For a Thousand Years

3

Alice and I went to our dorm. I flopped onto my bed. "Are Helen; and Kale friends of your family?" I asked Alice.

"Yes. They go on hunting trips with my family when we go."

"So they hunt with Blake?"

"Blake doesn't hunt with the family. It's rare when he does."

I frowned. "When he caught me he hadn't been alone."

"That was the rare day." She smiled. "Actually, Mom guilted him into going."

I snorted. "He can be guilted?"

She sighed. "I wasn't there but I know all about it."

"Do you all share memories or something?"

She giggled. "No, my parents love telling the story about Blake killing the toughest vampire ever."

I shook my head. "I have no idea how I got that reputation."

"Well, you did destroy their traps even though other vampires couldn't," she pointed out.

"Those were easy." All of them had been. It was like the hunters had no idea how to make a tough trap.

She sighed. "For you." She sat up and looked at me. "Will you turn me into a vampire?"

I sat up quickly. "What?"

"Is it possible for you to turn me into a vampire?" She said slowly.

"I had heard you," I muttered. I put my head in my hands. "If I turn you your family will hunt you."

"Blake wouldn't let them. They're scared of him."

Blake isn't scared of his mom as you just pointed out earlier, I thought."Blake won't always be near you. Speaking of Blake, does he know about this desire to be undead?"

She winced. "Not yet."

"Alice! I won't turn you unless he agrees to protect you and be around you." Maybe if a hunter is protecting her everything will be alright.

"But...I can't tell him."

"Alice, do you even know what I need to do to make you a vampire?" I asked quietly.

"Bite me?"

"No. I'll have to give you my blood then kill you. When you wake you'll have to drink human blood to complete the transformations." To be honest I've only turned a few people and they don't even talk to me anymore.

She blinked. "That's how you do it? Our history is wrong." She thought for a second. "After that I can drink any kind of blood to get nourishment, right?"

I sighed. "Yes, and you can get nourishment from regular food. Regular liquids too." I shook my head. "It will be hard to learn how to drink human blood and not drink from people when you bite to heal them other than the one swallow."

"To heal?"

I groaned. "They don't tell you our venom heal's anything living?"

She shook her head. "Plants too?"

"No. Why would you want to become a vampire? You're already immortal."

"I know that but I'm unable to do anything. If you turned me I will get super strength, speed, hearing, and smell. I'd heal from any wound too."

She wants to be a vampire so she won't be useless? That's ridiculous. She isn't useless even though she can't...Yeah, to the hunters she would be useless. "Ask your brother and then I'll think about it." I went to bed though I heard her leave the room. I hadn't meant for her to tell him now. He's probably asleep. Maybe she thinks if she doesn't do it now she will lose her nerve.

In the morning, Alice came in and wouldn't look at me. "He wants to talk to you," she mumbled.

"Okay." We went to the dining room for breakfast. "We sat with Blake. "What do you want to know?" I asked. Since that's the only reason he'd want to talk to me at the moment.

"Everything she told me about vampires, is it true?" He asked in a hard voice.

"Yes." I bit into my pancake. Yum.

He pulled out a knife and sliced his arm. Then he held his non-injured hand to me. "Bite me."

"You don't believe me?" I'm surprised nobody noticed that he had just sliced his hand open.

"No."

Ouch. Kidding. I didn't really expect him to believe me. I bit him and only swallowed a mouthful like I was supposed to. Then I released him. Hunter blood tastes disgusting. Probably because they are meant to kill us. Blake was staring at his healed arm in amazement. "I won't lie to you," I said quietly and for some reason, I meant that. This has got to be the first time a hunter and a vampire are working together.

He looked at me. "You...Everything we've ever been told is a lie."

"Everything except being able to go out in daylight," Alice said.

"You aren't going to tell your family, are you?" I asked. "If they find out they'll use us and I won't stand back and watch that happen."

Blake shook his head. "I agree with you on that. It's nicer just to kill the vampires."

I blinked. Had he just agreed with me? "Um...yeah."

He grinned. "Did I surprise you?"

The bell rang and we stood. "Yes, you did," I said to him. He laughed and we all went to class. Blake and Alice weren't in any of my classes. But Helen was. She frowned when she saw me without a hunter nearby. That's going to end up making a scene after class.

I was right. When it was lunch she slammed me into the lockers. "How did you escape?" She growled.

"I didn't," I spat. Honestly, I could beat her easily but that will blow my cover. Damn.

"Then why are you away from your owner?"

"Did you really expect Blake to tell them he owns me? They put us in different classes, you idiot. He'll know if I leave and kill me. So back the hell off," I said kicking her in the chest. I don't care if my cover is blown now.

She flew backward and hit a wall. She snarled and yanked out a knife. She tackled me to the ground and stabbed me in the chest purposely missing my heart. Ouch. Then she went flying backward as someone threw her off me. Poor girl. Being thrown backward two times in a row.

"Hold on, Cat," Blake said.

Cat? He gave me a nickname? I flinched when he pulled the knife out. It healed instantly. "Thanks," I muttered as I got to my feet.

"You're welcome."

"Why did you do that?" Helen said. "I had her! She escaped from you and..."

"She has my permission to attend her classes," Blake snapped.

She frowned. "Why are you letting her go to any classes? There's no reason to."

"It was the only way I could get her to be somewhere I can keep an eye on her."

Her eyes brightened. "I got it! Your parents could watch her."

"No!" Alice cried. "Blake, please!"

But Blake was trapped. He looked at me and stepped forward. He still had the knife. He lifted it and bent so his mouth was by my ear. "Run." He whirled and flung the knife at Helen. She dodged and he slammed into her.

I hesitated then ran. Right into Kale who stabbed me with a needle and everything went dark.