Chapter 23: History
I woke up alone. The sun was shining through the window in
Alex’s room, it felt warm on my face. I
stretched slowly and sat up. I smiled and
sighed happily, I couldn’t believe how content I felt. I glanced at Alex’s side of the bed and saw the
note he had left for me on his pillow. His
penmanship was so elegant; there was no way my chicken scratch writing could
even compare to it.
Anna,
I’ll be back
soon
Alex
I smiled happily at his thoughtfulness,
although I was curious about where he had gone. I got up and had a shower and once
I was dressed I wondered into the kitchen to find something to eat. I found Cassy sitting at the table munching
on a bowl of cereal and reading the paper.
“Morning?” I said a question in my
greeting. She looked up and smiled, her
vivid sapphire blue eyes full of amusement.
“Morning indeed. I’m not sure how you’re going to get through a
day of school if you’re going to sleep so much,” she giggled shaking her head
at me.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
“Max and Katie are in the study, everyone else
is hunting,” she replied watching my expression for changes.
“Oh, I see. And James?” I asked.
“He went home last night around ten. He had to be in the office early because he
wanted to do some research on your dad.” Cassy informed me. I nodded my understanding. She looked at me thoughtfully,
“So, I guess you have a lot of questions, don’t
you? Alex wanted to be here when you
woke up but we thought he should go hunting so that he’s at peek strength.” I
looked at her curiously. She smiled and
stood up.
“I think I’ll go get Max and Katie. You should really hear our story from the
beginning. Max is a great story teller,
and he’ll be able to answer all your questions when it comes to the differences
between the species.” Cassy took her dishes to the sink and quickly washed
them. She was gone a few seconds
later. I walked over to the cupboard and
filled a glass with cold water from the tap.
I turned with my glass of water to see Max, Katie and Cassy entering the
room. I would have to get used to their
quick and silent movements. They moved
so fast it was unnerving at times and I had almost dropped my glass in
surprise!
“How are you feeling this morning?” Katie asked
with genuine concern. She smiled at me
and the look in her eyes made me feel warm and secure. I knew these people truly loved me as much as
I loved them.
“I’m feeling well rested, but I’m not sure how
long that will last,” I confessed. Katie
and Max nodded. Katie gave me a warm,
gentle hug of greeting. This made my
heart soar in happiness. I felt loved
and cared for. It had been so long since
I had felt this way. I had almost
forgotten how good it felt.
“Let’s go into the family room where we can sit
comfortably while I tell you our story,” Max said quietly.
Cassy tossed me a granola bar and we all walked
into the family room. I sat on the couch
across from Max and Katie and crossed my legs, tucking my feet beneath me. Cassy sat in a chair by the TV and began
flicking through the channels with the volume down very low. We sat quietly for a few minutes before Max began
his tale. He looked at me, his beautiful
eyes serious.
“I’ll tell you my story, and then answer your
questions when I have finished. Anna, I
want you to understand as much as possible about us. As a species, we are not that different from
humans in physically appearance, but you must remember that Vampires are
predators. Above all, you must remember
this fact. Also, you need to know that
other vampires are not as civilized as we are,” he said looking at me with his
ancient eyes that were filled with centuries of wisdom. The knowledge in his eyes made him look so
much older than he appeared; the contrast was striking. Max continued his tale a reflective, far-away
look in his eyes as he spoke.
“I was born in 1409 in a small country that is
now called Wales. The Welsh had been at war with England and King Henry IV
since 1400, nine years before I came into being. The Welsh had fought back and had
successfully retaken most of their lands by the time I was born, but as history
clearly shows, King Henry V confiscated, actually took with brute force that
had been most of the lands captured by Glyndwr during his reign. Owain Glyndwr acted, and was proclaimed the Prince
of Wales by a small band of followers, among them was his eldest son, his
brother in laws, and the Dean of St Asaph.
Owain and his men quickly spread through the north-east of Wales, they
took the De Grey stronghold of Ruthin Castle, Denbigh, Rhuddlan, Flint,
Hawarden, and Holt. But as history states King Henry turned his armies on Wales
and won. Wales was ruled by the hated
Saxons and bards, who were the poets of that time in history, used their
considerable talents to communicate the hatred we all felt towards the
English. They composed a number of songs
or poems and set their words to music to entertain the people. I was the younger brother of one of those
poets, his name was Guto’r Glyn. We lived in a time of great sorrow and
turmoil. Guto’r Glyn was renowned for
his humour and poetry and lived a long life.
When I was a young man I decided to travel on
my own and so I left Britannia and sailed to France. From there I headed south to explore other
lands and I wound up in Italy. It was in
Italy that I first met my ‘maker.’ His
name was Angelo and I had never seen a man like him before. He was tall and lean, with straight glossy
black hair and striking golden eyes that almost glowed when light hit
them. His skin was as pale as alabaster
and he dressed impeccably, he always looked elegant. He was an amazing man. He was a man of the ‘Arts’; he loved to watch
plays and listen to the bards telling their tales. He painted beautifully and also wrote lavish
plays about the royal family, but he was a man of science as well. I don’t know what it was that drew Angelo to
me, but he decided to take me under his wing as his protégé and teach me about
the finer things in life. I stayed with
him for ten years and in all that time I had no idea what he was. He was usually only out at night and when he
went out during the day it was only during the early morning or dusk, never at
mid-day. One evening he took me aside and
asked me if I would like to live forever.
I replied that forever was a very long time to live and if I were to
have such a gift bestowed upon me, I would not want to suffer the infirmities
that come with age. I would want to stay
young so that I could experience all the world had to offer. I told him I wanted to watch history in the
making. I loved hearing the tales of
old, the stories of distant lands, wars, and heroes, and I loved tales of
adventures on the seas. Angelo smiled at
me and told me about himself. That was
the night he turned me. You see, Vampires
are very secretive, suspicious, and possessive creatures and we guard our
secrets very carefully. If we feel
threatened we do not hesitate to destroy that threat. Angelo wanted a companion. He had been alone for almost seven hundred
years and before that he had spent his first four or five hundred years with
his maker. We didn’t really keep track
of the years back then, time just was not that important. I became his companion and stayed with him for
about two hundred years. I left because
I wanted to see more the world. Angelo
had taught me a great number of things, the most important was how to survive
without harming humans, and how to stay hidden.
He also taught me about the different species of vampires. You see, as a species, we started to evolve
just like humans did millions of years ago.
From what I was told, the first vampires were absolutely vile creatures.
They had no morality, no humanity, and they
were extremely vicious creatures. They
also possessed amazing strength and heightened senses of smell, sight and
hearing. They fed on humans as often as
possible, but they could only hunt during the night because sunlight was
harmful to them. Sun light was one of
the only ways to destroy these creatures for they were very difficult to kill. One of these creatures lived for a very, very,
long time. It is not known exactly how
long he lived, but at one point he bit a woman and did not kill her. She turned and became the first of a new
‘species’ of Vampire. She retained most
of her human morality, however she still hunted humans for ‘food’. She began creating more vampires like
herself. Over time, they learned to
blend in with humans during the night hours as they were still unable to
tolerate sun light. Twilight, after the sun dipped below the horizon, was the
earliest they dared to emerge. One of
these new breed of vampires created my maker. Angelo was the most civilized vampire who had
been created. He learned that vampire
males could conceive children with human females and that was how the war
between the vampires started. In fact, most
vampires don’t know that secret. It was
unfortunate that many of our secrets have been lost in the great wars as most,
if not all, of the older vampires were destroyed until only a handful of second
and third generation vampires existed. Today
it is mostly fourth and fifth generation vampires who exist.
It had been discovered that female vampires
could have children, although this was very rare. To be born a vampire, one would be considered
royalty, and there are only two royal families who exist in the world today. As vampires age, their strength
increases. This is common, and as well
as incredible strength, all vampires possess heightened senses. It was discovered that some of the fifth and sixth
generation vampires have other abilities, almost like a sixth sense. These abilities began to manifest in different
ways as time progressed. There are those who are seers, shields, or who possess
offensive or defensive abilities, as well as many other gifts. Vampires at this point in time seem to only
have one extra ‘special’ ability, but I believe that soon the next generation
will have more than one.
My family is completely different from other
vampires, we are considered an anomaly in a manner of speaking. I am from the fifth generation, I only have
one special ability, but Katie as well as our children and the twins are
different. They are more human than most
of the other vampires which is why we have remained hidden. As you know, Alex was hurt when he was shot,
but he heals at an amazing rate.
Generally, we need to feed to enable us to heal in a matter of
minutes. Alex does not heal that quickly
yet, although he is getting close. Most
vampires, like myself, George and Stephan are cool to touch. Our body temperatures are about five to
fifteen degrees cooler than the normal human body temperature, our skin is very
tough and difficult to injure. It is
similar to leather, but much tougher, which is one of our stronger defensive traits,
however we can still be hurt if you know how.
We all have heightened senses, and we can move
at great speeds. We also crave blood, specifically
human blood. We can survive on animal
blood, but it is in our nature to crave human blood. There are very few vampires who are willing
to survive on animal blood alone, like our family, although occasionally, we do
partake of human blood if circumstances deem it necessary. However we would never kill a human. You see, if we bite a human we can heal the
wound and plant a suggestion into their head so they have no recollection of
what has happened to them. They usually think that they have had the most
amazing sexual experience of their lives.” Max smiled at the blush creeping
hotly up my face.
“I know of only one other family like ours, and
they live in the Maritimes,” he took a deep breath and sighed. I looked at him completely enthralled,
wanting to know more; and he could tell.
“Anna, I know you want to learn more, but I
think we should take a break for a little while. You’ve been sitting quietly listening for a
while now and there is still a lot to tell.”
I smiled
and nodded, stretching out my legs. I
quickly went to the washroom and then the kitchen to make a sandwich and refill
my glass of water. When I returned to
the couch and made myself comfortable Max smiled at me and began his story
again.
“I travelled on my own for a very long time
before I met Katie here in Canada. She
was living in York, which is now called Toronto. We met during the war of 1812; she was caring
for the injured at a local hospital and she was the most beautiful creature I
had ever seen.” He glanced lovingly over at Katie’s smiling face.
“She was twenty one years old and not married,
which was strange for those times; she was considered an old maid believe it or
not. I fell deeper in love with her over
the months I watched her work and care for the sick and injured. When I finally got up the nerve to ask her to
go for a walk, she smiled at me and asked what took me so long to ask her.” He
beamed as he looked over at Katie again.
“York at that time was very quickly growing in
size with all the new British immigrants arriving on ships. By 1834 there were over 9000 people living in
York and when the first mayor was elected, William Lyon MacKenzie, the city
name changed from York to Toronto. Katie
and I married, which was rather strange thing for a vampire to do, but I wanted
a companion and I loved her very much. I
thanked my lucky stars that Katie did not despise me after she learned what I
was. I believe that fate brought us together because we are soulmates.” Max
took Katie’s hand and kissed it lovingly before he continued.
“We had two children, William the eldest and
then Casandra three years later. I
turned Katie shortly after Cassy was born because she became very ill and the
doctors could not help her. I asked her
first, of course, although I may have turned her anyway had she refused because
we are very selfish creatures. Not to
mention, I don’t think I could have lived without her.” He seem to shudder at
the thought of losing Katie.
“Will
and Cassy are half human so they can go out into the sunlight with no
problems. As for myself and Katie we can
both go into the sunlight but we tend to be a bit of a distraction. This is because as we age our skin takes on a
luminous quality, which is actually what protects us from the sun,” he smiled
at me as he paused to let me process all the information he had told me.
“Will and Cassy don’t need blood to survive, they
are also able to eat human food and they stopped aging around the age of eighteen. The only other half vampire half human we knew
of back in the early 1800s was living in France. He was approximately 235 years old and he
stayed well hidden. In fact, only two
others besides myself even knew of his existence, and I believe that family still
lives in France. These half breeds are
able to heal very quickly. Not as
quickly as a full vampire, of course, but most major injures heal in a day or
so as long as they are not vital. They
also don’t require the same amount of sleep that humans do, they only need to
sleep three to four hours a night, and if necessary, they can stay awake for
approximately ninety six hours without difficulty. Vampires, on the other hand do not require
sleep at all, although we do rest for about an hour a day,” he paused for a
moment and looked over at Katie.
“Katie would you continue please? You know Lizzy and Alex’s story the
best.” Katie nodded graciously and looked
at me thoughtfully. She knew how much I
cared for the twins and that I was extremely curious about their history. I shifted on the couch, tucking my feet under
me as I sat cross-legged. I leaned
forward expectantly as Katie began her tale.
“It was a cold night in the fall of 1883 when I
found her. Her name was Patricia and she
was only 17 years old. Patricia had been
in Toronto for only a short time; she had come from London a few months before
we met. I found her in an alleyway badly
beaten and bleeding, and she looked to be about seven or eight months pregnant. I was horrified at her condition. How could someone treat such a young, and
obviously pregnant young girl so cruelly?
I brought her home and nursed her back to health as best I could. She was very frail, and she was constantly
sick. No matter what I gave her she
couldn’t keep it down. Then, one
afternoon I was cleaning a chicken in the backyard of our small home. The smell of blood was in the air and
Patricia came outside her eyes wide with hunger. She grabbed the carcass out of my hands and
started licking the blood when she spotted the bowl I had drained the chicken’s
blood into. She grabbed the bowl and
greedily drank it all. It was then I
realized what she was carrying within her womb, for I had craved blood
too. I also knew that pregnancy was
shorter for women impregnated by vampires and she would deliver in a few weeks.
I asked her who the father was, and all
she told me was that it was dark the night the man came. She said he was beautiful, with golden hair
and golden eyes. Sated with the
chicken’s blood for the time being, Patricia told me that it happened about two
months ago, and that she first saw the man about a month after she had arrived
here. She told me that she had looked
for the stranger but had never been able to find him. Because she was pregnant and unmarried, she
was banished from her home and left to her own devices. She told me that the men who had beaten her
were drunk and sadly, one of them had been her older brother. She looked at me beseechingly and asked me to
care for her child. She saw that I had
two children of my own and believed that I would be able to provide for her
child much better than she would. I told
her we would care for her child together because she would always have a home
with us. Patricia shook her head sadly
and told me she didn’t think she would live much longer. She explained that she had been ill when she
was young and she was warned by doctors not to have a child. One week later she went into labour. Alexander was born first, she named him after
her grandfather. Patricia smiled at this
new born infant with much love in her eyes but her expression changed quickly
to agony as her contractions got stronger again. She screamed in pain and we realized that she
was about to deliver a second child. Elizabeth was born seven minutes after her
brother and Patricia named her after her mother. She held both Alex and Lizzy gazing at them
lovingly with tears in her eyes and told them that she loved them and they were
the best piece of her. The three of them
slept peacefully together for a while and she was able to feed them. It was beautiful to watch; sadly she died
that night. She haemorrhaged and I was
unable to stop the bleeding no matter what I tried. So many women died in those days, it’s rare
for that to happen now.” Katie had a sad faraway look in her eyes as she
remembered the mother of her adopted children.
Katie took a deep breath before she continued her story.
“Alex and Lizzy grew up similar to Will and
Cassy, however, it was evident that they had a special bond. All of my children
have special abilities, which seems to be the norm for halflings. Will is able to create and control electrical
charges which he can direct at individuals or objects. Cassy can easily shield herself and others
from psychic attacks. In fact she has
protected our family from others of our kind over the years, plus she is able
to accurately sense a person’s character and she can tell if they are telling
the truth or not when they speak. Lizzy
and Alex are special, as you know they can communicate with each other over
great distances. What is interesting is
that they have a two way communication which is extremely rare between twins;
usually one is a sender and the other is a receiver. Like Cassy, Lizzy can sense a person’s
character and she can also tell if someone is lying. Alex compliments her ability in that he can persuade
you to tell the truth. Of course this is
frustrating around Christmas and birthdays because those two gang up on
everyone to find out what their presents are,” she laughed shaking her
head. I smiled and looked out the window. I was surprised to see that the sun was
starting to set. My stomach growled,
complaining about the little food I had eaten.
I wanted to hear more, but the full human had to eat.
“I’ll
put a pizza in for us,” Cassy said heading for the kitchen.
“We can
share since the others won’t be eating.”
I nodded as I stood up to stretch my legs. I had a quick bathroom break, refilled my
glass of water and returned to the couch eager to hear more about the lives of
the people who had become my protectors, and perhaps even my new family.
“May I ask a few questions now?” I asked
quietly.
“Of course you can,” Katie replied smiling.
“How long do you live? I mean, is it really
possible for you to live forever? And do
you know how old the oldest of your kind is?” I blurted out all at once looking
at Max and Katie with eager anticipation.
Max started laughing.
“Slow down Anna, I know you’re trying to absorb
as much information as possible and you want to know everything. I’ll answer your
questions one at a time.”
“We are not sure how long we can live. It may be possible for us to see the end of
time, but until that happens we won’t know if we can live forever. As for the oldest among us, I do know who that
is, and she is well over four thousand years old. She is one of the second generation vampires
I told you about. Her family lives in
Spain and she is the mother of the royal family there,” he said quietly. I looked at him thoughtfully, trying to
figure out whether I should ask my next question. I decided to go for it.
“How do you kill a vampire?” I asked slowly
watching Max’s face. He did not register
any surprise or shock at my forwardness.
Instead he smiled and answered.
“There are only a few ways to be sure a vampire
is dead. One is to burn the vampire
while it is resting, and the second is to use a piece of iron wood made into a
stake and driving it through the heart or use carved ironwood shackles to bind
them. Iron wood is the strongest wood in
the world and it can penetrate a full vampire, rendering him or her
defenceless. We don’t exactly know why,
but iron wood drains us of our abilities making us essentially human in a
manner of speaking. Or you can cut off
our heads, that is usually very effective too,” he replied.
“So all the movies and myths about vampires are
wrong then,” I said thoughtfully.
“Yes, it’s all mostly superstition,” Max
said. “We can go into a church and touch
the cross, garlic is nothing more than a strong odour, holy water does nothing
but get us wet, and silver does not affect us either. We don’t sleep in coffins, and sun light
doesn’t really harm us, depending on how old you are. Katie, George, and Stephan can handle full
sunlight but they can’t go out in public unless they are fully covered up because
they would be too much of a distraction.
We tend to avoid the public on sunny days, when we are in the sunlight
our skin gives us away. People either become
enamoured when they see us, thinking that an angel has come to them, or they
get frightened because they cannot explain what they are seeing. You see, we sort of glow. In the old days, when a vampire went out during
a bright day and was seen by a mortal, they would be thought of as an angel, or
some sort of god. A vampire’s beauty is one of the ways we entice humans. As I told you before, vampires are predators. Our strength, speed and enhanced senses help
us to find our prey; our beauty, voices and our scent are appealing to humans
which makes them want to be close to us,” Max explained.
“But I’m human and I’m not affected by your
voice,” I said looking at him in confusion.
“That’s because I’m not using it to entice
you. I could easily hypnotise you. That’s what we do when we want something; we
use our abilities to get what we want.
You actually did that in the clearing when Alex was shot. In fact, I’ve never seen a human do that,
it’s a vampire trait,” he mused as his eyes searched mine, never revealing what
he was thinking.
“What about the drinking of human blood, I know
that’s something that is true. So, why don’t you seem affected by me or James?”
I asked.
“Yes, vampires require blood to survive. However, it really doesn’t matter if it the
blood is human or animal. Humans just
happen to be more fun, and they taste the best.” Max grinned.
“You see Anna, vampires like to play with
their food. That’s why they tend to go
after humans. That and they smell better
than animals,” he replied answering my unasked question.
“What about the stories that say
that it feels good to be bitten, or painful to be bitten?”
“Being bitten can go either way. It’s a very personal and sometimes sexual
experience for both vampire and human.
Vampires also feed from each other when they have sex because it
heightens the sensation and the connection between the two individuals,” Katie
smiled knowingly. I raised my eyebrows
curiously, but she didn’t elaborate.
“Is that why you tried to stop me when I slashed
my wrist for Alex?” I asked.
“Yes and no.
You have to understand that for Alex it was an overwhelming experience
and it will take him some time to come to terms with drinking your blood. He doesn’t think he deserves you at the
moment because you were willing to give your life to save his. When he saw that in you, he realized just how
much you truly love him. He would gladly
sacrifice himself to save you, but he never thought you would do that for
him. You’ve opened his eyes to a very
different world and we’re happy about that.” Max smiled gently at me and
continued.
“The problem with you giving him your blood was
that it weakened your already overtaxed body and he was inundated with your very
powerful emotions. He will know your
every emotion for quite a while, possibly permanently. It’s one of the side effects of sharing blood
with a human, we establish an emotional connection with them. He also learned your greatest fears and your
greatest desires. He knows you better
than you know yourself right now and that could be dangerous for you because he
could manipulate you very easily, but he’s not that kind of vampire. I had to make sure that he didn’t take too
much of your blood because once he latched on to your wrist you passed
out. He could have easily drained you
dry, but then he would never have forgiven himself and he would most likely
have taken his own life. The other
problem we have is that you can’t defend yourself right now and we don’t know
how long it will take for you to recover.
You were already sick for six or seven weeks at the beginning of the
year so we need to keep a really close eye on you. We need to make sure that you are safe and
you eat well so that you can recover quickly.”
I nodded as I let his words sink in.
I wasn’t sure if I would feed Alex again but I also knew that if I did,
it wouldn’t be soon.
“How many vampires are out there?” I continued with my questions.
“Not as many as the stories hint at. There may be about two or three hundred
vampires on the planet, but our numbers fluctuate so sometimes there are more,
sometimes less. Vampires will fight over
territory and most don’t live in large groups like we do. Many vampires enjoy solitude because it’s
easier to stay undetected, but many enjoy small covens of three or four. There are larger covens, but I only know of
two and those are the royal families.
When you’re a larger group like our family or the royal families, you
need to watch your every move. You don’t
want your secret to be revealed or you have to move sooner than you had
planned. It takes months or even years
to set up an alternate identity for a large family like ours. With technology
advancing at such an alarming rate it’s making it harder for us to hide. Video surveillance and even satellite imaging
is becoming a problem for our kind. Plus
we also need to be careful of infrared imaging since we’re cooler than regular
humans by about five to fifteen degrees, and that shows up,” Max explained.
“How does someone become a vampire exactly?” I
asked.
“It’s a virus” Max replied “When someone is
‘bitten’ the virus is transmitted through the saliva, or venom that we produce
in our mouths. This is the same venom
that can make the bite painless if the vampire chooses. The virus changes you, but you also have to
drink a vampire’s blood for the change to start. The change is not comfortable, and it takes a
day or two for it to be complete. The
stronger or healthier you are, the longer it takes, and some people don’t
survive the transition and we don’t know why that is. Our friend from the Maritimes is a chemist and
she discovered that our venom carried the virus. She also discovered that our saliva, or venom
is like a drug to our prey and we can convey our intent to the individual we
are feeding on through our venom as well as through our voices.” Max
explained. He continued, “Our saliva has
two qualities; first, when we make the initial bite we release both a blood
thinner and endorphins into the victim’s blood stream to allow their blood to
move more quickly and to make it feel good, and when we are nearly finished our
saliva releases a coagulant to thicken the blood to stop the flow which also
seals the puncture site and heals it instantly.”
“So some of the books and movies have bits and
pieces that are right, you just have to know what to look for?” I asked. Max just smiled.
“I guess
I have a lot to think about. Thank you
for telling me your story. It makes it
easier to understand who you are and I’m happy that you trust me with your
secret.” I said honestly, looking at Max and Katie. Katie’s head turned slightly.
“They’re back.” She smiled.
“Here you go, Anna,” Cassy said handing me a
plate with a slice of pizza and a small salad.
“Thank you.” I was shocked to realize that I
was ravenous! I hadn’t paid attention to
how hungry I was because I had been so enthralled with Max and Katie’s story.
I stopped abruptly, just as I was about to take my first bite of pizza, “Oh,
I forgot to ask, where will I be sleeping while I’m here?” I asked looking at
them questioningly.
Katie smiled, “I think you need to discuss that with Alex. I don’t think he’s going to let you out of
his sight too often until the final confrontation is decided. Don’t worry dear, he’s a perfect gentleman he
won’t do anything to compromise your virtue or his.” My eyes widened in surprise, a thousand
questions going through my head yet again.
Max, Katie and Cassy laughed at my bewildered expression.
“You’re the first girl he’s ever shown any
serious interest in for a long time.
Lizzy is delighted of course because she felt guilty for finding love
first. She and Will have been together
since she was of age. She just wants her
brother to be happy,” Katie explained. I
nodded and took another bite of pizza before I could voice any more of the questions
swimming around in my head.
Will, Lizzy, Alex, George and Stephan walked
into the room a few minutes later. Lizzy
looked at me and smiled.
“So, how was your day?” she asked.
“Max and Katie told me your family’s history. It’s such a fascinating story, I was
enthralled for the entire day. I’m going
to be dreaming lots tonight,” I smiled.
Alex sat next to me and took my hand.
“You’re looking better today,” he said quietly
studying my face. I smiled, touched by
his concern.
“I guess I’m going to need a lot of sleep over
the next little while,” I replied. “Did you have a good trip?” I asked. He smiled and nodded. He just sat and watched me eat as though it
had been years since he had seen me last.
He made me feel warm and cared for and I was really enjoying the
feeling.
“Well, I think it’s time for us to go hunting
Katie, and let the kids have some time alone,” Max said taking Katie’s hand,
and they were gone.
I watched Lizzy and Will as they got up to go to bed. Cassy and George were in the kitchen playing
cards and talking about the upcoming school day.
“We should head to bed soon,” Alex said looking
at me tenderly.
“I wanted to ask you about that,” I said looking
down at my hands not wanting to look into his glorious eyes.
“Are you uncomfortable staying with me?” he
asked, gently lifting my chin so that I would have to look into his eyes.
“No, I like staying with you, it’s just that
I’ve never really done anything like this and I’m scared,” I said quietly
trying to look away.
“What are you scared of? I won’t do anything to compromise you in any
way Anna, I’m not that kind of guy.” Alex said softly, looking into my eyes.
“That’s not it Alex. I’ve never dated before. In fact, I’ve never had the time to even wish
for a relationship. I’m completely and
utterly new at this, and it kind of freaks me out,” I confessed feeling the
blush rising up my neck and into my cheeks.
Alex smiled kindly at me.
“I haven’t dated a lot either, but I will
confess to actually going out on a few dates,” he chuckled. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, then I
took his hand in mine and stood up smiling down at him.
“So, have you decided? Do you want your own room” he asked grinning
back at me.
“That depends,” I teased. “Would I be sleeping alone in my own room, or
would you be sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night?”
“You’re not going to be alone until this is
over, and even then if I have my way, you’re still not going to be alone,” he said
with a glint of determination in his eyes.
“Oh please! You’re being so over DRAMATIC,” I
laughed at him, secretly enjoying his protectiveness of me.
“Anna, do you honestly think I would let
anything happen to you?” Alex asked seriously.
I smiled at him and winked, wanting to lighten the tone once again, I
said “Hmmmm, If I remember correctly I was the one who saved YOUR butt.”
“Ya that’s true,” he scowled, “But you don’t
have your abilities right now, so that means I get to watch over you,” Alex
retorted with such protectiveness that I had to smile.
“I can still take care of myself, so would you please
stop arguing with me? Besides I need to
get enough sleep to make it through the day tomorrow.” I rolled my eyes at
him. Alex got up and stood in front of
me, leaning down to look me straight in the eye,
“I
promise to be a gentleman at all times,” he said seriously and kissed me on the
forehead tenderly. I nodded and we went
to bed. He was true to his word and I
slept soundly that night, and every night when he was near.
