Riley Hayes | A Vampire Novel | Book 2

Chapter 4 - can I call this home?

What does feeling home mean? That's a question that had lingered on my mind for weeks now. Life at Leuca's wasn't bad, I could have had anything I wished for, except control and freedom.

I did have control and freedom at the hunter facility but I didn't have anything I could wish for. I didn't have access to warm water, my mother couldn't even cook with spices. It didn't feel like home anymore.

I longed for something else. Did I find it here?

Wendy offered me a room upstairs for the night. As a thank you for helping her get rid of those two morons barging in here. She also answered all the questions I had. She didn't have a master.

She owned this diner. No human had a master in this territory, belonging to a rather lenient or laidback Lord. One that offered humans the chance to go to school and learn, humans and vampires, mixed in society. Hadn't I looked for this all my life? Not exactly, we wanted a world free of vampires.

Did Jackson and Ryan know of this place? If so, why fight Leuca in his territory when we could've fled here and all live in harmony?

When I woke up the next morning, Wendy had laid out my clothes on a chair. I pulled it on and went downstairs to search for her. "Wendy?" I called her and heard her answer back from the kitchen.

I peeked inside and saw her busily preparing meals. This early already? "It's really busy upfront so stay in the back yeah? It shouldn't be as busy in an hour or two, I'll cook something for you then." She didn't even look at me as he spoke.

Her hair was high up in a ponytail and she wore the same blue and back uniform. I left the kitchen and peeked through the glass window overseeing the diner.

I saw an unfamiliar face standing behind the bar and two managing the diner. Did they work for Wendy?

I couldn't do anything else except wait patiently. And as Wendy said, in an hour or two most people had left already and Wendy left the kitchen with a plate in her hands, "well come on, here's your breakfast!"

I held up my hand, "that's nice and all, but I can't-"

She chuckled, "I'm sure you don't have anywhere else to be or to go, so sit and eat your breakfast. You need to take care of someone else." She winked at my belly and walked through the door leading to the bar and the diner.

I followed her and sat down at the bar where she had placed my plate. She had made a lovely egg breakfast for me with toast and different toppings to choose from. "Riley, meet my staff!" Wendy beckoned the three over.

Two were vampires and one was a human. One of the vampires was a girl with long red hair and the other male had dark brown curly hair. The human was male as well and had dark blonde hair. "Hi, I'm Aria!" She grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously.

Her enthusiasm made me jump slightly but she didn't seem to notice. She dyed her hair that red color. It looked awesome on her though. She had these bright green eyes as well, pale skin, and the sharp fangs of a vampire.

The male vampire was a bit more laid back and just waved at me, "I'm Marley..." His skin had a much darker color and his dark brown eyes had such a gorgeous depth to them.

The human male looked between them and then accepted it was his turn last, "Nice to meet you, I'm Logan." He also shook my hand and I felt much more relaxed shaking his hand. Logan seemed so comfortable standing between them. His dark blonde hair was ruffled from a busy start and his blue eyes shined brightly with much hope.

I still couldn't grasp the fact humans and vampires lived side by side. Next, they were staring at me and I didn't know until Wendy elbowed me very softly to snap me out of my thoughts. "Oh... I'm Riley."