Chapter 5

Alaina woke up and stared at the beige wall that made up her room, she got up and walked over to her window. She had dreamed for the first time in a very long time. She was thinking about the boy, that face and those sorrow filled eyes. She had saved him because she felt sorry for him, now she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Something about his eyes, she thought. She decided sitting here wasn’t going to help get him off her mind. So she decided to go take a run. She loved to run, it helped clear her mind. She passed by the library on her way out and noticed that Arianna was sleeping in the chair. She looked so peaceful she didn’t want to wake her up. She wrote her a note to tell her that she would be back soon and not to worry.

She stepped out onto the porch and looked out at the woods. Leaves on the trees were a deep green, brown leaves littered the ground from the previous falls. Birds were off in the distance chirping, flying around in circles, looking for their mate. It’s a beautiful world here, what a shame we will have to leave soon, she thought.

With a blur of movement, she was off the porch and a half a mile away. She didn’t know where she was heading, she just wanted to run. To not think about her sister leaving them, she didn’t want to think about the boy that haunted her memories and her dreams. Just running, the wind blowing in her face as she sped through the woods. Dodging trees and jumping over the roots that stuck up out of the ground trying to trip her. She figured she would just run deeper into the woods and then circle back to the house.

She was circling around to head back to the house when she seen the boy. She stopped running and stared at him. He had something in his hands, she couldn’t tell what it was but he kept looking down at it. She couldn’t move, all she could do was stare at him. What was it about him that captivated her like this? She couldn’t figure it out. He must have heard her cause he stopped walking and started to look around like he was looking for something. She didn’t move, she couldn’t decide whether or not to talk to him.

It would probably be in his best interest if she didn’t let him see her. But she knew that she needed to talk to him, if not then she would never get him out of her head. He started walking again, he didn’t look lost this time. What the hell, might as well, she told herself and stepped out of the shadows. He turned and looked at her, he looked so young. He had blue eyes that seemed to shine. He had dark hair that looked a little awkward against his fair skin. He just stood there looking at her.

She started to walk towards him, he continued to watch her. She stopped a few feet in front of him. A few moments passed before either one of them spoke, finally she couldn’t stand the silence anymore. But he spoke before she could.

“Hi, I’m Caleb” he said.

“Hello Caleb. What are you doing out here alone?” she asked

“I guess I could ask you the same thing.” She laughed and oh it was a beautiful laugh he thought.

“I live not too far from here.” she replied.

“Alone?”

“No, my sisters live with me. My name is Alaina.” Well, just one sister now, she thought with a little despair.

“It’s nice to meet you, I don’t think I’ve seen you in town before.” He said.

“You wouldn’t have. You see, me and my sisters don’t go into town very often. There is no need.” Alaina walked over to a rock and sat down. She looked up at him and stared straight into his eyes. He had piercing ice blue eyes, it was like looking into the blue oceans of the Antarctic, icy blue on the surface and midnight underneath.

“I don’t mean to sound to forward and please forgive me for saying this, but you are really beautiful.” Caleb said. If she could blush, this would be the moment.

“Thank you, you are very beautiful yourself.” And now she was really glad she couldn’t blush. She had no clue why she said that. Although he can blush and he did.

Alaina laughed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from. I—” she heard the rustling before she even seen the cat. It smelled its prey and was moving in fast and quietly. No ordinary human would have been able to hear the sound. But she wasn’t an ordinary human, she wasn’t human at all. And she could hear the cat coming. It wouldn’t be after her, she thought, but after Caleb. When she turned to look at him, he could all but see the fear in her eyes. She didn’t know what to do, she couldn’t stop the cat without Caleb seeing her and trying to figure out what she is. The cat was moving fast, very fast. She had to do something, she couldn’t let him get hurt.

Caleb reached out to her and put his hand on her shoulder, “What’s wrong? Are you ok?” he asked. She could see the concern for her in his eyes. Oh, the hell with it, she thought, I can’t let him die. I’ll just have to take my chances.

“Can you promise me something?”

“Anything” he said so with such certainty and no hesitation what so ever in his voice.

“Promise that you won’t freak out by what I’m fixing to tell you and what you see afterwards. And know that I will not hurt you in any kind of way.”

“Ok, I promise.”

Alaina sighed, the cat was getting closer, she couldn’t see it just yet but she figured it was a mountain lion by the smell. And from the sound of its steps, it was a male, and a big one. “I know this is going to sound really funny to you and you aren’t going to be able to understand how I can hear it, but there is a pretty big cat on the hunt right now. From what I figure it’s a mountain lion. It already has the scent of its prey and headed here fast.”

It took a moment for it to sink in, his expressions changed from wonder to looking like she was some kind of psycho and trying to scare him, to shock and then to fear when he realized that she said headed here fast. The cat was headed here, and the scent of its prey was them.

“We have to get out of here and fast, maybe if we hurry, we can get away. We have a little bit of a head start, I can hear it and it’s far enough away so we might have a chance.” 

He just stood there staring at her. She was losing her patience.

“Wait, if I don’t hear it, how can you?” he said.

“Just trust me right now. It’s not after me, it’s after you. And now you wouldn’t be able to outrun it. It’s already almost here.”

“But—I don’t understand. I’m really confused right now.” 

She had gotten up off the rock and was trying to estimate how much longer it would be. Caleb sat down on the same rock and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was trying to process everything when he heard this growling sound. He jerked his head up and saw Alaina in a crouching position like she was preparing to attack something. She turned to look at him, “No matter what happens, stay back and don’t try to help me. Try to remember that it can’t hurt me.”

He just stared at her, he didn’t know what to say. She looked so dangerous but he wasn’t scared of her. In that moment time almost stood still. He was watching her, she had such grace and beauty. Her movements were so fluid even as she leaped at the cat that was trying to kill him. They landed about ten feet from where he was standing, he couldn’t move or speak, all he could do was watch in horror as the woman he had dreamed about for so many nights was fighting a mountain lion. He wanted to help her, he didn’t want her to get hurt. It all happened so quickly, in one moment she was fighting the lion and the next she was standing over its dead body. When she turned to look at him her eyes had went from dark brown to a now bright red, almost the color of blood. Ok, now he was scared.

Finally able to move, he took a step back. She didn’t move, just stood there with a pleading look in her eyes. “What the hell are you?” he demanded.

“No, stay back.” He told her as she started towards him.

“Please Caleb, don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.” She said almost pleadingly. “I will explain I promise. But you needn’t be afraid of me.”

“What are you?” he asked again. His legs felt like they would give out on him and cause him to fall so he sat down on the ground and waited for her to explain.

She paced back and forth trying to figure out the best way to tell him. She didn’t want to be like hey guess what, I’m a vampire. He would definitely freak out then. She heard a growling noise a whipped around prepared to fight but there wasn’t anything there. It took her a moment to realize that it had been her growling from frustration. There wasn’t going to be any easy way to do this. Just tell him…

“Ok, keep in mind that you promised not to freak out. And I’ve told you that I would never hurt you. There isn’t any easy way to tell you this. I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the legends about vampires?” 

“Sure, I’ve heard about them. But what does that have to do with anything?” She could hear the impatience in his voice.

“What do the legends tell you about vampires?”

He looked at her like she was losing her mind. What does it matter? “They drink blood, human blood, they are immortal.” He sighed “I don’t know why you want me to tell you this, vampires are just legends, they don’t actually exist.”

“Please, what else do you know about them. What can they do?” She was near begging him to guess what it is she is without having to come out and tell him.

He rolled his eyes but continued. “From what I’ve read, they can move really fast, they are really strong. They can’t come out in daylight because it will burn their skin. Some live with other vampires, some don’t. Now are you going to tell me what the hell just happened?!?”

This isn’t going to be easy, she thought, he just wasn’t putting it together. “I will show you better that I can tell you.” And with that she jumped up to stand on the lowest limb on the tree closest to her, which was about 15 feet off the ground.

He had to remember to close his mouth, how could she do that. With the next second she was back on the ground just feet from him, he didn’t even see her move.

“We do have speed and strength, but we don’t burn up in sunlight. That is just a myth. But most vamps drink human blood, me and my sisters try to live off of animal blood or donated human blood. My older sister has killed humans for food before, more than I have. My younger sister and I have only killed a few times, but that has been over three hundred years ago. Please don’t be frightened, I will not harm you.”

He couldn’t remember to close his mouth this time. He just sat there staring at her not believing what she was trying to tell him, but at the same time he couldn’t not believe her. Everything he seen wouldn’t let him think she was just crazy. Her eyes weren’t red anymore, that were back to that beautiful chocolate brown. He tried to look at her teeth to see if she had any fangs but he couldn’t really tell. It didn’t look like it though.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s hard to believe something like that but at the same time...” he paused for a minute, “Everything that just happened makes it easy to believe.”

“Are you scared?” She had to ask him. She had to know.

“Honestly, a little bit. But for some strange and unknown reason I’m not scared of you, just the fact that vampires do exist. You saved my life, how could I be scared of you?”

She was a little relieved. But now he knew too much. Would he tell anyone? Now without a doubt, her and her sister were going to have to leave.

“I hate to ask you to make another promise to me, one that I’m not sure you can keep. But you have to promise to tell no one of this. Please, they will come hunt me and my sister, and I can’t let that happen.”

Caleb stood up, his legs finally able to hold him up without letting him fall. Now she really had fear in her eyes, although not for her it seemed, but for her sister. Her sister. Didn’t she say that she had two?

“I promise, I won’t tell anyone.” She walked towards him, slowly at first to gauge his reaction. When he didn’t budge, she was at his side in under a second. Their eyes met and neither one of them could move, from somewhere deep inside them, they connected. He leaned down and took her mouth to his. The kiss was gentle and slow, savoring the taste of each other. Alaina wrapped her arms around his neck, and met his kiss with passion of her own. He locked his hands around her waist and lifted her up so he could deepen the kiss. He could hear the low growling coming from her.

The taste of him was so seductive and she didn’t think she could get enough. He found himself sitting on the ground a second later and she was feet away with her back to him. Her eyes were red, and she didn’t want him to see that she had that kind of reaction to him.

“I must go,” she told him, “And you need to get back before they come looking for you. Don’t come back trying to find me, I won’t be here. We are leaving.” Before he could say anything, she was gone.