I walked up the stairs and opened the door. The house was still lit, which meant that mom was still up. I could hear the faint sound of the T.V in the living room.
My heart still pounded from what had happened a minute ago. My lips still burned from where he touched them. I breathed calmly, trying to calm my nerves down.
I walked slowly into the living room to say goodnight to mom. When I got there, she was curled into a ball on the couch crying into someone's arms. I stopped in my tracks to take a better look at who was here.
When They moved, I saw that it was only Terran. Over in the corner, I saw Desiree slumped beside Aidan.
"Mom?" I said, walking towards her, "What's wrong?"
She lifted her head and looked at me. I could see that she had been crying for a long time now.
"It's...Trinity...She's been killed."
I stood there, horror struck. "What!?" I yelled.
Mom turned back to Terran and began sobbing again. Aidan jumped up and came over to my side. I looked down at the floor.
Tinity? no, not her. She was mom's best friend. The one that every mom needs, to be able to tell secrets and stories to. The one That comforts them when their sad, takes them out to movies. Trinity was such a nice person. She had never done anything wrong to anybody. She was a volunteer down at the charity house, and helped anyone who needed it.
Aidan wrapped his arm around me. I just stood there limp, not knowing what to do.
"It seems that she was...that she passed in the same way as your friend Cody." Terran said.
I shook my head. Everything was spinning. My knee's felt like jello beneath me. I could feel myself falling, but had no drive to try to catch myself. I had almost hit the floor, when someone scoopped me up in their arms. I rested my head against their chest, listening for their heartbeat. When I didn't hear it, I looked up at the person who held me.
Jasper looked down at me with worried eyes. To see him there startled me. I had had no recolection of him coming inside.
"Can you stand?" he asked.
I looked down at the ground. Then back up at him.
"I...I don't know..." The world started spinning again.
Why her? Why Cody? What had they ever done to anyone?
Aidan looked over at me with sad eyes. I knew that he was worried to. He glanced up at Jasper. When their eyes met, they both nodded at each other. Jasper turned his head over to Desiree and Terran, who also nodded in agreement of some unspoken arrangement.
"I'm taking her up to her room. I think she's had enough for one night." Jasper turned towards the staircase and started walking.
He carried me all the way up the stairs and into my room like he was holding a feather. He was either very strong or very polite for not showing that I was heavy.
He slowly placed me on my bed and sat beside me. He breathed heavily for a moment and then turned to look at me.
"There's something that you need to know..." he trailed off.
I looked at him with curious eyes, did he have to bring it up now?
"We haven't been completely honest with you." he paused to look at my reaction, "The truth is...we're not like you."
I stared at him, "What do you mean?"
"This is hard to say...we're not human."
"What?" I was utterly confused now.
He sat back and looked at me. "How am I going to explain this?..."
I watched him carefully. I didn't know what he was talking about. I searched my memory for anything that would help me understand. In an instant, I remembered the movie from earlier. Twilight. How all the way through it, I had thought it had given me clues as to why Jasper was the way he was. I had been constantly thinking that he may be a vampire. Wait a second, thats it.
"A..."I was unsure as to how to say it. What if I was wrong? What if I just blurted something strange and he laughed at me?
"Go on...?" he urged.
"V-a-m-p-i-r-e...?" I said slowly.
His eyes dropped to the bed. He shook his head, "So you figured it out."
He turned away from me. Without any control over my body. I moved over to his side. I slowly reached my hand out and cupped his. His skin was cool against my skin, sending goosebumps down my spine.
His head shot over to look at me. His eyes were kind, yet harsh. He studied me. I looked deep into his eyes and saw something I never thought I would see in him; Fear.
"Aren't you afraid of me?" he asked uncertain.
I shook my head, "No. To be perfectly honest..."my voice trailed off.
I looked down at our hands.He probably wouldn't like what I had to say next.
"Be honest with me. what is it you were going to say?" His free hand moved under my chin and lifted my head up so that I could see right in his eyes.
"I've never felt safer with anyone, than I do with you..."
I closed my eyes, not wanting to see what his reaction was. After a moment of silence, I thought it safe enough to open them again. When I looked at him, I not only saw fear, I saw worry, anger, happyness, and something else I didn't reconize.
"I'm sorry if that upset you..." I was sorry.
"No, you didn't upset me. I'm just angry with myself." he turned his head to face the window. "I knew it would happen. It was my fault that it did. ever since my first day here, I knew something would happen. I wasn't sure what at first, until I met you." He turned back to face me when he said the last bit.
"I-I dont' understand." and I didn't.
I was quite confused actually. He knew something would happen? What is he talking about? Till he met me? Wait! Is he? Could he be the one who's been sending me the notes and the flowers? I felt my face flush at the thought.
"Desiree...she can see things. Things that happen in the future. She saw you. She saw us together. She told me to beware, that the closer that I get to you, the more danger that you will be in." he stopped to look at me.
I processed the information as quickly as possible. My head was spinning from everything that had been happening in the last week.
"She told me to stay away...but when I saw you for myself...I just couldn't. When I saw you for the first time it was like I had been hit by lightning. The smell of your blood was overwhelming. I wanted to go straight over to you and drain you right there."
"But part of me wouldn't let me do it. I knew I could never harm you, no matter what. If anything, I would be the one protecting you. When your mom invited us over that one night, I thought Desiree would have a cow. She didn't want to get involved with you. But most of all, she didn't want me to get involved with you."
"I couldn't help myself. I found myself following you. Everywhere you went, I was just a couple steps behind you. I had to make sure you were alright. You seem to have a knack for falling and running into things. I even stayed outside and watched you sleep for a while every night..."
"What? don't you have to sleep?" I asked interupting him.
"No. They always say that you have time to sleep when your dead, but in my case you can't. Vampire's can't sleep. We don't require it."
I thought about this for a moment. "You followed me? But why?"
He thought about it for a moment and then answered. "Because I found myself falling in love with you. Its only been a couple of weeks since we got here...but I couldn't imagine life without you now."
He moved closer to me. His arm wrapped around me in a tight embrace.
"For a while I thought that you didn't feel the same. And it made me depressed. So I started sending you notes to spark your interest. It didn't take long." He paused and looked at me with a smile, "Did you know that you talk in your sleep?"
"What?!" I shrieked.
No! I couldn't talk in my sleep! What had he heard?
"Calm down," he chuckled.
"What do I say?" I asked truly terrified.
"Sometimes you talk about your dad and how you miss him. Sometimes, you want a dog, and then there are times when you say people's names..."
I looked at him petrified, "Have I ever said your name?"
His smiled broadened, "Yes, the most actually. That made me happy. Knowing that I was on your mind almost as much as you are on mine."
My face flushed. I could feel the blood rushing around. It probably made him thristy. I looked up at him. His eyes had become lighter. He still had the smile on his face from before.
"Do you have any uhm...powers?" I asked him.
"I do.I can read minds...well kind of. I can hear what they are thinking, and any thought that they have ever had."
I gulped.
"But for some reason, I can't get anything from you. When I try to get something from your mind, its like getting static on the radio. Like you have a shield around your head or something. I've never had that happen to me and it makes me angry."
I was surprised to hear this. "So...you can't read MY mind?"
He shook his head, "I don't know why...but with you it just doesn't work."
"How does it work?"
He hesitated, "The closer I am to a person, the louder it their voice inside their head is."
I nodded. I didn't know what else to do. No one had ever told me anything like this. Never. I mean up until just a while ago, vampires weren't real. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if Sage or Alice turned out to be a witch, and hey, if they are, they can join the party.
Jasper drew in a deep breath. "Is this too much for you?"
I looked at him and tried to find out what I really thought. "No, actually, its not. surprisingly, I don't feel any different."
I gazed into his eyes. He seem relieved now for some reason. I let out a breath and looked away. A vampire? A mind reading vampire. I thought for a second. I remembered everything that had happened up to now.
"What about Cody and Trinity? Do you know what happened to them?" I asked.
He looked at me and thought. "You remember that guy that was following us earlier?" he said after a while.
I nodded unsure of what he had to do with anything.
"I think that he's the culprit. He was also a vampire. I knew that just cause of how he smelled. I think that he's the one that Desiree was trying to warn me about. The one who is supposed to be dangerous to you."
He looked at me with worried eyes. I couldn't help but look back into them, they were just so beautiful. I knew now at that instant, that he would never let anything happen to me. And that made me feel safe, safer than I have felt in years.
I nodded. It seemed possible. That guy was pretty creepy... and the way that he followed us everywhere... It seemed like the perfect explanation actually.
A knock sounded at the door. Both of us looked at the door in lightning speed. Jasper stood and made his way to the door.
"It's your mom... and Desiree." he hesitated when he said his sister's name.
He slowly turned the knob and opened the door. Light flowed into the room revealing two people in sillouette. They both moved slowly into the room, one more graceful than the other. I knew at once that it was Desiree.
She eyed me curiously. She glanced over at where Jasper stood and he shook his head answering an unspoken question. Mom made her way over to me and sat down. Her arms locked around me as she sobbed on my shoulder.
I wrapped my arms around her to return the embrace. I quickly glanced at Jasper and mouthed the words, Does she know too?
He shook his head. She didn't know. It was better that way. She wasn't usually as strong as I am.
"Are you alright?" mom sobbed.
"Ya, I'm okay. Shaken, but alright." She pulled back and studied my face.
She searched for something and I figured that she didn't find what she was looking for since she frowned.
"Your face is all red and tear stained..." her voice trailed off.
I nodded, "Ya. Its been a tough little while."
She tried to smile, "Yes it has."
She glanced around the room. I noticed that Aidan and Terran had joined us.
"But at least we have friends to help us through times like these."
Desiree scowled. Aidan beemed, and Jasper looked joyful. I wonder what he was thinking right now.
"You should call Alice and Sage. They will want to know that your alright."
I nodded in agreement. She stood and walked to the door. She hesitated before fully leaving the room. Terran followed her out with Desiree close behind. Aidan gave a quick glance over to Jasper and turned with an angry expression. He quickly left the room.
"What is it between you and your brother?"
Jasper stared at me and then let out a small laugh. "He...hmmm... he thinks that he has a chance." he left me hanging.
"A chance at what?" my eyes were wide.
"Getting you." he chuckled.
He turned to leave. I jumped up instantly, and wished that I hadn't. Everything around me started spinning. I felt me knees give out and prepared myself to hit the floor.
But just the same as before, I felt someone's cool arms lock around me and set me on the bed. When My head stopped spinning I looked right at Jasper who sat beside me with worried eyes.
"You should stay seated. " he handed me the phone out of no where.
"And then you should call Alice and Sage. your mom is right. they will want to know that your alright." He stood up.
I tried to follow, but his cool hand pressed on my shoulder forcing me to stay seated.
"After you call them you should get some rest." he smiled down at me, "I will see you in the morning."
He turned to leave. "Where are you going?"
He stopped and looked at me. He stood in the hallway and smiled. The light danced around him making him look like an angel.
"To talk to with everyone downstairs."
He closed the door slowly leaving me in darkness.
