1The next morning she woke up to the beautiful sun shining through her windows. She pulled herself up to a sitting position. Then as she was trying to determine whether or not last night was a dream, she saw him, perched on the edge of her bed, looking incredibly heartbroken. Last night she hadn't even thought of apologizing. It was Juls for gods sake. So, she did the only thing that came to her in times like these, she cried. He rushed over to her, his anger growing, and he hugged her. Resting his chin on her head, he began to speak;
"Goddamn it!" he roared, "I should've been here, I should have stopped him!"
That's when she realized that he wasn't angry towards her. He was angry with himself. She didn't know what to say. All she could do was cry. After some time had gone by, he got up and loaded his car with their supplies for the weekend. Willa was still in such an emotional state that Julius wasn't surprised that all she had done was shower and change clothes. All the while Willa showered, she was thinking about last night's conversation.
"Please believe me, he is a vampire. So am I, but, I am trying to protect you. He is losing control, he's losing his hold on the thirst. I am not trying to take you away from him. I am just concerned for you. I just want you to be alive to love him."
After their conversation, Willa had no doubt that Riley was telling the truth. But it was still so hard to grasp. She didn't know what to do. How to handle what she had just been told. They hadn't gotten much past that part of the conversation. She was torn. What should she do? 'My boyfriend has been keeping a huge secret' she weighed this on one hand, and her faith in Riley on another.
Willa finishedher shower and walked to her room in just a towel. As she walked in, Julius turned from the window to look at her. He instantly noticed a shiver run through her body. He pulled off his coat, wrapped it tightly around her, and pulled her into his slightly cold embrace. 'cold' embrace. He was cold. His whole body, freezing. Had it always been this way? Had all of the times he offered her his coat been because it would do nothing for him? Was Julius really a vampire? All of these questions raced so quickly through her mind that she became faint. Julius walked her to the bed and dressed her. Willa blurred in and out of the room the whole time. Finally he finished and walked her to the car, sat her in her seat, and crossed the front to his own door. Soon, they were on their way.
'I thought I would sleep the whole way. I guess I was wrong. The road turned out to be too bumpy, even for the Volvo. I looked up, Julius looked tired. His face was like stone.
"Hey," I said, slightly groggy. He looked over at me, his features softening.
"How was your sleep," he soothed, sliding his hand up and down my leg before letting it rest on my thigh.
"Good, I feel very refreshed," I lied. I knew he wasn't in the mood to worry about me.
"Liar," he whispered. I smiled out of the window.
"Where are we?" I whined slightly.
"We're almost there. The turn is coming up," he said, amused by my attempt to hide my impatience.
"Good," just as I said it, we came to a barely visible dirt turnoff. He turned, the road was so terrible that, I thought we were going to bottom out. He must have noticed because he took my white-knuckled hand, from the seat, in his own and brought it to his mouth, kissing it gently. I smiled at his thought. But inside I was screaming. I mean, I was in the Canadian Mountains with a vampire.
As we pulled into the drive way, I looked around. Who could've guessed that after thirty-seven miles of mountains, there would be a cabin back here. Certainly not my father,' she thought.
Then he pulled her out of the car and onto the ground next to him. They laughed, as he pulled her on top of him. He kissed her gently and whispered "I love you," in her hear. She got up and began to run as fast as she possibly could. She ran into the forest, anywhere to get away from this monster, her monster boyfriend. She thought she had gotten away until she felt cool, steel like arms wrap around her middle and pull her into Julius' chest. He laughed and kissed her, not even out of breath. She knew he didn't realize why she was running, because he kissed her. He thought this was a joke.
"Why did you run?" he smirked, searching her eyes for a hint of truth, as if they might hold an answer for her. She stalled for a moment, racking her brain for a response, something, anything.
She smiled mischievously, "so you would follow," she kissed him back.
