Tears
"I can't believe this," Isaac hissed at the newspaper in his hands.
He was sitting cross-legged on the master-sized bed in his room, staring intently at the front page of today's newspaper, while I absentmindedly looked out the window. Two whole days had already passed since we'd been to the memorial, but we still hadn't made any plans on leaving this town. The reason why was actually…me. Although I'd been so sure that leaving would be the best right now, I'd soon realized that this town wasn't safe as long as the other revengeful vampire was there, killing all the innocent humans.
I glanced away from the window and its peaceful view to give Isaac a confused look.
"What's wrong?"
He let out a frustrated growl – which was meant for the newspaper and not for me – before he answered. "The numbers of victims have gone up again. Since yesterday, four people have been found."
I gaped at him, too shocked to find any words. He glanced up from the newspaper then and before I could anticipate it, the newspaper was lying on the bed and he was standing right in front of me, his hands on my shoulders.
"It's going to be fine," he murmured.
I found it rather difficult to believe in his words, which he seemed to realize, because he spoke again in a soothing tone.
"We'll take care of this, Jessica."
I shook my head at him. "We can't do anything. That vampire is too strong for us to be able to…kill."
A new expression flashed across Isaac's face before he spoke. "When I say 'we', I mean Lucas and I."
"That's not…"
"Jessica, I'm not going to put you in any danger."
"But I can't just stay behind while you risk your lives," I said with a sigh. "Don't you…"
Again, he interrupted me. "We'll be fine. And you'll stay here while we take care of that other vampire."
My lower lip pouted out in a forlorn frown and my eyes dropped down from his face, making my eyelashes cast faint shadows over my cheekbones. Isaac put his finger gently to my chin and tilted my head up so that I would meet his gaze.
"Don't worry," he murmured soothingly. "Lucas and I will be fine."
"I'm only worried about you," I muttered.
His lips stretched up in a tiny, but beautiful smile in reaction to my words, but for once I couldn't do anything but to look back at him with the same expression on my face as before. He moved his finger from my chin to the corner of my mouth and unsuccessfully tried to lift it up in a smile.
"Jessica, I promise you that I will be fine," he said after giving up with his attempt to make me smile.
My lip was still pouted out in a frown as I spoke, which made the words come out mumbled. "You can't know that."
A light sigh escaped him, but his lips remained stretched up slightly – making it hard for me to think straight. I glanced away from him again – mostly to keep my thoughts in order – and caught eye of a beautiful picture with a frame made of silver that hung on the wall just beside the door, and a wicked thought flashed across my mind.
My eyes darted back to Isaac's face. "Isn't it true that silver hurt vampires?"
"What?" he asked, confusion clouding both his eyes and his voice.
"Is it just a myth that vampires get hurt if they touch silver?" I asked, trying to explain myself.
A heart-filled chuckle escaped his lips before he lifted his hand to show the silver ring I'd given him being placed on his finger, and an abashed smile appeared on my lips.
"Oh, I didn't…think about that," I mumbled.
"How did you come up with that question?" he asked, sounding truly amused.
I shrugged, which made him smile at me, his blue eyes glittering slightly. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, we could both hear the light sound of footsteps through the house, and I turned my eyes expectantly to the door that would open up any second. Isaac turned around, too, with a similar expression as mine on his face.
Just as we'd predicted, the door flew open after only two seconds, and Lucas walked in quite slowly. His face showed no sign of surprise or shock as he saw that we were both waiting for him; he only walked in and flopped down on the bed where the newspaper lay.
I continued to stare at him until he met my gaze, and he obviously seemed to realize his mistake.
"Knock, knock," he said before he turned his green eyes to the front page of the paper beside him.
I could see Isaac roll his eyes before he walked to the bed as well – tugging me along by grabbing my hand – and sat down beside Lucas. I got down, too, and watched silently as the two brothers began discussing the news of today. Both of them seemed as willing to go searching for the new citizen of the town – a fact that made me feel nauseous.
Isaac kept my hand in his, which was why I could feel how his fingers tightened whenever he got intense as he spoke. My lips were sealed through their whole conversation, although I was screaming inside. Why would they both have to risk their lives when they already knew that they didn't have much of a chance against this vampire? And how much wouldn't I fear that one of them might not come back?
I would go mad if I was alone in this large house.
"You're not leaving me alone here while you go," I said, interrupting Isaac in the middle of a sentence.
He turned his gaze to me, and put his hand – the one that wasn't already locked with mine – on my cheek.
"Jessica, you'll only get hurt if you come with us."
"I rather take that risk," I argued back. "I mean, what if that vampire come here while you're gone?"
"Why would…"
"She's got a point, Isaac," Lucas broke in.
I glanced over at his face, for once feeling grateful to him. But that feeling vanished just a second later when Isaac spoke again.
"Then I'll go alone."
"You are not going alone," I hissed at him.
"I think that's better. That way Lucas can stay behind and look after you."
A frustrated growl escaped my lips. "I don't want anyone to babysit me. What I meant before was that…"
"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Lucas asked as if he hadn't even noticed me speaking.
"I'm sure," Isaac replied in a calm tone, while keeping his hand cradled to my cheek.
I got up in a move that even startled myself – which caused Isaac's hands to fall flat to the covers of the bed – and walked over to the window again to hide the desperate tears that filled up in my eyes. The thought of Isaac and Lucas had been frightening enough; now I just felt like burying myself under the ground to get away from the horrifying reality.
I gazed out the window, taking in how the sun shone on the damp grass, making it glitter beautifully. It looked so peaceful that for a second I could think myself away from all the stress and fear, imagining how everything would have looked like if there wasn't anything threatening any of us. How the wedding between Isaac and me would look, how the white bride gown would smear around my body and contrast to my long, dark brown hair…A hand on my shoulder dragged me out of my daydream, and I blinked in surprise. It wasn't until now that I realized that the tears in my eyes had welled over and were running down my cheeks.
I was suddenly spun around so that I was facing Isaac – who had moved silently to stand behind me while I'd been lost in my thoughts. He pulled me close in an embrace, making me able to press my face against his chest to try to stop the tears. His arms wound around me, and we stood like that for a long time – him holding me close while the salt water running down my face soaked into the light blue sweater he was wearing. There were no sounds to tell me if Lucas was still there, but I assumed that he had left to leave us alone for a while.
"Jessica, trust me," he murmured quietly after a long time. "I will be perfectly fine."
I didn't answer - I didn't even shake my head to argue. His smell bored into my nose as I had my face pressed against his chest, which was enough to calm me for the moment.
Isaac continued speaking in a murmured tone after only a few seconds. "And when I get back, we will have the wedding to plan," he said, as if he'd read my mind before.
His murmurs relaxed me even more, and I leaned against him in total contentment so that his arms were sort of supporting me. For the first time in my life as a vampire, I actually missed being able to sleep and dream away the stress for at least a few hours. For once, I missed being human.
A few hours later, when the sun had been replaced by the moon and it was almost completely dark in the room, I lay silently beside Isaac on his bed. His arm was still wrapped cozily around me, keeping me snuggled to his side, but I could easily feel the tension in his body. I didn't know if it was because he was actually nervous – after all, he was going to search for the other vampire by himself – or if he was just aware of the fact that the darkness made everything even more frightening. It was silly of me to be scared of something so simple as the nights blackness, but I knew only too well who could be sneaking around outside.
"How are you feeling?" Isaac asked after a minute of silence.
"About what?" I mumbled.
"About…everything," he answered in a low tone. "It's your first year as a vampire, and yet you have to stand all this danger coming at us."
"The only thing I don't like is that you're going alone. The rest I can handle."
He sighed. "Jessica, it's already decided. Lucas will stay here with you for a few days while I go search for the vampire."
"But I want to come with you," I said, sounding like a stubborn five-year-old.
Another sigh escaped his lips, but he didn't say anything else.
"Can't you just let Lucas go while you stay here?" I asked when he didn't speak.
"I'm as capable as him…"
"It doesn't matter. He is your older brother, and so he should take more responsibility."
Isaac was quiet again.
"Besides, I don't want to be stuck here with him while you're gone," I muttered.
The thought of me and Lucas alone in this house was not very pleasant. Not only would the silence between us be tense and awkward, but I was quite sure that I would somehow be able to piss him off like I always do. And if Isaac wasn't there to stop him…
"He'll be nice," Isaac said, interrupting my thoughts.
"It's Lucas we're talking about."
A silent laugh vibrated through Isaac's body, and the corners of my mouth lifted up in a tiny smile. We lay in silence for a short while; I didn't want to bring up the subject from before. But after two minutes had passed, I knew I wouldn't be able to postpone it any longer.
"When are you leaving?" I asked in a mumble.
His arm tightened around me. "We don't have to talk about that right now."
"Yes, we do."
He hesitated before he spoke, and I waited tensely for him to raise his voice. The horror of getting to know when he would be gone was like a hard lump in my stomach, but I knew that it would be better for me to know it now than later. What point was there in saving it for the last second?
"Lucas and I are going to plan everything tomorrow morning, and I'm leaving later that night."
It was so soon.
I hugged myself closer to him as I realized how little time there was left until he would leave for a few days – or never come back – and buried my face against him. He suddenly rolled me over so that I was lying on top of him, and put his hands on either side of my face to press his lips against mine. Although I was stunned, my lips moved with his before I could even think about it; they were almost acting on their own.
After an incredibly long moment, he broke the kiss by leaning my head slightly back with the hands he had pressed against my cheeks. Even in the darkness, I could easily see how his blue eyes glittered with an intense emotion. His breath came out ragged, which I could feel since his face was just an inch away from mine.
None of us said anything until both of our breathing came to a normal rhythm again.
"You have no idea how much I'll miss you," Isaac said with an edge of pain to his voice.
A wave of sadness flooded through my body. I didn't want to think about it at the moment, I didn't want to get reminded of the fact that I might not see his face again after tomorrow. So I pressed my lips against his again to stop him from mentioning it, and he immediately returned the kiss, helping me forget the dreading reality for just one night.
Everything was ready.
Isaac was not wearing his usual outfit; a sporty training equipment smeared around his beautiful form, making it look like he was just going out for a run. In his hand was a small, black lighter, which he now and then tested by pressing down the button that caused a flame to burst up.
"Sorry," he murmured every time I flinched when the fire appeared in the air.
I had a similar lighter in my back pocket, which I'd received from Isaac earlier, and I knew Lucas had one, too. It was only as a precaution if the vampire would decide to come here, and I was sort of relieved that I wouldn't be totally defenseless if that happened. Still, I wasn't sure if I would be able to actually kill the vampire – not after feeling the guilt of killing an innocent human. Everything was different now, though; this person wasn't even a human, and he was certainly not innocent. But still…
"I'll probably be back in at least a few days, but I can't assure you that it will be easy finding the vampire," Isaac said to his brother, interrupting my thoughts.
"Be careful, though," Lucas replied in a tone that was so concerned that I couldn't stop myself from staring at him in surprise.
He looked back at me after only two seconds, which made me turn my eyes to Isaac instead – deliberately avoiding his gaze. Although I was frustrated with Isaac's decision, it was nothing compared to what I felt towards Lucas for letting his little brother – and the love of my life – go all by himself.
Tears of both frustration and sadness started pushing behind my eyelids, and I blinked furiously to hold them back. Crying wouldn't help a thing. Isaac glanced at my face for a second, and pain clouded his ice blue eyes before he looked back at Lucas.
"Promise me that you'll take care of her," he said in a low but pained voice to his brother.
Lucas nodded, his eyes tightening slightly as he heard the edge of pain in Isaac's voice. I pulled in a shaky breath to try to steady myself, which brought Isaac's attention to me. He cradled my face with both of his hands and leaned closer to press his lips against mine for a long moment. I locked my arms around his neck, desperately trying to make him stay, but he could easily pull them away again after only a few seconds.
"Isaac, don't," I pleaded. The tears that threatened behind my eyelids were easy to detect in my voice.
"I'll be alright," he assured me for surely the thousand of times.
I shook my head. "No, you won't. And you can't expect me to wait here while you're out risking your life."
"You will stay here," Lucas ordered from behind me, while putting one of his hands on my shoulders as a restraint.
I didn't even bother shaking it off – I only kept my pleading eyes on Isaac's face.
"Please, don't go," I mumbled, fighting the tears that would spill over any second.
The pain in his eyes grew wider as he heard my tone, and he laid his arms around me and pressed me tightly against his chest, while he buried his face in my hair. Somehow, Lucas managed to keep his hand on my shoulder anyway.
"I love you," Isaac murmured close to my ear.
"Not as much as I love you," I mumbled back against his chest, and I could feel the corner of his lip curve up in a small smile.
After what seemed like only a second, he leaned back to kiss my lips softly once more before he squirmed free and headed towards the door. Even if I would have been able to walk after him – Lucas' hand kept me in place – I knew nothing I would have said would have made any difference. He was determined to go.
So I only stared after him as he opened the door and disappeared into the night, while the tears welled over and ran silently down my cheeks.
