The Beau & the Beast

24 - The Watchmaker

How many weeks had passed since Belmont took his suitcases and left?

I had lost count but the days felt like weeks and the months felt like years.

I had tried to ignore the feeling of hopelessness that ate me up from within, but in the end it didn't work.
I needed him. I would ask him on my bare knees if I could, I would tell him everything, explain why I did as I did.  If he just wanted to listen.

My feet moved quickly over the rooftops, I had heard that he was in a remote town far from New York.

What the hell he was doing there was beyond my comprehension, but something inside me said it could have something to do with his blood addiction, and worry gnawed at me.

Nightmares tormented me at night, the thought of finding him bent over a bleeding body.  Or worse, that his addiction had gone so far that his own body had begun to change.

Finding Belmont as a distorted grotesque monster was the worst thought of them all, and I sincerely hoped that mine and Anthony's warnings would be enough to keep him in check.

After days of searching, I had finally found a trail.  A gust of wind of his scent was all that was needed.

My heart pounded when I saw him, long and slender as always and with that dark long hair flowing down his back.  He was so fucking beautiful.

Pain hit me in my heart because he looked happy, happier than I had seen him in a long time.

Even so, I followed him manically from rooftop to rooftop as he moved through the small community, pushing away the thoughts that washed over me when I felt the second smell that lingered like smoke around him.

I knew what it was, the scent of another man.

Although I was annoyed at how pathetic I had become, I could not help it, I could not stop following him.

I crouched behind a ventilation drum when my one true love stopped out of an old brick house and jumped up to sit on the back of a worn out-of-place old park bench, which had probably been dragged there from a much nicer neighborhood.

I studied the serious eyes that looked down at the screen he was holding in his hands.  His thumb swept over his cell phone and it looked like he was waiting for someone.

Should I go down there? Was this my chance?

I hesitated and before I had made up my mind, a rusty scrap-ready old car had stopped and a two-meter-long wolf stepped out of the passenger seat.

My heart rate increased when the wind turned. It was him.

The wolf leaned against the car roof and seemed to discuss something with the driver before tapping his palm on the top of the car and it drove away.

Belmont looked up at the guy with a wide smile, a smile that made my determination falter. Damn, he had moved on, I had waited too long.

My hands clenched into whitening fists as I watched the guy reach out and pull Belmont up from the bench.  The gesture was determined but loving and they stood annoyingly close to each other.

They were too far away for me to hear what they were saying, but the body language was clear, they only had eyes for each other, even though they obviously did not want to show it openly.

I did not blame them, the place was reminiscent of my old Paris, full of supernaturals, and if the wolf belonged to a pack, I suspected that they would not like him hanging out with someone like Bel.

A thumb stroked Belmont's cheek and I wished I could hear what they were saying when the vampire smiled and shrugged.

I was just about to take a few steps forward when the wind turned and I saw how Belmont's body froze.  A pair of eyes immediately shot up to the top of the building where I was sitting, and soon they were joined by the wolf's searching gaze.

I sat completely still, Belmont's eyes found mine and my heart pounded in my chest.
I saw how he struggled with himself, his chin fell to his chest and he was about to take a step forward. But then he stopped himself.
A delicate pale hand found its way into a much larger one, the cheek that I've kissed so many times leaned against an upper arm that was not mine.

He said a few words and the guy next to him nodded without sending me another look.
And just like that they turned around and went down the street, hand in hand and my heart broke.

Before they turned a corner, the giant turned his head and looked my way. His eyes narrowed, as if trying to see if I was still there.
Instinctively, I stood up and walked towards the edge.
I wanted the wolf to see me, so that he would understand who I was and I was absolutely sure that he at least felt my scent.
He stopped and studied me from top to bottom, but I did not move from the spot.

I was not afraid of him, his size was no match for me.  But I would not start anything, because Belmont was not mine anymore, he'd shown it all too clearly.

I saw the small hand that hugged his harder, I saw the pleading eyes that asked him to keep walking.  He wanted to get away from me and old memories.

I sighed heavily and nodded as I took a step back.
He deserved a better future than the one I could offer him.
Here he was free from debt and vampire vendettas, perhaps he could start over again.

I hope you love him, I thought when my eyes were locked with the wolf's, he needs someone who is strong and grounds him, he easily gets caught in negative thoughts.

The eye contact was broken, he said a few words leaning down to Bel who nodded a few times while avoiding looking up at me.

He was tormented, I saw it in him.

Then they disappeared around the corner and the street was gaping empty.  Just like the hole in my heart.