I try to think of something to ask, but my mind is blank. I take in the scenery that I haven't had the pleasure of looking at since I arrived. The lush gardens and well-trimmed bushes weave through the never-ending achers are nothing short of extraordinary.
"You are quiet for someone who has a free range for questions," Gerard says taking in a deep breath. I feel his gaze meet the side of my face burning into it more than the sunlight.
"I think that I have too many to form a cohesive one at the moment," I answer back truthfully. I let my hand graze the trimmed hedges that we are passing. It feels newly trimmed as if someone did it today.
"I am fine not talking about me, but there are other matters that are more pressing than your story unfortunately. Hence why you are here," Gerard says stopping in his tracks. I slowly stop too, allowing myself one glance around the garden before looking back toward the stranger that I am with.
"You are referring to Damon I am assuming," I say back finally letting my gaze reach his. He is looking at me with one of judgment and amazement. Something that I really never witness, and I am unsure of how to feel about it.
"Yes. He came to your apartment Y/n. And that is something that should scare you," Gerard says sternly.
I let out a short laugh and then look down towards the bushes again and run my hands over them.
"We spoke about this at my apartment and now I am here. I don't know what else I can really do or say about the matter. I don't even know what vampires truly are. You can be in the sun right now and not combust. You say that this stupid bracelet," I say wrapping my hand over my other wrist, "is supposed to keep you out of my head and yet it doesn't. So ya, I am scared. I also feel like I am in a losing game because I don't know my appointment."
"I can understand your frustration," Gerard says back robotically.
His deminor and lack of emotion only infuriate me more. How could he understand what I am feeling or going through? He is the head of the whole state. He has more people to do his bidding than the president, he doesn't understand anything that a lonely 20-something-year-old journalist is going through.
"I was once a human too Y/n. Just because I don't feel that way anymore doesn't mean I don't remember it," Gerard says. Turning to face me fully. I try to compose my frustration while picking a few of the leaves from the plant.
"Someone worked hard on those to be to my liking you know," He says plainly. It's weird hearing him say something that is supposed to be a joke in his emotionless tone.
"So why can you stand out here and not burn? Is there another plant that can help you with that," I ask cleaning off my hands together and then turning towards him.
The side of his lip turns up. He looks even more mysterious with his dark sunglasses hiding his eyes. I don't know who he was before this but he must have always had some sort of power. The thought of him being some kind of commoner doesn't seem to be in his blood.
"What do you think is the reason," Gerard asks.
"You sold your soul to the devil to do his bidding. Or you have to eat a newborn baby every month," I say since my true thought of another herb isn't the reason.
He lets out a sigh that sounds like he was trying to laugh at what I was saying. He bares his full teeth and they look normal. His teeth aren't perfectly straight either, and some of them are actually smaller than a normal human's. A detail that doesn't seem to fit his persona, having flaws seems too human for him.
"No. I don't eat babies, and the devil part I think that having to live my life up here on earth for eternity is the devil laughing at me. Not helping me," Gerard says turning to face the path that we were on and continuing to walk.
I roll my eye and start to move, getting no true information from that statement.
"For someone who says I have free regain to ask you something. You don't really answer them," I say finally catching up to him.
"Magic," He says unbuttoning one of his dress shirt buttons and pulling out a thin chain with a small dagger pendant hanging from it.
I look up at him before taking a step closer to look at it with my detail. I see the handle of the dagger is made out of some metal with a stone carved as the handle.
I reach out to touch it placing it in my fingers. the dagger part is sharp but the delicacy of the items is mesmerizing. As I play with the piece of jewelry flipping it over in my hand my skin grazes his chest slightly.
I feel him stiffen before straightening his back letting it slip through my fingers. I hear him let out an uncomfortable grunt lifting his sunglasses and placing them on his head to button his shirt again.
I feel my cheeks heat up from my forwardness, I barely know the man and I tried to invade his personal space. Smooth Y/n, real smooth.
He finishes buttoning his shirt and glances up at me. In this close stance and in the light of day, I watch as his face changes.
Pulsing veins form under his eyes and his eyes become bloodshot. He pulls his eyebrows together looking like his concentrating on something intense.
He tilts his head down to the ground between our feet closing his eyes.
"My apologies," He says putting his glasses back down.
"No don't...I want to see," I say. Once again too forward and lifted my hands toward his face before he grabs my wrist tightly. A little too tightly for comfort.
"Let me be perfectly frank with you Y/n. You are in over your head. In any sign of danger that you have been put into, you seem to love to put yourself in more danger. I don't know if you have little value over your life or you are really that daft about what vampires are truly like," Gerard snarls.
His words cut a little too deep than I imagined they would. I never took myself as someone who was ignorant or had no street smarts. I pride myself in being able to read rooms and people, it's part of the reason that I wanted to be a journalist in the first place.
"First rule when in the presence of a vampire. When they look not human, don't put your radial artery near their mouth," Gerard says pushing my arm away from him before letting my throbbing wrist out of his grasp.
I rub my wrist and tilt my head toward the floor. He is right though, he obviously lost some sort of self-control. And I just waved his tasty meal right next to his mouth.
"Noted," is all I say before taking a step back.
He straightens once again and runs his fingers through his hair before turning to look to the right of us.
I try quickly to get back onto the subject that we were on before I completely overstepped and made a complete novice action.
"So the dagger is a specific stone that gives it power or something else," I say with as much confidence that I can muster.
"Both," he says finally turning back towards me.
"Okay....so how," I say in a monotone voice. God it's like pulling teeth with him today.
"Let me ask you something," Gerard says with a small smile creeping onto his face.
I let out a sigh before straightening my back and waiting for the question to come. So cryptic all the time, this piece is going to take forever to write.
"If you are so excepting of the thought of vampires being very real and very much among you. Why have you never considered that other mythical beings are true," Gerard says.
I slightly raise my eyebrows and look down towards his chest and then back up towards him.
He lets out a small chuckle before looking up towards the sky. I feel my heart twitch slightly at the beautiful sound but I think I am too shocked at the information I just received to focus on it.
"She is learning," Gerard says before turning to face forward, "let us head back."
A/N: :) hope you are all having a great week. Until next time.
