Chapter Six (Alexander)
"An' so, I was jus' sittin' there when-- Wham-O! I got this great idea. I think it's great. The hair dresser also thought it was great."
Slade was way too enthusiastic in the morning, and it didn't help that Mark had kept me up with another obnoxious phone call, so I fought to stifle a yawn as Slade relayed his story. The moment I meant Slade I knew he was a bit weird.
I mean, it wasn't just the fact that he was psychic, but it was also the fact that he physically enjoyed flaunting himself about. When I met Slade, his platinum blonde hair was streaked with blues, purples, and greens. He'd gotten it redone before showing up to meet us. It was now layered in reds and oranges over the blonde parts. With his snake bites, entire left ear pierced in hoops, and the diamond stud in his right nostril, he looked like a regular delinquent.
He was just missing the black outfit. Today, Slade had doned a killer bright pair of red corduroy skinnies and a blue/black plaid fleece shirt under a white jacket with fur on the hood. Beside him, Zander sat stiffly, looking a bit uncomfortably as he adjusted his glasses. Probably because of how bright Slade was today, compared to his navy blue knit sweater and black jeans.
"Probably because saying it was weird wouldn't get them paid." Mark said from beside me, taking a deep sip of his pumpin spice hot chocolate. Slade pouted, leaning on the table and scrunching up his nose.
"Ye know, they say if I can make me powers better, I can move things wif me head."
"You have to have a brain to move things first."
"How rude! Ye one ta talk! What makes you so special?"
"Hellooo. Only living human pureblood." Mark sang, waving his hand around in a "duh" fashion that made Slade scowl and Zander cover his face with a hand. He probably still hadn't gotten used to the fact that he was hanging out with a psychic and two Druid descendents.
"Mark, you're technically not human anymore." I pointed out politely, taking a sip of my coffee and watching Mark blush as Slade grinned teasingly.
"You ruin everything, Alex." Mark accused, making me just smile at him. I was in too good a mood to care about anything negative anymore. I actually felt comfortable making jokes and teasing Mark again. I was mostly happy because my lunch date with Nathan yesterday went great. I couldn't officially call us a couple, but I could say we were getting closer to that level.
Nathan was such a fun guy to be around. He was positive and couragous and strong and dropdead gorgeous too. He made me laugh as much as Mark did-- which wasn't easy for Mark because he could be so clueless sometimes.
"So, what're you wearing to Vlad's party? Because Storm wants me to wear this stupid tux he picked out and I don't wanna walk around lookin' like I belong on the set of March of the Penguins." Mark ranted, making Slade smirk and Zander raise an eyebrow.
"I'm just wearing my three piece." I responded with a shrug, taking another sip of coffee and pausing to shiver in delight before my cell phone vibrated.
"Bow or tie?" Mark demanded. I raised an eyebrow at him as I took my phone out.
"Tie, of course." I answered with a duh tone. Mark scrunched up his nose, cocking his head as he said something to Slade and Zander as I pulled up my text messages, smiling when I saw Nathan's name. I opened his text, reading that he wanted to have dinner together tonight at some restaurant in town. I responded back quickly before tucking my phone away and looking up just as Slade spoke.
"I'm probably just gonna throw on the only suit I have, which has a really weird blue colored waistcoat. Me mum bought it for me a few years back for prom, but I never went to that silly thing." Slade explained with a shrug.
"You're going too?" I asked surprised. Slade beamed and nodded, clasping his hands.
"Vladimir invited us last night when he gave us a ring. Fantastic, I say. I've never been to a vampire party before. Is there drinks aside from blood?" He asked, making Mark roll his eyes as I smiled lightly.
"Yes. I'm sure Vladimir will be kind enough to put something out for you." I responded.
"I'm not sure if I'm gonna go." Zander admitted, making us blink and look at him in surprise. I didn't ask if Zander was invited or not, but judging by the way he said that, he was invited. It was strange for Vladimir to invite a witch to a party. The only reason Selene was ever invited was because her husband was a psychic and psychics were considered part of our world.
"Why not? Who's supposed ta be me date?" Slade complained. Zander blushed hard, clearing his throat and pushing up his glasses on his nose.
"It's not my type of thing. I'm always a wallflower at parties and it'll be even worse at a party for the supernatural. Besides, I'm sure my grandparents want me to come by and visit for Christmas break anyhow." He responded. There were so many excuses bundled up in that one response that I knew Zander was lying and hiding another reason. And the glance he spared at Slade told me everything.
I should've figured it out before. The way Zander worried about Slade constantly and always chided him and took care of him. Zander liked Slade, but Slade was too oblivious. How weird that a psychic couldn't even tell when his own friend had a crush on him. It almost made me laugh, but instead, I smiled.
"It won't be any fun without you, Zander." I pointed out. Zander blushed even more and Slade smacked his hands on the table.
"Yer goin' whether ya went ta o' not. I need a date and yer me date." Slade insisted stubbornly. I looked at Zander, who grimaced a little, tilting his head before he reluctantly sighed.
"Fine, fine... But don't expect me to dance or anything." Zander added, reaching out to take a sip of his coffee. Slade beamed brightly. The rest of our breakfast was spent talking about the party and everything. I felt like I was gossiping about prom. I ended up not going to my high school prom for obvious reasons and just stayed home to study. Because of my extra studying, I was chosen as valedictorian of my class. Now I'd get the chance to actually go to a party. Without a date, sure, but it was a party none the less and I was excited.
After breakfast, we split up and went to do our own thing. I had two exams to take, but I flew through them easily from all the studying I'd done the night before. I kept checking the clock until it was six before I hurriedly went out to the bus stop to meet Nathan at the restaurant he'd chosen.
He said it was a nice restaurant, so I dressed appropriately in black slacks and a loose black cardigan over a blue button up shirt. Of course, I also wore my jacket over top to keep from shivering. I was relieved as the bus swung by and I took the seat with the heater that warmed up the backs of my legs.
It was deeper into the city than I'd been before. The bus dropped me off and I was just getting out my phone as I walked inside.
"Alexander Lee Grey?" The waiter behind the podium asked. I looked up, blinking.
"Uhm, yes?"
"Right this way, please." He said with a warm smile. I smiled back politely and followed him through the restaurant to a booth by the window where Nathan was already sitting, wearing a nice black button up shirt and black jeans. He smiled at me as I came over and sat across from him. The waiter placed down a menu and stood by as I chose something hot to drink before watching him leave.
"Glad you could make it. I told my parents about you and they sent some money so I could treat us to a nice dinner." Nathan explained. I blushed lightly as I slid my jacket off, folding it up beside me in the booth before I looked up.
"Well, that was nice of them. What do your parents do?" I asked, clasping my hands between my knees, trying not to show how excited I was about this dinner. Nathan shrugged a little, twirling the straw in his water.
"My dad's a surgeon and my mom is a stay at home mom. She occasionally does the Mary Kay catelog selling, but other than that, she usually stays at home. How about your parents?" He asked, smiling. I shifted a little, pausing to think about that. I hadn't spoken to my parents since I moved out. The last thing my father said to me was to stay out of trouble and my mother just said goodbye, and judging from her tone, she couldn't wait to get me out.
I knew she hated me for last year. She'd spent a decade trying to get pregnant with a son and she was thrilled when she had me. My only purpose was to get married to Storm and give my parents a higher title, more status, but Storm had fallen in love with Mark and I was in love with Nicholas. The engagement was cancelled and my mother was furious. My father was disappointed in me, but he didn't say as much as my mother did.
"My father owns the hospital in Wolf Creek and my mother is his secretary. I have an older sister, Amber, who runs an occult shop somewhere in Red Field. Nothing too fancy." I admitted. Nathan studied my expression before smiling gently.
"Am I ever gonna get to meet Amber?" He asked. From the way he asked, he probably read my expression. He knew I didn't want to talk about my parents and it just made me smile that he was considerate enough to avoid the topic.
"Yes," I answered, "I hope. She's coming up here this weekend, maybe after our dinner party with family, we can come back here and you can meet her. She's really nice and I'm sure you'll like her. She's really talkative. She's basically the person who raised me." Nathan laughed.
"Sounds familiar. Seems like older siblings are really good at taking care of us younger ones." He agreed, making me smile. I felt like I could talk to Nathan forever, and about anything. However, I wasn't about to tread the waters of my secret. I couldn't tell Nathan what I was. I would just ruin everything and make things more dangerous. I avoided anything that might hint around the fact that I'm a descendent of the Druids.
The less he knew about that world, the better. I told him more personal things, like memories I had of Nicholas or Amber. How Mark and I met and became friends, which was a bit difficult considering that how we met was all Amber's fault if she hadn't of invited Mark over and pretty much left him for Storm to bite and fall in love with. Of course, if that hadn't of happened, today wouldn't be happening and Mark would be dead.
I also left out the fact that Mark had momentarily died. I just said he got sick, but Storm cured him in some totally strange way. I told him about the kidnapping, just tossing in random movie ideas about how I didn't see much because I was blindfolded. I tried to act like it was a terrifying experience, which in a way it was, but in other ways it wasn't.
I left out the details about my intimacy with Mark, which only made me feel embarrassed. I still regretted the little horny episode I had with Mark. He didn't bring it up since then, and at the time, he insisted that he didn't mind at all, but I still felt guilty. It was probably one of my first sexual experiences ever, and I had it with the idiot friend who liked calling me in the early hours of the night.
I had trouble talking about Nicholas, as usual, but I resisted the urge to cry. And after I got past the fact that I was confessing that Nicholas was murdered and that his funeral was like walking across a field of rusty nails, I didn't feel like crying so much anymore.
Nathan comforted me and I comforted him when he spoke about his brother. He spoke about him so fondly that for a second, I wondered what exactly went on between Nathan and his brother. He talked about all the times his brother used to bathe him and cloth him and spoil him with candy and gifts. The way his brother helped him with his homework and comforted him during thunderstorms.
It made me sad to think that anyone would take Nathan's brother away from him. He was obviously close to his brother and I could see the sadness on his face when he talked about him, but Nathan still managed to smile about it in the end.
We just sat there and talked for what had to be about three hours as we ate two plates of pasta, breadsticks, and other neat Italian foods I'd never tried before. I could eat human food and enjoy it with no problem, but it was the fact that it didn't sustain me like blood did and I had forgotten to drink blood before I showed up because I was so excited.
My throat felt dry and my stomach protested the human food. I felt a little weaker as the night winded down.
"I'm gonna use the bathroom real quick. Be right back." I told Nathan when I felt like I would just leap across the table and bite him. Nathan nodded as I forced myself to walk casually to the bathroom. Once inside, I whipped into a stall and patted at my pockets for any blood tablets. I sank a hand into the pocket of my pants, withdrawing a little tic tac box, but it was completely empty, making me groan.
I took deep breathes, resting my forehead against my arm as I leaned on the stall wall. My heart was thumping angrily and my stomach kept clenching.
What a way to ruin a good night.
Starving myself to death and filling up on human food that was only going to make me puke if I ate anymore. I decided to just make up an excuse to leave. I'd had a good night up until now anyway, so I could at least dream about that, and there was also the next date.
Thinking about that made me smile brightly as I finally left the bathroom and came back to the table. That's right. Another date. And another one, and another one.
"You all right?" Nathan asked as the waiter came by to grab our empty plates. I smiled, feeling my cheeks warm up a little.
"Uhm... Well, I'm not feeling all too well, probably because of the weather lately. It's gotten really cold at my dorm. But... I was wondering... If we can hang out again, maybe on Sunday?" I asked. Nathan blinked, then smiled warmly.
"Of course. I'd love to." He agreed, making me smile in relief. We gathered up our stuff, left the money for the bill and tip before walking outside into the bitter cold night. Snowflakes fell daintily from the dark, starry sky above. The moon was extremely bright tonight, but not entirely full. It'd be full tomorrow night, though. I looked at Nathan as we stood at the bus stop as he cleared his throat to get my attention.
"So... Does this mean we're dating now?" Nathan asked at last. I hesitated, studying his face before smiling. I stood on my toes, reaching up and cupping his face as I kissed him openly on the mouth. Nathan's eyes widened for a second before fluttering shut as he clasped his hands at the small of my back.
My head spun and my emotions bounced around like jumping beans as Nathan's tongue slid across my lips wetly before dipping in to coax mine out. Our mouths parted against each other, teeth clicking and tongues flicking as we kissed deeply. I felt instantly warm. My entire body felt like it was on fire with desire. I felt Nathan's body press up against mine, making me shiver. Our lips parted for a moment, a string of saliva breaking between us.
"Is that a yes?" Nathan asked, dazed as he ran a hand up my back. I smiled up at him.
"Yes." I replied. Nathan smiled, still looking a bit dreamy before he kissed me again, pulling me up against him harder this time. My whole body quaked and I moaned into his mouth as his hands slid up and down my back before resting on my ass firmly. His tongue dove into my mouth, searching and it was when he started to run his tongue along my teeth when I became alarmed. I pulled back for a moment, a bit too sharply, which made him look at me curiously, but I turned my head and coughed.
"Sorry," I managed, feeling my cheeks heat with embarrassment, "I'm still not feeling all that great. I don't want to get you sick." Nathan smiled, reaching up to run his fingers through my hair and cupping the side of my face.
"Totally fine. Call me tomorrow before you leave. We can set up our date on Sunday." He responded, making me smile in relief.
"Okay. Sounds good. I'll talk to ya later then." I said. Nathan nodded, then stooped down and planted his warm soft lips against my forehead before tilting his head to whisper goodnight in my ear. I shivered and mumbled a goodnight, making Nathan smile before I got on the bus that took me to campus.
The entire time, I felt like I was floating on cloud nine or something. I felt dreamy and free. I was finally, officially dating someone. Someone I really loved and cared about. Nathan was my boyfriend and we just practically made out in public. I sighed, slumping in my seat and closing my eyes blissfully until the bus stopped and I got off.
Again, I took my time walking across campus to my dorm. I soaked in the moonlight and glittery stars, completely forgetting about the dull ache of hunder in my stomach and the dryness in my throat.
I just had a wonderful date with Nathan.
I just kissed Nathan.
No, I just made out with Nathan. Nathan and I were officially dating. We were boyfriends. I suddenly felt the urge to tell someone as I whipped out my cell phone, heading to my dorm through.
"Hellooo, Markus the Awesomeness." Mark greeted me, making me roll my eyes as I disappeared into my room, turning the lights on.
"Mark! You'll never believe what happened today!"
"You grew taller?"
"Shut up. This is for real! I can't thank you enough, Mark, really. I'm so happy right now, like, you have no freakin' idea."
"Whoa, what's up? What'd I do?" Mark asked, surprised. I flopped on my bed and relayed the whole night and story about Nathan. I even repeated a few parts because I wanted them to stay in my memories forever. It made my heart swell and I kept thanking Mark.
If it wasn't for his persistence, I never wouldn't met Nathan.
"Fuck yes," Mark whooped after I was finished, "I'm like fuckin' Hitch, man! Think I should make a career out of this?"
"Yes. Yes, you should. And your next client is Zander and Slade." I responded, rolling over onto my belly as I picked at the fluff on my pillow. Mark hummed curiously.
"Those two, huh? Well, it's pretty obvious with the way Zander is with Slade, but I think Slade's way too stupid to even notice Zander likes him. I thought he was supposed to be psychic."
"That's what I was thinking, but whatever. Slade has to notice Zander. At the party tomorrow, get them together alone somewhere. Get Zander to flat out confess."
"All right. That should be easy."
"And I don't mean threaten him, Mark."
"... You just made it harder. This is my line of work, buddy. I take my own approach to these things. I had to break a few ethics for you to meet Nathan. Like, not telling you he was coming to breakfast with us that one day."
"That's true... Fine, do what you want, but don't get anyone hurt."
"Since when did I hurt anyone?"
"Uh, well, you did used to punch me if I didn't give you my lunch money."
"Please don't remind me. I'm embarrassed enough that I was that stupid in high school."
"High school was a year ago, Mark. You act like you're old."
"I am old! Twenty is old! Old, old, old."
"If twenty is old, Storm must be ancient." I pointed out, making Mark burst into laughter. I laughed too, rolling onto my back as I listened to Mark laugh and Storm in the back ground asking what he was talking about. We laughed for a while, throwing jokes back and forth. He talked about his relationship with Storm.
And from the sounds of it, Storm wore the pants. In other words, Storm was in charge. What he said went and Mark obeyed, which surprised me. Mark was never really obedient, which meant if he was doing what Storm said, he must really love him and it made me smile. I laughed when he said Storm spoiled him, though. If he wanted a new video game, Storm was preordering it the moment Mark asked for it.
While talking, I got up and got out a couple blood bags, sinking my fangs into the plastic, easily popping them open. I sucked hard, swallowing every last drop. I even tore the bag open and licked it clean before tossing it into the waste basket near the corner of my room, out of sight so no one would suspect.
"So, you're gonna catch a ride with Storm and I back to the manor, right?" Mark asked as I flopped on my bed again, tossing another bag into the trash.
"Yup. Is it just us three or are Slade and Zander coming?" I asked, glancing out the window and watching the snow fall pick up heavily.
"All of us. Tomorrow at three, so don't forget! And you're staying the night. Slumber party."
"A slumber party that consists of video games and stupid horror movies?"
"Is there any other kind?"
"Fantastic. I'll get some extra clothes packed. Also, did Amber call you?"
"Yup. She's gonna be a bit late, but she'll be there, so don't worry about it."
"Sweet. All right, I'm gonna head to bed before I pass out. I'm exhausted."
"Good. You'll need it because I won't let you sleep tomorrow night. If you do, I'll spray your face with that cheese in a can."
"Mark, you fell asleep before me last time." I laughed as I got ready to hang up, hearing Mark scoff indigenously before saying in a wicked tone:
"I trained myself to stay up later without getting sleepy! All-nighter, baby. It's gonna be an all-nighter."