Nefarious

C104 - Strange Behaviour

-Valerie's point of view-

Jace told Alex that Xavier had played the biggest role in the whole Adeline situation and that he'd taken care of it. He left out the part about me, surprisingly enough. "Jeez, can't trust anybody these days," Alex exhaled as soon as Jace had left the room. I don't want to keep lies from him, but I also don't want to ruin our relationship like I almost did yesterday. "I know," I answered shortly. "Anyway, I'll just have a quick shower. I'll be back soon," he said, heading towards the bathroom.

My curiosity turned into worries regarding Dane. He had read my message it said, but he hadn't replied. I tried messaging Nikkie to get in touch with him, but she also left me on read. This was too suspicious, I highly doubt both of them would act like this. Could they? Would they?

After a lot of debating and sighs of frustration, I finally decided to call Nikkie. My call was declined abruptly, but a message ticked in. "Meet me outside the shopping center at 1 pm." I scratched my head, trying to figure out why she would decline my call like that and then message me right after.

"You going somewhere?" Alex asked as he put on a shirt. "Just going for a quick walk," I answered. His upper body leaned more to the side and his arms crossed. "I can't hide forever, you know," I said. "I trust you to be careful," he shrugged his shoulders, letting his arms fall down. "So you're not gonna argue about it?" I frowned. He smiled warmly: "No." Wow, he must be in a good mood?

The way Alex looked at me before I left made me feel like he knew something I didn't. There was something about the look in his eyes and the cheeky grin on his face. I'm sure I must be overthinking, but that sure was strange.

Last time I met Dane and Nikkie, the weather was freezing cold, but now it was sunny and warmer. The weather in the united states confuses me, but oh well. "You made it here!" Nikkie suddenly said, running over to me. "Yeah, Alex was surprisingly acceptive of it," I answered. She narrowed her eyebrows slightly, creating the beginning of a confused frown. "He's not coming after you, is he?" she asked, worry dominating her voice. "No, why?" I cleared my throat. "I was just wondering," she slightly smiled.

Nikkie and I were sitting in the exact same place as Dane and I once did. "How, um, how was it to go back to Hayden?" I asked. She was stroking her left hand over her right wrist, looking down at her hands before answering my question. "It's been alright, but quite boring." I couldn't stop staring at her hand going back and forth on her wrist. She continued talking, but I kept staring absently at her damn wrist. "Val?" she suddenly raised her voice. "That's me," I answered, breaking the intense staring moment. "You okay?" she questioned, souding concerned. "Yea," I paused, "actually no, what's happened to your wrist?" I asked. "Oh, I'm not sure," she stammered, still covering her wrist with her hand.

During our talk, she continuously looked down at her lap to where her phone was. I suspected that Dane was worried, it's typical of him to message people a lot. Alex, on the other hand, hadn't sent me a single message. "Sorry for all the interruptions, you know Dane," she apologized, exhaling. Aha, so it was Dane.

We went outside since Nikkie felt like getting some air. I asked her several times whether she was okay or not, considering her sudden stressed mood. She wouldn't answer though, and out of nowhere, she decided to lit a cigarette. I didn't even know she smoked. She hesitatingly put the lit cigarette between her lips, inhaling deeply. "I wasn't aware that you smoked," I said. She glanced at me, moving her cigarette in-between her index finger and middle finger. "I don't," she answered shortly.

The strong smell of tobacco ran through my nostrils as she inhaled the smoke down to her lungs. She coughed quite frequently, making me think she hadn't really smoked anything before. I was leaning against the cold wall of the shopping center, with one foot up against it. "I'm in a tricky situation," she told me, flicking the tip off the cigarette. I bit the inside of my lower lip as she stared at the cigarette that was decreasing. "Well, do you want to talk about it?" I offered. "I can't," she declined. "I respect that-" I started. "Actually, Valerie," she paused, "I would like to talk." I let my foot fall down before I moved away from the wall to give her my full attention. She let go of the cigarette so that it fell to the ground, stumping it with her shoe. "Are you evil?" she asked directly. "I'm not, no, but I can't speak for the people around me," I answered. Her curious look suddenly turned brooding as her eyes moved to something over my shoulder...

Before I could even think of turning around, Nikkie was pushed up against the wall of the shopping center. I automatically gasped loudly and began stuttering. "Valerie!" she shrieked. "Please stop!" I begged. The person was wearing a dark hoodie which made it difficult to identify who it was. However, I could see the hand and saw the blue veins which brought colour to the person's pale hands. It was a male vampire, meaning he could easily kill her right in front of my eyes. He was pacing, seemingly furious and strong. The person removed his hoodie, letting his dark blonde hair come to view. My jaw dropped, my breath deepened. "She hasn't done anything, you have to believe me," I said calmly, taking easy steps towards them. He moved his head in my direction, exposing his dangerously sharp and intimidating fangs. I swallowed oddly, terrified to see him like this. I put my hands up and carefully placed one of them on his icy cold hand. "You need to stop, Alex," I said. He let go of her immediately, but he wasn't convinced that she was innocent... it was easy to tell by the look on his face.