Help! I'm Arranged to Marry a Vampire? - 2008

Chapter 4

Pitter patter, barely beating. Hope shatters, pieces gleaming. Where in the world have all the smiles gone?~[ Normal ]~SheaRyhai

Jeremy Jones

"Hey Jeremy." Emmery ran into the park, her knee high converse slowing her down. 

I waved, "Hi. So how was school?" She sat down next to me and smoothed her hair out. 

"I HATE school. A prison I have to live at for eight hours a day. Not exactly joyful." She slipped some gum out of her backpack and popped it in her mouth, "Want some?" 

"No thanks." 

She stared at me skeptically, "Okay, what's wrong with you?" 

"Pardon?" 

"Sorry it's just that you act like you're too good to be seen with anyone here. You act stuck up." 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to give you that assumption." Great, she barely knew me and she already hated me - is this how my wife will be? Thinking about the marriage made me wonder what poor girl would get stuck in my family. A family of vampires, not exactly everyone's' dream. "Emmery can I ask you a question?" 

Her cheeks turned bright red, "If it'll change the subject." 

"Do - Do you think vampires are real?" 

She leaned her head to the side and pursed her lips together until they formed a thin line. 

I chuckled, "What?" 

"Asher asked me the same question when we met." She looked at me as if dazed. 

"What did you say?" 

She smiled, "I told him I thought there was a lot of things in life that was a mystery to regular people - that's just one of the mysteries."  

Could her words get anymore poetic?! This girl wanted me to fall for her. "So, when are you planning on going home?" Her hand brushed mine and my skin erupted in goose bumps. 

"I - I um ... I'm not sure when I'm going back or honestly, if I can go back." Why wouldn't my mouth shut up?! 

"What happened?" Her crystal blue eyes stared right into mine, creating the feeling like she was staring right through me. 

"It's a long story." 

She sighed contently, "Spill it. I've got a long life." 

"Well, I know this is going to sound stupid but I've never exactly been free." 

She started to laugh but stopped when she realized I wasn't joking, "You know, everyone feels like that." 

"No, not like this." I shook my head and laid back down on the cement snack table. 

"What? Is not like you've literally been a caged bird all your life." She was joking again. 

"That's exactly how I've been. I'm going to turn eighteen in two weeks and this is the first time I've ever been out of the house." 

She stared at me wide-eyed then sat on the table above where I laid, "You're kidding right? This is your first time? What about school?" 

"I've never been. I learned everything I know from my father." I admitted. 

"That's gotta suck. I mean - I always complain about school but that's the only place I can get away sometimes." She collapsed on the table to where all I could see of her was her knees. 

"That's why I'm not sure if I can go back. Why would I want to give up this freedom?" 

She sighed again, this time not saying anything. We sat there in the park, the silence surrounding us and holding the moment in its suffocating grasp. 

Emmery Wilson

Asher's arms circled me and twirled me in random directions. I was dizzy but I didn't want him to stop. I forgot how well of a dancer he was but that wouldn't take my mind off Jeremy. Why was Asher able to come and go but he couldn't? 

"What's wrong Em?" The twirling ended and we just stood in my backyard, staring at each other. 

"I know this is going to sound really - really bad but I can't stop thinking about Jeremy. Why hasn't he left his house until now?" 

He took my hand in his and pulled me closer, "There's a lot of things that Jeremy's gone through and will go through that no normal guy would have to go through -" What was with all the remarks that sound like they answer your question but they really don't? 

I pulled away from him, "I'm serious. You used to talk about him all the time but now that he's here you seem like you're in no rush to see him." 

"Look, I do want to see him but it seems like he's making no effort to see me." Asher shot back. 

"Maybe if you left him a sign of where you'll be he'll pick it up." I yelled. Strangely I felt the need to defend Jeremy. Even though we just met I already could feel a bond forming between us. 

"He's gotten to you hasn't he?!" Asher suddenly let go of my hands and pushed me backwards, my wedge caught in the dirt as I fell to the grassy - dew dripped ground. 

I must admit I was a little scared, I've never seen Asher act like this. He was always so kind-hearted and fun-loving. "Em - I" Before he could finish his sentence I got up and limped into my house; how could he do this to me?! I could feel the wet smears of mascara and eyeliner on my cheeks before I even walked up the stairs.\r

At first I thought I was imaging the rustling sounds outside but then the voices rang in my ears, "What you little punk?! You think you can do that to my little sister and get away with it?!" It was Eli's voice but it took on a tone I've never heard before, almost parental but definitely brotherly. 

"I didn't mean to push her that hard honest." Asher's voice pleaded. 

"You're never supposed to put your hands on a girl!" There was a hard thud that rattled the house. 

I ran back to the wide open screen door just in time to see Asher slide down the side of the garage, Eli standing over him. "Eli, stop!" 

He turned to look at me, "Emmery?" 

"Eli stop, he's not worth it." I walked to the two boys and took my brother's hand. 

Asher got back to his feet, "Em I really didn't -" 

"Go talk to Jeremy, Asher, then disappear since that's what you do best." I hissed. 

Eli gently pulled me forward but my ankle still hurt from earlier. 

"I don't want to talk about it." I sighed as Eli grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and tossed it to me like it was a football. 

"That's fine. If mom don't find out about me beating the living-day-lights out of a fourteen year old then she won't find out about your nightly sneak outs. Okay?" Eli winked at me. 

I let out a small laugh, "Deal." 

I nuzzled between the sheets of my bed, trying to find a comfortable position but failing miserably. My brain kept repeating my mother's words, "Em, I know you're not gonna end up pregnant. You're not a bad girl but I do worry about you." I was leading a double life! I wasn't pure and innocent like my mother thought. I felt guilty thinking back to the night a little over two weeks ago. It was the last time I saw Asher before he disappeared again.