I don't know for how long we just sat there, arms around each other, my face buried in the crook of his neck. But I never wanted to let go, knowing that it could end any minute. Us. We could end. After what I've read in stories, vampire relationships never last. Somehow.
"Who else?" I removed my face from his warmth and looked up at his face. "Drake right?" I continued.
"Yes. And then there's Julian, Sebastian and Eleanor" he let out a deep and especially audible, single exhalation of air through his nose. "Any other questions?".
"Will you ever hurt me?" of all the questions I could think of, this was the only one I manage to get out.
"Probably.." he steered away from my gaze, and loosened his grip around me. "Look. I'm sorry I pushed you, into doing all those things" he gave me a faint smile before lifting me off his lap. "Eleanor left some clean clothes for you, put it on and come out and say hi to everybody?" he patted my shoulder comforting before heading for the door.
He was right. Neatly folded, by my pillow, there was a pair of sweatpants in the traditional ash gray color and a T-shirt with the ACDC logo on it. Not exactly my style, but nice and comfy. I put the garments on and prepared myself for a meeting with the vampires outside my room, no matter how weird that sounds.
"I take you're not a big ACDC fan, but it's either that or one of my close-fitting eerie pitch black dresses, which I'm guessing you're not very much into" Eleanor was the first of the three to greet me. "How do you feel? Considering the burdensome information dropped on your fragile shoulders" she sent Luke an annoyed glare before grinning widely again.
"What is he doing here?" I nodded towards Julian, who was sitting on the couch with a laid back look on his face, and his filthy shoes spread across the small low coffee table.
"Julian is something called a psychic vampire. They have the ability to heal others. If it weren't for him, your friend Danielle would probably be dead, and terrifyingly enough, maybe you too. But your own body did a great effort in healing itself, leaving us with a small amount of work" Luke signaled for me to sit down beside him.
"And as Luke here, forgot to mention, I am also a psychic vampire, in fact a much stronger one than Julian. He only kept you two alive, I healed you" Eleanor announced with a satisfied smirk.
"Cocky eh?" Julian sneered and sent her a cold glance.
"Have you met yourself? Sorry, but I can't deal with that prick right now, I'll see you guys later" Eleanor shot up from the couch and marched rhythmically out of the door.
"They don't really get along" Luke was fiddling with something in one of his drawers. Soon, he was walking towards me with the small pendant between his fingers. My necklace.
"I cleaned it for you, after all it was covered in blood" he said with a small laugh.
"Luke. I know you gave it to me and all, but I don't think I'd feel comfortable wearing something that used to be covered in my friend's blood. Because of me. It just doesn't feel right".
"Please. It will protect you. Trust me, this isn't one of those cheap nonsense necklaces you can buy in any store. It has been in my family for generations" he knelt down before me and lifted my hair from my shoulders to attach the necklace. "Never take it off, it's for your own good love".
"You should get the girl home, wouldn't wanna get in trouble with her parents, right?" Julian had removed himself from his spot in the couch.
"As much as I hate to admit it. It might be time for you to get home" Luke sighed and opened the front door. I watched as the subdued sunlight hit his tall frame.
"How come you guys can walk in sunlight? Or am I being completely ignorant right now?".
Julian looked at me with an amused smirk. "Don't believe everything you read in fiction blondie" he was clearly enjoying watching me making a fool out of myself. "But in fact, you're not far too wrong on this one" he licked his upper lip as he entered the sunset light.
"Knowledge is a dangerous thing. It can backfire on you" I'm not sure what Luke meant by that, but I was too tired to question his words of wisdom. "But some things I can tell you, to a certain limit. As Julian said, you are right. We're not exactly resistant to sunlight. It weakens us, and we tend to find it uncomfortable. But I, personally, don't hold a grudge against it. Probably because of my old age".
"So it doesn't directly hurt you?" I asked as I took my seat in his car.
"Not directly no" Luke entered the driver's seat and started the engine.
"How old are you anyway?".
He chuckled at my question. "It's not very polite to ask an old man his age" he sent me a cheeky smirk.
"Being eternally eighteen can't be so bad" I joked, but his smile faded.
"It's not as easy as it looks Penny, there's more to it".
Soon, his car was parked in front of my family's house. I didn't want to step out of it. I felt safe with him, regardless of the fact that I'd be better off without him.. Probably. Luke must have seen the look on my face as he instantly commented on it. Or maybe he's psychic, what do I know..
"You're safe Penny. No one's after you. Not yet" he lowered his voice as he spoke the last two words. As if he not really wanted me to hear them. "Drake wont hurt you. If he lays a finger on you, I'll rip out his heart myself".
"I hope you're not serious".
"He wont touch you" he assured and stroked my cheek with his warm fingertips.
"You're not cold" I whispered as I reached my hand to touch his caressing fingers.
"Why would I be?" he upturned the corners of his mouth before continuing with his sentence. "And don't say because I'm a vampire".
"Hey! You were human once too.. Right?".
"True. Though it's a very long time ago, I've almost forgotten what it's like" he looked away again. So he wasn't too ecstatic with being an immortal being. "You should go inside, it's late. Danielle is in good hands, don't worry about her, or her parents. I know what I'm doing".
"What other abilities do you have that you haven't told me about?" I asked, still holding on to his hand.
"None that you need to know about, yet".
"What's with you and those 'yets'? It's not like I'm gonna tell anybody. As if they'd believe me anyway" I laughed.
"You're better of not knowing. For now, I suggest you trust me, and we'll see how things turn out" there was a beep, and his cell phone screen lit up. A frown appeared between his eyebrows before he put the phone in his pocket.
"Looks like I've got another mess to clean up. I'll see you at school tomorrow" he gave me a quick kiss before pushing me out of the vehicle. "Spare your questions for another day".
