AUTHOR'S NOTE:
SO. We're gettin close to 100 votes. I think like..Saving Aden needs around 10 more or something. That's pretty damn exciting if I do say so myself.
I've been getting an awful lot of writer's block with this story lately, but I just don't know why. I enjoy writing it, and it's not like I'm super busy or anything, and I know where I wanna go with most chapters too. I just...I don't know.
I think I'm gonna update this story only once or twice a week unless I have time to really sit down and plan things out. So with only having weekly updates, I'll do my best to make them longer. (:
Anyway, here's chapter eleven! Enjoy.(:
ANNOUNCEMENT: SAVING ADEN IS ENTERED IN THE WATTY AWARDS, SO IF YOU THINK IT'S GOOD, REMEMBER TO VOTE/COMMENT FOR THIS STORY! EVERY VOTE/READ/FAN/COMMENT COUNTS! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THOSE OF YOU WHO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THIS STORY. I LOVE YOU ALL.
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Chapter Eleven: Pumped Up Kicks
I blinked, staring up at Aden blankly. Wait...did he just say what I think he did?
"Next week is the art show," Aden continued, his thumbs rubbing circles into my arms, "I want you to be my date."
"Aden...I'm your Guardian," I said quietly, my voice cracking.
"I know."
"And I'm a vampire," I added, lowering my eyes to the floor. I just couldn't bring myself to hold his gaze. His eyes were too sincere. Too green.
"I know that too," he murmured.
I wondered briefly about my exact feelings about Aden were, but quickly stopped myself. If I went there, there was absolutely no way that I would recover. I knew that I liked Aden; there was no doubt in my mind that there was some chemistry between us, but I was his Guardian. And my job was to protect him, not date him.
"Aden, I don't know if dating would be such a good idea," I told him as delicately as possible.
"It doesn't matter if it's a good idea or not," Aden said fiercely. "I wasn't asking if you thought it was either, I wanted you to know my feelings. And I want to know if you wanna be my date for the art show."
"I don't know Aden..."
"Do you want to go with me?" he asked.
Slowly, I nodded. I just couldn't help it; of course I wanted to go with him.
"Then it's settled. We'll go together."
"Only on one condition," I said, lifting my chin up to look at him. "Gage goes to the art show too."
Aden's head perked up, and his eyes flashed with confusion. "What? Why?"
"I can't keep an eye on you by myself if this art show is as big as you say it is," I admitted. "I'm sure Gage would be more than happy to help..."
"But if he did...it would be like he'd be intruding on our date," Aden muttered.
"Aden, it's nonnegotiable. Someone else has to be there," I insisted. "Especially if we'll be on a date."
"But--"
"No," I practically growled, my fangs slipping out. "Now let's go."
Pulling away from him, I snatched Aden's hand, and dragged him down the hall and out the front door.
"You're driving," I told Aden as I released his hand and made my way to the passenger side of the Challenger.
"Alright, I just gotta call my mom." He got in and started the car, then pulled out his phone and called Amanda. "Hey mom."
I couldn't help but listen in.
"Hi sweetie," Amanda replied. "What do you need?"
"I'm leaving the house with Arianna," Aden said as he shifted the car into reverse.
Slowly, we rolled back out of he driveway.
"Oh," Amanda's tone of voice turned sharp. "You know, there's just something about that girl that I just don't like..."
"Mom, we're not having this conversation right now," Aden hissed, his eyes flashing over to me quickly before he focused back on the road.
"Fine. Be back by eleven tonight." She paused for a quick moment. "Bye sweetheart, be safe. I love you."
"Love ya too ma," he said with a chuckle before hanging up. "So where are we headed?" Aden asked, his question directed towards me.
"There's a bar right across from the Blackwater Cafe, you know, the place we first met? Well, we need to go in the bar. Headquarters is right upstairs in the apartment above," I explained.
"We're going to a bar?" He sounded skeptical.
"Don't worry, it's full of Guardians," I told him reassuringly. "You'll be fine."
"We're going to a bar full of vampires?" Aden turned sharply into the bar parking lot.
"Relax, it'll be fine."
Gage was waiting outside the bar's doors, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched us expectantly.
"Are you sure this is safe...?" Aden asked uncertainly as he parked the car and pulled the keys from the ignition.
"Of course," I replied honestly. "There's no where safer for you to be then to be surrounded by Guardians."
"But there are other vamps here too, right?"
I didn't meet his eyes; instead, I simply patted his leg and coaxed him out of the car.
"What took you guys so long to get here?" Gage asked as soon as Aden was in range of hearing him. His dark eyes flickered between the two of us suspiciously.
"Aden had to let his mom know we were coming," I said, a little defensive. "And he was a little nervous about going into a bar full of vamps."
"Don't worry about it, kid. The vamps downstairs in the bar will take real good care of you." Gage clapped Aden on the shoulder, a smirk slowly gracing his lips.
"Gage, are you sure that's a good idea?" I wondered aloud. "I mean, Aden's human." The bar below HQ--Paradise--was always crawling with vampires, some of them not even Guardians. It was basically like the bar I used to work at before I was changed, minus the horny vamps looking for blood and a strip tease.
"He'll be fine, babe," Gage persisted in a tight voice. "Now let's go." He snatched me by the arm, and I quickly grabbed onto Aden, as Gage puled us both inside. The scents of alcohol, blood, and cigarettes filled the air, tickling my nose.
Fuck, I thought, my throat starting to burn.
Six pairs of human eyes watched the three of us enter Paradise, their expressions curious, yet I could see the slight hint of envy hidden beneath their stares when they saw Aden being pulled along with.
Abruptly, Gage stopped at the bar's counter, and got Marco's (he was the bartender) attention. "Two bottles of blood, and a coke for the boy," he said, his tone commanding yet polite.
Marco nodded, and reached below the counter top and into the cabinets. "Fresh or bagged?"
"One of each," Gage answered automatically.
Marco peered up at Aden from over the counter questioningly. "You want rum in your coke, boy?"
"No," Gage and I answered in unison, much to Aden's disappointment.
Marco stood to his full height, standing at about five feet, ten inches, and continued to work around in the bar space behind him. He was an attractive vamp, with beautiful tan skin, and dark hair. His first language had been Spanish, but he was so good at speaking our language that his accent was hardly noticeable.
"Here you go, boss," Marco placed two water bottles in front of us, filled with blood. One labeled fresh and the other bagged. "One B positive for you, straight from the hospital donations." He shifted the bagged blood closer to Gage. "And one bottle of fresh O negative for the hermosa niña." Marco then poured Aden his coke, and handed it to him. "Here you go, humano. One plain coke."
Gage untwisted the cap to his bottle--his fangs extending--raised his drink to Marco with a thankful nod, and took a quick swig.
I, on the other hand, impatiently ripped off the cap, and downed half the bottle of O negative greedily.
"You're going to make yourself sick if you drink like that," Marco teased.
I grinned, but then licked the blood from my fangs self-consciously.
"Take care of the human here for us, would you, Marco?" It was an order, but Gage was still giving him the option to back out without consequence.
"Of course, boss," Marco replied with an easy going smile. His teeth looked even whiter in the dim lighting against his dark complexion.
Gage and I both got to our feet with our drinks carefully. I was about to turn and say goodbye to Aden, but when I turned in his direction, I saw him completely engaged in what he was doing on his phone.
"I'm sure he won't be too much of a hassle, Marco," I murmured, smiling politely.
The stairs to HQ were in the far back of the bar, in the same hallway that had the bathrooms and a few private, secluded rooms for the guests that liked...a quiet evening out. Straight down that hallway was the gateway to our safe haven. It was guarded heavily, despite the fact that there were only two vampire guards.
The two muscled Guardians straightened their stances as soon as Gage and I rounded the corner; their eyes zeroing in on the space right ahead of them.
"Good afternoon Mr. McCall and Miss Devlin," the taller of the two guards said.
His name was Eddie, and Martin was the other, who just so happened to be Eddie's younger, biological brother. Usually, when they didn't have "guard duty," the two liked to take on cases together. Which normally meant that they were watching over large families, who were more at risk for being attacked by Violet.
"At ease, boys," Gage said with a chuckle, taking my hand in his.
Up the stairs was a whole other floor, filled with four cubicles, two offices, a tech room, a security room, a large space dedicated just to all the files that listed the humans that knew of our kind, and a lounge area for Guardians.
Dane, the other head of the Guardian Co., looked up at us as we entered second floor from where he stood, leaning over a cubicle that a female vamp occupied.
"Gage, Arianna," he greeted us with a crooked smile. In an instant, he was in front of Gage and I, and was engulfing me in a tight hug. "So good to see you again, Arianna," he said to me. "How's the Guardian life treating you?"
It sucks, I wanted to say. I think I have feelings for my human, and I wanna know if that's okay, and if it'll interfere with my job.
But I held my tongue instead.
"Enough with the lame attempts at small talk, Dane," Gage growled. "Let's get down to business."
Dane gave him a weird look, but shrugged his shoulders indifferently, before ushering us into his office.
"What's going on?" Gage asked in a sharp tone, pulling out one of the chairs for me to sit in. I sat down slowly, my hands fidgeting with the bottle of blood.
Dane took his seat at his desk, while Gage towered over me from behind.
"Well, there's a reason to believe that someone is leaking out information," Dane said in a tight voice.
"If you're talking about Brooke I already took care of all that," Gage hissed, his eyes flashing red as they narrowed.
I gripped the bottle harder, and gritted my teeth.
"No, that's not what I'm talking about at all," Dane responded, shaking his head vigorously. "It's someone else. Someone who has more inside info then Brooke ever did."
"You mean like I spy?" I guessed, cocking my head in confusion.
Dane's gaze flickered down to me. "Yes, Arianna. That's exactly what I mean."
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END NOTES:
DUNDUNDUN. Well, that sure took a long time for me to write for you guys. I'm really sorry y'all had to wait so long. I started school in the middle of writing this chapter, and I know that isn't any kind of excuse, but I was busy for once, haha.
BUT ON A SIDE NOTE. I only need 5 more votes before "Saving Aden" hits the big 100. So if you think my work deserves it, you better tap that button! ;D
Here's the song (I didn't really base this one on the chapter itself, more so the song that I listened to a lot while I wrote):
Pumped Up Kicks; by FOSTER THE PEOPLE
Anyway! Thanks for reading. I LOVE YOU ALL!
Oh yeah, and don't forget to follow/subscribe to my blog:
loudloudskies(dot)blogspot(dot)com
THANKS SO MUCH!