Life Within Crystalfort: Our Story Continues - Part One [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twelve

We were on our way out of Ames, now. I had my new glasses on. The prescription was really high and made me dizzy from its strength. In the long run, I guess it'd be worth it. Maybe I'd get later eye surgery, eventually. No, I would never do that. I'd seen Final Destination 5, and, no spoiler alert here, but it wasn't pretty. I guess that I'd be dealing with my glasses for a very long time.

I scooted closer to Clawd and leaned against him, my head on his chest. He moved his arm, wrapping it around me and placing his hand back on the steering wheel. My glasses kind of made it uncomfortable, but I'd get used to it. A small smile crossed my face. I could hear his heartbeat and feel his warmth. Sometimes, his warmth was extremely nice against the cold of my own body. I didn't retain body heat like humans or werewolves. Vampires couldn't do that. We were literally dead but alive at the same time. Like zombies but not. Whatever, you get the point.

I opened my eyes, finding myself inside my own house. I glanced around the room; my bedroom. Clawd was sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, reading a book. I glanced at the clock, which I could now read. 4:37. I wasn't sure why I was so tired lately. Maybe it was just another one of my problems that I had going on right now. I'd worry about it later.

"Frankie texted you earlier," Clawd said, tossing my phone onto the bed. I picked it up and looked through the several messages that Frankie had sent me.

"Mom told me you came over for an examine..... Are you ok?" "Laura? Are you there?" "Draculaura, answer me!"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just needed a quick check-up. Nothing more." It was something more, but no one else needed to know that. I hadn't even been aware that she had been texting me all day. I guess I was busy with my own problems.

"If something was wrong, you'd tell me, right?" Of course I would. If I didn't, her mom would tell her or she'd find out some other way. Frankie had her ways of getting information out of people.

"Of course. You and all of my friends would know. I couldn't keep something like that from you guys." After I hit send, I realized who I had to talk to. Lagoona Blue was someone who had always been there for everyone. She was one of the few monsters out there that you could talk to and not have to worry about your problem being told to everyone in the world. I sat up on my bed, crossing my legs like a "pretzel", and shot a text Lagoona's way.

"Hey, is it ok if you came over here?" I waited for a reply. If she said yes, I'd ask my dad if it was ok. Most likely, he wouldn't care. He never cared a lot about that kinda stuff.

"Sure can, mate. Something up?" I shook my head, a slight smile crossing my face. It was a huge habit of mine, shaking my head when no one was there to see it. Clawd was there, but he was still reading. Then, I considered another idea. I replied a simple "nothing's wrong" to Lagoona and set down my phone.

"Hey, Clawd, you have a minute?" He put the bookmark in his book and set it on his lap. He turned his head to look at me and nodded.

"I've always got a minute for you, Laura. What's up?" I thought about how I wanted to address what I wanted to talk about. I mean, as of this moment, I still didn't know what was wrong with me. I took a deep breath and looked at Clawd.

"I really can't tell you what's wrong; I don't even know what's wrong. But, either way, I know something is wrong with me. I'm a vampire that needs glasses. I'm tired all the time. My body temperature has increased from what what it's supposed to be. I feel normal. Not vampire normal, but..... human normal. I know my human days were so long ago, but I still remember the days clearly. I know the whole thing sounds weird, but I feel human," Clawd just sat there taking in what I had said, staring at me. He stretched and brought his hands up to his mouth.

"No matter how you're feeling, Laura, you're just fine. You're a vampire and nothing can change that. You're my little monster, and no feeling you have right now can change that," he said, standing up. He walked over to me and kissed the top of my head, sitting on the bed next to me. "You understand that, right?" I nodded uncertainly. I didn't understand that. I just wanted him to understand what I felt, what I was going through. Instead, he had told me that my feelings weren't right, I wasn't any different than I was before. But, I was different than I was before. That, I knew for sure.

I pulled away from his touch and got off of my bed.

"I'm heading downstairs. You coming with me?" He nodded and stood up and walked out of my room. I shut off the lights, watching as Count Fabulous flew out of his miniature bat cave, and shut the door. I walked slowly behind Clawd. He really hadn't cared that I felt so awkward and different right now. He literally could've cared less.

"Didn't you promise your mom you'd be back home today?" I asked.

"Shoot. I completely forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me. I'll text you later. Ok?" I nodded. I stood on my tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek, he returned the kiss. He walked though the foyer and and grabbed his coat off the rack, slipped on his boots, and walked out the door. I listened as the truck started up. I watched him leave the driveway and turn on to the road, heading back to his own house.

"Dad!" I exclaimed. It took several minutes for him to find me in the foyer. He had been downstairs, he explained. He was working on some things. Did I need something?

"Can Lagoona come over? Just for a little bit?" He looked around the foyer and walked past me, looking into the kitchen. He walked back to where I stood, raising an eyebrow.

"Where's Clawd?" He asked. Vhere's Clawd was what it sounded like. I smiled in spite of myself. No matter how hard he was working to correct the "v" sound, I loved it.

"He just went home. He promised his mom he'd be home Saturday but the roads still hadn't been cleared off so he stayed another night. Now, the roads are fine. Can Lagoona come over?" My dad shrugged.

"I don't see why not. Hey, you feeling alright?" I got asked that question a lot, lately. I thought about the question, thought about all of my possible answers, and finally settled on an answer. I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I'm just feeling kinda "under the weather". Still trying to get used to having to wear glasses and whatnot," I said, pushing them back onto the bridge of my nose. He nodded.

"I still can't believe that you, a vampire, have to wear glasses. It's fascinating," he said, running his fingers through my hair. "This isn't just some act, is it? For attention or something drama-based like that?" I laughed, the sound seeming hollow.

"Nothing drama-based, Dad. I'm not all about the attention that I could get," I said. He chuckled and pulled me into a hug. I hesitated before wrapping my arms around him. Even through his clothes, my own, and the warmth of the house, I could feel the cold of his body. The cold of his dead body clashed completely with the warmth of my dead body.