Chapter 8

The boys had hit their beds a little before sunrise, David had stayed with her same as the night before, making good on his promise to not leave her on her own. She couldn't sleep though; the sofa wasn't very comfortable, and truth be told she missed sleeping on a mattress. All her tossing and turning must have disturbed David as he sat up wearily from his place on the floor.

"Can't sleep?" he asked her sleepily.

"No, I can't get comfortable." She complained. "Sorry I disturbed you." She told him honestly.

"Don't worry about me." He replied getting to his feet, "Come with me, I know some where a little more comfortable." He added drowsily.

She took his outstretched hand, allowing him to lead her off through the tunnel she'd seen the other boys appear through before. They turned right at the end of a small corridor and entered through a dark wooden door, the room was pitch black and she couldn't see anything. David briefly let go of her hand, lighting a thick candle and placing it in the centre of the room. The candle gave off enough light that she made out she was in a kind of bedroom, a double mattress lay in the corner, a few pillows and a blanket lay strewn on top.

"You can sleep here, it's my room." David told her, kissing her forehead and making his way back over to the door.

"Wait where are you going?" she asked, the familiar panic rising once again in her chest.

"I was gonna take the sofa, don't worry you'll be safe here." He assured her and turned back in the direction of the door.

"No, David please, stay." She begged, tugging at his hand.

David yawned sleepily, "Mkay" he agreed allowing her to lead him to the mattress. He stopped turning quickly to close the door then returned next to her, she lay down on the mattress, fluffing a pillow and placing it under her head, covering herself with the blanket. David started to lay down on the floor next to the mattress when she sat up and looked over at him, she took a deep breath for courage before she spoke,

"David, you can sleep next to me, if you want to." She told him shyly.

David smiled wasting no time snuggling up next to her on the mattress, he pulled her close to him, kissing her softly on the lips, before she could react he started to snore lightly, vampires and their daytime weakness she thought to herself. She shuffled around until she was comfortable and finally drifted off to sleep.

When she awoke she felt disorientated, the room was pitch black, she started to panic until she smelt leather and tobacco, a scent she'd come to love, David was still next to her, the candle must have burnt out whilst they were sleeping. She stretched sleepily wondering what time it was when she felt David stirring beside her.

"Hey beautiful." He whispered in the darkness, she couldn't see him, but she blushed anyway, his sleep edged voice vibrating through her.

"Hey." She whispered back.

He sidled closer to her, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into him, she felt the rock-hard contours of his body against hers. He hugged her, taking in her scent and he lightly kissed her neck making her shudder. Before she knew what was happening his lips were on hers, he kissed her deeply, deeper than he had the previous night. A small moan escaped her which spurred him on, her ran his hands over her thick thighs and rear, squeezing gently.

As he pushed himself against her she felt hardness between his legs, it made her feel nervous, she wasn't experience and after what happened to her she didn't know what to do in these kinds of situations, but he didn't seem to be pushing her to do anything right now, so she enjoyed the moment.

Things got a little more heated and David rolled her onto her back, so he was laid on top of her, flashbacks of that night with her ex-boyfriend flooded her mind and she froze, sensing something was wrong David stopped immediately.

"What happened, did I hurt you?" David asked concerned.

"N…No, it's just I um… I don't know how to explain." She stuttered.

He stroked her face in the darkness, "You can tell me anything." He assured her, kissing her forehead tenderly.

She internally debated whether she should just tell him, the fact he couldn't see her made it a little easier, "Gemma please tell me, what is it?" he asked again.

She took a deep breath and began to speak;

"I was 15, I was going through a rebellious phase, drinking a lot, smoking, arguing with my mom, I was just messed up and angry because I wanted to know who I was, where I came from, but my mom always refused. Obviously, I know now but back then I didn't know anything, I just thought my dad didn't care about me and that my mom just wanted to torment me.

Anyway, much to the disapproval of my mother I got with this guy Omar, he was an exchange student from the middle east, something about him just drew me to him. He made me feel special, telling me I was beautiful, putting me on a pedestal above the other girls at my school. He was always kind and sweet, he never did anything to make me think he'd ever hurt me in anyway.

One night I got a little too drunk at a house party and he took me home, I invited him in, ya know just expecting to make out or something, I don't know I never even thought about taking it any further. My mom was out with some friends, so we were alone, we were making out on the bed when he started putting his hand down my pants and trying to remove my clothes. I kept pushing him away and telling him to stop but he just kept saying hurtful things like, he knew I wanted it, I should be grateful that someone wants me, who else would want some fat crazy girl.

He kept pushing it and just flipped, he got really angry, he slapped me and pinned my hands above my head, he pulled down my jeans and forced himself inside me, I tried to kick him off, but he was too strong. I guess I just went into shock, I stopped fighting, the pain and humiliation was all I could think of. He finished and left, he never spoke to me again, warned me if I ever told anyone he would tell everyone how much of a slut I was and told me he'd recorded it, that he'd send it to everyone in school. So, I never told anyone, you are the first one I've told." She finished the story, she hadn't realised she was crying until she felt David wiping at her tears,

"I'm so sorry Gemma, I'm so sorry that happened to you. If I ever meet him I will kill him. But you don't believe what he said to you is true do you?" he asked her.

"What that no one would want a fat crazy mess like me? Sure, I believe him, I have no reason not to." She replied sadly.

"Gemma, you have every reason not to, you are kind, honest, beautiful and compassionate. No girl can ever compare to you, in my eyes, you are everything." He whispered, kissing her cheek.

"Thank you, David, that's really sweet." She replied.

"Don't thank me, you know, I would never hurt you, never force you to do anything you didn't want to do. Whenever you feel it's too much, tell me." He told her.

"Mkay." She agreed, kissing his lips. He kissed her back passionately.

After a few moments he broke the kiss, pushing back onto his knees,

"C'mon, let's get some fresh air tonight, let me take you out." He told her.

"Mkay." She agreed, allowing him to pull her up and lead her into the cave.

As they entered the cave Paul wolf-whistled, "Bro you finally got laaaiiidddd." He teased cackling. Gemma felt her face darken with embarrassment, David walked over to Paul and slapped him around the head, "We don't all put sex before everything else you dick, have some respect, she's not that kind of girl." David warned his brother. Paul smirked and held his hands up, "Sorry Gem, I was just so excited for David, he's practically a virgin." He cackled, before David could punch him he'd skipped off across the cave, hiding behind Dwayne smirking. David just rolled his eyes, he told Gemma to wash up and they'd head out to the boardwalk. Although she felt nervous about being out in the open, not knowing where Angelo was and his threat still playing in her mind, she felt safe with David.

She hurriedly washed up, rummaging through her backpack for a new outfit, she only had the one left, she wasn't expecting to be away this long. She pulled out her favourite black skinny jeans with a silver diamante belt, Kermit printed t-shirt and black star printed hooded jacket. She thought she'd make a little extra effort on the make-up front, she applied silver smoky eyes, kohl eyeliner, a few coats of mascara and a little highlighter. She checked herself in the mirror, eh not too bad she told herself and made her way back out into the cave.

Marco wolf-whistled and Paul cat-called making her laugh, "Quit it you guys," she told them, making her way over to David who was stood having a hushed conversation with Dwayne.

"Uh David I'm ready to go." She stated, he turned around to face her, a warm smile spreading across his stoic face. His eyes burned with that unknown emotion, he kissed her cheek lightly and whispered "you look so beautiful" in her ear. She smiled shyly as he took her hand and started to make for the caves exit, "Let's go boys." David ordered as the others followed them out whooping and hollering into the night air.

Gemma breathed in deeply as she mounted the back of David's bike, it felt good to finally get some fresh air. She held on tightly as the weaved in and out of the tree's, the wheels of the bike crunching over fallen leaves and branches. They reached the boardwalk in good time, parking up next to the railings, they got off the bikes and looked out into the crowds, scoping out the ambience and probably looking for someone to stick their teeth into.

"Is there anything you wanna do?" David asked Gemma, slinging his arm around her shoulder.

"Well, if you don't mind, can we grab a coffee? I'm seriously craving it and I wanna charge my cell phone, I need to make sure my mom is okay, and I did tell her I'd be going home tomorrow." She replied.

She watched as his smile fell as she mentioned going home, only for a second and then his face was back to normal, she felt guilty, she didn't want to hurt him, but she couldn't stay here, forever could she? But if she was honest with herself she really didn't want to leave.

"Sure, I know a place, let's go." He stated leading her across the boardwalk, his brothers following behind, cat-calling and teasing any girls that passed by. They entered a small cosy coffee shop, taking their places at the biggest table available, it was quiet until they entered, then Paul and Marco happened, and the place wasn't quiet anymore. David bought her a coffee and a chocolate cake in the shape of a heart, she smiled at the small sweet gesture, he smiled back, forgetting his brothers had seen his little gesture, his smile turned into a snarl as his brothers teased him, but he didn't bite back, he sat stoically, staring at her.

She sipped at the coffee, her phone had turned back on finally, it was completely dead. Whilst she was waiting for her phone to properly restart she picked at the cake David had gotten her, "Hey you want some." She offered David who was still staring at her, "sure." He nodded as she passed him a fork and he broke a bit off, still unwilling to break eye contact as he ate the cake. She felt mesmerised by his icy blue stare, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it drumming in her ears. Notifications from her phone broke the spell he had over her, she picked up her phone and unlocked the screen, her smile fading as she read the name on the screen. Angelo had sent her multiple messages whilst her phone had been dead.

Yesterday 20.40pm Angelo: You can't hide forever, sooner or later I will get to you, and when I do, I won't let you go.

Yesterday 21.50pm Angelo: Why are you ignoring me you stupid bitch! You don't know who you are dealing with, not even your little fuck boys will save you. Tell David his dreams will never come true.

Today 1.30am Angelo: I want to hear you scream and beg me to stop. Not that I will listen to your pleas, you are going to bleed.

Today 19.30pm Angelo: I am going to kill you.

Gemma's heart almost stopped beating in fright, her fork dropped from her hand, clattering on the table. David grabbed her hand in, asking her what was wrong. Paul, Marco and Dwayne on high alert, noticing something was wrong. She passed her phone to David, allowing him to read the messages that Angelo had sent, she jumped when he slammed his fist down on the table, a low growl omitting from his lips.

David showed the messages to his brothers, their faces turning into angry snarls, Gemma watched as they seemed to be communicating silently to one another. Marco, Paul and Dwayne all stood in unison, heading out of the coffee shop, getting lost in the crowds.

"They are going to check around, see if they can find any sign of him, if they find him, they'll kill him." David whispered in her ear. She nodded, sighing heavily. "Finish your coffee, I'll buy you something proper to eat." He smiled, caressing her cheek. She waited until her phone had charged sufficiently before telling David she was ready to leave, they made their way out on to boardwalk, heading towards a bustling diner.

David choose a booth at the back of the diner, letting her slide in first then positioning himself so her was between her and the outside aisles. David ordered a burger and fries and she orders tomato soup and a grilled cheese, she wanted comfort food badly, she was starting to feel stressed with the situation, like she was losing control, she didn't want to go into that place she was in a few years ago, she didn't think she could pull herself back out of it this time.

When the food arrived they ate in comfortable silence, but something David had said last night kept playing on her mind and she had to ask him what he meant, the situation was too messed up to worry about asking stupid questions, everything about this situation was stupid, resurrected vampires? Having feelings for said recently resurrected vampires, learning your best friend is a succubus sent to impregnate and imprison you, your father being vampire loyalty and being murdered, your mother some kind of witch. She shook her head and sighed, definitely a messed-up situation.

"Um David can I ask you something?" she asked tentatively. He placed his burger back onto the plate and turned to face her,

"Sure, ask me anything." He replied.

"Mkay, so you know last night when we kissed?" she asked.

He smiled cheekily, "I have a vague recollection."

She smiled back bashfully, "So I was just wondering what you meant when you said you'd waited a long time to kiss me, we've only known each other a few days and well, I hate to bring it up, but you've been 'dead' for years." She enquired.

David looked down at his plate, picking up a fry and nibbling on it lost in thought, finally he spoke, "I don't think now is the right time to get into that…" he replied.

She frowned but wasn't willing to let the matter drop, "I think now is a perfect time David, please don't hide things from me, don't you think that's happened enough in my life?" she replied, tears threatening to fill her eyes. David looked at her, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles, sighing deeply her began to explain;

"Well you know I told you about being close to your father and that I promised to always protect you and your mother?" He stated to which she nodded sadly. "Well when you were born in 1998, I came to see your mother, I came to see if she was okay, under your fathers orders. When your mother let me hold you, when I looked into your big hazel eyes I fell in love. Not the romantic kind of love of course that would be really creepy you were just a baby, but I knew in my soul, if a vampire even has a soul." He laughed, "I know that I would love you for the rest of my life, you were my purpose, you were the one I was meant to be with, you were my mate. I went back to your father with the news that you were both safe and well, but your father being your father knew there was something I was hiding. I told him what had happened when I held you and he just smiled, he told me I'd found my mate and that I would never love another like I would love you. He gave me his blessing, I promised to keep you safe, even on his deathbed he made me promise to protect you and care for you. When the Frog brothers and Emerson's came here later that year and Star Dwayne's mate betrayed us allowing us to be killed I thought I'd never get this chance to see you again, to love you, to kiss you, to hold you. It's destiny for us to meet Gemma." He explained, his icy blue eyes captivating her.

She didn't know how to respond, it was a lot to take in, this guy, well vampire, believed that they had some connection, that they were meant to be together, she wondered if that was the reason she felt the way she did when she was near him. She couldn't think how to respond to what he was telling her about himself, so she threw in a diversion question,

"Dwayne had a mate? you mean he felt the same way about this girl that you do about me?" she asked him.

David shifted uncomfortably in his seat, seemed like it was a touchy subject. But he answered her question anyway;

"Yes, he did, he loved her like crazy, she was his world. But she didn't feel the same about him, she just acted like she loved him, he was just some toy for her to play with, buy her gifts, give her attention, fuck her." He apologised for his phrasing when she winced at his words, "then Michael Emerson came along, stole her away from under Dwayne's nose then plotted with the Frog's to kill us, and well here we are now." He concluded holding his hands up before picking up his burger and taking a bite.

"That's really sad, poor Dwayne, he must have been heartbroken." She commented, swirling her spoon slowly around her bowl of now lukewarm soup.

"Yeah, he was and still is to be honest, can't you tell?" David asked.

Gemma thought about it, he did seem really reserved, completely different to his brothers who were so loud and out-going.

"If you ever left me alone I'd be the same." David told her honestly, playing with a french fry, "are you really going to leave tomorrow?" he asked, not quite meeting her eyes.

She didn't know what to say, "How can I stay here David? What do I tell my mom?" she replied.

He looked up at the ceiling, his eye brows drawn together in a frown, he sighed and held his head in his hands,

"I don't know Gemma, I just I don't want to lose you again." He told her sadly.

Again, she was lost for words, David picked up the cheque and got to his feet, "Maybe we should take a walk, if your finished?" he asked her.

She nodded and stood, following him out of the diner, the cool night air caressing her face. She scanned the crowds looking for any sign of the other boys, they'd been gone a long time. They walked around the perimeter of the boardwalk in silence, neither knowing what to say, the cold night air and the coffee made it's self known when she started to desperately need the bathroom.

"Hey David, I Erm… I need to use the bathroom." She whispered.

He chuckled and guided her in the opposite direction where she could see a large brick building much like the shower blocks she'd used a few days ago. He dropped her off by the building,

"Hey guys." She heard a familiar voice call from behind them, she turned around and smiled, Marco was stood by the railings waving.

"You go do your thing, I'll see what's up. I'll be right over there." He told her pointing to where Marco was waiting.

She walked into toilet block, entering a vacant cubicle and locked it behind her. In the middle of her relieving herself she heard someone else enter the bathroom, urgh she hated peeing when someone else was around, she forced herself to finish up, cleaning herself and flushed the toilet. She walked out of the cubicle and over to the sinks to wash her hands, she was just about to walk over to the driver when someone grabbed her by the hair and flung her against the wall. Her head cracked hard against the brick surface, blinding pain shot through her skull and white lights danced before her eyes.

She looked up to see who had attacked her and came face to face with a pair of fierce black eyes,

"A…A…Angelo." She stuttered, fear freezing her in place.

"I told you I'd find you." He told her harshly edging closer to where she stood backed up against the wall. She wanted to scream for help, for David but she couldn't get her voice to work.

Angelo was now so close to her she could feel his hot breath on her face, he slammed his hands against the wall next to her head, effectively pinning her into place. "The things I'm going to do to you." He snarled. She felt anger building up inside her, anger that he'd lied to her, to her mother, that it was his family that caused the death of her father and the heartbreak of her mother.

"I know what you are, I know who you are." She hit back at him, "Your father killed my father, I know what you want but you're never going to get it." She added.

Angelo laughed a dark menacing laugh, it made her stomach tremble, he pushed his crotch hard against her, she felt his hardness pushing aggressively against her. "Did little Davey boy tell you that huh? Yeah, my father killed your father, ripped his heart right out." Angelo snarled, "That's what I'm going to do to you, once I take what it mine from you." He continued clawing her chest painfully.

She screamed as his nails dug into her soft flesh, he clasped his hands over her mouth, "Shut the fuck up." He told her harshly, she whimpered helplessly against his palm.

She heard shouts from outside the building, they were getting closer,

"Fuck boys to the rescue." Angelo laughed releasing her from his grip and launching himself out of the door. She heard shouts and heavy footsteps running in the opposite direction.

She let out the sobs that she'd been holding back, allowing herself to slide down the wall, she wrapped her arms around her knees, burying her head in her lap. She heard footsteps entering the bathroom, she felt someone kneel down in front of her.

"Gemma, I'm so sorry, did he, did he hurt you?" she heard David's voice ask.

The anger she'd felt towards Angelo still blazed inside her, she lifted her head, mascara stained tears running down her cheeks, "you're sorry?" she hissed at him.

"Yes, I didn't know he'd follow you in here, I thought you'd be safe." He said earnestly.

"You THOUGHT I'd be safe." She shouted emphasising the word 'thought', "You're thinking almost got me raped AGAIN!, you promised you'd protect me, you promised, and you broke that promise." She continued, pulling herself up and pushing him out of her way.

She marched out of the bathroom and down on to the beach, she had every intention of going back to the cave, retrieving her stuff and finding some way to get home.

"Gemma wait." David called from behind her, but she didn't look back, she couldn't she was too hurt.

"Gemma please." He begged grabbing her arm, she spun round to face him, "What do you want from me David?" she screamed at him.

"I want you Gemma, I want you…" he whispered. "please believe me, I didn't know that would happen and I'm really sorry." He added.

Tears cascading down her face as she looked at him, there was no doubt he was being sincere, and she was just lashing out as usual, she knew it wasn't David's fault, she felt it in her heart.

"I believe you." She whispered hanging her head. He pulled her closer, wiping her tears with his fingers, kissing her forehead. "hey you're bleeding." He frowned, looking down at her ripped blood-stained t-shirt.

"Yeah, he, he told me he would rip my heart out just like his father did to mine." She sobbed. David growled, anger causing his icy blue eyes to blaze amber. He pulled her into his arms, holding her against his chest. He kissed her cheek lightly, taking her hand and leading her back towards his motorbike.

"I'm taking you back to the cave, we need to dress that wound." He stated, picking her up and placing her onto the back of the bike, she gasped at his strength, but he just winked and climbed onto the front, starting the engine and speeding off in the direction of the cave.