Ravenous

13

"Sage?" Mia repeated my name, the third time.

"Oh sorry... what did you say?" I asked her.

It was lunch time in school and my head was preoccupied with the onslaught of information I acquired these past few days. Xavier was true to his words and sent me the book he talked about.

Compagnon de sang by Gustave Plummer

The author is a vampire. He started the book with background information about the term 'blood mates' how the possibility of its existence might be the salvation of vampires.

He then went on and on about the complex bond that a vampire can have with his blood mate. He wrote about how it affected others. He then... spoke about his own experience.

The one thing I noticed about these blood mate encounters, that it always ended bad.

One of them always died.

I found the book to be quite morbid. I couldn't understand whether the author approved or abhorred the whole thing.

So, the first thing I did after finishing his book was to try and find out if he was still alive. And he was. A 300-year-old vampire. He lived in Chicago. I read his book three times and I realized that I wanted to reach out to him. So, I emailed him, and he replied back, inviting me over to his house. I booked a ticket for the upcoming weekend. It was a 6-hour flight.

I've already informed Phoebe that I was traveling to meet my mom. She seemed a little suspicious, but she wasn't in the position to say anything. 

And now I was dreading letting the Hayes know. I couldn't use the excuse I gave Phoebe. So, I just decided that I was going to tell them that I'm meeting with some friends.

"I was saying how we want to do something different this weekend. Do you have any ideas?" she asked.

"Oh... I'm actually going out of town this weekend" I replied.

"You're leaving?" Sophia asks, shocked. They all seemed shocked.

"Only for the weekend" I assured them.

"Where and why?" Aiden asked.

"Chicago... a couple of friends I haven't seen for a decade or so have invited me over. I have been putting it off for a while, so I've decided to take them up on their offer" I said, praying to God that they believed me.

"Vampire friends?" Oliver asks, and I could tell he was suspicious now.

"Yes, vampire friends. I don't have any human ones" I reply back.

"Are you sure you're coming back?" Mia asks, and I knew she was worried. I confided in her that Gabriel intimidates me. I was thankful that she remained true to her words and didn't say anything to anyone about my encounter with him.

"Of course. It's just for the weekend" I assured her with a smile.

"Maybe you should tell Mitchel" Ethan said.

"I will. This afternoon." I said. We were planning to hang out at their place tonight. I haven't been over for a week now.

"I'm going to miss you" Jayden pouts.

"Hey maybe we can plan a trip too!" Sophia beams. And thankfully the conversation steered towards their plans of spending summer somewhere in Europe. The talk of their trips took up the rest of our lunch time and even after school.

"I want to go to France and get drunk on wine and blood" Sophia whined, on our way back to their place.

"Xavier keeps bugging me on visiting him, he's currently in Paris" I tell them.

"Ooh, I want to meet your maker. Is he hot?" Sophia asks.

"Sure, Xavier is handsome" I say, shrugging. I never saw him like that.

"He actually owns a vineyard, somewhere in the south of France. It's so beautiful there. I spent a couple years cooped up there. I keep telling him to sell his wine" I tell them, as we walk in.

"Who owns a vineyard?" he asks, and his voice makes my insides jump. He was coming down the stairs, his hair wet, and he was wearing white joggers, and a white shirt. His smell was the first thing that registered to me, and it surprised me how it calmed down how jittery I have been feeling.

"Sage's maker" Mia answers, because apparently, I've turned mute. And before I could reply, Claire came the downstairs, and to my dismay her hair was wet too.

Did they shower together? She casually came and hooked her arms with his. Like it was something natural between them. I wanted to rip her throat out, so before I lost control I excused myself.

"I'm going to go find Mitchel" I said and walked away.

The damn bastard. I was feeling very territorial, and I hated it.

Mitchel was in his office, and Everly was there too. Those two were inseparable and I wondered if they were compagnon de sang but kept it to themselves.

"Hey guys" I said, once I knocked and Mitchel allowed me in.

"Sage. I haven't seen you around here for a while" she said.

"Yeah, I got busy with school work. I'm in AP classes this time round" I said and she nodded.

"Did you need anything?" Mitchel asks.

"Not really... I just wanted to let you know that I'm traveling over the weekend to Chicago. I've been invited there by some friends and I couldn't say no" I say.

"Okay, thanks for letting me know" he says.

"Sure. I'll see you guys later" and I left his office, and as soon as I turned my body slammed into something. Or should I say, someone.

I looked up, and my breath hitched.

"Excuse me" I say, trying to pass him.

"Who are you friends?" he demands.

"What?" I ask, dumbfounded.

"I asked, who are these friends you're meeting in Chicago?" his voice was firm as he demanded again.

"That's none of your business" I reply. I wasn't going to let him play this game with me. No matter how vulnerable I felt around him, I wasn't going to play this game with him.

"I'm not going to ask again!" his tone was lethal, and if he wanted to scare me, he failed miserably. I did feel other things. He was too close to me. I could reach out and feel his heartbeat beneath the palms of my hand. But I resisted.

"Good. Now move" I say.

He was breathing very hard. His eyes were two shades darker. His whole body was set in a defensive mode.

"Well... why don't you do me a favor and fucking stay there!" he says. His words hurt.

"Fuck you" I say, with all the cruelty I could muster, and I shoved past him.

No one has ever infuriated me and turned me on like that man.