Running for My Undead Life

Chapter 25: Second First Date

The next couple of months flew by. Lena had conquered her fear of visiting her parents, reenrolled in school, and broke things off with Drew. She stuck to what she said about taking things slow. We could hold hands and sit close together on the couch, but we didn't sleep in the same room, or kiss, or say things like "I love you," no matter how much I felt like saying it. It took several times of asking, but she finally agreed to go on a second first date. I had planned the date shortly after she came back from her little vampire escapade. It was a cold, breezy day as we stood at the bottom of a mountain.

"We're supposed to climb that?" She asked nervously, staring up at the giant rock. "Yep, without harnesses or ropes," I smiled cheekily. "Why? Do you hate your life?" She questioned playfully. "Yeah, deeply," I rolled my eyes, "I just want to have fun with you and show you exactly what your new body is capable of." She sighed but followed me as I walked towards the mountain. I watched her for a few seconds as we stood at the base and she stared up, probably trying to work out how she was going to do this. "Hey," I gently turned her body to face me and held onto her upper arms, "you're capable of this. I promise. You have to climb the mountain if you're gonna get over it. See what I did there? The mountain is vampirism, and you have to..." She finally cracked a small smile. "Anyway," I continued, "this is very much possible and once you do it, you'll feel invincible. And even if you fall, you'll be fine. You'll definitely get hurt, but you won't die." "You're so great at giving pep talks," she said sarcastically, but I could feel her body relaxing. "I know, but I won't let you fall." She let out a deep breath and nodded her head. Without another word, she turned and began climbing. I went right after her and stayed just a step behind her the whole way up just in case she needed me.

She didn't, of course. As we reached the top about an hour later, she couldn't contain her excitement. "THAT WAS AMAZING!" She yelled, spinning around, and laughing. I laughed with her, "I told you. I knew you could it." With an enormous smile on her face, she ran towards me and jumped into my arms. Not expecting that reaction, I took a few steps backwards and stumbled. To keep from falling off the edge of the mountain, I threw our bodies forward. We landed on the ground in the snow with me on top of her. Her mouth was in the shape of an "O" in surprise. "Shit! I'm sorry!" she cried out. I laughed again and rested my forehead on her chest as I tried to catch my breath and calm my heartbeat. She kind of scared the hell out of me with that one. Her hands found my face and pulled it up. She was staring at me as I came up. I watched her, waiting intently for something to happen. Her thumb brushed over my lips, and I knew she wanted to kiss me. More than just a quick, little peck. I could see her struggling internally, wanting to have an intimate moment with me, but wanting to take things as slow as possible. She started moving her head up towards me, her eyes staring at my lips longingly. I grabbed her hands off my face and stood up, pulling her with me. She looked confused as I put a little bit of distance between us. "Race ya back down," I challenged her as I turned and took off. I started climbing back down and she followed not long after. She was very clear a couple of months ago in wanting to take things slow. As hard as it was for me to pull away from her, I didn't want to take advantage of the high she was feeling from experiencing something so new and thrilling. Later tonight, if we go further than we should, she might regret this date. And I don't want her to ever regret any part of our relationship. I would do my best to keep us on track.

At the bottom of the mountain, she grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers as I began leading her back to the car. "What's next?" she asked as we drove away, hands still tangled together on the middle console. "Hmmm... I hadn't thought this far in advance. I wasn't sure you'd survive the mountain." She scoffed and punched my arm. "Ouch!" I yelped. "Oh! I'm sorry! I forgot how strong I am!" Her face was adorable as she frowned. "And emotional," I muttered, but loud enough for her to hear. She raised her fist again. "Ah! Kidding, kidding!" I pulled my hand from hers and raised it in front of me for cover as I cringed against my window. She giggled at my reaction. I lowered my hand onto the steering wheel and let my face rest into a pout. "Now I'm not telling you where we're going," I said defiantly. A little bit later, we pulled up to the local library. She got out of the car with a curious look on her face. "The library?" It sounded like she thought I had made a mistake. I just smiled as I grabbed her hand and tugged her inside. We went to the folklore section, specifically on vampires. I pulled out the familiar book, "The Curse of the Vampire," written by A. Cello. I handed it over for her to look at. "It's not the original. That one is at my parents' house. It's written in Italian. But this was written by Alessandro, my ancestor who was the son of the first Monticello vampire." I looked around as I spoke, making sure no one was nearby. "He recounted everything there is to know about our family and how we came to be what we are. Others have added to the story as years have passed." I pulled out another book, also written under the name A. Cello. "Everyone uses his shortened name as the author for their stories, in honor of his memory. It's in the folklore section to protect the truth. If you know, you know. Otherwise, people think it's just a story. I thought these might help you make sense of things. And this is your history now, too. Maybe it'll help you feel more connected to this new part of you."