Something Inside

All previous disclaimers apply.

It was hard to concentrate as he fought to bring himself back into full consciousness. Every time he would think that he had it, something would pull him back into strange, confused, dark dreams filled with pain and confusion. He wanted Ryan. That was the one thing he knew for certain. He wanted Ryan to come and wake him up. He tried to imagine that Ryan would wake him soon with a gentle kiss, whispering to him wishes for a good day and promising him that he’d be back just as soon as the sun was down. But, he knew that he couldn’t just be sleeping because he hurt. God, he hurt. Everywhere.

“Wake up, Chadwick,” A voice that was decidedly not Ryan’s whispered in his ear, cool and unemotional, “Wake up right now!”

He came awake on a scream of pain when he felt, and heard, his left arm snap like a twig. His body reacted uncontrollably to the sudden pain as it struggled to pump enough endorphins into his system to compensate and keep him from going into shock and he realized in a back corner of his mind that he was only causing himself more harm when his upper body jerked up and slammed back down onto hard cement. He saw stars when his head struck and, though it was hard, forced his body not to react so violently so that he lay twitching on the floor, trying to clear his vision, trying to understand what was happening.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?’ Tristan leaned over him and his smile could have been called sympathetic if there hadn’t been a hard edge of hate to it and a lack of sanity in his eyes, “Broken bones always do. Broken bones and broken hearts. I’ll let you take a guess as to which hurts more. What do you think, Chadwick?”
Chad tried as hard as he could to keep his tears behind his closed eyelids and was proud of himself for not whimpering before he spoke, “You didn’t hurt Jason…did you?”

“I keep my word, Chadwick,” Tristan rolled his eyes and stood, lording over Chad. His expression went from amused to angry in less than a second, “I asked you a question, Chadwick! It’s rude not to answer when a question is asked!” Chad couldn’t hold in the scream when Tristan’s foot connected with his ribs and he felt at least two, maybe three, of them break. He rolled onto his side in instinct, wrapping his uninjured arm around himself, not bothering to hide his sobs any longer.

“Care to answer now?” Tristan asked sweetly, crouching and cupping Chad’s face in his hand, “Damn it all, but you are an appealing, Chadwick, aren’t you? I can almost see what he sees in you. Even your pain is beautiful. But, he can’t belong to you, Chadwick. He belongs to me. Always has. Now, answer the question, lovely,” His voice was low and smooth, “Answer the question or I’ll be forced to hurt you again.”

He believed it, Chad realized. He believed it when he said that he’d be forced to hurt Chad if he didn’t answer. He believed everything he said when he said it. Almost like a split personality. He was insane. Chad wondered how long it had been so. From the stories Ryan had told him, it had already begun when Ryan before he had met Ryan. Chad hadn’t understood when Ryan was telling him, but now he knew. No one sane could be like Tristan, gentle and soft touches one moment, harsh and bruising the next. It was the same with his words. But, all Chad had to do was hold on until Ryan could track his scent. He knew instinctively that Ryan, Sharpay, Troy and Gabriella were coming for him. He just had to hold on and keep Tristan from killing him until then. So, what did Tristan want to hear?

“A broken heart,” Chad gasped around his pain, “A broken heart hurts worse.”

“Exactly,” Tristan ran a gentle hand over his curls, “A broken heart festers and never heals, Chadwick. And Ryan did break my heart. But, I always knew that he’d come back to me if I just waited long enough. So I did. Two hundred years is a long time, Chad, even for an immortal. But, I never gave up hope because Ryan never stayed with any one man very long. Trying to find someone my equal, I know. He never could until you. He’s been with you the longest of anyone Chadwick. Just a few months, I know, but it is a long time for him. And I can’t wait anymore. Maybe when you’ve been turned we can form a triad. You will be such a beautiful child of the night, Chadwick. You, Ryan, and myself will be the most stunning train since Troy, Gabriella, and Sharpay. I will be the envy of the council with the two of you by my side.”

“No,” Chad moaned and flinched away from Tristan’s touch, his fears coming to life. He suddenly remembered the glimpse he’d had not so very long ago, “No, I won’t be a vampire. I won’t! Ryan…Ryan promised.”

“Too good to be a vampire, hmm?” Tristan’s gentle smile turned into a snarl, “Too good to be with me? You’re just like Ryan! Arrogant, spoiled, always searching for the next better thing! Ryan has such a fascination for humans. Did you know in two hundred years he only took two vampire lovers? Me and Caleb Powell. Of course, I had to kill Caleb for daring to touch my property, but that’s neither here nor there. Do you know how many human lovers he’s had? Take a guess.”

“Ten,” Chad gasped out when Tristan threw him on his back and stepped on his broken arm.

“Ten?” Tristan threw back his head and laughed, “In two hundred years? An unattached vampire? Try three hundred and fifty seven. Some one night, some more. I killed them all once he left them. They didn’t deserve him and I couldn’t chance that he would go back to one of them when he belongs with me. You understand. And what conclusion have I come to now, Chadwick?”

Chad screamed and felt a burst of adrenaline that gave him the strength to get to his feet when suddenly kicked out at his broken ribs again. He had taken self defense classes as a kid, had continued with karate until he got to college and even though he knew his black belt would mean nothing to Tristan as it meant nothing to Ryan he lifted his good arm, stood on the leg that didn’t have the sprained ankle he didn’t remember getting, and tried to blink the clouds away from his eyes. He knew that he probably had a concussion from when Tristan hit him the first time, but knew he had to work through it. He bit back the bile that rose in his throat and tried to look impressive and brave rather than shaky and in pain.

“You are a feisty one!” Tristan laughed, but it was high and tight and Chad could tell that he was still angry and knew instinctively that he wasn’t going to live much longer. Just as he was preparing himself to try to run somewhere, anywhere, Tristan was suddenly at his throat, squeezing his windpipe even as he dropped to one knee, slamming Chad back onto his back on the cement floor. Chad’s mobile hand automatically went to his throat and he struggled to pull air in through the small space Tristan was allowing him for breath.

“I have decided that I can’t just kill you, Chadwick, because Ryan isn’t planning on leaving you. But, he belongs to me!” Tristan emphasized the statement by slamming Chad’s head into the floor yet again. Chad saw star and was thankful when he began to pass out. He was brought out of the fog screaming when Tristan drug something sharp along his body from armpit to hip cutting a long deep line into his flesh, “Listen to me! I’m not done yet! If you just plain old die he’ll never forgive me and he’ll probably commit suicide. Not what I want. But, if you’re one of us, statistics say he’ll lose all interest in you. I’ll show up to comfort him. He’ll come back to me. We’ll be together forever. Good plan, isn’t it? And since I have no patience…”

Chad could only moan lowly when Tristan ran the same thing he had used to cut into Chad’s side over both of his arms from inner elbow to wrist. Chad decided it was time to gibe into the pain. Maybe, just maybe, he would die before Tristan had the time to turn him. Maybe he would be so lucky. He closed his eyes, allowing the darkness to begin to take him.

“Chad!”

He wasn’t sure if he actually heard Ryan’s voice and the splintering wood of a door or if he had just dreamed it before he finally gave in.

I love you, Ryan.

He knew he didn’t say it, but Ryan would have been listening for him and it would be enough that he thought it.

Goodbye.

A/N: Please, PLEASE leave a review if you have a moment. I would really appreciate it.