A/N: OH MY! The chapters are just pouring out of me :O This one is 12 pages in Word, I think... anyway, here's the eight chapter, and I hope you all will enjoy it. You'll get a bit of a lecture about vampire history (all made up by me, so don't start to google about it, or anything lol) Anyway, read, enjoy and please, review!
Disclaimer: I own only my original characters and the plot (and the whole made-up vampire culture). The rest belongs to J.K Rowling.
And guys, I'm sorry if this A/N got is a bit weird... it's almost 4 AM here... I'm kind of tired.
Master of Puppets
Chapter Eight
Time for lust, time for lie; time to kiss your life goodbye.
Her scent was intoxicating, and her salty tears pleased him more than they should. She couldn't escape, because his hold was solid as rock. His lips came down hard upon hers in a rough kiss, and the flames in his throat almost tore it apart. He forced his tongue into her mouth to join hers, and he pressed himself even closer to her.
When he broke the painful kiss his lips traced along her jawline and down to her throat. Her beautiful, warm throat…
"Please, don't," she whispered terrified. "Please!"
Her begging made him laugh. Then he kissed her earlobe. "You shouldn't have been so curious, 'cause if you hadn't, this would probably have never happened."
"Please Castor," Carmen said with a shaky voice, now trying to gather her strength. "I know you're not like this; you're not that evil!"
This made him laugh even more. "You obviously don't know what a vampire is. A vampire is the most evil in this world; ready to take innocent lives just to please themselves. It has nothing to do with power, it's simply a matter of pleasure." Then he looked into her eyes. Those fearful eyes of hers…
He grabbed both her wrists in one of his hands and let a finger from his free hand trace along her cheek, throat, chest and stomach and back up again. Then he placed his finger under her chin. "You… if you gave in… oh, you could please me." He caressed her cheek and then returned his finger to her chin.
"Please," she said again, this time so low a human ear almost wouldn't be able to hear it. But he heard it, loud and clear. "Please? I don't want to die!"
"Well, people don't always get—" then he went silent, all his senses as sharp as possible. Something wasn't right. He could feel the scent of a vampire coming closer in high speed. He tore his eyes from the girl and looked towards one of the windows in the empty classroom. Then he looked at Carmen again. "Go. Tell a professor, whichever you find, to lock the doors and gather all the students."
Her fear towards him had suddenly vanished, but was replaced with another fear. "What is happening?"
He cupped her face in his hands and looked straight into her emerald eyes. "Just do as I told you."
"Are they coming?"
"I don't know." He was truly honest this time, but this sudden attack surely didn't match their previous pattern, and they would unlikely change it that dramatically. He let go of her and went towards the window. He tried to see if something else was out of order. But Carmen's scent was still there to distract him, so she hadn't gone yet. "Go!"
"Yes, sir," she mumbled as she hurried out of the room, probably delighted to get away.
He scanned the forest. They had still their same pattern, but he could feel a vampire coming closer. He scanned the forest again, and this time he saw it. It was a male, running in full speed towards the castle. Castor forced the window open and jumped out. He landed smoothly on the ground and darted towards the vampire. They both came to a halt only two meters apart.
The other male vampire had sandy blonde hair and was pretty sleek and tall. His eyes were brilliant red and he had he pulled back his lips so he showed his sharp teeth. "Stand aside," he growled.
"Make me," Castor challenged.
The sandy haired vampire jumped right on Castor, but Castor was faster and hit him with his arm with such force it sounded like two big rocks hitting each other. "You vampires are so weak!"
"Who are you?!" the sandy haired vampire demanded furiously.
"Let me introduce myself," Castor said. "My name is Castor Hook."
"Liar!" the vampire said, though fear was piercing him. "You can't be a Hook."
"And why not?" Castor asked.
"What would they do here?"
"Restoring order," Castor almost growled.
"But our Queen is dying!" the vampire said.
"Oh, just cut the crap!" Castor said. "Let's do this. May the best vampire win."
The other vampire hesitated for a half second and the leaped towards Castor, and the fight was just starting.
If a human saw this fight it would only see a blur of colours, because it was all too hard for a human to see the details.
Castor jumped straight on the sandy haired vampire and then there was a big smash, as if he'd just ripped off the top of a mountain. He tossed the head aside and looked down upon the body. It was now nothing but an old corpse.
The other vampires must have heard the fight and gone further into the forest, because Castor couldn't hear them, or smell them, any longer.
Then he turned and darted towards the castle again.
The Eiffel Tower, Paris, France;
Hermione was stumping her foot annoyed as she waited for Nemo. He thought he would have been that kind of person who was always on time.
She started to pace back and forth. This couldn't take too long, otherwise Draco would start wondering where she was. She looked at her watch; he should have been there ten minutes ago.
"I am sorry I am late," she heard from behind and she spun around to face Nemo.
"You should be!" she snapped. "You should have been here ten minutes ago!"
"There was something I… something I had to do before coming here."
Hermione looked disgusted at him, and then she shook her head. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"
He started circling her with his hands behind his back. "Paris – the city of love."
"What did you want to tell me?" Hermione said impatiently.
"He never answered last night," he said.
"He didn't bring his phone, so we still can't say that he's Snake," Hermione said acidly.
"Hermione, please," Nemo said and stopped walking. "Think about it; he did not bring his phone, and I got no answer. What is the possibility that it was only a coincidence?"
"I know, I know," Hermione muttered. "But still. There is a chance that he's innocent." Then she remembered the note with the address. "But I found something… it was an address, and it was hard to read. I could only figure out Camden Town, London."
"What?!" Nemo asked sharply. "Camden Town? Interesting."
"What's the matter?"
"That was where I met him," Nemo said. "In an old house in Camden Town."
"So that could be the evidence then?" Hermione felt how her heart dropped, and her breathing felt heavy. So he was really Snake then?
"It seems so," Nemo said.
"But," Hermione said, trying to find another explanation. "There could be many reasons to why he had an address to Camden Town! It's not like that house is the only house there!"
"Once again, Hermione," Nemo said and sighed, "which are the possibilities that this is only a coincidence?"
"Oh, now you're just being thick headed!" Hermione spat.
"Why are you trying to find a was to get him out of this?" Nemo asked in suspicion. "What did he tell you?"
"He told me that—" Hermione started, but broke off. "That's none of your business!"
Nemo eyed her for a moment and then put his tipped to his side. "He told you he loved you," he said amused.
"No," Hermione lied. "Why would he do that? We hate each other."
"And yet you defend him," Nemo said with a smirk.
"I don't defend him!" Hermione shot. "I'm trying to be open-minded!" Then she sighed annoyed. "What if someone else is this Snake, and while we're struggling to prove that Draco Malfoy is the villain, the real Snake go and get himself bitten?"
"And who would that be?" Nemo asked calmly. "Who would have followed you ever since you came back to London? Who would have known everything you were doing?"
"I. Don't. Know," Hermione said through gritted teeth. This was really annoying.
"Well then," Nemo said and smiled smugly. "Let us stick to what we have got."
Hermione sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere with this. "So, did Castor accept?"
"He's already there," Nemo said.
"So he accepted?" Hermione asked surprised. "Just like that?"
"He's duty is to obey his Queen, and she told him to go," Nemo said nonchalantly.
"Well, I'd better call Harry then," Hermione said. "Can I borrow your phone?"
"You do not have to tell him," Nemo said. "I have already talked to him. He is on his way to Hogwarts."
"Oh, okay," Hermione said. Then she looked at him. "What was it you really wanted to tell me? I doubt you asked me to come here for this."
Nemo sighed and closed his eyes. "City of love," he mumbled. Then he caressed her cheek softly, but Hermione pushed it away.
"Keep your dead hands away from me," she growled.
"You know, it is hard," Nemo said. "Your warmth is so appealing." Then he looked at her with an intense look. Come to me. He knew she would hear the order he sent to her, and Hermione took a step closer; she simply couldn't do else.
"What are you doing to me?!" she whispered frantically. "Whatever you're doing, stop it!"
Nemo didn't listen to her. He ran his hand through her hair and then caressed her cheek again. "So beautiful," he murmured. "So warm."
"Stop it!" Hermione begged. She tried to move, to push him away, but she couldn't move at all. She was frozen in place while Nemo traced one of his fingers along her collarbones.
"So beautiful," he said again, his lips almost touching hers. "So warm." Then he kissed her softly with his cold lips.
Hermione forgot everything around her, and she forgot all of her problems. His cold lips made her dizzy, and she wanted more. So much more.
She was no longer frozen in place, but she didn't push him away. She hooked her arms around his neck and let herself get lost in this deadly kiss.
She didn't return to reality until he parted his lips from hers, and she had to gasp for air.
When he was going to kiss her again, she used all of her strength to push him away. "This is wrong!" she protested. "This goes against everything I'm fighting for!"
"But we both liked it!" Nemo said, very surprised over her sudden act.
"You used me!" Hermione cried.
"No," Nemo said. "You gave in by own will."
"This… this…" Hermione tried to figure out a solution to all this. "We'll just have to pretend that this never happened!"
"That is going to be hard," Nemo said.
"We'll have to try," Hermione said. Why did this happen now when she and Draco were good? Why did he do this? Why did he confuse her like this? It wasn't fair. "I have to get back. Otherwise he'll get suspicious. And you," then she looked straight into his gray eyes, "you can't tell anyone about this."
"As you wish," Nemo said and nodded. And then, with a blink of an eye, he was gone.
Hermione sighed deeply and unhappily and Disapparated to a small alley next to the hotel.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland;
Harry walked into the school ground. It was kind of eerie out there; no students, no warmth, no colours, no sound. No life at all.
He pulled his jacket tighter around him as he walked towards the big doors. He didn't know why, but he felt watched, and he speeded up. Once he finally reached the gates it was locked.
"Who are you?" the big doors demanded.
"Um, Harry Potter," Harry said. What was that? He had never heard the big gates speak. But after he'd said his name the doors swung open and he entered the big castle.
The doors closed behind him with a loud thud. It was almost as eerie inside as outside. No students, no voices, no sounds at all. Even the paintings were empty.
"Hello?" he called, but the only answer he got was his own echo. Suspiciously he took out his wand from the insides of his jacket. He kept a safe grip around it as he walked further into the hall. Where was everybody? "Hello?" he called again, and again it was only his echo he heard. He walked a bit further, still so sign of life whatsoever. Suddenly he heard a coughing, and he jumped in surprise. "Who's there?!"
"Here, lad," an old male voice called.
Harry looked around. "Where?"
"Over here, you fool!" the voice called.
Harry spun around and was faced by a painting. "Oh." He relaxed a bit. "Where is everybody?"
"They're in the Great Hall," the man in the painting said. "The vampire gave orders."
"Really?" Harry thought about what Nemo had said when they talked to each other earlier on the phone; Even though my brother is violent, he always takes his missions seriously. "I suppose the doors are locked then?"
"Yep," the man said. "Albus Dumbledore asked me to see if a Harry Potter had arrived yet."
"I am Harry Potter," Harry said.
"Really?" the man asked. "So, you're not a vampire?"
"Do I look like a vampire?" Harry said and raised an eyebrow.
"How would I know?" the man said.
"Could you please ask them to open the door for me?" Harry asked.
"No, but they can send a house elf out for you."
"Well then, do so," Harry said.
"Okay, wait here," the man said and disappeared from the painting.
Harry did as he was told, and waited patiently for the house elf to pop up. And shortly after there was a loud bang and a house elf was standing by his side.
"Follow Poe, sir," the elf said with a small voice and grabbed Harry's arm. And before he'd had the chance to answer they disappeared in another loud bang.
They reappeared in the Great Hall that was filled with students. All of them looked towards the new addition.
"Harry!" a voice called – Luna. "Harry, thank Merlin you're here!"
"What's going on?" Harry asked confused. "Why is there no one in the castle except for in here? Has a vampire broken inside?"
"No," Luna said. "But the vampires attacked. The leech gave this order."
"Castor?" Harry asked.
"So you know him?" There was a trace of acid in her voice.
"Not really," Harry muttered. "Has he done anything?"
"No, not that we know of," Luna said. Then she leaned closer to him. "But he did say to Albus that he prefer to drink animal blood."
"Lie," Harry said lowly.
"I thought so," Luna said and nodded. "Albus gave him permission to be inside the school!"
"What?!" Harry almost shouted, and then lowered his voice again. "What?!"
"No one is missing," Luna reassured him.
"Yet," Harry growled. "Where is he?"
"Somewhere in the school," Luna said. "Not in here though, thankfully."
"Okay," Harry nodded. "Where's that house elf? Poe? I need to find Castor." He didn't say it again, because the small house elf was already by his side.
"Ready, sir?" she asked. Once again Harry had no chance to answer before they disappeared in a loud bang.
They reappeared on the same place Harry had been waiting barely a minute ago.
"Just call for Poe when you wish to return, sir," the elf said and bowed deeply before she disappeared in another bang.
Harry looked around. He didn't like the eerie silence at all. It was like it crawled beneath his skin, trying to eat him from the inside.
He took a deep breath as blasted into the silence; "Castor Hook!" Then he felt a cool wind beam.
"Who asks?" a cold voice called from behind and Harry spun around.
He saw the vampire clearly through the dim light, and was a bit scared at first. It was something there that made him not trustworthy. It wasn't like standing in front of Nemo. No, not at all. This vampire hadn't that slim and sleek body. This vampire was so big; no doubt he was a very strong vampire. His hair wasn't long and black as his brothers but messy and brown, and his eyes weren't gray but blue. There was not much resemblance between him and Nemo. They didn't even look like brothers.
"You don't look like your brother," Harry said.
"He's got our mother's look," Castor said simply. "I have not." Then he crossed his arms. "Now, who are you?"
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said.
"So you're the one the old man was talking about," Castor said and nodded.
"Why did you give the order to lock everybody in?" Harry asked.
Now Castor's face was serious. "Vampires works best as a team," he said. "They lay up strategies and create patterns. Today they broke that pattern; they were hunting. They only sent one, but none of them suspected that a vampire was going to be here. I ripped his head off."
Harry shuddered by the thought of that violent act.
"Three girls have been taken since they came to the forest," Castor continued. "They are building up their strength, and therefore the female students and professors are in the most danger; they won't bother killing the males yet."
"So why aren't all the vampires in here?" Harry asked.
"Crosses," Castor said, but when he met Harry's questioningly eyes he sighed deeply and rolled his eyes. "It's the symbol of the Great Purification. Hundreds of vampires were somehow captured and crucified because the humans thought it was the blood that made us to what we are. It was in the seventeenth century when they'd recently discovered Coldryme. So they poured pure Coldryme in the vampires' bodies and watched them die in torture. It lasted for almost a century. Three hundred vampires died that horrible way."
"Wow," Harry said. "I didn't even know there were that many vampires in the world…"
Castor shook his head. "You magicians don't know anything. Jacob, Nemo and I were all very eager to try out our new powers when we'd recovered from our… inhumane death. Well… we had a hard time controlling our thirst, so we slaughtered villages after villages, cities after cities, leaving some of the citizens half dead. Little did we know that we also could create new vampires, and everybody that didn't die became vampires. And they did as we did, leaving new vampires, who did the same thing and… well, you get the picture."
Harry looked at him with eyes like golf balls. His hair was standing at the back of his neck, and he was almost trembling. A vampire epidemic? He pictured a huge wave of ravenous vampires, like a wall of glowing crimson eyes, flushing over cities after cities, killing everything that lived.
He shuddered and tried to push that thought away.
"I'm surprised you haven't learnt that," Castor mumbled. "It's a very inescapable fact. We did kill a lot of people."
"H— how did the people capture the vampires?" Harry asked shakily.
"No one knows," Castor said. "They were tricked and… well, I don't know. The Queen was very paranoid at that time, so my father, my two brothers and I had to be close to her."
"Was that an order?" Harry asked. If it was so, it could not have been easy to obey in two hundred years.
"No," Castor said. "We simply didn't want to leave her." They had started walking aimlessly around in the castle. "A vampire is bonded to its creator; if the creator is found, so to speak."
Harry nodded thoughtfully. Suddenly he found the vampire culture very interesting. "So, the vampire Queen is really the first vampire in this world?"
Castor shook his head stiffly. "No. Well, yes. She's the first one of this kind."
"Are there different kinds of vampires?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows.
"Look, if I'm going to tell you everything I know it's going to take all night," Castor sighed.
"I'm in no hurry," Harry said. He wanted to know everything.
Castor looked at him and sighed. Why did he have to be so curious? Sure, Castor knew practically everything there was to know about the vampires throughout history; he had a craving for knowing things. He'd spent over two hundred years studying about his kind and its history.
"Fine," he muttered. Then he started telling the story. "These vampires – the kind I am, the kind that's lurking in the forest – descend from the vampire Queen. She was bitten in the early thirteenth century by a mystical creature from another world. She can't remember it that clearly, but she knew it disappeared after it had fed on her blood and never showed up again.
I did a little research about this mystical being and found interesting historical pieces that described an extraordinary beauty that wasn't of this world. But most of it was tales and legends of Gods and Goddesses. The humans didn't know that other worlds actually existed upon their own. They called this being Divinus Formositas; Divine Beauty in Latin. None of them knew this being was venomous and lethal."
Harry nodded, very interested. It really was strange they hadn't learnt anything about vampires; he had missed a whole world.
"Well, at least I guess that's the creature that made the Queen," Castor continued. "It's written that the Divinus Formositas is – of course – extraordinary beautiful with supernatural strength and speed, and it has unbreakable skin that's as cold as ice. And, because of the witness of the Queen, it feeds on blood, and it lives forever; well, it doesn't die by natural cause. It's a prefect explanation to our kind; unbelievably fast and strong, hard, cold skin, never ages and feeds on blood.
Now, the other creatures are also vampires, but they age. Not like a human, but these creatures – Sangre Demonio; Blood Demon in Spanish – usually lives no more than three hundred years. They are venomous just like us, but their venom doesn't kill a human, but makes the aging process slower and turns the human into a bloodthirsty beast. They are also called the Children of the Dark. They don't live together like us; they seek solitude, and they prefer to feed on children, and – since they actually are aging, growing and changing – they mostly turn children into their own kind.
There's no way you can separate a Child of the Dark from a human being; they don't have hard, cold skin, or red eyes and they have a beating heart. They do have fangs, though, and they are fast and strong. Oh, and they can't enter the sunlight, and neither can my kind. Well, except for the Queen and my family.
They were first discovered in South America in the beginning of the twentieth century by an English scientist called Raymond Scott. According to him they live in solitude and go hunting once a month and they've existed since the eighth century. Now days there are barely any left of them. The Hunters have almost got them all."
"Wow," Harry said silently. "You really know this stuff."
"Tell me about it," Castor sighed. "Two hundred years of studies just to understand what I am."
"Yeah," Harry sighed. "I know the feeling."
Paris, France;
The dark was falling, and Hermione and Draco had been spending the whole day on the hotel room. Hermione felt incredibly guilty though; she couldn't stop thinking about Nemo. Every time his head popped into her head she wanted to slap herself across her face. What she was doing was so wrong. He was a vampire, and would always be a vampire, and as long as Hermione was a vampire Hunter, loving a vampire would make her a hypocrite.
Luckily, Draco hadn't noticed her remorse. Maybe that was for the best. But he had noticed that she had been a bit off since she came back with the lunch.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked.
"I'm thinking about us," she said truthfully. "I'm thinking about how lonely I'm going to be when you go." That was a lie.
"You don't have to worry," Draco said and held her hand in his. "I'll be back."
"What are you going to do again?" Hermione asked.
"Find myself," Draco sighed.
"Oh, yeah," she said and sighed. Then she glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine o'clock. "Maybe we should get back. I have a lot of work to do."
"Maybe you're right," Draco said, and then he let go of her hand, like if it was poisonous. "Look, Granger. What happened in here stays between you and me, okay?" And suddenly he was back to his cold and arrogant self.
"Sure, Malfoy," Hermione muttered. "Are you capable of Apparating all the way back to England?"
"Don't underestimate me," Draco said. "You're not the only one who knows how to Apparate across continents."
"Fine then," Hermione said and rose to put her shoes and coat on. "Let's go."
"Yes, let's," Draco said and nodded. Then he leaned over to kiss her goodbye. "I guess I'll see you around someday." Then they both Disapparated from the room that was so full of love.
Hermione appeared right outside her apartment. She was somehow disappointed that Draco didn't follow her, like if he was pulling a typical Slytherin-y joke such as "I just wanted a reason to get into your pants again". She sighed as she opened the door. She would be alone because Harry was at Hogwarts. Before she wouldn't mind the solitude, but now she was kind of used to having at least Harry around, even though he hadn't been there for long at all.
She went inside the apartment and kicked off her shoes and tossed the coat on the floor. She was too tired to care about it. Then she went in to the bathroom and looked herself in the mirror. Her agony had left a dark shade under her eyes and her thin scars seemed deeper and darker than ever.
She washed her face with ice cold water, and then she put her hair in a messy knot. Then she went into the kitchen and raided the fridge. This tension had made her incredible hungry. And this confusion made her so tired. Did Draco really love her – or at least nearly love her – or was he just playing dirty tricks on her to blind her from what scum he actually was? She didn't know. How could she when everybody was finding things out behind her back. A strong rage shot through her body as if she'd just gotten electrified. Even though Harry, Blaise and Nemo had told her everything it still felt as if they really hadn't; like if there was something they were hiding. She tried not to think like that, but the thought still haunted her.
Harry or Blaise had obviously done some more shopping, because the fridge was stuffed with food. She took out some cheese and some bread (Harry liked to keep the bread in the fridge) and made herself a nice cheese-sandwich. Then she went in to her bedroom to dig out books from her bag and her notebook. She was going to do some research. Sure, she'd read the books several times, but she had never been looking for the same things she were now, whatever it was she was really looking for.
Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland;
Castor had studied the vampires' pattern for a while after Harry had joined the teachers in the Great Hall. They were still keeping their pattern, and there were no sign of attacks. Perhaps his decapitation of the sandy haired vampire was enough for them to keep away for at least a while.
It was full moon, and the sky was clear. He went from studying the vampires to studying the moon. He was kind of jealous of something; why wasn't his kind called the Children of the Dark? Of course that was a childish reason to be jealous, but it bugged him. He laughed at his own stupidity and shook his head. Divine Beauty should be better, right?
Suddenly he felt that sweet scent again. She was behind him. He was suddenly angry; did she really want to die? Because to him it seemed as if she was begging for it.
"I thought that earlier today showed how dangerous I am," he said flatly.
"Well, I—" She hesitated a bit. "I just wanted to ask you something."
"What?" He didn't bother to look at her; he already knew how beautiful she was.
"Um—" She hesitated again. "Well… why did you kiss me?"
This made him laugh. "I like to have a bit… fun, before I kill my prey," he said amused. "Like a cat playing with the rat."
"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to play with your food?" she asked dryly.
He couldn't believe it; she made a joke about her close-to-death experience. "I don't get it," he said, and this time he turned to look at her. "Why don't you run for your life?"
"Why bother?" she asked and shrugged. "If you really want to drink my blood you would have found me wherever I went."
He made a grimace in agreement. She wasn't stupid. "Good point."
"Besides," she said and shrugged again. "It was kind of a thrill."
That made him frown. A thrill? Being that close to humiliation and death? "Yeah, sure," he snorted.
"I'm serious," she said. "Besides, you didn't really hurt me."
"Well, consider yourself lucky," Castor said annoyed. "If it hadn't been for that vampire outside you wouldn't be standing here right now."
"Good thing then that that vampire came, right?" she said with a tame smile.
"Look, I've answered your question," he growled. "Now, get the hell out of here, before I kill you for real!"
"Your eyes aren't even red yet," she said and crossed her arms. "And I have a second question."
"What?" he snapped.
"Did you like it?" she asked.
"Like what?" This was really annoying him.
"Did you like kissing me?"
He shook his head annoyed and turned to look at the moon again. "Get out of here."
"You didn't answer my question," she said challenging. "Did you like kissing me?"
"Yeah, I did," he said and turned to her again. "You know why? 'Cause the skin on your lips is so thin I can nearly taste your blood by just touching them with mine."
"Did you enjoy it?"
"What?"
"You know," she said, her eyes hard. "Did you enjoy it?"
"Are you asking me if I got excited by it?" he asked with a laugh, and was very amused when she nodded. "And why do you want to know that, little missy?"
"Oh, I just want to know what kind of beast I'm dealing with here," she said and shrugged.
Then he leaned forwards a bit. "Do you really want to know?" he asked smugly, and when she nodded he smirked. Yes, this was a brave girl, indeed. "I am a creature that uses my prey sexually before killing it. And guess what?" He leaned even closer to her and lowered him voice, "I like it."
"Well then, why don't you?" she asked even more challenging that before. "I'm right here."
He narrowed his eyes. "Now you're just being stupid. Go. Sleep. Do whatever you want; just don't bug me anymore." Then he returned to looking at the moon.
"Ha!" she cried. "I knew it!"
"Knew what?" he sighed tiredly and looked at her again.
"You aren't that evil," she said with a grin. "'Cause if you were, you'd be all over me by now."
"Look, why don't you go to your friends, or your studies, or your… whatever!" he said. "Just don't bug me!"
"Well, actually—" She hesitated again, and he sighed impatiently. "I was thinking…"
"What?"
"Well, since you've lived for such a long time," she said. "Can't you tell me a little bit about the world?"
"What?" he asked and raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I—" Then she sighed frustrated. "I've never been outside of Birchwood, except from when I'm going here, and my parents are Muggles, so they can't take me to places just like that. And all my friends there are… stupid! I just want to know about the world."
He sighed deeply. "And because of that you have such a death wish you hang around with vampires?"
"Well, wouldn't you?" she asked. "My life is boring. I want some excitements in it. So, will you tell me about the world?"
"Some other time," he said and sighed. Why did he even give in to her will? "Now you really should go."
"Probably," she mumbled and looked down on the floor. Yet she remained still. Then she looked up at him again, now with a bright pink shade on her cheeks; she was blushing. "Well, you know… I'm still here… in case you want to—you know—kiss me again…"
Castor looked utterly surprised. "What?" Then his face softened. "Why do you want me to do that? I could kill you, you know."
Then she looked away, blushing even more, and Castor had to fight away the sudden flames in his throat. "Isn't that every girl's dream? Getting kissed by a totally gorgeous and ravenous vampire?" Then she smiled and looked back at him. "You know, it's almost like kissing your life goodbye."
Castor shook his head, surprised and kind of impressed. "You're insane."
"No," she said. "I just like living on the edge."
