Vampire Girl (Book 1)

~7~

While Carter drove, I couldn't suppress the urge to ask him: "So, if you're a vampire, and don't deny it, because I know you are, how long have you been alive for?" He sighed and kept his eyes on the road in front of him. "I haven't been alive for centuries, if that's what you're asking. But I have been alive for half a century at least." he replied, and I raised an eyebrow. "Really? So what were the eighties like, then?" I couldn't help but ask. At that, he laughed and spared a glance in my direction. "You're funny, Vivian, you know that, right?" he asked. I shrugged and looked out the window. I frowned when I saw the unfamiliar ground outside. "Where are we going exactly? This better not be a prank or something, because I will find out and I'll kill you myself." I told him. He laughed again, less subtler this time. "You're that adamant about getting away from me, huh?" he asked. I shrugged again. "Maybe. But it depends if you do try something. And I have my phone, by the way, so I can call the police. They'd be on you within five minutes." I said to him, and he laughed, for the third time. "But I'd already be done with whatever I planned to do with you anyway." he said, and grinned at me. I looked out the window again, and my frown lightened when I saw the hill ahead of us. "Is that...?" I trailed off, leaning forward in my seat. "Uh huh. I think we'll get a pretty good view from up there." he said, and unbuckled his seat belt once he parked the car at the bottom of the hill and turned off the engine. I was too busy gawking at the hill in front of me to notice that he unbuckled my seat belt too, before getting out of the car and opening the trunk. "What are you doing?" I asked him, and got out of the car. He slammed the trunk door shut and I saw that he had a small box with him under his arm. I frowned. "What's that for?" I asked him, suspiciously. He smiled and started heading towards the hill. "You'll see." was all he replied, and I followed him up the hill.

"Are you okay with sitting on the grass? I didn't want to bring a blanket to make it look too much like a picnic or anything." Carter said, motioning to the spot on top of the hill behind him. "It's fine." I said with a shrug, and sat next to him on the grass. He frowned and patted the space in front of him. I eyed him and said simply: "No." He groaned. "Come on, Vivian. I promise I won't let you fall over." he said, encouragingly. I rolled my eyes as I complied: "Fine." I sat down in between his legs and looked up at the night sky above. It was beautiful: the black night sky was lit up by millions of white stars. As I stared up in awe, I could feel Carter's gaze on me. But it wasn't piercing; it was something that I couldn't describe. "There's still a little bit of time left before the announced time for the meteor shower. Do you wanna ask some questions to pass the time?" Carter asked. I nodded and shifted my position so that I was more comfortable. "Have you... ever killed someone?" I asked, hesitatingly. The question must've been a bit too harsh because I could actually feel him cringe. "Well, not exactly. I've just fed a lot, but that's pretty much it. You know there's such a thing as talking about lighter topics." he said. I laughed out loud. "Yeah. Sure. I can do that. So... what's your favorite color?" I asked him, curiously. It took him a few seconds before saying: "Blue." Huh. This was new. A vampire whose favorite color wasn't anything dark and conspicuous. He must've noticed my silence and thought of it as confusion, so he continued: "Blue's my favorite color because it's the color of the sky in the daytime. And as much as it isn't as sunny here as it was in California, I somehow miss the sun, despite it being bad for me." I chuckled, and then looked down at the grass. "Black's my favorite color." I told him. He placed a hand on my arm to motion for me to go on. I sighed, then plucked out some grass as I spoke. "I don't know why it's my favorite color. But I know that people have used that as an excuse to call me a vampire, only because I wear black, like, all the time." I explained. A few seconds after I finished speaking, Carter wrapped his fingers around my forearm. "That's why they call you 'vampire girl'? Just because you wear black all the time? But, and I mean no offence, you haven't really worn just black in the last few days." he said. I glanced at him but continued to pull out some grass. "Yeah, well, I used to wear just black all the time, every day, so that's why people assumed I was a vampire. And also because I wore a lot of makeup." I told him. He sighed then let his hand fall from my arm. "Why do you wear makeup, Vivian?" he asked, curiously. My eyes widened and I didn't respond to him. At least, not right away.