Bloodlust (The Blood Series #1)

Chapter 18

Brr. Brr. Brr.

Nathan's phone keeps buzzing on my nightstand but Nathan himself can't be bothered to pick it up. He's perfectly happy sleeping soundly and lightly snoring in my ear. I hide a smile and reach for his phone so I can pass it to him. In the screen it says: 17 missed calls, 56 messages. The latest message is from Klaus and it reads: "Where the hell are you? We need you. Call me back ASAP."

I frown. That many unanswered calls does not seem good. Why is Nathan's brother so desperate to talk to him at this hour? Whatever it is, it must be important so I should probably wake Nathan up. I shake him. "Nathan?" I call.

"Shh", he mutters and pulls me back to him without opening his eyes. "Come back to bed."

I laugh but struggle to get back up. "Nathan, we gotta get up before my mom finds you here. She's pretty chill but won't stay that way if there's a man in my bed that I haven't told her about."

"She won't come in", Nathan replies. He sounds like a person telling someone that the sky is blue or that water is wet. He's utterly certain, completely doubtless. It rouses my suspicions. Why is he so sure?

His confident tone surprises me. "What are you, a wizard now? How do you know for sure?" I joke but the way my world has been lately, I probably shouldn't joke about such things. He just might be.

To my relief Nathan repudiates: "Not a wizard. I just know."

My dream returns to my mind and I start to really progress what I saw. Troy tried to turn me into a vampire that night. He thought that if he could make me like him, I'd understand why he did what he did. But I don't understand. I can't believe he'd do that to me. I thought he loved me but I was wrong. You don't kill the people you love, you don't force them to join you in death. That's not love, that's an obsession and there's a big difference between the two.

"Hey, Nathan..." I say and pause hesitantly. "Is Troy really a vampire?"

Nathan's head snaps up to stare at me. "What makes you ask that?" he questions. I notice that he doesn't answer my question which makes me assume that I'm right. After all silence is consent. It's true. Troy Giorgio who I've known forever is a vampire.

"I had a dream about him. No, more like a memory", I correct myself when I remember how the dream I had last night differed from my normal dreams. Not even Oliver dreams have that same feeling in them. For a reason or another, I'm certain that what I dreamed really happened. Guess my inner Seer has truly woken up and is trying to guide me.

"Should have known he couldn't fool a Seer for long", Nathan mutters under his breath gloomily before getting up. Then his face turns to serious. "Listen, you can't tell anyone about that. Or anything else about that weekend for that matter, okay? It's important that everyone believes that you don't remember anything about that weekend."

His urgent tone catches my attention and I frown at him. "Everyone? Who else knows about my amnesia?" I inquire. He told me that he hasn't said anything to anyone but it's starting to sound a lot like he has some secrets to bury as well. I really hate this stupid amnesia. People can deceive me by using it as their cloak, hiding everything that they don't want me to remember under it.

"No one. I just don't want to give Troy a reason to try to compel you again."

This reminds me that apparently during that weekend Troy compelled me and Nathan let him. "Troy said that there were things you didn't want me to remember either. What was he talking about?" I query. I won't get fooled again. Damn, that sounded like the beginning of CSI: Miami episode. But I'm dead serious about it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... shame on me.

To my surprise he looks remorseful. Like a dead man walking to his execution. "Let it be, Haley. Sometimes ignorance really is a bliss."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demand but he doesn't answer, he just looks at me pleadingly but it only pisses me off more. I'm done letting things go. I want to know.

"Fine, I'll just ask Troy", I say when it gets clear that he won't tell me. I know mentioning Troy will piss him off. He says he has never liked Troy but lately it has felt more like hate. He hates Troy and I'm partly the reason for that.

As can be expected his eyes go dark. "Don't you dare", he warns in a low voice.

"Then tell me truth and I won't have to go to Troy", I bargain. I know it's not fair to use Troy against him but I can't keep living in this uncertainty any longer, I'm sick of it. He needs to be completely honest with me, not just offer bits and pieces when it happens to amuse him or fit his plans.

"Don't do this, Haley", Nathan groans.

"Do what?"

"Don't make me lie to you."

I make a frustrated sound. "Then don't lie!" I exclaim.

"I can't tell you the truth, okay?" he snaps. My eyes go big with fright and he tries to soften the blow. "It's a family thing. I just... I can't tell you. I'm sorry."

He looks so apologizing that even though I'm still peeved I stop questioning. I'm not giving up, I tell myself. I'm simply waiting for a better time to grill him. Instead I get up from the bed and go to my closet. I have to ransack for awhile until I find what I'm looking for but when I do, I pull out a leather jacket. Nathan smiles when he sees it.

"Ah, so you did take it", he says faking surprise. "Fancy that. I remember a certain someone telling me that she had no idea where my jacket was."

I make a face and try to give it back to him but he won't accept it. "Nah. It suits you", he claims.

"You didn't even see me in it", I remind him.

"Yes, I did. I saw your back when you ran away. I watched you run down the Main Street and every step you took..." he sighs and doesn't end his sentence as if it wold be too painful. I cast my eyes down. I hate being reminded of what a coward I was.

Thankfully Nathan doesn't feel like walking down the memory lane for very long. He looks up and smiles at me that beautiful smile that could light up this whole town. "You looked way better wearing my jacket than I do. You should keep it", he suggests.

As if anyone could outshine Nathan, especially in his own clothes. I shake my head and set it on my armchair where already most of my clothes lie. "I don't want to have to explain Mom why I'm suddenly wearing a boy's leather jacket."

"Right", he mutters looking away. Something is bothering him, I can tell. A weird silence sets between us when I wait for him to tell me what's on his mind but he doesn't utter a word, he just avoids looking at me. My eyes reach his phone still lying on the nightstand and buzzing like it's dying.

To change the subject I say: "You should call your brother, he has called you a bunch of times."

He turns to look at me, something in him growing cold. He snatches the phone from the table and looks through all of those calls and texts. A flicker of something that resembles fear flashes in his eyes until they settle on pissed. "You went though my phone?" he asks incredulously.

"No, of course not. It just woke me up and I --" I don't continue talking because the more I say, the angrier he looks. I should have just left it alone. With a person like Nathan Blood you do not want to know what his texts say or what they are about. Suddenly a red flame flashes in his green eyes. It looks a little like the blood red flames that burn in Oliver's eyes every time he loses it. I gasp and stagger away from him.

He stands up, hands in the air, trying to calm me down. "Haley..."

"What are you?" I ask staring at him, trying to catch another glimpse of the flash I just witnessed. Maybe I just imagined it. Maybe my sleep deprivation is making me see things. Maybe I'm still asleep. Because if this is real... then Nathan and Oliver are the same.

He's about to answer when my mom walks in. My heart skips a beat when I glance at Nathan who is frozen in the middle of the room.

"Haley!" my mom screeches. Then her eyes get a little blurry and she blinks. "Oh I'm sorry if I scared you, sweetie. For a moment there I thought that there was a man in your room. I guess I'm still a little asleep."

She chuckles and shakes her head. I shift my gaze from Nathan who is very much still there in my room to my mom who is now smiling apologetically. What the hell? Can't she see Nathan? As I stare at him looking for an answer, he winks at me. He is doing this. He's somehow keeping my mom from finding him.

"Must have been a good dream", I say with my eyes on Nathan who grins at me. I bite tongue so I won't laugh or yell at my mom who is completely obvious to the hot shirtless guy in the room. This whole situation feels ridiculous and surreal. How can she not see him? He's right there, only a few feet away!

But my mom simply picks up few clothes to wash, not noticing Nathan even though she almost walks right at him. "You've got a new jacket! It's pretty", she mentions when she notices Nathan's jacket on my armchair before walking out.

As soon as the door behind her closes, I turn to look at Nathan. "Okay, what the actual hell just happened?" I hiss. Unless my mother has gone blind over night there is not a natural explanation to why she wasn't able to see Nathan. I can feel myself being pushed closer and closer to admitting that the world isn't as straightforward as I once thought it was. I hold onto to the last shreds of normalcy and refuse to look the truth in the eye.

Nathan shrugs. "It was a simple camouflage", he says evasively like it's completely normal. To me it's not. I'm in complete shock. Sure, my life has gotten pretty weird lately but this takes it to a whole new level. Can Nathan turn invisible? But if that was the case, how could I see him? And what does he mean 'camouflage'? It sounds like a military term, like missile or sergeant... Okay, I'm rambling. And wishing I didn't have to face what I know lies in front of me.

"Humans can't do that", I'm finally able to utter.

He shakes his head very slowly. "No, they can't", he admits, his eyes carefully inspecting my face, trying to predict my reaction to the big revelation I can see coming a mile away. What it will be, now that I can't see but I have a feeling I'm not going to like it.

I hesitate before I make another statement. "You're not human."

He doesn't deny it. "Not completely."

I let out a small gasp. I was hoping he'd say that I am out of my mind, that of course he is human. But he didn't. My hands start to tremble. I become aware of each and every one of my uneven breaths. My blood is pumping in my veins, it's the adrenaline preparing me to either fight or flight.

"Then what are you?" I finally whisper.

The longest silence of my life so far falls between me and the beautiful tattooed boy standing in front of me. Nathan's expression changes from anguished to defiant to insecure. A ray of emotions flashes across his face and I know that he's battling himself, trying to figure out whether to tell me the truth or not. I'm not even sure if I want to know anymore. My nerves are screeching and I fight not to scream. I want to tell him to stop, to not tell me, to admit that sometimes ignorance really is a bliss. But I don't. I keep quiet and wait.

He takes a deep breath. "I'm... I'm a demon, Haley."