[Chapter Nine]

Witnessing the impossibilities.

I felt a cold wind wander through my body, and I opened my eyes slowly, only to find myself staring at a white ceiling. My neck was roughly in pain, and I noticed it when I tried to turn to look to the right. I found myself in an extremely soft bed that had satin covers and extremely puffy pillows. Awkwardness filled the air soon as I knew an arm wrapped itself around and pulled me across the bed. Turning to the left; I saw that it was a sleeping Hunter who had his am over me. Realizing what had happen before I blacked out, I froze in horror.

I wanted to scream in horror, but I'm afraid to see what'll happen. I stared at hunter for a while. I tried to push myself away, and that's when I noticed I was wearing a long white gown made of silk. How did I? Did he…? I thought. Oh no.

Distracted by my thoughts on how I changed clothes, I broke from my trance as soon as I knew that Hunter had pulled me close to chest. Gasping as he did so, I could feel my heart pound in my chest. Looking over him through a window, I saw that it was night.

"Did you sleep well, Princess?" I heard hunter say. He stared into my fear-filled eyes with his bright green eyes. Unaware that his eyes were getting brighter by the second, I stayed silent and had started to push myself away. He resisted, until I fell off the side of the bed. I groaned and winced as my head came in contact with the floor first. Looking up, I saw that Hunter was peering over me. "No need for roughhousing," Hunter said before he chuckled, his pale hand touching my wrist. "Get away!" I stammered, and had pushed him which miraculously sent him away. Scrambling, I got up and began to run. I pulled up the ends of my gown to let me go faster. I felt like those princesses in those fairytale movies; the ones who are running from their problem, and in this case; my problem was, or are: Vampires.

I really didn't believe it; not really. I just couldn't really believe that the fact that vampires DO exist; and here I am, running for my life away from one.

The halls were long. I mean, REALLY long. Twists and turns adorned the bright red walls. Making a sharp turn to the right, I had accidentally run into a metal coffee table. "Oh god…" I said as I doubled over and fell to the ground. Pain struck and I had stayed on the ground for a minute or so. "Oh princess, Where are you?" Hunter had yelled, and it echoed throughout the whole place. Since it sounded like he was getting closer, I had scrambled back up on my feet. Running once again, I stopped as soon as I saw a familiar figure. "J-Jason…?" I said; my voice trembling more than I thought it would. He had a smirk on his face, that one kind that you'd never want to see. He took a step forward and I took one back. We had kept going like this, until he had disappeared. I looked around, trying to figure out what's happening. Before I knew it, someone had grabbed me from behind, twisted my arm behind my back and had cupped my chin roughly. While wincing in pain, I saw that straight black hair was flowing into the side of my face. "Aha, do you really think I was your beloved Jason?" The cold voice made me realize who he actually was.

"Let her go!" I instantly heard. Hunter had whisked me around the other way, and had held me so close that I was able to hear him breathing on my neck. "I can't. You know I can't. What you did to Melinda all those years ago… I just won't forgive you." Hunter said; his voice filled with lunacy. "It wasn't my fault! She wanted to become like us and you didn't let her, so she came to me," Jason had began, before he was interrupted. "You are a liar! She loved me for who I am, not for who I was!" Wait, did he say Melinda? I thought hard while trying to piece everything together.

"Melinda…?" I asked; making sure I am able to understand this correctly. "Yes… and you look a lot like her…" Hunter had whispered into my ear, all sense of humanity gone. He had wrapped one of his arms around my waist, while another was wrapped around my chest. I felt like I was a Barbie doll being held protectively by a five year old child. "You knew my mother?" I yelled, but still asked in the form of a question. Unfortunately, I only earned a simply yes breathed into my ear. "You were in love with my mother?" I had asked roughly and started to struggle from his grip. "Well? Scarlet does deserve the truth, no?" Jason asked before he started to walk closer. At first, I started to believe everything was calming down. "Now, will you let me repeat it, Ezekiel?"

Ezekiel? I thought to myself. "Your real name is Ezekiel?" I asked, but held back a laugh. "Yes, now shut up!" Ezekiel yelled at me, and I instantly became quiet. "As I was saying, Melinda wanted to become one of us. However, you didn't let her. And that's why she came to me. She thought I could turn her, but I didn't want too." Jason finally finished. "But you were together with her, even when I proposed to her!"

"Whoa, wait. You were going to marry my mother?" I yelled and somehow summoned the courage to push away. Succeeding, I pushed myself forward and fell into Jason's arms. Keeping ground, I changed position to where I was facing the now known Ezekiel, and alongside Jason. "Yes, unfortunately this bastard stole her away from me." Wrapping his left arm around my waist, I fretted mentally as I saw out the corner of my eye that Jason was scanning throughout my neck. Unfortunately, his pale face became red with anger. "Did you bite her?" Jason was booming with rage. Smiling not so innocently Ezekiel said: "Why yes. I actually did. And, Kieran and Bartholomew were right. Her blood is special-" I winced mentally as I brought a hand to my neck while hearing those words, "- and not to mention tasty."

I could see that Jason's fist was clenched extremely hard. "Special? What do you mean by special?" I managed to ask. "Some things are better left unexplained," Was the answer Ezekiel gave me. Giving one quick glance, I was able to see that Jason was still angry. "But… Why… Did… You… Bite… Her…" It seemed like Jason fumed out those words. Next thing I knew, I saw colors, swirling around the room. It made me realize that those swirling were Jason and Ezekiel. Standing there, just watching everything made me feel helpless, like those homemade dolls you used to have as a child, and left them alone when your being to grow older. That sense of guilt, knowing that I can't do anything because I don't know anything of what's happening around me, sunk down into the pit of my self being. The fight between the vampire and dhampirhad spread through out the room, and away from me; although, with all the space, I still felt that I was in the middle of it; emotionally though, not physically. There was only a list of things that I can do in this situation, although that list was cut short due to one obvious reason: I'm human, their not.

Thinking of possible outcomes, my thoughts were cut short by a sparkling object that was on the floor, and it seemed to call out to me, as if it was my own lost child. The gleaming item was most likely dropped by someone. Walking over to it, it began to sparkle even more, as I knelt over it and grabbed it. It wasn't big; it was probably the size of a quarter. It seemed to take upon the appearance of a heart, and its features obviously popped out against my rosy colored skin. It was thick, and the edges of the heart felt sharp. It reminded me of those rubies, which were always sparkling inside the cases in the jewelry store. Suddenly, the heart began to glow brighter than before, and I thought it was bright enough for them to notice. I considerably doubt it though. "No!" Ezekiel yelled in agony, probably defeat. Turning the attention away from the heart and placing it on him, I watched as Ezekiel's distraction made him fail in what I thought to be combat. Jason had smacked the back of Ezekiel's head and his shoulder withy both of his hands and the result of the simultaneous smack caused Ezekiel to drop to the floor, probably unconscious. Rushing to where the knock out happened, I saw that Jason's face was still flushed, but with anger. Attempting to show tenderness in these eyes I call my own, I wish that Jason's anger ceased. After a minute or so, it did. "What was that?" Curiosity rose Jason's question, which only made me hesitate to answer. "I… I don't know…" I replied with a weak voice.

"Let me see that," it seemed a whole lot more like a command than a favor to me as I started at Jason while he had his hand out in a 'hand it to me' way. "Maybe I can tell what it is." I trusted his words and handed it to him, before the heart began to engrave itself the letter S in Vladimir Script handwriting. Jason didn't take this abnormal, yet I did. Maybe he saw this before. "It's a Hart, and I'm guessing he was trying to steal yours." Jason's words replayed once more in my head as I brought a trembling hand to the middle of my chest, where our supposed heart is. "My heart?" My voice shriveled in fear. "No your Hart, as in H-a-r-t," He spelled it out to me as if I was a child. "You don't have to treat me like that..." I muttered, but he simply ignored it.

"Anyway, I advise you to keep it close to you, and to not let anyone try to get close to it," Jason had spread an obvious warning. He seems different all of a sudden... Why? My thoughts distracted myself from what was now happening. Jason had pulled me on my wrist, and was now forcing me top run alongside him. He began running faster, until he stopped in the middle of a hall filled with doors that I thought led to rooms. "Get on my back, it's faster," he suggested, and I noticed his tone became tremendously lighter. "But... What if... You strain yourself…?" My words were hanging on a line, and I wasn't even sure I could finish what I was saying. "Scarlet… I'm not human… I'm at least ten times stronger and faster than you…" His cold words stunned me and I simply gave in. "Okay then." I replied softly. I didn't want any arguments between us. He simply nodded and leaned over for me to get on his back quickly. I jumped and wrapped my arms around his shoulders while he got my legs. Adjusting comfortably, I was stunned at his immediate quickness. Jason was fast, no doubt.

Everything around us became blurry, which only made my head spin in dizziness. I mustn't pass out, I began to order myself. "You know… you can rest if you want…" Jason suggested. Leaning over a little bit, I could see that he was biting his lip. I already knew why; because of me and my human scent. "Jason, can you stop?" I asked, hoping I didn't spark anything. "Why? We're in the middle of Seattle," Jason told me right after I finished talking. "Seattle? Where were we in the first place?" I asked quietly. "Spokane, Washington," Jason muttered. "Well can you stop? We need to talk about some things." I didn't know what was going on with me. Slightly annoyed, Jason stopped. Soon, everything became clear. We were in a forest that was filled with plant life, and there was a low fog on the ground. It felt so humid. "Well?" Jason said and I immediately jumped off his back. "How come every time I want to talk to you about something, you always say that we'll talk about it later? When is later coming?" I wanted my words to stun him, to know how I felt every time he pushed away every unfinished conversation with me.

"How about we talk everything through when we-"Jason began.
"No. I want to talk now. Even though I know that we're probably a thousand or so miles away from home, I want to talk here… and now." I finally decided to put my foot down and to get some information out of him. "Okay… So what do you want to talk about?" It felt like there was a hint of sarcasm in Jason's voice. "The whole you-are-a-vampire thing! I mean, How come you can be in the sun? And these gifts, how do you get them?" My words started to irritate myself.

"First of all," Jason spoke while rolling up the sleeve of his sweater. There was a bracelet, an old bracelet. It was brown and made in some wooden beads except for a metal piece that had his name on it and it was imprinted on gold. "This is a vampire charm, which means it lets me be in the sun, like you." His words were winning.

"Okay? And, as stated by the now known Ezekiel/Hunter, why is my blood special?" Curiosity now won me over, and gave that child-like look on my face. "Now there, I don't know, I think it has to do with your heritage, ancestry and other things." That whole sentence disappointed me. "So um, can we not immediately go back home?" I couldn't help but smile. "I mean, let stay here for a while?"

Jason gave me one of those questioning looks before speaking. "Why do you want to stay?" Jason muttered something else along with that, but I couldn't catch it. "I've never really went out of the country, except for that one time when I had to move to either my aunts' home or the orphanage…" My voice became quiet, almost mice-like. "Then come on," Jason said and raised his hand out to me. My hand grasped his, intertwined the fingers and we started to walk together, like a normal couple. The only exception is all those secrets we have between us. I think that's what is drifting us apart; not that we were ever close.

Walking out of the forest, I could see the whole perimeter of the town.
The air is cool and crisp; the air which I grew up with. Instinctively, I thought it was fall. Glancing around, the leaves were a dark red, burnt orange and bright yellow, which only supported my thought. It was humid, and I could feel that suffocating feeling in the air. Seeing the people, so far away made me think they looked somewhat like ants. I wanted to take another step, to look at the town even further, but I was on the edge already. Peering over, I gasped slowly as I saw a rock fall. Trying to hear it hit the ground, I learned even further. My head snapped to the left as I felt a cold hand on my wrist. I t was Jason's hand. "Don't lean too far, and the rock fell into a pond." He was so informative. Pulling my arm back, he twisted it, which only reminded me of before… when Ezekiel twisted my arm. Was my arm just sprained? It seemed okay now, thought. So much pain was thrown at me when he did that. My head was close enough to his chest that I could hear his heartbeat. Slow and steady; was it because of the vampire venom in his veins? Jason's hand was still around my wrist, and he had pulled me a bit farther and caused us to purposely fall on the ground together. "You didn't that on purpose, didn't you?" I said, and immediately sat up. "No… Wait I mean yes…." He groaned. "Why do you make me so nervous?"

Hmm? Nervous? Why would I, of all people make him nervous?

"Maybe it's because of the fact that we don't know each other that much," I muttered. Soon the dwindling leaves caught my attention. "Well then, how about it? How about we get to know each other more?" Jason's words were a bit enthusiastic; well to me, anyway. "You first," Those words quickly drove off the end of my mouth. Then he started talking. Just lying there, near a forest, by a cliff, made me think of things more profoundly. I learned I should love the little things in life. Jason told me about how is father, named; Bartholomew was somewhat a vampire king who was feared by everyone. He also told me how he was disowned as child, because of his emotions. We continued talking, until I noticed that the sky was getting dark. Then it hit me; its night-time already. "So, Mr. Jason Gavan, shall we begin to walk toward the civilization of Seattle, Washington?" I joked with him. He nodded a yes, and we stood up simultaneously, and held hands. The city lights were extremely bright. I wasn't so used to them after being away from them for about five or six hours. "So did your dad really go to rehab?" I could tell that Jason's words had curiosity stamped all over it.