DISCLAIMER! TH ONLY CHARACTER I OWN IS VANESSA, DARREN SHAN OWNS EVERYONE ELSE! AND THE REAL, PUBLISHED, LEGIT BOOK!
Ok, so, warning! This chapter gets a little intense… enjoy!
When I got to his house, it was about four. I smiled. I looked around and froze a puddle on the ground and looked at my reflection. I smiled and defrosted the ice and put my iPod back in my pack. Then, I took a deep breath and walked up the steps to his front door and rang the bell. A woman yelled out, "Get the door!" followed by a guy's voice calling back, "I'm on my way." My heart fluttered when I noticed that I sounded like Steve's. I heard him thundering down the stairs and his footsteps down the hall. He opened the door and paused, his eyes widening.
I flushed. He was shirtless and had a hint of a six pack. Then he grinned and leaned against the doorway while looking me up and down. "Well well, look who came over." He said. I grinned. "Well, you did invite me." I teased. He laughed. "I honestly didn't think you'd come…you look really good by the way." He said. I blushed. "Why wouldn't I? And you look pretty good yourself." I added with a wink. He blushed a little at my remark then shrugged.
"You just don't seem to be the kind of girl that'd hang out with a guy like me." he said, tossing me a seductive smile. I flushed as Darren popped in. "Oh, hey Vanessa! No wonder Steve's taking so long to come back up." he taunted, looking me up and down. Steve elbowed him. I suddenly felt like I was being watched by someone other than Darren and Steve, then I heard a noise in the bush that only a certain snake boy could make. I frowned. "Excuse me." I said.
They looked confused but let me go. I looked around and picked up a small rock that was on the porch and walked around to the side of the house where Evra was. I then threw the rock as hard as I could and heard a sharp cry of pain. "What are you doing here?" I hissed as I saw Evra emerge from the bush, rubbing the side of his head. "I was wondering where you were going." He muttered. I frowned. "Go back to camp, Evra! I'm on a personal trip!" I hissed. Then I heard footsteps and froze. "Hey, what are you doing, Vann?" Steve shouted. I pushed Evra. "GO! And take my cloak; you don't want to freak out little toddlers." I whispered furiously, throwing it at him. He frowned but did as he was told.
I quickly walked around the side of the house and ran into Steve. I flushed and backed away some. "Sorry, I thought I heard a noise." I said. He rolled his eyes and just stared at me. "What happened to your cloak?" he asked me. "I put it in my pack." I lied without skipping a beat. He rolled his eyes and picked me up, slinging me over his shoulder. I squealed. "Steve! Put me down!" I cried out. He laughed and slapped my butt. I cried out in surprise. "Steve Leonard!" I shouted, giggling. Then we came up to the porch and Steve stopped. "What?" he asked. "Uh…I can kind of see her ass…" Darren said. I gasped and started pounding on his back as he and Darren laughed and carried me into the house.
"Who is that?" a woman cried. "It's just a girl from school, mom!" Steve shouted. She didn't say anything after that so he continued walking up to his room. When we arrived at our destination, he tossed me onto the bed, smirking. I glared at him and then closed my eyes and stuck my nose up in the air. He laughed at me and threw a book at me. I cracked up laughing and so did they. Then I snorted.
Dead silence.
We all stared at each other before cracking up again. Then I looked at the book he threw at me and froze. It was a collection of vampire stories along with the history of some vampires…the one with Mr. Crepsley in it. I shrugged it off and tossed it.
"What's up with you leaving early?" Darren asked. I sighed, anticipating the question. "My brother's snake got out and we haven't taken her venom out this month yet and she bit my dad so my uncle came and picked me up." I lied. They nodded. I smiled. We chatted for awhile, eating pizza and drinking soda like any other unhealthy teen until about seven when Darren had to leave. I hugged him and then waited in Steve's room as he escorted him to the door.
I took out Alice and Wonderland and started reading, getting lost in the distant world until the book was suddenly plucked from my hands. I looked up in surprise and saw Steve kicking his door close and tossing the book onto his comic cluttered desk. I frowned. "I was reading that." I complained. He laughed softly. "Oh well." He said, slowly approaching the bed. My heart raced as I gazed into his eyes. He took my breath away.
I started to stand up, expecting an embrace followed by a kiss, but he gently pushed me onto the bed until I was lying flat on my back. My heart jumped into a sprint. He crawled onto the bed and rested his knees on either side of my hips and his hands on either side of my head. We stayed like that for a few moments in silence, gazing into each other's eyes.
"Now what?" I whispered. He smiled and leaned in and kissed me. I could tell by the kiss that he wasn't going to hold back very much, so I didn't either. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself closer to him. He moaned and rolled over carefully so that now I was lying on top of his chest. He grabbed a fistful of my hair with one hand and slid his hand under my shirt just enough that his hand was on the small of the back.
My iPod had been playing and then the song Scream by Avenged Sevenfold started playing as we parted. He laughed. "How fitting." He growled, pulling my hair down so we could continue our kiss. I could hear his heart pumping and it added to the experience. Then, my phone went off.
I sighed and crawled over Steve towards my bag and pulled out the ringing object. I looked at the caller ID. Evra Von. I picked it up.
"Hello?" I asked, breathless. Steve groaned and rolled over. He crawled on top of me and laid there kissing my neck and nibbling my ear. "Hey…are you okay?" Evra asked. I laughed. "I'm more than okay." I said. Steve laughed at that, Evra heard him. "Who was that? Okay, you know what, never mind, Mr. Crepsley wants you back at camp…now." I frowned. "Why? What happened?" I asked. He hesitated. "Mr. Tiny's coming." He said before hanging up. I groaned.
Steve wrapped his arms around my waist. "What's wrong babe?" he murmured into my ear. I sighed. "My evil grandfather is coming so I have to go…I swear, he has it out for me." I muttered. He laughed. "He must be jealous of your good looks." He teased. I rolled my eyes and rolled over. "Can you let go of me? I need to get up." he rolled his eyes but complied. I was suddenly cold. I looked down at myself and saw that my shoes were off…along with my skirt. I looked at Steve. All he was wearing were his boxers. I frowned.
"When did that happen?" I asked. He smiled wickedly. "Don't matter." He said. I shrugged and looked around for my clothes and my book. I found my book and my shoes but…I couldn't find my skirt. I turned and started at Steve, my hands on my hips. "Hand it over." I said. He frowned and tossed me my skirt. I quickly pulled it on. "Thank you." I said sweetly. He rolled his eyes playfully. Then I pulled on my shoes as Steve pulled on his pants and a shirt. I picked up my bag and followed him downstairs to the front door. We stepped out and I shivered, it was cold.
"I should've brought a jacket." I muttered, cursing myself for giving Evra one of my cloaks. He pulled me back in and quickly ran upstairs then came back down a few moments later with a dark blue jacket. I shrugged of my pack and he helped me put on the jacket. I smelled it and sighed contently. It smelled just like him. He laughed. I giggled and blushed.
"So, um…I was wondering…" he began. I looked up at him. I heard his heart start to speed up again. "What?" I asked. He looked at me and took of a simple silver ring he was wearing and presented it to me. "Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked. My mouth dropped.
"Oh my gosh, I thought you'd never ask!" I squealed. I glomped him and he swung me around in a circle. He set me down, kissed me lightly on the lips and slipped the ring on my thumb. I sighed contently. He picked me up bridal style and walked down the porch. Then he paused and looked down at me. "Where do you live?" he asked me. I groaned on the inside. "Look, I know you're trying to be nice and all but…my dad doesn't approve of me having boyfriends so…yeah." I said lamely. He shrugged and set me down on my feet. "Okay then." He said. He tilted my face up and kissed me. I wrapped my hands around his neck and stood on my tippy toes. Then we parted and he walked back up to his porch. Before he could turn around, I flitted back home, heart full of joy and anxiety.
I entered camp and let me tell you, everyone was rushing around as if we had two shows at once. Someone placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Mr. Crepsley looking at me. I frowned. "Why is he coming?" I asked him. He frowned. "He is not very happy with whatever decisions you have made today most likely." He said. I flushed and looked at my hands. "Now then, go get cleaned up, Vanessa. I will not tolerate this fashion of clothing while Mr. Tiny is afoot." He said. I nodded and darted to my tent and stripped.
I slipped into my jet black cocktail dress and pulled on my blood red hooded cloak with elaborate black stitching. I walked out barefoot to meet my mentor, also barefoot and clad in a red cloak. I smiled at him and, like usual, we threw our hoods on in perfect harmony and went to the front of the camp where we waited for Mr. Tiny.
I was nervous. A strong wind started blowing and I started to get chilly. I edged a little closer to Mr. Crepsley and held his hand for comfort. He squeezed my hand and scratched his scar. I looked up at him. The way the wind was blowing made his red hair seem like a crackling fire. I sighed and looked forward as I saw Little People easing through the gloom, following their grim leader.
Mr. Tiny.