Sibling Rivalry:
Chris' mouth hung open in amazement at the sight he now saw. A girl who looked no older than nineteen or twenty stood before him. Her long, black, wavy hair fell near to her waist and her lips were full and the deepest shade of red. Her smile and her eyes were no mistake though. They were the same as they had been about one hundred years ago. The fear in Chris' heart was soon extinguished and replaced with pure joy.
"Mel…" he breathed her name. She smiled, flashing her pearly white teeth.
"Hello Chris." Her voice was different. It had a sort of, echo to it. As if she was not meant to be having an audience with vampires.
"Oh my god… the human angel…" Lottie gasped and bowed her head. Chris stared at her and forced her to look back up.
"What are you on about Lottie; this is Mel, my sister." Chris turned back to Mel and smiled. "I thought you had died in the fire!"
"No Chris, I was just sleeping. I escaped and came back to my true home." She raised her hands to the sky. Chris raised his eye brow at the strange action and Lottie snorted back a laugh. Mel's eyes shot open and bore into Lottie's dead ones. "Who are you and what are you doing with my brother?"
"Well, I'm Lottie, I'm about two hundred and fourteen years old and I have been Chris' sister for about one hundred and five years, so yeah." She said with her hands on her slim waist. Mel stared at her then burst out laughing.
"YOU! HA! Don't make me laugh." Both Lottie and Chris stared at the stranger. "I am Christian's only blood relative, and I am here to take him back to the one true home we both share." Once again she placed her hands up to the sky. This time, Chris was the one laughing.
"You're kidding right?" he looked at Mel and took a deep breath in. "Okay, obviously not. But Mel, I am not really your brother any more. Your brother died about one hundred years ago in a house fire. The person you see here now, this is not someone you know. I have a new family, a new mother, a brother, and an amazing sister." He smiled in the direction of Lottie. "And someone so special, I can't even try to explain." The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. He hadn't been thinking of Darren, well, not exactly. Of course it was in the back of his mind, well, not the back precisely, more like in a little compartment where only he could reach it.
"What? You would rather choose this then a life of no pain, no suffering and no end at all? You would choose this over an eternity of pure bliss with your real sister?" Mel smiled maliciously. Her mind manipulation was a skill she had perfected over the years.
"Yeah. I would." The quick, cold words sliced through Mel like a knife. Her head snapped up and she saw her one and only brother with his arm around the pathetic vampire standing next to him.
"Why?" she snarled at them.
"Because he's happy!" a new voice shouted from behind the trees. Chris' heart started pounding as the familiar voice soared through the air. He turned his head around and saw his savior.
"Darren." He whispered, a familiar smile forming on his lips.
"Who the hell are you?" Mel screeched. "You have no right to be talking to me or my brother!"
"Look lady, I'm sorry, but Chris only has one sister and her name is Lottie." He said defiantly, walking over to the pair of siblings stood with confusion on their face. "If you don't mind, I think you should leave now. This family has suffered enough heartache in the past few months; they do not need some nut case running around causing even more." Darren's hand had found its way to Chris' arm which was slung protectively around Lottie. The slight touch made both of them to smile subconsciously.
"I'm sorry, but what did you call me?" Mel spat. Darren rolled his eyes, a sigh of his anger rising in his blood.
"Just leave, please. We do not need you here. Just, go." Chris voice voiced all of the three's thoughts. Lottie smiled proudly at her younger brother's confidence that suddenly burst out. Darren chuckled at his best friend's outburst.
"You." Mel pointed at Chris with evilness. "You can't do this and leave me all on my own. I've been on my own for over a hundred years! Christian! I need you!" she pleaded. Chris felt the hot tears prickling his eyes.
"You left me to die." He whispered just so she would hear. Her bright golden eyes were cold and empty.
"I had no choice. I had to." She said baring her teeth.
"You'll always have a choice Melody." Chris shot back. Never once had he used her full name. He would say he never do it, but this was a completely new situation.
"Please leave." He simply said before turning around and walking back towards the house he was glad to call his home. Darren shot a glare at the mysterious woman before following Chris laying a hand on his back in a comforting way. Lottie held Mel's gaze until the boys had gone.
"I know what you are." She whispered to the woman.
"What are you on about?" the woman replied.
"I know the secret you are harboring. And I think you think you should leave before I tell Chris and he figures out the way to destroy you." Lottie answered again. Mel's eyes shot open.
"You wouldn't dare." She answered back. "You couldn't do that!"
"Hmm… well I have seen the future, and I've seen your death." Mel ran to her and placed her fingers around Lottie's throat.
"What have you seen? Tell me!" she hissed.
"Only if you get off of me. Leave me alone and I'll tell you a bit about your future!" Mel reluctantly let her grip fall from Lottie's throat.
"Fine then. Now tell me!" she snapped. Lottie raised her eyebrows.
"Hmmm, manners cost nothing miss!" her attempt of a joke went down like a lead balloon. "Oh alright, alright. I have seen the future and it is not your destiny to die at my hand, or Chris'. Now if you do not mind, I have some match making to continue with. Go back to your make-do home and see if anyone here cares if you ever come back." Lottie jumped in the air and flipped over twice, landing near the grand house on her feet like a graceful gymnast. "See ya devil woman!" she smirked before running off and leaving Mel to dissolve and transfer back into hell.
Meanwhile, the boys had reached the house and a shaken Chris had tried to explain things to Darren.
"It's just this woman, she kind of thinks of me as her brother, but we all know that she lost her brother in a fire a few years ago, apparently I just look like him. I'm sorry I had to drag you…" he was broke off by the slight pressure on his lips. He was caught off guard and as Darren pulled away Chris had a look on his face like a deer that had been caught in the headlights of a car.
"Sorry…" Darren mumbled. Chris pulled his face into his hands.
"Don't be." Their eyes locked for a few seconds.
"Chris, I really should tell you something…" Darren's eyes flicked away from Chris'. Rejection was painted across Chris' face, but he tried and tried not to let it show too much.
"Erm… well, you see…" Darren took in a deep breath. His eyes closed and all his words rolled into one. "I and Lucy are kind of going out, she thinks I really like her, but I'm not sure anymore because of what happened between us." He blurted out quickly. Chris felt as if his heart had been broken. No words could describe what he was feeling.
"Oh." Was all he could muster? The whole world had just crashed down on him, crushed him whilst he thought he was on a high. Well, he did know that he was never that lucky. He always knew that there was something that would keep him from being completely and utterly happy. That was just the way the universe liked to play things. For one second, it would pretend like he was going to be happy, the next, it crushes him. It was just the way it was. Always had been, and always will be.
"But, I can't seem to give this up." He gestured to the both of us. Chris' eyes shot up. As he frowned, he noticed the gleam in Darren's eyes. They sparked belief into Chris' cold heart.
"What do you mean?" he asked, a little bit worried about the answer Darren was going to produce.
"Well… you see erm, me and you. This thing that we have, I… erm… well…" his arms were flying around as he spoke, making Chris laugh. "Hey, this is not funny you! I'm finding this quite hard!" Darren playfully hit Chris' arm.
"I know that's what makes it so funny!" Chris said laughing again. Darren thought about hitting him again, but then had remembered that there was another way to shut him up. He grabbed his face and pulled him towards him and planted a kiss on his lips. It started off little, soft and loving, but then the passion and the desire rose. Their lips moved roughly against each other and their eyes closed, neither of them wanting it to end.
"Don't mind me boys!" Lottie's voice shattered the intense, passionate moment between the two lovers.
"What the hell?" Darren almost yelled. Chris looked at him sheepishly. "She knows? Why the hell did you tell her?" his voice was accusing, but his eyes were pleading.
"I didn't. She found out." Chris answered truthfully. Darren's eyes narrowed.
"How could she find out when it only started a few hours ago?" he stated through gritted teeth. Chris was stumped. There was no way he could explain it all without revealing the families secret.
"I… erm… well…" he floundered around, trying to make up a valid excuse.
"I followed him. I thought I needed to spruce up my spying skills so I followed him, worked really well till I saw you two at it like bloody rabbits!" Lottie came to the rescue once again.
"We were not at it like rabbits Lottie!" Darren shouted, outraged at her simple accusation. Chris chuckled at Darren's anger.
"Come on; let's go out for a bit, I think we need to talk a bit." Chris suggested to Darren, who smiled and returned the sort of frustrated look that was being caused by Lottie.
"Great! I'll come too!" the boys stared at her. Silently, she slid back down on to the sofa. "Or I could just stay here and let you two work stuff out." Chris rolled his eyes and Darren chuckled.
"Good idea. Bye Lottie." Chris forced before grabbing Darren's hand and stomping towards the stairs.
"Hmmm… yeah from what I've seen, I don't think you two will be talking much at all…" Lottie whispered just low enough for Chris to hear. He froze instantly.
"Chris, what's wrong?" Darren's soothing voice calmed the boy down.
"Nothing, come on, let's go upstairs." And they walked away from the time travelling vampire, hand in hand.
