“Are we almost there?” Drake asked, eyes drawn with exhaustion. I rolled my eyes, but laughed.
“I think so… Two hours more at most.” I replied. Drake groaned, but kept on walking.
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An hour and a half later, Alec’s scent ended at a building twice as big as the Empire State Building! It was a gothic mansion from like the 1700s! Drake walked up to the door, obviously spooked, and knocked on the door. It opened slowly, no one appearing to have touched it. “Hello?” Drake squeaked out as we walked into the main foyer. He jumped, when the door closed behind us. I chuckled, and then looked at my surroundings.
“Cool…” I whispered fingering a cobweb. I’ve always had a thing for old mansions, but this one blew away all of the others I’ve ever been to. The doors were a blood red, and velvety to the touch. There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the diamonds real. And there were no light bulbs, only candle holders with the long candles sticking out of them! Plus, the house had a spooky feeling to it. Like stuff here happened, that no one would ever expect.
“Hello,” a male voice drawled out. I turned around in surprise, wondering how I didn’t hear him come up to me. But as soon as I saw his face, all of my thoughts disappeared. Because, he was… Hot! With a capital H! His hair was a dark auburn with a slight wave to it, and his eyes were a deep crimson color. His hair was dripping wet and there was a towel around his waist. When I looked down, I noticed his abs! Man! He had like a 20 pack! If you ever saw him, you’d definitely agree with me. “Like what you see?” He asked, voice taunting. I looked at Drake, and his eyes were like ice.
“Leave her alone.” He growled. The guy just laughed and rolled his eyes.
“Yes Jake. Leave our guests alone.” Another voice chimed in. It was a girl this time. Her hair was blond, and straight as a toothpick. She looked a lot like Alec and Shelsey, though her eyes were a purplish color, and her lips were perked in disgust. Jake looked at her and sighed.
“You again.” He said, voice bored but also with love in it, though that was hidden so well I forgot about it a couple seconds later. The girl took a deep breath, but forced a smile.
“You know you can’t avoid me. No matter where you hide in this house, I will always find you. Now, back to our guests.” She turned to look at me, her eyes skipping Drake entirely. When I looked at him, he was frozen in place, a look of shock upon his face.
“My name is Alice, and this is Jake. Welcome to our home.” The girl, Alice, said. I felt Drake stiffen when she said the word home. “Our parents are talking to someone at this time, the… man… that came before you. But they will come to meet you soon. We’ve-” Alice was cut off by Jake, his eyebrows raised.
“You mean I’ve.” He said. Alice just rolled her eyes, and pushed him away.
“We’ve, been expecting you. Jake will get changed, and then meet us at the dinner table. I will take you there right now.” She said.
Drake was still frozen in place, so I asked Alice, “Is the guy who your parents are with right now, named Alec?” Alice smiled, nodded once, then started walking forward. I smiled back, and grabbed Drakes hand, pulling him out of his frozenness. Alice looked at our intertwined hands, forcing her to look at Drake. She smiled tightly, and then started walking again, this time at a faster pace.
An hour later, everyone was seated at the large chestnut-colored dining table. “Hello Nicky and Drake! Welcome!” a middle-aged guy said, his voice and smile warm. The woman beside him smiled too, her smile also warm.
“Yes welcome!” she said, full of cheer. “My name is Grace, and this here is my husband Will.” Grace touched her husband, the middle-aged guy and also Will, on his shoulder lovingly.
“Will and Grace?” I asked, stifling a laugh. “It’s like you two were meant for each other.” The couple looked at each other, their loving showing in their faces.
“Yes, we get that a lot.” Will whispered, giving Grace a kiss on the cheek.
Jake coughed, disgust in his eyes. “Get a room.” He muttered. Grace laughed, her laugh soft and sweet.
“Ahem. Can we get back to business?” asked Alec, his voice rough. Will breathed deeply, and then smiled at Alec.
“Let’s.” He answered back with a smile. Drake squeezed my hand from under the table, and I almost melted with the love emanating out from him.
“Nicky, may I please see your right hand?” Will asked, kindness in his voice.
I took a deep breath, and shook my head no. Almost everyone in the room gasped with surprise. “Is it okay… if we eat first? I’m… hungry.” I whispered shyly, my eyes looking at my empty plate. The fox apparently wasn’t filling enough, because I was thirsty again.
“Spoken like a true vampire!” Grace said with a laugh. Everyone joined in on the laughter, and soon we were deep in conversation, slurping up the blood from our extra-rare steaks. Though I noticed, that Alec and Drake avoided talking to Alice and Jake for some reason. But I forgot about that quickly. When we were done, a real live butler came and got our dishes!
Jake came up to me with a flirtatious smile on his face, and a rose in his hand. “I saw you checking me out. You seemed to like what you saw.” He said, tucking the rose behind my ear. “What are you doing tomorrow night?” Just then Drake appeared, and snarled at Jake. He ripped the rose from behind my ear, and threw it at Jake.
“I told you to leave her alone.” He said, seething with anger. Jake looked at him challengingly, eyes narrowed.
“You don’t tell me what to do.” He growled back. Alice appeared out of nowhere, and Jake stiffened when she touched his shoulder.
“Stop it Jake. She’s taken, and last time I checked, so are you.” She said angrily. Jake looked at Drake one more time, his look murderous, then stalked away with Alice trailing behind him.
“What’s wrong with you two?!” I asked, my voice hard. “He asks to hang out, and you just appear and freak out on him, and then look at him like you want to KILL him, and after that he leaves with that SAME look! I mean really? What the fuck.”
Drake looked at me, his eyes still having a cold glint in them. “Jake is dangerous.” He whispered, voice like ice. “If I knew he was here, we would’ve never come.” I groaned in frustration.
“How do you know this?! I personally thought that you did not KNOW these people!” I accused. Drake looked down sadly, but when he looked up all you could see was guilt.
“I’ll tell you the story.” He whispered, voice more quiet then mice. “It all started fifty-three years ago,” he began.
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“I was a newborn vampire. Actually, my whole family was new. My mom, my dad, me… and my younger sister. My sister and I… we were loved by EVERYONE. Plus, we were extremely tight. If I went right, she went right. If she went left, I went left. Pretty much, we did everything together, and went everywhere together. If there was a party at ECU, we’d both be there. Not just one of us. Then, one day, everything changed. We were at a keg party in Athens, Texas which was a lot of fun. My sister didn’t want to go at all, but I convinced her to after a while. Anyway, everything was going great until a boy came in. His name was Jake, and the minute my sister saw him she was in love. As soon as there two eyes met, it was like they were in their own little world.
You could literally see their connection. My sister got up and walked toward Jake, her head held high. They talked for a minute, and then disappeared. I found my sister three hours later, making out with Jake on a bed. I pulled her off of him before it could get any farther than the kissing. ‘Time to go.’ I had said. My sister looked at me with anger, yelling at me for pulling her off of Jake. She wouldn’t shut up, so I froze time and carried her into the car. When I started the car, and unfroze time, it took my sister a minute to figure out where she was. When she did… she slapped me across my face. She got so angry… that she actually slapped me!
That’s when I knew that something was wrong, and it had to do with that Jake guy. I could tell that he was changing her. In just three hours, he already changed her enough that she’d slapped me! I mean, we’ve gotten angry at each other, but no matter what… we’d never laid a hand on each other! I almost slapped her back, but I restrained myself and started driving home. When we got there, my sister jumped out of the car and ran inside to her room, slamming the door closed.
I told my parents everything that had happened, and their eyes widened then narrowed, storming up to my sister’s room, to tell her that she was forbidden to ever see Jake again. She ran down the stairs, going straight at me. Punching and kicking me, yelling ‘I hate you’ over and over again. Those three words were like knives to my heart. After that, she’d stay away from me, go to parties with me, and never come home until late the next day. And she was obviously still seeing Jake, because she kept changing, until one day…. Well, I was looking for her to ask a question, and I walk into her room… and there’s a note. The note read: Dear Mom, Dad, and Drake,
I’ve decided to live with Jake, and his family. They are vampires too so don’t worry about me, I will be fine. They even stick to the same diet as us! Animal Blood only. And they are MAJOR rich! Mom, you’d LOVE their house! It’s totally you! And dad, they’ve got a library that BEATS the library of Congress! And that’s supposed to be the BIGGEST library in the WORLD! Lastly… Drake. I’m sorry. I know that you were trying to help me, but I honestly did not need any. I love him Drake, I really do. I’m sorry to have caused you so much pain. I have to go now, but always remember that I love you all, and would not be doing this, if I didn’t believe that I actually loved Jake. Bye.
I read the letter over and over again, so many times that I memorized it. When I showed the letter to my mom, she burst into tears. She’d sob days after days. My dad cried too, but never in front of anyone. Me? I just… drifted away. From everyone, and everything. A couple months later, my mom left to find my sister. She said she’d call every day, but soon, every day become only every couple days, then every couple weeks, then months, then not until WE called HER. She got a job elsewhere, and pretty much just separated herself from us. My dad would lie in his bed and only come out when he was hungry. I’d always have the blood out and ready for him.
We didn’t talk. After years of silence and sadness, my dad started to get out of bed more often , and I’d talk to people. A couple years after that, and we were somewhat normal, not perfect like before, but somewhat normal. I let feelings come in, but blocked out all my pain. I was numb to it. Sometimes though, I’d see someone who looked like my sister, but when I was close enough to see her fully… it wasn’t her. That’s the only time the pain came through. And… that’s my story.”
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I grabbed Drake in a hug, then covered him with kisses. I knew how he must’ve felt talking about this, and I felt happy that he’d had the gut to tell me. “I’m so sorry about your sister… So, so, so sorry. And Drake, it wasn’t your fault. No matter what, they would’ve met anyway. Party or not. But, what’s your sister’s name? You never mentioned it.” I asked, my voice quiet. Drake opened his mouth to tell me, but at that exact moment, Alice appeared from the shadows, a tear trickling down her cheek.
“Alice…” she whispered. “My name is Alice.”