XVII. Bloody fangs

Cara

Undecided, I stared at the envelope in my hand. I had been putting this off for over a week and this was the last chance I would get to read it for the next week. As much as I had wanted to know more about my mom and why she left, now that I had the chance, I was hesitant.

If I did -eventually- open the letter, the world where it was just me and my dad and my mom had fallen off the face of the earth would collapse and another world would appear. In this second world my mother would possibly be the bad guy.

I had been ignoring this for years and now it was time for me to know the truth but I was afraid of it.

Now the truth was in my hands...Was I ready for the truth?

Not yet! It can wait...some more.

I'll read it when I get back. I convinced myself to let it wait another week. I had waited a decade, what was one more week?

Sighing, I threw it on my desk then decided it was too out-in-the-open so I put it back inside the top drawer.

Thanks to the school's Student Abroad Travel Program or S.A.T.P every year students in the twelfth garden got an opportunity to travel abroad for a week. History students usually went to Italy or Greece.

I made sure I had everything I needed including an English-Italian dictionary. I preferred the book to the app on my phone. I was done packing and I must admit, I pack like a boss.

Feeling extremely proud of myself, I headed downstairs lugging my heavy medium-sized suitcase behind me. It was heavier than it looked. My dad just stood at the bottom of the staircase being no help at all. I was still happy and proud though.

I had really been looking forward to this trip.

"You have everything, right?" My father confirmed.

"Uh-huh, " I reassured him, putting him at ease. He worried that I would forget something and that the forgotten item's necessity and unavailability would somehow result in my death or something worse than death. Yes, to him there were things worse than death.

I quickly had my breakfast. Dadhad managed to whip up some blueberry pancakes, my favourite. He must have been using the cookbook I got him.

"You're sure you don't need me to drive you?" My father asked. I shook my head. "Who is driving you by the way?"

"A friend,"I told him. When I told Ivan that I needed someone to drive me to school he offered and I took his offer. I couldn't drive myself because if I did my car would have to stay there for the next week until I got back and I did want to get back and find it a victim of vandalism.

"So who is driving you to the airport?" Dad asked again... for the millionth time now.

"I have told you this before dad. Once we get to the school we will board the bus which will in turn take us to the airport once we have confirmed everything with the teachers in charge," I reminded him.

"That's a rather messy plan don't you think? Why can't the students drive themselves to the airport and you meet there around two hours before the flight so that you can make the final arrangements?"

I merely shrugged. I agreed with his suggestion but the school had already chosen the other plan. It did not matter as long as we were in Italy by tonight. The flight would be long, about thirteen and a half hours because Rome was approximately ten thousand two hundred kilometres away – as a scientist, my dad had always been a big supporter of the metric system and I’d ended up sharing his views on it.

I checked the time on the clock. 7:23.

Ivan is going to be here any minute now.

After wrapping things up I quickly said my goodbyes to my father which took a while. We were rarely away from each other so it was a little hard to deal with the fact that I would not be seeing him for a week.

"So Alice is picking you up? " Dad questioned as I was almost out the door.

"Actually...no. "

"Then who is?"

"My boyfriend, bye." With that I was out the door. I closed the door behind me, ridding him of the opportunity to ask follow up questions like: 'who is he?', 'do I know him?' , 'why did you not tell me before? '.

Right on time Ivan's car pulled up at the front of the house. He helped me with my luggage. We drove off before my dad -who I am sure was peeping through the curtains- could come.

Ivan did not want me to go on the trip. I’d had to reassure him a billion times that it was perfectly safe. Over the little time we had known each other, he had grown more and more protective of me.

"Is that boy going too? "Asked Ivan. By 'that boy' he meant Connor. Ivan did not really like Connor. He was convinced that Connor had other intentions that were not ' being just friends' asI had told the boy. It was a good thing he did not know that Connor had asked me out the other day. I had told him that he had only given me a ride home but he was still wary of the boy.

"Why does it matter?"

"Because you belong with me. He needs to know that. You are taken," he said. He acted as if Connor planned to eat me. Clearly, Ivan was very possessive and ,dare I say,jealous.

"Ok, Ivan, if need be I will sternly let him know that I am taken," I gave him reassurance.

"Good."

"I will do so if you tell me something, are you jealous?" I questioned, amusement lacing my tone.

He faced me and said, "I am not a jealous man but a territorial being."

We alighted at exactly eight o'clock. A few people had arrived, all of them had their luggage with them. They stood around the bus park talking in their social groups.

Ivan parked the car at the corner of the court. Everyone's attention was now directed at us.

Ivan got out of the car and opened the door for me. God, he was such a gentleman. That was actually one of the things I liked about him, and he was a skilled kisser.

Everyone's eyes were now on him as he grabbed my luggage from the trunk of his car. I could not help but stare at his muscles as he lifted the suitcases. It made me want to run my hands all over him.

He caught me gawking at him and my face flushed. He had a weird power of making my knees go weak.

"I guess it's time for the goodbye kiss."

Suddenly, I was pinned against the car door, Ivan's body covering my own. There was no hesitation as his lips claimed mine in a passionate, possessive kiss. I quickly pulled away from his lips. "Everyone is watching," I told him shyly.

"Let them watch. " Again he claimed my lips. His hands gripped my waist strongly. I loved the feeling that washed over me as he held me like this. There was a warmth to his touch, a safety.

The world had washed away. It did not matter that many of my peers watched as I got ravaged by him.It was not uncommon for lust-driven couples to ravage each other in the school halls, this was no different.

Then Ivan's lips moved down my cheeks and lower to my neck. No one had ever kissed me like this. Attempting to prevent myself from moaning, I bit down on my bottom lip.

"W-What are you d-doing? " I managed to breathe out as he sucked on the delicate skin on my neck. That was definitely going to leave a mark.

"Marking my territory," he stated. Meaning I was his territory.

I did not know how I felt about that, being his. But I couldn’t deny the impulse that increasingly took over my senses and inhibitions. Something in me burned with a fire I didn’t believe was normal. It had started slowly and now…

You’re overthinking. 

When Ivan was done ravaging me, I finally got to leave. I quickly said goodbye to him, giving him reassurance that I would be fine and went to find my friends. Alice and Lisa had already gotten there and were sitting in the bus.

"Alice, make the sun go away, " complained Lisa. Alice only laughed.

"She's hungover..."Alice informed me.

"I did not know hangovers were this bad." Apparently the previous night was the first time Lisa had ever drank alcohol. I had misjudged her, thinking that since she was a cheerleader and relatively popular she had had plenty.

Leaving the two in the bus I went to grab my earphones from my locker before the bus left. I had time, Mr. Hoff, who was one of our chaperones, had not even arrived yet.

I was headed straight for my locker but before I got there, right on the corner of a hall I bumped into someone. Staring up at whoever it was I was astounded to see an angry looking Mr.Hoff.

When I looked down at the floor I saw a coffee cup and pouring out of it was a thick red liquid. The liquid stained my top and was dripping down on the floor. It hit me.

This is blood. The liquid that had poured out of the Starbucks cup Mr.Hoff had been holding was blood.

"It just had to be you," said the angry teacher. That was when I saw them, the fangs.

In this mouth hung a pair of sharp looking bloody fangs.