The Chase

The Chase Ch. 12

 Ginger's P.O.V

Donovan was being a complete ass! I watched in horror as he slit his hand and waited for Thad to lunge at him. Thad was struggling, I could tell. Why did he feel the need to compete with Donovan? When I got enough of Thad’s struggling and Donovan’s smirking, I stood and grabbed Thad’s arm.

“He’s already had his fill tonight,” I announced. I met Donovan’s eyes evenly. “He’s going to stay the night.”

Donovan’s face turned bright red. “In your room?”

“So what if he’s staying in my room?”

 Donovan turned his gaze to Thad, who instead turned his whole body towards me. Donovan shot him a glare and licked the blood off the back of his hand. “Bet you wish you could do that,” he said, mocking him.

“You’re an ass,” I spat, tugging Thad away from the smell of blood.

                I deposited my plate into the sink and marched back to Thad, taking his hand. Rather than going back to my room, we went to the basement. There wouldn’t be any curious ears down there. I pulled  up a chair and sat down, burying my face in my hands.

“I’m sorry about Donovan,” I said.

“Don’t be sorry.”

“You’d think Donovan would understand considering we used to be close,” I continued.

“Close?” asked Thad, bristling.

“Yeah. We sort-of used to date. No big deal. I knew him since we were six. He was my best friend turned boyfriend and now he’s my ex.”

Thad took a minute to process this information. Rather than saying something like “Why would you date him?” he asked, “Why did you break up?”

“Honestly,” I began with a sigh. “I have no idea.”

                I checked the time on my watch. It was almost my shift to watch for danger while Sadie, Emma, and Luke slept. Donovan usually watched with me but I had a feeling he wouldn’t be doing that anymore. Thad noticed the distress on my face and took my hand.

“I should go get ready for my shift,” I said quickly, taking my hand back. He frowned. “I always watch for danger first.”

“I’ll watch with you.”

“It’s fine.”

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“I just don’t understand you!” I admitted. “First you want me then when I want you, you don’t want me. Now when I’m in a crappy mood, you want me? Am I that easy? Am I just a blood bank to you? A little something to get your juices flowing?” Surprised at my sudden outburst, I corrected myself. “I mean I just…you’re a complicated guy.”

Thad raised his eyebrows at me. “Are human girls always this moody?”

“Moody?” I repeated. “I’m not moody!”

“Is this what I’ve heard the elders call a lover’s quarrel?”

                I felt compelled to laugh. Thad was really clueless underneath all the scariness.

“How old are you?” I inquired, curious.

“In human years I should be around sixty-five now. In vampire years however, I’m seventeen.”

“Sixty-five?” I blurted. “You’re old!”

“Not according to the elders, I’m not,” he said with a shy smile. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

                Thad nodded, thinking.

“You know,” Thad began. “There’s a lot I don’t know about humans. Well, I know some things but just what books tell me.”

“What do you want to know?”

“How do you make yourself sleep?” he asked, leaning closer.

“How do I make myself sleep?” I repeated, confused. Thad nodded, staring at me attentively. “I don’t know. I close my eyes and sleep. Sometimes I listen to music.”

“Music,” he said as if a light bulb just went off in his head. “Of course! I hadn’t tried that yet.”

“You haven’t slept at all?”

“No. Like I said, I didn’t know how. But now I do! Music.” He seemed genuinely interested in this new “discovery”. “Do you have music here?”

“I have an iPod,” I said shrugging.

                He was on his feet before I could blink. He stretched out his hand for me to take it. I wearily took it and he pulled me up.

“Let’s go sleep,” he said, excited.

“I can’t. I have to watch.”

“Donovan can do it. Please, come help me sleep.”

                This was a new side of Thad, a childlike side that I was glad to have seen. It was adorable. Underneath that tough vampire exterior, he was just a curious teenager that was scarily undereducated about the basics of life. I giggled as he picked me up and ran up the stairs with me. We passed Donovan on the way up but I couldn’t tell if he was mad or not; we went by too quickly.

                Thad set me down in the room and I handed him the iPod. He put the earbuds into his ears and pressed play. He shot me a confused look.

“How does this help people sleep?” Thad questioned.

                I took the iPod from him and put one of the earbuds in my ear. I screamed when an extra loud rock song blasted into my ear.

“That is so loud!” I hollered. “Didn’t that hurt your ears?”

Thad shrugged. “Not really.”

                He’s strange, I thought. I changed the song to something more soothing and sleep-worthy.

“What about now?” I asked, turning the volume down slightly.

Thad nodded. “Yes. This sounds like sleep music.” He jumped onto my bed and patted the spot next to him.

“I should go see if Donovan doesn’t need help first,” I said, pointing back towards the door.

“He doesn’t,” Thad said. “He sounds pretty concentrated.”

“How can you hear that with the music playing?”

“I just can. Now come here.”

               He’s really not going to let me leave…Not that I even want to. I climbed onto the bed and curled up against his chest. I closed my eyes and it seemed I was the one who fell asleep rather than Thad. As I drifted off I heard the soft sound of his breathing.