Vampire Bride

Chapter Twenty Seven: Part One

Charlie

There used to be a time when the sun's warm rays felt nice against my skin. The days when nightfall brought out death and sunshine held safety...not anymore. The note that Maxwell received still repeats itself in my head.

Tick tock, death awaits.

I'm surprised I make it to work on time today as he lectured me about watching my back all morning. I'll admit it's quite relieving to inhale fresh air since Maxwell refused to let me leave yesterday, best Sunday ever. He kept pacing the length of the suite as he went through plan after plan.

If Morgan wasn't coming back today I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have allowed me to leave. Again. Most of his plans consisted of me staying locked in his little room, waiting it out. He knows better than I do, it's just a matter of time before they make their move. Before I left, he insisted I carry a weapon.

I didn't want to carry a gun and I realize that pepper spray is pointless when it's so easily out of reach. The weight of my handbag makes the image of the old knife Maxwell gave me overpower all other thoughts. The antique wooden handle with a sharpened silver blade is amongst other things shoved in the depths of my purse.

My heart skips several beats when I see Morgan waiting in the parking lot, leaning against her car. A pair of large black sunglasses shade her eyes, but by her stance I know she's annoyed about something. Parking next to her, I get out and immediately strike up a conversation. "Something wrong?"

"Just hot, is all. I tried to get inside, but the spare key is gone."

Now that she mentions it, I can see beads of sweat on her forehead. "Yeah, um, I had to get rid of the key, sorry. I thought I would be here before you." We start walking to the front of the brick building as we talk.

"All is good. I got to work on my tan a little bit. You never know when that day comes when you wish you were tanner," Morgan adds as I wave her inside the building.

All I can do is nod in acceptance to her comment. A tan is the last thing on my mind right now. "If you need anything, just come on in," I tell her as I hurriedly walk away to the comfort of my office.

She stays away most of the day, but once it nears our time to leave, she comes in and sits down. I stare at her, eagerly waiting to hear what's going to come out of her mouth. But she just stares at me wide-eyed, waiting for me to address her first. "Yes, Morgan?"

"You didn't ask how my trip went. I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but I just thought you would want to know." She's nervous about something or still excited about what happened on this so-called trip with her vampire boyfriend.

Before, when she was gone, I grew jealous of her acceptance of James with or without knowing he's a vampire. However, now looking at her jittery fingers and bobbing head, I can tell that Morgan and myself are two different people and we each have our own dreams on how life should be. "I would love to hear where you two went this past weekend," I reply.

"We went to Austria. I might have been complaining about the heat earlier, but hell, it's cold there," she chimes back. Her words continue to flow out and she remains ignorant to my lack of attention toward anything she's saying until a loud snap fills the room, causing her to jump.

The pencil I'm twirling in between my fingers as she speaks breaks in half under pressure at the word Austria. Austria...she went to Austria with James...James the vampire. Instantly, I search for her hands, needing to see if she has committed herself to him in more ways than one. Luckily, her hands rest on the desktop, inches away from mine in efforts to calm me down for some reason.