Chapter 10 (Revelations.)

"So you finally decided to come looking for me. It's only taken you 5 dammed hours!" I could tell from the voice it was red so I didn't bother turning around, I just sat on the nearby bench that over looked the park's boating lake.

"So what after what you have done you're just going to sit there and say nothing to me!" I could feel her stomping her way towards me but oddly I didn't really care, I was too preoccupied. She stood in front of me but I still didn't move my eyes to look at her I could tell she was angry I didn't need to look at her to tell.

"I could have been hurt or injured someone could of tried to kidnap me. Do you even care!" she went to slap me but I caught her arm in mid are, I didn't think she was expecting it because she let out a small shout as her arm and my hand connected. I took a deep breath I really wasn't in the mood right now for her bitching.

"I'm pretty sure you could fight off anyone trying to kidnap you." I answered plainly

"That's not the point, you said you liked me so why didn't you come looking for me?" She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot awaiting my answer.

I rolled my eyes and put my hands over my head, sighing loudly I stood up and straightened myself out. "I did go looking for you. I went back to the hotel but found out Mr. Crepsley was ill so I had to help David collect fresh blood to make him better. To be totally honest if it hadn't of been for David asking me not to go back to the room just in case I got ill to I would still be there."

"So what Larten is more important than my safety?!"

"Yes he is, and only his closest friends can all him Larten, you don't even like him so you can call him Mr. Crepsley." Maybe I was letting Mr. Crepsley's illness worry me too much but I couldn't help it, I didn't even know about this bug, what would of happened if David hadn't of been there to help out, what if I made him ill by giving him the wrong vile of blood.

"Whatever, I can call whoever I want whatever I want, if I want to call him Larten or Mr. Muffins I will." I just turned around slowly my face blank of any emotion; she looked slightly worried when we made eye contact.

"You WILL call him Mr. Crepsley. I don't care if you think you're the only one who can save your race or the world, you do not call him Larten unless he instructs otherwise understood?" She just rolled her eyes and sat down on the bench moaning about my attitude. "Whatever… so who was that girl you were with earlier?"

I told her the story of how Debbie and I first met, how we dated briefly and how I left the city without telling her. Red remained silent as I told the story I was unsure if she was listening or not but she asked so I just continued. I told her about how I bumped into her while I was out, how she guilt tripped me into taking her out and I explain how I didn't want to kiss her and was trying to get her off without hurting her. When I was finished she just laughed. "You wanna know something?"

"Sure why not." I didn't really but it beat sitting there in silence.

"I know you were trying to get her off, I just wanted to see what you would do." She was laughing and looked at me expecting a smile, but I wasn't smiling.

"Pardon… can you just run that by me again, you knew and still thought it was a good idea to make me think you hated me and to run off?" I was baffled I was hoping I had heard her wrong.

"Don't take it so seriously I was only having a laugh, you look so cute when you're scared." She laughed again and tried to put her arm around me but I moved out of her reach and her laughter stopped. "What's up with you I was only having a laugh."

"Did I look like I was laughing; I can't believe that was just a laugh to you." I looked at her with all the hatred I could muster. I felt like the punch line of a bad joke. I didn't wait for an answer from her I just turned and left, by the Gods if I had of stayed I would have snapped. I heard her shouting for me to come back and when I heard her stand up to follow I ran as fast as my legs would carry me.

I hit the edge of town after an hour of flat out running, the sun was coming up and I stopped on a bridge to watch the sunrise. I smiled sadly to myself remembering the last time I watched the sunrise I was sitting on the top of tree with my arm around Red thinking the world was great how foolish was I. I should never of gotten involved with her but I did and there was nothing I could do about it now, we were promised to each other and Mr. Crepsley taught me that once promised there was no getting out of it, I had to say I was 'spoken for' for the next 11 months. I regretted it now. I turned to walk back to the hotel and walked straight into an elderly lady who dropped her shopping in shock.

"I am so sorry; I should really watch where I'm going." I was full of apologies and I was red with embarrassment. The Lady just smiled and started picking up her shopping.

"Here let me help you, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to make you drop your shopping." I said bending over picking up a loaf, butter and a bag of potatoes.

"It's quite alright dear, I've over shopped anyway I would of dropped it myself eventually." She smiled at me again as she started repacking her bag.

"Would you like a hand carrying it, it's the least I could do considering I made you drop it." She looked at me in astonishment.

"Well it's nice to see the young are still being brought up with manners, your parents should be very proud of you." I took most of the bags and followed in silence as she led the way back to where she lived.

"So what had you so distracted on the bridge?" She asked as we waited to cross the road.

"Oh it's nothing." I said looking down at the ground.

"I bet its girl trouble, a young gentleman such as yourself must get quite a line of young ladies ready to be swept off their feet."

I could only laugh, "I did have someone but she turned out to be someone completely different then I first thought." I sighed and I could see the Lady smile sadly at me.

"You my boy have learnt a hard lesson today, ladies especially young ladies can be like Doc. Jackleg and Mr. Hide, but you will find someone nice in the end I can tell."

We spent the rest of the walk talking about her and her life, I found out her name was Ethel and use to run a flower shop in the town centre, her daughter started running it after she retired. Her older brother was a sailor in the war and lives on a boat and her younger sister died of pneumonia when she was 13.

When we reached a small house at the end of a cu-di-sac she opened the front door and ushered me inside. She told me to sit down the kitchen table while she put the kettle on. I looked around the room at all the trinkets, odds and ends and at all the old family photos and lump came to my throat. I was hit with a horrible realisation that I would never see pictures like this of my human family anymore. I forced myself to stop looking I wouldn't cry I refused. She handed me a cup of tea and sat down opposite me "So are you here with your family?" she asked as she added sugar to her tea.

"I'm here with my father; he used to live here so we decided to stop for a while before we have to move on." I looked at my cup nervously I hated having to lie I was never any good at it.

"Oh where did he used to live? Who knows I may have even sold him flowers back when I ran the shop." She smiled at me excitedly and I couldn't help but smile back, I knew Mr. Crepsley had a way with the ladies but I have never seen him buy flowers.

"He told me they built a hotel over it now so I couldn't see it in person but it was by the town centre."

"They are always building a new hotel, knocking down history and replacing it with horrible looking buildings." She started ranting. "Do you like history?" she asked half way through the rant.

"Yes, I've always had a passion for history." I wasn't lying this time I had always loved history it was my best subject at school.

"Glorious, if I was only 50 years younger." She laughed as my cheeks went red. "Well on your way back into town if you cut through the small park just off the main road there is a little house in the middle of the park, it just to be in the town centre but they moved it to the park about 40 years ago. It's going on to be 250 years old soon. Fascinating place, they use to let people walk around on the inside when I was a child but they haven't done that in years now." She continued to tell me out the house and how she managed to trace her family back to someone who use to live there, she went into the living room and came back with a thick folder labelled family tree. She took me back through the years telling me about what certain people did and when they died, I was never really interested in my family tree, my mom had tried getting me to help but it only bored me, my family's history was boring, I acted like I was interested as she spoke occasionally asking the odd one or two questions to show I was listening. I had tuned out when she started talking about her mother's great; great; great; grandparents or something along that line until she said something that made my ears perk up. "Yes she had 3 older brothers the 2 eldest where twins I managed to find their birth certificates but their names had been smudged so I don't know their names but the 3rd his name was Larten, quite an unusual name really."

I tried to hide my shock; I was sitting with Mr. Crepsley's younger sister's great, great, great, great granddaughter. I looked at the copy of the birth certificate rereading the name over and over again there was no mistaking it this was Mr. Crepsley. She continued for a few more minutes never really noticing my fixation on this particular piece of paper, she glanced up at her clock and let out a gasp.

"Oh my boy I'm sorry I've been chattering away for the past hour, your father must be worried sick, you should head off home before it gets to dark." I said my good byes and apologised again for bumping into her in the first place. As I walked off down the road it started raining so I jogged my way to the park with the house Ethel had told me about. I kept running it over in my head Mr. Crepsley will be so shocked when I tell him… I stopped bolt in my tracks… should I tell him? I already knew he hadn't concerned himself with his human family for YEARS, how would it affect him if I told him he had living relatives on his sister's side.

I mulled the question over in my head, if in 200 years' time if my assistant came over to me and said 'I've just had a cup of tea with a relative of yours from your sisters side' would I really want to know, being a vampire was all Mr. Crepsley knew now, he still got slightly frustrated at me when I started missing my human family. If I told him he could never go over to Ethel and tell her who he really was. I started walking towards the park and my stomach started feeling uneasy like I shouldn't go to the house, but I fought against it I had to know, the closer I got to the park my stomach would tighten with nerves. It had been a strange day what was the chance of bumping into a relative of Mr. Crepsley's out of a town full of people, and what's the chances of this house which was over 200 years old being the house Mr. Crepsley grew up in.

I walked through the park slowly it was only small and the moment you walked in through the main gate you could see the railing surrounding the house. The closer I got the more my gut told he I was right. I held onto the railings for support, I had never seen the house Mr. Crepsley had grown up in and he never described it to me but in my gut I knew; I knew this was it. I thought I would feel happier I could tell him his house was never destroyed and that its protected in a park, but I felt like I shouldn't be here looking at this, I felt I was looking into something Mr. Crepsley wouldn't want me to. I looked a little while longer deciding whether or not to tell him.

NO. I couldn't tell him, he got so upset just talking about his family earlier even back on the beach he seemed saddened by the memories of them, he ran away from this house why would he want to come back, it would crush him if I told him. I made a pact between myself and the Gods I would never EVER tell anyone of this and I would never reveal any of it to Mr. Crepsley no matter what. I let go of the rail and ran off back towards the hotel.

"Darren! Thank god I came looking for you 2 hours ago where have you been? Jeez you're soaked to the bone." David threw his arms around me when I got back, he was under to strange elution that I was injured dying in a ditch somewhere. I smiled at his warm but over the top greeting even when he starting pushing me for answers.

"How is Mr. Crepsley?" I managed to ask when he stopped for a breath.

"Well unfortunately he is already showing signs of being back to his strict normal self. I am still hoping for the day the bug may make him lighten up a little but alas." We shared a laugh together and we had a quick chat while I dried my hair off with a towel that had been lobbed at me while David told me off for dripping all over the carpet. I went off in to my room to dry and change. I could hear the faint sounds of 2 people whispering and decided to be nosey.

"Is he still mad at me?" it was Red she must have told David what was going on.

"If I was him I would be. It wasn't funny you know." David's cheery voice had lost it cheeriness and now sounded full of disappointment.

"Why is it I'm the only vampire who can take a joke?"

"That wasn't a joke that was just being mean to Darren."

"God if you like him so much why not replace me with him."

"If I could I would, at least he doesn't moan about everything. Now he will be coming back out soon so I think its best you go back to your room."

"It's ok, if she wants to say that's fine." I said standing in the door way of my room, both David and Red looked at me surprised at how quiet I had managed to be. David was about to protest but I just smiled like I didn't care about anything and headed into the small kitchen and made myself a jam sandwich. David sat down on the sofa and stared reading a book. Red tried talking to me a few times but after getting blanked after every attempt she gave up and went back into her room.

I took Mr. Crepsley some soup when I was finished; I knocked on his door lightly and entered. "I did not know if you were hungry or not so I brought you some soup." I placed in on his bedside table and smiled at him. He was already up and about back to his normal pale self, I was happy about that. He turned and smiled at me and sat down to eat his soup. I turned to leave but he asked me to stay so I closed the door and took a seat on his bed.

"David told me you wasn't at the park like you said you would be." He asked but never took his eyes off his soup. I shuffled around a little, 'should I tell him the truth…no you made a pact with the Gods you can't.' "I'm assuming he told you about mine and Reds fall out." I asked hoping I could just blame it all on that.

"Yes he did, it is lucky I was too ill to do something about it." I could hear the hate in his voice and oddly I smiled at it, it was his way of showing he cared.

"It just got to me so I went on a walk and ended up on the outskirts of town." I started twiddling my thumbs hopefully that would be it of the questions.

"It has been raining for a good hour, did you not think of coming back here?" he watched me over the rim of the bowl watching my reaction to his question.

"Well I bumped into an Elderly lady and she dropped her shopping so I helped her pick it up and helped carry it back then she started showing me her pictures and family tree…" I stopped myself fast. Every time I had to tell Mr. Crepsley the truth even if I didn't want to I would run off the story without thinking but I couldn't this time.

"Well it is good to see you are turning into a gentleman. I am pleased you helped her, and as long as you were safe I cannot say anymore." He placed the empty bowl on the table again and smiled his thanks. I let out a sigh of relief that was it for the questions.

He stood up and started looking out of the window again, I could see the sadness in his eyes and it just sealed the pact, it would kill him if I told him any of the events that had happened today.