Leave Me Behind

I have never felt more alone than I had right then. My mother was dead, and my father was bleeding his life out in front of my eyes. You see, he was a vampire hunter. He'd been training me, and an old vampire that he'd been using to demonstrate locked its arm around his neck. I watched in fear as it loosened its hold on him and ripped its teeth into Dad's neck. I felt myself screaming, "No, don't hurt him! I'll do whatever you want me to do!" The vampire watched me with interest and let go of my father. He stayed near, watching us with a peculiar expression on his face.

"I'm hoping you were not serious." Daddy gasped.

"Mm, because I was hoping she was," and I felt hands on my head. My eyes widened in fear and at the beatific voice and smile of the attacker. "One move to stop me and I'll snap her neck and it'll be the end of your pretty little relationship with your pretty little daughter. You see, I would love it if you left this place. This is no place for a hunter. We are everywhere. You couldn't catch us if you tried your hardest."

"Oh yeah? Then how come you're here? Huh?" Dad struggled to stand up, and the vampire's hands gripped my head harder. Funniest thing was, it didn't hurt. It felt like this was exactly where I was supposed to be. Ironic, knowing that in one simple second I could be lying dead on the ground with a broken neck. I could have died, and I was nowhere close to being afraid.

The vampire's eyes furrowed as he must have been listening to everything, including my heart. "Please, come with me, and then I will heal your father. He picks the worst fights, doesn't he?"

I nodded once, and he picked me up and darted away. It took all I had in me not to scream at the speed at which we were flying across the ground. "What is it that you want, Vampire?" I hadn't ever cared enough to ask for his name.

CHAPTER 1

"I want you to forget what I did to your father. Forget about him if you need to. You are with me now." The vampire put his hands on either sides of my face and it seemed like he was concentrating very hard. With that, parts of my memory faded away. I now wasn't sure where I was or how I got there. The vampire was gone.

Five seconds passed and he was beside me again. "Forgive me, darling, I needed to feed." A smile cut across his face, and almost prevented me from seeing a small bite on his wrist.

"Fighting over food again?" He'd given me fake memories of he and I. What he was, why he killed. I knew it all.

"No. I decided to be pleasurable and heal the human I fed off of." He took my hand, and for some reason, I didn't take it back. His hand in mine felt right and ethical. "Are you with me?" He kissed my hand as I leaned into him.

"Just a tad bit tired, I'm sorry, I know you wanted to have fun, Alex." I gave him a sleepy smile.

"Mm, I guess we'll have to change that now, won't we? I can make you strong and willing and I can protect you. I have fun around you. My sleepy little Mate." I felt him kiss my forehead. I was his mate, and his mark would be forever on my heart.

I didn't feel the wind whipping my hair. The only thing I felt was his arms gripping me tight, and his perfect voice telling me to sleep. "I don't want to Change." I whispered. It was true. He wouldn't make me feel different. I felt amazing at the times he would feed from me, and I was grateful that he never killed me.

But I was taken advantage of. A silly, beautiful, tasty human who didn't bother to use holy water. Easily, I could drink it with no problem. I just hadn't wanted to hurt Dad's vampire pets, as he called them. I could put it all over my necklace. Hell, I could wash myself in holy water and a human wouldn't know the difference. Then he couldn't have been able to change my thoughts and memories. This was 2035. In this time, even outspoken people believed in vampire beings. Some of those people were strong enough to use their outspokenness to their advantage. They became vampire hunters. Hunters at night, teachers by day. Kill, or be killed.

The next time I woke up, I was huddled on his chest in his bedroom. His skin was cold to the touch. "Don't wait up for me anymore, you'll have to leave me here anyways."

"I just wanted to see your eyes and hear your voice before I left, sweetheart." He kissed my cheek softly before dashing out. A note floated towards me:

You won't have time to miss me. I'll be back as soon as possible.

I love you, darling,

Alex.

I already miss you, Alex. I felt my mind cry. What can I do without him? Without family? My parents are dead, for crying out loud! That was the first I'd thought about family that day. If Alex had known my thoughts, he would have erased them again. He wouldn't want me getting suspicious. He was selfish; he wanted me all to himself. His human mate that thought her mind was her own.

Blood dripped from Alex's mouth, his face was ragged, and wooden stakes were stuck in him when he returned.

CHAPTER 2

"No, no, no! Alex, please, tell me what happened!" He staggered into my arms and began to gingerly pull the stakes out of himself. "Drink," I pushed my neck nearer to his long fangs that were only growing larger. He obeyed and sunk his teeth in my neck. I thought he wouldn't stop. I felt him trying his best to pull away, and failing.

"Your blood," he rasped after he was finally able to pull away, "is better than I imagined." That had been my first clue. My memories told me he'd fed from me many, many times. I'd shaken off the feeling before I could doubt him.

"Now you'll tell me what happened, won't you?" I shivered at his cold touch. Either he hadn't had enough, or the blood he did drink bled out. His right hand held my face, and the other combed through my hair. He did something he had never done before, even in my memories. He kissed me.

"Carlie Marie Wilson; Carlie, I can't talk about it. Not right now. All you need to know right now is that I love you, and I always will. For as long as I live."  Alex pronounced my full name, which made me shiver in pleasure. Well, it might have been aftershock from the kiss, but what did I know. This is a real memory, with fake feelings.

"Why do you want me?" I whispered as he leaned in to kiss me again. Even then, I was smart and quick to understand.

He grabbed my head in both hands again. "You will remember only that I kissed you, and I said that we were meant to be together." He murmured this with an edge of anger and frustration.

"Are you angry with me? Did I do something wrong?" I spoke into his shoulder.

"No, darling, it's only that I get jealous sometimes. You are wanted by every man, and they envy that I have you." His lips left a warm feeling along my jawline. I pushed him away. I wouldn't let him go any farther with me. Not yet. I felt like I shouldn't trust him now.

"I am wanted, but I don't want to be. I have never wanted to be. I want you; I love only you, Alex." I walked out of his bedroom and ran downstairs. My neck was still bleeding, and I could tell it was driving him crazy. He wasn't the center of my life, though, was he? No, I was doing this because my neck was hurting me. No one else. Alex, talking about jealousy, hurt me. It wasn't fair that he was the only one who was allowed to be jealous. I hadn't known back then how completely right I was.