For your protection
"Stephanie! Stephanie!" Jayce's voice was in my head. In my dream. He sounded closer than he really was.
My eyes fluttered open to my bedroom. The sunlight made shadows across the floor. The voice stopped. Silence filled the house. I rolled over to my otherside and tried to close my eyes again. Too late. I was already awake.
"Stephanie!" I heard the voice again. Then that's when I realized that the voice was real. I quickly got out of bed and ran down the hall. The image of Jayce and a dark, unknown figure were standing across from each other. Jayce's fists balled tight, they turned ghostly white. His eyes narrowed at the figure. The figure stood silently in its black attire. Scarf, gloves, heavy coat, hat, sunglasses and all.
"Jayce! No, don't! He's a friend!" I grabbed his fist and held it. I looked into his eyes and nodded. He took a step back to let me stand in front of him.
The figure removed its scarf that was covering its mouth, revealing pale, thin lips. Next came the skull cap. Black, glossy hair was underneath it. My eyes widened when I realized who it was. The sunglasses came off and purplish blue eyes, almost indigo sparked my memory. I blinked a few times, trying to make sure this was real.
"JT? What are you doing here?"
He leaned into to my ear. "Steph, I need to talk to you."
I turned to face Jayce who was still staring at him. I placed one hand under his chin and lifted up his face to meet mine. I could feel his jaw flexing.
"It's okay. I'll be fine. Go." I said, my voice sweet and innocent. Without words, he turned and walked back up the winding staircase. I sighed.
"He acts like he owns the place." he whispered.
JT's face was pale. Whiter than usual. His eyes were swallowed by purple circles, his lips were dry, and his fangs were straight and human. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days.
"What is it?"
"I need to talk to you about Lily." he whispered.
We sat on the sofa. "I know. Logan told me that she's missing."
"There's alot more to the story than you think." he said.
"Please JT, if you know something we don't, you have to tell us."
He hesitated for a moment. "My baby girl isn't taking it very well."
"I bet. Tell me what happened. Everything you remember."
He frowned hard, making crease lines in his forehead. "Remember when I told Colleen that I was in my dorm getting dressed? I lied. I was with Lily the night she disappeared."
"What happened to her?"
He was silent.
"Dammit JT, what happened to her?"
"She was attacked."
I gasped.
"By the smell of it, it was a vampire that attacked her."
"What did you do with her-body." I choked on the word.
"I didn't throw her in the river if that's what you mean. I just simply saved her."
My eyes widened. "How?"
"She drank my blood."
"I'm guessing you took what I told you about the vampires."
"Yep. She was so bloodied and cut, I couldn't control myself. It smelled so damn good."
I held his icy hand. "You don't have to tell me. I understand. You did what you had to do. You saved Lily's life."
"Yeah, well I wish I hadn't."
"Why do you say that?"
"She was staying with some friends of mine. They said she couldn't control herself and went crazy."
"They were vampires too?"
"Just some people Colleen slept with and turned before she met me."
I took a deep breath.
"Don't ask. It's complicated. Anyway, she said she couldn't feed off of other vampires. She had to get away. They said she ran out."
"We have to find her." I mumbled to myself.
"And how are we suppose to do that? I tried to trace her. Her scent is unfamiliar to me now."
"Easy. She'll never attack the same place twice. Trust me, I know how a new-bee operates. She'll attack locals. She'll be so scared and freaked out, she wouldn't dare leave her hometown."
"Okay, well how are we gonna leave to find her? People would start to notice our absence."
I cupped my chin, thinking hard.
"I got it! You'll go back to Colleen. Tell her you're going camping for awhile with your friends. Those vampire guys. You need some guy time. If she insists she come with you, tell her you'll make it up to her."
He nodded as if he was pleased with the plan.
"Okay, What about you and human boy?"
"I'll take care of Jayce."
His face twisted into a frown. "Jayce? We're on a first name basis now?"
"It's less suspicious that way." I shrugged.
"Sure." he lengthened the word.
I looked into his face and raised one brow.
"When was the last time you ate?"
"A few days ago. Why?"
"Are you still super sensitive to sunlight?"
"Obviously." he said.
With that said, I ran to the kitchen. I took a glass from the cupboard, and filled it to the rim with the sweet familiar liquid. Carefully and swiftly, I carried the glass to JT. He took it and began to drink. I watched as the blood swished inside of the glass.
"Thanks." he said. The glass was half full. The purple circles were gone, his lips and face began to turn rosy and fleshy.
"You need to sleep. You can sleep in my room. I have the windows covered, so that should be fine for you."
He left his glass and headed to my bedroom. There was something I just had to do. I fished for my phone in my jacket pocket and dialed numbers. The phone rang four times before someone picked it up.
"Hello?" Colleen's voice was raspy. Rough.
"Hi, cuz. Are you feeling okay?"
"No. I feel crappy." she said.
"I'm so sorry about Lily. We'll find her."
"I guess that was what Auntie Janet was talking about. Gettin too close to humans. It is painful."
I immediately thought about the conversation with my mother, then shuddered it off.
"Listen, Colleen. Don't listen to my mother. She doesn't know what the hell she's talking about. She's just jealous of what we have."
Silence from the big mouthed girl. Unbelieveable.
"You still there?"
"Uh-huh," she said, "I'm listening."
"Okay. I just wanna let you know that-"
"JT's with you. I know. I'll call him later." she finished.
"Okay. I'll tell him. Talk to you later."
"Sure. Keep a close eye on that human. He's gonna start gettin suspicious."
Logan. I growled.
"How did you know that?" I asked.
"It doesn't matter. Just watch out for him." The line went dead. I tried to restrain myself from throwing my phone across the room. She knows about Jayce. But how? The only two people who knows about Jayce is Logan and JT. Logan doesn't tell Colleen anything, and JT's phone was sitting on the table.
Wearing my pajamas was a requirement today. I didn't want to wake JT. He needed a lot of sleep. Especially during the day. My head was swimming with a lot. Keeping Jayce a secret from my mom, Lily's disappearance, and the fact that she's a renegade, undead vampire. She's much more bloodthirsty than JT, though he's fairly new to his thirst too. Only difference is, he still has his humanity. Thank stars for his humanity. We had to find Lily before the authorities.
I paced through the living room, gnawing on my fingernail. What do I tell Jayce? What do I tell my mother? And most importantly, what do I tell Colleen? This was not a secret that should be kept from her forever. She loved Lily like she was her sister. Those two were inseparable. Occasionally, Colleen would talk about Lily's plans or their plans to spend time together. Of course, Colleen always made their events at night. Daylight kills her, but much slower than JT. Since JT and Lily are new-bees, daylight kills them on contact. Their young vampire immune systems can't tolerate that kind of power. It's one of the common traits they inherited from their creator. Over time, vampires like Auntie and Uncle David become immune to sunlight, and their sensitivity to it begin to fade.
Jayce stood at the end of the stairs, staring at me. He frowned a bit, while his eyes matched my pacing. He cleared his throat.
"Is he still here?" he said as he jammed his hands into his jeans pocket.
"He's sick. I'm letting him sleep it off." I said.
"How long is he staying for?"
"Until tonight. He has something to do later." I went to the kitchen. Jayce's sweet coconut and ember scent followed.
He sighed loudly, causing me to nearly knock the glass out of my hand.
"Stephanie, can I ask you something?" he frowned at the floor.
"Sure," I said, "anything."
"I was just wondering, why are you single?"
His question caught me by surprise.
"Well, um maybe I haven't found the right person yet."
"I see." he nodded. "Well, when do you think you'll find the right person?"
"I don't know, Jayce." I shrugged. "Soon, I guess."
He walked closer to me. His face was strong. Rosy. His jaw began flexing. I watched those liquid blue fires of his and immediately felt my heart begin to race. His heart was slow and calm. My breathing quivered through my thin lips. My hands were clutching the counter, and my nails were digging into the marble. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I had to stop him. I couldn't do this. This couldn't happen.
"Jayce," I whispered his name. His pace never slowed down or sped up. He kept it constant.
"Jayce," I said again. He didn't stop. His hand sat at the very top of my hips. I felt like melting. Slipping away. His other hand slid under my hair. It was warm compared to my hot skin. My heart continued to race. His body leaned into mine. His chest pressed against the fullness of my breast. His fingers traced along my cheek to my bottom lip. He lifted up my chin, so my eyes met his. Hazel meeting liquid fire blue. His warm breath slithered across my lips. He closed his eyes and leaned in closer.
I had to stop him. "Jayce," I said again.
He put one finger on my lips and shook his head softly.
"Don't fight it Stephanie. Don't fight it." he said, then kissed me softly.
His soft lips sent waves of heat down my body. I didn't know what to do at that moment. He was so addicting. He pulled away, looked into my eyes for a minute, then kissed me again. Hard that time. My arm flailed around his neck. The hand that was on my hip slid down to the back of my knee. He lifted my leg up so my foot was wrapped around his body. I groaned a bit, then found myself pulling his chest away.
"Jayce, we can't." I was trying to catch my breath.
"Why?" he asked.
"I can't go that far with you." I thought about Deacon and what we almost did.
"Stephanie, please don't fight me. You want me too. I can see it in your eyes."
"Jayce, I'm not fighting you. What would my family think?"
"If they can't respect your decisions, then they are not really your family."
"Jayce," I began. I knew that in my mother's book, consorting with humans was forbidden. I'm one hundred and sixty years old. I am way past the adult stage.
"Please, Stephanie." his blues pleaded.
I took a step forward toward him and kissed him hard. I pulled away, stroked his cheek and walked out of the kitchen. JT was standing in the living room. Surprised.
"What the hell did you just do?" his face was rosier and back to normal.
"I was just having fun." I said as I walked past him.
"Yeah, I can see that. With a human?"
"Relax. You were human not even a week ago. You are no different than he is."
"You're right I'm no different. I drink blood. That's not different at all." he whispered.
"JT. Nobody really said anything when you consorted with Colleen. Let me have some fun too."
"Sure. Fine. You can have some fun, but maybe choose another werewolf to be with."
"You're starting to sound like my mother. Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. You just worry about trying to help me find Lily."
"Sure, I can do that. I can also keep you out of trouble with your mom."
I growled. "Whatever. Colleen said she'll call you back. She sounded miserable. Maybe you should go comfort her."
"Maybe I should. Anything to not be a witness to this mess you've created." he pointed to the kitchen.
"Get out." I said as the heat filled my face.
He left. Glad he was gone. JT could be a real jerk sometimes. Maybe it was because I just met him. He's probably just like that normally, and I'm just now realizing it. Either way, I didn't like it. I didn't appreciate how he judged me on kissing Jayce. What a hypocrite. It's okay though. What I do with my life is nobody's business. That included Jayce.
"Is he gone?"
I spun around in a blur, facing Jayce's handsome face. I smiled unwillingly.
"He's gone." I said.
"He seemed like a real jerk." he moved away from the railing.
"He's just going through something. He needed a little help."
He faced the table and frowned. "What's that? Was he drinking it?"
Dammit! I forgot to get rid of that! I took a deep breath and hesitated.
"Yeah," I said "It's a tonic I came up with to cure anything."
He nodded at the glass. "It looks disgusting."
"It's not that bad once you get used to it."
He walked over to the half full glass of blood and stood in front of it, staring.
"Can I try it?" he looked at me. I was looking at the glass while my heart was skipping an off rhythm beat.
"I don't think that's a good idea." I said.
"Why not?"
"Cause I don't wanna see you get whatever JT had." I lied, but it was okay. As long as I kept him in the dark about stuff. Clearly, I was taking Colleen's advice.
He frowned. "I guess you're right. Who was that guy anyway?"
"He's my cousin's boyfriend."
"He's a little creepy."
"Trust me, you creep him out more than he does you."
"His eyes are purple." he said.
"Indigo actually. Kind of a purplish blue. He has contacts." I lied again.
"Never heard of it."
"It's possible."
He pursed his lips to the glass. "What're you gonna do with that?"
"I'll pour it out." I said as I picked up the glass. The smell was beautiful. It made my mouth water and body quiver. I should've drunken it. Enjoyed it while it was luke warm and not cold. Not while Jayce was around. I took the glass to the kitchen, sat it on the counter and stared at it.
"Stephanie, you okay?"
"Yep. Why do you ask?" I turned and my nose touched his. Our breathing was heavy.
"What did that JT guy say to you?"
"N-nothing." I was struggling to get my words out while he was so close to me.
"Why are you stammering?" he chuckled.
"I don't know." I looked into his eyes.
"It's not a bad thing. I think it's cute."
We both laughed. He reached for the hand that was tense at my hips. He held it gently like a fragile piece of ceramic artwork. He chuckled as he stared at the back of my hand. His palm was facing mine. With another large rosy finger, he began to trace the path of my veins. He started from my wrist and traced one long vein down to the middle. Then, the path of the long vein split into three separate ways. They formed the shape of an 'M'. My body shivered from head to toe. I didn't pull away. My eyes were closed as I was breathing quietly.
"I have never seen anybody as brilliant as you. That day on the road when I saw you, you took my breath away. Every minute of everyday after that night, I always wondered if I was ever going to be close to you. As cheesy as it sounds, I think fate led me to you. To be honest, Stephanie, I don't believe in that love at first sight bullshit. But I do believe in getting to know someone before love comes into the picture."
I took a deep breath before speaking. Before I could even get my words out, Jayce's lips pressed mine. His breath was hot in my mouth. My legs quivered and began to grow weak. He was what Colleen would call 'hot'. He made my body fall into crazy spasms. This wasn't right and I knew it. How come Colleen could have all the fun with humans and I couldn't have fun with not even just one? That burns me up inside. She's like the perfect princess, and I'm not even the servant. More like a peasant townsperson.
The kiss lasted awhile. I was wondering when were we planning on coming up for air. I felt like I was losing mine. My throat was tightening while I moaned. He was powerful, strong. The kind of man that was right for me. The kind of man that was just like me.
I nudged his chest a bit with the back of my hand. His lips gently pulled away from mine. I was able to breathe. I took slow, steady breaths. He smiled while his warm hand caressed my cheek.
"Lets go somewhere." he said.
"Where exactly?"
"I don't know, Stephanie. Anywhere. Anywhere you wanna go."
I looked down at my bare feet and frowned. Another date? I was fresh out of places to go. It would be nice if I could let Jayce meet my family, and see where I came from. If only the vampires in my family weren't so damn abnormal looking. I mean, they might be alive and fleshy, but their eyes and fangs throw the whole look off. Their fangs can be hidden, but my family chooses not to. It's a painful process. Then I thought about Colleen. She looks sorta human. Her eyes are green and not some weird color. She hides her fangs because she's young and doesn't want the school to get suspicious. A light bulb turned on in my head.
I looked into Jayce's eyes and smirked. "I know the perfect place. You've been on a college campus before, right?"
He smiled. "I graduated from college. University actually. Why?"
"Because I wanna take you to meet someone. She's amazing. She might be a little down because her best friend went missing, but trust me, you'll like her."
He nodded. "Really? Who?"
I smiled at the thought of her name. "My cousin, Colleen Grimaldi."
"Grimaldi? That sounds-"
"Yep, but she's American. She was adopted by my Uncle, who is Italian." I said
"What's your last name?" he asked.
"Schiro. My mother is Italian."
"Your father was-" he trailed off.
"American and Hispanic. My American grandfather is alive somewhere, we just haven't heard from him in years."
"I'm Greek-American. My father always admire my mother's Grecian origins." he said.
I nodded. "Wanna get ready to go? My cousin would be there."
"Sure, okay." he turned and left the kitchen. His footsteps stomped up the stairs.
I was pretty sure I was traveling about ninety miles an hour. I pushed down on the brakes, and immediately the car began to slow. I looked at the speedometer and it said fifty. Jayce had the window down with his arm out. His dark blonde hair shimmered in the fall breeze. He chuckled through the wind.
"Do you know what today is?"
I pulled my eyes off the road for a second and blinked them in his direction.
"Look at the store windows." he said.
I looked to my left at a laundromat. The windows were covered with ghosts and smiling pumpkins.
"Oh yeah. I forgot." I said as I was approaching the school's parking lot. I pulled into the lot and parked next to Colleen's truck. Jayce eyed the truck and nodded.
"Who's truck is that?" he pointed to its glossy paint.
"Colleen's." I said. We left the car into the orange sun.
We entered Colleen's dorm building. It was quiet and it smelled like faint cigarettes. I knocked on the door and waited. Footsteps were on the other side of the door. The white wooden door opened and JT appeared. He looked at me, then at Jayce and frowned.
"We're here for Colleen."
"I know. She told me." he said, voice flat.
I tilted my head and pushed past him. Colleen's room was filled with fuzzy and frilly stuff. Her curtains were purple, her desk chair and rugs were all shag purple. It made my head spin. Colleen was laying in bed. Her face was pale and her eyes were half closed. The color looked like it was drained from her face and hair.
"Colleen?" I said in my soft, gentle tone.
"Hi, cuz. How are ya?" she sounded raspy.
"Good. You don't look so good."
"I don't feel so good." she said.
"I want you to meet someone." I said and grabbed Jayce's hand.
Jayce looked at Colleen and smirked. Colleen gave me a two thumbs up and winked.
"Good job, Steph. You finally found someone." she said.
"Cuz, this is Jayce. He's going to be staying with me for awhile."
"Business or personal?" she asked.
"A little bit of both." Jayce answered.
"You here that, cuz? He's not going anywhere." We both chuckled, though hers' sounded sickly.
"Are you okay?" Jayce asked Colleen.
"Oh, I guess you heard about what happened to Lily." she said.
"A little, yeah." Jayce said.
"I'll be fine. I'll survive." she said.
"How's Logan?" I sat next to her.
"Same as me. He's barely functional. He took a few weeks off of work to look for Lily. The school is going insane. They're questioning everyone. They even questioned me. I was nearly on the verge of attacking one of those damn rent a cops."
Jayce looked at me. His brow raised. I knew I had to explain it to him later. He looked down at the floor in silence.
"They even questioned me." JT said from the bathroom.
"When did they question you?" I asked.
"After Colleen and I went on our date."
Colleen rolled her eyes.
"You guys went on a date?" I asked, my face shifted into a smile.
"Yeah. We went out to eat." she winked at me.
"Great." I mumbled.
"So, Jayce, what brings you by Steph?"
"My car broke down on my way to my parents. Kinda recognized her car from the other day and asked for her help."
Colleen nodded. "What did your mom say?"
"I didn't tell her." I said.
"Figures." she said.
"I did tell her about the party."
"I bet she was P.M.Sing."
"She was pretty anal about it."
"Did you tell her about Deacon?"
"No. She was already disappointed that I went to the party."
"My mom and dad aren't like that. Thank goodness."
"Your parents accept you just the way you are.My mom is controlling my love life."
"Don't let her. You are an adult. You can do whatever you wanna do."
"She doesn't think that way. To her, I'm still her little girl."
"Moms are like that sometimes. It's annoying. Anyway, I need to talk to you. It's about my headaches."
I turned to Jayce who got the hint. JT came out the bathroom and kissed Colleen on her forehead before leaving the dorm. Jayce looked at me.
"Do I have to follow him?" he whispered.
"You'll be fine. I have to talk to my cousin."
He sighed, feeling defeated. He kissed the top of my head, then left.
Colleen was smiling wide from ear to ear.
"What?"
"I've never seen you this happy."
"Yeah, well don't get too used to it. It won't last as long as my mother has a say in it."
"Don't worry, I won't tell her. She'll never know from me. I promise to keep my mouth shut this time."
I squinted at her. "I don't know. You told her about my episodes, and JT about Deacon and I."
"That's not fair! Your mother deserved to know and JT is my boyfriend. We promised to not keep secrets from each other."
I started to feel guilty. If only I knew that JT made that promise, I would've told him to tell Colleen everything. Dammit! If she ever found out, he and I would end up on her hit list.
"What about those headaches?" I said, relieved that I had asked the question.
"Oh, that. It feels like I wanna die. They are so painful. That's just the normal part. The supernatural part is that I can see images in my head before they even happen."
"Oh shit, cuz! You're psychic!"
"No I'm not." she said.
"Well how else do you explain the headaches and images."
"I don't know, but I do know is it's definitely not a vision. It's more like a dream."
"A vision can come in the form of anything. A dream, a image projected in your head while you're awake, a sign, anything. Colleen, I'm telling you. You are able to see into the future."
She moaned. "Take it back. I don't want it. How the hell did I get it?"
"I don't know. It probably came from the powers of becoming a vampire."
"Or maybe from my real human ancestors."
"Maybe. It's a strong possibility."
"That sounds about right. My human parents were probably gypsies or something."
"Not sure, but we sure as hell have to find out."
"Mom and dad. They might know. They adopted me. They might know a lot more about my background than they lead on."
"That reminds me. I have to talk to Uncle."
"Why?" she asked.
"I had a weird dream last night about a person with wings. Big white wings. It looked human."
"You think my dad knows what it means?"
"He might. It couldn't hurt to try."
"If you're thinking of going over to see him, take a shower and get rid of that human smell on you. It's even making me hungry."
"You're always hungry." I chuckled.
"True." she sat up straight against the headboard.
"Did you know that my mom was fooling around with Uncle Mark?"
"No! Ew!"
"That's what I thought."
"No offense, Steph, but what a hypocrite! She doesn't want you to be with humans, but she's sleeping with our Uncle? Your dad and my mom's older brother?"
I cringed at the thought. "I know. It sickens me too."
"What would Uncle Mitch say?"
"My dad would be just as disgusted as us. He would want to maybe hurt Uncle Mark. Then again, my father isn't like that."
"My mom would hurt Auntie Janet."
"I bet she would. You're mom is crazy like that." I laughed.
"Did you and Jayce you know, do the do?" she asked.
My eyes widened through its sockets. "No. He wants to. I'm not ready yet."
"You should've given in. He's hot." she smiled.
"I'm doing things the old fashioned way. Marriage, sex, then kids. Not the other way around. That's wrong."
"I wish you would've told me that sooner." she said.
"You and JT already had sex?"
"I plead the fifth." she said.
"Oh, Colleen. Did you know that just because you guys are half vampire doesn't mean you can't have kids. You are still half human. You can have kids. You don't want to deal with that right now."
"I'm psychic remember. I know when and when not to have sex. It might come to me. Can we get off this subject please?"
"Fine, but you started it. Go eat. Get up. Live. Don't let Lily's crisis stop you from living."
"What if I can't?"
"JT'll make you. You'll do it for him."
"You know me too well." she said.
I kissed her forehead and walked down the stairway. Jayce was standing outside with JT. The sun had gone completely down. The lamps outside the door made a spotlight over us. The cool breeze moved through my thin black sweater.
"See ya JT." I said as I walked to my car. Jayce followed. We both got in as JT waved.
"I don't like that guy." Jayce said.
"Why?" I revved the engine.
"He's a jerk."
"I know. He's cool sometimes." I said as I drove out of the lot.
The highway was clear. I was happy that I was able to drive faster. The clock on the radio said seven ten. Just enough time to talk to Jayce. I drove down my street and up the driveway. Jayce sat back in his seat and ran his hand through his hair.
"What's the matter?" I asked as I cut the engine off.
"I'm curious. Why do you never talk about your family in front of me?"
"My family is going through a lot right now and we are trying to sort it out. I think it's best if you stay out of it."
"I wanna help you Stephanie. I do. I really do, but you make it difficult for me to do that."
"Jayce, my family is not your normal family."
"I kind of gathered that from the time Colleen said that she wanted to attack those cops, to the time JT sat under the shade until the sun was gone behind the earth. Stephanie, what is going on?"
"I can't tell you. You might get hurt."
"I can handle it. Tell me."
"No." I said and left the car. I was heading up the stairs. He followed. The house was warm and comfortable. The same as when I left it. He closed the door behind him and followed me to my room.
"Why not?" he said.
"I told you. You might get hurt. I can't deal with that right now." I threw my phone and keys across the bed.
He stood at the doorway with his arms and legs crossed.
"Stephanie. You are so sweet. Sweeter than most girls I've met. Please let me help you."
"I can let you do that Jayce. I'm sorry." I walked past him.
"Fine, Stephanie. If you won't tell me, I'll figure it out myself."
I stood at the sink, then spun around. "No Jayce! Don't do that!"
"You'll tell me then?"
"No. I won't tell you, but I don't want you to get hurt in the process either."
"How bad could it be?" he jammed his hands into his pockets.
"Oh, it's pretty bad. Trust me."
"Okay." he said.
"Okay?" My brow furrowed.
"Yeah. Okay. I'll back off." he lifted his hands.
I raised one brow. "Really?"
"Whatever you want." he said.
I walked toward him and kissed his warm cheek.
"Thank you. I knew you would understand." I went into my room and sat on the bed.