Chapter 8

Nicholas just stood there staring at me for who knows how long. It made me completely uncomfortable, but curious at the same time. I couldn't look away from his eyes. It was like our eyes were locked together. But looking into his eyes, I could see every emotion that didn't play out on his face. There was anger, frustration, annoyance, curiosity and for a brief second I thought I saw lust. But I was no doubt completely wrong. I mean this guy hated me! He couldn't possibly feel anything like that for me!

Finally Abby broke our gaze apart. "Hello Nicholas! Get changed right now! I'm not taking you to school covered in mud." Abby let out an exasperated sigh.

Nicholas didn't say anything; he didn't even look twice at me. He just flew up the stairs.

I sighed inwardly. Abby came up and hugged me. "Don't worry about him. He'll come around."

"I hope so." I said being completely honest.

"Me too." Abby replied.

Joshua appeared by Abby's side. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her lightly on the top of her head. Abby just smiled. I was about to say something but was caught off guard when Nicholas flew past us and out the door.

"Nicholas! Be nice! Jeesh. Sorry about that." Abby said. "Well we're off to school. Have fun shopping!" She gave me one last squeeze and followed her brother out the door.

"I can knock some sense in him if you want?" Joshua offered.

I laughed. "No, that's okay."

Joshua waved goodbye and left. As soon as he was gone, Kathleen appeared by my side scaring me half to death.

"Oh sorry about that sweetie." She said placing a hand on my shoulder.

"No it's alright. Just something I'll have to get used to." That was definitely true.

"So shall we go shopping?"

I smiled at her. "We shall."

She chuckled softly and grabbed my hand towing me up the stairs. She pulled me into her and Langdon's room and sat me down at a very high-tech computer. She sat in a chair next to me.

"First we need to decide what colors your room will be. Any preferences?" She inquired.

"Um well I like bright colors. My favorite color is blue."

"Ok, ok." She said thoughtful.

Once the computer was turned on she opened a web browser and began sifting through furniture stores that I had never heard of. While looking at Kathleen, something popped into my head.

"Kathleen," I began

"Hm."

"How were you changed?"

She looked away from the computer for a moment. I instantly felt guilty for bringing it up.

"You don't have to tell me I was just curious." I said trying to make her feel less obligated.

"No it's alright. You're family now." She looked at me and then away. "I was born in 1762 in Dublin, Ireland."

By the way she spoke about her home I could tell she really loved it.

"I loved Ireland so much. My father owned a small farm outside the city. My mother and father were always supportive of my siblings and me. I had 3 older brothers, and 1 younger sister." Her face grew hard all of a sudden, remembering.

"I was 23 when I was changed. I was working in the city, but decided to take a break and visit my family. One night my father was gone to town, and it was just my mother, my sister and I. We heard a noise in the stable so I went to go check on the animals. I had just stepped outside when two men grabbed me. They dragged me back into the house and were followed by 3 more men.

"They robbed us and beat us. Three of them took my little sister into a room and closed the door. Her screams were so loud they chilled me to the bone. My mom ran to the door to stop them from hurting her but one of the men shot her in the back. I was too scared to move so I just sat there. All too soon her screams stopped short and they dragged her lifeless body back into the room.

"The men just smiled and turned to me. 'You're turn.' One said. I didn't want to fight back I just wanted to die quickly. I turned my brain off, not wanting to feel the pain. After some time they left me lying on the ground cold and shaking. It seemed like forever but someone finally came. Although it wasn't my father." She smiled to herself and then to me.

"Langdon was there. He saved me."

I smiled with her, enjoying the love that radiated from her.

"After a few years living in Ireland, we moved to London for a time and then here to the United States; which is where we found our children."

"How did you find them?" I was practically begging her for information.

"We found Abby first, or I guess she found us. We were living in New York at the time and she just showed up on our doorstep one day asking to become part of our family. We moved around a bit more and settled in Michigan for a time. That's where we found Nicholas. Joshua was the last to join our family, well now you are I guess. But we're so grateful that we've found all of you. Sometimes it makes this existence a little brighter."

I sat there trying to absorb everything she had told me, and I must say it was a lot. She gave me a few minutes and then got down to business. We spent the rest of the day by the computer looking at everything from color patterns to desks. I had never been too fond of shopping, but I guess that this was better than the alternative.

By the time Abby, Joshua and Nicholas got home, we had decided on a color scheme and almost half of the furniture. I kept insisting that I didn't really need all of the furniture they were getting but Kathleen wouldn't hear anything about it.

She said, "You're family now."

I couldn't argue with her on that, because I really felt like a part of their family now. And I wasn't about to pass that offer up.

All of a sudden the door swung open and Abby bounded in, practically knocking Kathleen and I over.

"Careful dear. We may not break easily but these chairs will." Kathleen scolded.

"Sorry Mom." Abby said remorsefully. Then she smiled at us and got a gleam in her eye. "The weather man called for sun tomorrow, so we were thinking about starting the weekend early. We can show Sarah some great hunting places up here." It sounded like she was begging.

"Of course dear. Perhaps you'd like to see what we've decided on so far for Sarah's room." I wanted to kill Kathleen for saying that, because as soon as the words left her mouth, Abby was bouncing up and down and telling us to move over.

"Blue is a nice choice. It helps calm the mind." Abby stated.

"Oh well I just chose it because it is my favorite." I didn't want her getting any ideas that I had put any thought into this. Because knowing her she'd start making me her shopping companion. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.

Abby, Kathleen and I spent the next few hours discussing everything that could possibly fit into my room. It ended when we decided on a desk, a bookshelf, a dresser, a couch and a computer table (they said that I was getting a new computer too).

After we had finished talking about the different ways to paint my room, Kathleen shut off the computer and we all went downstairs. Joshua had apparently challenged Nicholas to a video game battle, and they had permanently glued themselves in front of the television. Abby just sighed.

"Boys will be boys." Abby said.

I laughed.

Nicholas looked up at me, and for the first time since I had met him, smiled a grin that knocked me breathless.

Nicholas turned to his sister and gave her a quizzical look. "And girls will be girls. Seriously how long does it take you to pick out colors?"

"Hey there are lots of colors out there and we looked at furniture too!" Abby said defensively.

Joshua stepped in. "Alright already." He gave Nicholas a glare. "Can we just get on with the game?" The boys turned back to their game and Abby just rolled her eyes.

"Come on Sarah lets go to the kitchen." Abby started tugging me out of the room.

I was still in shock from Nicholas's smile but managed to pull myself together and follow Abby into the kitchen. I was still thinking about his smile, when Abby snapped me out of my thoughts.

"I think he's warming up to you." She said with a smile.

"Yeah, where did that come from?"

"Maybe he's realized what an amazing girl you are."

"Ha yeah right." I scoffed. This guy absolutely hated me this morning.

Kathleen came into the kitchen smiling. "I ordered the furniture, and it should be here by next Wednesday. And we can go pick up the paint any time we want. But we should probably paint the room before we get the furniture."

"I agree," Abby stated, "that would make it easier."

"I'm going to go up to my room for a while. Um, what time are we leaving?"

Abby smiled. "Around six-ish."


"Ok, see you then."

I walked out of the kitchen and past the boys in front of the television. I had the strange sensation that I was being watched as I walked up the stairs, but I chose to ignore it.

Time seemed to pass faster as an immortal being. It seemed like only minutes had passed since I had closed the door on my room. At 5:30 Abby poked her head in.

"Hey we're getting ready to go."

"Alright. Let me get changed and I'll be right down." I had no idea what to wear to go hunting. All I really knew was that it wasn't a pretty affair. I rummaged through my clothes until I found an old pair of gray sweats and a plain black shirt. I threw my hair up in a messy bun and put a bit of eyeliner on, and I was good to go.

When I got downstairs I was relieved that my family was dressed in the similar comfortable apparel that I was. They all smiled at me, all of them, even Nicholas. He had a strange look in his eye behind the smile.

Abby took my hand and dragged me out to the car. I hadn't noticed it, but my family seemed to be obsessed with fast cars. Langdon got in the driver's side of a black Mercedes with dark tinted windows. Kathleen got into the passenger's door. Nicholas headed towards a silver Mustang followed by Joshua. I also noticed a small sporty yellow car. Abby and I got into the Mercedes with Langdon and Kathleen.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Mount Rainier National Park. It's not too far away, and has a great selection to choose from." Abby said smiling at me.

I glanced out the tinted windows of the car. The weatherman was right about the sun. The sun shone brightly and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The trip to the park should have taken a couple hours at least, but with the speed that Langdon drove, we got there in a little over an hour. Apparently vampires are crazy about speed. I flinched a couple times on the drive.

Once we had parked the cars in a parking lot, we headed out into a secluded part of the forest. We ran, at vampire speed, until we reached the edge of a large clearing. Thanks to my enhanced senses I could see a heard of deer across the clearing. I could easily smell their blood from where I was. The venom in my mouth started to flow freely.

Nicholas placed a hand on my shoulder breaking me from my concentration.

"Now Sarah we're going deeper in to look for some more game, feel free to browse around for a while. I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding your way back." He smiled as he said the last part.

"I'm sure I can manage." I replied.

Abby waved goodbye to me and followed the rest of them into the forest. I wasted no time in getting down to business. Within minutes I had taken down three of the largest males in the herd easily and drained them.

I was satisfied and just wanted some place to relax. I searched out the area in my mind. I sensed a waterfall nearby and I ran towards it. I broke through the last line of trees and smiled at what I saw. There was a huge waterfall.

I stepped into the sun and it felt amazing. I walked over towards the waterfall and laid down next to it and closed my eyes. The sound of running water was relaxing. I soon lost track of time and I heard footsteps approaching.

I opened my eyes and was shocked at what I saw. Nicholas in the sunlight is something that I will never forget. His skin sparkled like a million diamonds, and the sun brought out all the red in his hair. It quite literally took my breath away.

He seemed to have the same reaction as me, which I found hard to imagine because I was so plain compared to him. I propped myself up into a sitting position. Nicholas came over and sat down next to me. The silence was a little awkward at first.

"I'm sorry I was so rude earlier." Nicholas's smooth, velvety voice calmed all my nerves. I could listen to his voice all day and not get tired of it.

I shrugged. "It's fine. It was kind of rude just showing up like that without warning."

"No it's not. No offense I was just a little nervous about having a newborn around. And it doesn't help that I can't read your mind." He seemed sincere but the last part of his response threw me for a loop.

"You can't read my mind?" I was stunned.

"It seems so. It's never happened before. So I didn't really know what to make of you when I first met you."

I now saw why he had acted so weird when he met me. It wasn't really because he hated me. He was just confused. That made me like him a little more.

We sat there for a while in silence just staring at the water. All of a sudden I became curious about him. I don't know why but I was.

"How did you become a vampire?"

He didn't say anything he just looked down.

"Sorry." I said. I mentally kicked myself for ruining the moment. I really shouldn't be this nosy it was rude.

"It's ok. You should know." He seemed a little hesitant but continued. "I was born in Columbia, Missouri in 1846. It was a rough time growing up because the nation was in pieces. I was 16 when the civil war started. It was a tough time and it was hard on my parents. When I was 17 some of my friends and I decided to join the Bushwhackers. They trained us for weeks."

"When they thought we were ready, we rode to Lawrence, Kansas and raided the town. I was severely injured in the attack, and left for dead. Apparently some vampires were watching the raid and decided to help me." He let out a sigh at the end.

I suppressed chills that threatened my body. His tale was eerily similar to Alex's. I decided to change the subject, I could tell he was feeling depressed.

"So did you find anything good today?" I asked. He smiled at my attempt.

"Yes actually. A grizzly bear." He was beaming.


I chuckled. "Well good for you."

"Thanks." He looked at his watch. "We probably should be getting back now."

The sun was still in the sky but I could tell it was getting late. We stood up simultaneously.

"Now are you sure you know where you're going?" He teased.

I nudged him a little harder than I intended and he went to take a step back only to realize there was no ground to step back on. In a split second he smiled at me and grabbed my hand, taking me down with him.

We tumbled into the calm water below. I didn't feel cold, but I knew the water was probably freezing. And I hated the feeling of my clothes all wet. I looked over at Nicholas who had that breathtaking grin on his face. I internally fainted. It took all my effort to scowl at him.

"What?" He asked innocently.

I just sighed loudly and shoved water at him, which he dodged easily. I swam to the shore and got out of the water. Nicholas followed me.

He laughed. "Oh come on. It was a joke."

This time it was easy to scowl at him since I wasn't look directly at him. "Well the next time you plan to play a 'joke' on me, at least let me have the appropriate attire on."

He grinned at me. "Deal."

I was about to protest more but he stopped me.

"Come on let's head back." He grabbed my hand. His touch was amazing. It felt like our hands molded perfectly together. I inwardly groaned at having to explain this to the family. For some reason I felt that this would be the first of many interesting experiences with Nicholas.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them!