Chapter 25

Richie slipped from the bed in the early hours of the morning, quickly pulling on his jeans he glanced back at the girl lying limply in the bed. Another one down, another girl in another town who gave in to his thrall. He licked his lips slowly, cringing at the taste of this one. This feeding hadn’t gone as well as he’d planned and the girl had been a little scared, so the blood had tasted sour. Richie had learned that emotions effected the blood, countless feeds and countless woman now told him that fear was a more like vinegar taste and emotions such as desire, lust and passion brought out blood that tasted like dark chocolate and honey. But none was in comparison to the blood he drank in San Diego, none, hers held precedence to all he had devoured over the last few weeks, like sweet honey hers tastes in contrast to all the others, and it was that he craved, even the sweetest blood he had tasted still left him longing for more, he was never fully satisfied and contented like with Gia.

It had taken some time to perfect, this whole lifestyle, but luckily Richie was in a position where there was no shortage of woman throwing themselves at him every night, disguising it in sex often was the way it worked, his band mates apart from Jon were none the wiser that he was sleeping around, even more so that David had nicknamed him the King of Swing, sometimes even taking in more than one girl at night, as he searched for that right mix that right taste that always eluded his lips. He’d perfected the act of sex with a bit in the climax always choosing his places to bite, and always avoiding that one place on the bottom of the neck that he fed from Gia, he could never bring himself to bite anyone else in the same place.

The nights he didn’t feed were filled of dreams and ethereal visions of a girl with fog that had somehow managed to stay firmly etched in his soul, dreams filled of erotic acts of pleasure from love makings to feeding, he could always feel her and smell her and sense her near in his dreams, Richie always woke with the void firmly in his chest the next morning. In his dreams he longed for her, he needed her and he completed her.

As the days grew longer, the nights more frantic for feeds and fucks, Richie felt himself becoming less complete and losing his desire to feed for pleasure, some nights he bit the girl and didn’t sleep with her as his heart just wasn’t in it for some reason. He missed Gia, he knew he did, but some times as a new groupie caught his eye off stage that niggling feeling was dismissed. Now that the tour was breaking he had no idea how he would fill in the days, a sharp pain ripped through his chest and a loud scream sent his soul reeling as he gripped onto the couch stumbling, his chest grew tighter and then as never before a vision flashed through his mind of a gangly woman weak lying on the floor, motionless Gia!
“Noooooooooo” he screamed in a pain that ripped his heart out.


~~~~

Jon winced at the unearthly yell. Rolling from the bed he stumbled to the living room while pushing a pair of shades on his eyes. AS he reached the room he saw Richie on his knees. Fuck that wasn't good, nothing took the man down these days. He moved to his friend and knelt. "What the fuck is going on? Bro? you ok?"

Richie gasped "It's Gia, some thing’s wrong, something’s fuckin wrong Kidd, I can feel it," he panicked as he winced as the pain still shot through him.
"Man you haven’t even mentioned the gypsy girl in weeks. What's so different now?" He watched as Richie grabbed his chest. "Tell me man, What now?"

"She's weak, she's lying on the floor, I can see her, feel her, I have never been able to shake her, I just haven’t mentioned her, she haunts my dreams and she's all I god damn can think about" Richie stood back up as he shook himself and tried to clear the raging panic that was taking him over.

Jon winced as some of Richie's pained energy filtered through to him. "So what you gonna do man?"

"We gotta go there, you gotta help me find her, I need to see if she's ok, maybe she needs me, Mic said ages ago that we could be bound by something, maybe this is part of all that, there has to be something" he winced again "Jesus fuckin Christ!"

Jon nodded and moved to the table and grabbed his keys. "Well let’s get moving. San Diego or bust right man?" He managed a smile as he walked to the door. He'd never seen his friend lose his cool and he didn't wanna start now, no telling how a vamp like him would handle that loss. "Come on man."

Richie stumbled out and followed Jon to the car. He only hoped they weren’t too late, and that he could help somehow, but Mic would know she knew everything.

~~~

Mic arrived home, it was one of those days, the headache seemed worse tonight, as she fumbled with her keys she stumbled inside and flicked on the light, the sight that she saw her nearly broke her heart. "Gia!!!" she exclaimed dropping everything and rushing to her side. She shook her and there was no response barely a whisper.

"Shit don’t do this to me, I don’t know how to fix this" she panicked as she picked her up with a little difficulty and carried her to her bedroom and put her in bed.
"Gia? can you hear me?" she asked stroking her forehead. Shit, this was not good.

Dull emerald eyes fluttered open and tried to register the face. It had to be Mic, only one it could be. She tried to smile and failed. Her soft voice whispered, "just sleepy." as her eyes fluttered closed. God yes I just wanna sleep and dream.

Mic stroked her head again "I am going to try and get help somehow" God knows how she thought as the only way she knew was not even close.

She shook her head barely, "nothing to do. Just lemme sleep ok?"
"No please don’t, just fight it babe, please just till I figure out something," she took her hand.

"Too tired Mic, I.. I..m sorry."

Mic's heart filled with panic "Please don’t, hang on for me, hang on for Richie, you gotta" she whispered.

A sweet smile whispered onto her lips. "He’s ok.. didn't need us again, he's learned what he needs." She took a deep breath as her hand fisted on her chest. "Just gonna sleep a lil while."

"What about what we need? In case you hadn’t noticed both of us are royally fucked without them here? Have you noticed that?!" Mic vented finally letting out.

Gia's eyes fluttered open slowly and tried to focus. "Find Jon, you'll be ok.." Her voice faded out and in as her breaths turned ragged "he needed his youth, didn't need a girl to slow him down."

"Don’t skip around what you know is true Gia, we're it, we're their damn life mates, deny it all you want but you know as well as I do," Mic squinted as a blinding force ripped through her head "Shit, its worse for some reason"

Her eyes closed as she faded closer to sleep. "Never denied it, just chose to let him go. He can survive without me."

"Yes but you cant without him Gia, shit, this is my fault I never should of told him to give you his blood, never"

"NOT your fault. The...bond.. isn’t cemented yet." she sighed slightly and shivered. "not your fault."

Mic didn’t reply lost in thought she started to think how she could get hold of Richie and get him here as soon as possible but she had no idea what their schedule entailed or where to start.