Chapter 24.5 Catch Me When I Fall

“Kitty I’m sorry but-” Kitty quickly cut off her brother and smiled.

“It’s okay Vince, I know you want to go after her.  Something’s up with her, and the past has shown you seem to be the only one to get through to her.”  Vince smiled down at her and hugged her lightly, his fear of furthering her injuries taking over. 

“I’ll talk her down, she’s probably just stressed.”  He said calmly as he let go.  

Though he couldn’t shake the familiar feeling he got when Spikes had glared at him; it was as though her humanity wasn’t even there; pure malicious intent was clear in her eyes, whether she could control it or not.

Vincent quickly jumped into his Mustang and peeled out of the parking lot of The Den to chase after Spikes.

He couldn’t help but wrap his mind around that feeling that he got when she yelled at him, yes she’d snapped before but this time was different; he knew she would go somewhere she could relax. 

 Despite her arguments about wanting to be left alone, he could see past her rage, causing him to smile as her jeep caught his eye in the parking lot of the coffee shop they met at.  

He parked on the opposite side of the nearly empty lot, hoping to not draw her attention to his car.

He walked in quietly, immediately spotting her in her usual spot, headphones in her ears more than likely blasting Korn or Slipknot.  

Grabbing his coffee he casually took the seat across from her, gaining an irritated growl from her.

“I told you I wanted to be alone.” Spikes growled refusing to look at him.

“No you don’t Spikes, why would you come here then?” Vince responded calmly.

Spikes snapped her head straight ahead to glare at him, he could feel her aura growing and her astral fur rising.

“What would you know?!  You don’t know anything!” She snarled, her vision going red, she couldn’t understand why she was so angry.  

Spikes knew she was being out of hand, and her actions were completely uncalled for; but all she could see was pure crimson rage.

“What is going on with you?” Vince asked starting to feel his own aura beginning to spread.

“Just leave.  Now.”  Spikes demanded as she glared into his icey stare.  

Vince opened his mouth to speak but could feel his body resisting, it was as though she had used compulsion on him as he felt his body starting to stand.  

Damn it, I get it now. He thought to himself as he fought his body to stop moving, 

She doesn’t understand what she’s doing, I’m sorry I have to do this Spikes. 

Vince let his pupils turn to slits and stared at the enraged canine, he smirked and let go of the restrictions on his pheramones causing her face to flush and mind become hazy. 

 Vince could feel her compulsion over him decimate as he sat back down.

“What the hell?” Spikes muttered almost groggily as she tried to adjust her vision to look at him, “What did you do to me?”

“I’m sorry I had to do that to you Spikes, I’d never use my abilities on you unless I absolutely had to and you gave me no choice.”  his voice was sharp and quick, already feeling the guilt of using his own form of influence on her.  

Spikes furrowed her brow as she tried to make sense of the situation.

“Vince, stop, what are you talking about?  What do you mean I gave you no choice.” She questioned quickly, feeling her strength return.

“First; and I know you hate me saying this; try to calm down, okay?  You’re really dangerous right now when you are mad.”  He said calmly as he picked up her coffee and handed it to her as she hesitantly took it from him.

“Dangerous?” she chuckled as she took a sip of her hot white mocha, she sighed and looked back at him, 

“Look I know when I get mad I’m scary, but I would never hurt you Vince.”  She said reassuringly.

“At the moment, you would never do it consciously.”  he sighed clasping his hands together trying to come up with the words to say, 

“Spikes, you’re awakening to your gifts, and unless you learn to control it, you’re extremely dangerous to be around.”

“W-what are you talking about...” her voice shaking as she kept her eyes locked with his.

“Spikes, from what I can tell, you have the ability of compulsion.  You are able to give a command and people will follow it, never remembering you give it and not being able to resist following it.” he paused allowing her the time to let it sink in.  

“Right now, it seems your anger is controlling it.”  

Spikes leaned back in her seat and stared down, her mind racing back to the janitor at the bar.  Her eyes widened as she realized what had really happened.

“I have to go check on that boy!” she shouted as she jumped up, Vince immediately grabbing her arm.

“No Spikes, right now we need to focus on what is causing you to lose control so often.” Spikes turned quickly glaring at him, only to let down her guard and slump back into her chair.

“What the fuck is going on with me Vince...” she whispered, fighting back her tears.

“That’s something only you can answer, what is going on with you, talk to me.” He urged, as he leaned to grab her hand.

“I just feel so out of control...I feel like a vital part of me is going away, I’m angry all the time, I’m getting violent; and worse a part of me likes it.” She could feel the tears starting to well up and fight to fall, 

“I feel so disconnected from everything and everyone, it’s like I’m not human.”

“Well you aren’t human Spikes, you’re a demon, and as a demon we all go through that stage in life where we hit our maturity.  That stage is when we gain our abilities, and we go through the fight to hold onto a part of our humanity and live a healthy happy life; or say fuck it and give into our instinct as demons.  We are worse than animals at that point, we gain pleasure it manipulation and death.” he sighed as he looked down, 

“Or you end up like Ashlee.”

“I won’t let myself be like her.” Spikes snarled.

“Good, then you’ll let me help you learn to control it.” Vince smiled, tightening his grip on her hand.

“Right after you explain what the hell you did to me.”  Spikes said calmly as she pulled her hand away from him, giving him her signature cocky smirk.

“Fine, fine.” he said with an exaggerated sigh followed by a quick grin. 

“Well, I’m not exactly the same type of demon as you, I’m half incubus which gives me an extra talent.” 

Spikes arched her eyebrow and smiled, intrigued to hear more. 

“What I did to you, was let you actually smell my real pheromones.  As an incubus, we draw in females with our scent which is overwhelming and gives us control over them.  Very similar to your ability of compulsion, mine is more of a hunting technique.” he muttered trying to hide his flushed cheeks.

“Really now?  So is that how you got me?” Spikes joked as she smirked at him again.

“No I would never do that.  However, I must finally confess, I purposefully walked up behind you so that you would spill your coffee on me.” he said softly, again trying to hide the redness in his face.  

Spikes tilted her head and quickly burst into a fit of laughter.

“You mean to tell me you couldn’t think of any other way to get a girl to talk to you than to make her spill her boiling hot drink on you?!” She managed to choke out as she continued to laugh.

“I’d seen you a few times before at the coffee shop and that day I finally decided to talk to you, but you seemed pretty angry so that seemed like the best way to approach you.” He said straightening his posture only to get another laughing fit from Spikes. 

 He stood up and walked over to her leaning his face into hers causing her laughter to abruptly stop. 

 He could see her cheeks flush and hear her heart race as he slid his hand behind her head pulling her into a passionate kiss. 

“Enough laughing.” he mumbled as he pulled away from her, smiling at the smitten daze in her eyes. “Now lets get going, you know you need to apologize to Kitty.” Spikes slightly whimpered then sighed standing up.

“I know, I know, let’s get going then.”

...

Nadine hummed happily as she prepared herself a cup of coffee after a long day of teaching high-schoolers.  

Two creams and three sugars, she couldn't help but giggle to herself and remember the day she met her mate.  

Her train of thought was broken as her cat jumped up on the counter and began pawing at her arm.

“Yes Alaric?” she asked as she picked her coffee and sat down on her couch.  

Alaric quickly followed and jumped onto her lap.

“She’s going to be home soon, I can feel it.” he purred as she lightly scratched under his chin.

“I highly doubt that.” Nadine responded, her voice filled with sadness, 

“She would let me know before she got here.”  

She stared out the window to her driveway, a small part of her hoping the Mau was correct.

“I may not be like you, but I can sense these things ahead of time.  I can feel it, try to be happy.” he reassured her as he nuzzled up against her neck causing her to smile.  

He was right, for some reason he always knew when she would be on her way.  

Nadine shook her head and turned back to her coffee, taking a sip before picking up the book she had been reading this week.  

She’d lost track of how long she had been sitting there captivated by her book, but her ears twitched as she heard an engine pull up to her driveway.  

She snapped her head to the window, a slender female with tan skin and long raven hair got out of the taxi, and that was all she needed.  

Nadine jumped out of her seat, throwing aside her book and knocking over her coffee, but she didn’t care, She was home.  

Nadine quickly opened the door, disregarding that it probably broke something given the force she opened it with.  

The raven haired female turned around to face the feline as she bolted to her and tackled her to the ground.

“You’re home!” Nadine practically screamed as she tackled her mate, tears flooding down her face as though there was a dam up for the past three years. 

“Blade I’ve missed you so much!”

She exclaimed gripping her tighter.  

Blade smiled, fighting back her own tears as she wrapped her arms around Nadine’s torso and pulled her closer.  

She took in every scent, the scent of dried paint on her clothes, the trace of her cocoa butter lotion she put on every morning rather than perfume, the sweet coffee on her breath; all of it she had missed as though it were apart of her own being.  

She managed to stand up with Nadine still hanging from her neck, but the feline quickly wrapped her legs around Blade’s waist.

“Are you not going to let go?” Blade asked picking up her pack with her left hand and cradling Nadine’s bottom with her right arm.

“No!” The feline responded in an almost childlike manner as she continued to cry into her mates neck.  

She didn’t care that she smelt like stale cigarette, men's deodorant, and black coffee; it was her Jamie.  

Blade carried her with ease back into the house, dropping her pack and shutting the door behind her, all with Nadine attached to her like a Koala.  

She ran her right hand up the feline’s back and neck, entwining her fingers in her short fiery hair causing her mate to give and approving purr.  

Nadine finally released her grip and let her feet find the ground, only to feel herself slightly lift as Blade pulled her up, crushing their lips together.  

Nadine ran her hands under Blade’s shirt, tracing her fingers along her toned back, quickly pulling her closer.  

It was as though they both needed proof the other was really there, ravaging each other almost fearing they would be taken away again.  

They both stumbled as they attempted to undress each other while walking to their room, falling to the ground feet away from the door, both still half clothed.  

They finally unclasped their lips, 

Blade lightly reached up and cupped Nadine’s face, feeling tears well up in her eyes as Nadine placed her hand over Blade’s.

“I missed all of you so much,” Blade whispered as she caressed her thumb along her cheek, 

“Not a day went by that I didn’t miss looking into those beautiful crimson eyes.”  

She felt the tears race down her hand and drip onto her face as Nadine tried to hold them back.

“Jamie, don’t ever leave me that long, ever again.” Nadine managed to choke as she leaned down and gently kissed her love.  

“I missed you too!” Alaric chimed in as he jumped onto Nadine’s back, peeking over her shoulder to look at Blade.  

Nadine’s pupils turned to slits as she started to lowly growl, she quickly stopped as she felt Blade’s body tremble under her followed by an outburst of laughter.

“Ah, you stupid cat, you really know how to ruin a moment!”  Blade continued laughing, 

Nadine’s expression softened as she smiled and kissed Blade’s forehead before getting up.  

She picked up her shirt and put it back on getting a whine from Blade who was adjusting her belt back to normal.

“Blame Alaric.” Nadine teased picking up Blade’s Anti Flag t-shirt.  

She paused for a moment and looked back at Blade who tried to hide her flushed face, “Awww honey you wore the same shirt you were wearing when we met!”

“Hey, I can be romantic sometimes.” Blade muttered as she took the shirt from Nadine and put it back on. 

“I smell coffee.”  

Nadine couldn’t help but laugh as she watched Blade fix herself a cup and take a seat next to her on the couch.

“So you’re back for good right?” Nadine asked as she nuzzled against her.

“Yes!  I won’t be leaving ever again.  I’ve made enough money for us to be set for quite a while, and I have a couple places I’m looking at to get a real job.” She said proudly as she played with Nadine’s hair.  

“I like it by the way, it looks really cute.” 

Nadine reached up and ran her hand through Blade’s nearly waist length raven hair.

“You too, I’ve never seen your hair long.  Where are you planning to apply?” she asked calmly, lost in the happiness of being back in her arms.

“Some place called The Den needs more security so I figure I could do that.” Nadine quickly sat up as a grin spread across her lips.

“That’s great!  I know Spikes will definitely hire you!  Why wouldn’t she.” Blade stared in confusion at her mate.

“What are you talking about?” the bat questioned as she furrowed her brow, 

“What do you mean Spikes will hire me?”

“Spikes is the owner and founder of The Den, Kitty is the financer. Oh my gosh, Jamie you have to meet Kitty!  She is wonderful!” Nadine began to rant.

“Spikes’ girlfriend or something?” Blade asked tilting her head, 

“What all have I missed Nadi?”

 Nadine sighed and calmed her excitement as she took Blade’s hands and began to fill her in on everything that had taken place over the past three years.  

Though she wanted to inform her of everything Kitty was currently going through, she worried it wasn’t her place to tell someone that was a complete stranger to her kit.  

Blade sat silently through the stories of all that had happened, she couldn’t help but feel herself fill with guilt as she listened to everything she hadn’t been there for the good and the bad.

“Although for the past month or so Spikes has been pretty much a ghost, I’ve been starting to worry so you showed up at the perfect time.”  Nadine said reassuringly.  

Blade jumped up off the couch.

“We’re going to her now, I need to see my pup.” Blade said sternly as she helped Nadine off the couch.

“But Blade, she’s probably busy!  We should really call first.” Nadine said hesitantly as she followed Blade to the door.

“She’s never too busy to see me. I just need to see her.” Blade said as she grabbed the keys to Nadine’s car and locked up the house.  

Nadine sighed in defeat as she followed her mate to her car.

“Fine, but I’m driving.” She muttered as she quickly took the keys from Blade’s hand and ran to the drivers side of the car.  

Girls I am so sorry. 

Nadine couldn’t help but think to herself as she pulled out of her driveway and headed to the bar.