Tracing Lines of Red

Tracing Lines of Red (chapter 9)

I woke up to the scent of blood. Again. I instantly recognized it as Shadow's. I reached out quickly, grabbing someone's arm without even opening my eyes.

"You thought you could sneak up on me? You're bleeding too."

I opened my eyes, letting him take in the sight of my crimson eyes.

"On purpose. It's a test. From Raven. He says 'Merry Christmas'."

I searched him for the injury. I found bite marks on his neck, still fresh. Sighing, I reached out, resting my hand on top. When I pulled my hand away, it was healed.

Licking some of his blood off my finger, I grinned at him. "Some test. What does he want me to do?"

"Bite me." he said, with a completely serious face.

"He's such a hypocrite."

"So are you." he shot back.

I gripped his face, his blood smearing on his cheek. "I tried really hard for you. But you didn't believe me. That's your own fault. If you hadn't been so stubborn, things would be different."

"I never said I didn't believe you. I think some vampires are monsters. The ones who kill people. The ones who don't kill, I'll say they're slightly human."

"So I don't look like a monster to you?"

"You did, for a little bit. But I don't mind. Even right now, you do. I should probably be scared of you. Terrified. But I'm not. Because for some strange reason I trust you."

"Good. Then you should just go back to Raven. I'm going to fail this test."

"He said this test will go on for a month."

Groaning, I lay back down, pulling the covers over my head. Suddenly, Shadow grabbed the blanket, ripped it away from me and then he took my hand and pulled me to my feet.

"It's too early for this." I complained. "The sun just set a few minutes ago."

"Too bad." He pointed to the bathroom. "Go get ready. Raven says we have a field trip."

"That can't be good." I muttered, grabbing clothes and heading for the bathroom.

•••••••••••••

Shadow was being extremely annoying. He waited inches in front of the bathroom door, so I could smell him the whole time I was inside. And now he was walking way too close next to me as we were going to the living room. I stopped, annoyed. He stopped too and moved in front of me. He leaned forward, our faces a bit too close for comfort.

I folded my arms and glared. "Ever heard of personal space?"

"Sorry, I was worried something was wrong."

"Yes. You."

"Raven's orders." he said, smirking.

We continued walking, while Shadow continued to walk too close, our arms brushing occasionally. When we finally made it to the living room, I was grateful for the one person chairs. I sat down on one, across from Raven. He handed me a glass of rabbit blood. Out of nowhere, Shadow sat down on the armrest of my chair. It was a small armrest though so a lot of his weight was on me.

"Hey." I said, glaring. "I'll spill this all over you."

"No!" Raven cried. "Do you know how hard it is to get this stuff?"

"I will spill it on you if you don't move." I threatened, ignoring Raven.

"I've been through worse." he says. "Besides you wouldn't want to waste it anyway. Especially since you need to last a whole month."

He was right. I simply pushed him off instead and drained the glass. When Shadow finished eating breakfast (dinner...?) we all headed outside for our field trip.