Maybelle's to the side, or top depending on where you're reading this.
Chapter 14
"We're here," Levi announced, parking the car. I looked out the window and smiled at how cute the place was.
I turned to the side and saw a now wide awake Jason looking out excitedly. "Braska, it like our own adventure!" he said, throwing his fists up in the air. I chuckled at him and nodded. One of the perks of bringing Jason was not only to keep an eye on him, but also because I know it's his dream to explore the world.
"The Welcome Diner?" I asked, getting out of the car. Jason walked over to my side and held my hand as I followed the two inside.
I saw a couple sitting in one of the tables outside with the red umbrella's over them. Levi and Layton turned towards them and started making their way towards the couple. Those must be Maybelle and...I've really got to learn the other one's names.
They were too busy looking at the menu so they didn't notice we were sneaking up on them. But the good thing about that was that I got to hear a little bit of their conversations and I can say that they were pretty interesting people.
"I want a Spring Salad," someone who I considered to be Maybelle said.
The other guy rolled his eyes. "You're just saying that cause of that one girl who called you fat," the guy said.
Maybelle scoffed. "I'm not affected by her at all. I'm just thinking that I really should just get a salad."
"Hm yeah sure. Anyways so that's three champion burgers and an ice tea for you right?"
Maybelle hit him upside the head. "Why three burgers?"
"Cause you eat like a pig," he mumbled back, making the girl hit him a gain. "Okay woman now that's just abuse."
"Yeah May, I need him alive cause he owes me money," Levi butted in, squeezing himself between the two. The guy looked annoyed to see him but Maybelle looked excited.
"Levi! So glad to see you!" she said, wrapping one arm around him. She saw Layton standing nearby and ran over and jumped into his arms. "Brother! Haven't seen you in so long! I was worried you've forgotten about your big sister," she teased, removing herself from his arms.
Layton smiled and ruffled her hair. "Now why would I forget someone who used to dress up as Dracula just to get me to play doll with her?" he said, sitting down in one of the empty seats.
I was standing behind Layton so when he moved, I was completely visible to Maybelle. When she noticed me, her eyes grew wide and I was immediately engulfed into a hug.
"Oh my god you must be his soulmate! Hi it's so nice to meet you! I've been dying to see the pretty girl that Layton was dreaming and whining and fantasizing over!" she squealed, not once loosening her hug.
I gave her an awkward pat back while the guy tugged on the back of Maybelle's shirt to get her to let go of me. I tried not to blush when she mentioned Layton and I could tell he was trying not to lash out at his sister for telling me that.
That only confirmed my thoughts that those two were very close to each other. For some reason, them being close together as siblings warmed my heart. Maybe it was because I was so close to my brother, it was nice to see someone else have that sort of bond with their siblings.
Maybelle took notice of Jason, who was clinging into my leg, and bent down to his level. "Aww...he's so cute!" she cooed, comfortingly rubbing Jason's arm. Jason smiled back at her shyly. "Is this your son with her?" she asked, turning towards Layton.
I chocked on air along with Layton, while Levi burst out laughing. Maybelle turned towards the guy. "They have a kid....why can't we have a kid?"
"That's not my son!" Layton corrected, pointing at Jason.
"Yeah he's my younger brother!" I added, feeling heat rush to my cheeks. Knowing how pale my skin was, I can already tell that my blush was very visible.
Maybelle nodded and sat back down next to the guy. "Wow, sorry about that. He just looks so much like your love child," she explained. Please stop talking Maybelle.
"Just order something," the guy said, holding a menu up to Maybelle's face. That seemed to grab her attention as she started skimming through the choices they had. "How long do we have?" the guy said.
I really have to learn his name. "They're open till sometime after midnight so we're good," Levi replied. I sat down between Layton and Levi with Jason on my lap and gave him the menu. While I know Jason wouldn't understand everything on it, I wanted him feel like he was picking even though I was ordering for him.
A waiter came by and smiled at us. "Have you guys decided on what to order?" he asked.
"Spring Salad," Maybelle said, making the guy roll his eyes.
"I'll have two champions," the guy said.
"Big Jim," Levi said.
"Champion," Layton said.
Everyone turned towards me. "Two grilled cheeses," I said, passing the menu over to Layton. The guy finished taking our order before walking away.
"You're not gonna eat the damn salad so why order it?" The guy asked, looking over at Maybelle.
"Stop cussing Brandon, there's children present!" Levi snapped, covering Jason's ears. Oh, so his name was Brandon. Finally I knew his name.
Brandon glared at Levi. "You know what Levi..."
For the next few minutes while we waited for our food, I just listened to Brandon and Levi argue back and forth. I stayed silent and laughed a few times while Layton was shaking his head at the two, occasionally slapping one of them upside the head.
While Maybelle and Brandon got the food, I took that as my chance to ask Layton and Levi something. "What are we suppose to ask them for help for again?" I asked.
"To find a way to stop hunters from hunting us down. Before, it was fun beating the crap out of them but now with you and Jason...I'm not risking anything so I have to put an end to it," Layton said.
"What about Karla?" I asked, remembering the smiling face that helped me at the diner. Why is it that everyone nice always has to have a secret?
They both shrugged. "Karla isn't going to stop unless she gets what she wants. That's either revenge on Sabrina, the throne, or to have Drew to herself," Levi answered.
"And most of it is all connected to her wanting the throne," Layton added.
"But the vampires don't rule the humans anymore. Isn't there sort of no reason for her to want the throne anymore?" I asked.
"The king and queen might not rule every species anymore, but they still rule over every immortal being." Was that suppose to make sense?
"Huh?" My brain was having a hard time wrapping around all of this.
"The president, or whoever, rules over the mortals, or humans. They don't know supernaturals or immortal creatures exists. We live by different rules. Sure, we still have to follow some of the rules so we blend in better, but we have a different set of rules because of what we are. The royal family is in charge of non-humans," Layton explained.
"Which is why Karla wants that power. She knows she can't get it just by killing the queen and king. Only those with royal blood can rule, otherwise no one will listen to you. That's why she's so desperate to be with Drew or any member of the royal family," Levi said.
"Maybelle was the first to find her soulmate, so she was out of the choices for Karla. Karla almost got Drew, until Sabrina came along. That's why Karla absolutely loathes her. She tried Layton next but Layton wouldn't have a go at her," he continued.
Maybe it was just me, but Karla was starting to sound more and more like Zoey. Except for the throne kind of thing, they turned into horrible people all for attention or for a guy.
"I didn't want the throne anyways," Layton said, shrugging his shoulders.
"So how are we going to solve this?" I asked, hugging Jason closer to myself.
"Find Karla, knock some sense into her, and then figure out how to stop the hunters from coming," Layton said, just as Maybelle and Brandon came back with the food.
They set the food down and distributing it accordingly. "So, why the serious faces?" Maybelle asked, sticking a fork in her salad.
"You know why we called you here right?" Levi said, taking a bite of his food.
"This isn't some action comedy, just tell us what you want," Brandon snapped at Levi.
Levi glared at him. "Shut it you twat! Anyways, we need help with something," he continued, looking at Maybelle.
She nodded. "Alright, with what? Always happy to lend a helping hand to my siblings," she said, twirling her fork around. I was already halfway down with my grilled cheese while she hadn't taken a bite of her salad.
"The hunters won't leave me alone," Layton said, making Maybelle roll her eyes.
"What did you expect? You ran away from the throne when there was no one else left. Of course mom and dad are going to send hunters after you. Besides, this is just their way of bribing you to come back," she said.
"I don't want the throne though! Why can't they just let Drew have it like he's suppose to!"
"You know damn well why they won't let Drew even near the castle," Brandon said.
"Um excuse me," I butted in, making everyone's attention turn towards me, "but why won't they let him have the throne?"
Everyone was silent for a few seconds. "You didn't tell her?" Maybelle said to Layton.
He shrugged. "Didn't think she needed to know."
What? What was it that I didn't need to know? Everyone probably saw my confused expression since Levi said, "someone just tell her, she deserves to know. And by someone, I mean Layton."
Layton glared at Levi while I gave him an expectant look. "Well? Someone start talking already! I wanna know!"
Layton sighed. "I wasn't really involved much in it, so I don't know the whole story. But what I do know is that Drew soulmate, Sabrina, wasn't a vampire," he said.
"So human?" I asked.
I was surprised when everyone shook their heads no. "She wasn't human, or a vampire. She was what you would call a dhampir. Basically half human and half vampire."
Those existed? How many creatures out there were alive without the human's knowledge? What if there was more to the world than the government let on? Does the government even know vampires existed?
"Before you ask," Maybelle cut in, "she's the only dhampir in existence. They launched, and are still currently launching, a full investigation on that. In fact, there's a whole other investigation group dedicated on just making sure dhampirs don't exist, not like anyone wants them to anyways."
"What's so bad about um...dhampirs?" I asked, feeling confused. If they were only half vampire, then shouldn't that mean they were only half as strong as regular vampires? Why did they feel threatened by them?
"Since they're half of each, we can't know for sure which gene is stronger. If their human side is stronger, then they can last longer in the sunlight than we can. If their vampire gene is stronger, then they're just as strong and fast as us. The biggest thing is that almost all of them can't control their blood lust. They aren't full vampires, so they aren't fully capable of self control," Brandon explained.
I felt like I was back in history class, my favorite class. While everyone dreaded learned about the past, I loved it. There was just something about knowing what happened in the past that sparks my interest. "So Sabrina was a dhampir, what's the big deal?" I questioned.
"The big deal is that back then, and even now, dhampirs are illegal. It'd be like committing a murder or stealing government money or committing an act or terrorism, it was extremely illegal. Even the worst and most dangerous vampires won't consider creating dhampirs," Levi said.
"And they didn't realize that for so long?" I asked. Couldn't they smell her or something?
"She was leaning towards the human side genetic-wise. She had the scent of a human," Layton clarified.
I shook my head frustratingly. I hated not being able to connect the dots. "Okay so Drew's soulmate was illegally...alive I guess. How does that not let him be allowed to rule or something?" Even to me that didn't make sense.
"He didn't kill her, which actually I mean, who expected him to kill his soulmate? Anyways, him being together with her was an illegal act so he got banished," Maybelle explained, looking sad.
I was seeing red. They banished him for something as stupid as that? I haven't met the queen and king yet, but I have a few words to tell them.
"As for your problem," Brandon said, looking at Layton, "you have two choices. Either man up and take the throne, or somehow convince your darling parents to let someone else take the throne."
"But who else can? No offence, but they'd never let Maybelle sit on it," he said.
"Thanks," Maybelle sarcastically rolled out.
"There's only one other person," Levi said, looking at Layton.
Everyone nodded simultaneously while I was left in the dark. I wanted in on their silent agreement! "What?" I asked, looking at everyone else. Man I was so slow.
"We'll talk to mom and dad, you guys go find them," Maybelle said, getting up. Brandon left to pay for the meal.
"But do you have an idea of where they are?" Layton asked.
"Canada," Maybelle answered. "They wanted as far as possible. Anyways, nice to meet you Nebraska," she said, giving me a tight hug. After, she bent down and gave Jason a hug too. "You too Jason. Nice to see you guys again!"
She and Brandon walked away and entered a silver Ferrari, nice, before driving off. I turned towards Levi and Layton. "So what's our next move?"
They looked at each other. "We take a plane to Canada."
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School is starting soon and I feel like crying :(