Freedom

And onto the next piece of my imagination!

Still in The Merging Universe and a whopping 11k words, but this story is going to have a couple of trigger warnings before you go any further.

TW - Murder and emotional torture.

Unlike the last story, this one will be focusing a bit on those Anti-Human/Monster terrorist groups that were briefly mentioned.

I can't wait to explore it!

I feel I need to reiterate that my stories, while they do contain smut, are not solely focused on it. I aim to bring more than just sex to this particular table. And if you choose to enjoy it, then this will hopefully be just the right cup of tea for you!

Begin!

Freedom

What does it mean to be free?

Depending on the individual I suppose the answer changes, doesn't it?

For some, being free can mean a literal freedom from enslavement and torture, the worst of all chains. And yet for others who live freer then they know, being free would be something as simple as being able to wear whatever clothes you desire, eat whatever you desire.

Love whomever you desire...no matter how much they fight against it, against you.

I suppose that sounds a little bit...uh, non-consensual. And yet for those who become Mated by accident, non-consensual is exactly what it is.

Especially when they reject the bond...when he...when he...rejected me.

Rejected us.

We weren't the first Monster and Human to become one, hell we probably weren't the one hundred thousandth interspecies couple to become Mated.

But I guarantee that we were the first to have one side that rejected the bond for as long as he did. What was supposed to be a blanket of warm adoration, affection and love became a chain, a rope pulled taut that became tighter with each passing day he rejected it.

And It hurt.

It was a pain beyond any I could've even imagined. A tightness in my skin, around my heart. A screaming inside my mind that reverberated over and over, taking me far too long to realize the one screaming was him.

I reached out for him across the bond, ignoring the pain as I tried to give him all the love I had. I tried to very, very hard to soothe his pain, to make him calm.

But the moment he felt me near him, the moment he felt me trying to reach across, to HELP HIM!

He turned away...no, he ran away, he ran because he hated me.

Or at least...that's what I thought. As it turns out, the truth was far from it.

And yet that very same truth, the truth that tore us apart, that made him run from me. That truth would also, in a very long roundabout way.

Bring us back together.

My name is Marin Skarner, I am a Vampire. And this is our story, his story. The story of how two young people became Mated by accident, fell into despair...

...and worse.

This is the story of how truly letting go of fear can set you free.

It all began when...

...

...

...

Nathan Pov

We swore we'd stop the moment it became more than just sex...and yet...

I felt her kiss across my neck, her fangs scraping against it ever so softly as she moaned, writhing against me. My hand gently caressed her left breast while the other cupped her face, bringing her eager, hungry lips to my own.

I could feel her breath enter my lungs as we moaned against the other. Her heat, her wet warm walls squeezed and undulated around my cock with each slow thrust I had to give.

Her eyes opened, looking at me with such love and adoration that I felt...weak, humbled, vulnerable. My soul was laid bare for her to see and I...and she...

It was just sex...it was just sex...it was...it...

"Nathan, this is wonderful," she said, a tear falling down her cheek as she smiled joyfully up at me. "I love you so much."

She loved me...and I...

"I love you too."

And I did, I did love her. I loved her more than anyone or anything I'd ever known. Why had it taken me so long to realize that?

The sound of a heartbeat, two heartbeats...

And then it happened, the moment those words left my lips, it happened!

A warm blanket of emotion began to fog over my mind, I felt myself slipping away...no, not away, into something, someone. I could feel a love stronger than just my own, I could feel how safe I was...she was...we were...

"...bonding," I whispered, a shiver rushing down my spine as realization took hold. "Marin, we've got to stop, we're bonding!"

Her eyes widened, a gasp left her lips and yet her legs wrapped around me regardless, her hold strong and resolute.

"Marin let me go!"

"I-I can't!" she cried, tears in her eyes. "I'm trying, but I can't. It's...it's too good. I can feel you, I can feel you inside me!"

I looked at her, aghast, pain and fear in my heart and mind and yet...and yet...

Love, warmth, safety. I could have it all with her, all of it!

I could feel the bond, our bond forming, solidifying. All it would take was a few more moments and it'd be permanent.

All I had to do was accept it, accept her.

"You didn't want this, Marin!" I screamed, shaking away the terrifying pull I felt and trying with all I had to get away but it was all just too strong. Her hold, our feelings, too much, too much! "I didn't want this, we both agreed!"

"Nathan I..."

Her lips trembled, eyes filled with tears...and then shock as I used the last of all I had to pull away from her.

But it was too late, joined by sex or not I could still feel her. I could feel everything, her love, her fear, the overlapping sounds of memories unfamiliar to me.

I could feel it all.

"W-We're...no...NO!"

I stood up and began to run, only for a crippling stab of pain to bring me back to my knees.

"What is this, what's happened to me?!" I screamed, clutching my sides as a wave of agony ran through them.

It was as if trying to ask why holding your breath hurt your lungs. You knew the answer. It was a simple fact of life even a child could understand.

I was in pain because I was rejecting the bond. I was rejecting what we now had...what we now were and would be for the rest of our lives.

We were Mated.

"No..." I whispered, shaking in pain and fear. "Not this, anything but this."

"Sweetheart..."

I should've felt more fear, I should've shivered in discomfort, I should've wanted to run.

But her voice was delicate, filled with love and desire for me, all for me. I turned around and looked at the bed I'd lept from, looked at the woman I'd left.

Naked as the day she was born, I could easily see her slim body. Her hair and skin were white as snow, with eyes that were a soft, warm hazel.

Eyes that were looking at me as she slowly began to get off the bed and walk towards me.

"Stay away!" I shouted, ignoring the flash of grief on her face as I shuffled away. "Don't come closer Marin, do you know what we've just done?!"

"I know," she whimpered, visibly shaking as she looked at me, pleading with her eyes. "I'm so sorry, I just...I couldn't let you go. I tried to, I really did. But the moment I felt how much you love me, I just...I couldn't stop myself."

I trembled as a wave of warmth flooded my body. It was like a wave of endorphins one got after a solid workout. My body felt tired and yet I felt...I felt so damn good.

I shook my head like a mad man, forcing the pleasant sensations away.

"I won't let this thing, this bond or whatever the hell this fucking thing is manipulate me," I whispered, talking more to myself than her. "I won't let...ugh..."

Another wave of endorphins, of warmth, of pleasure...

"Nathan please...p-please stop." I looked up at Marin, wincing at the tears streaming down her face as she slowly got closer. Her arm was wrapped around her stomach as if in pain, her fangs visible as she grit her teeth.

She reached out for me, her hand trembling...

"You s-stopped too soon," she intoned softly, her lower lip shaking. "The bond, it didn't complete. P-Please baby, please just let me...let me hold you, let me be with you. I just need...I just..."

"What do you mean?" I asked, gasping with each inch of distance she crossed to get to me.

"Can't you feel it?" she questioned, her words strained with pain, her body shivering. "We're Mated but not, we just need to touch. Just touch, just for a few moments. Please let me...let me touch you...please!"

Mated but not?

It wasn't permanent then, if we weren't Mated properly then it could be broken.

Right?

"NO!" A sudden scream from Marin snapped me out my thoughts in a flash. Her expression was desperate, panicked. "Stop thinking that, STOP IT!"

She could hear my thoughts?

"Of course I can," she whispered, a bare few inches away...and then she collapsed to the floor with a cry of agony, clutching her sides as a familiar pain raced through me, forcing me into the same pitiful position.

Her hand reached out, her eyes swimming with tears and desperation.

"Nathan...please..."

She was so close, her hand a scant distance from my own.

I reached out-

"MARIN!"

...and fell out of my bed with a yelp.

The image of my ex-girlfriend stained my vision for a few moments still, requiring a thorough shake of my head to dissipate.

And yet while the image did fade, the pain, the tight taut pull within me did not. It was the same as it always had been.

Tight, there, pulling forevermore.

Pulling me back to her.

'Got to take a pill, this fucking sucks.'

Ignoring the pain, I sat back down on my bed and took a couple of large white pills out of a box. Swallowing them with a gulp of water from my bottle, I put it down and let go a sigh of relief as I felt the effects begin to become apparent.

The pull I felt became less noticeable and the pain all but vanished into dull throb.

"Fucking hell," I breathed, sighing as I rubbed my sides. "Two months and it still feels like this. Thank fuck for the pills I guess."

The pills had come from a family connection. And to be fair, I was too happy that they somewhat worked to care who they'd come from.

Though I would come to regret that in time.

I looked at the non-descript box before chucking it back on the bedside draw and lying back down with a huff.

'Two months since I've seen her...and even with those pills I still can't stop thinking about her.'

And I doubted I ever would.

Almost Mated or not, it didn't seem to matter in regard to her always being on my mind. A side effect of the bond that would never fade.

There were times when the pill effects were almost faded that I could feel her if I so chose. Unfortunately choosing to do so also meant that she could feel me.

One dreary night of weakness had solidified why trying so was a bad idea. I could still feel the agony, the heartache, the loneliness that began to abate as she clearly realized I was using our bond to connect with her.

But out of all of them, it was the forgiveness she sent me that made me sob like a child, wrenching the connection back into the typical lonesome mind of a normal man.

I'd done all that was possible to put as much distance between us as I could. Using my parents' connections and money, I'd travelled far away from my hometown and college. Now I lived in the middle of nowhere and was a good enough distance away from her to breathe in relative peace.

And yet I still thought of her.

I thought of how we met on the very first day of our acting course. I remembered the smile on her face when I partnered up with her a duo mock performance. I remembered her surprise when I told her how little I cared for the prejudice between Humans and Monsters.

But most of all, I remembered how our tenuous, innocent friendship became more. The months passed by, the course kept on going and we stuck to each other like glue.

And then we kissed...and then we kissed some more...and then we...

The girl looked nervous standing by herself, her pale face flush with embarrassment as everyone paired up around her.

I frowned at the looks she was getting before sighing and making my way over. Her eyes widened in surprise and then suspicion as I raised my hand.

"Hey, I'm Nathan," I said, smiling as best I could at her evident confusion.

"Marin," she replied quietly, taking my hand cautiously and giving it a brief shake.

"You wanna pair up?" I asked, grinning sheepishly. "I don't think I can be both Romeo and Juliet at the same time, might get a few looks you see."

She blinked before smiling genuinely at me and nodding.

"Thanks, that would've been awkward I think."

Marin frowned for a moment, moving a step closer and exposing her fangs in an obvious display.

"I'm a Vampire, aren't you scared of me?" she asked, her confusion making me grimace.

"Not really," I replied, smiling as I remembered something. "I've lived next door to a Beelzebub. And let me tell you, that bitch was foul."

She winced in obvious sympathy, but behind it all was hope. Hope that she wouldn't be ignored or hated, hope that someone could be her friend.

How did I know that?

Blinking, I sat up and looked at the pill box I'd chucked on the table.

'I felt her emotions as if they were my own. But I took the pill...'

A shiver ran down my spine for all of a second...and then it was replace by a gentle warmth that encompassed my entire body.

'What's happening to me?'

I'd felt this before, but with the pills and the distance it should've been impossible. And yet as the seconds ticked on by, the warmth remained. My breathing became less panicked and short, becoming more even and...less troubled.

"You feel tired, darling."

I sat up, gasping as pain wracked my sides for all of a second.

'No, no, no!'

I felt her voice as much as I heard it. Emotions were infused in every syllable.

'This isn't possible, I took the pill. It's not real, she's not real. Block it out!'

"I miss our friendship. Don't you?"

'She's not real, she's not real, it's all in your head!'

"Remember the first time I went outside and you yanked me back in because you didn't know that the sun did nothing to me? You were so embarrassed but I thought it was so sweet that you cared to do that for me, a complete stranger more or less."

I shook, my body warm and cold at the same time, sweat beginning to drip down my back.

"I remember how twisted up inside I felt watching Amber try to pair up with you. She didn't even like you, she just wanted to make me feel alone."

A flash of a face, a girl with brown hair and cruel eyes.

"But you saw straight through her. You came to me and took my hand. I already have a partner, you said."

I chuckled despite myself. "And it sure as hell wasn't some stuck up cunt with a superiority complex."

I remembered the look of shock on Amber's face. I remembered the warmth in Marin's eyes as I took her hand and...and...

"Kissed me...and I kissed you...and not a month later you were inside me, loving me as I loved you, and-"

'NO!'

I shook my head and took another pill out of the box, choaking it down without water.

'This isn't real, this isn't real! Leave me ALONE!'

Love and warmth twisted into hurt and sorrow...but the voice didn't return and the emotions faded.

Did I imagine it all?

I sniffed and rubbed my eyes, surprise flooding through me as I wiped away a streak of tears.

'I'm crying?'

Ruthlessly wiping them from my face, I turned and forced myself to lie down like before.

'Your brain is playing tricks on you, just go to sleep Nathan.'

Unbeknownst to me at that moment in time, the warmth of the covers, the softness of the sheets, the fog of drowsiness lulling me back to slumber.

All of it had very little to do with what was with me.

Warmth, softness, drowsiness...

Love...

So much love. All of it wrapped around me, ignoring my words and rejection as they pulled me into the best sleep I'd had in months.

...

...

...

Two weeks later and I was walking back through local market, a couple of relatively full bags in hand.

'Okay we've got enough here to last for at least four more days. I've really got to cut back on getting that weekly takeaway, my savings are crying.'

While it was true that my parents would likely just top it up should I ask it of them, I didn't want to be so reliant on their charity for the rest of their lives. It was the reason I had taken a job in the local library.

All of a sudden a loud explosion blew through the market, dust and smoke quickly following as I and many others were blown onto the floor. A high pitched whistle reverberated inside my head, my eyes unfocused and vision dizzy as I tried and failed to push myself up several times.

The next thing I knew, I was being hoisted up by someone very strong and very...hairy?

Blinking blearily, I turned my head towards them and took a sharp intake of breath as a Wolf-Man leered back at me.

Like most Monsters, his face was fairly Human-esq save for the sharp looking teeth, pointed ears and lightly glowing silver eyes. His hands however were very hairy, with sharp nails and dried specks of red all over them.

"Well don't you smell interesting," he chuckled, his voice more a growl then anything else. He turned his head to look behind us. "Hey boss, I've got a strange one here!"

"Then bring him over."

Fear.

I don't know why, I couldn't even see them and their voice was soft and rich.

Feminine yet commanding.

Frightening.

The Wolf-Man brought me over roughly, the various cuts and bruises on my skin reminding me very quickly that I was probably incredibly hurt by the explosion.

And as I was thrown onto the floor and looked around me...

'Holy fuck, they're all dead!'

There were bodies everywhere, limbs everywhere, eyes vacant and unfocused.

Dead.

I wasn't alone in where I'd been thrown, there were others around me. Some were crying, others were silent. But all were clinging to another tightly...and they were all Human and Monsters.

"Well now, I see what Lucas meant by you being strange."

I looked up at the voice only to flinch back as I looked directly into the eyes of a FUCKING WEREWOLF!

Not unlike a Wolf-Girl or Wolf-Man, a female Werewolf had all the same facial features though were a lot less hairy then their male counterparts. The thing that made them stand out as a Werewolf however were the eyes. While a Wolf-Man's/Girls were silver, they were still very Human-esq.

A Werewolf's eyes however were moons, simple as that. Two moons, each acting as the iris and glowing brightly.

And both were staring at me in a way that made me very afraid.

The Incorruptus emblem on her jacket made that fear so much worse.

'Incorruptus! The terrorist group, why are they here?!'

"Well, well," she said, her voice throaty and sensual. "I knew today would bag us a few Freaks, but I didn't think we'd get an actual Puller."