In The Darkness

~Chapter 19~

PREVIOUSLY

"I. Won't. Run. Away." I say slower as I look into his eyes. What he says next, I will never, ever forget.

"I'm a vampire, Roman."

~Roman's POV~

"I... uhmm..." I don't know how to respond. How does one respond to something like that? Vampire? Vampire are only in good books and movies. This is real life. This isn't possible.

"Yeah, I figured this would happen." Virgil looked defeated and broken. He slowly got up from the cold, wooden bench and began to walk away, looking down at his feet, dejected. I tried to say something but nothing came out of my mouth. It's like everything was in slow motion as he took each step away from me. Searching my brain for something to say to keep him from leaving, I finally think of something

"Virgil!" I say sprinting up to him, running out of breath. He gives me a surprised look before stopping. He gives me a look that says get on with it. "Earlier you said something about how you tried to prove it to those people before. That means you can prove it to me. Show me."

Virgil's eyes widen at my proposition. Almost looking excited, he takes my hand and begins to jog towards the campus. Once we get to the courtyard, I'm out of breath again but he seems to be fine. "Virgil, how are you-" I take a deep breath, "not on the verge of hyperventilation."

"I... uhh... I don't have to breathe..." Virgil stutters a little bit as he says those words. He... doesn't have to breathe? This is all so much to take in and I'm guessing there is going to be so much more I will have to absorb.

"Oh." Is all that I can say at the moment. Virgil brings me to the parking lot full of cars but empty of people and he walks to what I am assuming is his car. He opens the passenger door for me and I get it. I see him walk around the car in the rear-view mirror. He starts the car and he begins driving. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He says ominously. Looking out the window, I think about everything and nothing. Tonight was supposed to be a sweet, romantic night where we would walk around the empty park then back home and he would kiss me at my door and I would swoon over him as he left. Instead, he is driving me to God-knows where and I'm only a big ball of confusion.

After about a half an hour of silent driving later, Virgil stops the car at a beach. The ocean looks calm. It's still dark outside so I can't see very far out into the depths of the waves but it's still beautiful. He just puts his hands in his lap for a moment and then starts speaking, "I don't want to scare you and I don't want to push you away so... if you want me to stop showing you things than... just say so. Okay? We'll get right back in the car and I'll drive us right back to the campus." Virgil looks at me in the eyes and all I can do is nod.

I didn't really know what to expect but I most certainly didn't expect Virgil to just get out of the car and run- I shouldn't say run because that's too slow, it looked as if he were a blur, I could barely see him. He smirked towards me when he stopped and waved me over. Of course it took me a little longer to get over there but I got there.

"Do you trust me?" He said it out of no where.

"Huh?"

"Do you trust me." Virgil asked slower than the first time. I can't help but trust him. He hasn't done anything to misplace my trust so far so... I guess I do trust him.

"Yes." And thats all it takes for him to continue what he was planning. It was so fast I didn't realize what was happening until I was stable on his back. He jumped up and we were at least 20ft in the air. You could see everything; the beach, the waves, his car, the nearby trees. This was so fun. He landed gracefully on the cold sand. No one was around because of the time and I'm sure Virgil made sure of that.

"That's- amazing. I.. uh.. I can't believe this is real." I chuckle out, almost out of breath despite me doing nothing.

"Yeah, it takes a few years to get used to it." A few years? How old is he...?

"Is it rude to ask a vampire how old he is?" Virgil sighs and rapidly sits in the sand. I sit down at a normal pace next to him.

"I really don't think you want to know. You'd run off." He plays with the hem of his shirt, awkward and unsure of himself.

"I told you I'm not going anywhere." I say, genuinely. I actually find this interesting; I've always been interested in things that could never happen and this just seems to be one of those things. Virgil looks up at me for a moment and then out into the dark ocean.

"I was born in 1953. I am 65 years old." Huh.

"You don't look a day over twenty though." I joked, not knowing how to respond. He actually laughs at the joke though. His laugh is amazing and it's contagious.

"Thanks."

"No problem..." I scoot closer to Virgil and I lock our hands together, "Is the fact that you are a vampire the reason why you are always so cold?"

"Yeah. I don't really know why my skin is cold." I nod. Listening attentively, I grow more and more interested in this. I feel as if I should be scared but I'm not... wait-

"What do you do for blood?" Virgil shifts uncomfortably where he sits. I notice him kind of shut down. "Hey, hey... it's okay. You don't have to tell me that... yet." He kind of smiles at me.

"Thanks... I guess..." He loosens up a bit and links our hands again. I get goosebumps from his cold, smooth skin.

"So... what else do you have to show me?"