~*~*Chapter twelve~*~*
The moment I entered the school courtyard, I remembered how late it was. I did not mind, and there was quite a bit of human interaction going on inside the building. Instantly curious, I walked in.
The school itself hadn't changed much. The lockers were still where they had been, although they are fixed up now. And the art room was right across the hall from the courtyard entrance. What an idiot I am for forgetting that.
Slowly I noticed that the sounds were coming from that room and I checked myself over for any vampire things, like ripped clothes and blood. When I didn't find any, I made my way into the room.
There were so many high school kids in that room, well, more than I had expected. Maybe 10 or so. All of them seemed to know each other and when they saw me all of them slowly looked me over. I looked much different from them. All of them somehow were so familiar and yet so strange that it caused me to not move for about half a minute.
"You new?" A boy asked from a table. He was wearing these ridiculous goggle things on his head but I just shook my head to his question. Recognition was all visible in their gaze but it was obvious that they could not place me.
"Then what are you doing here?" Asked another girl who sat a table down from him. Unlike the boy, who had seemed annoyed by my presence, this girl was somehow fascinated.
"Curiosity killed the kid," I answered vaguely, making them all wonder if it was a threat or the answer to her question.
"What's going on here?" Came a voice from the back storage room. A voice that I knew, or had known, during my years here. It had aged, but it was him nonetheless.
"Some kid just came in," replied a boy who seemed to not belong. I quickly read his mind and found out that this boy was no artist but had come to this 'Select Crafts' hang out because the girl he liked was here.
"Well, there is nothing wrong with that," the voice replied and it got louder as he made his way out of the room. When he saw me, his eyes widened and I thought he might have had a heart attack if not one of the kids came to his side.
"You ok Mr. Quincy?" The student asked as he led my old art teacher to a chair.
"Fine Will," Mr. Quincy assured the boy. His eyes never left me. It looked as if he had just seen a ghost.
"What is wrong?" the girl from earlier asked, worry lacing through her calm tone. My teacher seemed to ignore her as he pointed his cane at me.
"You look so much like a student that I used to have," he told me before pointing his cane to a framed picture on the wall. My eyes glanced over at it. The Killington Murder Statue was taken in that frame. "That boy right there."
"The statue was taken down?" I asked, and kicked myself mentally for not disguising my voice. Mr. Quincy picked that right up. That and the fact that I knew about the statue in the first place.
"Cairbre Killingston, great great grandson of the founder of this town," he continued, not answering my question. It pained me to hear my whole name and he saw it in my eyes. "You look just like him."
"Your right Mr. Quincy," a student gasped as she took the frame from off the wall and set it down on a table. "He looks identical!" The other kids surrounded the table and began muttering to themselves.
"Are you related to my favorite student?" My teacher asked as I slowly made my way around the teenage humans and sat down next to him.
"I cant be sir," I told him, "He has been dead since 1963. My mo- Cairbre's parents never had any other children and Cairbre never had as much as a date." My information seemed to just make the old man more curious.
"How do you know so much about this boy when you acted as if we had no idea what we had been talking about only a minute ago?" Damn old man. He was always the smartest teacher I had.
"I was just shocked sir," I replied, "That this deceased young man shares my looks and my first name." I couldn't really keep that out. I never liked using fake names. They always sounded dead when I said them.
"Oh? What brought you here then Cairbre?"
I didn't want to talk to someone that knew of my past. I stood up and looked at the old man. "I am sorry sir but I must be going." Before he or any of the students could respond, I walked out. I know that was probably a bad idea. I should not have said that my name was Cairbre, but that man can tell if someone is lying, dead or alive.
****
An hour or so later I find myself back at Las Noches, but I dare not enter. Rabe is probably infuriated at me and Aubrey would have my head. I had not meant to strike Jessica, it was just that the animal instinct had reacted before common sense.
I actually walked to my room behind the club and when I entered my room I was confronted once again. And by the same damn vampire. "Evening Cairbre," Rayne purred at me from my bed. Her hair was now black with green ivy-like stripes slithering about, but her eyes were the same color as I had last seen them. And her dress, oh that damn vampire! She looked so gorgeous in that dress. Skin tight, deep emerald green.
Slowly she rose from the bed and came to me, every move making her look like an angel. In my head I kept telling myself that she might try to kill me. But the other side of my mind was intruiged. Human curiosity, male curiosity. I began to turn, but she slid her hands up my shirt. I arched a brow. This was a whole new thing to me. Being a 55 year old virgin sucks.
"Come with me," she whispered in my ear and I closed my eyes slowly, but I pulled her hands away from me nonetheless.
"No," I told her, although it was no louder than a whisper. Suddenly, her mind opened up to me. I did not read it although I was rather shocked that she actually would open herself to me like that. I was getting a feeling in her aura. Something I never felt before. Directed towards me that is. I had felt it between Moira and Fala, Jager and Fala, but never towards me. I was so shocked that I was caught off guard when she kissed me. Her fingers ran through my hair and I pulled her hands away sharply.
"No." I told her again. Although this time I wasn't so sure. Love. She loved me, or at least she thought she did. I was confused at what had made her think she loved me. I had only met her on rare occasions, most of them in the past week or two.
Funny. It seemed as if my whole vampiric life was in the past two weeks. "I know this is confusing for you Cairbre," she told me as she stroked my cheek. This time I did not pull away. "But I haven't loved anyone for over 400 years. It is just as odd to me as it is to you. Are you this afraid of what might happen if you DO fall in love with me?"
"Humans fall inlove, Rayne. Vampires do not."
"If that was true, then Fala, Moira, you and me would not be here." Me? That couldn't be right. "Kendra does favor you the most, besides Kaleo." I was partially shocked, but I did not let is show. Instead I let myself go. No more human shyness. Pure vampire reactions. I am kissing her before I even knew what I was doing.
I pulled away a few minutes later, shocked at myself. "Is it so hard for you to love a human like a little sister and a vampire like a lover?" Rayne's question caught me off guard. Only then did I realize that my shirt had somehow gone missing. Actually, it was now on the floor. Odd, I don't remember takin- "A simple annoyance," she assured me before wrapping her arms around my neck and leading me over to the bed. My mind was racing. I was kissing a vampire. I laughed at myself. Never really thought about what it would be like, kissing a vampire. But rather them being hard and rough, they were soft and gentle.
As Rayne sat down on the bed, her one arm around my neck, she was slowly undoing her dress. My mind froze. I was petrified. Sensing my terror, Rayne laughed before pulling me ontop of her.
*****
The light of the sun peeked in through my windows, and would have been invisible but my black out curtains were now in a jumble on the floor. Last night had been very . . . . pleasurable. Slowly I opened my eyes and winced at the sun's brightness. Reluctantly I pulled myself away from Rayne, tucked the blankets around her, and pulled on a pair of jeans ontop of my boxers. Once I did that, I fixed the curtains and closed them so the room was once again dark.
Last night. How odd it was that I considered Rayne a potential enemy one day and my lover, my first one actually, the very same night and the next morning. But as I look at her looking so human and innocent in my bed, I do not know why I hadn't thought of it sooner.
Oh yes, Kaleo. He fancied himself in love with many young women, and it was obvious that he was still rather attached to Rayne. Either because he does love her or that she is the strongest of his fledglings I do not really know. My mind aches just trying to figure it out.
Groaning, I pull on a random shirt from my closet and sat down in the corner of my room. My canvas lay untouched for several days now but inspiration has struck me suddenly. Picking up my paintbrush, I stick it into my black paint and begin what I already named 'Reluctant to Kill.'
***********
Alright! That's almost a wrap! Epilogue coming up. I want to thank all of you who reviewed this, it really makes me feel great to know that people enjoy what I write. Well, when you're ready I'll put up the last part of this story, and I'll be done! *happy dance*
Krikoris
The moment I entered the school courtyard, I remembered how late it was. I did not mind, and there was quite a bit of human interaction going on inside the building. Instantly curious, I walked in.
The school itself hadn't changed much. The lockers were still where they had been, although they are fixed up now. And the art room was right across the hall from the courtyard entrance. What an idiot I am for forgetting that.
Slowly I noticed that the sounds were coming from that room and I checked myself over for any vampire things, like ripped clothes and blood. When I didn't find any, I made my way into the room.
There were so many high school kids in that room, well, more than I had expected. Maybe 10 or so. All of them seemed to know each other and when they saw me all of them slowly looked me over. I looked much different from them. All of them somehow were so familiar and yet so strange that it caused me to not move for about half a minute.
"You new?" A boy asked from a table. He was wearing these ridiculous goggle things on his head but I just shook my head to his question. Recognition was all visible in their gaze but it was obvious that they could not place me.
"Then what are you doing here?" Asked another girl who sat a table down from him. Unlike the boy, who had seemed annoyed by my presence, this girl was somehow fascinated.
"Curiosity killed the kid," I answered vaguely, making them all wonder if it was a threat or the answer to her question.
"What's going on here?" Came a voice from the back storage room. A voice that I knew, or had known, during my years here. It had aged, but it was him nonetheless.
"Some kid just came in," replied a boy who seemed to not belong. I quickly read his mind and found out that this boy was no artist but had come to this 'Select Crafts' hang out because the girl he liked was here.
"Well, there is nothing wrong with that," the voice replied and it got louder as he made his way out of the room. When he saw me, his eyes widened and I thought he might have had a heart attack if not one of the kids came to his side.
"You ok Mr. Quincy?" The student asked as he led my old art teacher to a chair.
"Fine Will," Mr. Quincy assured the boy. His eyes never left me. It looked as if he had just seen a ghost.
"What is wrong?" the girl from earlier asked, worry lacing through her calm tone. My teacher seemed to ignore her as he pointed his cane at me.
"You look so much like a student that I used to have," he told me before pointing his cane to a framed picture on the wall. My eyes glanced over at it. The Killington Murder Statue was taken in that frame. "That boy right there."
"The statue was taken down?" I asked, and kicked myself mentally for not disguising my voice. Mr. Quincy picked that right up. That and the fact that I knew about the statue in the first place.
"Cairbre Killingston, great great grandson of the founder of this town," he continued, not answering my question. It pained me to hear my whole name and he saw it in my eyes. "You look just like him."
"Your right Mr. Quincy," a student gasped as she took the frame from off the wall and set it down on a table. "He looks identical!" The other kids surrounded the table and began muttering to themselves.
"Are you related to my favorite student?" My teacher asked as I slowly made my way around the teenage humans and sat down next to him.
"I cant be sir," I told him, "He has been dead since 1963. My mo- Cairbre's parents never had any other children and Cairbre never had as much as a date." My information seemed to just make the old man more curious.
"How do you know so much about this boy when you acted as if we had no idea what we had been talking about only a minute ago?" Damn old man. He was always the smartest teacher I had.
"I was just shocked sir," I replied, "That this deceased young man shares my looks and my first name." I couldn't really keep that out. I never liked using fake names. They always sounded dead when I said them.
"Oh? What brought you here then Cairbre?"
I didn't want to talk to someone that knew of my past. I stood up and looked at the old man. "I am sorry sir but I must be going." Before he or any of the students could respond, I walked out. I know that was probably a bad idea. I should not have said that my name was Cairbre, but that man can tell if someone is lying, dead or alive.
****
An hour or so later I find myself back at Las Noches, but I dare not enter. Rabe is probably infuriated at me and Aubrey would have my head. I had not meant to strike Jessica, it was just that the animal instinct had reacted before common sense.
I actually walked to my room behind the club and when I entered my room I was confronted once again. And by the same damn vampire. "Evening Cairbre," Rayne purred at me from my bed. Her hair was now black with green ivy-like stripes slithering about, but her eyes were the same color as I had last seen them. And her dress, oh that damn vampire! She looked so gorgeous in that dress. Skin tight, deep emerald green.
Slowly she rose from the bed and came to me, every move making her look like an angel. In my head I kept telling myself that she might try to kill me. But the other side of my mind was intruiged. Human curiosity, male curiosity. I began to turn, but she slid her hands up my shirt. I arched a brow. This was a whole new thing to me. Being a 55 year old virgin sucks.
"Come with me," she whispered in my ear and I closed my eyes slowly, but I pulled her hands away from me nonetheless.
"No," I told her, although it was no louder than a whisper. Suddenly, her mind opened up to me. I did not read it although I was rather shocked that she actually would open herself to me like that. I was getting a feeling in her aura. Something I never felt before. Directed towards me that is. I had felt it between Moira and Fala, Jager and Fala, but never towards me. I was so shocked that I was caught off guard when she kissed me. Her fingers ran through my hair and I pulled her hands away sharply.
"No." I told her again. Although this time I wasn't so sure. Love. She loved me, or at least she thought she did. I was confused at what had made her think she loved me. I had only met her on rare occasions, most of them in the past week or two.
Funny. It seemed as if my whole vampiric life was in the past two weeks. "I know this is confusing for you Cairbre," she told me as she stroked my cheek. This time I did not pull away. "But I haven't loved anyone for over 400 years. It is just as odd to me as it is to you. Are you this afraid of what might happen if you DO fall in love with me?"
"Humans fall inlove, Rayne. Vampires do not."
"If that was true, then Fala, Moira, you and me would not be here." Me? That couldn't be right. "Kendra does favor you the most, besides Kaleo." I was partially shocked, but I did not let is show. Instead I let myself go. No more human shyness. Pure vampire reactions. I am kissing her before I even knew what I was doing.
I pulled away a few minutes later, shocked at myself. "Is it so hard for you to love a human like a little sister and a vampire like a lover?" Rayne's question caught me off guard. Only then did I realize that my shirt had somehow gone missing. Actually, it was now on the floor. Odd, I don't remember takin- "A simple annoyance," she assured me before wrapping her arms around my neck and leading me over to the bed. My mind was racing. I was kissing a vampire. I laughed at myself. Never really thought about what it would be like, kissing a vampire. But rather them being hard and rough, they were soft and gentle.
As Rayne sat down on the bed, her one arm around my neck, she was slowly undoing her dress. My mind froze. I was petrified. Sensing my terror, Rayne laughed before pulling me ontop of her.
*****
The light of the sun peeked in through my windows, and would have been invisible but my black out curtains were now in a jumble on the floor. Last night had been very . . . . pleasurable. Slowly I opened my eyes and winced at the sun's brightness. Reluctantly I pulled myself away from Rayne, tucked the blankets around her, and pulled on a pair of jeans ontop of my boxers. Once I did that, I fixed the curtains and closed them so the room was once again dark.
Last night. How odd it was that I considered Rayne a potential enemy one day and my lover, my first one actually, the very same night and the next morning. But as I look at her looking so human and innocent in my bed, I do not know why I hadn't thought of it sooner.
Oh yes, Kaleo. He fancied himself in love with many young women, and it was obvious that he was still rather attached to Rayne. Either because he does love her or that she is the strongest of his fledglings I do not really know. My mind aches just trying to figure it out.
Groaning, I pull on a random shirt from my closet and sat down in the corner of my room. My canvas lay untouched for several days now but inspiration has struck me suddenly. Picking up my paintbrush, I stick it into my black paint and begin what I already named 'Reluctant to Kill.'
***********
Alright! That's almost a wrap! Epilogue coming up. I want to thank all of you who reviewed this, it really makes me feel great to know that people enjoy what I write. Well, when you're ready I'll put up the last part of this story, and I'll be done! *happy dance*
Krikoris