Elizabeth
I jumped at the sound of his voice then stumbled back a step. “I- I- I well,” I stuttered, holding my arms close to my body so I didn’t touch anything.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice was soft, but laced with suspicion.
“Of course,” I said a little too quickly, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You seem frightened.” He took a step forward and I quickly stepped back. “Are- are you scared of me? El-“
“Stay back!” I yelled as he tried to take another step toward me.
It suddenly felt like all the air was sucked out of the room. “You saw them, or felt them, didn’t you? The marks on-“
“Everything!?” I said quickly, trying not to panic. “Where did they all come from Jesse?”
“From me.” His voice was so quiet I hardly heard him. “They’re all from me.”
I took a slow step back. “I’ve really wanted to ignore what Chance has been saying and just trust you, but this makes it really hard.”
“Just let me explain.” He stepped forward and I backed up, I kept backing up until he had me backed into the wall. “I would never hurt you,” he whispered, lighting putting a hand on the side of my face. “Please let me explain.”
Not really seeing much of an option, I nodded. He took a step back but I stayed where I was, waiting to see what he had to say.
“Chance is very open about what he is, even though he hates it the most, and he just is what he is. He lets himself be the creature he is, lets himself be angry and violent when he feels the need. But me . . . I refuse to act that way around others, so I lock that part of me away.”
I listened carefully then nodded slowly. “And what’s locked away eventually has to come out?”
There was a small, humorless laugh. “Exactly. I don’t want to hurt anyone though . . . so I just lock myself in my room and let it all out.” He stepped forward and put a hand on the side of my face, leaning closer to me.
“That’s why I’d never hurt you, El. I just don’t let myself act like a monster when I’m around other people, especially you. I wait until I’m alone.”
Part of me was comforted by what he was saying, while the other part of me was more worried than before.
“And that actually works?” I asked quietly, still nervous.
“Perfectly, until Chance pushes me a step too far . . . then I take it all out on him.” His voice grew quieter, as if he was embarrassed by what he was saying.
“But it’s only because I know he can handle it, and he’s a brat,” there was a small smile in his voice and it helped me to relax a little more. “I would never, ever hurt you El. You have to believe that.”
I nodded slowly, knowing deep down that he meant what he was saying. “I know . . .”
“Promise you won’t worry about these anymore then?” he asked, lightly taking my hand.
I nodded, though I was sure my mind would wonder later.
“Let’s go back downstairs,” he said, lightly pulling me toward the door.
“Okay,” I said quickly, ready to be away from all the creepy claw marks.
He laughed once then led me out of the room and down the hall.
“Soooo I guess you guys have really sharp nails?” I meant it as a statement but it came out as more of a question. I shut my mouth as soon as I said it though, thinking he might get upset since I just promised not to worry about all that stuff.
“Sometimes,” he replied, sounding slightly amused as he led me down the stairs. “Here, I’ll show you.”
We stopped at the bottom of the stairs and he put my hand over his so I could feel his fingernails. They seemed like normal, every-day fingernails if you asked me. Then suddenly they started to change, growing out and turning more into claws than fingernails. They didn’t get that long, but they seemed really strong and sharp. Then just as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone, shrinking away.
“They’re very useful,” he said, heading into one of the sitting rooms.
I laughed once as I followed him. “I bet.”
I sat down on one of the couches and felt the cushion sink as Jesse sat beside me. “Do you really think Chance will be alright?” I asked in a whisper
There was a soft sigh then Jesse replied. “Of course he will. Chance is strong and stubborn, there’s no way he’ll lose.” He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. “Don’t worry about him, he’ll be back in no time.”
I wanted to trust what Jesse was saying and just not worry about Chance, but I couldn’t. He was going to fight all those vampires because of me. Plus, it was me hurting his huge ego that made him insist on going up against them alone. If he got hurt, it would be my fault!
“Really,” Jesse whispered into my ear, “he’ll be fine. Stop worrying about him.”
I nodded then froze as I realized just how close Jesse was. There was a silence and I could feel Jesse slowly moving closer to me. Was he going to try to kiss me again? Is that what he was doing? I tried to relax and wait to see what he was doing, but the waiting was just making me more nervous.
Suddenly the front door slammed open and I jumped up off the couch, excitement making my heart beat faster. I ran all the way to the hall before realizing it might not be Chance. What if it was Siena and I was just about to run right to her?
“Chance?” I asked timidly, listening closely to the heavy breathing as the door closed.
“It’s me love,” Chance said, that smirk in his voice, “The hero returns victorious!”
“You’re okay!” I let out an excited and relieved squeal, so happy that he’d made it back alright. I raced toward him and nearly knocked him over as I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
He winced then laughed and wrapped his arms around my waist, picking me up and spinning me around a couple of times before finally setting me down.
“Alright,” Chance said, a twinge of pain in his voice, “and that’s enough of that.”
“Sorry,” I said quickly, loosening my grip. I figured it was still alright to hug him since he still hadn’t released my waist. “Are you alright?”
“I’ll live.”
Jesse cleared his throat behind us. “Did you get them all?” He asked stiffly.
“Every last one.”
“Good.” Jesse paused then added, “Now please let go of El before you get any more blood on her.”
“Blood!?” I jumped back and ran a hand over my front. Sure enough, there was something cold and wet on me. I wasn’t covered in it or anything, but it was definitely on me. “Please tell me this isn’t blood all on me!!”
Chance laughed once. “I just killed seven vampires, of course I have blood on me.” He walked by me, ruffling my hair. “So now you do too.”
“EEEEEWWWWWW!” I squealed, trying to ignore it. I’m not usually one to be squeamish but having blood from several dead vampires on me is just a little too much.
Jesse sighed beside me, putting a hand on my back and leading me toward the stairs. “You go get cleaned up and I’ll tend to Chance. By the time you get back he should be on the road to recovery.”
My eyes widened slightly. “Is he hurt bad?”
“Surprisingly no,” he replied, “I told you Chance was a good fighter. Now hurry up and get that stuff off you before it stains.”
I sighed then hurried upstairs and took a nice, warm shower to get the blood off my skin and out of my hair. After I dried off and put on clean clothes, I hurried back downstairs and into the room where I left the twins.
“That was fast,” Chance said from across the room, sounding exhausted. “Purple is definitely your color by the way.”
I gave him a confused look and Jesse sighed quietly. “He means your shirt, it’s purple.”
“Oh,” I smiled a thanks toward Jesse then shrugged to Chance. “Wouldn’t know; I don’t usually spend a lot of time thinking about colors.”
I hurried across the room and sat in the chair nearest to the boys. “Are you alright Chance?”
“Yes,” Jesse said in a hard voice, “He’s fine.”
“Oh pain, oh misery,” Chance groaned, “How will I ever go on? Lizzy!” I jumped as he practically yelled my name. “Come here,” he whispered, “come closer.”
Jesse growled in annoyance but I slowly walked over to the couch Chance was on, kneeling down beside him and jumping slightly when he grabbed my hand.
“Um, yes?”
“I think the only way I will survive is if a beautiful young lady like you were to become my own, personal nurse; waiting on me and taking care of me day and night. Would you do that for me? Please?” His voice was so soft with exaggerated pain and worry.
“Oh brother,” Jesse mumbled under his breath.
“Um, I suppose,” I said quietly, still confused as to what exactly the situation was. Chance sounded like he was putting on a show, but was he really hurt badly?
“Thank you,” Chance whispered, pulling me closer to where he was laying on the couch. “Then your first act to make me feel better . . . the thing that will surly save my life, which is hanging in the balance here . . . is a rather simple thing . . . I need you to . . . kiss me.”
“What!?”
There was a growl and the loud sound of something smacking Chance on the head, quickly followed by Chance yelling out in pain and shooting up into a sitting position.
“He has a couple of marks that won’t be healed until tomorrow, but that’s it,” Jesse growled, “The only thing threatening his life right now is his big mouth and my short temper.”
I laughed as I moved back to my chair. “It’s not nice to take advantage of a blind person and worry me like that, Chance.”
He laughed once, moving on the couch. “I’m not exactly a nice guy.”
“Can we focus?” Jesse said loudly. “There are bigger issues at the moment than your flirting.”
I swallowed hard, not sure if he was looking at me when he said that or Chance. Hopefully it was Chance. It had to be him, right? Jesse wouldn’t be mad at me, right? Besides, I wasn’t even flirting, or at least I didn’t think I was.
“Now tell her what you told me,” Jesse said in a much calmer voice.
Chance cleared his throat. “I got one of the vamps to talk before I killed him and he confirmed our suspicions; Siena had tipped the group off and sent them our way.”
“Well that’s not good,” I replied, “But now they’re stopped so it’s no big deal, right?”
“Maybe,” Jesse answered, “If that was all of it.”
“Well is she going to tell more? Send others after me?”
Jesse sighed. “Worse.”
“What’s worse than that!?”
It was silent for a minute then Chance answered in a hard voice, “She’s going to tell Father.”