I open my eyes and look at the photos of how happy my life was before dad started cheating, on the ceiling. I sit up and look out my window into Belle's room. She's singing into her hairbrush, probably the Rolling Stones. I get up from my bed and check on the boys I share my room with. Caleb's listening to music, watching his baby brother. His baby brother, Ezra's asleep, he's the only one who can sleep. Percy's drawing pictures of his mom as a vampire, it took us a year to find him and he's half vampire now. I walk out of the room without disturbing them. I check on the twins in my brother's room which is smaller than a jail cell. Carl's having another nightmare while Debora holds his hand. All the kids moved into our houses and I took all the siblings so they didn't get split up. I look into my sister's room to find all the girls playing with their dolls.
"You should be trying to sleep," They all nod and get into their beds. "Goodnight and if you have any nightmares, I'm downstairs," They murmur goodnights as I turn off the light. I look into my parents' room and find Poppy staring out the window, well more facing the window since she's blind. "Poppy, did you have another nightmare?" She nods and I go into the room. I take her hand and start to lead her downstairs. "Some cocoa and telling me about it will make you feel better," She hasn't talked much since that night when she lost her sight. I make cocoa and add sprinkles and marshmallows to hers. "Here. Be careful, it's hot." She blows on it before taking a sip and faces where I am.
"I saw something bad in my dream," That's the most she has said in two years. "A girl with green hair and a tanned boy stabbed each other...You were there screaming with other people," A girl with green hair...Jade. "You're going to leave, aren't you?" I take a sip of my cocoa to avoid answering her. "Are you going to ever tell Belle how you feel?" I choke and start coughing. When I stop, I look at her with wide eyes.
"How did you know? About how I feel?" Poppy tries to give me a look but it just looks creepy. "Everyone knows but her?" She nods and sips her cocoa. "Poppy, I might have to leave to get rid of all vampires-" Suddenly I feel like something's being carved into my chest. I fall off my chair and Poppy runs out of the room. I stop myself from screaming in pain, not wanting to scare anyone. Belle and Poppy run in. Belle kneels beside me and takes my hand while fixing my hair. "Something's carving into my chest." I pull my shirt up and see names on my stomach. The pain goes away and Belle looks at Poppy.
"Can you go back to bed, sweetie?" Poppy shakes her head and Belle sighs. "Can you sleep on the couch tonight?" She nods and makes her way into the living room. Once she's out of earshot, Belle points at the names. "Any idea who these people are?" I shake my head and she puts her hand on my cheek. "Are you okay? Is there anything you need?" I decide to make a joke that's not really a joke.
"A kiss could make me feel better," She gives me a look. "I told you what I needed, a kiss to make me feel better," Belle sighs and kisses my other cheek. "Thanks for making me feel better, I better get unbloodied shirt which I can't because of Caleb and Paul don't sleep." Belle gets up and helps me up.
"I'll get you a shirt, you clean up, okay?" I nod and the second she leaves, I can't stop smiling like an idiot which I am. I pull off the shirt and use kitchen roll to carefully clean the names. I'm wincing like mad and Belle groans when she walks in. "Jesus. Come with me into the restroom and I'll clean you up." She leads me into the restroom and dampens a towel. She helps me sit on the bathtub and dampens the towel more. I clear my throat.
"We should close the door so the kids don't see and freak out," She nods and kicks the door closed gently. She carefully cleans the names and I stare at her red to yellow hair. "Those girls and gay guy I told you about are coming here soon. If vampires come looking for me but they're friendly, I have to go with them...I think the rest of you should stay with the kids." She looks up at me, her chocolate eyes hard.
"If you're leaving to get rid of vampires, I'm coming as well," She glances at my chest. "You're my friend. If you're getting rid of vampires, I'm coming no matter what," She stops cleaning and throw the towel into the laundry basket. "You're all cleaned up. I'll tell Rose, Ramona, Lukas and Simon to not shoot any friendly vampires." She stands up and slips on something, I catch her.
"Are you okay?" I realise we could be the cover of a smutty romance novel and help her up straight. "Are you okay?" I repeat, noticing that her cheeks where almost as red as her hair. She nods and walks out of the restroom. I watch the door close and wonder if she feels embarrassed because of me catching her while being shirtless. I put the shirt on carefully, trying not to wince as someone knocks on the front door. I take my gun from my waistband and leave the restroom. I can see two vampires and they held pictures of Jade, Mad, Winter and Mickey against the window. The guy looks tall, about my height with brown hair and eyes. The girl has very curly black hair and dark skin. I open the door as far as the chain allowed. "Are you the Guardians? Are you going to kill me?" The boy rolls his eyes.
"We're Guardians and we've sworn to keep you from dying because of vampires," I unchain the door and let them in. "Why do I smell blood and who are they?" All the girls look at him the way they used to look at me.
"All of you go to bed or I won't make pancakes tomorrow," They look sad but go back to bed and Poppy appears in the living room doorway. "Poppy, I'll help you go back to bed," I put her hand on my arm and help her upstairs. I tuck her into her bed. "Goodnight Poppy." I move to get up but she grabs my arm.
"The boy vampire only cares about saving you not about who gets hurt." She lets go and falls asleep quickly. I really worry about her especially since she predicted the vampires attacking.
