Chapter 5 BPOV

While the rock in my stomach over the amount of money I just spent had ebbed, it came back full force when Leon told me to pull over behind a truck that was sitting idle on the side of the road. Since I was driving, I almost didn't, but I wasn't sure where I was anymore. When we left the clothing store, when asked, I was told we were going to meet up with this Peter guy that had set everything up. It was more curiosity than it was anything else, I guess.

I stayed in the car while Leon got out and jogged up to the passenger window, talking to the one in the driver's seat for a couple of minutes before coming back. When he got back in the car, he told me that wasn't him, but I needed to follow the truck because this car wouldn't be able to get to the house without using the actual driveway. We had been driving on a sand road for the last fifteen minutes, but though I wanted to point that out, I didn't. Instead, I did as ordered and followed the truck.

We were literally in the middle of nowhere when I saw were we were going, and my stomach clinched. This was like... where people went to die. It was a nondescript colored house with nothing around it for miles. The house itself was surrounded by a wall that was at least ten feet tall, with only one way in or out that I could tell.

Passing through the gate, though, was like entering a different world. It wasn't green and lush, but there were desert plants, rock gardens, and once you were within the wall, it was a paved drive. The style of the house itself was a lot like what I was used to from Arizona, the plaster and clay looking exterior only broken by a bank of windows below the roof line and two bay windows closer to the ground. There wasn't so much a porch, but there was a covered stone stoop with four steps leading up to a double door entry. It was a gorgeous house. Too bad it loomed with the reason I was here. Kinda took away from the beauty of it.

Stopping the car, I sat there for a moment, hands still on the wheel, wondering if there was still time to change my mind, turn around, and leave. Leon, though, took that answer upon himself, shutting off the engine before taking the keys. Glaring at him slightly from the corner of my eye, I gave a face when he winked at me, then snatched the keys back when he held them out to me. "Thanks."

He chuckled as he opened his door, glancing at me before he got out. "You need to relax. You are literally the safest person here."

I felt my eyes crinkle in the corners as I clambered out of the car, trying to cut him off at the pass. Getting in from of him by the hood of the car, I held my hands up, so he crossed his arms, waiting for me to tell him what I wanted. Clearing my throat, I did just that. "What do you mean? I'm a human in a house of vampires. How am I safe here?"

He bent at the waist, his red eyes locking on mine as a smirk pulled across his lips, a chuckle rumbling in his throat. "Because the only way to get to you, is through him."

There was something in Leon's eyes as he stood back to his full height and sidestepped me to head into the house. Without thought, I called after him as I whipped around. "What does that mean?"

He didn't stop as he answered. "Not my place to answer that."

It wasn't really the answer that got under my skin, but at the same time, it was. I was so over vampires and their refusal to actually answer a question, that as I followed after him, I yelled at his back. "What is it with you creatures and your inability to just answer a fucking question?"

That got his attention, but it wasn't in a good way. He froze with his hands on the doorknobs, slowly turning his head to look over his shoulder at me, and there was a darkness in his eyes. "Creatures? We're creatures now?"

As stupid as it might have been, I stood my ground. "You're not human. You're works of fiction... myths, legends. Yeah, you're creatures, but that's not the point. The point is, not a single of you will just answer a question, always saying it isn't your place or you don't know or changing the subject and avoiding it altogether. Aren't you supposed to be smart?"

I've been growled at before, but never quite like that. Even though I didn't want to, I was going to apologize. Before I could, the driver of the truck stepped up next to me. From the corner of my eye I saw him point to the house. "Inside, Leon, before you do something you know you won't live to regret."

And he was gone, his voice trailing back about irritating humans, which didn't do a whole lot to make me take back the 'creatures' comment. Looking up at the man next to me, I saw his attention focused on the higher windows. I wasn't sure what to say, but he didn't give me a chance to think of something, either.

He looked back at me with a grin. "Might I suggest not testing the depths of vampiric patience right off the bat? There are 20 here, and a few more on the way. It might be wise to keep the name calling to a very bare minimum."

I nodded with a gulp. "Right. I'm not sorry, though."

His grin widened. "Good. You'll need that fire to deal with Whitlock. He's a cock on a good day, and something there is no word for on a bad one." Then, he chuckled as he walked backwards toward the door, signaling me to follow. "Still, I wouldn't call him a creature if you can help it."

Scratching the back of my head, I looked at the ground as I followed him inside. I didn't look up until I heard the smooth, deep baritone colored in a southern twang from the phone call the day before. "The little lady can call me whatever the fuck she want."

I looked up to where the voice came from and blinked. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't him. He was dressed in a plain white t-shirt, jeans, and a very well loved black cowboy hat. He was older when he was turned, I would say mid to late twenties. I was so used to seeing younger looking vampires, late teens, maybe twenty three at best. Carlisle was thirty, but he didn't look anything like the man above me with his strong features and defined muscle tones.

If the change was supposed to enhance the body at the time the venom was injected, it showed just how different wherever this man came from was than where the vampires I was used to did.

When he turned his bright red eyes on me, there was a playful looking smirk on his face as he set his hands on the wooden railing with his pool cue held in the webbing of his thumb. His voice was also light, but I wasn't sure if he was trying to put me at ease, or if he was really just as laid back as he looked. "You ain't gonna call me nothin' worse than I been called before, are ya, Little Sugar?"

I shrugged with a waver in my voice. "I... uh... heh... I don't know."

His face didn't change as he chuckled, his head tilting slightly to the side and toward the stairs along the wall. "Well, come on now. We gotta have a conversation, don't we?" As I turned to the steps, he looked back at the vampire I came in with. "Get her shit, put it in the bedroom, and make sure the twins don't fuck up anymore a my house."

I looked over the railing, but he was already gone, so I wrapped my arms around my stomach as I finished the ascent to the second floor. When I got to the landing, I swallowed hard that the sight of so many sets of red eyes looking at me. I had never been around so many vampires that wouldn't think twice about eating me, so it was a little off putting.

Clearing my throat, I returned my eyes to who I found out was Peter, but just wanted to make sure. Licking my lips, I swallowed hard again. "So... you're him?"

His grin was back in place as he reached up with his empty hand to tip the brim of his hat. "Peter Whitlock, atcha service, Little Sugar." He handed the cue off and leaned a hip on the safety rail. "My apologies, Darlin', for the way you was brought here, but there weren't a lotta choices in the matter. I wasn't here, and you needed away from there."

I just nodded. "It wasn't... bad."

He pointed a finger at me. "But you was uncomfortable, wasn't ya?"

There wasn't really any denying that. "At times, yeah. But.. I mean... circumstances being what they were and all." It was then I held out the keys to the Mustang. "Here's the keys to your car."

His nose wrinkled and what sounded like a gag came from his throat. "Eww. That ain't mine. That truck out there mine." Using the same finger he used to point at me, he then used to push my hand away from him. "And, accordin' ta the papers, that coupe is yours. 'Sides that, didn't ya give that... antique a yours ta Grant?"

Now it was my turn to feel nauseous, only mine was real. I had actually handed the keys of my truck over to the vampire at the garage, and I have no idea what he did with it. I also didn't want to know what he did with it. Still, I shook my head hard and tried again to give him the keys. "That's a 60,000 dollar car. I can't pay that back."

He pushed himself to stand and, again, pushed my hand away like they keys to that car were offensive. "Hundred and seventeen, and I didn't ask ya to, did I? You gonna need somethin' ta get around while we here, and you ain't drivin' my truck." He then held out a hand toward the back of the floor, a glint in his eyes. "Ya can thank me later. For now, we got more important shit ta deal with."

I was positive my jaw was on the ground after he exposed how much it was to modify that car, and I was also positive he heard my heart skip a beat at it as well. I knew it was expensive. The guy I talked to at the garage alluded to as much, but over a hundred grand? That was excessive. I already knew I didn't want the car, but that pretty much sealed the deal that I would never touch it again. I could walk the twenty miles to civilization. Might take me all day, but I could do it.

"I don't even fuckin' think so."

My eyes snapped back to Peter's, who now looked offended. Still, he just waved me through the area, so I headed in the direction he told me to go. He stayed a few steps behind me, and set a hand on my shoulder when I got to the door that was on the left side of the hall. I waited as he opened the door and paused a few steps in when I heard his voice again. He wasn't looking at me, instead addressing the others that were still in the gaming area.

"Garrett gonna be here soon and he got someone with 'im. He my guest and I wanna see 'im soon as he gets here."

I don't know what happened, but I assume everyone nodded at him, because he stepped into what I discovered was an office before closing the door behind him. Apparently, he was really good at soundproofing, because as soon as the door was closed, I couldn't hear the music like I should have been able to. I was sure he could hear it just fine, but his hearing was better, so that pretty much went without saying.

He walked past me and crooked a finger, telling me to follow, so I did. Why? I don't know. I should have been making things a little more difficult for him, but honestly, what was there to gain by that?

I took a seat in one of the empty chairs. He hopped up and just sat on the desk, holding his weight with his forearms on his thighs. He used a thumb to push his hat back, then laced his fingers together as he looked at me. It was slightly unnerving, not having the greatest experience with red eyed vampires, but since I was in a house full of them, I was pretty much stuck dealing with the off putting color.

Great.