Children of The Fallen

Chapter 12: the date

"I made a promise to Chloe I wouldn't fight in the house, so I won't. Try that again and I will gladly walk outside with you." He shoves me to the ground. His attention pulls, he's focusing on something. "She just opened her door. Fix yourself, you have a date." He grimaces in disgust, then opens the front door and walks out.

Quickly I stand up, snapping my wrist back into place. I try to gather myself as fast as possible in the handful of seconds I have until she walks through that hallway. I comb my hand through my hair, and adjust my jean jacket once more, while I try to slow my breathing.

She walks out of the hallway in jeans and a black top. She looks beautiful, to be fair- she'd look beautiful wearing a trash bag. My nerves creep back in, the closer she gets to me. I feel time almost slow down watching her. She's only walking and I'm mesmerized. Her every step is graceful, the way her hair bounces, and her smile. Radiant and bright, glowing like her enchanting hazel eyes.

"Hey." She says, her silvery voice like music to my ears.

"Hey." I say, feeling the stupid smile on my face.

"So where are we going?" She asks.

"You'll see." I snap from my trance. I step back, leaning to pick up the basket Grayson forced me to drop. I really hope nothing broke. I open the front door, stepping back. "After you."

She smiles, making my heart flip as she walks out of the door.

We walk on the long driveway, walking towards the gate at the edge of the property. "This place is huge." She says. "You guys are royalty, so makes sense that you're all loaded."

"Pretty much yeah." I chuckle. "This is actually one of Chloe's smaller properties."

"Are you serious?"

"Oh yeah. Chloe has a few properties in her father's territory and maybe two or three overseas." I explain as we arrive at the gate. Her little escapes when she doesn't want to be in that eerily empty palace.

Her eyebrows shoot up in shock. "Wow." I step to the side of the gate entering the code so the doors can open. I turn back to her and as we wait for the gate to open, I keep peering down at her hand, wondering if I should make a move to hold it or not.

Hesitantly I reach for her hand, taking hold of it as we walk through the open gates. I notice how hot it is- almost unnaturally hot, teetering on burning. I know that feeling, remembering how everything felt when I was transitioning. She's fighting it really well.

Her transition seems to be more comparable to a turned vampire but more volatile with the intensity of her hunger. The transition of a non full blood High Royal isn't the smoothest as our human side fades while our vampire side emerges but it's smoother than hers or a turned. Really the only defining part of the 'half human' aspect of us is our childhood. Living without the thirst for blood for a little over a decade then we're pretty much just a normal vampire albeit much stronger than them. Even if there isn't any explicit human part of me anymore I think I feel more connected to them than to vampires. The worst kinds of vampires give us a bad name and personally disgust me. Just because our natural impulses are something violent and lethal doesn't mean you have to submit to them. Maybe it's how I was raised with my families teachings or maybe it's spite but I refuse to be anything like them.

We cross the street entering the small park across from Chloe's house. "So there's a gazebo in this spot towards the middle of the park I think the surrounding area is used a lot for picnics but you know during the day." I say as we walk the cobblestone path. "You didn't eat yet right?" I ask, praying she didn't I don't wanna be responsible for breaking her regimen.