• Chapter 4 – Trust

    Blake and I talked later that night. He seemed upset, though I wasn’t sure because he was sitting on the opposite side of the bed like always. A heavy storm was brewing outside and it was so loud I couldn’t sleep.
    “What’s up?” I questioned, “You don’t seem ‘normal’ tonight.”
    A gust of wind blew and rustled the leaves of the trees. Blake tensed, then in a split second he was holding me close to his powerful chest, looking outside, searching for something.
    I felt my face redden; he turned to me and grimaced, “If I weren’t so weak I could’ve killed him.” He punched the wall, rattling all the frames, but it didn’t leave a mark or rather a hole like it should’ve, “I could’ve made sure they would’ve never returned and could’ve protected you better.”
    I don’t know whether or not it was the moonlight but Blake looked like he was crying. Can vampires cry? His appearance looked different, too. He seemed less brawny. His skin was tanner and warmer, too. Was this my Blake?
    He held me tighter.
    “Blake,” my face even warmer now, “Are you really just a vampire?”
    He wiped away his tears (which were a weird silver color) and looked at me with his bright blue eyes, “Not fully. My father was. My mother… She was human.”
    He was just like me
    “Why do you protect me? I just had to know. What was his story? Maybe it could help me figure out mine.
    His sudden release surprised me. The room was a lot colder now without his arms around me. He appeared in pain now, “It’s hard to explain but let’s put it like this. Vampires are considered pretty much demons. Since I’m half human, my kind rejected me, so I was either to live with the humans or the Enchanted in Eos, which you the magical not from the Hades, land of the demons. When I was young, the Elders were hiring to protect the daughter of the queen, I volunteered. I wanted to prove that I was just as strong as the rest of them.”
    “My orders were strictly not to interfere with your life while you were awake; I guess I broke that rule already.”
    “Why would you do it so young?” I pressed.
    “At age three I was already three times stronger than the world’s strongest man, much stronger than most of the Enchanted. So they picked me.”
    I blushed, “One more question? Why is your skin darker?”
    He stared at me with a hard expression, “You noticed that, huh? Well I’m human.”
    I tilted my head.
    He sighed, “Every six weeks for twelve hours, the vampire part of me disappears and I’m left just human. No superhuman strength, speed, elite senses, or good looks. Just human,” he shrugged.
    Not good looking? Actually he was still pretty hot. His voice was still a song to my ears, “Why do you stay? You know, here and watch me when I sleep? You must guard me during the day, too.”
    “Actually you’re right. I follow you. Demons attack you often when you’re in school.”
    He smiled and blushed, “Why I watch you is a totally different story. You seem peaceful when you sleep, and kind of cute,” He put his hand on his cheek, “That’s another thing about being human. I have blood now.”
    We both laughed. Then we silently gazed into each other’s eyes. He took my hand and entangled his fingers between mine. He pulled me close as thunder raged and lightning flashed. It wasn’t one of those short little kisses. It was one of those kisses where it was rough, but gentle, sweet, but also very alluring, and stops everything around you, stops time.
    He let go of me and frowned, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t supposed to get so attached. I-I couldn’t help myself.”
    My heart was pounding. It was my first kiss, “No I’m sorry,” I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him again.

    After that “talk” Blake and I had, I really couldn’t wait for the sun to set. He would appear at my window as soon as sky turned a lovely shade of dark blue. We would joke around like friends but have those cute little moments where we kissed and cuddle. Once I even fell asleep holding his hand. The only time he actually sleeps is when he is human, but he still only sleeps for two hours.
    But after the talk with Dad, the demon attacks decreased. Sapphire feared that they could be planning for a huge attack.
    An attack on me.
    “Courtney, we need to go now,” he said as he messed with a doll on my dresser top. “I would feel a lot better if we got permission. I’m still a gentleman, and I’m not going to take you away from your life. You’ll never have it back and –,”
    “Blake when did I ever have a life?” I interrupted. I combed out my hair and took it out of my face, pinning it down with a clip. I turned to him and smiled. It was his “time of the month” again so he blushed.
    Blake lifted my hand to his lips, “Well, we need to know if you really trust me, also.”
    “And how do we test this?” I asked slyly.
    He kissed my hand again, “Don’t move,” he growls playfully.
    Blake placed his lips softly up my arm.
    “W-what are you doing?”
    He hushed me, “Trust me,” he grinned, but this wasn’t the smile I was used to. This was different, hungry.
    He seemed a little paler, too.
    Blake touched the side of my neck with his fingertips, “Nervous yet?” he chuckled.
    “Not at all,” I sighed.
    By now he pushed me back enough the back of my legs were touching the dresser.
    He growled again, a little fiercer and picked me up, placing me on the wooden top soundlessly. Then he kisses my neck, “Trust me,” he breathed.
    He places his hands on both sides of my body and nibbles on my neck gently.
    The adrenaline rushed and my breathing quickened. Was I going to die right here and now?
    Maybe, but it wouldn’t matter anyway.
    Blake laughs and takes my head between his hands, “Well? Did I do well as an actor? What do you think?”
    “You deserve an award,” I rolled my eyes.
    “I do try my best,” he kissed my lips quickly, “It’s easy to act sexy and bloodthirsty when you’re half vampire.”
    “Act?” I teased.
    “I don’t drink human blood.”
    “Then what do you… feed on?”
    “Demon blood,” he said matter-a-factly, he half-smiled, showing one of his fangs, “It tastes about the same but no one will miss them.”
    That explains why he was never hungry. I shuddered
    “Even if I did drink human blood I couldn’t drink yours because fairies got a weird chemical in their blood that can kill just about anything,” Blake added quickly.
    Just then a bright blue bubble of light materializes and Sapphire appears. Her normally happy eyes full of worry.
    “The Elders want her to be moved to the Tree, A.S.A.P.,” she whispered.
    “What now?” Blake muttered.
    “Delaney returned and she says Hades is planning a full blown attack, targeted here, and Zagan is in charge.
    “Who’s Delaney?” I asked quietly.
    “My aunt,” Blake said with sadness in his voice, “my mother’s sister.”
    “We need to move her now, Blake,” urged Sapphire while she grabbed my duffle bag and started throwing piles of my clothing with her tiny hands and shoving them into it.
    Blake bent down in front of me, “Get on.”
    Sapphire vanished as I climbed onto his back. Blake sprinted out of the open window and into the woods behind my house, his skin paling second by second.
    “Delaney is a spy?” I asked, though it was kind of hard with the wind and his hair whipping my face.
    “Exactly, she isn’t married and she is my mother’s twin, so she can get a lot of information out of my father,” Blake said with no trace of exhaustion.
    “She seduces him?”
    He glided to the left avoiding a tree, “Yeah. Vampires find human women attractive, too. Delaney just happens to know what turns him on.
    “But what happened to your mom?”
    He stopped suddenly, my head hit hard against his. He turned, his eyes staring into mine, “He killed her, right in front of my damn eyes.”