Reflection

Aliana's POV

When we arrived back at the condo, Kassandra still hadn't spoken to me.

As soon as we went inside, she bolted for the bedroom and closed the door shut behind her.

I looked down at Fen who was on the ground and he gave me a puppy shrug.

"It seems that the violence frightened her." He said and made his way over to the couch.

"I told her that I would do anything to protect her, if that meant killing people who threatened to take her from me then I would have no problem doing it. So why is she so frightened by me now?" I ask him.

"I think hearing you say you will do anything to protect her and actually seeing you do was a bit much for her."

"So how do I fix it? I don't want her afraid of me." I tell him and look towards the way she went up the steps.

"That's something you have to figure out for yourself." He says then snuggles down to watch t.v.9

I sit still for about five minutes trying to figure out what to do. Do I go after her and try to talk things out? Or do I let her be alone for a while?

Standing up I make my way up the stairs and to the room door, I pause and knock, it's a few seconds before I hear a soft 'come in'.

Kassandra is sitting on the edge of the bed, a pillow pulled protectively to her chest. She doesn't look up when I come in so I make my way quietly to the bed and sit beside her.

Neither of us says anything and just takes in the silence of the room. It's almost twenty minutes before she says anything.

"Why did you do it?" She asks so softly that if I didn't have advanced hearing I would have missed it.

"Do what?" I ask knowing what she meant but wanting to hear her say it.

"Why did you have to kill those vampires like that?" She whirls to face me now, eyes flashing.

"They needed to die, they were a threat to you."

" I never asked you to kill for me!" She shouts now.

"You didn't have too I'm your mate, I'll do everything to keep you safe," I say simply.

"That's not what I want, I don't want anyone to die because of me or kill for me!" She continues to shout.

"You could have easily delivered your message to them and left, they were already terrified of you. I'm sure if you had told them what that Charles guy was planning they would have dealt with him themselves, but you had to show how big and bad you are and kill them." She has tears streaming down her face.

I reach over to wipe the tears from her face and she flinches back from me. I drop my hand to the bed and look down.

"I have truly frightened you then?"

She doesn't answer me, but her silence is louder than words.

I stand up from the bed and walk to the door.

"I'll sleep in one of the extra rooms," I say without looking back. She doesn't try to stop me.

I make it to the room down the hall and close the door before the first tears in over a million years fall.

She is truly frightened of me, I don't deserve her or her love. I truly am a cold-hearted monster.

That one word sends me into a place that I had locked away for years.

The whips slice into my back and I scream out in pain. Again and again, they beat me, days on end with no breaks. They torture me until I die only to repeat the process when I revive.

I can hear boots coming closer to my cell, then the door swings open.

"Get up my pet." He says.

I stumble to my feet, my legs haven't healed right after my last beating.

He pushes me down the corridor and kicks me when I move too slow.

"Hurry up your dog, I don't know why I keep you here. You're a monster that nobody wants, If you weren't so entertaining I would have launched you into the nearest star by now!" He shouts in my face.

He grabs my hair and I scream out in pain.

"Shut up you stupid beast!" He punches me in the face, then continues to punch me until I fade into blessed darkness.

I move from behind door and crawl onto the bed tears still streaming down my cheeks as I start to drift off.

Maybe he was right about something. Maybe I am a monster that no one wants.