Vampire Twins Meet The Pack (Book One)

Chapter Eight

Lanie had left my room five minutes before. I had brushed my teeth and braided back my hair, trying to get ready for bed. After digging through my spacious closet, I located a pair of baggy basketball shorts that I was pretty sure belonged to Peter and a black tanktop. I had just slipped the latter over my head when I heard a soft knock on my door. "Sera?" I heard a familar voice whisper.

"What do you want, Jay?" I asked as I crossed the room to open the door. He stepped inside without my permission. He looked ready for bed too, in basketball shorts and a shirt with the sides cut out. He sat on my windowseat before replying.

"I'm sorry if I made you mad earlier," he said softly.

I sat down criss-cross-applesauce on my bed, grabbing my gigantic teddy bear and holding him in my lap. "What do you mean?" I asked. "If you're trying to apologize for freaking out about there being vampires in our house earlier, that didn't make me mad. I was pretty freaked out myself. I'm still not sure how I feel about this whole situation."

He sighed. "Well Jenni's pretty ticked off at me, and I think Lanie's mad at me too. The only ones who aren't mad at me are Mark and Ryan, but they're not important. They're just big goons."

"They're not goons, Jaydon," I scolded teasingly. "They just don't think things through all of the time." I paused for a moment. "Okay, so they don't think things through most of the time. That still doesn't make them goons. If they were goons, they would never use their brains. They do sometimes."

"Whatever," he muttered. "That doesn't change the fact that my sisters are mad at me. And I thought that you were too." I rolled my eyes at him. Sometimes Jaydon could be such a crybaby.

"No, I'm not mad at you, Jay," I replied. "But maybe you should think before you speak. You don't want to wind up like Mark and Ryan, do you? A big buffoon?" He shook his head. "Besides, Jenni and Lanie will forgive you. Jenni's just smarter than the rest of us, and Lanie loves everybody."

"Well Peter's getting along with them pretty dang well too," he muttered. "He was cracking jokes with that boy, whatever his name was, and I saw him talking to that girl by her door. I'm pretty sure that he kissed her on the forehead."

"Well he is Steve and Patricia's eldest son," I said. "He's obviously going to be more accepting of this, since it was his parent's plan. The rest of us, we don't have to think the same way. I'm not sure if any of us think the same way as Peter." What I didn't voice were my real thoughts about Peter's behavior. What sort of werewolf became instantly friendly with vampires who moved into their house? It didn't matter who your parents were. It was still weird. "Jenni's just willing to give them a fair chance, unlike you. You just wanted to rip their throats out as soon as you set eyes on them, didn't you?"

Jaydon looked ashamed as he nodded. "I hate vampires. You know that, Sera. They just make my skin crawl. I mean, they drink blood, Sera, blood! The thing that humans rely on to live! They just suck it out and that's that."

"Not all of them, Jaydon, not all of them." As he opened his mouth again I raised up a hand in a calming gesture. "Don't you start ranting at me again. I think it's unnatural too. Just listen to me. At least give them a chance, all right? Just think about how you would feel if you suddenly found yourself in a house full of vampires."

"I wouldn't be stupid enough to go to a house full of vampires!" Jaydon replied, his voice rising. "And I would try to take as many of them out as I could before they killed me!"

"Lower your voice, would you?" I hissed. "I'm pretty sure that Lanie's asleep." Her room was just across the hall from mine, and she was a light sleeper; not to mention very grumpy when awakened. "You're such a judgemental idiot. Go to bed." I looked away from him, out my other window. My room was at one of the corners of the house, since I had a need to be surrounded by windows.

"Don't you go getting mad at me too, Serafina," said Jaydon, his voice much softer than it had been in a while. "If all three girls are mad at me, well, besides that vampire girl, I'll go absolutely up a wall. And you already told me that you weren't mad at me. That's got to qualify as going back on your word or something like that."

I rolled my eyes but turned back towards him. "Does the phrase 'go to bed' mean anything to you?" I asked. He shook his head, a playful grin back on his face. "Well go Google it, then," I said. "It might be a good thing for you to know."

All was silent for a few minutes until.... "Sera, can I sleep here tonight?" he asked quietly, taking me completely off guard.

"Umm, why?"

"Both of the rooms that Patricia set up for those vampires are on my floor," he answered. "I'm not comfortable enough with this idea yet to sleep that close to them. I'd ask Jen, but as I've already mentioned, she's throughly ticked off at me."

"You'll be sleeping on the floor," I informed him. Oh dear Lord, what would those vampires think? It would be an entirely different matter if I were Jenni, but obviously I'm not. Heck, what would Steve and Patricia think if they found out?

"I don't care," he replied.

"Fine," I reluctantly agreed. "Here." I tossed him one of the many pillows that were scattered over the top half of my bed. "And you can have this too." I tossed him a blanket that had been neatly folded at the foot of my bed. "You had better not snore, or you will wake up to my foot in your face, understood?" Jaydon nodded and quickly got settled on my floor. I leaned over and shut off the lamp that stood on the table by my bed. After five minutes of staring up at the stars on my ceiling, my eyelids slid slowly shut and I fell asleep.