"Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-duh-dee-dum, dee-dum" I hum as I paint.
It seems like it's been forever since I've stood in this studio, simply painting.
"That's a beautiful painting you've got there" a deep accented voice says from behind me.
I jump, and turn around.
I feel my canines extending and piercing into my lower lip, the coppery taste of blood erupts, but when I notice the source of the voice they retract back into my gums with nothing left but the copper taste.
"Um sorry but this is a private studio, did someone let you in?" I say to the striking boy.
I can't help but take in his sharp jaw, short brown hair, and speckled blue eyes that lay underneath black framed glasses.
"I've volunteered to help teach some of the classes here" he responds
"Oh - that's great!"
"Yeah. Sorry but I didn't catch your name"
I smirk, "thats because I didn't give it to you"
He doesn't respond.
So I extend my hand "I'm Lydia",
He takes my hand and gives it a shake.
Their's something different about him, I can sense it I just can't quite figure out what it is.
"Nick"
"Well Nick, welcome to your new second home"
"Thanks" he says with a smile.
"No problem"
"I've got to get going but I'll see you around" he says
I wave as he walks out.
⋆⋆⋆
"Are you sure that's what you heard?" I hear Nate whisper under his breathe, as I raise my hand to knock on the apartment door.
"Yes, you three have to leave. I don't know how long they've known your location but it's no longer safe here" Valentina hisses,
I drop my hand, and lean into the door to try to hear the conversation.
The door immediately opens and I fall through, however instead of face-planting into the ever so lovely wooden floor I fall face first into a morphed shape.
The morphed shape places it's hands on either side of my shoulders and helps to lift me up onto my feet.
"Thanks" I mumble, still recovering from my embarrassing face plant into Reece's chest.
"What were you doing Lydia?" Nate asks, his tone light but serious,
"Ummm.... having a moment with the door?" I reply unsurely with a small smile.
The boys roll their eyes, however to my surprise I notice a small smirk flash across Valentina's face.
"Sorry Lydia but your not ready for this kind of situation" Valentina says through her thick accent.
"Why not?" I complain,
"You just aren't kid" Nate says while ruffling the hair on the top of my head.
I brush his hand away,
"If you guys are in danger I want to know why" I state.
Valentina lets out a sigh,
"Tell her".
Reece and Jordan's eyes both go wide,
"What why?!" Reece asks,
"It'll make her a moving target if she knows stuff" Jordan adds worriedly.
"She can handle herself fine" Valentina says with a reassuring smile in my direction.
Jordan watches me for about a minute before opening his mouth,
"Someone from our past is stirring up trouble close by" He states in defeat.
"What kind of trouble?" I ask,
"Apparently he's not done with 'us' " Jordan answers his eyes darting between Reece and Nate.
I look to Reece and Nate suspiciously,
"What did you two do?".
"Why are we always the problem?" Nate murmurs to Reece,
"Because you two usually are the problem" Valentina hisses.
"What is the problem?" I ask, ready for answers.
"Back in 1940-" Valentina starts but I interupt,
"1940!?"
"Yes 1940" she replies
"Shiz" I mutter,
"Pardon me?"
"Seriously how old are you guys?" I ask quietly, directing the question towards Jordan, Reece and Nate.
" You three still haven't told her?" Valentina asks,
"Probably not" Reece replies.
"Oh dear Lord" Valentina says before continuing,
"Anyways no matter their age, this started in 1940 when Reece and Nate stupidly decided to compete for a girl around your age Lydia"
"And what went wrong?"
"The girl already had a suitor" she states simply.
"And the suitor is the vampire that you guys are worried about?" I ask,
"Yes, the suitor is the vampire but he wasn't always a vampire. Reece and Nate stupidly showed the girl countless hours of attention simply in the name of competition",
"When the suitor found out that his betrothed was frolicking around with two young men he wasn't pleased to say the least".
"So he arranged a hunt for the two. At the time he only knew of vampirism rumours, so he didn't know what Reece and Nate are but he did know their was something off about them."
She pauses.
"Lydia what you must understand is that back in the day we didn't have control. We didn't care about living in secret among the humans so we were cruel, but the humans were equally cruel and violent so you must know that we did what we had to do" Reece explains warily.
"the whole group of hunters was slaughtered apart from their leader; the suitor"
I stare dumbfounded at Valentina unsure of how to respond.
When she sees that I don't have a response she continues,
"The man had watched his friends and allies being brutally killed right in front of him. So you can sort imagine how rage filled he was when he came home to discover the exact two men who killed his fellow hunters, dining with his betrothed."
______________________________________________________________
Authors Note:
Hey everyone!
Thanks so much for reading this far, "A Touch of Scarlet" has reached 2k reads and over 100 votes.
How's the book so far? What do you think about this chapter? And what do you prefer; A long book or a series? Please comment your answers and opinions.
[ BTW changed my username from SimpleSpiral to: SimoneLynne ]
Thanks to everyone for reading, remember to vote if you liked the chapter :)
YOU ARE READING
A Touch of Scarlet
VampireWe're brought into this world to live; eat, learn, sleep, repeat, repeat, and repeat again. Until eventually the time comes when we die. Or at least that's how it's supposed to work right? For some reason I don't think it's working out that way f...
