Chapter 12
Scary…
I don't know which was more frightening, the way the dial of the speedometer was steadily planted on the number 120 or the fact that we were racing down the highway to meet Itachi's adoptive parents, who were probably drop dead gorgeous, super smart, and would, I was sure, completely disapprove of me. Though Itachi thought different, he would say things like "They'll love you" or "If I care about you, so will they". I seriously doubted that…
"Itachi…I seriously doubt that they are even going to consider me for you." He turned and looked at me, his eyes blazing red. He pulled over to the side of the highway and stopped abruptly, lets just I was glad I was wearing my seatbelt… He stared at me and I stared back, afraid to break eye contact. He leaned in toward me and cradled my face in his cold beautiful hands. "Hanabi, they would never, no could never hate you. Hanabi, my parents love me and want to see me happy. This is the first time they've seen me so ecstatic, they would never take away the one thing that makes me happy. Ever." He pressed his lips against mine in a steady gentle, reassuring kiss. He broke away too soon and smiled at me. I turned away, "I'm still worried…" I heard him chuckled mockingly.
He stroked my jaw line with his fingertips and leaned in just inches from my lips, I could feel his cool breath being pushed in and sucked out of my mouth. "Still worried?" I could barely breath… "What if I say something stupid?" He let his hands trace down my face and down my neck all the way to my waist. "And now?" I sucked in as much air as I could. My heart was pounding in my chest as he pulled me by my waist closer to him. "Yes," I mumbled, barely audible. He tilted his head so that his lips rested gently against my throat. "No need to worry, I'll protect you." He leaned away and pulled the car back onto the highway. My heart was still having irregular palpitations…
I looked out the window, trying to calm my heart. I was still worried, still incredibly anxious about meeting the man and woman, err…vampires that raised Itachi, my own personal miracle. I felt Itachi wrap his long cold fingers around my fist and begin drawing circles with his thumb on the top of my hand. He's trying to make me feel better… I now felt guilty; he was worried about me being worried. I knew Itachi was absolutely ecstatic about me meeting these people, now he was worried that he was putting me on the spot!
"Itachi, if Hidan and Zephr don't like me then what makes you think that your parents will? I mean, even Michel is kind of iffy about me." He glanced at me, confused expression. "What makes you think that Zephr and Michel don't like you?" My jaw dropped into an "o". "So Hidan does hate me!" I stared at him in shock. He groaned and squeezed the ridge of his nose. I could tell by the expression on his face he regretted saying anything. "Hidan is…she's just a bitter person. She's got some history, its difficult for her to be around humans, especially females, that's why she doesn't enjoy leaving Coppedge."
"Explain to me then, because I haven't done anything to her!" He sighed and sped up, like he was in a hurry to end our conversation. "Hidan is something that we call a white-blood. A white-blood is a human with no trace of vampire blood in her system, but for some reason at age twenty-one they change, sort of transform into a vampire. Their body changes and their hearts completely stop beating, she's the only one of us who knows what it's like to be human and she misses it. I don't know the feeling but I've asked her about it, she says that changing was the most horrible feeling in the world. Two weeks, two weeks she was in agony and she didn't know why. I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been for her, not understanding what she was. She must have felt so alone…" I glared at him now, "So why is she so mean to me? I still haven't done anything!" I saw him grin. I really couldn't stand how he always managed to smile while I was angry.
"Hanabi, haven't you been listening? She jealous of you. You are the one thing she can't be, human." My face relaxed as I contemplated that. Hidan, the world's manifestation of beauty itself, was jealous of me. Me!, the plain boring, okay looking Hanabi Hyuga… "Well what about Zephr and Michel?" Itachi actually laughed this time. "Michel fears for his existence. If he gets close to you, he gets chewed out by Hidan. So he's trying to keep her happy…I guess." The smile on his face was constant as he spoke, like I was missing the inside joke. "As for Zephr, he's had some bad experience with vampires. He's not exactly avoiding you just being cautious. He still can't get over the fact that you're not feral. But I'll let you talk to Zephr about that one."
I turned to stare out the window again. "How much longer 'till we get there?" He laughed again, "Hanabi, we've only been driving for thirty minutes! We've got four more hours!" I groaned, it was taking way to long. "Why does Michel care about what Hidan says?" I was curious at this point. I was hoping he would actually tell me. "Well someone is nosey, huh?" I smiled teasingly. "What can I say? Curiosity kills the feeble little human."
"It's something called Bondage. It usually occurs in creatures like werewolves or fairies; you don't see it very often among vampires. Bondage is kind of like the human theory of 'love at first site'. It's the most unbreakable feeling in the universe, there is nothing that can occur to change the feeling. It's the constant feeling that you have to be near that one person, when you know you would do anything for that person to ensure their happiness. You hold this person above everything else, even yourself." It sounded kind of 'Sleeping Beauty'-ish. "So that's what they are? Michel is 'Bonded' to Hidan?" He shook his head, "No, Hidan is bound to Michel. It's kind of sweet, my little sister is finally my little sister and not the school girl with a crush on me." He looked like he was trying hard to suppress laughter. It didn't surprise me to hear that Hidan had once liked Itachi. I was surprised that he 'assumingly' turned her down. "You sound well informed about Bondage, Ita–kun. How is that?"
He slowed down. I saw the dial of the speedometer gently ease onto the number 90. Still a little fast for my taste… "I've been through bondage. I know the feeling of it. Probably the most pleasurable feeling that I've felt anyway, that's me the 168 year old virgin." He was smiling brightly, I laughed at his expression. "So who was it?" I was almost afraid of his answer, thought it was kind of stupid to be. He brought my hand to his face and kissed my fingers. "Who do you think? Now why don't you go to sleep, we've still got four hours." I smiled to myself as I scooted closer to him, leaning on his arm. I felt something ringing in my memory again. I began singing quietly. "Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose. Will I ever see thee wed-" "I will marry at thy will Sire, at thy will," he finished. His voice was different though, it sounded hard. I heard something I had never heard in his voice before. I heard fear.
--
I awoke to the rocking movement of Itachi walking. I opened my eyes to take in my surroundings. He was carrying me towards a house. It was build of brick and had two stories. I looked back at him, he was carrying both of our bags and smiling at me, "Welcome to the living." I rubbed my eyes, hopefully I didn't look unpresentable. I was about to meet his parents…oh joy. "Put me down, I want to walk in there on my own two feet; I want to show them I can carry myself, no pun intended of course." He set me down on the door step. I breathed in and out, making sure that I wouldn't pass out on their porch…
Itachi knocked on the door then entered without waiting for an answer. It was the middle of the afternoon, but it was cloudy, hazy. Inside the house it was cold and open. Like Itachi's home in Coppedge this home was incredibly clean and neat. "Kai-El, Dom, we're here!" Itachi called into the home. I stood behind him, scared stiff. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself again, when I opened my eyes there were two people standing in front of us.
Like I had expected, they were absolutely breathtaking. The man was tall but lean, like Itachi. He had red hair, it was natural, not like Leon's fake bottle color, this man's hair was an amazing scarlet. He had blue eyes and full lips and of course the rest of his features were perfect as well. He looked like he was bordering age thirty, incredibly young. The woman was a head taller than me. She had chocolate brown hair that was in bouncy curls. Her eyes matched her hair, chocolate brown. She was also beautiful, but in a way that made me feel good about myself. She looked so natural, her smile was brightly spread across her face. She even had dimples! She looked only about thirty as well. The only thing that kept me from believing they were royalty was the fact that they were both wearing faded jeans and t-shirts. "It is so nice to meet you Hanabi!" she said smiling. I smiled back, "Thank you for allowing me to come to your home, Ma'am."
She laughed at my statement, "Please just call me Kai-El, this is my husband, Domonic." I smiled at her husband. He offered me a hand to shake. "So nice to meet you lass." He had the strongest Irish accent I'd ever heard. I shook his hand, still smiling. I felt a little more confident. "If Itachi had told us he was bringing home his female friend we'd have definitely cleaned a wee bit more," he said throwing a look at Itachi. I scoffed, were they serious? Their house was like a stage home. I doubted there were even cobwebs. "Itachi, why don't you take your bags up to your rooms? I'll bet your hungry, why don't I fix you something to eat?" Kai-El asked. I nodded, realizing I was starving. I followed her into the kitchen, Domonic followed close behind.
"I'm sorry if our cookin' ain't up to snuff, we usually don't cook," Domonic said shyly. I shook my head, "Oh no, Sir. Thank you for everything. Please don't feel the need to change your routine because of me." Kai-El handed me a plate with grilled cheese steaming in the center. "You can call me Dom, and you ain't gotta be so formal lassie. We ain't nothin but a bunch o' old humble vampires," he laughed. Kai-El slapped Dom's shoulder, "Don't be so bothersome Dom! Leave her be." He held up his hands the way cops on T.V. do when approaching a suicidal. "Don't gotta be so hurtful Kai." She rolled her eyes and called for Itachi. He was down in two seconds. "Don't be rude Itachi, stay with us." He rolled his eyes and pulled out a chair next to me.
"I hope Itachi has been polite while we were away," she said to me. "I would hate to have you think me and Dom have raised a bunch of banshees." I laughed at her assumption. Like Itachi had a rude bone in his body. "Oh no! Itachi has been wonderful! I've learned so much from him, he's amazing." She glared at her son. "I would hope that Itachi hasn't been showing off in our absence." "Yeah," Dom threw in. "We wouldn't want our Itachi to show off to his girlfriend, that would just be too much I'm sure," he said sarcastically. I heard a growl echo in Kai-El's throat. Something in the corner of their living room caught my eye. A long beautiful cello. I looked at the curves of the wood and the string that lined it from top to bottom. "Do you play?" Dom asked me. I shook my head, not looking away. "Hanabi plays the fiddle," Itachi threw in for my benefit.
I turned back to him, "I've never heard you play the cello. Will you play for me?" He rolled his eyes, apparently that meant later. "Itachi, go play for her!" Kai-El insisted. "But you just said-" "Forget what I said, go play!" Itachi grabbed my hand and pulled me into the living room and pointed to my fiddle case, I hadn't realized he had packed it… "Play with me?" he asked. "I wouldn't want to make your music sound crappy with my playing." He laughed, "Hanabi, I'm sure your not as bad as you say you are." He down in a chair and placed the cello between his legs and began playing. A deep sound filled the room as he played through a slow song. I like the sound of it, he kept playing in silence then the song changed. It sped up to a type of jig. I smiled as I watched his arm fly back and forth over the strings. The fluid motions seemed to appear in slow motion. He finished the song and I clapped happily. "Your turn." My smile turned upside down. "Punch line?" I asked. He grinned at me, "I haven't heard you play, I would like to." Urgh, that stupid illegal smile again. Why oh WHY did he have to be so charming?! Did he want to embarrass me infront of Kai and Dom?
I shakily pulled my fiddle out of the case and placed it under my chin. I didn't know what to play…I tried to remember something, some kind of music I had learned in my years of fiddling. I placed the bow against the string and let my arm flow quickly over them. Playing a fast exciting jig, the same as Itachi. The high-pitched sound of the fiddle filled the room and then mixed with something else. Itachi's deep cello played along with my fiddle. I laughed, not sure what was funny, but I laughed and Itachi laughed along with me, causing our song to halt. "See? Not so bad," he smiled. I grinned back as I placed my fiddle back in its case. "Mind if you show me my room Itachi?" He nodded and led me up the stairs.
"So why didn't Michel, Hidan, Zephr or Kneese come along with us?" He shrugged. "This is the first time in a while that Hidan and Michel are going to be alone, I suppose that Zephr and Kneese have evacuated to a safe place while the two vulgar vampires who don't have respect for others make the best of their 'alone time'. As for Zephr and Kneese, I actually think they're spending their weekend consulting the council." He turned down a wide hallway and led me to the end room. "This is the guest room, you'll stay here." I noticed he had already taken the liberty of unpacking my things. "Why are Kneese and Zephr talking with the council?" He reached in his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper Edmund had given him. He was grimacing… "The council has asked me to send a warning to the two reminding them of the laws of Coppedge." He led me inside to another room on the opposite end of the hall. "Why is that?" He opened the door. "This is my room. By elfish law, a woodland elf cannot mate with any creature besides humans or elves. They are probably screaming at the council as we speak…" I felt sorry for Kneese, I really did. I saw the way she looked at Zephr. The way her yellow eyes sparkled when someone said his name.
"So," I said as I strolled into his room and plopped down on his couch. His room had the same exact layout as his room in Coppedge did. "I have another question." He sat beside me, "You are a very intuitive person, aren't you? What is it then?" I looked into my lap, I could feel the blush spread across my face. "When you say 'mate', is it the same? For both humans and all the other creatures?" I had never heard him laugh so loud. It made me jump. "I would expect so Hanabi," he laughed. "Unless the process has changed since the beginning of time, yes, it's the same."
After he had recovered from his laughing fit he got up and walked to the door. "Tomorrow I'm taking you to the beach. You like the beach right?" he asked me. I nodded happily. I hadn't seen the sun since I'd moved to Kumo, much less seen a beach. He smiled at me. "Well don't get your hopes up. The beaches here aren't that much to look at." I followed him out the door and back down to the living room, where Dom was watching a football game on the television with Kai-El sitting beside him reading a book. Since I left Konoha I hadn't experienced anything that felt so normal, that felt so much like home. But why then did I feel scared, like something was soon going to spin scarily out of control?
--
It was late. Itachi and I had spent the whole morning at the beach, which, as he had informed the previous day, wasn't much to smile at. But I still enjoyed myself. He had offered to take me to the shopping mall, which I was somewhat excited about. "If you want something just ask, I'll buy it for you," he offered for the umpteenth time. I glared at him, "You are NOT buying me anything. I don't care what you want to get me, you aren't spending one dime on me!"
He shrugged as we walked by a few clothing stores. I wasn't used to the mellow surroundings of Kurai. Their shopping mall consisted of three clothing stores, a few book stores, and some souvenir shops. Itachi and I walked with our fingers laced down the sidewalk past a few more stores, he stopped at a book store window. He was staring at a book on display intently. "Do you want to go in?" I asked him. He nodded and pulled into the store. He dove into the books. There wasn't much that interested me here. "Can I walk around to find some store of interest? Maybe a souvenir shop?" He looked up from his book, "Sure, it's right around the corner and down a block. Stay safe, call if you need me." I rolled my eyes, "You can't trust me for even a few minutes alone?" He grinned at me, his whole face lighting up. He kissed my forehead before muttering "No."
I followed Itachi's instructions. Walking around the corner and onto an empty lot. Maybe I walked the wrong way? I turned back and went in the opposite direction. I was lost in thought when I realized I was walking again. I turned down a corner, but it lead to the open road. I walked down the sidewalk, the windows of these shops were boarded up. At the end of the sidewalk were a few older looking guys. Maybe they could offer me directions. I walked closer and got a better look at them. College students, I guessed. There were four, each had a bottle of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. I walked past them, deciding that I could find better help elsewhere. "Hey!" one called to me. I turned around and looked at him. "Hi," I turned back to my route, hoping I would find the book store again.
"Wait just a minute little lady, where you going? Dontcha wanna stay and play?" he asked laughing. His mates joined in. I rolled my eyes, "Drunkards," I muttered under my breath. I heard footsteps behind me and began jogging. I turned down an alleyway and followed it out to another empty lot. The footsteps behind me faded and I could finally breathe again. "Hey again," said the voice. I turned and there he and his mates were. I wondered if I would be able to run using my 'super special powers' but then remembered that Itachi and his family needed to stay hidden. And I certainly wouldn't be the one to throw them under the bus and into the media light. I then wondered if I would be able to dial Itachi's cell phone number quick enough before one of these people took my phone away. I reached back to try it, but my pocket was empty. Dammit… it's probably in his car. They approached me and I sucked in a lung full of air, I would throw in a good scream before they touched me.
"Stay. Away." I looked behind them so find the voice. The voice of my miracle. Itachi stood behind them, his face was dark with fury. "Oh this harlot is yours?" the tallest one asked. Itachi growled at them, "Stay away from her!" Itachi approached me and clamped his large hand around my arm and dragged me away. He didn't look at me, not even after we left the lot. We turned down a few blocks and we were back at the shopping mall. I noticed how he was leading me to the car, not towards the stores. We were walking through the almost empty parking lot when I stopped and looked up at him. "I'm sorry," I whispered, hoping he wouldn't hear, how silly. "Hanabi, you did nothing wrong. I'm not angry with you," his voice was soft. I looked up and he was closer than I expected. "I'm not mad with you, I could never be mad at you, remember that." I looked down unsure then proceeded to the car. That was when I heard the screech of rubber tires against the asphalt and felt the wind pick up around me.
It all happened so fast after that. I turned and saw a large truck speeding at me, it was close, I turned to run but tripped over my feet. It was like a slow motion scene in a movie. I turned to take in Itachi's expression, his face was blank and I saw him begin to run toward me. I closed my eyes to brace for the impact but felt nothing. I heard the crunching of metal and felt the weight of something on top of me. I did however feel the force of something pushing my torso down, fast. I hit my head against the concrete, it sounded like it should have hurt, but it didn't. I guess it was the adrenaline. I looked over, searching for him. There he was. Itachi had forced himself between me and the car. I looked into the windshield, it was the men from before, all staring at us, gasping. They had seen… "Hanabi, are you alright?" Itachi's voice echoed in my ear. I tried to answer but couldn't. "Hanabi? Hanabi, can you hear me?" he sounded worried. I felt the coldness of his steel arms wrap around me and lift me into the air. Then the rush of wind past my face. I couldn't open my eyes to see where we were headed; instead I was enveloped in darkness.
--
When I woke again I was in a white room. I looked around for Itachi, where was he?! I needed him! I needed to apologize. "Itachi?" I called in a raspy voice. "Right here, Hanabi. Don't worry I'm here." He was at my side. He looked bad, I had never seen him like this before. He had dark circles under his eyes, like he'd been running on empty for days. He knelt beside the bed and began to stroke my face. "I'm so sorry," I said. The raspy sound of my voice made me sound incredibly pathetic I realized. Itachi held a finger against my lips, "Don't you start apologizing. You're the one who was almost run over by a truck."
I looked at him eyes wide. "You know that's not what I meant…you know they saw." He didn't break eye contact. I wanted to but I couldn't, his eyes were beautiful. "Hanabi, I don't care. I care about you, now would you please stop worrying about me and start worrying about yourself," he asked teasingly. "You're the one in the hospital bed, not I." I heard the door open, "Well well well. Lassie is finally up?" I turned to see Dom standing by my bed. He was wearing a white coat, Dom is a doctor? You've got to be kidding me, out of all the careers, I wouldn't expect Dom to be a doctor…
"Domonic, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to do this to your family, I really didn't." It all came out so quickly it caught both Dom and Itachi off guard. Dom closed the door and sat in the chair beside my bed. "Hanabi, I know you didn't mean to. I understand, you don't need to apologize, I'm positive you didn't mean for that truck to run you over," he chuckled. But I could tell that he wasn't has hearty as he was pretending to be. Apparently he picked up the fact that I knew that. "Hanabi, Kai-El and I aren't angry with you. I doubt that the rest of them will be angry either," it took me a few seconds to realize that by 'the rest of them' he meant Itachi's siblings in Coppedge.
I turned to Itachi, "So what happens now?" He smiled at me, as if tonight had never happened. "I take you back home tomorrow night. Hopefully you won't find a way to harm yourself further in the next fifteen hours. Monday is your birthday, you've got to be home so that you don't miss your surprise party that your best buddy Kneese is throwing." I gasped, sucking in as much air as possible. "A What?!" Itachi covered his mouth mockingly. "Whoops, I've said too much." I sat up straight and clutched his shoulders in an attempt to shake him. I should have known that that would be impossible, he was like a giant marble statue. "You knew that she was planning a party?! Itachi I told you I didn't want a party!" He rolled his eyes and winked at me. "Actually you said you didn't want gifts, and besides, your turning sixteen, the big one-six! Be a sport and play along, oh and look surprised when you walk in, Kneese will know I told you otherwise." I glared at him. I heard Dom chuckled. "It's late Itachi, we should let Lassie sleep. You'll, Missy, will be sleeping in. Itachi, if I find that you woke her, so help me…" he didn't finish his sentence.
Itachi laughed and lifted me off the bed. He positioned himself underneath me then let me use him as a mattress. I rested my head against his chest without looking at him, I wanted him to know I still wasn't happy about the party. Dom walked out of the room and turned the lights off. "Hanabi, sleep well. Itachi, will you be okay here?" he asked before leaving. Itachi rolled his eyes, "Dad, it's fine. Don't worry. If I need help you're here, remember?" I was confused by the short conversation they were having. Dom left before I could ask. "What was that about?" I questioned Itachi. I heard him let out an exasperated sigh. "Dom was wondering if I was going to be okay at the hospital with you tonight. With all the sick patients and the blood, you can understand"
I realized the possibility was huge. "Will you be alright?" He chuckled. "I'll be fine. Don't worry, I'm not even hungry," he said kissing my neck. "Good night, Love," he whispered in my ear. "Good night."
