Whispers of Redemption Pt. 02

"Enter to open" Maria began the instructional "Close to close. S'water proof so don't freak out. These are for water pressure" She pointed to an array of gray buttons. "These are for water temperature" She pointed to another array of black buttons on the far left corner of the key pad. "And the red ones are for other fancy stuff." She pushed the key pad into Kayla's hand and strut back into the bedroom.

"You got towels in the chest of drawers and the rest of the toiletries are under the third sink. You got my pager in the far right corner of the room next to the bedside table. There is a remote for the bed...nothing complicated, s'on the bedside table." She said in a rush, periodically pointing to each object as she spoke of it. Her actions were haggard and uninterested and it showed.

"Got it?" She turned around to ask Kayla, who stood on the threshold of the bathroom doorway.

"Yeah" Kayla replied. Maria walked out without so much as another word and Kayla knew in that instant that she had a problem with her...for what reason she didn't know.

***

She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a crisp white towel around her wet body. After securing it around her chest she struggled with the key pad to turn the water off and close the sliding door that had refused to budge manually. Her predicament worsened as she hit random buttons that would turn the shower head and spray water out onto the bathroom floor or cause water to spray so fast and hard against the tile of the shower floor that it sounded as if it would break. Every time she hit the close button the water would stop for half a second and then start up again in a different pressure. The screen above the buttons read 'turn off' but that was as much help as Maria had been. Kayla groaned in frustration as the act of hitting another black button that read 'Eject' caused the shower head to burst from its holder and hang from a long black cord onto the shower floor...it swung back and forth mockingly...still gushing water everywhere. Kayla gave up on trying to work the key pad and resorted to digging in the drawers under the sink for an instructional manual. The last thing she needed was Maria's sour attitude, so she refused to hit the pager. When she found no manual she picked up the key pad again and glared at it as if a mean look would turn the water off. There was no manual knob in the shower and she was growing increasingly desperate.

It might have been the loud rush of the water or the fact that her mind was thoroughly preoccupied but she never heard the bathroom door open, nor did she sense it...until a deep familiar voice floated in the air and caused her to freeze-the key pad clutched tightly in her small hands.

"Let me" Jeremy proposed as he stalked towards her. He wore a white dress shirt and gray slacks, the first few buttons of the shirt were left open exposing tan skin; an obvious display of casualness and comfort. He looked good. She handed him the key pad and rested both hands on the twist she had made with her towel, making sure it stayed put. Jeremy held down the red button that read 'terminate' and then pressed the black button that read 'close'. Kayla stared sheepishly at the keypad in chagrin. She could've done that.

"Thanks" she mumbled. Jeremy looked up into her face and when their eyes locked she suppressed the urge to gasp. Her heart beat sped up and she was growing increasingly convinced that he could hear it. She could feel hot blood rush up her face and knew that the color of her skin wouldn't save her this time. A look of determination mingled with the green of his eyes and his lips parted.

"I-" He ran his hand through his hair and squeezed the edge of the keypad. "I didn't mean to break my promise." He said in a low deep voice, looking down at the wet white tiles. Confusion entered her eyes shortly before she had remembered he had promised that Bruce would never hurt her again. She gazed at the tall and intimidating man before her. He could be so scary-like how he looked when he had lifted and pinned a terrified looking Bruce to the bathroom wall-yet he could appear so vulnerable-as he did now. She wanted to touch him but couldn't gather up the courage. She wanted to feel his hands against her skin and in her hair but couldn't shake the shame she felt about her past, about what another man's hands had already done. She wanted to console him but couldn't feign the ability to do so...she had nothing to offer and nothing worth savoring.

"How could you stop the inevitable?" She said instead, hoping it was enough.

"It wasn't inevitable. I could've-"

"No you couldn't have." Kayla said in finality. Her voice was stronger and the sentence had been absolute. His eyes met hers in a flash and she knew he had misinterpreted what she meant. She watched his jaw work furiously.

"He hurts me even when he's not here. The memories are enough to do the damage. To keep such a promise would have been like erasing my memory or healing my scars." Kayla tried to explain. "So you see...what you did was enough."

"Aren't you angry Kayla?" Jeremy said harshly "Don't you ever get angry? If I had been just seconds faster I could've prevented him. Don't you understand that?" Jeremy's brows were in a deep scowl as he lost himself in the sea of hazel that had moistened. He didn't understand why this girl evoked such helplessness in him. He couldn't understand why she was shaking her head so fervently. Her dark wet hair clung to the glistening caramel of her face and shoulders. The white of the towel against her skin was an enticing contrast that lit a spark in Jeremy's chest...and cock, despite his anger another emotion was just as strong: lust. He fought his growing arousal down. This wasn't the time or the place. She bit her bottom lip. And as he stared at her captivating features he grew even angrier with himself. Bruce hadn't deserved what he had taken...there was no way anyone deserved the girl that stood before him.

"I'd rather you be angry with me. For God sake Kayla, I'd rather you rip my head off than stand there and act like what happened was some kind of unavoidable fate."

"But he didn't-" Kayla tried to get out.

"Every time I think about what I let happen I want to kill him all over again." Jeremy growled, resting head against warm sliding door of the shower."

"But he didn't rape me, Jeremy" She murmured.

"What?" Jeremy sounded astonished, his voice a whisper.

"He was about to, but you pulled him off" She said, her voice breaking on the last two syllables. She didn't hear Jeremy say a word but she felt the moment in which he came towards her. Her body anticipated the feel of his touch, a sharp flood of warmth filling her stomach and surprisingly, her nether regions. A foreign tingling between her thighs distracted her and caused a fierce blush to paint her cheeks. He captured her face in his hands and watched as droplets of water ran down her neck onto her clavicle and disappeared as they hit the edge of the towel covering the rest of her body. Jeremy didn't know what to say or do so he held her there; savoring the feel of her soft wet skin, afraid to divulge just how relieved he was that Bruce hadn't gotten a chance to follow through with his intentions.

"I meant it when I said what you did was enough." She said, trying her hardest to ignore the heat pulsing through her entire body in waves. She had no right feeling the way she did in that moment. He rested his forehead against hers in overwhelming relief.

"So you're okay" He said more to himself than her. She nodded and neither spoke for what seemed like forever. The silence was not one of uncomfortable endlessness but one of uplifting melody. It was a silence that made the dripping water of the faucet sound like the quiet tempo of a classical piece, that made the overhead built-in fan sound like the rush of a pure waterfall, that made her shallow quivering breaths sound like exaltations of peace. It was the silence of a colorful tune.

"I'm okay" She murmured, eyes closed, heart frenzied. She was more than okay.

Kayla kept her thoughts trained on the sounds of the bathroom and the heat of his skin against her face. She was in awe at the ability she suddenly possessed to block out the reoccurring memories that visited her when her eyes were closed. And although it would have been easier to give herself the credit, she couldn't. She knew it washim. His presence was like a paranormal shield or force field...whenever he was near her she didn't think or feel anything but him. If she was a logical person-which she had decided several days ago, when she had fallen apart in tears after he had simply asked her for coffee, she wasn't- she would shy away from such an enigmatic affect, reject the obviously taboo response latent within her conscious. But she wasn't willing to do that, she wasn't willing to ignore this insanely rationale-lacking vibe of hers that trusted him wholeheartedly...him: this wealthy, 'I-have-all-I-ever-wanted-at-my-finger-tips' stranger that kept his hands on her face and his forehead against hers, this stranger that seemed to feel and know her pain and was fully willing to attempt to remedy it, this stranger that...cared. So she was going to allow her forever forgotten instinct to guide her in the steps she took with him and the ones she took absentmindedly for him. Kayla's shoulders slumped signaling the growing relaxation of her body, her breaths evening when one bizarre and unfitting word floated through her head.

Dracula.

The moment in which she pictured the word her shoulders and legs tensed and her brows shot down in a fierce scowl before her mind could catch up to explain the blatant link between the word and her sudden and puzzling reaction. Why would-

And then she saw him: A tall husky figure of a man, his brown hair threatening to shield his eyes and his expression as dark and unfeeling as ever. He held two big black duffle bags and was, for some reason, heading in the opposite direction. Heading towards the crime scene instead of away like Jeremy, the blonde man, and the other man had been. Crime scene. Yes, that was what it was...why would he be walking towards it? And as she thought of that, the voice of the blonde man filtered through her brain; an eager explanation.

'Get Dracula on the phone'He had said. The scowl on Kayla's face deepened and she wasn't aware of Jeremy who had felt her facial movements against his skin and stepped backwards. He now studied the intense concentration that twisted her plump tempting lips, scrunched her small nose, and tugged at her eyebrows. Kayla was transfixed by that sentence...it kept sounding over and over again in her head. And then she pictured the scene she had initially seen...when she was in Jeremy's arms and that man had walked in. He had nodded at Jeremy and Jeremy had nodded back: An obvious mutual understanding, no, agreement between them both. Why would anyone want to get themselves closer to a crime scene? Better yet why hadn't they called the police instead of leaving immediately-instead of calling this Dracula guy?

Jeremy had shot Bruce in an act of self-defense...more like in an act of her defense...but it was all the same wasn't it? And as she thought that carefully manipulated calculation of a thought she heard a gunshot go off and another and another...they were the gunshots that she had heard when she was curled up in the burly blonde man's arms as Jeremy beat Bruce in the bathroom...to death.

Was he still defending her at that point...was he still defending her when he shot a most likely mangled and lifeless body three more times? A deep weight grew in her chest and she refused to open her eyes. She felt a familiar sting at the back of her eyes and stammered backwards. They should've called the police. She bit her lip so hard she knew she had drawn blood. She heard the echo of her name wrapped in a concerned familiarly hypnotic voice. Kayla turned away, her eyes still closed and brows still furrowed. She heard her name again and felt large warm hands grab her upper arms. He told her to open her eyes...but she couldn't. She wouldn't.

They should have called the police. She wasn't worth jail...hell she wasn't even worth the baggage someone carried around for the rest of their life after deliberately taking another's. She shouldn't have called him that night. She should have just stayed away. She shouldn't have cried in the restaurant...shouldn't have gotten in his car. No. She should have taken the jump instead.

'Lock your elbow and line the gun up with your target...the rest is up to that index finger. Don't hesitate and don't stop, empty the cylinder.'

The memory mocked her shamelessly. He had known how to shoot a gun; he had known that one shot wouldn't have done the trick. Why? Had he shot one before? Had he killed before? She shook her head at the intensity of the growing chaos in her mind. It was like being able to sit a room and hear everyone's thoughts but instead they were all hers.

They should've called the police. Why hadn't they called the police? Who was that man they called Dracula? Why had he looked so intent...too intent? So calm? A small involuntary cry left her lips as her hands came up to grab at the sides of her wet massive curls. Jeremy had pulled her flush against his body begging her to tell him what was wrong. He was dropping expletives, on the verge of prying her eyes open. She couldn't get over the fact that she had probably just cost him his life, his freedom. You didn't just get away with murder. The world didn't work like that.

But who was that man they called Dracula? It made no sense that that thought nagged her the most. It was the most insignificant and yet it felt as if it outweighed all other worries and premonitions. Who was Dracula?

"Jeremy?" She cried softly, wiping at her eyes and grabbing the twist of her towel protectively. He had his hand in his hair when she opened her eyes. His face was a mask of anger and fear. Raw, almost tangible fear. He was still just as beautiful as he was when she had closed her eyes...still just as ruggedly handsome and borderline overbearing in stature.

"Kayla what's wrong?" He demanded

"Who is Dracula?" She felt dumb, utterly dumb as the words left her mouth. She was sobbing in his luxurious bathroom in nothing but a towel and soaked...asking for a random man called Dracula. She looked into his eyes ready for confusion and a painfully dubious expression to define his features. Instead she found that the color of his skin had lightened...paled. His eyes burned just as bright but they were no longer translucent...they were now carefully guarded. His jaw was clenched but unmoving and his hand had fallen out of his jet black waves to seek the warmth in the pocket of his slacks. He resembled a stone...human stone. There was no look of confusion or skeptical disbelief...just...nothing. How ironic that an expression of no expression was the one that would effect her most. He would have no reason to carefully guard his eyes if her question was as frivolous as she thought it was.

"Why was he there?" She whispered, her tears drying to her face. Jeremy's jaw twitched but his eyes never left hers. How could he be so composed? How could he control what showed and what he didn't? He was hiding something.

"You couldn't possibly be crying because you don't know who he is." Jeremy said calmly. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying anymore." Kayla pointed out as her mind was filled with new suspicion.

"Who is Dracula?" Kayla's eyes narrowed.

"He's the man you saw earlier, in your motel room." Jeremy replied coolly.

"I already know that." Kayla said frustratingly

"That's all you need to know." Jeremy retorted. "I suggest you get dressed before you get a cold. Get some sleep." He sauntered out of the bathroom and she stared at the empty space he once occupied. Yes, he was definitely hiding something.

Well that's the end for now. I am actually working on Part III. I hope you enjoyed!!! From here on things are going to get much more complicated, steamier, and certainly more interesting. So sit tightand don't forget to vote below, leave a public comment, or even send me some feedback. It helps tremendously...For all of you who sent feedback, left a public comment, and voted on my first submission: THANK YOU SO MUCH for your SUPPORT!! = )