Healing isn't always easy | Eden

Judah was strong for them, which was good. Avila had the same crazy in her as their mother, but her brother had always had a way of calming it. As Eden was brought in she pulled up in a smile, greeting him, "father dear, how good of you to join us," she said, getting up and listening to her brother's words. He was right. They wouldn't get much out of just hurting the lycan straight off the bat. She grabbed a folder of papers, placing them in Eden's lap. "These are legal papers, daddy, and we need you to sign off on them with your blood," she said, leaning down to be on the same eye level as those cold eyes. She wondered if they ever were joyous around his own kind. He was a filthy blood traitor, that was for sure. "As much as we dislike you, and want revenge for what happened to our mother, your sister, I want for me and my brother to be legitimized .. And only you can make that happen as you are our father by blood," it was a tiring circumstance, but one they had to get out of the way.
Avila looked to her brother with a gently smile, reaching out for him, touching his cheek with a loving touch. "Darling, will you help our father sign these papers so he can resume his boring life?" she said, though it was clear the way she looked at Judah that their fun was far from over. She just wanted Eden to believe that there was some sort of hope for him and the lycan to get out of here unscathed. "I promise you," she said, turning to look at Eden with calm eyes, "I won't hurt a hair on his head as long as you sign these." She was fair it seemed, "I'll also drop all of the charges against you, let you live in peace with what little time a mortal can have left." She couldn't imagine being mortal. No, her and Judah had the rest of eternity together and that was a thing that soothed her the most. She would always have her brother, her lover, her one and only.

As Eden was brought in, Romeo's eyes widened. He didn't care about himself, he was afraid of what these crazy people could do to the man he loved. He tried calling for his love, but the tape was strongly adhered to his face, and his mouth was stuffed with something to make him quieter. The revelation that these were Eden's kids was not truly a surprise as Eden had disclosed this information to him in privacy, but the fact that this woman, this carbon copy of her mother, was alive and forcing Eden to do this wasn't fair.
He squirmed, grunting as tears fell down his eyes. The silver string digging itself into his flesh and making him cry from the pain, his blood dripping on the floor. That had been the source of the dripping he had heard earlier. He looked to Eden, shaking his head no. He didn't have to sign anything to keep him safe. If they were legitimized, then they would have access to the Parish estate and he was certain they wouldn't just disappear out of their lives.

Avila chuckled softly as Eden admitted to have passed the title down to his daughter, "ah yes, the sweet and innocent Josette Parish; whom you legitimized by adopting her and the handing over the whole estate to?" She sighed. She had been so angry when she had found out. "Brother dearest, bring out our baby sister for this, we'll need her signature," she worked ahead, she was smarter than her mother and not rash by any means. She worked with logic and finding out how to best make the world work in her favor.
Clicking her tongue at the plea she shook her head, wagging her finger in her father's face, "now that's where you're wrong," an amused expression on her face. She looked as Judah went to grab their sister whom was bound and gagged as well. Avila didn't see the resemblance, she surely didn't have pure Parish blood. But it didn't matter if she was legitimized. "You see .. I took a little trip to look at the files of our mother's passing," they had been kept safe in the hands of the Parish estate, but with access to Josette it had been easy.
She flipped through the legal papers until she found the coroners report, smiling at her father as she pointed to a specific part of the text. "Lycan blood was found in her veins," she said, scoffing as she turned to look at Romeo on the ground who was still bleeding from struggling so much.
Josette muttered something from behind her tape but Avila just hissed at her, showing her fangs as a warning. "Now, you already admitted to killing our mother," she said, the revelation making Josette's eyes widen in surprise as she looked betrayed at the man whom she had called father for so long. Avila chuckled as she realized her sister hadn't known. "But I think you were too much of a coward to do it on your own, so you enlisted the help of your filthy little lover over here," she gestured to Romeo on the floor. "Admit it .. Admit that you killed our mother in cold blood and with the help from this lycan whom you claim to be so innocent."

She was disappointed, but then again she expected nothing less from the man whom was their father. No, he wasn't their father. He was a lousy sperm donor, and a cruel monster whom had murdered their mother in cold blood. And now he was lying. She moved over, kneeling down to Romeo, touching his cheek almost gently, "does he lie to you too, I wonder," she said in a soft tone. Romeo's hazel eyes looking scared and confused, and worse off he was actually listening to her. "Did he promise you something? Maybe his undying love or that he would be with you?" she had to scoff, shaking her head as she touched his hair. If her father was just a bit like them, she knew he would be driven mad by how she was touching his possession.
"Our mother was powerful until you snuffed out her life," she told the lycan, moving her hand down along his shirt, wondering why he was hiding his body away. But then again he had been at some mental facility. "But I don't blame you, he clearly drove you to harm yourself; Isn't that why he locked you away at that facility?" Her words were like poison for the lycan's ears as Romeo's eyes started to water, looking from Avila to Eden, almost as if to ask if that was true. "You see, our father uses people .. He doesn't care about anyone but himself, and while he likes you now, in a few years once you start to grow old he'll get bored and have you ridden from his life." She was sure of it, getting up to go to her sister.
She stood in front of her, touching her blonde hair, "you look so much like mother," she whispered softly, smiling as maybe they could still save their sister from their father's grasp. "Don't you want a real family? One that doesn't lie to you and would do anything to keep you safe?" Avila touched her cheek as well and Josette's eyes were soft as she looked into those familiar blue green eyes. "Josette, you're my sister by blood .. won't you grant your siblings to join you in a new era of the Parish estate?" she looked to Judah, smiling at him more genuinely. "We could be a real family .. We could be happy and live our lives however we saw fit," she said, reaching for her love with her hand, hoping he would take it.
Moving in close to her brother, she cupped his face, "we could get married, my love, my darling dearest; nobody would stand in our way, and our love could blossom," leaning in to kiss his cheek. She loved him so much, needing him to be positive in all of this. "You see father? Your family was built on lies and trauma .. Ours will be built on honesty and love," she said, smiling as she looked to her siblings.

Of course she noticed how her brother hesitated. It hurt. But she rationalized it because he was hurting from what they had gone through. "Is it true?" she whispered to Judah, her eyes soft as she looked to her brother. She couldn't do this without him. She needed him in her life, and nothing could change that. If he wanted to stop now, they could. They could go away, never come back and live the life that he wanted them to live. He had the power over her to command her. "Do you fear me, my love?" she asked, clearly hurting by the sentiment alone. Whether or not he replied she would turn back to look at Eden. She hated how he was looking at the lycan. His protest about their mother made her scoff, shaking her head no.
"Mother never told us you loved her .. But she loved you; Whenever she spoke about you it was so clear that even though you hurt her time and time again, she would always forgive you." That was what Avila had experienced. A hurt mother who just longed for the true love that she had felt. She moved over to untie Josette who gasped for air. "Sign this, sister dear, and we can be a family," she said softly. Josette looked from Romeo to Eden and then from Judah to Avila, lingering on her sister's eyes. Were they really siblings? The young vampyress looked down at the papers, signing them with her blood and signature and it made Avila smile, leaning in to kiss her forehead. "You won't regret this .. we'll take care of each other from now on," she promised in a gentle whisper. Now that Josette had welcomed them into the family, it seemed so clear that the resentment for their father was stronger, and that their blood was alike.
She looked to Eden, her eyes fluid as a few red tears escaped running down her face. Now came the part that would be the hardest. She went to her table of toys, picking up a syringe that she concealed from their view, walking over to the lycan and untying him. It could seem as though she was keeping her promise. "I promised to not harm a strand on his hair," she said, taking it rather literally as she plucked a hair from his head, placing it neatly on the ground beside the lycan who was trembling now. "I'm sorry to say this .. but I can't forgive you for what you did," she whispered into the lycan's ears before pressing the needle into Romeo's neck.

Watching Josette sign it felt like betrayal of the worst kind. How was he ever going to forgive her for this? He was still struggling with the restraints, and he became more panicked as Avila approached him. She however untied him, gasping for air as the muzzle was removed and he looked to Eden. Could they go home now? Go live their life away from the Parish family and just be the two of them? It seemed hopeful before he felt the sharp needle in his neck. He was confused and hurt and as Avila stepped away he felt pain shoot through his whole body, screaming as it felt like burning. Red and black streaks were spreading over his skin and Avila gasped softly as she hadn't seen anything like this before.
"Silver is a funny substance," she said, looking at Judah, letting him untie their father. "Now you can decide whether you want to kill me and let the little lycan die .. Or suck the silver from his veins, but die yourself in the process," Romeo barely heard what was being said as he screamed out in pain. Silver was deadly to a lycan. It could kill him in minutes if it wasn't removed.

Watching Judah keep Eden back actually made her feel good. At least he showed how much he cared about what was going on. This was going to set them free, she was sure of it, and as the disgraced vampyre stumbled forward, she knew what choice he had made. Avila went to her brother, taking his hand and entangling their fingers. "This was how he let mother die," she whispered in a sad tone. She wasn't sad for Eden or Romeo, but thinking of how their mother had suffered. Giving his hand a squeeze she leaned her head against his shoulder, feeling like she could finally relax as she watched the scene play out. She wouldn't be satisfied before she saw Eden drink the last drop and die a most horrible death.

Romeo was screaming, his vision blinded by the pain alone, so he didn't even realize Eden had gotten to him. He tried to fight whoever was holding onto him, crying and screaming but it subsided as soon as he was bitten. Eden's paralyzing bite rushing through him as his poisoned blood was sucked out slowly but surely. And while he couldn't see anything, he thought of Eden, tears running down his face as he wished they could've done so much more together. He didn't want to die now. He wanted to be with Eden forever!
His body was slowly giving in to the blood loss, falling limp as he couldn't really think of anything. Just how peaceful he felt right now. Like he was floating on a cloud. There wasn't any pain left. There was no trouble with his mental issues, he didn't even think of his body anymore. All he wanted to do was drift away and hopefully wake up in Eden's arms. Maybe this was how it was supposed to have ended back with Loralei, but fate had just taken a detour? He couldn't even think of that, but in the back of his head he heard a growling sound. However it was so garbled that he couldn't hear anything.
What he hadn't realized was that in the room stood now a few lycans in their true form; Giant beasts who were snarling at the two young vampyre's and Avila looked to her brother. This was their signal to get out of here. As they left the lycan leader turned to look at Romeo and Eden. Eden was doing worse for wear, and Romeo had lost a lot of blood, however they were collected both of them and taken to a safe place.

When he woke up once again, the whole room was spinning and his vision felt blurry. And it really hurt to move his shoulder, grunting as he tried to move. Someone was speaking to him in Italian, telling him not to move and he recognized that voice. It was his mother. His heart started to beat faster, coming to slowly as he realized something. Eden! Where was Eden! His mother pressed him down against the bed, tears in her eyes and it meant something bad had happened. She explained how she had found them with the help of some of Romeo's cousins, how she had broken the rules set up by her father and actively broken off from the family that had shunned her son. She had even divorced his father! It was a lot to take in, but Romeo kept asking for Eden and his mother shushed him, telling him he was home now and that nothing was going to harm him.
Eden had been kept in a separate room that was heavily guarded. He was in a critical state, slipping in and out of slumber - or at least that was what the doctors said. Nobody knew if he was going to recover from this, or even wakeup again.

Romeo wasn't doing too good, being bandaged up a lot, but he was being taken care of. His mother stroked his hair, but he kept pleading to see Eden. Pleading that he could just hear something about him or have the doctors confirm to him that his vampyre was alive. And yet there was only silence from them.
Chiara eventually got up, knowing that Romeo needed his rest. She headed out into the corridor, surprised and yet not really to see her father. "He's resting," she told her father in Italian, not caring if she had to stand in his way. No, she had suffered for far too long and Romeo was not going to pay for any sins now. "It is not wise to step on someone when they are weak .. you told me it is how cowards work," her Italian vile and not polite towards the man who had raised her. She had lost her brother to the coma he was still in, and she refused to lose her one and only son.

Inside the room Romeo knew he needed rest, but how could he when he needed to see Eden. He stumbled towards the door, his whole body weak from the silver and being drained of so much blood. His vision still blurry, but he made it to the door, opening it only to see his mother standing in his way. He then saw his grandfather in front of her and he frowned. "I don't have time for this stupid feud," he muttered, his voice slurring as he made his way down the hallway, leaning against the wall. Where was he? Where was his Eden, his husband?

Chiara looked as her son staggered away. There wasn't much she could do to stop him, but the news of her brother did hurt her. She had always had a close bond to Lucius, and now without him the world seemed a bit bleak. The news in regards to Romeo made her hum, "he's a man now .. he can decide for himself once he is better." And that was all she had to say as she watched her father leave.

Romeo was stopped, looking at the doctor with hurt eyes, "Eden .. Eden Parish," he said, trying to sound normal but it wasn't sounding too convincing. "I'm family .. Please let me see him," he said, grasping around the ring around his neck. He needed to see him, he couldn't bear to be without him. "I need to see him." It was clear he was weak, the bandages around his shoulder having come a little loose, but he luckily wasn't bleeding anymore. Though the place where the vampyre had bitten him was red and sore, he could ignore it for now as his main priority was just to see Eden. Maybe it was too much to ask for? Perhaps the doctor would just refuse him because they weren't married. But Eden was his family; He was the man he was going to marry no matter what.

Romeo seemed to focus in on the room number, trying to be discreet. And as the doctor urged him to go rest, the lycan knew that he had the chance to go see Eden. "Thank you," he just said to the promise that the doctor would come find him. But Romeo had other plans. He waited a bit before he went through the door to the ICU, looking around to find a small map that showed where the rooms were. Eden's wouldn't be far from here. Heading down the corridor he had to stop every now and again either to gather strength or orient himself of where to go.
Eventually he ended up at the correct room number, opening the door carefully. He wasn't sure there would be any staff there. But what he did hope was at least to see Eden inside, awake or not, he just needed to be close to him.

The sight wasn't pleasant, just holding on to the door handle for support as his eyes watered. He looked like he was in so much pain. He hadn't even noticed the nurse until he spoke to him. His eyes moved off of Eden briefly, looking at the nurse who was at work. Swallowing some saliva he was afraid of being sent away. "I'm .." he said grasping around his ring, his knuckles turning white, "I wanted to see my fiancé," he was still proud of that fact. He loved Eden with all of his heart, and there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep him safe. "I know I'm not supposed to be here," he wasn't stupid, moving into the room and a little closer to the vampyre. He touched his leg that was covered by the hospital blanket. He didn't like seeing him like this. This was way worse than when he had been infected with his blood before. "I just needed to see him; Can I .. please .. just sit in here?" His eyes were running over with tears down his cheek and making his bandages wet. He didn't care about them. He just wanted to sit with the man he loved so dearly. "I won't be in the way .. I promise," he looked at Eden, just rubbing his leg as if to soothe him.

Frankly Romeo just felt relieved to not be sent away. It seemed that most couples weren't always allowed to stay together unless they were married. But this nurse seemed to understand what was going on, or at least he felt pity for this couple. He looked at the things that were handed to him, his eyes just staring at the ring. He knew that they had taken it off of him for a reason, but he just felt so angry. It was their promise. They were supposed to keep it close always. He wouldn't say much, mostly because he wasn't sure how much he could say. It probably looked bad for Eden, but Romeo would never dream of anything bad having happened between them. "He saved my life," he just said rather seriously. Because that wasn't a lie. Eden had saved his life so many times at this point.
The nurse suggested some tape instead and he nodded, letting the professional do his work as Romeo reached out to take Eden's hand. "I'm here now," he said in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry .. you're hurt .. because of me." He muttered so softly to his love, feeling his eyes water again.

A scar? He shook his head, "no tears," he just said. No, if this was how he was going to have Eden's teeth marks on him, then he wouldn't mind it at all. It would be a reminder of how far they would go for each other. How deep their love was. He didn't like the skin being poked, but so far no infection was showing as no puss was forming. Though he was healing a bit slow. The curling finger made his eyes water, somehow knowing that Eden could hear him, even if he couldn't. Of course love couldn't cure wounds, but by being together he knew they could so easily help one another through their pain.
The nurse spoke of food and Romeo shook his head. How could he possibly eat now? He knew that Eden would've wanted him to eat, so he decided to make a compromise. "I'm Romeo Trevino-Altera .. You can look in my file if you need to .. But could you perhaps just bring me a couple of those protein drinks you have?" It wasn't much. But it was something and it was over the line of his boundaries to even ask for anything to consume. He felt unsure of himself, but his eyes returned to Eden, looking at him with a soft gaze to his eyes.