Chapter Twenty

A Small Trip

I believed I had finally figured out the whole schedule to this vampire thing. Or rather more the Evanen thing, seeing as the other vampires had no actual schedule besides not going outside in daylight. See, it seems as though there's more daylight hours than darkness, so it wasn't as though we slept all day and was awake for the rest of the night on strict principles. It seemed as though we leaked into each one no matter what. See, the schedule was that we'd go to sleep some time after daylight broke in the morning.. a good couple of hours, and then we didn't like to wake up until it was good and dark rather than the moment daylight disappeared. So waking up the moment darkness fell was like waking up at the break of dawn in human's view. Totally not fun except to those few lovely "morning birds". And going to sleep the moment daylight appeared was like going to sleep the moment it got dark... around 7 or 8pm... or whenever it is that darkness takes over. Either way, when I was on human schedule, I didn't like to go to sleep until at least midnight, and I preferred to stay asleep until at least eleven in the morning... ten was the minimum, and school was Hell.

So, we were basically up at say 10 at night, until around 11 in the morning. This meant that the outside time for the vampires was a good eight or nine hours, depending on how punctual they were. And if all else failed, you could get up early to go hunting better, or if you wanted to go outside more. But by saying 'waking up', I refer more to Evanen, because I believed that the other vampires didn't sleep much. In fact, sleeping seemed to be a very human thing to do, and for some reason, Evanen -- those most unhuman of them all -- was the one who did it most. As for myself, sometimes you could find me clinging to the window like a leech, staring at the nearest location of the sun rays during those hours of daylight in which we were awake in. The best I could do was watch plants soak up that sunlight in absence of myself. Luckily I was old enough to where no complete damage could be done from the lack of sun. I couldn't end up like those twin in V.C. Andrew's book, which became freaks with growth defects because of their years without sunlight. Still, I was starting to get tired of the coldness of this house... I wished I could be a plant.. a tree out there reaching up to those rays of light and warmth. Stretching with those leaves that will eventually have to shed away to be renewed.

"What's it feel like," I suddenly heard from beside me as I was sitting next to a window, staring absently at the areas of light where I longed to be at the moment. I turned my head to see Evanen looking at the same area, but with a look of minor physical irritation. I wondered if the lights being reflected were bothering his eyes. It seems it would be possible to happen to vampires. Especially one who'd never been in such light before.

"Depends, what's what feel like," I asked cooly. "Not being able to breathe without someone on your shoulder? Not being able to laugh without someone asking what's funny? Not being able to enjoy a view of something you want without someone bugging you with questions, questions, and more questions?" I very much didn't enjoy having a babysitter on me all the time.

Normally, you'd figure he would've gotten the clue, but instead he said, "No. What's the sun feel like... to humans?" Of course. I rolled my eyes, and moved them back to the outside, sunlit world. I assumed he meant before I had been bitten, and the joys that came with 'Spring Break' and 'Summer' were distroyed by current situations of partial-albinism and minor irritations due to Ultraviolet Rays.

"I don't know," I said at last, "I used to take it for granted, so I never really took notice to it. But... I guess, when you're cold, the sun feels warm and comforting. And then there's time when the sun can stop being so gentle and become evil, glaring at you until you want nothing else in the world except the moon. Otherwise, the sun's just there... this great light that makes you wake up and feel like doing something, even when you don't want to do something. And you never really notice until it's dark again, and you're not tired anymore... and you want it to come back so you can feel happier.. and safer. Like during storms, which don't seem as bad when you can see it. That's what the sun does, it let's you see the dangers so that it doesn't seem so dangerous anymore. I don't know."

I didn't hear anything from Evanen for awhile, and I turned to look at him. He was looking at me oddly, and I didn't think I liked it too much. "Do you want to go outside," he asked, and the first thing that came to mind was the pet dog again. I'm suppose to get all excited, run in circles, and bark until he's satisfied in the answer and opens the door to me. Instead, I just stared at him as though there was a catch. "I'll let you out if you don't run away. If you do, I'd just have to wait until dark comes, and then I'd hunt you down and make you watch everyone you ever known and loved die." He looked completely sincere in this threat.

"I won't run," I said as though insulted. "And don't threaten me." I pointed my finger at him in a scolding manner, but only to lighten the mood. I knew that I had no authority in that matter, but it was better to pretend than to frighten myself at the thought of my dad dying before my eyes. I almost had half a mind to remind him how he'd already killed Kyler before my eyes, but I decided not to push it.

"Come on, then," Evanen ordered, and he moved towards the direction of the sliding doors, where Mikel had kissed me during the party for the first time. I felt nervous just thinking about it, as though Evanen would sense it, and freak out. But he didn't seem to sense anything. Instead, he just opened the door, pointing at the wooden porch which was half in the dark and half in the sun. I hesitated before stepping forward.

The first thing that came in stepping into the light was automatic irritation and slight, pricking pain in my eyes. But as I looked at the light on my extremely pale skin, the pain didn't seem as bad and I could enjoy the sudden warmth that the light provided. I raised my head up to the sky, closing my eyes to see the red behind my eyelids as the sun blanketed me gently. I smiled, remembering how I used to believe the sun to be the eye of God at some point. I used to make it a point to never look at it, for it had to be God. Light always was good. And if you looked directly at it, it could hurt you. So I was found sometimes staring at it behind dark, yet thin clouds on those few days when the sun no longer seemed a glaring flame ball, but just a bright circle. And now I could accept the sun as being God's eye, seeing as it brought such comfort and warmth to me at the time. Plus, it made sense... vampires couldn't go into sunlight.

I suddenly bent down my head to look over towards Evanen, remembering his questioning as to why he wouldn't have a soul himself. If he hadn't killed anyone in his life, he still wouldn't be able to go into the sun. Banish from birth. It seemed unfair in a way. And I no longer wanted to be in the sunlight.

~...~

Hailence. I nearly jumped out of my skin as I was jolted awake from the sudden hiss in my mind. I could kill Mikel sometimes. I pushed myself up slowly, turning my head in Evanen's direction. He was -- once again -- dead to the world. I laid back down, waiting for another reason as to why I had been awoken so suddenly.

Leave the room. And I had a sudden image of walking outside the bedroom to see Mikel waiting by the door with a finger over his lips, a smirk on his face. I slowly smiled, and moved to look in Evanen's direction again. Assured in his dead sleep, I moved myself slowly out of the bed. Once I got out, I paused, but he was still out. I slipped on my shoes quietly, and slouched on light feet towards the door. I pressed the palm of my hand on the flat of the door and used the other hand to turn to knob. When I moved to open the door, it was quietly and nearly painful in how quiet I tried to be. But it seemed as though there was no point, for Evanen didn't budge in his sleep.

I shut the door, and turned to move in the direction I'd seen Mikel in my image. Before I moved a step, Mikel popped in front of me triumphantly, and I nearly squeaked in startlement. "Sneaking out with a vampire isn't a good idea," Mikel said darkly, in a low, amused voice. He gripped me by the waist and lightly pressed me against the wall. "You might get hurt." And he smiled evily.

I smiled back, not convinced by his bad boy act. "I'll have to take that chance," I whispered, and a muffled laugh came when he nipped at my neck threatingly. "Still not scared." His eyes gleamed, and he was pressing his lips over mine demandingly. I gave in automatically, and then he pulled away, holding his forehead against mine lovingly.

"Good," he said, "How do you feel about little, inconspicuous trips?" I hesitated.

"What do you mean by trip?"

Mikel smiled sheepishly, and said, "I mean outside this property, but we're on a tight schedule. It's 8:20pm and that means we've got a max of an hour and a half before Evanen will start waking up. I figured we should keep it within an hour."

I still was confused, "A trip where?"

"Well, I figured you might want to go some place, for memory sake," he stated, and I was suddenly reminded of Evanen's habit of trying to give me things of my past that merely hurt me more. I frowned, not sure if I'd like this idea of a trip. Mikel noticed, and he hesitated. "Look, I remember that when I was turned, the only thing I ever wanted was to see my parents one last time, or walk along a path in the woods that I liked to walk through as a human. Only I was always afraid that I might not be able to contain myself, and I might kill someone... maybe even someone I know. I just don't want you to be without your last goodbyes.. in case this is indeed your last goodbyes. Though.. actually, I'm hoping to try to keep this from being the end of your human life, but you can never be sure, right?" And he smiled so assuringly that I couldn't even remember why such reasoning would be equal to Evanen's.

"Okay," I agreed, smiling in return. "I've got an idea where I want to go first." And with that, Mikel swiped me off my feet, making me bite down on my tongue in order to contain myself from giggling and bringing attention to myself. With such quiet movement that I would've never been able to do myself, we escaped from the house, went a distance, and then he placed me down. I looked around slowly. "So what? Are you going to run me there or something?"

Mikel chuckled, "I believe I'll stick to driving. I just had to get further away with the car so that it wouldn't bring attention to us. Just hold on right here for a moment." And he was gone. I didn't have to wait long until he pulled up a car next to me. It felt weird to be riding in a car again after what seemed like forever of being stuck in one place. I kept my face glued to the window, watching the dark trees fly by as we sped towards what I assumed was Merit Cemetary.

It didn't seem to take long before Mikel pulled over on the side of the road. I looked over at him, and he said, "It's closed, but I'll get you over it." I didn't understand why people would close a cemetary. It's not like it's some sort of store or something.. it's a land of dead people. You shouldn't have visitation hours for your dead loved ones. But then again.. it's suppose to keep people from robbing graves and stuff. Still, it's called night watch. Though that must be creepy to some extent... what am I talking about? I have a vampire guy with me.

I followed Mikel as he moved around the sidewalk of the cemetary gates, and he stopped at a section where it seemed the gate was shorter than the rest. Then he gestured for me to come closer. I hesitated. "What are you going to do? Throw me over," I asked uncertainly. He smiled.

"Just come here," he said, and I moved closer to him. He positioned himself behind me, and gripped me by the waist. Then he lifted me up to the top of the gate as though I were a feather. I grabbed ahold of the top of it, and once I had myself positioned to hop to the other side, he let go. I landed smoothly. As I straighted out my clothes, I turned to find Mikel already looking down the tombstones. I moved to join him.

"Have you ever meant to lightly leap over something, and jumped too far," I asked curiously.

He glanced at me before continuing on the search. "At the beginning it's natural that happens, when you don't know your own strength. Everything seems easier, and it's hard to get used to not having to try at things anymore." I couldn't see any of the letters on the tombstones in the darkness, so I had to depend on him to find her.

"Have you ever tried to see how far up you can jump," I inquired.

"Nope," he said, "It creeps me out."

"Why? Because you might hit the outer orbit and fly off into space," I asked... that would scare me.

"I guess I prefer to pretend to be as normal as possible, and magnificant ammount of height isn't too normal," Mikel responded.

"What if you jumped with all your might, and delivered a kick against the Earth so hard that it knocked it out of orbit," I said absently, visualizing the world spinning off into utter death. "That'd be cool." And I smiled at Mikel's disturbed look at what I found awesome. He did seem to have a huge problem with his vampirism. Though I find it a bit scary, it was interesting.

"Here it is," Mikel said at last, stopping in front of a tombstone. I felt a sudden chill, knowing that Kyler was just under us, decomposing in a box to be distributed back into the Earth. For a moment, I felt an urge to run away, remembering how the bones of her neck seemed out of place as she laid slumped against the wall. Then I hesitated, and fell to my knees to look closer at the tombstone. Indeed, it had the name 'Kylee "Kyler" Madison'. Under the name was her lifespan, lasting a mere 17 years, and a small phrase that stated "Let me be empty and weightless and maybe I'll find some peace tonight". It sounded a bit depressing to me, but it did come from Sarah Mclachlan's 'Angel'.

There were flowers surrounding the tombstone, along with a picture of her and her friends in one batch of flowers. I picked it up to see myself smiling pleasantly under her arm, happy among the mass of the cafeteria friends. For a moment, I just looked at it, and then I pocketed it. Though that might be considered as stealing, I didn't want to risk forgetting what Kyler looked like. I looked around to see Mikel off in the distance, looking at separate tombstones randomly. I glanced back at Kyler's grave, and hesitated. What do you say to a dead person? It's not like they're going to answer.

So, being original as I'm sure Kyler would appreciate, I bent down a bit and whispered, "Hey, Kyler, I hope you find God hot... or if you're in Hell, I hope you have fun kicking Hitler's ass." And I smirked before standing up. "All right, let's go," I said to Mikel. He was suddenly walking past me, so I followed him, allowed him to help me over the gate, and was once again looking out the window as we pulled not too far away from my trailor house. I almost had an urge to just ditch all this vampire mess, stomp into the house, and go to sleep properly. Instead, I led Mikel to my window, he opened it quietly, and helped me into my room.

My room was the same as it had been originally, as though I had only left a couple of hours ago. The first thing I grabbed was a picture of dad from the tac board above my dresser. Then I sat down on my bed, paused, and spread out, stretching before burying my head into my pillow. The familiar scent was so comforting, and I would've gone asleep right then if Mikel didn't suddenly whisper gently, "We have to go." I got up reluctantly, and soon we were on our way back to the house of slavery, boredom... and Mikel. I guess it could be worse.

I wonder if I was presented with the chance to go back home or stay with Mikel, which one I would choose. The question of decision hurt my head too much to think about, and I had to drop it. The only decision I'd come up with would be to go home, and bring Mikel with me as a sort of souvenir. Yes, that'd be funner.

Mikel parked the car a little ways from the house, out of way and in the woods. Then he once again picked me off my feet and in moments, we were at the door of the building. "Be quiet when you go back in," Mikel said, and he paused, "I think he's still asleep, but he might wake up if you're noisy enough. If all else fails, just say you went to the bathroom or something." Then he sniffed in the scent of my hair and muttered something about laying on my bed.. I didn't quite catch it.

He opened the door to the house, and we stepped in quietly. I thought we'd make it, but before I reached the stairs, someone was blocking my way. I gulped at the suspicion and distaste on Cecilian's face. "Where've you two been off to," Cecilian asked coldly, staring me down in disgust. I backed up a bit, but ran into Mikel, who gripped his hands on my shoulders.

"I don't think it's your business," Mikel said testily.

Cecilian looked from me to Mikel and back with a look of near apathy, yet there was some humor behind her eyes, as though this were some treat to her. "Well, if I'm not much mistaken, I'm sure it'd be Evanen's business. Maybe he might not care too much at the fact that pathetic Mikel has grown a bit too fond of his human, but I'm sure that won't be the case. And what will Katha say?" And she turned to move towards Evanen.

Suddenly, Mikel pushed past me, and grabbed Cecilian before shoving her against the wall. I saw her start to struggle, but even though she was older than Mikel, he seemed to be stronger than her. "Listen, Cecilian," he snarled, "You're not going to say a word to Evanen, or I'll--"

She interupted in a dry voice, "I'm not going to tell anyone, little boy. You go ahead and do what you want. Turn her if you want.. yes, turn her. That'd be best, I believe. Then she'd be open to be yours, right? I think the human would be healthy for you... and if Evanen kills you in the process, all the more for it." And she smiled in her evil thoughts. Mikel didn't seem to trust this, but I could tell how sincere she was being. Then again, why wouldn't she be sincere? This is an opening for Evanen and "the human girl" to become less attached. Then I wouldn't get anything from Evanen in his stupid Rising, and I'd be out of the question. Plus, Evanen would kill the weakest one of their bunch, and maybe even me. It'd fit her view perfectly.

"Now let go of me," Cecilian snapped, "You stink of graves." And he weakened his grasp, allowing her to shove him away, straighten her clothes haughtily, and walk away slyly as though permanently up to something. Mikel hesitated before turning to look at me. I looked back at him as though affirming that that had indeed been close.

"Are you okay," Mikel asked, concerned.

I nodded, "Yeah." Then I started up the stairs. Before we got back to Evanen's/my room, Mikel grabbed my wrist to stop me. Then, without a word, he rubbed the back of his hand against my cheek. He bent his head down, resting it against mine slowly. Then he let go, turning to walk towards his room. A small smile appeared on my lips before I turned back into the room.

Evanen was still mostly dead to the world. It wasn't too hard to lay back down in the bed, and that amount of movement just had Evanen turn over to move closer to me. I made myself comfortable, resting on my stomach, and Evanen's arm crawled across my back. It took only an hour at the most before he started to stir. Then he moved closer to me, probably knowing I wasn't asleep either. I heard him breathe in my hair, and paused.

"You smell different," he suddenly stated slowly. I smirked, realizing what it was that Mikel must have said when he himself had smelled in my scent. I laid across my bed, so I basically had rubbed the scent of what I used to smell like, around everybody else, on my own, in school, and things of that sort.

"You're weird," I responded, without a trace of guilt to give myself away.