Chapter 5

The two continued to talk unaware that they were being followed by Seth. He had found out about George killing Herrick and had decided to kill Mitchell as he was sure Mitchell had something to do with it. He was also planning to kill Amber and feed from her and make sure Mitchell was watching. Keeping to the shadows he was biding his time until finally the moment to strike arrived. Leaping forward he knocked Mitchell to the ground, knocking his head into the brick wall they were walking past. Mitchell was dazed and Amber screamed and turned to run only to be blocked by Seth.

"It's time you and I got acquainted pretty one," Seth said.

Amber remembered Seth from when she and Mitchell first met and realized he meant to kill her. He grabbed her arm and pressed her against the wall his fangs manifesting.

"Let me go," Amber cried out, struggling to get free from him.

"Cry out all you like there's no one here to save you. I've knocked your lover boy silly. He's the next to die," Seth hissed.

Amber whimpered as he lowered his mouth to her neck. But he never had a chance to sink his fangs into her neck as Mitchell was suddenly there yanking Seth away from her.

"Do not touch my girlfriend. She is off limits. Touch her again and I WILL kill you. Go on get out of here. I won't say it again," Mitchell growled, showing his fangs and looking aggressive, his eyes black.

"This isn't over Mitchell. Mark my words," Seth snarled.

He turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Mitchell watched him go then turned to Amber, his fangs withdrawing and his eyes returning to normal.

"I'm so sorry… so sorry," Mitchell said, drawing her close.

"Damn you looked sexy then when you were angry, " Amber said.

"I wasn't kidding. I will kill him if he ever touches you again," Mitchell said.

It was the second time Seth had threatened Amber and the second time Mitchell had saved Amber from him.

"Is… is Seth in charge now that Herrick is gone?" Amber asked.

"I fancy that he thinks he is," Mitchell said, shaking his head in disgust.

"You don't think he should be?" Amber asked.

"No all he cares about is feeding and killing," Mitchell said.

"Well you've walked away from all that so it's not really your problem is it," Amber said.

"You're right. I'm not one of them and won't be ever again," Mitchell said.

By then he and Amber were walking again eager to get to Amber's place. Mitchell was feeling very uneasy about Seth's attempt on him and Amber.

"Could I stay the night at yours. I have a feeling that Seth will try again if I go back home," Mitchell said.

"Course you can. You'll have to take the couch though," Amber said.

"Thanks," Mitchell said.

When they reached Amber's place they went inside and Amber got some blankets and a pillow for Mitchell to use. He arranged them on the couch while Amber got ready for bed. When she rejoined Mitchell in the lounge he was ready for bed too. As he didn't have his overnight stuff with him he had stripped down to his underwear and Amber couldn't help but drool over his muscular body. Smiling at Amber Mitchell invited her to join him on the couch and have a cuddle. Amber sat down next to Mitchell and he pulled the blankets over them as she rested her head on his bare chest.

"I wonder how Nina is doing. I mean it must have been a big shock to find out George is a werewolf," Amber said.

"I guess we will find out in the morning," Mitchell said.

He leant over and found Amber's mouth with his kissing her intently. They then cuddled and talked about the whole situation.

"As long as Seth is alive he is a threat to me. He wants to kill me because Herrick's dead. I think he believes I put George up to killing Herrick," Mitchell said.

"That is logical," Amber said.

"And he also thinks I should embrace my vampirism," Mitchell told her.

They cuddled for a while longer then Amber went to bed. Mitchell settled down under the blankets his thoughts on Amber. If it came down to it he really didn't know what he would do if Amber was attacked and he found her dying. He couldn't imagine losing her but the only alternative would be to turn her into a vampire. It wasn't something he would ever wish for as he did not plan to ever turn anyone again. He wasn't that man any more. But he loved Amber too much to lose her so if push came to shove he wouldn't hesitate to save her. He was sure he could help her adjust and stay on the wagon like he was. Amber had fallen asleep fairly quickly but woke a few hours later to hear Mitchell crying out and thrashing around. Getting up she padded out to the lounge and could tell immediately that Mitchell was having a bad dream. Going over to the couch she sat down beside him and took his hand in hers hoping it would somehow help to calm him down. And it seemed to work as he stopped thrashing around and crying out. Once he was calm Amber went back to bed and quickly fell asleep again. The next morning when she got up Mitchell was awake when she went into the lounge.

"I had the most awful nightmare last night, I hope I didn't wake you up," Mitchell said.

"Actually you did," Amber said.

"I'm so sorry. I often dream about people I've killed in the past. It's awful having to relive that," Mitchell said.

"Maybe it's your conscience?" Amber suggested.

"Nah I don't have a conscience. Remember I told you I lost my conscience when I became a vampire," Mitchell said.

They continued to talk about it over breakfast then headed to Mitchell's place. There they found that George had come back and that Nina had told him she still loved him despite what he was. She was worried that she had been infected by George scratching her.

"If you are a werewolf I'm sure you can manage it like George does. No reason why you can't have a full and active life," Amber said.

"I know. And it means I have even more in common with George. We can support each other," Nina said.

"That's fantastic," Amber said.

"How about you?" Did you make it home safely?" Nina asked.

"Yeah I did. Seth tried attacking us but Mitchell got rid of him," Amber said.

"What did he do?" Nina asked.

"I threatened to kill him if he touched Amber again. He was going to kill her," Mitchell said.

"He manifested because he was angry. Damn he was sexy," Amber said.

Nina laughed.

"You're the only person I know of who thinks a vampire is sexy," she said.

As Mitchell had to go to work Amber headed to her counseling courses. So far she hadn't told many of her friends that she had a new boyfriend. But she knew she needed to introduce Mitchell to them at some point. By the end of the day Amber was exhausted as it had been a long day. Heading home Amber was ready to relax and enjoy a peaceful evening. Mitchell was going to be joining her at hers later on and they were going to watch a movie. After Amber got home she had dinner then settled down on the couch to read until Mitchell came. About 10 minutes later there came a knock at the door and Amber put her book down as she assumed it was Mitchell. Going to the door she opened the door expecting to see Mitchell only to find it was her ex-boyfriend Geoff.

"Can I help you?" Amber asked.

"I heard you're seeing some new prick. What does he have that I don't have," Geoff asked.

"He's everything you aren't. Kind, charming, funny and super nice," Amber said.

"How dare you say that," Geoff said.

"It's true. You used to hit me and verbally abuse me," Amber said.

"Only because I love you," Geoff said.

"Bullocks," Amber said.

Geoff's expression darkened.

"What did you say?" he asked, grabbing Amber's arm.

"Get off me," Amber said.

"I think I'm going to have to teach you a lesson. No one tells me I don't love them," Geoff said.

He began hitting her and she fell to the floor hoping Mitchell would arrive soon.

Mitchell arrived a short time later to hear Amber whimpering. Bursting in he saw Geoff hitting her and his face went dark with fury, his eyes going black and his fangs descending.

"How dare you hit MY girlfriend," Mitchell spat.

Geoff looked up and seeing Mitchell's black eyes and sharp fangs screamed in horror and stumbled back, away from Amber petrified of what he was seeing.

"I am going to freaking kill you," Mitchell snarled.

Amber could see that he had manifested and she was afraid he would lose control. Geoff screamed again as Mitchell advanced on him fury in his eyes.

"Mitchell don't. You don't want to do this," Amber called out, as Mitchell grabbed Geoff and slammed him into the wall.

By then Mitchell was pinning Geoff against the wall his breath coming in hisses.

"I should rip your throat out for what you've done," Mitchell growled.

"No," Amber cried out.

"But I'm not not like that anymore," Mitchell growled, letting him go, "If you ever, ever touch Amber again you might not be so lucky. Now get out of here before I change my mind. GO," Mitchell ended.

Geoff immediately took off as fast as he could looking petrified. Amber watched him running then turned to Mitchell and saw that he was relaxing. His eyes had gone back to normal and his fangs were gone.

Amber smiled at Mitchell.

"Well done on not losing control," she said.

"You don't know how hard that was. When I saw him hitting you all I wanted to do was tear him to pieces," Mitchell said.

"But you didn't. You stayed in control. You didn't kill and you didn't feed. I'm proud of you," Amber said, wrapping her arms around him.

"I came very close to losing control. That was pretty scary to be honest. Do you know what stopped me? I thought if I do this. If I kill him what will Amber think of me then. Especially if I do it in front of her. I knew you'd be so disappointed. Especially as I know if I'd killed him I would almost certainly have fed from him. I wouldn't be able to help myself," Mitchell said.

He hung his head ashamed of how close he came to losing control. Amber hugged him.

"You've proved that you can control yourself. I doubt he'll trouble me again. Now that he knows my boyfriend is a vampire he'll be too scared to touch me," Amber said.

"I hope he doesn't blab to anyone. Not that they'd believe him as I look like a normal human being when I'm not manifesting," Mitchell said.

"Shall we watch that movie?" Amber asked.

"Let's," Mitchell said.

So Amber put the movie on.

"Who was that creep anyway?" Mitchell asked after they started watching.

"Ex-boyfriend. I left him cause he hit me and he still hasn't accepted that I don't love him," Amber said.

"Well I don't think you'll be bothered by him again. He was pretty freaked out when he saw my fangs and black eyes," Mitchell said.

He looked at Amber and the two began to laugh. It was good to be able to laugh about what had happened and both felt a lot more relaxed after that. Mitchell looked at Amber and smiled enjoying her company.

"I think you are the one I want to be with for the rest of my life," Mitchell said.

"If only we could be together forever. But we can't as I'm going to grow old and die and you'll remain the same. After I'm gone you'll find someone else and so on and so on," Amber said.

Mitchell knew she was right. He would live forever and when she was gone he would have to face life without her. Unless when she died he staked himself.

"You know when you die I could stake myself if I decide I don't want to carry on living so to speak," Mitchell said.

That thought had occurred to Amber.

"But when I start to age we won't be able to be together. I would be old enough that people would think I'm your mother and then your grandmother," Amber said.

Mitchell knew that was very true.

A few weeks later Amber was invited to a party Geraldine was having.

"Bring Mitchell," Geraldine suggested.

"I will," Amber said.

By then she and Mitchell had been dating for 2 months and it was beginning to get serious. It was the longest Mitchell had been with a woman since Josie. That night Amber told Mitchell about the party.

"I'd love to come. It's time I met your friends," Mitchell said.

"Too right. I've meet yours and I'm good friends with them now," Amber said.

"That's right. You supported Nina through her first transformation along with Annie for which she was really grateful," Mitchell said.

"I'm sure my friends will be very accepting of you," Amber said.

"I will be a regular guy to them. They don't need to know that I am a vampire," Mitchell said.

"That's right," Amber said.

"Bring on the party then. I can't wait to meet your friends," Mitchell said.

Amber smiled and they began discussing what they would wear. She couldn't wait to show Mitchell off to those who hadn't met him.

They went from Amber's to the party and when they got there Amber led Mitchell to the backdoor and knocked. Geraldine came to the door and invited them in, showing them through to the living room. Everyone looked up as Amber entered, hand in hand with Mitchell.

"Everyone this is John Mitchell. Mitchell these are my friends," Amber said, "He goes by Mitchell," she added.

Mitchell smiled and waved to Amber's friends. Soon everyone was mingling and Amber was pleased to see that Mitchell seemed to be fitting in with her friends. They all seemed to like him and he seemed to enjoy their company.

"So are we going to be hearing wedding bells soon?" Geraldine asked.

Amber looked at Mitchell and shrugged.

"Maybe. We've only been together for two months so let's see what happens," Amber said.

Mitchell smiled and wrapped his arms around her enjoying the warmth of her body near his. He was always cold but this didn't bother Amber.

"Do you have any family Mitchell?" Roz asked.

"Nah they are all dead," Mitchell said, which was true.