Vampire Protection Program

Chapter 8. THIS IS ALL MINE?

So here you go guys. I finally have it for you. I hope you enjoy!!

Love you guys!!!

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Gracie opened the door to the store, looking kind of tired, but when she found that it was me, she smiled. I smiled back a little and she looked at my company. Her smile faltered a moment then she looked back at me with that same smile. She ushered me in and I looked back at the boys with my brow raised. They each gave a small shrug and followed me into the store. I smiled as I inhaled the familiar scent of books and closed my eyes. Old and new books lined the shelves and the warmth of the building made me want to pull a book from the shelf, curl up in the back or in one of the window seats, and read, lose track of time, forget about what happened to me for a moment, and get lost in a battle that wasn't my own.

Not that I had a battle, but it was interesting to think that I did.

"Hey Sam." Gracie said, drawing my attention back to her. I looked at her and she smiled softly at me. "How do you feel? I didn't expect you to be here until later."

"I'm feeling better." I smiled a small smile. "Glad to be moving around and all that good stuff." She smiled sadly. "How have you been?"

"Wondering how a nineteen year old girl can run my store without any sort of problem and trying to run it myself." I laughed a little.

"It's easy really." I answered. "Hard to explain, but easy to do. You just need to get into a rhythm. You will get it." I turned and looked at a shelf of books. I went through and ran my fingers over some of the books, looking for nothing in particular, just looking at the new books she had gotten. I chuckled when I noticed that some of them were in the wrong order. I liked having the same author next to each other, but those books had to either be in alphabetical or numerical order seeming as you couldn't have both. Book one might have a name that starts with an "R" but book too might start with a "B" so if it didn't have a series, I put it in alphabetical order and if it did, numerical.

I quickly rearranged the books and laughed a little as I turned back to them. Gracie looked a little sad as she came over to me and pulled me into a hug. She pulled back and smiled sadly at me.

"No I won't." she sighed. I scowled as she took my good hand, which was the burned one so it wasn't so good, as she smiled at me. Why was she smiling if she couldn't get this down? "I was going to tell you this before all this happened." She started. "But I was waiting for your family to tell you that you were leaving first..." her smile faded some. "...Your father and I were talking about a month back about this, and I know that I am never going to get this, as much as I love books, I'll never be able to run a store with how... antisocial I am, so..." I raised a brow at her as her grin came back. "...as your going away present, I am shipping all of this..." she gestured around the store at all the books and things. "...out to Scotland with you, and I am giving you the store." My eyes went wide as I looked at her.

"Are you... are you serious?" I gasped and she just laughed as she nodded. "You're giving me the store?"

"Yes." She answered. "Don't tell your father I told you this, but it is a birthday present as well as the going away present, and if I find more books that you might like, I will ship them out there when I can, but that isn't the part you can't tell your father. This is. He is looking for a place for you to set up your own book store." All I did was stare at her. My father was looking for a place for me to set up my own book store? I was a nineteen year old girl who was going to own a book store, run it, and everything else that goes along with it, and my father was okay with that?

Even after what happened to me only last week?

"Wow." I breathed and sat down in one of the chairs that was against the wall. "Why don't you sell it... or higher someone else?"