Chapter 8: New Blood
Ashley had finally given me permission to leave the little house in the woods so I could get some clothes from home. Sitting in the passenger seat of Kryztyne's bright red Camaro, I was painfully aware of the aches in my joints and muscles. Ashley's idea of training would leave the navy seals looking like a bunch of sissies. I was up before the sun running a mile with Sigi taking me down trails that looked like they hadn't been traveled in a hundred years. After that was a short break for breakfast, followed by a sparring lesson from Emily and Kryztyne, then defense with Charlie and Ryan. I had a break around noon for lunch and first aid, which was followed by a history lesson from Angel. Lastly, Ashley herself taught me about my powers. My day ended when the moon was high in the sky. "Huh? Did you say something?" I had been so wrapped up in my thoughts I had completely blocked out everything else.
"I said 'We're here.'" Kryztyne rolled her eyes. Then she stiffened in her seat, narrowed her eyes, and stared at the door to my house. "And someone else is to." She was out of the car in an instant and walking to the front door. I hurried to unbuckle the seatbelt and open the car door, but I was having difficulty. Why did sports cars have to be so damned complicated? Finally, the seatbelt gave and I rushed to the front door "Selene, I'm going in first. Follow close behind me ok?" I could just make out the white mist of spirits forming around her. I gulped and nodded. Kryztyne went slowly over the threshold, not making a sound. I clamored behind her making enough racket for the two of us as I grabbed the bat my dad kept downstairs. Kryztyne walked through the entire first floor of my house, stopping outside my living room. In the light that filtered through the curtains, I could just make out a shadow in the shape of a person walking around looking at the family photos. Kryztyne edged into the room moving quietly towards the intruder. When the person finally turned, Kryztyne launched her spirits at the intruder but he waved them away. I brought the bat down with as much force as I could muster, but only felt it splinter. Kryztyne then threw herself at the intruder and I watched them both fall. I ran to the wall, attempting to find the light switch, so we could at least give an accurate description of our attacker if we survived. "Who are you? Did Sauna send you? Answer me! Why are you…?" as the light came on Kryztyne went silent and her face was one of shock. I held the ruined bat ready for another swing. I may not get out of this alive, but he was sure as hell going to be sore the next day.
Kryztyne just started laughing. The man just pushed her off him and brushed the few pieces of splintered wood off his clothing, which made Kryztyne laugh harder. Looking at the man's back as he stood I suddenly wished I was much taller. The man was easily six foot tall. And my five feet four inches made me look like a midget. His height was accentuated by his long black hair and long black coat. He turned to look at me and I dropped the mangled bat. He was absolutely gorgeous! His skin was pale above the white shirt and black coat, but his eyes were what caught my attention. They were blood red and extremely intense. They were like looking into the haunted eyes of a Vietnam vet. They also marked him as a vampire. I was chilled to the bone and my breath came in short gasps. As he looked me up and down, he smiled, showing canines longer and sharper than Sigi could have ever dreamed of.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, your highness." He said as he bowed and kissed the back of my hand. I blushed as he smiled at me again, making him laugh.
"Oh, stop it Drake!" Kryztyne's voice made him turn away from me.
"You're lucky I knew it was you, little witch. If I had defended myself I could have easily killed you." His voice never changed. When he had finished he pulled his lips back in a feral snarl that made him look extremely dangerous. He must have sensed my fear, because he stepped away from Kryztyne. "It appears that I scared our princess. We will have to finish this discussion later." He winked at me and I blushed again.
"Selene, this is Drake. He is a vampire as you probably can tell. Don't worry about him taking your blood he says that its to rich for him. Anyway, he is one of the strongest vampires in our world." Kryztyne smirked. "Or at least he was until Sauna created her hybrids. She beat him quite badly, and he had to rely on us for help." Drake's face went dark with fury. Apparently, these 'hybrid' things were something that he did not care to remember or think about. Had Kryztyne gone crazy or did she just have a death wish? Why would she taunt someone who could rip her apart in mere seconds?
"Listen here you mediocre necromancer. Don't ever insult my strength. I could tear out your throat in the blink of an eye. Don't believe I am your tame pet. I only choose not to kill you because it benefits me if that girl makes it to the throne. And for some ungodly reason she likes you, so I have to leave you alive." His voice stayed calm and even but his eyes burned in his pale face. I was speechless. No one spoke to Kryztyne like that and lived to see another day.
"Yeah, whatever." For the first time ever, I saw Kryztyne blush. She got her feelings hurt when Drake called her mediocre. "Selene, go get your things so we can get back to the others. …Sometime today would be nice!" I ran up the stairs in record time. The days of stair accidents were gone. I could walk tall in the woods and not look down at my feet once. When I reached my room, I tried to concentrate on what clothing I needed to take to keep warm in the woods. I started grabbing sweat pants, sweatshirts, jeans, sweaters, and anything that could keep someone warm.
As I grabbed my favorite blanket, I recognized Kryztyne's voice. I stopped moving so I could hear more. "Don't think I've forgotten that mediocre comment." Even though her voice was muffled by the floor, I could still catch the heavy layer of venom in it. A slight chuckle came through the floor. "And what is so damned funny?" I pictured Kryztyne clenching her fists and stomping her foot. I had seen her do this so many times, mostly because I had said something to make her pout.
"Our little princess is listening to make sure we aren't fighting too much. She thinks you are a complete idiot for picking a fight with someone much stronger than you." With this, he let out a laugh that would have turned my legs into jell-o, if I had not heard Kryztyne running up the stairs yelling my name. I grabbed my bag off the floor and started stuffing the blanket into it. I attempted to zip the bag as soon as Kryztyne entered the room with Drake right behind her. Thank god I had cleaned it the last time I was home, which was around three weeks ago.
"Were you eavesdropping on us?" I was careful not to turn around, my blush would give it away. I could see Kryztyne's face in the mirror above my dresser, and boy she did not look happy.
"Why would I do that?" I made my voice as innocent and questioning as possible. Deny, deny, deny. That was my strategy.
Kryztyne wasn't buying it. "Are you finally packed?" I just nodded. "Well get down to the car." And with that, she stomped away leaving Drake and I alone. I eyed the bag and sighed. When I started to unpack it, Drake grabbed my hand. He looked rather confused.
"What are you doing? Didn't you just say you finished packing?" I nodded
"I did. But this bag is really heavy, I'm a major klutz, and there are stairs involved." His eyes sparkled with laughter as he pushed my hand away from the zipper and grabbed the handle.
"What kind of princess handles her own luggage?" he smirked. That was a low blow. I was not prissy, and he did not know me.
"What kind of vampire doesn't drink blood?" I smirked back.
"Who says I don't?" he was suddenly very close to me, his body against mine. His cool breath rustling the hair on either side of my face. His free hand reached up to stroke my neck where the jugular was. Luckily, Kryztyne was very impatient, and started blowing the car horn, breaking my trance. I pushed myself away from the ruby red eyes and silky touch. He laughed loudly and grabbed my hand. When I tried to pull away, he tightened his grip. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just saving time." He pulled me close and the room blurred and faded. The walls melted away, and then we were outside Kryztyne's Camaro. And I was a little queasy.
"I think I need to sit down." I tried getting into Kryztyne's car but stumbled. Kryztyne steadied me as I rested my head against the cool metal of her car. I had to close my eyes because the world was spinning.
"What did you do to her? She can't even stand up!" Kryztyne's voice was like steel as she fretted over me. Drake just laughed.
"I showed her how a vampire travels." Disapproval radiated off Kryztyne like a dark cloud.
"I'm okay now, I think." I opened my eyes and stood up swaying just a little. It actually had been really cool. It felt like you just rode the world's best roller coaster three times in a row. "I think I just wasn't prepared." Drake gave a triumphant smile to Kryztyne, who stuck out her tongue at him.
After my luggage was in the trunk, I insisted on sitting in the back seat. Granted, there was less room, but I didn't trust Drake enough to turn my back on him just yet. In the front seat, Kryztyne continued to throw insults at him the entire time. She used words like 'leech', 'nymphomaniac', and, my personal favorite, 'necrophiliac'. When she said that last one, I busted out laughing and Drake turned to look at me and winked. He then turned slowly to Kryztyne and said "Call me what you will, you're just mad because you're mediocre while I'm the best at what I do." I thought Kryztyne was going to break her steering wheel. Her knuckles were white and she was grinding her teeth. I would have laughed if I wasn't sure she would kill me for it later. After five minutes of silence, Drake appeared in the middle of the backseat. My jaw dropped. He saw my expression and whispered "Vampire trick." I nodded, and then a thought occurred to me.
"If you're a vampire, then how come you're out during the day? Doesn't it hurt you?" his smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown.
"Stupid humans always get vampire lore wrong." He rolled his eyes, "Vampires can come out during the day, in moderation if it's a young vampire. To much sun can kill a young vamp but it would have to be a lot, say sun up to sun down. To the oldest of us the sun affects them about the same as humans."
"oh." I looked at his face; he didn't seem much older than me. "And…um…how old are you?" he looked at me out of the corner of his eye, a smile on his lips.
"When I was changed I was nineteen." He was playing a game.
"And how long have you been nineteen?" I smirked. He turned in the seat so that he could look straight at me. "One thousand, one hundred, and thirty one years." He must have found my expression amusing, because he started laughing.
"I don't believe you." I said with narrowed eyes. He just about choked. He looked at me stunned. I knew he was messing with me.
"And why don't you believe that?" he asked, true curiosity in his voice.
"Because you strike me as the kind of person who would enjoy the attention of being over a thousand years old. I also think you enjoy pulling the wool over people's eyes. If you don't want to tell me how old you are then don't, I don't care." And with that, I refused to look at him and looked out the window. After a few silent moments, Kryztyne started laughing. She watched me in the rearview mirror.
"You have no problem with the fact that he is a vampire, right?"
"Right." Why would that be a problem? Break out the silver necklace and I was safe.
"But you do have a problem with him being over one thousand years old?"
"Yes." I said with a curt nod.
"Selene?"
"Yes?"
"You're an idiot."
