Who Said Vampires Don't Exist? Well, I Did, Until Now

Chapter 37: Splitting Up

Chapter 37

I stretched my arms high above my head and let out a groan of exhaustion. Sleep had evaded me throughout the night. I spent the whole time tossing and turning while thinking about Reuban and everything that happened between us the past couple of days. Despite the fact that I should be fearing and despising him, I found myself growing more and more attached. I started to forget the reasons I couldn't be friends with him. I wanted to forget about Tony, vampires, and death. I wanted Reuban to be a regular guy and me a regular girl.

We would probably be great friends if that was the case.

However, we instead stood at separate ends of a large divide between cultures and races. I, a human, was bound to hate and fear him, a vampire. That was the way things were. They weren't supposed to change.

Yet, I valued a strong friendship with Seth and Alex. I knew I was being hypocritical with Reuban. Seth was still young enough to have not killed before, but surely Alex had slipped a time or two.

Why did it matter so much more if Reuban killed?

I shook these thoughts from my head and pulled my leather jacket tighter around my stomach. The temperature was beginning to change, and I could feel a nip in the air. I wore a warm black sweater and some dark blue skinny jeans. The cold wind went straight through my jeans and my boot-clad feet.

"Are you ready?" Reuban walked from the cabin while looping his arms through his pack. I looked at him in confusion, as he was putting the backpack on backwards.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I responded.

We had spent the last two hours shooting the gun. I complained that we were going to run out of ammo, but Reuban assured me that he brought enough. He showed me how to load the gun, how to take it apart, and how to put it back together. He quizzed me on everything. I felt like I was back in high school.

Neither of us spoke about the previous day or about the way we woke up in each other's arms in the morning again. There seemed to be an unspoken mutual understanding that these topics were taboo.

"Alright, come on." He gestured to his back and squatted down.

"Huh?"

"Come on." He gestured again, and I shook my head. I was stupefied. "We already talked about this. You walk too slowly, so we need to go my speed. Now, hop on."

"What? We didn't talk about this!" I crossed my arms defensively.

"We did! Last night!" He stood from his crouched position and walked over to me. Although his expression was seriously frustrated, I couldn't take him seriously while he was cradling his backpack to his stomach.

"No, we didn't!"

"I knew you weren't listening." He accused. Belatedly, I remembered the other day when I watched his lips rather than listened to what he was saying. A red blush sneaked up my cheeks.

"I was listening." My voice betrayed the lie easily.

"It doesn't matter. You still have to get on my back. We're already far behind schedule. The Master will be furious. I have to run us there."

"If you run... how long will it take to get there?" I inquired timidly.

"We'll be there in a few hours."

My heart dropped, and I felt like Reuban had punched me in the gut. I assumed we would have at least another two days. I never imagined we would get there so fast. I began to shake my head hurriedly.

"No! Let's walk. I'll walk. We can walk. Let me deal with The Master. He likes me, it will be fine." Reuban took a step closer to me, determined. "Wait a second! Reuban!" I held my hands up in front of me, pleading. He continued to make his way closer to me. "Reuban, Reuban, wait! I'll run. I can run pretty fast. Even if we're one day behind schedule that's fine. Right? Let me run. Reuban!"