Again, I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. And I can assure you that the chapters will get more interesting soon, and they will absolutely exclude the most annoying Zac xD
I just wanted to write a short answer to "killer_reader^_^"; Wow, thanks for the amazing review :D I really appreciate the tip you gave me, but I just have to point out that first of all, I'm from Sweden and second, I'm only 14 years old x) So, I apologize if my English isn't so great ;)
Anyways, here's the next chapter, and I promise that it won't take so long for me to update the story again.
The sun had finally set, but the moon and the stars were nowhere to be seen on the sky, which made the night pitch-black. If it hadn't been for the fact that Isaac's arm was still wound protectively around me and that Lucas ran close behind me, I would have felt frightened by the darkness – especially now that I knew who could be out there.
After running – all three of us had agreed on not taking the car to cause less of attention – for a few minutes, the glowing light of candles and other sorts of outdoor lamps reached us, and the excruciating scent of blood overwhelmed me so powerfully that I couldn't stop myself from flinching. Isaac seemed to notice my reaction, because his arm tightened slightly around me before he slowed down and turned us around so that we were facing Lucas.
"You can stay here," Isaac ordered in a low but strict tone. "I'll be able to hear if anything happens."
Lucas rolled his eyes, but skidded to a halt. Isaac spun around again, and I leaned closer to him as we continued walking; I was well aware of how dangerous I actually was while being so close to the humans. After another minute of walking, I was finally able to see the first persons, and I suddenly hurried my steps – eager to see the citizens of the town I'd lived in since I was born. The fear of hurting anyone abruptly eased from my chest and a tiny smile appeared on my lips.
Isaac kept walking in a normal pace, though, which stopped me from half-running towards the crowd.
"Jessica," he murmured warningly as he noticed my reaction. "These people haven't seen you for weeks. They might get suspicious now, considering the fact that you look totally different."
"I know, but…"
"Your eyes aren't even shielded. So you'll have to be discrete – we don't want anyone to get suspicious."
I hadn't even thought about that until now, which made the panic burst up inside of me.
"What am I supposed to say if someone notices my eyes?" I asked in a voice that was nearly a hiss. "What if anyone…"
Isaac pulled us both to a stop before my panicked sentence was finished, and he put his hands on my shoulders to keep me in place. His ice blue eyes locked with mine as he leaned closer so that his face was only a few inches away from mine.
"Calm down," he said in a slow tone, not breaking our eye contact. "The only thing you have to think about is that you should keep your eyes on the ground. That way you won't meet anyone's gaze, and there will be no confusion or suspicion."
I inhaled deeply to calm myself, only to regret it a second later when all the scents snuck into my nose – making me flinch again. Isaac's hands tightened slightly around my shoulders then to make me focus.
"You can make this, Jessica. I know you can."
I let a rush of air burst out of my mouth, before I nodded to assure him that I was no longer panicked, although that wasn't entirely true.
Isaac flashed a smile at me, which immediately had me distracted from my worries, and I let the corners of my mouth pull up slightly. Before I could even anticipate it, he pressed his lips softly against mine, and I moved closer to him without even thinking about it. My arms locked around his neck to keep him close to me, but since he was much stronger than me, it was still easy for him to pull away after a few seconds.
"We don't want to be late," he said, still smiling.
He let go of my shoulders, but a second later he grabbed one of my hands tightly and started walking. My steps weren't as eager as before, but I kept myself going anyway.
Not many paid either me or Isaac any attention as we joined the crowd of people, and I almost sighed in relief. The last thing I wanted them to think about right now was my changed features.
Almost everyone in town was there, which was more than a hundred people; my hometown wasn't one of the largest. Everyone stood in a half circle, facing a podium where a person that I believed was the spokesman stood – preparing a microphone to speak in. Isaac tugged me along to the farthest side of the crowd, where no one would have any excuse to mistakenly touch my cold skin. I kept myself close to Isaac while I tried to ignore the scent of blood that wanted to fill my nose.
There was the casual sound of small conversations here and there, but when the spokesman tapped lightly against the microphone, the people's voices immediately trailed off into silence.
"As far as anyone can recall, there has never been such a problem as the one we have today," the man began in a voice that sounded twice as loud in the microphone. "Over 12 innocent citizens of this town has become victims to this cruelty, and it is with great sadness that we say goodbye to them here tonight…"
I was listening so intently to the spokesman's words, that I almost flinched as someone in the audience coughed loudly. Before I could turn my attention back to the man up on the podium, Isaac leaned down so that his lips were at my ear, and his breath tickled my neck as he spoke in such a low tone that I was the only one who could hear.
"Lucas wants me to come. Will you be alright for a minute?"
I nodded, although I felt slightly uneasy by his words. He kissed the side of my head softly before he let go of me and walked back the way we'd gotten here. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see his shape disappear into the darkness, and then looked back at the spokesman. After a minute of just standing still, the worry starting spreading inside of me. What if the vampire had shown up again to challenge either Lucas or Isaac?
My eyes darted around for a few seconds, and just as I was about to turn around and find Isaac, another familiar gaze locked with mine. Zac's face was a mixture of anger and suspicion as he stared at me, and I immediately spun around to shield my ice blue eyes. I started walking in a pace that was a bit too fast to make me look casual, and the crowd of humans were soon so far behind me that my nose was freed from all the scents.
Another set of footsteps was suddenly audible behind me, and I bit my lip to stop myself from letting out an irritated sigh.
"Jessica!" a voice called after me.
I hurried my steps even more, pretending that I hadn't heard anything.
"Jess, stop right now," Zac called again, sounding more furious this time.
His footsteps suddenly quickened and I could easily hear his breath coming out faster and harsher than before; he had started to run. I kept walking, though, deliberating whether or not to start running, too.
It didn't take long for him to catch up with me, which was probably due to the fact that my own footsteps slowed down – I didn't want to run away from him and leave him both worried and angry. I could almost feel his breath on my neck just a second before his hand wrapped around my arm, making me pull to a stop.
"What the…" he started as he felt my cold skin, and I immediately ripped my arm out of his grip – feeling a tiny bit smug that I was for once the strongest.
"What do you want, Zac?" I asked to stop him from mentioning my skin's temperature.
"Can we just have one single conversation without having you saying those words?" he muttered.
I ignored his comment and folded my arms tightly across my chest, waiting for him to continue. He stared at my face for a few seconds before he spoke, while I glared back with an irritated expression on my face.
"Don't wave me off like you did last week when I mentioned this," he started, while I kept glaring at him. "But there's something wrong, Jess. I can see it."
I rolled my eyes to try to look casual, although the panic was on fire inside of me. "You're being ridiculous."
"Am I? 'Cause I can sure as hell remember that you're eyes were dark blue before, and they're not now. And you're skin…"
"Contacts," I blurted out before he could finish his accusation.
"What?" he asked, confused by my sudden interruption.
"I'm wearing contacts," I explained.
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why would you wear eye contacts?"
I shrugged nonchalantly, and he stared at me for a few seconds before he proceeded with his previous subject.
"That's just a small part of the change. Your skin for example is…freezing cold, and paler than I've ever seen it."
I didn't have any good excuse for that, so I decided to just change the topic.
"I should probably get going now," I mumbled. "I need to find Isaac."
He was just about to say something – and by the look on his face it was probably not something pleasant – but I spun around and started walking again while ignoring the fact that I was leaving him alone in the dark forest.
"What's with you?" he shouted after me as I hurried away from him. "I don't even recognize you anymore."
I let out a frustrated growl that was way too low for his ears to be able to catch, before I turned my head slightly to shout back to him.
"Go home, Zac. There's still a—"
My sentence stopped short as my head suddenly banged into someone's hard chest, and a pair of hands grabbed my arms to make me take a step back. The fear flared up inside of me in an instant, and I turned my head around quickly to see who I'd collided into. A relived sigh escaped my lips as I saw that it was only Lucas, and my body relaxed slightly.
"Watch your step," he said in a voice that wasn't as irritated as I'd expected it to be.
"Sorry," I muttered before I shook off his hands that were still wrapped around my arms.
He was quiet for a few seconds, as if he wasn't sure what to reply, before he changed the subject. "Where's Isaac?"
"Isn't he with you?" I asked, feeling slightly confused.
"No," he said slowly. "He just left to go back to you."
"I haven't seen him."
"Who were you talking to then?" he asked, sounding as confused as me now.
I hesitated before I spoke. "My…friend Zac."
Lucas' facial expression hardened as he heard the name, which only confused me even more.
"Do you know anything about him?" I asked.
"I know it's hard to notice sometimes, but Isaac is my brother. We do speak to each other."
I gasped quietly. "He told you about Zac?"
"Well, he kind of told me about what happened when that boy broke up with you."
The embarrassment and anger made me wish that there was a hole in the mark for me to fall into, and I glanced away from Lucas' green eyes. From the corner of my eye, I saw how a tiny smile appeared on his lips.
"You don't have to be embarrassed," he said, the smile even audible in his voice.
His words didn't make me feel any better, and I muttered something incoherently before I spun around to head back towards the gathering of people. Before I could take more than two steps, Lucas' hand gripped my wrist tightly and pulled me to a stop.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I'm going to find Isaac," I replied shortly before I tried to get free from him.
He didn't seem to notice my attempt to break free – he just started walking towards the direction I'd been heading towards, tugging me along.
"You can let go of me," I muttered after a few seconds, feeling a bit uneasy by the way his hand gripped around my wrist.
He continued walking without letting go of my arm, and I let out a frustrated sigh. He didn't say anything as we walked through the silent forest, but it sort of felt like he wanted to say something but kept it back. I peeked at his face for a few seconds, trying to read his expression. His face was almost a bit too smooth.
Soon enough, we got back to the place where the humans still were gathered, and my eyes immediately darted around – searching for Isaac. I didn't need more than two seconds to realize that he wasn't there, his beauty standing out from the crowd like I knew it would have.
Lucas obviously realized that, too.
"Where can he be?" he muttered to himself, worry clouding his voice – something I'd never heard before.
"He's got to be around here somewhere," I mumbled to him, although I knew the question hadn't been meant for me to answer.
He sighed, taking out his frustration at me. "I know that."
I glanced around me again, desperately hoping to find Isaac, which was why I escaped noticing how the expression on Lucas' face changed. It wasn't until I noticed how his body leaned slightly closer to the crowd of humans, that my eyes darted back to his face. His upper lip was curled back slightly, and his green eyes glinted slightly with thirst; an expression that I recognized from before.
"Lucas, let's go," I mumbled quietly while I tried to make him take a step back.
He didn't pay me the slightest attention; he only kept moving closer to the humans that were gathered in small groups now, unconsciously tugging me along. Since I knew talking to him wouldn't stop him, I could only come up with another way to make him snap out of his thirst.
I hesitantly lifted my hand up to his face, and placed it against his cheek – trying to make him look at me. The second my fingers touched his skin, his eyes snapped back to my face, and realization washed over his face as he understood what I was doing. I immediately let my hand drop back to my side and turned around to start walking away from the humans. Lucas followed after me quickly, clearly wanting to get away from the crowd.
After walking for just a minute, another shape suddenly became visible in the darkness, and I smiled in relief as I recognized Isaac's features. Lucas' hand immediately disappeared from my wrist, which made it easier for me to nearly run into Isaac's waiting arms; he seemed just as relieved to see me as I was to see him. He held me close to him for a long moment until Lucas cleared his throat, obviously feeling awkward.
"Where have you been?" I asked as we'd both leaned away slightly from each other to make Lucas feel more comfortable.
"I was looking for you," he answered while he stroke my cheek with the tip of his forefinger. "You weren't at the memorial when I came back."
I was just about to speak when the sound of a pair of feet brushing over the ground became audible, and Isaac immediately spun me around so that he was standing in front of me and thereby shielding me from whomever was approaching. Lucas blurted over to where we stood and placed himself at Isaac's side, blocking my view even further.
Before anyone could get more worked up or panicked, the sound of a heartbeat was heard, too, and both Isaac and Lucas relaxed from their tense poses. They didn't move, though, so I went to stand on Isaac's other side. His arm wound around my shoulders, but I wasn't sure if it was to protect me or to just hold me closer.
Zac's shape was soon visible, and I couldn't stop myself from letting out an irritated sigh.
Isaac's arm fell off my shoulder as I took a step forward, but he kept himself in place, obviously not considering Zac as a threat.
"I thought I told you to go home," I said sharply.
Zac's voice sounded pained as he replied. "I know, but I fell on my way back. My leg…"
It was just then that I caught the recognizable scent of fresh blood in the air, and my throat began aching at once. I glanced down at Zac's knee, where there was a hole in his jeans, revealing a thick stripe of blood on his light skin.
But for once, I wasn't the one who needed to be held back.
"Lucas, no!" I shouted as I – from the corner of my eye - saw how Isaac's brother crouched forward in preparation to lounge at Zac.
He shifted his gaze to my face for a second, which was all Isaac needed to be able to jump at him – causing them both to fall to the ground – and lock his arms around him. I threw a quick glance at Zac, who was watching all three of us with eyes wide with shock.
"Go," I urged in a harsh voice. "Now."
He blinked once before he immediately turned around and ran into the dark forest. I didn't have time to look after him as he hurried away from us; I quickly spun around and got down on my knees to help Isaac with holding Lucas down. He barely struggled – the scent of Zac's blood had vanished the second he'd walked away.
"Get off me, Isaac," Lucas tried to growl, but his words came out muffled since his face was practically pressed against the damp earth beneath us.
Isaac ignored him, and glanced up at my face with glittering eyes.
"You didn't even need my help to control yourself," he said, while a smile enlightened his already beautiful face.
I half-smiled back, feeling slightly flustered by the amazement in his voice.
An irritated grunt brought back my attention to Lucas, and I pursed my lips as I watched the back of his head. He obviously didn't enjoy listening to Isaac's encouragement.
"You should be glad that you didn't hurt Zac," I muttered under my breath.
"I heard that," Lucas mumbled against the ground.
Isaac let out a low chuckle – a reaction to my words – before he gracefully got off Lucas' back and up on his feet. Lucas lay still for a few seconds, making sure that he was allowed to get up, too, before he lifted his head from the dirty ground.
"You didn't have to mash my face," he muttered to his little brother, before he rose to his feet.
"Was I just going to let you attack that innocent human then?" Isaac replied coldly.
"Innocent," Lucas scoffed.
His word brought back the memories of my earlier conversation with him, and I turned to give Isaac a dark look. He met my gaze with confused eyes.
"When were you going to tell me that you've told Lucas everything about me?" I asked, trying to keep my voice normal.
The understanding was suddenly bright in Isaac's eyes. "Oh."
"Yeah," I muttered.
"Jessica, it's not that big of a deal. He tells me everything, and vice versa."
I let out a frustrated sigh. "You didn't have to tell him about me. I don't want him to know everything…"
"I'm standing right here," Lucas pointed out, cutting me off.
I turned my gaze to him for a second and spoke in a cold voice. "I know."
He glared at me for a few seconds, before he abruptly spun around and started walking in the direction to the house.
"Where are you going?" Isaac asked in a normal tone; of course Lucas could hear him without difficulty.
Lucas shot a glance at us over his shoulder. "I'm heading back to the house before that innocent," – his voice turned sarcastic as he said the word – "boy can tell anyone about what just happened here."
"He wouldn't do…"
Isaac interrupted me by grabbing my arm gently, and I glanced up at his face in surprise.
"Lucas is right. We don't want take any risks."
As soon as his words were out, he started walking after Lucas, tugging me along. I didn't bother to do anything but follow him; the feeling of his hand around me was good enough for me to feel content, although I didn't feel like getting back to the house yet. But still, I couldn't really stop an uneasy feeling from spreading inside of me as I thought over Lucas' words about Zac. What if he actually told someone about how Lucas had reacted? Would anyone actually jump to the conclusion that we weren't…human? That we actually had something to do with the murders this past few weeks?
All I knew was that we would have to leave my hometown, and that would have to be soon.
