Chapter Nine

Alessia.

I walked into the house, glad there was nobody in the sitting room before quietly shutting the door close. Turning around, I went into shock as I came face to face with my uncle, Joxer. My heartbeats accelerated as I watched him. Even when I did nothing wrong, he still managed to instill this strong fear in me.

I straightened up, held my bag straps for support and greeted him "I'm back"

"From school?" He asked, peering at the watch wrapped around his wrist "because highschool ends by 3 and it's almost 5"

Is he being serious? At least I came home! I wanted to scream at him, to tell him that he wasn't my parent and that I could do whatever I want but I looked down instead, looking for a perfect excuse to give.

"I.....I wasn't feeling well earlier so after school, Ashley offered to take me to Ammie's to grab a few bites"

Silence.

"Good," he replied "someone's waiting for you in the kitchen.

Nodding, I walked past him and headed towards the kitchen. Stepping in, I saw a woman's back turned to me while she talked with my mom who sat on a stool. My mom sees me and said to her "there she is"

She turns around to face me and my eyes grew wide like saucers.

"Ingrid!!" I screamed on top of my voice, running into her arms for a hug.

"Hey girl" she said amidst laughter, hugging me tight.

Ingrid was my mom's younger sister, the last one of them. I always liked her. She was nice and her cinnamon hair always smelled so nice. She was never really here, she's always traveling and only stays here for a few weeks or longer when the family has a vampire hunting to do. She was a really skilled woman and I always wanted to be like her one day.

Pulling away from her, I said "oh my God, it's so good to see you"

"Look at you, Alice, you're so big now" she said, poking my cheek with a finger. I laughed. Old habit.

"When did you come back?"

"Today, in the morning. Your mom told me you went to school. Highschool huh?"

"Yeah," I grinned ear to ear "are you gonna stay longer?"

"Oh no, baby. I'm just crashing in. Would be gone tomorrow before you even wake up"

"Okay" I hugged her again "it's really nice to see you again"

"I heard there's a vampire in town," Joxer said as he walked in "hopefully, that would make your aunt stay longer" he referred to Ingrid.

"Yeah, you know me"she replied.

"Why not just stay and let's figure it out together?" My mom said, sipping her wine from the glass in her hand.

"I can't Miranda, I'm really busy with a lot of work in LA"

"Alessia" Joxer called me and I turned to him.

"A little Birdy told me something today," he Said, giving me a sly look. I thought my heart exploded in my chest when the thought of my break up with Patrick occured to me. He knows already? How does that even concern this conversation?

Turning to my mom, he said "why don't you explain to your mom and your aunt who thinks you're such a perfect little nephew why you fought with Patrick in school today"

He's just trying to turn the whole family against me again, isn't he?

I looked at my mom and saw the frown that crossed her face as soon as the words left Joxer's mouth. I saw the disgusted look on her face and the confused look on Ingrid's face.

"Who's Patrick?" Ingrid asked before I could reply.

"Her boyfriend" he replied almost immediately, his scowl unchanged as he watched my eyes. "Have you forgotten, Ingrid?"

"They're still together?" She asked.

"Answer the question, Alessia" Joxer commanded.

" I didn't fight with him" I replied truthfully.

"Then perhaps someone did on your account"

"Nobody fought with anyone, Joxer!" I screamed "what if I had a fight with him? Should you be so concerned about it?!"

"Watch your mouth Alessia" my mom says.

"Of course it concerns me," he replied "that boy means alot to this family and you better learn to keep him by your side at all times"

"What about my opinion? Nobody ever cares about that!"

"Alessia" I heard my mom's voice calling me from the background but all I could concentrate on was the anger filling me up. Nobody around here seems to understand that I'm not a child anymore and that I'm gonna be eighteen soon! Least they still treat me like a fucking child. Who the hell puts a highschooler on a curfew these days?! I didn't know how much longer I could stand here, listening to him say more than he already did to me.

Angrily, I turned towards the kitchen's exit and stormed out.

"Alessia!" I heard my mom's call but I don't stop.

"You pissed her off, Joxer" I heard Ingrid's voice before I reached the main door, picked out a large coat and stepped out. I didn't know where I was going but I couldn't stay here for another minute.

I half ran down the long steps and into the large drive way before putting the coat over my body. The night was crispy cold already, I couldn't afford to get another flu or Cara was gonna make me take those meds again. I hurried out through the large gates, watched the quiet street while wondering where the hell I'm supposed to go.

It was getting pretty dark now and the houses lights shone bright throughout. I dug my hands into the coat's side pockets and looked far across to see Tephanie's house. Light shone from her bedroom's window, the rest of the windows dark. She's living the life without having anyone to tell her what to do. I'd gladly trade my life for hers anytime, any day.

Sighing greatly, I pushed the coat fronts together with my hands deep inside its pockets before stepping up onto the sidewalk starting from the end of our gate. This looks like the perfect night for a stroll. I needed to clear my head.

I started walking slowly along the sidewalk, face facing down. I walked for a few seconds, making a cornered turn to the street behind Tephanie's. I continued to walk, the thought of all that happened today replaying in my head.

How could Patrick be so stupid? The thought of him hitting Harden makes me frown. I suddenly wondered how Harden was doing. I didn't have his number and couldn't call him. Suddenly, I was hearing his voice inside my head, all he said earlier before Patrick intruded, making me smile. I couldn't quite get a hold of this particularly humorous thing about him and it didn't seem to bother me. If anything, it pleased me to wonder about.

Just then, I felt the presence of somebody walking behind me. I stopped, looked to the side to maybe catch the person's shadow but I saw nothing. Stopping completely, I turned around, my eyes gliding all over the wide streets road but nothing.... There was nobody coming behind me. That's strange. I could almost swear that I heard footsteps.

"Looking for someone?" A voice spoke from my front and I turned fearfully to see Harden. 

He's propped inward, his left side leaning against the street light pole just a few steps upfront, his arms folded across his chest, a little smile on his lips as his eyes watched me.

I sighed in relief, smiling back.

"Harden" I called and slowly started walking towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"You were thinking about me so I came" he said, taking himself off the pole before I reached him.

I smiled at his joke before replying "I wasn't thinking about you, Harden"

"No? Then what was that ringing in my ear?" 

I grinned before replying "you believe in that?"

"I don't know" he shrugged his shoulders "where are you going?"

It's my turn to shrug now "nowhere. Just going for a stroll"

"You sound upset" he said, coming closer to me.

His great observance thrilled me. 

Giving him a small smile, I replied "yeah. Wanna walk with me?"

I nodded.

We started walking together, my eyes suddenly finding the number of street lights standing around amazing to count.

"So," he broke the silence "who made you upset?"

"My uncle" I replied immediately "who else could it be?"

"Patrick perhaps?"

I chuckled again, brushing back my hair to reply "I do not wanna think about him tonight"

"I'm sorry"

"No need to be. It's alright. So what are you doing out here? Live around here too?"

"No, I don't live anywhere near here"

"Then our meeting here is a coincidence? Come on, you must've come here for a reason"

I saw how he smiled as he looked at his feet. I tore my eyes from him and faced forward, waiting for him to reply.

"I was just taking a walk around the city," he replied "just trying to know places"

"You moved here with your parents?"

"Yeah" I could hear the sigh that came with that and from my reasoning, there was more to his answer than my question entailed. "What about you? Live with your parents?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I live with my mom and uncles."

"Uncles? The one that put you on curfew?"

"Yep, you got that right"

"He's the one who pissed you off too, right?"

"You're right again" I looked up to the dark sky, remembering all that happened in the house before I left. "My family's just....... insane sometimes. I get to live with uncles who're supposed to be living at their own houses and they wouldn't even leave me alone!"

I heard him laugh silently before he said "perks of living in a big house"

"How do you even know that I live in a big house?"

"Your street says it all. Plus, you live with your uncles too. You wouldn't be living with them in a small house"

I smiled, wondering how he managed to observe so many things. He was good at it too.

"They just don't....get it, you know? Trying to run my life for me. It sucks"

"Ever thought of running away?"

I shot a look at him, wondering if he was joking or serious about that but when I saw the grin on his face, I smiled back. Silly.

"Yeah, maybe I just might run away soon" I replied sarcastically. Realizing I've walked too far, I stopped and turned to face him. 

"I should turn back now, came too far already" I told him.

His eyes watched me, filled my whole body and the way he looked at me made me feel like turning away from him now was something I was gonna regret once I left him. What kind of awkward feeling is that?

"Let me walk you back then" he offered.

"Don't worry about that, I can walk on my own. I think you came from afar"

"I can manage. I just wanna make sure you get home safe"

Nodding with a smile, I replied "alright"

We turned around and went back the way we came, talking about our families and school, talking about everything there was, talking about how fucked up my life was sometimes. I never really feel comfortable around people I barely know, talk more of telling them the things that bothered me but with Harden things were different. He always knew what to say, he knew what I wanted to hear and he made me feel better about so many things.

I bade him goodbye at the gate before walking back in, dreading seeing Joxer again but luckily when I got in, neither him nor my mom were anywhere in sight so I quickly snuck up to my room.