CHAPTER 10 - OLD FRIENDS

I woke up the next night to find Abby wasn't next to me like normal. I looked about the room and saw her sitting in the old leather chair her wireless radio in her hands.

"Everything ok?" I asked.

Abby simply shook her head slowly, this couldn't be good I thought to myself.

"What is it?" I asked again.

"Both bodies have been found its all over the news Owen. The police will be everywhere we shouldn't go back into town, lets just leave" Abby pleaded.

"Abby we talked about this. Even if we manage to get to another safe house of yours its only a matter of time before we have to move on again. We should keep the safe houses for emergencies. Having Cat come with us is a good idea surely you see that?"

Abby lowered her head and nodded in agreement. We still had a while before 9pm came around so I went and sat next to Abby on the old leather chair and she curled up to me.

"How many caretakers or friends have you had Abby?" I asked bluntly.

She didn't answer straight away, maybe this topic made Abby feel uncomfortable, then she softly answered.

"Just two"

"Tell me about them" I urged her.

"Well you know about Thomas. I met him in the early 1920's, he was our age back then. He had been in an orphanage nearly all his life and was being picked on pretty badly, not just by some of the other children but some of his carers too. I found him one night in the street, he had run away and was freezing. At first he caught my interest because he seemed an easy target to feed on but I suddenly felt sorry for him. Instead of killing him I talked to him. He told me he wanted revenge against one carer in particular who had been really nasty to him. I agreed to help him if he kept my secret and when he found out what I was he didn't seem as scared as I thought he would. I told him I had somewhere safe he could stay and he came with me. After taking revenge on the carer for Thomas the next night he wanted to leave with me, I'm glad he did I really wanted a friend"

Abby smiled to herself at the memory of Thomas, it was a sad smile but I knew she missed her friend.

"So you were together all that time?" I asked.

"Yeah, like I told you before I knew he had started to harbour romantic feelings for me, but they were feelings I couldn't share, he was more like a brother then father to me. He was never comfortable with me killing, he believed it could be done more humanely and if the bodies were properly hid we could stay in one place longer, that's why he started to kill and collect blood for me"

Abby's expression was somewhat sad yet proud of what her friend used to do for her. I guess having someone else do all the dirty work out of sight and out of mind so to speak made things a lot easier. I asked Abby about the other person, she said there had been two.

"Jane" she simply said a smile starting to form.

I smiled back at Abby and waited for her to continue.

"She was the first person I trusted ever since I became a vampire that is. Up until that point I had always been alone. I never trusted my secret with anyone if someone did discover it I would either flee or…"

Abby raised her shoulders and hands and I knew she meant kill them. She carried on.

"It was in the early 1800's or there about's, I was walking in a small town one night when I saw a lady thrown from an inn. The owner of the place was shouting at her accusing her of being a thief as she tried to pick herself up off the cold floor. She noticed me standing there and said something funny which made me laugh. I have often tried to remember what she said exactly but I've never been able to. Anyway it was the first time I had laughed in god knows when, it felt good to laugh. I helped her up and she automatically assumed I was a homeless child, there were quite a few of those back then. It turned out in the end she WAS a thief and not a very good one. I would meet up with Jane most nights, she treated me like a little sister at first. One night she got in over her head and I had to save her. Finding out what I was wasn't easy but when she knew id never hurt her she eventually came round to the idea and honestly cared for me. She became a mother figure to me in the end but eventually as time went on she got sick and passed away. It was one of the saddest times of my life losing Jane, she was my first real friend"

Abby stared at the fireplace as if she was lost in a trance. I put my arm around her and hugged her tight. She responded and hugged me back. I hated seeing Abby sad like this but it made me think of how long she had lived and all the adventures she must have gone through. I spoke up.

"I wish we would have met sooner that way you would never have felt alone" I told her.

"I have you now Owen, I'm never losing you" she whispered to me.

Abby stood up and put out her arm for me to take. I gripped her hand and she pulled me up from the chair.

"Times getting on we should think about heading to Clarkesview if we're going to meet her" Abby announced.

I smiled and grabbed Abby, my hands were one each side of her face and I kissed her passionately. After breaking away Abby looked a little stunned and took a moment to get her bearings. We held hands and headed out of the door.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is not as long its just moving the story forward a bit. Thank you for all the kind words it really has inspired me to keep going.