Two Hearts, Connected

Chapter 4

"Look, down there!" I said, pointing towards where I thought they'd be hiding. "Great, I'll go look down there, you stay here." Rudolph said. I looked at him in confusion. "Wait..what?" Before I could utter another word, Rudolph let go of my hand, making me fall from the sky. I let out a yelp, but was able to quickly grab a thin, metal arrow jutting out from the top of the tower Rudolph had stopped above.

"You can't meet my parents. Sorry, Elena, it's just the way it is." Rudolph apologized, hovering beside me. "Do we have to go through this again?" I asked, blowing some of my ivory locks out of my face. My eyes widened in fear when the arrow I was holding onto bent from my weight, making me pull one of my hands off it and to my chest. As I began to slide off, I saw Rudolph move a bit closer to me. Just as I moved to grab ahold of it once more, the arrow broke off, sending me barrelling towards the roof below. I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming in pain as the tiles of the roof scrapped against my back, tearing my dark blue sweater open. Just as I thought I was going to fall from the roof, I felt the hood of my sweater catch against the edge of a stone gargoyle's head. I gulped at the ground that was far below me as my feet dangled.

I watched as Rudolph flew off into the graveyard, and I sighed.

*****

I'm not too sure how long it had been since Rudolph had left me, but I suddenly heard the telltale tearing of the fabric of my hood. I looked up, and saw the large hole in it. My body dropped a bit as the tear got wider. I was able mutter out a quick, "uh oh", before My hood was ripped off, and I was sent falling down towards the ground. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact.

But it never came.

Opening my eyes, I saw myself staring into the familiar red eyes of Rudolph. I let out a sigh of relief. "You didn't think I'd leave you here, did you?" He winked at me. "Ready to meet my parents?" He asked, holding my tightly to him. "They said yes?" I asked doubtfully. "Well, they didn't say no." He chuckled nervously.

*****

I stood my ground, glaring into the red eyes of the older vampire who was currently hissing at me. "Father stop!" Rudolph called, pushing him away from me. "You're not being cool at all." Rudolph said, crossing his arms. "Cool?" His father questioned, raising a brow at his son's words. "It's an expression." Rudolph said, exasperated. "It means you're amazing." I supplied, leaning against one of the coffins behind me. "Well, after a few centuries, a vampire learns to be--" He cut himself off and chose to hiss at me instead, trying to intimidate me. It didn't work. "Careful, mortal. I am not susceptible to flattery." He glared down at me.

"Not much." I heard the young girl, Rudolph's sister, mutter out. I bit back a smile at her words. "So, this is your secret weapon? This puny mortal girl?" I blanched at Rudolph's words. "Secret what?" I turned, raising a brow to Rudolph, who shrugged sheepishly. "He did save your son." The mother implied, making me smile over at her. "Elena Thompson, pleasure to meet you." I said, giving the mother a respectful curtsy. She looked at me, slightly impressed with my mannerisms. "I'm Anna, Rudolph's sister." The girl beside his mother introduced. I smiled at her and gave her a curtsy as well. "My brother would've loved to meet you." I smirked at her. Her eyes widened slightly, before she looked away, flustered.

"Rudolph, you're young, impulsive, foolish. Fine. I can forgive you for that. But we cannot put out fate in the hands of a mortal." The father glared over towards me. Rudolph dove in front of me. "She's my friend." He defended. His father paid him no mind as he pushed his son out of the way. "And you." He glared, leaning down close to me. "You can be many things to my son; his breakfast, a snack, maybe a slave." I flinched back at the word slave, holding my neck softly. "But you can never be his friend." He backed away, pleased that he had caused me to flinch.