It was a battle of will. His body craved her blood like no other and she was willing to lose everything in the moment. He had to be a mature person in this. The blood eased the discomfort inside him. When finally he forced his eyes to open what he saw sent him stumbling backwards. Never in his entire life had he seen something like this and he was scared for his sanity.
The entire room, carefully constructed of marble and metal, had melted down. The marble under his feet had melted into the form of his footprints. All the iron furniture had been deformed and glowed a white-hot. In front of him, stood Aria, her neck wound still bleeding, eyes closed, with tears at the corner which had frozen into crystals of ice.
"Aria" David called out, afraid of what he had done to her. Aria opened her eyes slowly, eyes crinkling at the corner where the frost had closed it shut. Her eyes took in the panic in his and grew worried to look around her in awe.
"How is the place still standing?" she asked incredulously.
"This place is built inside an old World War II bunker. That is the only reason it is standing." David explained with a frown.
Aria nodded mutely. She should feel scared but she wasn't.
"Are you hot? Are you cold? Tell me Aria. I cured your CIPA. You should be able to feel something," he demanded.
"Is there anything left where we can sit down? I need to tell you about something," she said.
David led her out of the basement and was relieved to find the rest of the house wasn't affected by the heat wave. He led her to the wrought iron dining table, still unwilling to be near anything flammable.
"I think, this will have to do," he said, motioning for them to sit down on opposite ends. Aria came forward however and took her place on his lap as they sat down.
"Promise me that you won't run when I tell you what I have to say," she demanded.
David couldn't help the twitching of his lips. "Aria, you are the one who decided to stay with a serial rapist who is also a vampire." he reminded her.
"That's not as bad as what I am going to tell you David," she said, taking a deep breath. Her shoulders were slumped and though they were physically connected Aria seemed far off.
"Tell me. I won't leave you." David promised. Part of him knew that he couldn't leave her even if he wanted. They may not be destined but they were mates for life now or whatever they could share given the difference in their species.
"I don't know why it is so but I know that I am a freak. When I was eight years old I went to Iceland with my parents. My friends and their parents were there too along with some cousins. My best friend and I were the youngest in the group. The older cousins had decided to bully us and pushed us onto a frozen lake. Neither of us had snow shoes or skates on and we could barely stand. It was already approaching spring and the ice wasn't very stable. Bethany and I could only crawl. We were told to crawl to the middle of the lake and place a flag at the centre of it. Bethany cried to not make us do it but they said that if we can't do it we won't be allowed to play with them. I wanted to play and I kept on crawling toward the centre. There wasn't anyone nearby though and when I pushed the flag in the ice started to crack."
"I was the first person to fall into the ice followed by Bethany and then my cousins. I told Bethany to swim towards me but she refused. She chose to crawl back towards my cousins. I felt very upset at that time and something happened. The entire lake froze back and trapped the three of them in a several-inch thickness of the ice. I was still floating on ice water and managed to crawl out as they screamed. I didn't know how it happened or what even happened but I knew that I was responsible. I went back to the hotel which was only two minutes away and tried to tell my parents but they were gone in a minute. The receptionist didn't take me seriously and when they did, Bethany had died of hypothermia. One of my cousins lost her foot and the other all her toes. They called me a freak of nature and when my parents found out they forbade me from taking any vacations. They hired a nanny and that was my life for the next nine years till I moved to London for college."
David listened attentively and tried to understand. Losing a friend must have been hard for Aria and she shifted the blame to herself. Survivors' guilt was a very human thing. "You do know that surviving an accident doesn't mean that you are a freak."
"I am not done yet. That was just the start." Aria commented. David stopped whatever he had to say so that she could continue.
"My nanny said that I have powers which she didn't understand. She said she came from a family of witches but she had never seen an eight-year-old have such strong powers. She searched my ancestry for witches but couldn't find any. She trained me how to control my powers so that it was confined only to my hands. That way I could go swimming without turning the pool to ice or go roller skating without melting the entire stadium. Things worsened one fine night two months before my eleventh birthday. My parents were gone to Tokyo for a conference and I was at home with my nanny when I suddenly felt a rush of excitement through me. I asked Scar if she had put coffee in the pudding. She asked me when my birthday was and I told her and she said that maybe there was a mistake. I didn't understand what she meant. She immediately packed my bag and took me on a road trip. After that night it wasn't just ice and water though. When my first boyfriend broke up with me when I was thirteen I caused a flood in the town. I knew I was the cause of it because when I stopped crying it was all sunny and the nanny said that I shouldn't get emotionally involved with people who can't understand freaks like us. She offered to help me cope saying that she would do some spell that would keep my powers away but I had to keep my emotions in check at all times. I guess when I am with you I fail miserably at that."
"I think I know what you are Aria. But I don't think that you are human." David concluded.