Riiing….Riiiing…Riiiing… Something was buzzing on my nightstand.

I tried to rollover to shove whatever was buzzing to the floor but there was something in my way. I must've bunched all my blankets up again. I gave up and let it buzz.

My blankets groaned underneath me and my phone crashed to the floor. They shifted and pulled me closer. I sighed and snuggled closer to them.

Wait….I opened my eyes and I saw red. Strange, I didn't have a blanket that red. Whatever. I was too tired to care. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

Riiing….Riiiing…Riiiing… My phone was still buzzing on the floor. I must've set my alarm last night. Damn. I had to get up for work. I huffed and tried to lift myself up. My blankets held onto me and pulled me back down. They usually weren't this stubborn.

Wait…I opened my eyes again and saw my blankets weren't holding me at all. It was none other than Larten Crepsley, holding me tight, sleeping away. I tensed up. My legs were all tangled up in his and his arm was wrapped around my waist. My face must've been up against his chest, which explains the red. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful. I hadn't noticed it before, but his face seemed to carry a heaviness, almost a world-weariness. He didn't have that now.

He must've felt me tense up because he opened one bleary eye. He just grunted at me.

I giggled. "I have to get up for work, teddy bear." He closed his eye and for a second I thought he was going to pull me back in. Not that I would've minded. But he let me go. He settled back in when I was off the bed. I took my biggest blanket and covered him up with it. He just grunted at me again.

I got ready pretty quickly. Darren was still zoinked out in front of the tv and cats had all banded together in the library. I crept around my house so I wouldn't wake anyone up. I still wasn't too sure about leaving but Larten did give me his word. I left him a message on the nightstand.

I'll be back around 5:30. You guys can help yourself to anything here. If you need anything call.

-Em

"Seriously Lea, what did you tell him?" I pestered her. She had just taken a big bite of her salad. "Honestly, if you keep eating all that green stuff, you're going to turn into a bunny!" Annie snorted into her pop.

"Not all of us can eat junk food and still look as good as you do Em," Lea said around a mouthful of lettuce. How could she eat that crap?

"You're avoiding the question. Larten tries to do that too. He doesn't get away with it."

"Ooooh, on first name basis with your cute butler ?" Annie teased. I elbowed her.

"Guys come on. Cut that out. He's starting to tease me about it! What did you tell him?"

"You know what that means Em," Annie started.

"He likes you!" Lea finished. I flopped my head in my hands. If only they knew a killer was after me, maybe then they'd act serious. Then again, probably not. I always had to be the serious one, or things would never get done.

We got back to work, with plenty of teasing from the girls. They were having the time of their lives; normally they teased me about Howard, the guy from IT who had it bad for me. That guy was a creep. Just like we were back in second grade, they sent me notes with both our names inside hearts. I promptly ripped them up. The last thing I needed was for Larten to see that and get weirded out thinking I was a crazy, clingy stalker.

When we got off work, the girls wanted to meet him.

"Come on, Em. Please? We won't say anything!"

"I told you, he's sleeping. He keeps weird hours. I'm not going to wake him up. He had a rough night."

"Emmaline, what were you two up to last night?" Annie joked.

"Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Getting a little defensive are we?"

"See you tomorrow guys." They started in with the questions but I just waved. Unless something interesting happened soon, all they would talk about is my cute butler with the cute butt.

I walked into an empty and silent living room. I walked around quietly, made myself a cup of chocolate milk, and headed for the living room. I'm sure my cats had thought I was unleashing horrible monsters on the house. Larten had explained to me that cats don't like vampires. I was sure they would come around some time.

I sat in my library reading until I heard some sign of life upstairs. Darren hadn't quite transitioned fully to vampire hours and he woke up first. He came down the stairs all bleary eyed, complete with bed head. I made him some waffles and switched on the tv. Larten didn't seem to like it too much, but Darren didn't mind. I tried to make conversation, but it was weird to see him looking like sixteen but being older than me.

How did Larten know how old I was? Had he snooped around my house? Did he mind sleeping with me last night? I knew I was violent, I tended to kick my cats off the bed, did I kick him last night? Did I say anything when I was sleeping? What did Lea tell him? I was pretty sure it had something to do his shirt, but all I did was wear it.

I was so caught up in my questions, I didn't notice Larten coming down the stairs. I didn't notice anything until he held his shirt out in front of me. I tried to scowl at him as I snatched it and darted off to my room. I tossed it on my bed and hurried back downstairs. I didn't want to waste any time, I had questions to ask.

I got downstairs and I couldn't find him. I didn't want to seem desperate, so I didn't look for him. I nonchalantly waited in the kitchen, pretending to tidy up. I had to act cool. Twenty minutes passed and he didn't come find me. Maybe he was waiting for me to come find him.

"Hey Darren."

"Yeah?"

"Where's Larten at?" I tried to be all cool about it, but I'm sure I failed miserably.

"I think he said he was going back to the cave to get something."

"The cave?"

"Yeah that's where we stayed for a while." Hmmm… I didn't know there were any caves around here. But maybe it was farther away than I had ever ventured. I turned away from Darren to go look out the door and there he was, standing right behind me. I stumbled a bit and he reached out a hand to grab me.

"Miss me?" he asked with a smirk. I just rolled my eyes and walked back to the kitchen.

"So Darren tells me you guys used to stay in a cave," I started, pretending to wash dishes.

Larten took the seat closest to me. "Yes."

"You know, you guys can stay here til you actually have suitable living arrangements. Or live here, I've got five guest bedrooms.

He smirked at me again. "How long have you known us and you want to offer us room and board? Did your mother ever warn you about strangers?"

"Yes, she did, but you guys shouldn't be living in a cave."

"Does that bother you Em? The thought of us living in a cave?"

"If it didn't, would I have said anything?"

"Maybe asked a million questions." We both chuckled and silence hung in the air. He still hadn't said whether or not he would. Maybe I was making him uncomfortable. Maybe I should just back off for a bit. Were we going to fast? He did have a point, I knew practically nothing about him and Darren, and yet I was offering them to stay with me. Usually I think about things a little more, but maybe my head was too wacked out from lack of sleep and embarrassment.

"Are you trying to break the dish?" His question roused me from my musings.

"Hmm?"

"That dish has endured your torture for ten minutes now."

"Oh." I set the dish down and quit the façade. I really wasn't getting anything accomplished anyway. My phone buzzed in my back pocket.

"Emmmmmmmm," Annie's voice came slurring from the other end.

"You're drunk aren't you Annie?"

She cackled for a bit. "Wasted…Y'know…y'know what I thought of today?"

"Nope."

I heard something crash in the background followed by a curse. "You said your butler's name was Larten, right? The one with the cute butt?" She talking plenty loud enough for him to hear. His ego had to be the size of the Empire State Building by now.

"Yeah so?"

"Wasn't," she paused to burp, "wasn't that the crazy guys name?"

"Annie, you're drunk."

"Emmmmm."

"Go sleep it off."

"Em-"

"Goodnight Annie." I hung up on her protests. Shit. I hoped she was too drunk to remember any of this in the morning. I kinda of hoped the girls would forget about 'the crazy man'. Well, if Annie did remember anything tomorrow, I could blame it on the alcohol.

"Sorry about that, she usually doesn't get that drunk-" I had turned back around to talk to Larten only to find an empty kitchen. What the heck? He was so hot and cold sometimes. I wandered out to the living room to find that empty too.

Had they left? Did they seriously just leave while I was in the middle of a phone call? After he promised he wouldn't leave, he just up and left and didn't even say a word or leave a note? My cats peeked out of their hiding places, a sure sign there weren't any vampires in the vicinity.

What the heck? I dashed upstairs and was relieved to see Larten's coffin still the guest bedroom he had claimed. His shirt was still on my bed. Maybe he hadn't left. I didn't know what was going on.

I flopped down on my bed and covered my face with his shirt. The lights went out. Great. This late at night that either meant someone had crashed into a pole or there was a major storm on the way. I didn't do well with storms. Annie was drunk and in no condition to drive, Lea was out doing something with her cousins, Larten and Darren just up and left. So it was just me and my cats to bear out the storm.

Before I lost my courage, I raced downstairs to collect my cats and some candles. I never did well in the dark. You know that feeling that you're being watched and that something is following you, but it's too dark to see it? That's every time my lights go out. Only this time, the house was creaking behind me. There was something in my house, watching me, following me. And I was all alone.

Here's the rest of chapter ten! I was going to address your concern Greenwood Archer but you beat me to it :) Thanks!