I'll Protect You in the Dark

Mason

***Mason's POV***

I can't believe I  let myself get so carried away!  I couldn't help it... It was the way she looked at him, the way she talked around him that drove me crazy.  He walked in and her whole face lit up... And the way she said his name.

' "Zach!' "

And he had called her "love."  Ugh, so disgusting... 

' "...I wanted to know if I left it in the back room the last time I was here?.' "

' "I don't think so, but I don't spend much time in the back room.  Mason, have you seen it?" '

' "Let me go check for it," '  I had said, just wanting him to leave.

I walked into the back room, looking around it.  I walked around the shelves for a bit, and I spotted it.  It was a journal, bound like a book, that was sitting out on a shelf by itself.  I picked it up, What's so special about this?  It's just a regular journal.  I skimmed through it, and something caught my eye.  I went back to the page and almost ripped the book in two.  It was a picture of Zoe taped to the page.  It looked like she was trying not to laugh and looking at the camera, or more accurately, at whoever was holding the camera.  I almost threw up.  I skimmed through the rest of it, and it opened to a bookmarked page.  I looked at the bookmark, a picture of Zoe and Zach at a nearby lake, smiling and standing next to each other.  Zach had his arm around Zoe, and she was grinning, happier than I had seen her in a while.  I looked at the page that the bookmark was on, and it looked like Zach had started a song about Zoe... The rest of the book was similar, love songs that seemed to be to Zoe, except one in the back of the book, which seemed to be about their break up, and he called it a mistake.   It's a little too late for that, I thought.  

I pocketed the picture of Zach and Zoe and brought the book back out.  I shoved it at Zach, not wanting to hold it any longer than I needed to. 

 ' "...thanks for getting it, Mason." '

He had  said it like we were friends or something.  I turned around and looked at him, trying to make it clear that we were not friends.  I got my point across because he obviously got uncomfortable and left.  But then Zoe went with him.  And when she came in blushing, and smiling to herself.  I could only look at her with shock.  It was like she was still in love with him or something.  What did she see in him?  He's a total douche!  besides, he smelled.  He didn't smell like a normal human.

And then she admitted to me all of that stuff... And it was written clearly across her face.  She did love him.  

' "The truth is, this is the first time I've felt like this, the first time I've gotten close to someone, and when I let him into my life, he didn't run, and he followed me when I tried to escape." '

But Zoe, couldn't she see, that I was there for her?  I had always been there, even before her parents died, when she was still a little girl who played dress up and had tea parties with her stuffed animals... 

And then I did The Stupid Thing, but how could I resist, she was holding my hand and she looked so sad... But it had been stupid, I could have ruined our friendship.  After all, how could she see me as anything but a father, or a big brother?  I had practically raised her.

' "You can get close to me." '

She had looked so scared, as if I was killing her, not hugging her.  Maybe I'm a bad person.  It was tense, so I did the best thing and left.  I needed to cool off.  I needed a drink.

Hunting always helped me clear my head. There were plenty of deer in the forest.  If I was lucky I could find a bear, but I usually stuck to deer.  Once I was done, I retracted my fangs and sat down in the forest, so I could think.  It was quiet in the forest, great for alone time.  

I guess the best thing would be for me to apologize, go back to our friendship.  Watch Zach break her heart again.  Or maybe he'll do the right thing and marry her.  The thought of him marrying her made me nauseous.  Eventually I would come around to the thought.  If they had a kid... A little girl like Zoe...  

But that wasn't our Fate. If only Zoe knew.  She'll know someday.  She doesn't know her true power.  Yet.  I couldn't wait until her powers were Awakened.  Then she will be truly powerful, and she'll realize that I was right all along.  But it doesn't seem like it'll ever happen.  I just have to be patient...

Ugh, this stuff was making me soft.  Like a human, I thought.  Suddenly, there was a noise.

It was soft, but I could hear it.  It sounded like paws on the forest floor.  Big paws.  I stood up slowly, and turned around, expecting a bear.  I've been lazy, I thought, leaving the deer carcass out, where any animal could smell it.  Now there was a big animal searching for it.  Alright, I thought, scanning the forest.  Where are you?  And then I saw it.  Not a bear,  but a... a wolf?  That was big for a wolf.  Humongous, actually.  Like 3 times bigger than a normal wolf. It was just standing there, and watching me.  I looked it in the eyes.  It looked back at me, calmly.  As if it had no intention of harming me, but it just wanted me to know it was there.

"Nice doggie," I said, stepping toward it slowly.

It growled at me and bared its teeth.  I stopped and it took a step forward.  I bared my fangs as well and snarled.  It stopped, as if it was surprised.  I smiled, it was quite amusing.  We took a few more steps towards each other, and finally I was close enought to pet it.  I reached out, and it bowed its head towards me.  He (I'm going to assume it's a he) was actually quite calm.  I scratched its head a little and he opened his mouth, almost like a smile.  We stood like that for a while before the wolf looked at me, and then nodded toward the deer, almost like it was asking for it.  

"If you want it, you can have it," I said, feeling a little foolish.  Then it ocurred to me that I was talking to a giant wolf in the middle of a forest.  

It grabbed the deer in its teeth and began walking away.

Well that was interesting, I thought.  But the dog had smelled terrible... Almost like... Almost like... 

And then I realized where I recognized the smell from.

I ran and tackled the wolf, and it fell instantly, not prepared for the attack.  Once it was on the ground, I pinned him down underneath me.

"You thought you could fool me, did you?  Walk in front of my face, unrecognized?  Well you couldn't, so go ahead then, change."

The dog just stared at me, clearly startled at my attack on him.

"You know I'm a vampire, I know what you are.  Why not just go ahead and do it.  I could kill right now if you prefer."

He looked at me, and after a few moments I could see everything register in his mind, and resignation in his eyes.  I could feel him shifting beneath me.   I felt him change into a more human like form and I looked down at him.  It was just who I thought it would be.

"Hello Zach."

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Author's Note: I'm actually working on making the chapters longer so you guys have more, but I have been uploading each chapter fairly quickly, so... yeah.  Thanks for reading, loves!