Casmiere and Victoria sat on a bench at the edge of the camp talking. The reason for sitting so close to the woods was to be out of sight from the majority of the campers and councilors, and so Casmiere could make a quick escape, should somebody notice him and realize he’s not supposed to be there. Sarah was also with them, though she didn’t speak, or even make her presence known. She wanted only to see if she could trust Casmiere, because trustworthy people were hard to find. Casmiere and Victoria had been talking for a few minutes, and they knew almost all of the basics about each other. They knew each other’s favorite colors, foods, birthdays, and music. They were surprised to find they had a lot of the same likes and dislikes. After Sarah pointing out what she did the other day, Victoria was able to notice more about him. Like the fact that he never once said anything about his past, his kind, or even his family. Victoria didn’t push him, or question him, though, thinking that maybe it just brings painful memories.
“So, where are you from, exactly?” Victoria asked him. “I mean, you’re from out of state, right?”
“I lived in Romania when I was little, but after-” he paused, and his eyes fell to the ground, studying the grass and dirt closely. “After the death of my kind,” he finally continued, though his voice was just barely audible, “I moved to America to get away from the terrible memories.”
“I’m sorry,” Victoria whispered, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, and staring into his soft, haunted eyes. As she stared, a wave of pain filled through her. She felt as if she was burning, and she could hear herself screaming. It wasn’t until after it was over that she realized it wasn’t her that was screaming, but somebody else. She stared, horrified into Casmiere’s eyes as an image flashed through her eyes. It was an image of a woman. She could see her face through a wall of flames as her body burned. And just as quickly as it came, it was gone, as was the screaming.
“Are you okay?” Casmiere asked, a look of concern across his face.
“Yeah,” she lied, forcing a smile. “I’m fine.”
The lie didn’t even come close to convincing Casmiere, though he dropped it anyway.
“So,” Victoria continued. “You’re Romanian?”
Casmiere nodded.
“Why don’t you have an accent?”
Casmiere shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just something about me. I can listen to a little bit of dialogue of a language, and speak fluently, as if I’ve been speaking it my entire life.”
“Can you say something in Romanian?” she challenged.
“Niciodată înainteam văzuto astfel de frumusețe,” he responded with a grin.
Victoria raised an eyebrow. “And what does that mean?” she asked.
He smiled at her before replying, “Never before, have I seen such beauty.”
A bright crimson shaded Victoria’s cheeks. “Oh,” she replied, unable to think of any other response. “Thank you.”
Sarah rolled her eyes at the scene. “Okay, are you guys done, yet? Because we need to get to back, soon,” she said, annoyance clear in her voice.
“No we don’t,” Victoria countered. “All of the camp activities are done for today and bedtime isn’t until nine-thirty.”
Sarah rolled her eyes, again.
“You know,” Casmiere said to Sarah, “nobody asked you to be here.”
“Actually, her father, who, may I remind you, is the vampire overlord, asked me to never leave her alone.”
YOU ARE READING
Prey {editing and revising}
Vampire**The Unwanted, Book 1** Casmiere has never had an easy life. Ever sense his birth, he's been nothing but trouble. He's the last of the demons known as Tesheerans, and doesn't believe he deserves the life he has. His past is filled with carnage an...
