"The soul mate of whom, what do you mean by that?" I said confused.
I looked at Ryder who looked as if he was about to rip Nick's head off.
"Ryder, what is he talking about?" I asked him as I met his gaze.
Ryder didn't answer me.
"What are you talking about Nick?" I asked Nick when Ryder didn't answer me.
"Should I tell her Ryder or will you do the honors?" Nick asked him.
"You should better keep your mouth shut Payne." Ryder said in a hard tone.
"I'm sorry Alice but he'll have to tell you." Nick said and left.
Once we were alone I looked at Ryder.
"What did he mean about the soul mate thing and how does he know that I'm a huntress?" I said pressing the matter.
"It's was nothing." He said brushing it off.
"It sure did look like something or else why would you react so defensive against him!" I said nearly yelling.
"It was nothing Doll, just forget about it." Ryder said and left.
I went back to the cafeteria and sat down to finish my now cold food.
"What happened?" Ric asked me.
"Apparently, nothing, nothing happened at all." I said in a frustrated tone.
We were in our after-lunch period class when a teacher entered the room.
"Hello, I'm Mrs. Bell. I'm sure many of you already know me but if you don't I am the head of Student Activities and as you know for years, we have the tradition to take senior students to a camp in an island for two weeks. So now it is your turn, I will pass out the permission slips your parents must sign. We will leave tomorrow Friday in the morning around ten. You will be expected to take clothes and essential things for your personal care and as for food and utilities we will take care of that." The teacher said as she handed over the slips to everyone.
After the class was over I grabbed my permission slip and started to go to the parking lot.
"Where you going Alice, we still have one class left." Toby said calling after me.
"I have to solve something before it's too late." I said and left.
I got to my car and drove to Ryder's place. I knocked and it was Mason who opened the door for me.
"Hi Alice, I wasn't expecting you until the afternoon." Mason said with a smile.
"Yes, I didn't come here to see you. Is Ryder here they told me he left school earlier?" I told him.
"Alice I don't think that it's a good idea-." Mason started to say.
"Is he?" I said interrupting him.
"He is in his bedroom." Mason said giving up.
"May I come in?" I asked Mason.
"Of course, Alice, this is your house." Mason said as he moved from the door.
I got in and Mason looked at me.
"Would you like something to drink?" He asked me.
"No, thank you I'm alright." I said as I kept my gaze on the stairs.
"Please Alice, let me bring you something." Mason insisted and he looked at me.
I gave a sight.
"Orange juice would be fine." I said saying the first thing that popped into my head.
Mason looked at me.
"What? You thought I was going to ask for tea?" I told him with a smirk.
Mason smiled at me.
"Not at all, dear." He said amused as he chuckled.
"Well now that I mention it a cup of tea wouldn't be bad." I said suddenly craving the tea.
I went upstairs and got inside Ryder's room not even bothering to knock.
"What are you doing here?" Ryder asked me.
He was getting out of the bathroom wearing nothing but his towel around his waist.
"Can you please explain me what happened back there?" I asked him.
"Um...I took a shower?" He said unsure.
"I mean what happened back there in school." I said angry, he was really trying his best to avoid the subject.
"What do you mean? It was nothing, just get over it Doll." Ryder said as he rolled his eyes.
"Nick said that I was the soul mate of someone and you expect me to just let it go? I'm not leaving until you explain me everything." I said as I glared at him.
"Alright, if the fact that I'm standing in front of you almost naked doesn't bother you or the fact that I'm about to dress, sure for me you can stay." Ryder said with a smirk.
"Fine, I'll wait for you downstairs." I said angry.
As I was about to leave Ryder spoke.
"You must be really mad at me Doll, you haven't even glance at my abs once." Ryder said with a grin.
I rolled my eyes and left the room. I went downstairs and walked around until I found Mason in the library.
"Your tea is here." He said gesturing the table.
I sat down on the love seat that was across from Mason.
"Thank you." I said as I took a sip of tea.
"Did you find Ryder?" He asked me.
"Yes, I did. Was it too much for you to tell me that he was taking a shower?" I asked him.
Mason chuckled.
"Would you have listened to me if I had told you that?" He asked me.
"No." I said in a soft voice.
After a few seconds, Mason spoke again.
"Ryder told me about your recent discovery." Mason said as he met my gaze.
"About what, what did he tell you?" I asked him confused.
"He told me about you being a vampire, the Association and of course about Anna Falcon." Mason said explaining.
"Oh that." I said with a small sight.
"Do you believe what Ryder told you?" Mason asked me.
"Somehow, I do, even if I'm a huntress the things Ryder told me makes perfect sense and somehow I know it is true." I said as I shook my head a bit, it was still irrational in my head.
"Well, if you have any questions you can also count with me." Mason said with a smile.
"I sure will." I said returning the smile.
Someone cleared their throat; I looked at the doorway and saw that Ryder was there.
"I'll leave you two alone." Mason said as he got up.
After Mason left Ryder entered and sat in front of me, I placed down my tea and looked at him.
"So, are you going to tell me?" I asked him.
"About what, what do you want me to tell you now?" Ryder said not meeting my gaze.
"Ryder I'm not here to be playing around or to waste my time. Are you going to tell me what Nick meant when he said that I was the soul mate of the Vampire Prince?" I asked him.
"Doll it's nothing to worry-." Ryder started to say.
"Don't you dare to say that Ryder because being the soul mate of someone is anything but nothing, don't you think? You can't expect for me to find out that I'm the soul mate of someone and treat it as if it was nothing at all!" I said angry.
"Doll for you to understand it you need to know what a soul mate is." Ryder said in a calm voice.
"I know what a soul mate is. It's a person who was meant to be with someone and only that person, a person who will always be there for you." I said still raising my voice.
"It seems like you know a lot about it them you must know that vampires never get to choose their soul mates, that they can't help themselves but to love that person no matter what and to be with them." Ryder said as he met my gaze.
"I am very aware of it." I said back.
"Then there you have your answer." Ryder said with a simple shrug.
"You know that it wasn't what I asked you." I said as I got up.
"That is all I can tell you Doll." Ryder said as he got up and went to the doorway.
"Ryder." I said in a warning tone.
He turned around and looked at me.
"You said last night that you were here to tell me the truth and only the truth, or am I wrong?' I asked him as I walked up to him.
"No, you are right." Ryder said as he leaned against the wall.
"Then I'm asking you to answer me only one question with the truth." I said as I met his gaze.
Ryder opened his mouth to object.
"Please." I told him.
"Okay." Ryder said giving up.
"Nick said that I was the Vampire Prince's soul mate, does that mean that I am Mason's soul mate?" I asked him.
"I can't." Ryder said stopping me.
I gave a scoff.
"You know what? Whenever you are ready to tell me the truth look for me you already know where I live." I said before I got out of the library.
"Don't you think it's time for you to tell her the truth?" Mason asked Ryder as I got to the front door and left the house.
I checked my watch and saw that school was over so instead of going back to the high school I went straight to Mike's middle school.
"You're early." Mike said as he entered the car.
"Yes, we were dismissed early. Put your seatbelt on." I told Mike as I turned on the car.
I started to drive towards the city but as much as I tried to focus on the road I couldn't stop thinking about the soul mate thing. Why didn't Ryder tell me what was really going on?
"Are you okay?" Mike asked me.
"I'm fine, why do you ask?" I said confused.
"You seem mad." Mike said.
"Someone made me get upset." I said as I brushed the whole matter off.
"Was it Ryder?" Mike asked me.
"What?" I said shocked.
"Lately you seem to have very strong emotions around him, he makes you very happy but he also makes you mad. I can tell that this time it is no different." Mike said explaining.
I looked at him in awe for a second.
"How old are you again?" I said with a smile.
"I'm still fourteen Alice but wisdom is not defined by age, is it?" He asked me.
"No, it's not." I said with a smile.
We got to the mall where we searched in all sorts of stores looking for the perfect for Kelly.
"How old is Kelly going to turn?" I asked Mike.
"She is turning 31, Mom adopted me when she was 23 and I was 4, almost 5." Mike said.
"So, you have been ten years with her?" I asked him shocked.
"Yes, she is the best mom I could ask for." Mike said with a smile.
"She is." I said agreeing.
"Alice, do you ever miss your mom, your real mom?" Mike asked me.
"Even if I miss her I really don't have any memories of her I do, all the time I keep on wondering how different my life would be if I had grown up with her but I also have a lot of things right now that I wouldn't change because I like how my life is but that doesn't change the fact that sometimes I miss my mum." I said in a soft voice.
"I also miss my dad but I love Mom a lot." Mike said in deep thought.
I wrapped my arm around him and gave him a half hug.
"Well that is why we have Kelly and we have each other because even if we miss our real parents we are not truly alone." I said with a smile.
"You're right." Mike said with a laugh.
After finding the perfect gift for Kelly, Mike and I went back home.
"Where should I put this?" Mike said as we entered the house.
"You can hide Kelly's present in my bedroom." I said as I took off my shoes.
"Okay." Mike said before he went upstairs.
I went to the kitchen and grabbed some of the cookies that Kelly had made the other day. I got upstairs to my bedroom where I found Mike with the suitcase that contained all my weapons like guns, stakes, arrows and the information of the suspects.
"Alice, what is all of this?" Mike asked me as he held my wooden stake.
And here I thought things couldn't really get any more complicated.
qd+M-4q