads to why I’m here, and I’m afraid you’re not going to like me so much after I tell you.”

“I have no doubt I’ll hate you more than I already do, but please go on. It’ll make your death that much more enjoyable.” The smile that came to Gwendolyn’s lips was one of pure evil.

“Then you’re going to love this part,” Marcella said dryly.

Closing her eyes, Marcy took herself back to the guest bedroom. The cream colored walls lifted around her and she could physically see herself there fighting to stay awake, the tears drying on her face. A face, resembling little of what masked her now. No freckles covered her new cheeks, and her dark brown eyes were now faded to an orange glow. Her former self looked so petite and frail. Now, she was full of curves and a good three inches taller than her originally five feet three inch height which brought her to five feet six inches.

“Do go on.” Gwendolyn’s voice broke through her concentration, pulling her out of the room.

“Give me a moment. This is a really hard part for me to tell. I’ve never had to say it out loud before. The memories torment me enough as it is.”

Silence settled throughout the room and Marcella focused back on her connection to the past. The walls were suddenly up and she cringed at what she saw. Taking a deep breath, she slowly looked around and fought for words to express what she experienced.

Chapter 2

The odd sensation of being numb caused Marcella’s eyes to drift open. Heaviness made it impossible for her to roll over like she intended. Startled by the miscommunication of what her mind was telling her body, she came to an immediate awareness of her surroundings of the guest room.

Bright shades of orange and blue, tinted with yellows, completely loomed above her. Mesmerized by the beautiful colors, the realization of what she stared at didn’t register right away. It wasn’t until someone’s scream echoed through the walls that Marcella knew exactly what captivated her. Fire.

Fighting to gain control of her unresponsive body, she jerked viciously until she finally managed to sit up. “Mom!” Panicked, she fought to stand. As if she walked through water, she finally was able to get halfway to the door when she suddenly felt herself jolted to a stop. A popping feeling reverberated off her insides making Marcella turn around to see what she’d been stuck to.

A scream exploded from her mouth. Her body was still on the bed, covered in flames. The fire danced along her skin, melting her flesh like wax from a candle. Why hadn’t she felt the heat or smelt the smoke?

Bringing her arms up, she noticed the carpet underneath the palms of her hands. Instantly, she screamed again. She was dead. Even though she didn’t want to face the facts, Marcella knew this was no dream.

She quickly forced herself to the door. No matter how hard Marcella tried, her body wouldn’t allow herself to step over the threshold, leading to the living room. Moving to the window, she frantically searched for a way to make it outside so she could try to find help, but her hands went right through and stopped against an unknown force.

Maybe her mother, step father, or brothers weren’t dead yet, or maybe they’d already made it to safety. She’d never know unless she could find a way out of this room.

“Help! Somebody. Anybody!”

Ripples of energy vibrated from her ghostly silhouette while she focused mentally on reaching out to a source of rescue. If she truly was nothing more than a ghost, there must be something she could do, but there wasn’t. She couldn’t fly or float, her body felt more grounded than anything.