Tania choked again. “W-what?”
“Are you free next week?” Bredon repeated.
“I…what…why?” Tania stammered, mind reeling by the suddenness of the question.
“Well you’re nice, interesting and intelligent. You know what I am and don’t freak out over every little thing that that entails. And as an added bonus you’re really pretty,” Bredon said, smiling.
Tania blushed. “But…we really only just met. I mean you don’t really know anything about me and I don’t really know anything about you.”
“That’s what makes it fun.”
“I dunno. I mean this is pretty out of the blue and well…” Tania trailed off as she got caught by Bredon’s bright grey eyes. Bredon was just as good-looking as Alex and he didn’t go out of his way to bother her but still… “I’m really not sure this is a good idea,” she finally murmured.
“Why not? Besides it’s not like I’m asking you to be my girlfriend. I’m just asking for one date.”
“I still don’t understand why. I mean we might have absolutely nothing in common. We could end up hating each other in a very short period of time and you still want to try it?”
Bredon shrugged. “That’s the risk with all relationships.”
Tania didn’t really want to admit she had no real relationship experience, having not had a boyfriend since kindergarten. The one date she had been on had been awkward in the extreme as it’d been set up by one of her friends and neither of them had had anything to talk about.
“If you’re that worried about not having anything in common and not knowing anything about me then why don’t you ask me some questions? Then you can make a decision,” Bredon offered.
“I…well ok then,” Tania agreed, not exactly sure about this. “Umm…are you going to school now?”
He shook his head. “No. I finished my first year and am now taking a year off. Decided it was time to try again to get Alex to duel me.”
“What university were you at?”
“UBC. It’s where most of the non-humans go. There’s a handful who are profs and they help us with any…problems we run in to. It’s pretty much the best university for any of us in Canada. We’re practically on the water, surrounded by Pacific Region Spiritual Park and the campus itself is huge.”
“If it’s such a good place why would anyone not go there?”
“Well some people want a specialized program that might not be there, for others it’s too far from home and some people,” Here Bredon glanced in Alex’ direction, “Don’t want to ‘conform’ and rebel by going somewhere else. Each of the councils have a strong presence there and that makes some people uncomfortable.”
Tania frowned. “I’ve been hearing a lot about the councils. What exactly do they do?”
“They sort of govern us. Each council has a set number of members: nine for the Spirit Council, thirteen for the Elemental Council, eleven for the Vampire Council and twenty-one for the Were Council. Each council has a leader, that person is sort of like the president of each respective race and they run the council. The council creates, alters and gets rid of rules, help the members of their races with any problems and punishes anyone who disobeys the rules. Or they try to at least. It doesn’t always work out,” Again Bredon looked in Alex’s direction.
“Why wouldn’t it work?”
“Well the punishment might not have the intended affect or the person to be punished might escape. In Alex’s case, to put it simply, he’s just too strong. The council pretty much can’t do anything to him, not that they don’t try but he’s too powerful.”
“You’re joking, right? I know he always says he’s strong and the best and all but he’s not actually that powerful. I mean he’s an irritating ass.”
Bredon regarded her soberly. “He’s one of the oldest of our kind, there’s only a handful older than both him and myself, he’s the best with a sword and he has more charisma then anyone else. Add in the fact that he has strong ties to the other races and you begin to get the picture. The only one who has any affect on him is Kale, the council leader, and that’s mostly because Alex hates him more than anything or anyone else.”
“Why?”
The vampire looked a bit uncomfortable. “I…I thought you were supposed to be asking questions about me?”
Tania looked down. “I’m sorry. It’s just, no one really talks about this kind of thing, and the one time I asked I was told it wasn’t my problem.”
Sighing Bredon glanced in Alex’s direction for a third time. “I’ll tell you some other time, ‘kay?”
Nodding, Tania asked her next question “What’s your favourite movie?”
Bredon had to think about that one. “I’d have to say Pulp Fiction. That movie is awesome.”
Tania laughed. “You’re right about that. Alright, so what’s your favourite food? And if you say people, I’ll hit you.”
Grinning Bredon replied. “Definitely chocolate ice cream.”
“Chocolate ice cream?”
“Hey when I was born there was no such thing as ice cream as you know it and chocolate was only for the super rich.”
“Alright, alright. It’s just that was one of the last things I thought you’d say. Favourite band?”
“Can’t say I have one. I’ll listen to pretty much anything.”
“Favourite colour?”
“Green. Can’t you tell?”
Tania laughed again. Bredon’s whole outfit was green. He wore forest green pants, a tunic of a lighter green and ridiculously large emerald green hat with a green feather stuck into the band. “You look like a leprechaun you know. A leprechaun pimp in fact.”
“Are you serious? Damn it! See this is why I need a girl in my life. I can’t dress myself properly.”
“No you need a nanny for that.”
Bredon stuck his tongue out at her and Tania chuckled. “That just goes to further prove my point.”
“Next question.”
“Ok then. Stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”
“No way am I telling you that!”
“You’re the one who suggested I ask questions.”
“Well I didn’t say I’d answer them all. Different question.”
“Fine. How many girlfriends have you had?”
Bredon was clearly embarrassed. “I…I really don’t think I should…”
“Oh come on. Like I care. Tell me.”
“Uh… thirty-two,” he finally admitted.
“Thirty-two? Is that even possible?”
“Hey I’m almost five hundred years old. Give me a break.”
Tania grinned. “No.”
“Ah! You have been spending too much time around Alex. You sound like him.”
“Are you serious? Gah,” Tania pretended to shudder. “I’ll have to remember to be careful.”
Bredon nodded, mock solemn though his eyes were bright with amusement. “See that you do. The last this word needs is two Alexes.”
Tania giggled. “I think the world would implode.”
“Are you done with the questions?”
“You know, I think I am.”
“So what do you say? Will you go out on a date with me?”
Blushing slightly, Tania answered “Sure.”
Bredon’s face broke into a wide grin. “Really? Sweet! This is going to be awesome.”
Tania couldn’t help but laugh. He really does act like a kid, she thought, watching him smile like a little kid given a treat.
All of a sudden he jumped up, still smiling. “Anyway I got to go now. I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll arrange it then.”
Before Tania could stop him, Bredon had disappeared into the crowd and she was left by herself again. She shook her head. He doesn’t even know where I live, she thought. How is he supposed to come see me? Shrugging, there was nothing she could do about it now, Tania got up and walked over to where Alex and his friends were still standing.
“You and Bredon seemed to be getting along pretty well,” Ilana remarked as Tania came to stand beside her.
“I...I guess so. He’s nice,” she replied fiddling with her earring.
This drew the attention of the others. “You guys were talking for quite a while,” Kayne said.
“We were just, kind of getting to know one another.”
“So he’s gone then?” Alex asked.
“Yeah. Kind of.”
“What do you mean kind of?”
“Well he says he’s coming by tomorrow,” Tania said.
Alex frowned. “Why?”
“Ummm… because he asked me out on a date,” She finally whispered, looking at the floor.
All five of them froze. It was Ilana who broke the silence. “And you said…?”
“Yes,” She answered, face practically glowing. When she glanced up for a moment, she saw Ilana, Theron, Kayne and Aiden exchange glances before turning to look at Alex.
“Huh. That’s kind of sudden,” The vampire observed.
Tania shrugged. “Well he asked and no one’s really asked me before and he seems nice and all…” Her voice trailed off as she continued to stare at the floor.
“Well I hope you have fun then. And you do know your friends are going to be all over you the second they hear of this.”
“I, ah, I know,” Tania replied, a little unnerved. She’d expected Alexander to tease her mercilessly for this; instead he was just, sort of, indifferent, to the whole thing.
“Well as long as you’re aware,” Alex told her before turning to Kayne. “So how’re you guys going to be covering the concert?”
Tania just stood with them, allowing the conversation to flow on around her as she remained silent, until her friends came to find her.
“I still can’t believe you’re going on a date with that guy,” Sarah said at lunch the next afternoon. Breakfast had been skipped on account of all of them being out until three a.m. the night before. Her friends had all expressed surprise and reserved interest when she’d told them about Bredon.
Tania shrugged. “He asked me and he’s nice. Besides it’s just one date.”
“I thought you were going out with Alex.”
“Why does everyone think that?” Tania asked miffed. Any time anyone found out she had a date the first words out of their mouth were “What about Alex?”
“Because you’re pretty much the only girl besides Ilana that he actually goes out of his way to pay attention to. And Ilana made it clear last year that she and Alex are just friends and will only ever be friends,” Chloe answered before taking a bite out of her bagel.
“Well me and Alexander are just friends. I thought you guys knew that.”
Sarah shrugged. “You just spend a lot of time with him is all.”
“I spend a lot of time with you guys too.”
Madison smiled. “So when are we going to meet Bredon?”
Tania sighed. “No idea. He said he’d come by today but he doesn’t actually know where I live or anything so I have no idea how he’s going to find me.”
“Are you looking for me?” A male voice asked from behind Tania.
The black-haired girl turned around and saw a smiling Bredon standing there. “Uh…yeah. I didn’t think you’d be able to find me.”
Bredon laughed as he swiftly took the chair beside her. “No worries. I just asked around. Everyone here seems to know who you are.”
“Gah. Don’t remind me,” Tania replied making a face. “Oh here, I’ll introduce everyone. Bredon this is Madison, Sarah, Chloe and Jill. Girls this is Bredon.” As each girl was named they smiled or waved according to their nature. When he was introduced, Bredon smiled widely at them.
“Nice to meet you all,” He said.
“Nice to meet you,” the girls chorused back.
“So anyway Tania, I’m sorry but I can’t really stay long today but I was wondering what time you finish classes tomorrow?”
“Five thirty.”
“Excellent. Do you want to go see a movie tomorrow at around seven?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll come get you around six thirty.”
“Wait a sec Bredon,” Tania called, as the black-haired boy stood quickly. She quickly pulled a pen out of her purse and scribbled the name of her residence onto one of her napkins. “Here,” She said handing it to him. “That’s the name of my residence so you don’t have to keep asking around.”
Bredon grinned. “Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Before anyone could say anything else he was gone. Tania shook her head. “I don’t know how he does that,” she admitted.
“Well he does seem nice,” Madison agreed.
“Just a bit…energetic,” Jill remarked.
“You mean hyper,” Chloe supplied. “You’d better keep him away from sugar and caffeine if you want any sleep at all.”
“Chloe!”
The other three laughed and then began teasing Tania about Bredon, the four of them now more relaxed after having actually met the boy.
Hovering around the entrance to her rez, Tania waited for Bredon. She’d taken a lot of care with her appearance, fully blowing her hair dry while using mousse and hairspray, she’d put on makeup and was wearing her new red shirt. A sudden knock at the door made her jump and she raced over to see who it was.
Waving at her through the window, Bredon stood there grinning. Tania smiled back and went outside to join him. “Ready to go?” He asked.
Tania nodded. “So what movie are we going to see?”
“Whatever you want.”
Tania followed Bredon down the maze of footpaths until they reached the parking lot. The black-haired girl stopped dead when she saw which car Bredon was currently unlocking. It was a sleek little sports car and Tania couldn’t help but gape. But he’s a student! She thought. Students are almost always poor and they never drive cars like that.
Seeing her shocked look Bredon laughed. “I’m a lot older then I look remember. I have about eleven different bank accounts all with significant amounts of money within them.”
“Eleven?” Tania whispered as Bredon came over to open the car door for her.
“Well after a certain amount of time I have to stop using one because the bank will start to notice that I don’t age and that’s a bit of a problem. And when I’m not using them they just sit there and collect interest so…You’ll find only new vampires worry about money and that’s if their creator doesn’t start them up.”
“I…I guess that makes sense,” Tania replied as she sat down into the front seat of the black leather interiored vehicle.
Bredon shut her door before moving around and slid into the driver’s seat. “It’s actually a good thing because we tend to be a little more sensitive to things than other people. If you found a sweater to be slightly itchy it’d be unbearable for one of us. Heat and cold aren’t a problem but textures and firmness are. It’s part of the whole heightened sense thing.”
“So all your senses are heightened?”
“To a certain extent and people who had one sense that was stronger when they were human retain that strength when they’re a vamp. Ours is a general heightening whereas if you go to the weres, theirs tends to be specific. Generally hearing and scent but in some cases sight depending on what breed they are.”
Tania frowned. “So you’re saying Theron, for example, would be able to smell better and hear better than you?”
Bredon nodded. “Yes but Theron’s a special case. He can also probably see better then me as well. During the day at least.”
“What do you mean he’s a special case?”
“You don’t know? Theron’s one of the strongest weres. He’s definitely the strongest were-mountain lion. He’s pretty well known in the non-human circles.”
“Are you serious? No one told me anything about that.”
“I suppose then they didn’t tell you about the others,” Bredon remarked.
“No. Are they all like that?”
“More or less. Kayne, though only able to really use telekinesis, is still one of the strongest psychics and Aiden comes from a powerful elemental family. Of course they’re all water and he’s fire, no one’s sure how that one happened. And Ilana is the only dryad to have ever survived the death of her tree.”
“They’re all so incredible,” Tania whispered in awe. She’d had no idea they were all so strong and important. They’d all seemed normal enough.
Bredon laughed. “Alex never becomes friends with just anyone. He’s pretty selective. They almost always rank among the best of their respective groups.”
“Why am I not surprised,” Tania replied, rolling her eyes. That kind of thing was Alexander all over.
At this point their conversation came to a halt as Bredon parked the car and they headed into the movie theatre. The marquis was surrounded in flashing yellow lights and listed eight movies currently playing. After a few minutes deliberation, Tania decided on one of the new comedies, figuring Bredon would like that better. He seemed to be a pretty happy person to her when not trying to get Alexander to duel him.
They got their popcorn and drinks and managed to snag two seats in the middle of the theatre. As the lights went down and the previews began, Tania smiled. This is more the way she’d pictured her life would be like once she got to university. Of course the fact that the boy she was on a date with was a vampire was not something that had ever occurred to her but somehow that didn’t matter. For now she could be like every other girl.
By the time the movie was over, Tania’s stomach hurt from laughing and Bredon’s eyes were watering. They kept laughing every time their eyes met on their way out. Finally they both had to stand facing away from one another, doubled over and gasping as they got themselves under some semblance of control.
“That was better then I thought it was going to be,” Tania told Bredon, repressing a giggle.
“It was really good. I’m going to have to remember to buy that when it comes out on video. So was it a good first date?”
Tania grinned. “It was awesome.”
“Excellent. So are you willing to try again Friday?”
“I can’t Friday but how about Saturday?”
“Saturday works. I’ll come by and see you before that. What time does your last class end tomorrow?”
“Ten p.m.”
“Ten? That’s awfully late.”
Tania shrugged, lips twitching as she fought a smile. Why is it that both the vampires in my life have a problem with a class ending at ten? She wondered.
“I hope you’re not walking home by yourself.”
That was too much for Tania and she began laughing causing Bredon to look at her strangely. “Why is that funny?” He asked.
“You sound exactly like Alexander.” She chuckled.
“Well it’s dangerous for a young girl to walking around at night by herself,” Bredon replied sounding a little irritated.
“Don’t worry. Alexander walks me home. He gives me hell if I walk by myself.”
Bredon snorted. “That’s good. Now where should we go Saturday?”
“Anywhere you want. I’m open to pretty much anything,” Tania replied.
“Alright then, it’ll be a surprise,” He said, grinning.
Tania laughed again as the pair exited the car. Chatting about nothing, Bredon walked her back to her residence.
“Sorry! Class ran late again,” Tania called as she ran out of the Fine Arts Building, swinging her backpack up onto her other shoulder as she went.
“No problem. We haven’t been waiting all that long,” A cheerful voice replied.
Tania stopped and stared in surprise at Bredon who was smiling at her from where he stood beside Alex. “Bredon? What’re you doing here?”
The black-haired vampire smiled. “I came to walk you home.”
“And I told you when you showed up, that it was not necessary,” Alex replied annoyed.
Bredon shrugged. “Three is safer than two. Besides I wanted to make sure nothing happens to her. We have a date on Saturday.”
“Well since I can take care of myself, you can both leave,” Tania told them tartly, hands on hips.
Alex raised an eyebrow. “Can you now? Cause the last time you said was shortly before almost being killed, now wasn’t it?”
“Shut up Alexander,” Tania snapped, walking off.
“You were almost killed? By who?”
“Crazy girl.”
“A were-coyote named Mara,” Alex supplied, smirking.
“And whose fault was that?” Tania shot back.
“Well if you’d told us we’d have been able to nip it in the bud, but no, you had to ignore the problem in hopes it’d go away.”
“I didn’t think she was that mentally unstable!”
“What?” Bredon asked, confused.
“Mara was stalking Alex,” Tania explained.
“More like she was stalking you. To kill you in case you’d forgotten.”
“Like that’s something I could forget.”
“You’re remarkably good at ignoring things you don’t want to deal with.”
“Not that good because you’re still here,” Tania replied.
Bredon laughed. “I don’t think it’s possible to ignore Alex.”
“I did it before.”
“Yeah and how long did that last?” The brown-haired vampire asked.
“It’s not my fault you can’t take the hint and leave.”
“And it’s not my fault someone is stupid enough to walk home alone on a dark campus at ten o’clock at night.”
“Bastard,” Tania muttered.
“What? You’re not going to tell me how much you hate me tonight?”
“And fulfill your expectations? I think not.”
Alex laughed. “You know you’ll slip sooner of later.”
“The hell I will.”
“And I’ll be there to laugh.”
“I…I’m going to hurt you.”
“See? You almost said it already.” Alex pointed out grinning.
“Seriously going to hurt you.”
“Good luck.”
“Are you two always like this?” Bredon wanted to know.
“It’s not my fault he’s an arrogant jerk!” Tania cried.
Alex chose this moment to reach over and ruffle her hair. Tania screeched in indignation and slapped his hands away. “Damn it Alexander! I told you to stop that!”
“You tell me a lot of things.”
“I hate you so much.”
“Ha! Told you you’d slip,” Alex crowed triumphantly.
“Fuck! Prick.”
Laughing Alex walked ahead. Tania glanced about and then grinned. Leaning down she scooped up a handful of snow, made a snowball and then let it fly. Her aim was good and with a satisfying thwump, it hit the back of Alex’ head. “Take that.”
Alex whipped about and stared at her before a slow evil smile spread across his face. “That was a bad move,” he said, grabbing a handful of snow himself.
Tania shrieked “Save me,” and hid behind Bredon as Alex sent the snowball flying towards her. Bredon looked down at his snow covered chest, then up at Alex before beginning to make his own snowball. Soon it was a free-for-all as the three of them made snowballs and lobbed them at the other two indiscriminately. When they finally made it to Tania’s residence they were all covered in snow, both solid and melted, and laughing.
“Goodnight Tania,” Alex called as the girl unlocked her door.
“Goodnight Alexander. Night Bredon,” She replied, getting hit with a blast of warm air as she entered her building.
“Is this going to become a ritual?” Tania asked when she saw both Alex and Bredon waiting for her outside.
Bredon mock-pouted. “What I’m not allowed to walk you home?”
“Well it’s not like you both have to be here.”
Alex shrugged. “It’s better. If for whatever reason one of us can’t make it or is late there will still be someone to walk you back,” He said before grinning wickedly. “Because there’s no way you can get to your rez safely alone.”
“I did it for nearly a month before you started following me,” Tania retorted.
“So you got lucky for a while.”
“It wasn’t luck; you just refuse to admit I’m capable of taking care of myself.”
“I won’t admit it because it’s not true.”
“It is so true,” Tania replied before turning to Bredon who was walking on the other side of her. “You believe me right?”
Bredon held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m not getting involved in this. Either way I lose.”
“Damn it! You both suck.”
Alex laughed. “I do believe I win.”
“You do not,” Tania snapped.
“I thought you’d learned by now, I always win.”
“The hell you do!” Tania cried, reaching down and flinging a fistful of snow at him.
The brown-haired vampire ducked to avoid what he thought was a headshot but instead only put his face in the path of the oncoming projectile. Face dripping snow, Alex raised an eyebrow in Tania’s direction. “You do know this means war.”
The girl already had two more snowballs, one in each hand. “Bring it on.”
Laughing, Bredon leaned over and began making snowballs himself. “Is this too, going to become a ritual?” he asked.
Both Tania and Alex chose this moment to lob snowballs at him and he got hit at nearly the same time on both his chest and head.
In the end, Tania ended up running back to her residence, pursued by two laughing vampires who pelted her with snowballs.
“So what’s this movie called?” Tania asked as she sat down in her accustomed spot between Ilana and Alex.
“Strange Brew,” Kayne supplied.
“Is it any good?’
“It’s pretty funny,” Aiden replied.
Tania grinned. “Sweet.”
In the end though, Tania didn’t see much of the movie. Feeling something hit his shoulder, Alex looked down and chuckled. Tania had fallen asleep and had slid across the couch until her head had come to rest on his shoulder. “Hey Kayne, give me a blanket,” He called.
The others turned to look and laughed themselves. One of the blankets flew through the air and spread itself over Tania, who slept on blissfully unaware of what was going on around her.
“Tania. Hey Tania. It’s time for you to wake up,” Alex called.
The black-haired girl slowly opened her eyes and glanced upward. Finding herself face to face with a very amused Alex, she flushed. “What happened? Is the movie over?”
“You fell asleep,” He told her, eyes dancing.
Only now realizing she was leaning against him, Tania jerked upright and her blush deepened. “You should have woken me up.”
“I just did, didn’t I?”
“Earlier. You should have woken me up earlier.”
“Not my job.”
“Damn you.”
Laughing, Alex called out to her as she left with Ilana “Goodnight Tania,”
“Go to hell Alexander,” She snapped back.