I spoke first, "So do you need … blood?" I gulped loudly and looked her straight in the eye wanting the whole truth. Man, I sounded like a hypocrite.
She cleared her throat and looked at me, "I don't need it. I can live on human foods, besides blood makes me queasy." She made a face that showed her disgust and I couldn't help myself but laugh at her expression, lightening the mood.
"So you don't need blood to survive?" I asked with interest.
"Blood makes me stronger, but I prefer human foods. It makes me feel more human," she said with a smile. She put a piece of scrambled egg in her mouth and chewed for a moment, thinking. "My little brother needs it to survive, but he doesn't hurt anyone, he drinks from blood bags."
"Are you as strong as a vampire?"
"No but I'm stronger than humans and faster."
"Were you born as a half blood?"
"Yeah, as far as I know," she shrugged.
"What about your brother? Is he a half blood?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
She shook her head, "Thank god."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because you have hunters after you, and even your own kind will turn on you if you make a wrong move. I wouldn't want my brother to go through all of that. He's already lost someone important."
"Your father … he was murdered by hunters, wasn't he?" I asked suddenly, picturing my father's accomplice staking him. Anger flared and I felt betrayed by my father. He said he wanted her to join and he wouldn't hurt her, but he did.
"Yes, he was murdered by one of them," she hissed.
I flinched and she looked away from me. I reached out my hand and grasped hers in mine wanting to feel her pain; wanting to understand how she was feeling because it was killing me.
Tatiana
M
y heart was beating fast as I looked at Ethan. Guilt washed over me as I lied to him. I hadn't told him I murdered those hunters. In a way I didn't lie since those hunters weren't human, but I still felt like I was betraying his trust. He was grasping my hand in his, the warmth of it making me forget about my guilt. I couldn't look away from his green eyes. He leaned a little closer and my breathing quickened. I leaned forward and he moved with me. Our lips met and again my world stopped.
His lips were warm and inviting. At first he was gentle, but then his need intensified. I never thought that I could feel this way, nervous, scared, yet happy, all at the same time. The table was in our way. Ethan moved suddenly and I was on his lap, kissing him. My arms went around his neck, urging him to kiss me more. His hands massaged my waist and back and I shivered with pleasure. I wanted to touch him all over, to feel his skin against mine. I wanted so many things that I couldn't have.
All of a sudden I heard a phone ring somewhere in the house. We sprang apart and listened closely.
"I think it's coming from over there," Ethan whispered.
We moved cautiously. Ethan grabbed a poker from the fireplace, then he took my hand and we walked towards the ringing sound. As we walked further into the cabin we could hear the sound was coming through the bathroom door. My heart was pounding in my ears and my head started to hurt.
Ethan gestured for me to be silent while he opened the door slowly, revealing nothing but a phone vibrating on the floor. I breathed out a sigh of relief and grabbed the phone. It stopped ringing, only to start again a moment later. It was a blocked number.
Ethan dropped the poker and grabbed the phone, "Who's this?"
There was a long pause before he hung up. He shook his head telling me there was no answer. I frowned, weird.
He dialled a number and sighed, "Hey dad … yeah I'm fine … yeah dad … okay. Listen, I don't know where I am, but I'm with Tatiana. Can you try and find us?" He looked at me for a moment and then said, "Okay thanks." He hung up and passed me the phone, "Call your mum. I bet she's worried sick by now."
I smiled appreciatively and dialled the home number. "Mum? Oh hey, Jamie. Does mum know I'm not home?"
"Yes, but I told her that you were going to sleep over your friend's house," Jamie's voice rang in my ear. "She wasn't happy."
"Jamie, thank you!" Then I said, "Oh and please tell mum I'll be home before dinner."
Hanging up, I went to find Ethan in the lounge room.
"How did she react?" he asked, smiling.
"She knows I was out the whole night but Jamie covered for me." I shrugged. I sat down beside him and leaned my head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around my stomach and pulled me closer to him.
I sighed, pulling away from his grasp, wanting to do something and not just sit there. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed some milk, pouring it into a glass from the rack. I knew he had followed me before he snaked his arms around my stomach. I could sense him; like how I sensed blood flooding through peoples' veins. That scared me, but I couldn't bring myself to pull away again.
It hurt too much to let go.
I drank the milk slowly, a few sips at a time. All the while, Ethan nuzzled my neck softly, making me smile.
"Come on, my dad will be here soon. Let's go outside and enjoy nature."
He took my hand and we both walked outside, welcoming the cool breeze. In the distance we could hear birds chirping and I felt safer somehow. We made our way to the porch swing and he sat down, pulling me along, and I rested my head on his shoulder as we lightly swung back and forth.
"Will you tell your dad about what happened?" I asked, a little panicked, not wanting my mother to find out otherwise I knew we would be packed and gone the next morning.
"Yeah, but don't worry, he won't tell your mum. My dad kind of deals with shit like this," he said, avoiding my gaze.
We were silent then, nothing more needed to be said. It felt so natural just being with Ethan. It scared me that I could feel so comfortable with him; with us. Thoughts ran through my mind – What did this mean? Were we together? Would we be holding hands in the hallways and making out in front of our school lockers like in the movies? Or would he just want to forget about this? I wouldn't be able to deal with that. Not that my opinion would matter anyway. My heart was thumping and I grew more anxious as every minute ticked by.
Ethan
I
grew nervous when I felt her body go rigid. I didn't know what was bothering her and I wanted to know. I tightened my hold on her and wondered if she was thinking about what would happen when we got back home. Would she want to keep us a secret or date in public? Did she want to forget this ever happened? If she really wanted that I would do it for her. I would be in so much pain seeing her at school knowing that she wasn't mine, but I'd do it for her. I needed to ask her. This might be my only chance. I pulled away from her just enough to look into her eyes which were now widened with fear.
"Tatiana." I spoke her name as she said mine.
I waited for her to start talking.
"Listen, I'll understand if you want to forget that this ever happened, but I'm not going to be okay with it. I won't be able to see you with other girls or walk past you in the hallways not being able to touch you or talk to you because when we go back I can't stay with you if we aren't together. I won't be able to cope … to keep myself together. So please get this over with and tell me right now what you want from me and I'll understand."
Tears pricked her eyes and my heart fluttered. She wanted to be with me. She was scared I was going to leave her. I caressed her face in both of my hands and I looked into her eyes, feeling overwhelmed with joy.
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard." Her eyes went wide and I smiled, kissing the corner of her mouth affectionately. "First of all, I won't be able to get through the day without you. Secondly, why would you think that I would want to be with other girls? I haven't even thought about anyone else other than you. I can't get you out of my mind and, lastly, I freaking love you, okay?" I surprised myself with those last words.
I wasn't the only one surprised. When those words settled in my mind, finally making sense, I sa
id them again, surer of myself, "I love you Tatiana, not some girl at school, just you and only you."
She caught her breath, making me nervous. What if she didn't feel that way? Before I knew what she was going to do, she was kissing me with a longing that I didn't know any girl could possess. But then again she wasn't just any girl. She was Tatiana and she was mine.
"I love you."
I barely heard those whispered words. Her breath tickled my cheek and I smiled. My chest filled with love and joy and I wanted to scream it out to the whole world right then and there that I loved her, that she loved me. I didn't know I could feel this way with anyone. I couldn't believe she was doing all of these things to me. She was killing me; I just wanted to be with her every minute, every second of the day.
I wanted her with such ferociousness that I had to stop myself from grabbing her and ripping every piece of clothing from her. To make her mine, forever. If my friends could hear this right now they'd think I was in over my head, but I didn't care what they thought anymore. What mattered to me was that Tatiana and I loved each other. We stayed like that for god knows how long until finally we saw my father's car coming towards us. When the car stopped, another man got out and disappeared into the woods.
Weird, I thought.
Tatiana also stood stiffly. I wished I could make her feel safe again.
"Hey dad, thanks for coming."
My father was wearing a suit. He didn't say anything at first, just looked at Tatiana with his sunglasses on.
"You must be Tatiana."
All of a sudden she caught her breath. Her eyes widened as she took in my father's presence. Then I heard something fly through the air with a hissing sound. It hit Tatiana on her forearm and she yelped in shock. I grabbed her as she slowly closed her eyes. Picking her up, I looked over at my father.
"What the fuck dad?" I was pissed.
"Now son, I had to do that otherwise it would blow our cover since she knows what I look like."
Well that explained her stiffness. "You could've sent someone else to get us."
"I wanted to see for myself if you were okay," he said with such sincerity I almost believed him. Almost.
A fake laugh escaped me and I walked towards the car and put her in the back seat. I leaned her against me when I got in and I smoothed her hair down her back and wished we were alone and she was awake. "It's going to be okay baby, I promise," I whispered into her ear and hoped that she could hear me.
Tatiana
I
didn't know what was real anymore, but something kept on tugging at me – a voice. A beautiful, angelic voice.
That man, Ethan's father, somehow I felt like I knew him. What was wrong with me? I groaned and opened my eyes slowly, revealing my bedroom. I felt the bed sink as someone leaned their weight on it. I went to sit up but I felt like I had been hit by a tonne of bricks. I felt so dizzy. My hand touched my forehead, massaging it. "Ow," I groaned as my head thudded.
"Are you okay?" Ethan asked, worry on his face.
I nodded slightly and regretted it when my head started to hurt more. "What happened?" I asked my voice hoarse as I tried to get my eyes to focus on his face.
He shook his head, "I have no idea. This guy came out of nowhere and attacked us and you just fainted. I was so worried."
How bizarre, I thought. I looked around my room and realised something. "What're you doing here?" I asked in panic, trying to sit up again.
"I brought you here and I wanted to make sure you were okay," he said, looking a little hurt by my question.
"Does my mum know?" I asked.
He gave me a shy smile, "Yeah, she didn't like that I was here though, it was kinda scary."
I laughed. He was scared of my mother? I guess she was pretty scary when she wanted to be. Oh hell, who was I trying to kid? She was always scary. Then a thought came to mind making me wonder. "Are you scared of me?" I asked him, my smile fading. I was now looking into his eyes trying to catch if he lied to me.
His eyes widened a fraction, "No, I'm not afraid of you."
I searched his eyes and all I found was admiration, warming me from the inside out. Without thought, my hand moved to caress his cheek. As he smiled, I leaned into him and we kissed. Each time we kissed, it was as powerful as the first; my knees felt weak and I found my lips forming perfectly to fit his. My breathing accelerated when I felt his arms encircle me in his warmth. I shivered as he traced lines on my back, feeling the goose bumps rise. I wanted him so badly; we would have done it there and then on my bed if my brother hadn't barged in.
He was standing wide eyed with his hand on the door knob and the other at his side. His mouth was open in shock and I tried to hold in my laughter. When he recovered he spoke, "Mum told me to leave the door open."
"Okay," I motioned for Jamie to come closer while I disentangled myself from Ethan. Ethan cleared his throat obviously embarrassed.
"Jamie … Ethan's my boyfriend." I made sure I wasn't speaking too loud in case my mother could hear.
Ethan looked at me for a moment and then back at Jamie.
"Jamie, you can't tell mum about this okay? You know how she gets," I said raising my eyebrows.
He nodded eagerly, happy to be in on a secret.
"Well I promised Nate and Daniel that I'd hang out with them since I left them at the party so I better go," Ethan kissed me on the cheek and left my room.
I nodded, disappointed that he was leaving but knew it was for the best. My heart was still beating faster than it should be and I breathed evenly, trying to get it to slow down. The one disadvantage to having vampire parents was that I could hardly sneak out or have my boyfriend come through the window like in every romantic movie that every girl hopes to experience.
"Are you okay?" Jamie asked me, confused about why my heart was beating so fast.
I smiled at him from ear to ear. "It's love," I whispered.
He smiled teasingly and giggled to himself.
I heard someone's footsteps coming up the stairs. My heart beat faster with nerves as she neared my door. She didn't knock, just barged in with her hair all over the place, still in her pyjamas. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, sorry about before."
"Honey, next time you feel faint call me or get someone to take you home," she said with a worried look.
I nodded.
"Well, I'm going to get cleaned up and I expect you both to be ready. We're going down to the lake." She forced a smile onto her grieving face.
"Did I hear correctly?" I asked with a smile.
"Really?" Jamie asked enthusiastically.
She nodded, trying to seem happy about it, but I knew better. I was happy though. She was trying her best to make us happy and that was all she could do right now – try. I smiled at her and went to give her a hug, squeezing her tight. "Thanks mum," I whispered into her ear.
She squeezed me back just as tight and then left the room. Jamie had already disappeared into his room to get ready. I walked over to my window and looked outside, the sun was out and it was the brightest I had seen it in a long time. I felt the warmth on my cheeks and was delighted to go to Lake Michigan on such a beautiful day.
I got dressed into my bikini, but suddenly felt self-conscious about people staring. With my beach dress on top, I felt better. I quickly put on my flip flops and fixed my hair, leaving it in its natural curls. I hummed as I nearly ran down the stairs, almost bumping into my mother. "Sorry," I said smiling. When she started walking away with a disapproving face I followed her and said something I shouldn't have, "I like Ethan."
That stopped her in her tracks. "Tatiana …" she said warningly.
"He likes me too and we've been kinda dating." Well there's no stopping now, I thought.
She whirled on me, "What?"
"I have a boyfriend. Okay?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
"No, that's not okay," she was fuming now, but I didn't care.
"Well it's okay with me," I shrugged
. "Mum at least let me do this because sooner or later we're going to be moving again. I just want to spend all of this time enjoying it. Okay?" I raised my eyebrows.
She sighed and leaned her hip against the counter. "Fine."
I was so happy that I actually squealed, but I stopped when she put her hand up.
"Do I need to have the sex talk with you?"
Oh. My. God. I was about to run out of the house and never come back. How embarrassing! I was not talking about sex with my mother. Not now and not ever. "Mum, seriously we covered that in Health. Please don't put me through this," I squirmed as my cheeks went red.
"What about condoms? Do you have some?" she asked, totally unfazed.
I gaped at her in shock, "What? No! It's not like that!"
"It is for guys."
"Not for us. We haven't even discussed that subject," I said, grossed out.
"Well you need to-"
"Mum! I can't find my shoes!" Jamie shouted from the top of the stairs, interrupting my mother.
Thank god. I made my escape and felt like hugging my brother. I walked out of the house and opened the car door and sat there waiting for them to finish.
The lake was filled with people – laughing, talking, splashing water; it felt like home. I jumped out of the car and Jamie grabbed onto my hand, excited since he hadn't been out in the open here in Michigan. I squeezed his hand and we walked onto the sand. The waves lapped at the shore and a slight breeze whipped my hair behind me. Jamie laughed and clapped as we walked further towards the water. We stopped a few metres in front and I laid my beach towel on the warm sand. My mother did the same, grabbing some fruit from the basket she brought.
Every girl I saw was wearing a bikini, they were laughing and giggling with their boyfriends. I suddenly felt jealous that they could have that and not me. I sighed. This is it, I'm going to take my dress off. As I stood up, I felt a pair of strong arms encircle my waist. I froze.
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