Vampire Bride

Chapter Eight - Part One

"I take that as an insult. You do realize that right?"

He shrugs.

Ugh. Men...vampires. "I'll never be a murderer. Did you kill him...the man who wrote the last entry or any of the men who wrote those entries? Be honest."

"I'm always honest with you Charlie."

"And I'm always reasonable." I know I'm not, just like I know he's not always honest.

"Only one, the last one. I had no choice. Vampires shouldn't be documented for all to read. When I found out who he was, I knew I had to get a hold of the book...to find...I read the pages more than you have and I'm very displeased with my behavior, but I've learned from my mistakes."

"Have you? Are you? Some things that were mentioned in those pages describe you to a tee. They say what I think and feel about the...whatever it is that you are. Vampire. Monster."

"A man, Charlie, I'm just a man. There are things that are different about me, but I was in your situation once. If you recall, I was human once too." I can see the hurt in his eyes. I can tell that some part of him wants to be human again.

Even with misery in his gaze, I refuse to go off topic. Or worse, feel sorry for him. "Who were those men who named themselves to be transcribers?"

"Just a group of men who found out about our existence. They took it upon themselves to track us and learn how to rid the world of vampires. If you're worried about them still recording bloodlines, you can rest assure they're all dead."

His words calm me, but still make me fearful. I wonder how much participation he had in the murdering of all those innocent people. The thought of some stranger following me around keeping track of my every move and those I associate with is something I can't even stomach, but to kill them for it is a little too far.

"They mentioned a child." Curiosity gets the best of me.

"The infant mentioned was you. At that time they were forming a conspiracy against us and tried very hard to hide bloodlines. With my sentencing as I'm sure you read about, it was easy for them to conceal you. It still took me twenty-seven years to decipher their clues in finding you." He bows in head in thought. "Hunger does things to you. They wanted to classify me as an animal, and an animal is what I was willing to become."

His words stab me in the heart. I don't want to listen, but he gives me no other choice.

He continues to speak, staring off as if imagining himself in the previous years. "I wouldn't allow anybody to take what's mine away from me. He kept you from me and he paid the price. Even you, Charlie, should be paying the price. I was so willing to make you pay that price, but the moment I saw you something changed."

"Paying the price? I'm a living breathing human being if you recall not a piece of property." Irritation blocks my better judgment. After hearing that he was going to 'make me comply' forcefully if need be, my guard goes up. It goes up thicker and higher than it already is. He starts to speak, but my finger goes up to silence him. "You think you can change what you are, which is a monster, by the way, to become what exactly?"

"A human man. My morals were broken by the vampire that turned me, causing my view on humans to be nothing but tolerable. That had to change. There was no way I was going to become like my friend Henry, using forceful tactics to obtain a bride." If I hadn't been staring him down as he tried to explain himself, I wouldn't have seen it. A small flinch his eyebrows made at the mention of this Henry.

"You might not use force for a bride, but you're still a killer and you have threatened me more than once." It's like kicking him while he's down, but I can't stop my words from coming out.

"I would never hurt you, but I won't take no for an answer either. You will become my bride, Charlie. When is up to you, but you will be with me."

"I'm not talking about this right now." My hands fly into the air. "I'm not here to talk about you and me. I'm here to get answers." The rage that's growing in the pit of my stomach causes me to become flustered and most likely red in the face. I want to go, but I have one last thing to find out. "What is The High Council? They sent you away, who are they?"

"All you need to know is that it consists of a group of elders, the very first vampires to exist. They keep peace between our kind. You'll meet them soon enough."

"What's that supposed to mean? Why am I supposed to meet them exactly? And I'm not your kind, so stop saying that. There's you and then there's me. Two different things, two very different kinds." I take a few steps forward, inching my way to the edge of the sunlight within the room.

I need to get away from his pleading eyes. Between being angry at him and having my breath catch at the sight of so much skin, I'm at war with myself. Trying to keep my eyes off the plush bed, I can't help but to glance at it several times. There's more questions to ask, but I have to leave and I have to leave now.

I stop short as he quickly moves to the farthest shadow, which happens to be inches away from the door. Even if I run, he would catch me. Even if I remain in the sun all the way to the door, he could still grab me and endure whatever amount of pain for a few seconds before his overbearing strength pulls me into the darkness.

I'm not entirely sure if I would be able to say no even though my mind screams for me to refuse, my body has other plans.

"You can't keep me here." My voice is pitchy and hysterical. I desperately try to clam myself. "You want to be a human man that a human girl can tolerate," he nods his head in agreement, "then you have to let me leave when I want to leave. There's a fire exit out that window, do not make me use it." I keep my voice strong as I'm begging him to take my words seriously.

He steps back the tiniest bit and waves his hand toward the door. I'm through the doorway when he begins to speak. "Charlie..." I turn around to face him. Face palm. What the hell am I thinking? "Being my bride is not as bad as you think it would be."

I continue to walk to the exit without saying a response. It takes all my willpower not to look back. Once parked in my driveway, I finally relax. Sanctuary...kind of. I plop down on the couch after locking the front door and double check it multiple times before feeling at ease. With the whole day ahead of me, I contemplate what to do. After much thought, I decide to just sit on the couch and watch TV, trying to numb my mind. More like trying to forget what I heard.

When the sun starts to set my nerves get on edge and there's no food, TV show, or amount of locks that can shove the dread down. Fear of him showing up bashes against the same picture that keeps popping into my mind. Maxwell's unclothed body standing before me.

Yearning, hate. Hate, yearning. This has to stop, but how? One of us has to back down and each of us refuses to be the one that does.