Okay, this chapter doesn't have any action in it, but I had to put it in for just the love of finding love and the funniness of it. Please read and review. If there is anything you don't like, please tell me in a nice way and I will find a way to change it. The next chapter is going to be very important and exciting, so review and it will probably come quicker. I have a nine hour ride back to school on Sunday, so I might have it up on Monday.

Chapter 10

Andria

I didn't sleep that night. I don't know why, maybe it's because I'm becoming more of a ghost, who knows?

Because for sure, I don't. I don't know much of anything anymore. I don't know what's going on.

Or how my brother's life is going to turn out with no mom, no dad and probably no sister. This was my last day after all.

I don't understand the sudden feelings I am having for Mal. Oh, hell! I kicked my foot against a chair and it went flying into the wall. Dammit. I don't understand what's going on with my head. I shouldn't like him or even trust him. He's a vampire. I am supposed to be a vampire hunter and kill him, not like him.

I tried to convince myself that it was just hormones, but I don't have a body, so I can't blame my body.

But I did mean it when I said I wouldn't kill him now. Out of the two days I have spent with him, I have seen an amazing, surprisingly kind, gorgeous man who's been hurt and scarred and tries to fix himself through pointless drinks and sex.

It's what hurt people do. They find something to replace the pain. Something that in the moment makes them feel alive, but in the long run, it kills them inside. And for some strange reason, I don't want to see him kill himself that way. I actually don't want him to die at all.

"What the hell?" Mal's voice shouted from behind me, making my jump.

"What?" I asked, innocently.

"What?" he questioned in disbelief. "You kicked my chair across the room and left a giant hole in the wall and you say what?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I really wasn't paying attention," I admitted.

"I could tell," he replied, sighing, his eyes turning to the wall. I looked at him, like really looked at him and I realized he was in towel, his dark hair wet and hot steam rising off his even hotter chest. Damn vampires and their amazing good-looks and awesome bodies. "If you want a photo, I have a camera," he said, looking at me from the corner of his eyes with a sly smirk on his face.

"Uh, don't flatter yourself," I grumbled, keeping my inner thoughts to myself. I looked away from him, rolling my eyes and my arms crossed below my chest. There was really nothing to look at, I tried to tell myself, but sadly it wasn't working. When I looked up at him, he was moving towards me. I automatically took step back.

He stopped and the smile on his face grew bigger. "Scared, are you?"

"No."

"Really?" He looked amused. "Are you sure?" He took another step forward and I took a step back. What the hell was wrong with me? Oh right! He's nearly naked!

"Get dressed," I said, glaring at his face, but that stupid thing was gorgeous too. "We have stuff to do."

"Right? Stuff? And what stuff would that be?"

"You know…stuff," I finished as he used his vampire speed to close the gap between us. I gasped and I knew my heart would have fluttered, if I had a heart. He stared down at me, his eyes searching mine. "What are you trying to do?" I asked, sounding as annoyed as possible, but my voice still shook a little.

"Nervous, Andria?" he questioned, still searching my eyes.

"What's there to be scared of? You?" I retorted.

Mal sighed, his eyes dropping from mine and glancing over my body. Wait! Did he just check me out? He then leaned in close, close enough that if I weren't a ghost, our lips would almost be touching. "I said nervous, not scared. There is a big difference."

I didn't know what to say to this, only that my mind was yelling, "Too close! Too Close! TOO CLOSE!" I finally managed to speak, my mouth dry. "I think you need to go get some clothes on now."

He started leaning closer. "What if I don't want to wear clothes?"

I frowned and instantly transported across the room, away from him. He stumbled forward surprised. I threw a pillow at the back of his head and he laughed, picking it off the floor. "Go get dressed," I sneered, but I could stop the smallest smile that appeared on my face.

"Come on. Have a little fun," he said, tossing the pillow back at me. It flew through my head.

"Ow," I said.

"Oh, please. That did not hurt," he said.

"No, but it was rude."

"You throw at me it first and it actually hit me," he complained back.

"So? You're a guy, you're not supposed to complain about a pillow," I replied.

Mal laughed in disbelief. "Aren't you supposed to be a mighty vampire hunter? Oh and you're also a ghost and you say I am the one who shouldn't be complaining?" He started moving towards me again as he spoke.

I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips. "I'm still a girl."

"Right," he sighed and then looked at me slyly. "Prove it."

"What?"

He stepped closer, coming around the couch. "Prove to me that you're a girl."

"I…I don't have to prove anything to you," I snapped. I knew exactly now what he was trying to get at and it was not happened. "Now get dressed. I think I have some idea where to start looking for Inarau and your uncle."

Mal rolled his eyes and walked back to his room, pouting. "Fine."

"Thank you."

"You're not welcomed," and then him and his sexy body disappeared behind the door.

...

"The school?" Mal questioned in disgust.

"Yeah. She was there two days ago and someone might have some ideas of where she was or where she is right now," I explained, looking out of the car window. "She even might be here."

Mal snorted. "Don't hope for so much." He quickly parked the car and stepped out. I followed, not bothering to open the door. I glanced back at the car. It was a sport car, didn't know what kind though, all I knew was that it was sleek, silver and very nice.

"Nice car, by the way," I said.

"Thanks." He smiled for a moment but then he looked back at the school and the smile disappeared. "Can't we come back later? It's the middle of the day."

"Scared of the a few high-schoolers?" I joked, amused.

"Of course not," he growled, quickly. "I just don't like being in large crowds of humans."

I patted him on the back. "Don't worry. I'll be with you the entire time."

"Why is that not comforting?" he grumbled and I laughed, before leading the way into the high school. He followed, keeping up with me. We entered the school just as the bell rang. Students crowded the halls and an almost depressed expression flashed across Malcolm's face.

"Come on," I laughed. "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad? This is a living hell!" he said, loud enough that some of the students looked up at him. Eyes of girls in awe followed him and he became uncomfortable. "There is a reason why I don't like being here," he began.

"Oh and why is that? Don't like the girls that would just line up and drop dead for you?" I teased.

He cracked a smile at this and then said, "I don't like being out numbered."

"Oh, don't be a baby…" A small older lady caught my eye and I turned. "Hey, this Miss. Crie. She might be able to help us." I rushed towards her and waved at her, so excited to see her, I forget that she couldn't see me. "Miss. Crie! Hi!"

She didn't reply…No her eyes turned to Mal who was now in front of her with his hand outstretched. "Hello, Miss Crie, right?"

Miss. Crie took the hand with a smile and shook. "Yes. How can I help you, boy?"

"I'm Malcolm and I was wondering where I might find Andria?" he asked, politely.

"And who are you to her?" Miss. Crie questioned.

"Cousin," I told him.

"Boyfriend," Mal said with a smirk and a quick glance at me. He knew that would irritate me and it did.

"Boyfriend?" I exclaimed. "Why in the world would you want to my boyfriend? Better question, why would I let you?"

Miss Crie laughed quietly. "Sorry, I find that hard to believe. You see, Andria isn't the type to have best friend, much less a boyfriend."

"What is that supposed to mean? I have plenty of friends…I just don't remember their names at the moment," I defended. But she was right. I didn't have a lot of friends. I never let anyone in. I put up walls to block people from getting to know me.

"Do you want me to prove it?" Mal questioned and before Miss Crie could say anything, he continued. "She loves challenges. Her favorite season is the fall. She is more likely to throw something at you then use her words. She isn't afraid of heights even though she should be scared of bouncing on the edge of the building. Her favorite food is Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Oh and she is very attractive."

I blinked at him surprised. I didn't know he knew that much about me. Miss Crie was surprised too. "Well, then. You seem to know a lot about her."

"I am her boyfriend. It's sort of my job," Mal replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Of course. Well you see Andria's not here yet. She is supposed to be here for the art gallery at time now, but in the meantime, can you take this to the gallery for me?" she asked, handing him a heave picture, for her at least.

Mal took it and nodded. "Of course and oh and if she does show up, can you not tell her about me? It's sort of a surprise. I was going to surprise her with dinner and some laser tag."

Miss Crie smiled. "Yeah, that sound like something she would like." She quickly returned to her class room and when I turned around all the students were back in their class rooms.

Mal glanced at me, his eye telling me that he had no idea where the art gallery was. I smirked. "This way," I said, leading the way.

"I didn't know you were an artist?" Mal said.

"Yeah, it helps with the stress and was something my dad taught me," I explained, walking up the stairs. "You strangely seem to know a lot about me."

Mal laughed. "I guess I'm good at noticing things."

"How did you know about that Five Guys Burgers and Fries?" I asked.

"Completely guess, actually. I saw you perk up when we passed by it. Its good place to eat," Mal said. "One of my favorite fast-food places. Has hungry even passed through your mind as a ghost?"

I stopped, thinking for a moment. I shook my head. "No. I…I guess being a ghost you wouldn't. I mean I look at food and it's like it has no meaning to me."

"Interesting." We continued walking, but a question continued to play in the front of my mind. He really couldn't mean it, could he? I mean, I'm not that attractive that a guy like him, vampire or not would notice me. The curiosity to see if he was just lying finally won and I asked, nervously, "You were just kidding about that attractive thing, right?"

"And why in the world would I kid about something like that?" he asked as we turned into the gallery.

"Because it's not true," I snorted.

Mal laughed, looking around the room. "Right and you wonder why you haven't had your first kiss yet," he said under his breathe, but I still heard him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He finally looked at me and his face was…I don't know, but it wasn't something I had seen before and I didn't understand it. "It means I wasn't kidding. You are…very attractive and you seem fun to be around, if you not throwing things, but even then…I can see why Rick cares for you so much."

"What?" How did this conversion suddenly get to him?

"You don't see it?" Mal looked at me with a slightly amused/confused expression. "You really do see it?"

"See what?" I am so lost.

Mal sighed, turning away. "I'm not explaining it to you. And people say guys are oblivious." He picked the picture up, once again. "Where does this go?"

"Over there." I gestured to the empty spot on the wall. He walked over and put the picture up on the wall, making sure it was straight. The charcoal picture next to the one he had put up caught his eye. "Is this yours?" he asked. It was a picture of a little girl in a field of black and white flowers.

"Yeah. It's the one I did over the summer, before….well before this," I answered.

"It's good," he complemented. "I never could get a held on charcoal though. It makes a mess and turns everything black."

"But that's the fun part. Making a mess and enjoying it."

He threw me a funny look and question dawned on me. "Wait? What do you mean you never get a handle on charcoal?"

He moved to the next picture, studying it with his hands in his pockets. "Well, I always did love oil paints the best, after that it's watercolor."

"You're an artist?"

Again he gave me a funny look. "Did you not see the oil painting in my apartment? Those are all mine."

"No," I replied. I've been a bit busy.

"Like I said oblivious."

I rolled my eyes and prepared to walk away to look for Inarau, when Mal looked at another picture. "Oh, wow," he said in disgust. "Please tell me this is not yours."

The picture was horrible and I knew exactly who it belonged to. "Oh, hell no. I would burn something that horrible. I still want to," I said. "That's Gary's. For some stupid reason, he believes he's got at art."

"But it's horrible. It's not balanced. The colors are wrong and not blended and what is that? He mixed…"

"Oil and acrylic paints together? Yeah," I finished.

"It's a big no-no. Someone should slap this guy," Mal said.

"Been there, done that," I admitted.

"This is strange," he said, looking at me.

"I know. Worst painting ever. Even folk art is better than this and I like folk art."

"No, I mean you," he said and I threw him a confused look. "You're strange."

"What?"

"I mean you're a vampire hunter, yet you're an artist. It's not exactly a career, vampire hunters go into," Mal answered. "And even if they do, they're not very good, not like yours, at least."

A crooked smirk spread across my face. "Is that a compliment?"

Mal smiled, running his hand through his hair and looked at his feet as if embarrassed. "I guess it was."

"I don't see how you think I'm strange. I know very little vampires who paint and enjoy it," I said, happy. I was actually happy.

"Well, I guess we're both strange."

"Yeah, I guess we are." I agreed and I couldn't help this overpowering feeling that swelled in my chest. I knew perfectly well what it was; I just pretended it wasn't there. It was the last thing I needed.

Try to guess what is going to happen in the next chapter and I'll put your name in the story, because I sort of need a name. Please review and share.