~Rose~
"Why are you home so late?" Penelope asked sleepily from where she lay sprawled on the couch dressed in a white dress that she used for pajamas.
"There was a little vampire fight after school earlier, plus I had to fill the others in on what's going on." By 'others', I meant my friends. They were the only other vampires in this town who were friends, since we keep moving from town to town after we graduate over and over again. Diana and the twins mostly stick with us, though.
"Oh, okay." She yawned and struggled to keep her eyes open.
I was surprised. I didn't expect her to be so tired that she'd fail to follow her normal routine in scolding me for coming home so late. That's unusual.
"So what were you doing that made you so tired?" I asked. "Were you with Mark?"
"Uh huh. I finally told him. He only loved me more." She smiled sleepily at me.
Wait, he took it well? He believed her? And he didn't even try to run? If I were him, I would've at least thought she was crazy or ran away from her until she explained that she wasn't going to kill me.
"How do you know that you can trust...?" I didn't finish, because when I looked back at her, she was asleep. She looked so peaceful.
I put her arm around my shoulder and helped her up to her bed. She was smiling in her sleep. She really did love him, didn't she?
I pulled the blanket over her and turned the lights off.
"Night-night, Penny," I whispered and left the room. As much as I hated to admit, I was starting to worry about her. Does she really think she can trust Mark? She's only a human year older than me, and I don't trust any humans.
Something's up with him, and I'm going to find out. Even if it kills me...again.
I dialed Diana's number and waited for her to pick up.
"Hey." She answered.
"Hey Dee, I think something's off about Penny's boyfriend. Could you keep an eye on him if you ever manage to cross his path?" I asked hopefully.
"Yeah sure. I'm already plotting right now." I chuckled at her.
"Thanks." I hung up and started to think.
Everyone has some kind of reaction when they find out that their friend is a vampire. Even I didn't believe my parents when they told me that dad was a vampire.
I blinked at the vague thought threatening to lure me into a trance as I reminisce the memory. No need to relive it. Nuh-uh. Never.
Well, whoever did kill them is really skilled if they managed to hide from me for fifteen whole years. It's really aggravating when you think about it.
I was suspicious about Mark before, now I was even more. He wasn't human, I knew that for sure. Could he be helping out with these murders?
As I was thinking about the possibilities, there was a knock on the door. I frowned, wondering who would be at the door this late.
Once I opened it, my frown deepened. There stood Fallon, now wearing a black sleeveless Tee and jeans while leaning on the doorway casually. His muscled, amazing arms were exposed for me to gawk at. His big crimson ring on his middle finger somehow made him look hotter.
But what confused me more was the guy next to him.
It was another vampire. He had wavy hair, like Fallon, except his was brown. He was in a pair of dark blue jeans and a red T shirt.
His dark eyes landed on me, making me almost gasp. He looked a lot like Fallon and almost just as hot.
He also had a big red and dark silver ring.
Was this his brother?
"Hello to you too, Rose." Fallon said sarcastically as they walked past me and into my home. I stood there, dumbfounded, before closing the door and turning to face them.
"Mind explaining, Fallon?" I asked him sassily, crossing my arms. He dropped onto the couch and smirked that gorgeous smirk of his.
But the other guy spoke. "I'm Joe." He said, smiling. Where did these guys come from? Because these two are way too hot to be from Earth. "Fallon's brother."
"Little brother, to be precise." Fallon corrected, hands behind his head.
Joe rolled his eyes and held his hand out to me. I smiled back at him and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Joe." Then I glanced at Fallon. "So you brought him to help out?"
"If I'm going to hell, I'm taking him with me." He joked as he picked up a small vase from the table. I rushed over to him and snatched it, glaring at him.
"Don't touch that, it was my grandmother's." I snapped at him, carefully putting it back down.
"I'm sure your grandmother wouldn't mind if I just looked at it, Rose." He smiled at me.
I shook my head at him and then collapsed onto the couch next to him, crossing my long legs.
"So what brings you two here?" I asked them, glancing at them both. Joe sat down next to me, so I was in the middle...Squished between two lean yet muscular guys.
Fallon threw his arm over my shoulder, making me cross my arms as I was now closer to his chest. His rock hard one. "My theory was right." He started. "Witches were used to mask the scent of whoever encountered you."
"And Ken must be in on this." Joe spoke up. "Especially if a witch helped him, considering he likes to fly solo."
"There must be something in it for him." Fallon said, rubbing his jaw with his other hand. My eyes followed his movement. "He wouldn't join forces for no reason."
"Maybe it's getting a better shot at killing you?" Joe suggested. I frowned. These guys must know him very well.
"Guys," both their heads snapped to me with inhuman speed. I was surprised they didn't break their necks. "I don't get it, who is Ken and why does he keep attacking you?"
Joe glanced at Fallon with a now very serious expression. "You didn't tell her yet?"
Fallon's gaze darkened and his face filled with grief. It made me sad, for some reason. "He's our uncle." My eye brows shot up.
"That guy, who tried to kill you, was your uncle?" He nodded slowly. That was why he didn't use all his strength; he must've been not-too eager to kill him. He still cares for him, even slightly. "Why does he want to kill you?!"
"Because I killed his girlfriend."...Okay.
"Why did you kill his girlfriend?"
"She cheated on my father and then killed him." I gaped at him, then he caught my gaze and added, "Accidentally."
I shook my head at them. What a dysfunctional family. And that means she loved both Ken and his father? Caught between two brothers?
"So now Ken has a personal vendetta against me." He said. "Now, moving on..."
I knew that wasn't all. He was hiding something. I know it must've hurt him and Joe somehow and I'm being nosy and insensitive, but I really wanted to know everything about these two.
"Hey," I started, turning to Fallon. "The weather today was supposed to be sunny, yet it was gloomy. Did you have anything to do with it?"
He smirked, flashing his still-elongated-fangs. "You can do a lot of things when you have power, Rose. Even control the weather."
~Diana~
It was only seven in the evening, Mark's bound to still be up. And he usually hangs around this bar.
I was just sitting at a table, occasionally checking my phone. What's taking him so long?
He has no idea who I am, which really helps in this situation. The less he knows about vampire, the better.
I sighed when an hour passed. I guess he's not coming here. I don't know where he lives, partly why I didn't just go to his house.
I slipped my phone back into my pocket and got up form the table, pushing my blonde hair out of my face.
I started walking towards the exit, but accidentally bumped into someone's arm, knocking a glass out of his hand in the process. "Oh my God, I am so sorry." I apologized, then looked up. I froze.
Talk about a coincidence. Mark glanced at me after staring at his drink I knocked. "No, it's okay. I've had enough to drink anyway." Then he gave me a small smile before turning and walking out the exit.
I waited a few seconds before following him out, eyes locked on that one guy. His blonde hair was everywhere and he was wearing a dress suit without the tie and jacket. Was he hanging out with Penny before this?
Probably.
I must've looked like some kind of stalker, but I still followed him down the sidewalk without making a sound.
As the crowds cleared, though, I had to keep my distance and hide behind anything in sight so he wouldn't spot me.
He stopped walking for a second at the woods, then looked up. He was trying to hear something.
I hid behind a tree, straining to hear whatever he heard.
I furrowed my eye brows when I heard groans of pain and small whimpers. Along with the scent of vampire blood.
There's an injured vampire close by.
Without a warning, Mark took off running towards the sound. Eyes wide, I followed him. How could he hear something from that far away? He's human . . . Isn't he?
I turned into a bat and flew with incredible speed, never letting him out of my sight for a second.
He stopped again, but this time there was another person.
Another vampire with brown hair and eyes, getting up from where he was probably kneeling. I landed in a tree and let my gaze drop to next to him.
The injured vampire. It was a female with thick black hair and green eyes. She was covered in her own blood that came from multiple wounds. Her face was contorted in a look of pain.
The brown haired vampire faced him as Mark spoke up. "What did she do?"
"She spied on me." He answered, throwing the vampire a glare. "She tried to follow me to the HQ." I widened my eyes. If they have an HQ then they definitely have more comrades, along with a master.
"She was onto you," Mark observed, also staring at her.
"Go ahead," she croaked. "Kill me. If I'm gonna die, I'm not gonna beg you for the mercy I know you won't give."
The male vampire cocked his head to the side. "Is that how you think of it?" She didn't answer, but glared at him as her life faded away slowly. I felt bad for her. I wanted to save her, but I knew I couldn't. I'd be signing my own death wish.
The male vampire turned to Mark. "Finish her off; you know the orders. No witnesses." He handed him a crossbow, which he reluctantly took from him.
Mark nodded. "No witnesses." And then the vampire left.
I turned back into my vampire form, soundlessly watching from a tree.
Turning back to the injured one, he raised the crossbow to her, aiming for a clean shot for her heart. "I thought hunters don't take orders from others." She said to him.
I furrowed my eye brows. Hunters?
Does that mean he's one of them? A vampire hunter?
This is bad.
Mark gave her a cold smile, making me almost cower back. "And I thought vampires look out for each other." I froze as he pulled the trigger and let the stake eject straight into her heart, making her body fall limp.
He knows I'm here.
His head snapped to my tree, unfocused. "Come out and face me, you coward!" He yelled, turning his whole body towards me. "Or are you afraid I'll kill you just like your little friend here?"
My fist clenched.
"I knew you demons were selfish." He continued, hands firmly on his crossbow. "Look at yourself, just watching as I kill one of your own kind. I wonder what your friends would think of you now."
I knew what he was doing; he was trying to lure me out by angering me. I knew I wasn't supposed to fall for it, but I couldn't stop myself. He knew exactly how to anger a vampire.
I jumped out of the tree and landed gracefully on the ground, raising myself to a stand. He had whipped around at the sound of me jumping and now had the weapon aimed at me.
He looked like he wavered when he saw me, recognizing me from the bar. "You."
"Me." I let my humanistic features vanish and I snarled at him loudly. He paused for a second, then his face hardened and his grip on his crossbow tightened.
He really is a vampire hunter.
And I'm being stupid right now, since these guys are professionally trained to kill vampires.
I dodged the stake that he shot at me before whacking the crossbow out his hands. I tackled him to the ground.
He was about to slam me into a tree, but at the last moment I turned him around and slammed him into it. He cried out from the force, but then he kicked me in the stomach and grabbed his crossbow, shooting another stake at me.
I cried out as it plunged into my arm. He came running at me, but I had just enough time to duck over him and throw a spinning kick in the side of his face.
He fell to the ground with an, 'oomph'. I yanked the stake out of my arm, yelping in pain.
Then I let out an exhale and circled him, stake tightly in my hand as he got his knees. "I've never fought a vampire hunter before," I told him. "It's tougher than I thought, though, but you're still an enemy. And you know what vampires do to enemies?"
I threw another kick to his shoulder. He cried out and fell forward, clutching it. "We rip their heads off."
Suddenly he tripped me, making me fall to the ground. He jumped on me and pinned me to the ground, hand tightly on my wrist so I wouldn't use the stake on him.
I growled at him, struggling against his very strong grip. I was already weakened by the stake wound. He smirked. "That's funny, and you know what I do to vampires who mock me?" He leaned closer to my ear. "I use them as my dart board."
I let my fangs lengthen even more, making them twice as long as my other teeth and I lifted my head up quickly, digging them into his neck.
He yelped, then quickly pulled away from me as I clutched the stake tightly. I stabbed it into his chest.
Well at least I tried. He was still on top of me, knees on the ground at either side of my waist as he held himself up. His hands were gripping the stake I was trying to shove into his heart, pushing it away as best as he could.
I shifted our positions so I was on top, now having better luck in getting it closer to him. He was struggling and sweating profusely, screaming as the tip of the stake was pushed into his chest.
Unexpectedly, though, he head-butted me while dipping the stake downwards so it wouldn't dig even more into his chest when he had to lean forward.
I thought I saw stars as I felt a headache start to form, beginning from my forehead. He took my temporary distraction to flip me around so my back hit his chest and he tried to plunge the stake into my heart.
My hands flew to the stake, pushing it away as best as I could. But by turning me to face away from him, he gave me a disadvantage and I wasn't able to use all my strength.
We both groaned from the strain. His breathing made his chest go up and down and that seriously didn't help my situation.
"Just die," he grunted out.
"You first," I retorted. My hands were now shaking from the muscle strain. Then with a burst of strength, he plunged it about halfway into my chest, skimming my heart.
I gasped, but just then someone lifted me off of Mark by my underarms with super speed and gently put me on the ground.
I yanked the stake out my chest and glanced up, gasping for breath as I tried to heal.
There she stood, one of my best friends, with her usual warm chocolate brown eyes an angry shade of red with foggy purple lines running underneath them, baring her fangs at the vampire hunter who almost ended me a second ago.
It was Rose.
And she was angry as hell.
~Fallon~
I glanced at Joe, seeing him already staring at me. He knew I didn't tell them about what I am. They didn't know I'm not a normal vampire. I was something much, much worse.
I was capable of destroying them without flinching. That's what I thought about when Rose suddenly stood up, saying she had to go check something. She said someone was in trouble.
I just nodded as she disappeared as memories from the past made my gaze harden with the pain of remembrance. The only way to get my mind off it temporarily is to flood it with pretty lies. 'Cause the truth sucks.
My hand absently curled into a fist, making me glance at my ring. This had a purpose, it wasn't for decoration. It helped contain me.
I watched as deep inside the blood-stone, there was a black glow that lasted only a second. I raised my eyes to Joe, having a silent conversation with him. His gaze dropped to my left cheek that hid something no one else could see.
Nobody except Joe and Ken. The others have no idea who they encounter each time I'm in their presence.
When am I gonna tell them?