AN: Just a short chapter.  Expect more very soon. :)

inspiredthoughts@hotmail.com


********************* Curiosity Killed: Chapter Twenty-One ************************* 



I'm not cold for once.  I actually wake up dreadfully hot, drenched in sweat.  There's 
voices in the background and my stumbling conscious grabs onto them before it can drown 
again in my fever.  

"Where the hell did she get those scars?  I thought you were supposed to protect her...  
No, I didn't know.  I didn't KNOW!  I never thought she would be so foolish..."

Kevin sounds angry, and desperate, and afraid all at once.  I can tell he's on the phone 
but I don't know who he's talking too.  I'm not sure I want to.  I know they're talking 
about me but I can't quite manage to open my eyes enough to see for myself.  My lids seem 
terribly heavy.  

"What did he say?"  Ohh, Brian sounds concerned and mildly disapproving all in one breath.  
Nice Brian.  Pet Brian.  Brian wouldn't try to make me walk to Des Moines.  

Kevin again.  "She has low tolerance for cold.  He reprimanded me for failing as her 
caregiver.  I wanted to know about her scars."

"And?"  

"He told me that Cat makes her own choices, that he could only protect her from so 
much."  

"He's right..." I croak, surprising even myself.  Two Vampires are at my side in an 
instant, touch gentle as they wipe my face with a cool rag and provide a straw to drink 
cold water from.  I slowly manage to open my eyes to find Brian hovering above me, blue 
eyes warm and filled with very human like concern.

Funny, you might almost think he meant it.    

"We were worried about you child, in more ways than one."  

"You called Dracula."  It's not a question.

He sighs and brushes damp bangs from my brow.  "You've had a fever for nearly three days.  
We were worried... worried you weren't going to wake up."  

"He was angry," I say softly.  

Brian smiles tightly.  "He cares about you very much."

"He wants to kill me himself..." I respond with a dreamy smile as I drift back to a more 
gentle sleep.

*************************************************************************************

The second time I wake is to soft singing.  I sigh and roll over to my side as I bask in 
the sound of a solo Backstreet Boy.  Gentle footsteps bring him to my side.  "You have
 my favorite voice..." I murmur as AJ sits by my side, careful to leave a discrete 
amount of distance between us.  

"I'm glad you're better," he says sincerely as his hands ghost the skin of my bare arms.  

Bare arms.  

I start to bolt upright and wince as the room tilts in dizzying response.  

"Woah..." AJ cautions as he holds me upright carefully.  "Where are you going?"  

"Whose clothes am I wearing?" I demand crossly as I try to examine my garments.  

AJ lowers his shades and studies the black tank top and boxers I'm wearing, both sizes 
too big, especially on my small and thin frame.  Thinner frame.  I'd skipped a day of 
meals before my walking incident and I bet I haven't been chowing down too much in 
between bouts of near death.  "Looks like Kevin's..."

"Great," I grumble as I stare at my bared arms and legs where a variety of scars stand 
out in mute declaration against my fine skin, a network of angry red and white lines.  
A declaration of my enemies, and of other times I've courted whatever afterlife exists 
for people like me.  They're bad on my upper arms though there's worst under the clothes.    

"They didn't like my scars."  

He sighs and cups one cheek tenderly, startling me.  I look up and he tweaks my nose as 
I go cross-eyed following the motion with my still unfocused eyes.  "They didn't expect 
you to have lived through so much I think."  

"What, they think you're the first creatures of darkness I've tangoed with?"  

"I think I'd remember us tangoing..."

"Shut up," I protest weakly with a smile that I know doesn't quite reach my eyes.  "You 
don't seem surprised."

"I saw some of them when I took you shopping.  I didn't..." AJ grows quiet.  "What happened 
to your stomach?"

I look away from the concern in his dark gaze as my jaw clenches tight on its own accord.  
"It was... it was before Dracula.  Right before.  I was getting too close, too involved 
in too much.  They wanted to teach me a lesson."  

I jump when I feel his fingers brushing the hemline of the oversized tank top.  "May I?"  

I nod briefly, once, and wince when the fabric slowly slides up.  My stomach is pale and 
flat, except for the handprint that's burned into my skin like a signature.  I don't have 
to look at it to know that it's a vivid shade of red that will never fade.  AJ's tanned 
fingers tremble as they hover over the scar.  

"Who... How... Why?"  

"Because they could.  There are members of the Council you never want to meet.  This, this 
was child's play for them."  

"Vampires did this."  His voice sounds wooden.  

I gently tug the borrowed shirt back down.  "Yeah.  They did."  

AJ looks fierce when he says, "We'd never, EVER do something like that Cat.  We're not like 
that."  

I sigh.  "You should be."  

"Why?" he demands plaintively.  

My smile holds a world of pity.  "Because otherwise they'll tear you apart as well."

We sit in silence for a while and I can almost hear AJ thinking.  I start to get drowsy 
again and lay back against the pillows of the bed I'm in.  I'm almost asleep when he asks, 
"Are your scars why you wear long sleeves so much?"  Before the wound on my thigh, my legs 
were pretty flawless.  

"No, I'm not ashamed of what I've been through.  Each and every scar was my choice to some 
degree."  I yawn hugely as I start to drift away again, "I just get COLD."  

AJ laughs softly.  I feel him pulling the covers up to my chin before I drift away and his 
firm kiss on my brow.  I protest his kindness with a swat of my hand but a smile curves my 
lips despite myself.  

I dream of compassionate Vampires and the Council laughing as it destroys them.