Chapter 5: Vampires of our lives
When the laughter died and my heartbeat went back to its normal rhythm.
"what?"
Caroline shrugged under the now confused looks of the adults in the room.
"what is wrong with you two?"
Liz asked lowering her handgun. Charlie's however was still pointing straight at us.
"We're vampires"
Caroline said casually.
"But different from each other"
I added just as casually. Only then dad lowered his own gun and he and Liz walked slowly in the room kneeling on the floor in front us.
"Bella your eyes are crimson red"
Charlie noted. I didn't know that
"Really? She has fangs!"
I pointed to Caroline who was looking at my eyes.
"That's normal. Your eyes however..."
Liz noted dismissively Caroline reached behind me to grab a plastic blue handheld mirror to show me my eyes. They were right. the girl in the mirror had normal human feeder red eyes.
"I'm normal, she isn't"
I insisted. at Liz's and Caroline's confused looks Charlie rolled his eyes, stood up, helped Liz to sit up and they sat on the bed with us.
"There was a coven of Cold Ones in forks. They changed Bella a week ago"
"she doesn't look like a cold one"
Liz noted touching my warm hand.
"What's a cold one?"
"I'm still in the room"
Caroline and I said at the same time. Charlie answered Caroline
"A cold one is a different breed of vampires. Ice cold skin, red or gold eyes, deathly pale, sparkle under the sunlight and can only be killed by their own kind or a werewolf"
"or a shape shifter"
I added.
"that is so cool!"
Caroline said clapping like a three year old and I couldn't help but laughing with her. Liz yawned, checked her watch and her eyes widened.
"it's two am. how about we all go bed and talk about this in the morning?"
we all nodded and Liz mentioned something about spare rooms. I decided I'd sleep with Caroline like when we were kids and Charlie said he'd take a bed. Caroline tossed me a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. As soon as the lights were out fell asleep immediately as if someone had flipped a switch. I chuckled and fell asleep as well.
Soft sunlight was hitting my eyes woke me up and something heavy and blond was on my chest. I rubbed my eyes and looked down to see Caroline sleeping soundly. I didn't have the heart to wake her up and I laid there thinking about my strange dream.
I had dreamt of a man. Black hair, vibrant blue eyes all vainy like Caroline's were the night before. in a deep serious voice he kept telling me that I'm safe and to forget him until he came back. behind him was the burning house in Phoenix I lived with my mother, step father and baby brother. It was the night they died.
I lived in California with Renee, my mother, when she met Phil. he was a pretty decent guy who played with the Phoenix Desert Dogs so Renee decided we'd move across the continent to phoenix without asking my opinion stating that I was thirteen so the choice was hers.
That's when the things went downhill.
Phil bought a big house in the middle of phoenix and for a while things were amazing. Phil and Renee got married and within a year they popped a baby boy. Bobby my little monkey. However upon seeing Bobby's bluish eyes Phil decided that Renee had cheated (he had green eyes and so did mom so where did the blue come from?) and slowly went nuts. He'd hit Renee a couple of times when bobby was too loud and I weren't there or would spend hours in the backyard practicing. I cancelled on my annual summer vacation with dad because I really didn't want to leave Renee bobby alone with Phil and I was proven right. When Phil was kicked out of the team for abusing drugs he took it out us. I was out with some friends and when I came back I found Renee lying on the kitchen floor and Phil was using bobby as his personal football throwing him again and again in the bushes.
when he saw me he threw bobby at me and i took him running in the basement. I don't remember much after that.
I remember Phil yelling at us. I remember bobby whispering my name right before he passed away in my arms. I remember the fire and I remember the man.
Caroline murmured 'Tyler' in her sleep and squeezed my boob ending my day dream and bringing me back to reality. I yelped not expecting that and she woke up blushing when her hand didn't leave my boob.
"I'm so so so sorry"
"it's okay, what are cousins for?"
"you can squeeze mine if you want"
"How about we skip the 'Girls gone wild: Mystic Falls edition' and go get some breakfast"?
I declined her offer and we trudged our way downstairs. Liz and dad were studying some files on the kitchen table and they packed them up so that we could all have breakfast.
I poured the coffee, Liz served cereal, dad made rounds pouring milk on them and Caroline took a big water bottle with a dark red liquid and poured two glasses of it and two glasses of orange juice.
"what's that?"
I asked feeling venom pool in my mouth.
"Blood, its easier to get my daily dosage if I have it every morning"
Caroline said shrugging. I nodded and with a sigh I gulped my glass and then started breakfast. After breakfast Caroline had coffee plans with Elena, the brunette girl from the night before, and I declined her invitation to join them opting to do the laundry. Four days on the road meant that me and Charlie were seriously low on the clean clothes pile.
I was folding the freshly washed clothes when Caroline stormed in two hours later looking positively pissed off.
"Care bear, what's wrong?"
"I just realized my friends aren't my friends anymore"
I put the basket on the table and sat her down on a breakfast stool.
"want to put subtitles to that?"
"It's stupid. Elena, Bonnie and I grew up together until the two of them suddenly realized that they're better friends for each other than me. And while I knew it all this time, I chose not to see it until now"
She shook her head.
"anyway, ignore me"
I smiled softly.
"never"
we talked about forks and my friends there when a knock on the door interrupted us. A package was laying there on the porch innocently with an envelope on top of it
"what is it?"
i asked her and leaned over her shoulder to take a look at it. it was an invitation for a ball that same evening and the package revealed a beautiful dress.
"it's a weird Cinderella fantasy, I tell you"
Caroline grumbled and I shook my head.
"who's Klaus?"
I asked her seeing the name on the invitation. she huffed and shared the tale of the crazed vampire that was in reality half werewolf and half vampire named Klaus. That vampire had managed to become a hybrid by breaking a curse that had him kill a vampire and a werewolf and drink her friend Elena who was saved by magic. He wanted to kill Caroline originally but another vampire saved her so Klaus turned Elena's biological father into a vampire and then killed him. Afterwards he started making an army of hybrids, memories of Victoria flooded me but i kept my mouth shut, including her werewolf boyfriend called Tyler. Elena's vampire ancestor found and woke up Klaus' vampire father, not to spank him and send him to his room without supper, but to try and kill Klaus which of course fell through and Klaus killed his father instead. Obviously. now the rest of Klaus' vampiric family held this ball but most of all she wondered if she should wear the bracelet he gave her as a birthday present when her now hybrid boyfriend bit her by accident causing her to almost die but Klaus saved her by feeding her his mixed blood.
when she stopped to take a breath I only had one response
"I'm getting a headache"
