Hi, everybody! Yes! It really is chapter ten… after about, four million years. Sorry about that. But it's here! Hopefully, y'all will like it.

o.0

Chapter 10

Kerry and Sebastian sat there in the tense silence as, slowly, each vampire emerged from the two bedrooms. It seemed to Kerry that, with their super-speed, they could have been a little bit faster. The tension was getting to her, and she was going to be grumpy if somebody didn't calm her down soon, especially after that conversation with Seb.

Kerry got up to get water. She leaned against the sink as she began to drink and nearly spluttered when Michel appeared next to her, as if from thin air. Similarly, she could see Seb flinch slightly when Beth sat next to him. Michel, or Isaac, slipped an arm around Kerry's waist after she put the glass in the sink. The gesture would have been protective, if it didn't feel so possessive. Kerry glanced up at his face. He shifted his eyes down at her for a brief second. Kerry was reminded of his nonexistent emotion, and she rolled her eyes and looked away.

"What?" he said sarcastically. "Can't you look a vampire in the face?" He tilted her face up with a finger. "We don't hypnotize people with our eyes. You should know that." Kerry finally brought her eyes to his. Her eyes held a question. Michel dropped his finger and ran his hand through his hair. "Here come the questions," he said with exaggerated annoyance. "Ask away."

Kerry looked at him a little longer, and debated with herself whether to ask him why he was being so open about her knowing about vampires. "Nothing," she said, deciding against it. She turned to Beth and Seb who were still sitting on the couch.

"Hey," he said, turning her to face him. "You know you can ask me anything." Kerry's eyebrows popped up. "I just won't answer everything." She rolled her eyes again, and turned away.

"I'm flattered that you're so honest about answering my questions," she said, matching his playful tone. Hmmm… she mused. He's playing with me. Kerry wondered why he was being so different right now than when she had last seen him four years ago. It was a change. She never thought he was capable of joking with her, unless he was making fun of her. Maybe it was because of the situation we were in, she thought.

Then what situation are we in now?

Kerry didn't think she was in too much danger, unless you counted the attempted murder the night before. If somebody was trying to kill her, then why was Michel (Isaac, she thought to herself), as calm as ever? Shouldn't he have been a little bit jumpy, especially with a vampire hunter in the room? Even though that vampire hunter was dating a vampire…

Kerry was struck with a sudden thought. Are vampires territorial? That would explain why Isaac was being so possessive of her. If he's territorial and he's this old (she didn't want to think of how old), then how is Beth going to be? After all, Beth had been living here with Kerry since the beginning of the school year. That had to mean Beth would be protective of this place. What if she couldn't restrain herself?

"What's wrong?" Michel had been watching her as her thoughts rolled around her head. It was almost as if he could see right through her.

Kerry debated with herself whether or not to tell him what was on her mind. "Nothing," she said, pretty sure that her question would be answered soon enough anyway. She didn't want to worry about anything right then, even though she was within ten feet of two vampires and a vampire hunter. Her head was spinning almost out of control.

"Kerry…" he started to say, before he was cut off by a knock at the door. All four people in the area looked at the door.

Kerry looked at Michel and said, "Hey, Mi—," he gave her a look that said, "don't blow my cover" and she quickly pretended to stumble over her words. "Hey, um…Isaac. Were you expecting anybody?"

"No. If I was, they would email me or call before heading over to my place." He looked at her, amused at the expression on her face. She looked curious, suspicious, and confused all at the same time. "If you were wondering if vampires have X-ray vision, let me tell you right now: we don't." Beth looked over and glared at him. She had been staring at the door as if she could see through it just a few seconds earlier. Isaac continued, "So I'll be just as surprised as you when you open the door and see who it is."

Kerry suppressed a sigh as she walked over to the door and opened it to see her dad standing outside. Ian wasn't with him. That was the first thing Kerry thought of when she saw him, and she completely forgot the curious vampires (and hunter) in the room behind her. "Dad, where's Ian? Is he all right? Did anything happen? You didn't have to come if something's wrong. You could've just called and I would have been there as fast as I could."

Mr. Nowicki looked at his daughter, smiling at her distress. "No, Kerry. Everything's all right. Ian's at a sleepover at his friend's house."

Kerry made a face. "It's not the rich spoiled friend is it? That kid is going to murder somebody one day because he won't get what he wants, and then he'll blame it on Ian. The poor kid needs to learn how to stand up for himself and not be such a pushover."

"Ian, or the rich kid?" asked Mr. Nowicki.

"IAN! I could care less about the rich kid."

"So now that you have the latest update on the little one, can I come in?"

Kerry realized that he was still out in the hall and moved over so her dad could get in. He took off his coat and slung it over a chair. Kerry closed and locked the door behind her and turned around to get settled in when she realized her dad was in a room with two vampires. Mr. Nowicki had been allergic to anything to do with vampires ever since that incident and he probably wouldn't be happy to know that he was in the room with two of them.

Before Kerry could get anything out to somehow warn them all to keep their traps shut about being vampires, Michel darted over to Mr. Nowicki, looked hard at him, leaned back and smiled. "So it is you. I've been wondering ever since I saw Joanna."

Kerry's dad nodded. "Yeah. She swung by my house last night and said she went and saw Kerry. I was ready to throttle her if she had harmed her at all. But Jo said Kerry was just fine. A knight in shining armor came and saved her, apparently. I needed to make sure myself though that she was all right. So I came, in hopes I would meet her knight as well. I should have known it would be you."

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for the women in your family." Michel smiled mischievously. Mr. Nowicki looked at him half-disgusted, half-amused at the pun. "By the way," Michel added, "What do you go by these days?"

"Stephen. Stephen Nowicki."

"I much preferred you as Jon Mueller. It was so much easier to say, and remember."

"Right, like you could ever forget me," said Kerry's dad sarcastically.

Kerry looked hopelessly confused. Her mother's name was Joanna, but Kerry hadn't seen her in years. And what was this nonsense about her dad having another name? It was almost like he and Michel knew each other from a long time ago. It sounded like Michel knew her mother, too. How could he have known her? Kerry realized it was a small world, but not that small. Once she tuned into their conversation again, they were speaking in French, rapidly.

"Um…I hate to break up this little reunion," Kerry started, but stopped when both Michel and her dad looked at her. "Uh…never mind. Keep talking. I think I'm gonna go for a little walk." Kerry needed to get her thoughts in order. Considering that everybody trusted her not to spill their secrets, Kerry thought she was justified to go for a walk around campus to clear her head.

She grabbed her coat off the back of a chair and started to put it on when she felt an arm go around her waist. A voice next to her ear said, "Not so fast. You didn't think I'd let you go alone, did you?" Michel's voice was low, and it made her want to do anything he wanted. However, she was just too muddled to listen to the voice in the back of her head that wanted her to just give in.

"Well, I kind of wanted to go alone. You know, clear my head, figure out how to straighten myself out…the past couple nights were pretty eventful, if you remember." She pulled her coat all the way on and was reaching into her pockets for her gloves when she felt a cool hand slide in next to hers and grab her gloves before she could. The other hand turned her around and pulled up one of her hands to help her with the gloves. Kerry tried to tug the gloves out of his hands gently and said, "I'm a big girl now. I can put on my own gloves."

Michel did not relinquish his hold on her gloves and instead put her gloves on her hand, one at a time. When he finished he pulled her hands closer and kissed her gloved knuckles. Kerry giggled a little and said, "Well, my sir knight. Chivalry is almost nonexistent in today's world. However, if you still wish to escort me, I suggest you find a jacket, lest someone see you without and be suspicious."

He gave her a small smile as she gave her little speech and said, "My lady, I would be honored to be your escort this evening." He bowed slightly.

Behind Michel, Kerry could see her father rolling his eyes. "Always had a way with the ladies, didn't you?"

Michel grinned. "You were always jealous."

"No. I never had to prove myself the way you did." Michel looked like he was about to defend himself, but Kerry's dad kept going, "Anyway, this isn't just any other girl. She's my daughter. You make sure not to let her get hurt, or you'll have me to deal with, and you know how that normally turns out."

Michel laughed. "You were always funny. I do remember. You would win, though not always fairly. However, you're forgetting one major important detail."

"And what would that be?"

"I'm still a vampire. You chose to give that up for a family life. No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to beat me."

Mr. Nowicki ran a hand over his face. "You fool. You could never keep your mouth shut, could you? It took so long for me to teach you that secrecy was the key to living unhindered. You've been doing well on your own, but I was still keeping my secret. Kerry didn't know."

Michel glanced at Kerry. "Somebody was going to have to tell her sooner or later." His eyes returned to her dad as he finished, "As I see it, it is beneficial for her to know it sooner. Now is not the time for secrets like yours. She needs to know about her family and it needs to be now, considering the little dilemma we're in."

Kerry stood there silently through the exchange. All this new information was trying to sink itself into her head. She looked at her father and at Michel, neither of whom were paying attention to her as they carried on their conversation, and debated whether or not to interrupt and demand an explanation. In the end, she decided it was best if she processed what she had just learned and asked more questions later. Noiselessly, she slipped out the door and walked away.

Thank you for your patience. I know I am so slow and I should have gotten this out sooner. I'm sorry… Now that it's out though, please review!