The Watchers

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Okay, so there is a big, scary man lying unconscious at my feet. What am I going to do?

Do I leave him or do I relieve this town of a guy who follows young girls in the woods at night and tries to touch them? Eugh, this gut makes my skin crawl. I should just do it, just dispose of him so he won’t do any harm to anyone else.

No I can’t do that, I’m one of the good ones. I’ve never spilt a single drop of human blood, purposely, that isn’t my own. That’s better than most of us good ones. I’m the one they’re trying to keep innocent and pure, yet here I am contemplating killing this guy.

But he’s not a good guy, and I’m here to protect this town from the bad guys like him. But I can’t do it, I can’t kill him, so I walk away before I change my mind. Instead I decide to keep a close eye on this guy and warn the others about him.

Finally I’m out of the woods and turning onto my street. I’m suddenly exhausted as the last of the adrenaline drains out of my body. I fish my keys from out of my bag but my front door opens before the key enters the lock.

I am met by my dad and Auntie and about three hundred questions. “Where have you been?” “What time do you call this?” “Why didn’t you at least text us?” Eugh, I just don’t have the energy for this.

I have to push through them to get into the house and I dump my bag at the bottom of the stairs before turning to face them “I’m sorry, I really am. We ran over which meant that I missed the last bus, which meant that I had to walk and then my battery died. I really am sorry.” I explained, really hoping that a lecture won’t follow because what I really want right now is my bed because the events of tonight are really starting to weigh me down. Even just smiling is now a huge effort.

“I don’t think you realise how much I worry about you” my dad says, his voice now soft, all of his anger suddenly gone.

 “That’s your problem” I say as I step towards him and give him a hug “you worry too much”

“You’re all I have left to worry about” he whispers into my hair.

“What about me, you know I’m not a worrier, yet I was also really worried about you” my Auntie Kate demands of me, her hands on her hips and eyes glaring down at me waiting for an answer. 

“I know. I really am sorry” I say as I detach myself from my dad and give my auntie a hug. I know she can’t resist my hugs and I frequently take advantage of this. She sighs and I can feel the fight in her drain away, I am victorious. 

“I think I’m just going to have a shower and then go to bed, I’m exhausted” I say as I start to make my way up the stairs. 

“Are you okay?” my dad asks, worrying again. 

“I’m fine” I laugh and roll my eyes at his over reaction “just tired.” As I head upstairs towards my room I hear my Aunt say to my dad. 

“She’s right you know, she isn’t your little girl who needs protecting at all times anymore.” She couldn’t be more right if she tried.

I dump my bag onto my bed and go into my own bathroom. I turn on the shower, peel off my clothes and step in. I spend about fifteen minutes scrubbing my body to be free of the invisible filth that cakes my body after tonight. But then I just sit in the shower and let the running water wash over my body until my fingers start to shrivel. 

I step out of the shower, pull on my pyjamas and start to dry my hair when my dad calls up to me “Isabella, Jamie’s here, shall I let him up?”

Jamie? What’s he doing here? “Erm, yeah sure dad” I can hear Jamie’s urgent footsteps over my hairdryer; I hope everything is okay I think absentmindedly. 

I hear his half hearted knock on my door as he calls through “hey Bella, it’s me, can I come in?” like I’d ever say no. 

Typical Jamie, always trying to be too polite “yeah, of course you can” I reply.

I watch as my best friend walks into my room, once again with a sense of urgency, my defensive barriers shoot up and my senses search my surroundings. But instead of sitting down on my bed and launching into his story of today’s events, he walks straight over to me, places his hands on my shoulders and looks deep into my eyes. “Are you okay?” He asks “What happened?” How does he know? Since when was Jamie telepathic? I try to twist away from him, but he tightens his grip on my shoulders so I can’t look away from his deep blue eyes which a person could drown in. 

I sigh and look down so hopefully my eyelashes will cover the majority of my lying eyes. “Nothing’s happened I’m fine” I whisper unconvincingly, why am I such a terrible liar?

Jamie rolls his eyes at my oh-so-convincing lie, but he lets me go. I crawl onto my bed and curl up into a ball, knowing that he will follow me. Jamie kicks off his shoes, as I said – polite, and sits next to me, he wraps his strong arms around me and I lean into them, I feel safe here, in his arms, I rest my head on his shoulder. “You know you have to tell me” he says softly as he smoothes my hair off of my face so he can see me. “So you might as well cut out the in between part where you argue with me and just tell me what happened.”

He’s right, as always. “Okay” I say as I scoot over to the other side of the bed so I can watch him too.

I take a deep shaky breath as I start to recall this evening’s event. “Okay, I missed the last bus, so I er… I cut through the woods” I mumble quickly. His face says it all before he starts his lecture. 

“What? Isabella we’ve talked about this. Do you not remember what happened last time you cut through the woods? How we almost lost you?” He rants but I cut in before he can continue. 

“I know, I know, I’m really sorry. I promise I will never do it again, trust me, I’ve definitely learnt my lesson this time.” But my outburst trails off towards the end which lessens its supposed impact. 

Jamie just looks at me, his eyes mirroring my dad’s - filled with worry. “What happened?” 

I look down, concentrating on plaiting the fringing on my blanket. “There was a man, he followed me and… and he tried to touch my face.” I look up at Jamie’s shell shocked face. “Oh Jamie, I was so scared, all I could think about was what had happened last time” I cry.

That’s when I breakdown and just let myself cry. I bury my head in my hands but I can feel Jamie’s safe, strong arms wrap around me, trying to comfort me, He just holds me, strokes my hair and whispers soothing things to me as I cry.

Eventually my sobs turn to just tears and then my tears turn to sniffles. I raise my head to look at my best friend. “How did you get away? What happened to the… man?” He asks cautiously but still fills the last word with venom. 

“I kicked him, knocked him out and then I left” I answer matter of factly, I’m done crying, no I’m just tired.

“You know we have to tell the others if he’s still around” he warns me. 

“Yeah, I know” I say but I’m cut off by a yawn. 

“We’ll tell them tomorrow” he reassures me “but for now, just get some sleep.” For once I listen to him, with no objections. I settle into his arms and close my eyes.

Jamie laughs coldly. “It’s a good job you’re a vampire, isn’t it? He murmurs but despite his cold tone he carries on stroking my hair, soothing me into a deep sleep. There it is that one word that defines me.

Isabella Harman – Vampire.