CHAPTER THREE

“Hey, Paul,” I cried.  Paul looked over his shoulder at me, quickly turned around and started walking faster.

"What an ass," I muttered as I picked up my own place to catch after him.

“Did you not hear me when I called your name,” I asked as I finally caught up to him.

He shuffled his feet.  “I did… but after last night, I didn’t want to see you again…”

“I know what happened last night was really bad.  But look, he wants me to invite you tonight.  As a special guest… join us!”

“I’d rather not,” he mumbled.

I grabbed him by his collar, finally losing my temper.  “Look, I know that Thomas almost drained you of your blood last night, but that doesn’t mean that you can just shut out the world of Vampires.”

“Sure it does.  All I have to do is just be safe in the sunlight,” he grinned at me.

I smiled back and leaned in close to his face, “oh really now?  Then how do I go to school?”  His smile disappeared and he looked horrified.

“That’s what I thought,” I said as my smile grew bigger.

“I hadn’t really noticed it, I guess.”

“Well, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, what do you say?  I’ll tell Thomas not to drink your blood.”

“Why?  He tried drinking my blood last time I was there, why would I want to go?  I want to live to see my life at thirty,” he snapped at me.

“I’ll be there to make sure he doesn’t even look at you wrong.  Besides, Thomas wants to hear more about your idea of giving us blood.”  Not true, Thomas just wanted to brag to his friend that his “lover” found somebody whose blood was just as sweet smelling as mine.

“Really, he’s that curious,” Paul asked as his hopes were raised.

“I’m not lying to you, you idiot.  Look, just come with us.  Just for tonight, and if you don’t like it, we won’t ask you to come again, agreed?”

Paul looked at me like I was actually lying to him, which in a way I was if you thought about it.  The bell rang.  Time was going a lot slower to me it seemed.

I cleared my throat, “well?”

“Fine,” he sighed.

“Great, I’ll come and get you when we’re ready.”

Later on that night, I threw pebbles at his window.  He didn’t answer.  I patiently waited for him to come to the window before I threw some more pebbles.

Finally Paul ended up coming to the window and opening it up.

“Is it time to go?” Paul whispered to me.  I nodded my head at him.  Paul grabbed the closet tree branch to himself, and slowly edged out the window.  I had to stifle a giggle watching him climb out, because even though this kid had snuck out from his house to follow me, his actions suggested he didn’t trust himself not to fall to the ground below him.

Which he ended up doing anyway.

“Fucking A,” he muttered as he rubbed his now sore bottom.

“Are you done messing around,” I teased him.  If there was one thing to give this kid credit for it would have to be that he put a smile on my face with his goofiness.  Even if he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

Paul and I began walking through the woods to go and meet Thomas.  My mind was racing.  What would Thomas do?  Thomas hadn’t really given me a reason to not trust him before.

“I bet nobody has told you this before, but you have some really beautiful hazel eyes,” he said quietly.  I stopped biting my fingernails as I looked at him.

“What did you just say to me?” I wanted to make sure that I had heard him right.  And if I did, wow, does he know how to make me stop and wonder for a minute.  That was the first compliment I had heard in a long time.

“I mean… Well, your hazel eyes turn green from time to time when you look thoughtful about something…”  I took a deep breath in.  I didn’t think anybody else had noticed except for me and my sister.

“Did you just say my beautiful hazel eyes?”

He gulped and looked down.  “Yes, don’t you get a compliment from time to time?”

I frowned at him.  “Yes… but it’s just been a while that’s all… just please don’t do it again,” I said softly.  He just gave me a funny look, and before he asked what I meant I told him that we needed to get going.  I smirked as I thought of my favorite quote from Game Of Thrones….

“For the night is dark and full of terror….”*

By the time we arrived, Thomas had already had his fill of blood.  He didn’t want to eat in front of Paul, in case it grossed him out or something.  “Ah, here he is, the man of the hour!  Paul!  This is Paul, of whom I tried to drain his blood last night.  Smell his blood; it’s just calling out to you isn’t it?”

“Indeed it is.  Greetings, Paul and Tammy, I am Darien.”  I stopped breathing as he came into the light of the fire, for even a picky girl like me, he was extremely handsome.  He had brown hair with little gray areas poking through.  He was wearing a business suit that fit him extremely well, indicating that he took care of his body with workouts, and had awesome looking teeth as he flashed us a smile.  Darien was Thomas’s lifetime friend, and I never had the pleasure of meeting him before.

“Paul, I made a long distance call today to my dear old friend, and told Darien all about you.  He is very interested,” Thomas boasted.  I knew better, he really wasn’t, he probably only came over because Thomas and Darien got into mischievous fun one year together.  They’ve been best friends since.

“Paul, I understand that you’d like to help Thomas and Tammy with supplying them with animal blood.  I am a bit interested in knowing how you can accomplish something like this without people asking questions.”

Paul began explaining how he hunts every weekend with his father and how excellent of a hunter he was.  They hunted deer, rabbit, foxes, you name it and they’ve probably hunted it.  The family even has their own butcher shop downtown.

While Paul was talking to Darien, Thomas snuck up to me and wrapped an arm around my waist.  I ignored the sickening feeling that I was feeling in my gut.  I wasn’t one to question my place among these Vampires, but I also hated the fact that whoever turned you; you are bound to them forever.

“My dear Tammy I can sense something troubling you.  Whatever is the matter,” he murmured into my ear.

I squirmed under his hot breath in my ear and tried to pull away from him.  The vampire was almost too touchy-feely for my taste.  I hated how he always had to be playing with my hair or touch my hand, if only for a brief moment.  He pulled me back in tighter and I could feel his fingers digging into my hip.

“Would you mind loosening your grip there hot-rod?” I snapped at him.  I looked up at his bewildered expression.  I could feel my anger rising, despite me trying to bury it.  My temper could get the best of me sometimes, but it seems that it was a losing battle this time.  How dare he look at me like that?  Like he can’t tell that he’s too much at times, that I wouldn't mind a little space every now and then?

Like he can’t tell that he’s ruined my life forever?  That I will never have a normal life because this vile creature had to have me for himself?  What kind of fucked up person decides to change a six-year old into a half-vampire?

“Everything alright over there you lovebirds,” Darien teased from afar.

Alright.  I think I’ve had enough of this.  Time to nut up or shut up, as one would say.

“Actually, no.  Everything is not alright over here,” I said as I finally released myself from Thomas’ grip.  “I actually have something that I would like to say before things go too far.  I think it’s time that Paul goes home and that you go away.  I would like a moment of privacy with Thomas.”

“Tammy, anything that you have to say you can say in front of Darien.  He is a trustworthy companion of mine,” Thomas assured me.

Paul looked between all three of us.  Even though Paul wasn’t supernatural, it didn’t take one to know that tensions were starting to rise in the small field in the middle of the woods.  Where if something happened nobody would be able to find his body.  Paul pulled out a flashlight and started making his way back home, but not without sneaking a final glance at me that I ignored.  I knew that if I looked back at him I would’ve probably lost my nerve to tell Thomas what’s been on my mind for awhile, for fear of putting Pau’s life at risk.  I didn’t know how Thomas would take this news.

Once Paul was out of earshot I heaved a big breath in and spat out my request.

“I think it’s best if Thomas and I weren’t…. together anymore.”

Both Darien and Thomas looked at me in confusion.

“My dearest Tammy, I’m not quite sure I know what you mean.”

“Well you always say how we’re meant to be…  That’s the rules for when a vampire changes you.  But I say maybe it doesn’t always have to be that way…”

“Tammy, are you not happy with the life you have with Thomas?” Darien inquired.

“I don’t know.  I mean, it’s not like I cared enough to come here.  I was forced to come here by my own will,” I murmured and froze.  I can’t believe I said that out loud.  I didn’t care if I hurt Thomas’s feelings; he got over it pretty quickly.  But I had never spoken those thoughts out loud until now.

Thomas looked at me and blinked his eyes slowly in confusion.  “Tammy, are you saying that you don’t like me?”

Tears blinded my sight, despite me trying to make sure I didn’t cry; but dammit he did this to me and I was going to let him have it!  “I never wanted to be a vampire.  I don’t want to be immortal lovers with you Thomas!  I’m sorry I said that, but it’s the truth.  It just doesn’t settle right with me Thomas.”  I hugged myself, “all I ever wanted was a normal childhood, but you took that away from me.”

“But, Tammy, I love you,” Thomas whispered as he looked hurt.  His composure was staggering, and he was leaning against a tree and blinking his eyes a lot.  I didn’t care though; I was in the heat of the moment.

“How can you say that?  You don’t even know what I love doing, or who I like to hang out with.  You’ve never bothered asking me who my favorite author is, favorite movie, favorite ice cream or anything!  You don’t know anything about me!  And to top it all off, I’m only seventeen years old, and you’re over four-hundred years old!” I shouted at him.

Darien interfered by stepping in front of Thomas.  But not before I saw Thomas wipe away a tear.  “I believe, by knowing Thomas for a long time, he’s never had an immortal lover before at all.”

“He never had a lover?” I blinked and stepped around Darien to look at Thomas.  All he could do was just look at me with sadness and all I could think was, why do I have to be such a bitch to him?  He goes out of his way to supply me with blood.  Why do I have to be so cruel?

“Never,” Darien said, crossing his arms over his chest.  He looked disappointed at me for not knowing.  But this was never mentioned to me before.  How do these Vampire people expect me to know these things without telling me?

I looked to Darien and began to look at Tom, “I didn’t know… Thomas?”  He was gone.  Just as he had been standing there before, he wasn’t now.  “I’m so sorry.  He never told me that.  I –I have to go now…”

“You’re not going anywhere until after I see you feed.  You haven’t had a single blood bag since being here.  It’s very dangerous for a vampire to go hungry, half or not.”

I couldn’t focus on what Dairen was telling me.  I had my own thoughts running amuck in my head.  I started getting a headache, and I saw flashes of images.  I shook my head and Darien was staring at me, like I shouldn’t have been doing that.  I didn’t understand them though; all I saw was that I was running with two kid boys that I hadn’t seen in my entire life.  I shrugged away the gnawing feeling that I should have.