Thanks to Gothic Girl 3000, La Belle Morte, LiTlTe BeLlA sWaN, Monica J Jones, Anima Bella, and HappyWithLife for reviewing.
Medusa Sparrow-Descouedres: Gracias, Mon Petite Hombre!


8. Vampire Stalkers

Alex caught me and settled me gently on my feet, both him and Marianne looking towards the voice. The speaker was a young boy who seemed eighteen, with black hair and dark sunglasses. He was dressed in jeans and a denim jacket, as he looked at us with a contemptuous look on his face.

"Who are you?" Alex growled.

"I think your soulmate would know." He took off his glasses; his eyes were crimson.

I heard Marianne's sharp intake of breath. "You – you're a…vampire."

He smirked. "And you just figured that out right now?"

My breathing speeded up. He followed me…? "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't bear to be away from you for so long. So I followed you."

And that just confirmed my suspicions. I shot a panicked glance at Marianne who was looking shocked, her face flushed. She looked at me, and understanding flashed in her eyes.

"Come on Lizzie." She grabbed hold of my hand and waked away from the boy. Alex followed, not stopping until we were safely out of reach.

Marianne let go of my arm, her brow furrowed.

"You never told me you were being stalked."

"I couldn't. That's the reason why we…had to move away." I mumbled.

Alex was livid. "Did he hurt you in any way?"

I shook my head. "Not really, no. He would just follow me around all the time and send me notes and, um, disturbing things…"

Marianne looked understandingly at me. "Which included dead flowers, right?"

I nodded. "And, um, he managed to get some of my hair and sent it back to me, saying that with it he could, um, control me with it, and to watch out. He also sent me chocolates. With poison inside. And candy hearts, all personalised with my name. He sent mostly notes, though."

"What kind of notes?" Alex asked.

I gave a weak smile. "'Roses are blue, violets are red, and we'll be together forever, when you are dead.'"

Alex was silent. His mouth was set in a thin line. "Let me get this straight – you have a crazy psychopathic vampire after you."

"It's always the vampires." Marianne remarked.

"You never get human stalkers like that." Alex agreed.

"I guess I'm just wired that way!" I retorted sarcastically.

Alex tilted his head. "Do you even know his name?"

I shuddered. "No…and I wouldn't want to. To me, he's just Crazy Psychopathic Vampire." Not to mention scary. And I was afraid of him; more afraid than I had ever been in my whole life. I didn't know him and I didn't know why he was stalking me.

Who was it that said, 'we're not afraid of the dark, we're only afraid of what's in it'? Whoever it was, they couldn't have been any more right. People were always afraid of the unknown.

Marianne went to her car, waving goodbye as Alex tugged me along to his Cadillac. He paused, glancing at me worriedly as he twisted the key in the lock.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked softly.

I nodded. "I – I think."

He leaned in to kiss my forehead. "Hey, don't worry. I'll make sure that he doesn't get within a hundred miles of you. I promise."

I looked gratefully up at him. "Thanks. Not that I can't take of myself, though."

"You can't always be dependant on yourself. Just this once…let me take care of you."

I frowned at him. "Why do you sound so different? What happened? Is it to do with your family? You never told me about them."

He sighed, pulling himself away from the car door. "Let's go home and then I'll tell you."

I nodded and got into the passenger seat. When I arrived at his house, I noticed that Marie's car wasn't parked in front as usual. I glanced quizzically at Alex as I went inside. He noticed, slinging his coat on the table where it lay next to my shopping bag.

"She's gone back to college."

"She has?" I glanced around; without Marie's things scattered absentmindedly on the floor, the house seemed a little empty.

"Yeah." He was staring at something in the distance. I frowned.

What was wrong with him?

"So what were you going to tell me?" I asked.

He didn't answer. I waved my hands about his face. "Hello? Earth to Alex?"

His eyes flickered and he smiled at me apologetically. "You were saying?"

"What were you going to tell me?" I prompted.

He was silent for a while. I went over to him, looking up at his face.

"Alex?"

He glanced at me, meeting my eyes. "My Dad left us when I was young. I was only four then. After he left us, I couldn't speak. And then my Mom died. I couldn't save her. She was only young, not even having reached thirty. The doctors said it was because she had lost the will to live when her husband left her. I promised myself that I would find the one girl for me, and I would protect her and die for her so that she would never be hurt the way my mother was."

"And that girl was me," I whispered softly, understanding. He nodded. I only just realised what he said, and my eyes widened. "Wait – you live by yourself?"

Alex nodded. "My sister comes home from college sometimes, but mostly it's just me."

"How do you do it?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I just do."

"Want to move into my house?" I suggested.

He smiled. "Somehow I don't think that idea would go off well with both parties."

"No, it wouldn't. My family would be thrilled. Especially Esme." I was silent for a while as I thought. "But then…we move on every three/four years." My voice was soft. "We – we have to."

"I know." Alex's voice was just as soft.

I smiled weakly. "We'll tackle that milestone when we reach it, but for now I don't think we should worry about it."

"I agree."

Talking of dying had left me feeling miserable. Alex glanced at me sharply and cupped my face in his hands, making me look at him.

"Hey, it doesn't matter about all that, I'm here right now, aren't I?"

"I know, but still…"

"Lizzie, you're only seventeen. We have our whole lives ahead of us, and you know I'll follow you to the end of the earth and beyond." He murmured.

I nodded. "Okay."

"I wanted to ask you – did you have any…dreams…whilst you were in hospital?" He asked, staring intently at me.

I thought back to my time in the hospital ward. "No. I never had any dreams at all."

He flashed a smile. "That's good."

I had an idea. "Alex, are you free tonight?"

"You know I am. Why?"

"Well…" I tilted my head to the side, considering. "I was thinking…"

"You were thinking?" He repeated, unable to keep from smiling.

I glared at him. "Tell me its not going to be a dumb blonde joke."

He shook his head solemnly. "I swear it wasn't."

"Well anyways, I was thinking that you could come to my house for dinner, because you've never come to my house for dinner before and it would be nice for my family to get to know you more." I told him.

Alex was silent for a while. "I thought your family didn't eat human food?"

"They don't really, but, as strange as it is, my Mom can and so can my Dad and, to a certain extent, the rest of my family, something to do with my Mom's power of being like a human. That's how I was born, actually." I explained.

"Oh." His forehead creased, and then he grinned suddenly. "I'll only come for the dinner – as long as you make the food."

Why did I ever tell him I hated cooking?

Now I was terrified.