THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS - BWS

twenty

The drive to Scotland didn't turn out to be as painful as I expected. Pretending to be deep in slumber seemed to do the trick until I finally fell asleep, my head resting against the window. We didn't stop once, or at least I don't think we did. If we did, I was too deep asleep to notice. My dreams were haunted by the creatures, with their slimy skin, dead eyes and humongous claws. I ran, and ran, but wherever I went, they were already there, waiting for me. Their twisted smiles displayed rows of sharp teeth, and just as they lunged to kill me, the scenery would change. William was in my dreams too. We were back in his living room, facing each other silently. The urge to kiss him felt so strong, but I couldn't move. I felt as if my body had been turned into marble. He was smiling at me, his eyes moving from mine to my lips. He leaned forward, his lips almost brushing mine, my heart hammering in my chest. I wanted to break the small distance between us but my body still wouldn't move. And then his eyes turned black. His lips curled against his teeth where two canines had suddenly appeared, and instead of kissing me, he reached for my throat. I jolted awake, my heart still racing from the dream, and my forehead covered in cold sweat.

    "You're hard to wake, you know that?" I heard Caelan say next to me. My head instinctively turned in his direction, making me wince at the stiffness of my neck.

    "How long have I been asleep?" I asked as I noticed that the sun was rising already.

"Not long if we start counting from the moment you stopped faking it and actually fell asleep," he scoffed and my heart skipped a beat. Of course he noticed I wasn't sleeping, there was no tricking a vampire.
Why didn't I realize that earlier?

I shifted on my seat and straightened up, my entire body stiff from sleeping in an awkward seated position. The blanket was barely covering me anymore, revealing the bare legs that my dress wasn't covering much of either. My hands immediately reached for the em of my dress and I pulled it down as much as I could, making Caelan chuckle.

"Where are we?" I asked to hide my embarrassment. We weren't on the highway anymore, but on a winding road, in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. I could see green fields for miles, sheep peacefully munching at the grass. We were driving towards mountains so tall their peak disappeared in the light clouds. The rising sun had turned the sky pink, purple and orange, and for a moment I found myself lost for words at the stunning landscape. It wasn't like anything I'd seen before.

"Not far from home," Caelan said. "We should be there in a couple of hours."

I was starting to get anxious at the idea of being alone with vampires so far from everything. What if they couldn't control themselves? What if William and Caelan were wrong about William's authority? The realization of what I put myself into suddenly hit. I was putting my life in the hands of vampires, in the hands of blood-thirsty creatures. But that wasn't what they were, was it? At least not all of them. And with a little luck Caelan's family was as civilized as he was. Plus he saved my life not even 24 hours ago, that deserved some trust.

"You'll be fine," Caelan tried to comfort me. I gave him a confused look. They clearly could read thoughts. "Your stress is literally radiating from you," he clarified. My eyes narrowed on him.

"I know your– kind can read my thoughts despite what William says," I stated and his lips curled into an amused smile. He held his laugh.

"You can't trust everything that comes out of a vampire's mouth," he simply answered, his eyes focused on the road.

My heart skipped a beat. So I was right, and William lied to me. Why did that realization hurt? He was just a vampire, another creature, why did I care that he lied to me?

"So you admit it," I said, not expecting an answer. Then I realized what their being able to read my thoughts meant. Heat creeped up my cheeks again while Caelan started laughing.