Lately I've been feeling observed, it was a really weird feeling. Not like when people looks at me in school but something else, it gave me Goosebumps.
Today on my way home after class the tiers of my car broke and I had to stop in the middle of those weird trees and call Jeremy but there was not signal, so I had to get out of the car and walked a few paces away to try to get it.
It wasn’t safe to just drive like that without them, last night snowed and the roads were dangerous. I did get to call Jeremy and I don't know if paranoia or imagination or just because I was scared but I heard lots of weird noises in the woods and I could feel eyes on me.
I was being observed I could feel it and it scared the hell out off me when Leonard appeared from nowhere like a ghost "what are you doing here!" He said angrily
"The tiers broke"
"You shouldn't be here alone!" he said, he was acting strange, stranger than usual, his pupils were dilated and I could see blood on the corner of his mouth, there was no way that was ketchup, they didn’t eat that stuff…
“Did you hear me!” he repeated breaking the trail of my thoughts
"I've called Jeremy he’s on his way" By the time I finished talking he already fixed it "Well thank you"
"Now get out of here" he said looking around, it worried me… so I got in the car and left. What was he doing out there? He didn’t go to school today and Christopher carried a mute face all the time, as if absent or something. I could tell he wasn’t entirely there when I talked to him but what was Leonard doing in the woods?? Was that actually blood? Dang!! How is it possible that till now I never thought about that!!! I have to call Christopher but before that I have to call Jeremy before he starts freaking out when he comes here and doesn’t find me.
After calling Jeremy and telling him that it was a mistake, that the tiers of my car were ok, I called Christopher asking him to meet me near my house that we needed to talk urgently.
I got to the door 5 minutes after I spoke to him and his car was already there, around the corner.
He was leaning over his car, facing the sun that was now shining which reminded me one of the important questions he needed to answer. As soon as I walked out of the car he walked to the passenger side of his car and opened the door. I walked towards him leaving the house behind and got into the car and then he walked to the driver’s side and got in too.
“Put your seatbelt on” he said, I did and he drove off. We stayed in silence for a while before I started questioning.
“How can you walk in the sun? Aren’t you supposed to turn into ashes if you do?”
“Straight to the point, no hi or anything”
“Is it a myth?”
“No”
“Then how?”
“We do burn if we stay long enough under the sun but we can still be under it”
“How long is long enough?”
“I haven’t checked it” he said with a crocked smile, all along looking up front
“I saw Leonard earlier…in the woods” his hands tighten in the wheel
“What were you doing in the woods?”
“I wasn’t in the woods, he was…the tiers of my car broke and he came from nowhere and fixed them but he was tense, acting weird…is there anything important that you are not telling me? We already share one secret you can tell me more”
“What are you actually asking?”
“Where was Leonard on the night of the attacks?”
“Why?”
“Mmh…I never asked you this before cause it didn’t cross my mind and I’m probably crazy for asking you this now while in the car alone with you but...I know you won’t hurt me” He kept looking up front “are you the attackers?” The car suddenly stopped making my whole body bounce against my chair and then he turned to look at me
“What?” I could see he was actually hurt
“Is because I’ve never seen you eating and well vampires don’t eat…food so what’s left? People and you are the only vampires in here, and Mary Alice had two wounds on her neck, and Leonard had blood on his mouth and...”
“Shut up” I did and then he started laughing to then have a frown “let’s walk” he said with a sudden serious voice, he got out of the car and I did too following him but then I hesitated when he started walking towards the woods.
“Where are we going?” I said while walking, I really can’t understand why I don’t run away!! I’m getting into the woods with a vampire after asking him what do they eat!!!
“I’m just going to answer your question, I need to show you something” aaah you see, I’m dead meat!!
We kept walking and walking till we got to a place that was really familiar to me…
“Do you remember this place?” I just looked around trying to remember what is it that looked familiar on this side of the woods “Not long ago you were here” he said taking my hand and helping me getting down from the big trunk where I was standing.
His hands were ice cold and it sent chills thru my body but not because of the coolness…
Once down he stepped away from me and walk to the centre of the area surrounded by trees, then he kneeled and pulled the grass over.
“I remember now…here is where I fell, what does this have to do with my question?”
“Can you remember what happened before you fell?” I didn’t know what he was talking about? Nothing happened before I fell…wait a minute
“I saw something”
“What did you see?”
“I don’t know…an animal? There was blood, a lot…something else was here”
“You saw me feeding from an animal, then you fell and I got you out”
“It was you? You feed more animals?”
“Bingo, there you have the answer of two questions”
“What was the other question?”
“You asked me on the day what I was doing in the woods”
“I see” We stayed in silence for a moment, I felt a bit embarrassed I couldn't believe that I just thought he was going to eat me but…
“Is that what Leonard was doing too?”
“No…there are more vampires in here” he sat on the trunk and I next to him leaving a bit of space in between us “they always leave after St. Martyr’s day but this time they stayed…we don’t know why yet” so they are actually more…right, the one I saw that night fighting with him.
“They are not like us Gabrielle…they don’t feed from animals like we do, they kill people”
“And you protect us”
“You could say something like that. Leonard was probably doing his rounds around the area, that’s why he didn’t go to school today. You need to be careful as you already know your family is been minimized to three now”
“I know and is so weird that is just us”
“Is not just you, members of the council too” he said in a way that made think he knew more than he was saying.
“Do you know why?”
“Is a long story, don’t dig in it you won’t like what you find” again with the secrets tsk tsk...well now that he seems calmed I think is time to know a bit more about them.
“Why are you two always fighting?”
“No, now you answer my questions”
“Ok” I don’t like this turn
“Why aren’t you scared of all this?”
“I don’t know…I guess I should but I'm not. I can’t” he smiled and kept asking
“How was your life in California
“Everything was easier; I had my dad my friends…people that understood me. It was a happy place”
“What do you think about Zoneville?”
“Zoneville is a weird place, weird things happens, you meet weird people but interesting at the same time”
“Do you think I'm interesting?” how did he know I was talking about him???
“Yes, along with other things” our eyes met and I looked down happy to know he couldn't read my thoughts while my face was turning red.
“Would you go back if you were given the chance?”
“I don’t think I would, things have changed”
“But you don’t have a good relationship with your mother”
“How do you…? I thought you couldn’t read my mind”
“And I can't, but I can read hers and I heard you last time in the Zone while talking to your friends anyway”
“Those things are privet you know?” it actually annoyed me
“Is not like I can turn it off whenever I want to” he said frustrated I guess that is one of the consequences that comes along with being a vampire, but the worse and I believe is their curse is to have to drink blood from people, well at least they take it from animals that’s not so bad, in reality we all feed from animals whether for the blood or for the meat.
“How did you…?”
“Become a vampire?” he still finishing my sentences even though he doesn’t read my mind…is he telling me the truth? I nodded and he moved his head in disapproval, but I wanted to know so I begged for him to tell me…he hesitated for a bit as he always does when I ask him about something that has to do with the past but at the end he told me.
“There was a plague in Italy
Leonard was his only nephew, the son of his sister so he was like another soon to my father. He then started getting sick, nobody knew what it was, at first he was ok and then suddenly he got sick. We didn’t know what to do and then I got it too. He was incubating the plague in his system so by the time he got here it was starting to affect his body. We were always together…I must’ve gotten it then.
My dad was devastated, there was nothing they could do to save us…I remember while in bed, listening to my dad crying desperately. It broke my heart, I saw him just once before crying like that when my sister to be and my mum died while giving birth to her.”
“I’m sorry”
“Don’t be…I’m over it” and he smiled at me ooh I'm melting “well…one day I heard my dad talking to Byron, he was his most precious man, he trusted him with everything, but he was a really strange man, seriously pale, black eyes…he had a fierce and penetrating look that made everybody respect him, but I always knew something wasn’t right about him.
He was telling my dad about a possibility to save us, I was more asleep than anything else but I heard him asking my dad to leave the house alone, he was asking my father to live with everybody for a few weeks…I wanted to wake up and yell at him, what was Byron talking about, a few weeks? I might have been dead by then and that’s what happened”
Dang!! The answer came to my mind “he turned you” and he nodded “the night my dad left trusting Byron with his only son and nephew to cure us, he came into our room. Leonard was agonising with pain but I was more aware of things.
He went first for Leonard. I didn’t know what he was doing; he leaned over him and Leonard Screamed. After a few minutes he was stiff like a rock...paralysed as a statue and then he came for me.
He smiled and said in my ear “everything will be ok, soon enough you’ll see the sun if you are strong” I closed my eyes and I felt it, a pain like a hundred blades stubbing each part of my body. After that I just remember waking up, strong and with an incredible hunger…I didn’t remember what happened the night before I just needed to eat.
Leonard was already awake; we wondered what happened how we were feeling so good. We got out of our beds playing around, feeling stronger. We went into the kitchen to ask for food but of course nobody was in the house, we didn’t know why and without thinking about it we started eating whatever food we saw…”
He then looked at me with a smiled and said “I think this is enough for today”
“Don’t you dare leave me like this!” did he really think I was going to be ok with just half the story? No way!
“Ok then…we started eating whatever food we saw but it wasn’t enough and believe me, we ate a lot. Then all of a sudden my head started hurting I felt an indescribable pain. I looked at Leonard and he was on his knees, hands on head, he smelt something, he was like sniffing…his eyes suddenly turned red and his fangs started growing, as soon as I sniffed my fangs grew too…we didn’t know what it was but we wanted it”
I could see him turn his head towards me a little and taking a deep breath, did he just smell me??
“Leonard started walking and I followed him, then the scent grew stronger and stronger till we reached the living room were the scent was in full, and there was our prey. One of the maids cut her hand with a broken glass… our hunger was getting intense and we were ready to satiate it, we were ready to kill.
As we walked towards the maid Byron came into the room getting her attention.
He yelled at her furiously “what are you doing here when I said specifically everybody out!! Get out!!” and the girl ran away.
We could still smell blood though but from the rabbits he was carrying. He gave them to us and without a blink we feed from them…I could feel the hunger stopping but I wanted more. After a few days he taught us how to control our THIRST…he told us what we became, what he did to save us, I wasn’t happy about it but Leonard thought it was cool”
“You didn’t think it was cool?”
“How could I? I was a monster…I am a monster, not alive not dead. Drinking blood measuring every step I take, the strength I use to do things so I won’t hurt anybody…people are meant to die”
“And your father would’ve suffered if you did die”
“Maybe but this isn’t something he would’ve wanted for me”
“Well you have to admit that you get to do a lot of cool stuff being a vampire”
“Yeah sure…I get to see everyone that I care about dying before me”
“You get to save people Christopher”
“And you don’t know how much it hurts to do it”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m walking contra current, I’m living against my nature…being here with you alone shouldn’t have to be such a pain” what! am I a pain for him? He doesn’t want me close to him? “I could end it right now just by taking you but I can’t”
“You’re saying that being around humans hurts you?”
“Right”
“And why don’t you just take me?” he stood up so fast that it was a blur and looked at me annoyed “no, I'm not giving you permission to take me, I’m just saying what is making you not to?”
“I don’t want to be like those with the red eyes”
“Why don’t you have red eyes? I mean you seem to have normal eye colour but why do they have red eyes?”
“Because of the way we feed, even though is all blood it has its differences…one of them is the effect it has on our eyes.
Because my family feeds from animals we get to keep our natural eye colour and is not just the eyes, we kind of have a more human appearance but the red eye ones drink from humans so they have lost all their humanity…they are the real animals”
“What about your father? He never asked why you weren't growing old.” He sat closer to me than before ooops more chills...concentrate!!
“My father always thought of me as a young man struggling to live, he never gave much thought of my looking young, he thought perhaps that it was part of my illness, he was worried for my health, he never believed that I was completely cured.
My pale face, my cold skin it all worked out pretty well, my sensibility to the sun light… I was his only child so he always did what I asked him without questioning me, my role as a vampire wasn't much difficult to hide in the old days”
“I see”
“Why do I always end up answering all your questions?”
“Who knows, but you have told me something weird about you and I will tell you something weird about me…”
“Ok, go on” he said with one of his crocked smiles than suddenly turned into a mute after listening to what I was saying.
“I don’t know why since I came to Zoneville I’ve been having déjà vu quite a lot and I never believed in anything else that science wouldn’t confirm but I’m now wondering if…I’ve been here before. Like in another time another live, and then this strange dreams where I’m being called by other name is just so real”
“What do you think it is?” he said with a frown
“I don’t know…Jenny read my hand and she said that I would find lo…mystery that there was blood and that she couldn't read my past cause the on in my hand wasn’t mine”
“What?”
“Exactly, what is that suppose to mean?”
“You mean the line of the past in your hand is not yours?”
“That’s what she said and she read it twice so there’s no mistake…and you haven’t told me how you know she's a witch and what happened to her in the cafeteria”
“Zoneville is a weird place as you said, witches, vampires and wolfs coexisted together in this place”
“Wolfs!! Did you just say wolfs!!”
“Don’t worry, they left long ago…like I was saying, we knew about each other. I know Jenny’s lineage even though the last ones don’t know me which is the best”
“Right, this is just getting weirder and weirder”
“It’s getting late, I should take you home now” I didn’t realise it was night already, the woods are scary in the dark, I couldn’t see I thing but he seemed to see perfectly fine, he was walking a few paces away in front of me pushing the branches that I couldn't see aside so they wouldn’t hurt me.
I kept my eyes really open so I wouldn’t fall over but it didn’t help much because I tripped anyway but he got to me before I could reach the floor.
It was a shock for me because I didn’t expect him to get to me so fast, then when I thought he was going to put me down he put me on his back.
“I think is saver for you” he said and started walking; we didn’t say a word till we got into the car.
Even our way back was quiet; I couldn't say anything even if I wanted to. It was a weird feeling because I always had something to say or to ask.
I kept glancing at him every now and then but he just looked straight at the road till we got to my house.
Lucky me the lights were still off which meant they weren’t home.
“You want to come in?” I don’t know why I said that…
“I was hoping you wouldn’t ask me that” he said lowering his head “you need to be more careful with that…once you invite a vampire into hour home, it can come in whenever it wants to. It won’t matter if your doors are locked, it will get in somehow”
“Ok, but I didn’t invite you actually I asked you if you wanted to come in I didn’t say come in”
“That’s enough for me to get in”
“Ok, I’ll have it in mind”
“Now go inside, Elizabeth
After saying goodbye to him I got out of the car; I watched him leave and got inside the house. I went upstairs and had a shower, by the time I finished they were already home and Jeremy called me for dinner time…so quick? When I got downstairs it turned out that they ordered pizza. Jeremy asked me about the car again and I told him.
“You know I don’t know about cars, I was inside and I heard a noise so I called you cause it wouldn’t start, I switch it off and on and it worked, that’s it” he was still suspicious though. After a few pieces I was full so as always I went to my room. I actually felt really tired so my sleep came easy on me.
I wasn’t dreaming just yet and I heard a few noises around me, it looked like I was more awake than asleep and then I felt a cold wind, something cold was close to me and a I could feel it leaning over me so I opened my eyes and when I did my lungs almost came out thru my mouth because of my scream.
In no second Elizabeth
When I looked at her, she was in position, prepared to shoot whatever thing she found in my room, why did she get into my room with a weapon? How did she get in here so soon? Was she listening behind close doors?
“Are you ok?” she said
“Yes…it was just a nightmare” I lied; she knew something was going on otherwise she wouldn’t have come in with a weapon.
Anyway I couldn’t tell her who was in my room she wouldn’t have believed me but it was him. That man that came looking for her a few days ago, what was he doing in here? How did he get in here? And then I remembered what Christopher said “once you invite a vampire into your home, it can come in whenever it wants to. It won’t matter if your doors are locked, it will get in somehow” F*** he’s a vampire.
TO BE CONTINUED…..
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