Hey again :D
I just realized how little time I have left before I have to finish this for the Watty awards, so you'll be getting loads of uploads (I really, really hope)
So if anyone has any good ideas I would really appreciate all the help I can get, just PM me with any and every idea you have for this story and I might use it :D
Because I entered this story for the Watty awards I would appreciate votes, comments etc. even more than usual. So please do what you can to help me get this to the top. (The more fans I have the more inspired I get to write, so get this story out there!) Thank you for helping if you can be bothered. I really appreciate all the help I can get.
Dedicated to EvaKjartans96 for being utterly random and helping with getting this out!
Song: Bulletproof by La Roux (performed by Yu-Na Kim) Also my inspiration towards the end...
There are 18 chapters left (including this one)
Enjoy!
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Recap:
Ch. 13 - Dogs unleashed Eliza and Joel start to run away. Xander, Daniel and Anarel come with them. But first they have to go to the band's concert. Eliza and Joel fight and Eliza storms out the door.
Xander’s POV:
As I walked off the stage I walked into a crying wall. That was weird, even for me. I looked at the wall more closely, and found that it was in fact not a wall at all but Eliza. Why was Eliza crying? I made a mental note to do some yelling at Joel, I had a feeling that it was because of him she was crying.
“Hey rosebud, what’s wrong?” I asked the crying wall of Eliza.
“Sob.” Was her answer. Well, she didn’t really say ‘sob’ as such, but she did the action of the word. That is to say she sobbed, she didn’t say ‘sob’. I was confusing myself, again. So I stopped thinking.
“Let’s go eat pancakes. I have a sudden craving.” I said, hooking my arm around hers and started walking off with her. I was not completely sure where we were headed, but I knew that wherever it was, there would be pancakes there.
We walked around for a while in the small town where the band had just performed. Then I stumbled upon a waffle house, like literally stumbled upon it. I was looking at Eliza and talking to her, trying to cheer her up, when I tripped. It turned out that there were some stairs that had appeared out of nowhere and decided that they wanted to trip me. But as luck would have it, they were the stairs that led to a waffle house.
I walked through the pink door and stepped into a room with paneled ceilings. The panels had lots of drawings on them, it looked like you could buy one and draw on it, or they had a ‘draw-on-the-panels-party’ where I had not been invited.
I walked over to the counter where a chubby woman was fiddling with a cord. I looked at her with big eyes, she looked at me with worried eyes. I shrugged and asked Eliza what she wanted, when all I got as an answer was a sniffle I decided to just go ahead and order for her.
“Hi, I’m Xander. Can you buy parts of the ceiling?” I asked the woman.
“Um, I, uh… What would you like to order?” She said in a high-pitched voice. She had a sort of grandma-like feeling to her. I watched her, debating whether or not I should go ahead and hug her. I wanted to. So I did. She screamed and Eliza pulled me off her.
“Orders… Yeah. I would like to order a piece of the ceiling and a pancake special. Eliza would like a piece of triple chocolate fudge peanut cake, and a pink lemonade each. Please.” I asked the grandma-lady.
She walked away, looking sort of flustered, I guess normal people don’t hug complete strangers… Oh, well. I’ve never been quite normal, what with hearing everybody else’s thoughts all the time. When you keep getting random input from everyone else it gets quite confusing after a while. At least Eliza wasn’t sobbing anymore.
We sat down at a small table and waited to be served. I picked up one of the napkins and started drawing on it, I always had at least one drawing utensil in my pocket at all times. Without really thinking about what I was sketching I started to draw. After a while my whole napkin was covered in lots of different sketches. Some were noses, some were eyes, but most of them were mouths, or rather one mouth. And on the back was all the small sketches put together, Eliza. I folded the napkin and put it safely in one of my many pockets.
"Is there anything else you would like, honey?" The grandma-lady asked Eliza as she put the delicious-looking piece of cake in front of her. Eliza shook her head and went back to looking into her folded hands on the tabletop. The grandma-lady pushed my pancakes towards me over the table, keeping a 'safe' distance from me.
Eliza’s POV:
Why did he say that? Why did he want to run away with me, if he didn't like me?
All those questions ran through my head, and the tears came running down my cheeks like the Niagara Falls.
Why was I crying over him? Why did it hurt so much when he said those things?
I was very deep in thought when Xander walked into me. He said something about pancakes and then pulled me with him. All the way to the pancake house he tried to talk to me, to try to cheer me up. But it didn't work.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Is there anything else you would like, honey?" the old lady asked me, as she put the piece of cake in front of me. I just shook my head. There wasn’t anything here that could make me happy again. And again came all the questions, why on earth did he say that? Why couldn't I bring my family if he could bring Xander? Ok, I had to admit that I wanted Xander to come with us to, but still! It’s unfair
Suddenly a loud scream broke me out of my thoughts. I looked up at Xander who had a BIG smile on his face.
"I JUST LOVE PANCAKES, DON'T YOU????!" he yelled.
“You know, there’s not a penguin outside…” he said matter-of-factly. I just looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “Is the cake good. And think carefully about what your answer will be.” He continues.
“If I say yes?” I asked carefully.
“I will steal your plate and eat the cake.”
“If I say no.” I said, feeling a slight smile starting to form on my face.
“I will be offended. I payed for that cake and it had better be good.” he answered.
“If I say maybe…” I asked, definitely smiling.
“I will be so intrigued that I will steal the plate and run around with it while you chase me, because the cake was actually good and you want it all for yourself!” He said, making me laugh. “And that is exactly why you have to come. If you don’t who will be there to cheer you up? Who will you go to when you want to laugh and just be randomly funny? And most importantly, where would you go when you realize that you’ve started to miss me? And of course Joel.”
Xander’s POV:
‘Dude, stop moping around and organize something! Eliza’s back!’ I yell at Joel in my head, I hear him start running around in circles, without a clue of what it is he should be doing to prepare for Eliza’s “homecoming”.
“How old are you? ‘Cause the bowhead whale can live up to 211 years, and the ocean quahog can live for 400 years! But is that record broken by you?” I ask Eliza. I had a sudden urge to ask about the one thing, apart from weight, that you should never ask a woman about, her age. But only because there was a guy who walked past wondering whether or not it was to be in love with his friend’s mother who was 30 years older than him.
“Never ask a woman about her age.” Said Eliza.
“Yeah, but right now you’re not a woman, you’re a bro. And I’m your Broda. He’s like Yoda, except he’s not small and green, but awesome and able to speak in the correct order. And Broda says that it’s aloud to ask a fellow bro about his or her age.” I stated, happy that I could use my knowledge of HIMYM and Barney’s many antics.
“Oh, well in that case, yeah, I break the record.” Eliza said, first sarcastically then mafia-boss-like
“By how much?” I asked, intrigued.
“Well, let’s just say that the middle ages weren’t just knights in shining armor fighting dragons, because dragons weren’t the biggest problem…” She said with a sly grin.
“What’s your clans history? And is it true that you are the greatest warrior throughout history, and part of the greatest clan in all of history?” I had decided to interrogate her now, so she had better watch out.
“Long. That’s what my clan’s history is. And yes, it is true that I am the greatest warrior of all time, and part of the greatest, and most powerful, clan throughout all of history. Are you sure you want to hear the history?” I nodded. “Ok, let’s walk.
“It all started with the King. The King is, was, the oldest vampire to ever have existed, and he was the first vampire as far as anyone knows. Anyway, he turned Benjamin, our leader, in the early 500s I think the exact year was 529. This was a true-form transformation. That is to say that Benjamin was the first human that The King had ever turned, and that the king had just killed and drunk the blood of another vampire, this was the blood he gave to Benjamin. This is the truest form of transformation. There was also a ritual before Benjamin could become a true vampire.
“After the Benjamin had been with the king for a few decades, he grew wary of the routines they had formed, and went out to explore the world for himself. The King did not approve of this idea, seeing as Benjamin was his finest companion, and best advisor, so Benjamin ran away. Benjamin knew that the King would not let him go easily, and so he created Anarel. At the time Anarel had been the Wiseman to king Æthelberht of Kent, and had been dabbling in some magic. Benjamin saw the great potential in Anarel, and turned him the same way that he himself had been turned.
“So there they were, two of the three most powerful vampires to ever walk the earth. Anarel dove deeper and deeper into the black arts and figured out a way of making new vampires that would be more powerful even than the purebloods, like himself and Benjamin. But this was a very insecure and dangerous operation, both for the vampires who perform it and the human the transform. So for a century he only watched the King and his movements. He could warn Benjamin when the King’s armies got too close to their hideouts, and the two of them could run to a new camp.
“It continued like this until one night, it was not the king’s armies that found them, but a guild of hunters. Together Anarel and Benjamin managed to fight them off and win, but they only barely made it out of there. That was when they decided to create a warrior, me. They performed the sacred ritual of black magic. What they needed was a newly murdered human (killed by injustice and in bad faith), two pureblood vampires (one of which had never transformed anyone earlier) and a vampire who had sold himself to the dark arts and black magic.
“I don’t know what the ritual was, only that by the end of it I had to claw my way out of my own coffin and through six feet of soil. And that Benjamin had been drained to the point of death, and Anarel had passed out with the effort and was covered in cuts and bruises from the malevolent spirits that had passed through him to bring me into the afterlife. The next night the King’s armies attacked and I fought alongside Anarel and Benjamin. By the end of the night I had killed over three hundred vampires. The next day we started our journey to the King’s castle using every opportunity me got to train me. I had been chosen to fight the King of all vampires, alone.
“When we arrived at his castle Benjamin ordered a duel between his champion and the King, knowing that this was the only way to get at him. This was obliged and The King stepped out, no older than me in appearance, but in experience he had the advantage of centuries. The fight lasted for no more than an hour; the King almost had me beat when I played my last card, and my last hope of survival.
“I kissed him. The only card I had left, and it was my femininity. The femininity that caused me to be weaker than men all my life, the femininity that had caused me to almost lose and the femininity that would save my life. A kiss. It was that simple. Get him hooked then go and break his heart, literally. I hooked my knife in his guts and then cut his heart in two, not that it did anything other than cause him a great deal of agony and distract him from the fact that I was chopping off his head. As I walked away from the bloody pile I whispered a chant and the pile burst into flames.
“After that the vampire law gave us the right to all of the King’s assets. We were now the three most powerful vampires in the entire world, and we had a castle filled to the brim with all kinds of treasure, so of course every single vampire out there wanted us dead, and they wanted to do it themselves. For the next centuries all manner of opponents would challenge us, and I would be the one to fight. And while I was fighting and Anarel experimenting, Benjamin created two new vampires; Musia, our artist, and Sophia, our advisor and nerd. Benjamin continued to create more and more hand picked vampires and taught them the rules, he created a clan.
“Then one day came a young, human boy to challenge me, and I had no other choice than to oblige, that was the law. He was so young and fragile, he was no more than a child to me, he of course thought of himself as more than enough grown up to win over a girl. I had him beat with one move, and he lay there in the sand, bleeding. I walked over to him and simply looked. It was not his choice, I made it for him, he deserved to live. And I granted him eternal life. I made Daniel into what he is today, and every time he hurts, I feel responsible. So that is how we became the most powerful clan ever to walk the surface of the earth. Through my killing innocent children, or making them into monsters.”
All I could do was be quiet, there was nothing I could say. I watched as a single tear crept down her check, and she wiped it away quickly We walked in silence after that. Neither of us talking, both deep in our own thoughts, but comforting each other by silently holding hands.
Joel’s POV:
I rushed around my room, Eliza was coming back I needed to do something. My roommate was blabbering on about her boring life ignoring the fact that I was desperately trying to pack everything I needed and making all the arrangements I had to make.
‘Incoming.’ Said Xander’s familiar voice in my head seconds before I saw him appear at the edge of the forest. I gathered up my bag and a jacket and ran out the door, not bothering to listen to the protests coming from my roommate as I left in the middle of one of her “fascinating” stories about her cheer group and how stupid all other girls were.
I bolted to the door, desperately hoping that Xander had not been lying about Eliza. And praying that no one would notice me running away with Xander, a really hot vampire and the best car we had.
“Hey. Why are you in such a hurry?” Shouted one of the collectors, darn, they could tell if you were lying.
“Late for an appointment with Xander!” I shouted back, hoping that she would accept that excuse.
“You’d better run boy! Don’t keep him waiting.” She smiled, apparently she had enough experience with Xander to know that he could be extremely dangerous if he got bored, impatient or angry. So I did as she said, I ran.
“Get in the car!” I shouted, at the empty parking lot. I sighed and jogged over to the best car, when I opened the door I saw Xander sitting in the driver’s seat and Eliza sitting next to him in the passengers seat.
I followed my own command and got in the car, in the back. I fastened my seat belt before I remembered who was sitting at the wheel, Xander. I started panicking and scrambled to unfasten my belt and open the door, but while I was fiddling with the belt I heard a little click. Xander had put on the child lock. I breathed in and out a few times trying to calm myself, but it didn’t work very well. But before I had the opportunity to do anything the car jolted forward and we were whizzing down the road.
Eliza was texting, Xander was driving and I was holding on for my life. You never got used to Xander’s driving, unless you were Eliza apparently. We were driving down unfamiliar roads, until we arrived at a castle. Eliza’s castle. And outside of it stood the two boys from the concert. Eliza waved at them and they started walking towards the car.
After that we drove in silence, I had been forced to sit in the middle right between Anarel and Daniel. I was sulking. After a while Xander stopped again. This time he got out and walked around the car to my door.
“This is all your idea, remember?” He whispered softly to me, before gesturing for me to get out. When I had crawled out of the door he pointed at Eliza’s door. She was listening to music and oblivious to anything going on around her. I opened the door for her and she looked up, slightly surprised. Then she smiled and got out. I led her to the skating rink that we were parked outside of and heard an engine starting. We looked back at the car and watched it drive away.
We walked into the building, both knowing that Xander would come back when we were ready for him.
“Whaddaya want?” asked a gum-chewing teenaged girl with way too much makeup and badly bleached blond hair. She was texting and looking incredibly bored.
“A pair of skates each, and admission to the rink.” I said carefully. At the sound of my voice she looked up.
“Well, hello there. What size are you?” She asked, pushing her chest towards my face. I hid behind Eliza, who had just growled at the girl. We ordered our skates, that is Eliza ordered our skates and we continued into the skating rink.
When we had our skates on properly Eliza walked out onto the rink, I stumbled after her. Luckily we were in a remote town, so there was just one other person at the rink. Eliza glided out to the middle, motioning for me to follow. I shook my head violently, making me lose my balance. I clung to the sides and was struggling hard so as not to fall into the splits.
“The next son will be Bulletproof by La Roux!” Said a male voice over the speakers.
Eliza’s POV:
Automatically I skated to the middle of the rink and waited for the song to come on. After the first beat, I lifted my arms and started to do my dance. I had been a competitive skater a few years ago for a previous assignment, and in one of the many competitions, I had done a routine to this song. I guess I still remembered it.
I started to do all the movements, bringing my arm down, then kicking up my leg and flinging stray bits of ice towards Joel. Then I started swirling over the ice and turning while doing various tricks with my arms and legs. Then started the flirtatious bit.
I was showing off and being sexy, both with my body and my face. When I took off my jacket and flung it over my shoulder I heard wolf-whistles coming from Joel, and some other guy who was at the rink. Then I glided backwards for a bit before turning and performing a triple Lutz and what I called a T-swirl. A T-swirl was when I stood on one leg making my body into a ‘T’ and then swirled on the spot.
Then I did some pretty cool dancing, ordinary dancing but on skates so that it looked really cool. And I showed off even more by performing a double toe loop landing in a T-swirl and doing some extra up and downy bits while still turning around on one leg.
I floated along the rink while dancing and performing jumps here and there. Like a backwards Lutz going into a Jumping T-swirl and more swirls. I continued on with the ultra sexy dancing, flirtatiously showing off and getting even more wolf-whistles. My favorite part was when she sang ‘Oh, baby, your time is running out’ and I did a motion to my wrist with the other hand then pointing them both over my shoulders.
The remaining part of the routine was just dancing and swirling, pretty badass swirling though, and then ending with the sexy/cool posture. When I was done Joel started applauding and cheering, so did the other guy but I didn’t care about him. Joel stumbled towards me and when he was an arms length away from me he fell. I caught him laughing. He really sucked at skating.
The rest of the evening I tried to teach Joel how to skate and he failed miserably at it. We really bonded. And by the end of the night we were both laughing, at Joel mostly, and enjoying ourselves.
Joel’s POV:
Xander came and picked us up ten seconds after the manager had thrown us out because they were closing, and we were being really noisy. And the three of us talked all the way to our campsite. When we arrived Xander went ahead of us to do whatever it was he had mumbled that he was going to do.
I got out of the car and held the door for Eliza, that is to say I pushed her back into the car and closed the door so that I could hold it open for her. She smiled and took the hand I offered her. We stood there looking at each other for a long time. Her eyes were so beautiful, they actually reminded me a little of my own eyes. Then there was her cute little nose, and her luscious lips, and absolutely everything about her.
Without noticing it we had suddenly come very close together and we had both opened our mouths, just a little. I laid my hand around her petite waist and pulled her closer to me. Every fiber of my body wanted to be close to her. She breathed in and pushed herself closer to me. Our lips were only inches apart and I could feel her minty fresh breath on my face, tickling my nose and mouth. I started to close the gap, feeling my whole body willing me to go faster, closer to her. My eyes closed and my mouth opened.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Shouted a sort of familiar voice. I swiveled around to see who it was, and to make the position between Eliza and me less personal. I could make out a blond head. Blond but with an unfamiliar voice, so not Xander. It must bee Eliza’s little brother.
“Get out!” Eliza shouted back, the anger covering up the embarrassment in her voice. Her brother did as anyone in their right mind would do when faced with an angry Eliza, he ran.
The rest of the evening we sat quietly around the campfire and listened to Xander and Daniel discussing. I decided it was time for us to go to bed when Eliza fell asleep on my shoulder. I carried her into our tent and laid her down. Then I lay down next to her and she moved in her sleep, ending up resting on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and fell asleep.