Hope you guys enjoy this! I had a hard time writing this chapter, I don't like writing chapters that lead up to things that happen or that are just explanatory chapters, but it was needed so :P yeah, Read and, if you want, review! I love your feed back :)
I lay on the small cot in the sleeping chambers, replaying the events of the night in my head as the Vampaneze slept. Steve and I had a confrontation full of snide remarks, slaps, punches, kicking, and time outs enforced by Gannen. I told him about the Hunters and what my intentions were. Reluctantly, he agreed to my proposal, but on one dreadful condition.
I asked him about Brandon but…I didn't get a good answer. Steve admitted, quite proudly, that he snapped the boy's neck soon afterwards, since he was 'a nuisance'. Of course, that ensued more fighting and…well, part of Steve's left ear is now gone. I smiled slightly at that. Bet he won't like it when girls nibble on his ear now. I chuckled to myself.
"You're still awake?" a voice asked. I looked to my left to see Eric looking at me miserably. "Yeah, why are you awake?" I asked him. He sighed. "I'm not used to the whole sleep in the day, run around at night thing. What's your excuse?" he asked. I shrugged. "I'm a daylighter." I said simply. He raised a brow. "I can walk around in the sun because I'm special." I smirked. He rolled his eyes.
"So, what's this life story of yours?" I asked him. He frowned. "Well, sorry if this comes across as conceited and arrogant, but my life was perfect, I had it all." He said, looking up at the ceiling. I sat up and stared at him. "Elaborate." He looked at me for a bit before answering.
"Well, I had a great family life, we were upper class, I was the star pitcher on the baseball team, had straight A's, Valedictorian, and I had a girlfriend who was kind, smart, and beautiful, inside and out." He said, smiling a sad smile. "How the hell did you get yourself mixed up in this?" I asked him softly. He furrowed his brow.
"Nora, my girlfriend, and I were on our way to my house for a late dinner. I felt like someone was watching, but I didn't say or do anything, I didn't want to freak out Nora. So I kept walking and when we got into the house, he was there, holding my mom, my dad and my younger brother hostage. Another Vampaneze took Nora and Steve took me to my room and talked to me some, and we struck up a deal." He said.
"You traded your humanity for your loved ones, didn't you?" I asked, starting to get crazy pissed. I could feel the temperature starting to rise in the room and I fought to keep my emotions in check. Eric looked at me and nodded. I frowned. "Wow, what an asshole." I said bluntly. He blinked, surprised.
"What?" I glared at the ceiling. "Darren gave up his humanity and became a Half Vampire so that Mr. Crepsley would save Steve's life." I said angrily. Eric was quiet. "Vanessa…I don't want to be a killer." He said quietly. I paused and thought this over very carefully before I spoke.
"What if I told you that you don't have to be?" I whispered. He sat up bolt right and stared at me. "You can make me human again?" He paused and frowned. "No…I have nothing to live for anyways." He flopped back down on his bed. "Sure you do, you just have to find it. Mr. Crepsley did." I said. He glared at the ceiling. "Yeah, well, he's not a Vampaneze, now is he?" he said angrily.
"No, he's a Vampire." I said calmly. Slowly, he rolled his head over to the side and looked me in the eyes. "Are you going to turn me?" he asked softly. "Do you want me to? It will be extremely painful, but I can do it."
"You will not." A voice said. I sighed. "Steve, you can't tell me what to do." I said tiredly. He sat on my bed. "Sure I can." I stared into his eyes for a long time, getting angry as I began to see the resemblance to the eyes of Mr. Tiny. "No. You. Can't." I said slowly and deliberately. He rolled his eyes at me.
"Oh my dear Vanessa, the eternally indignant child." He sighed dramatically. "Don't make me rip off the rest of your ear." I snapped back. He glared at me before standing up and walking away, muttering "Damn Vampire." under his breath as he went.
"So…what happened when you got here? With Steve, I mean." Eric asked. I sighed and laid back on my cot. "Well, it started as it usually did. There was that tension we always feel, and then beating around the bush, and then we finally spit out what we wanted from each other." I said.
"What tension? What do you want? What does he want?" Eric asked, rolling over onto his stomach. "Well, we were each other's firsts, so there's that awkwardness, and then the feeling of betrayal from both parties, and anger and sadness." I said quietly as I prayed in my head that my plan would work.
"Okay, but what do you two want from each other?" He pursued. I frowned. "Well, I told him about the three Vampire Hunters who would come together to kill him. He knows who the first two are, that one's a no brainer, but he doesn't know the third one. But anyways, I wanted to go with the Hunters, to put my plan in motion, but the Princes wouldn't let me, so the only way I can protect my loved ones and the clans is to protect Steve." I told him.
"Why would you want to save the Vampaneze? They're murderers!" He hissed at me. I sighed. "Vampaneze aren't evil though, my purpose is to protect the goodness of the world, I learned this at a very young age." I started. "Eric, what do you know of Vampaneze?" I asked him.
"Well, they kill when they feed and they flit. Oh, and you said that the spit has healing abilities." He said. I frowned. "That's all you know?" I asked, astounded. "Yeah, Steve never really filled me in on anything." He muttered. I glared at the ceiling. "I didn't expect Steve to, but I thought Gannen would. Its men like Gannen that lead me to protect their race, actually."
"You see, like Vampires, Vampaneze can't wield ranged weapons, although we Vampires allow throwing knives, shurikens, and things of that nature. But, you can't use guns, bows, or anything like that. Vampaneze are also bound to keep their word. If a Vampaneze makes a promise, you can be sure that he, or she, will honor it. And about the killing thing…" I trailed off.
"Well, Vampires were like that, once upon a time, but then most of the race decided it was wrong, so they restrained themselves and a group of them didn't agree to that at all, so they separated from the clan." I told him, starting to tell him the beginning of his race.
"Why would they separate? That's so wrong!" he seethed. "Because, Eric, when you suck all the blood from a person, you keep something of theirs. You want to know what that is?" I asked him, starting to feel Mr. Crepsley's own frustration with me when he had taught me this so many years ago.
"Um…sure…" Eric replied, unsure, with his brow raised in skepticism. "You keep a part of their soul, so they're always with you. Like the great Prince Paris, he has a part of Shakespeare's soul within him. And Darren? He has part of his friend Sam's soul within him." I explained.
"But aren't Darren and Prince Paris Vampires?" he questioned. "Yeah, just because you're a vampire doesn't mean you can't do it. They sucked the last of their blood on their death beds." I said quietly, remembering how emotionally scarred Darren had been. It was his first drink of human blood and he had nightmares for months afterwards.
Eric rolled back over onto his back and laid there for a long time. "So, that's what you want…but what does he want?" he asked. I closed my eyes tight and breathed deeply. "A son." I muttered through clenched teeth. He rolled over quickly. "What?" he cried. I glared at him. "Eric! Drop the volume! You're going to wake everyone up!" I hissed. He flushed. "Sorry." He whispered. I waved it away with my hand.
"It's whatever, but yeah. I can give birth to a Vampire child, or a Vampaneze child, it all depends on who the father is…well, I suppose I could also give birth to a hybrid." I mused. "Why does he want a son?" Eric asked warily. "I'd be lying if I told you Steve wasn't powerful, as am I. So think about it, two powerful beings having a kid…?" I trailed off, letting him piece it together. His eyes widened. "Oh crap." He said. I nodded. "Yeah." I said quietly.
He rolled back onto his back and remained silent. I sighed. Poor kid, probably fell asleep. I thought as I turned onto my side to fall asleep. "Vanessa?" I jumped and turned to see Eric sitting by my cot. "Yeah?" I asked uneasily.
"Can…will you make me a vampire?"