Bitten – Episode 18
Chapter 18 ♀
Being back in the human world was a bizarre change. Where the Rutherford Manor was- in their magical barricade, or whatever – it seemed to be always raining and gloomy. As soon as you stepped out of it (emerged from the woods, more like) the sun was shining brightly. Vincent, Sebastian, Fiona, and I all squinted our eyes as
we drove into the sunny winter day. The sight of a familiar area was like a breath of fresh air to me. I sighed contently, sinking into my seat.
Saying goodbye to the King and Queen was a lot harder than I’d expected. It felt like I was saying goodbye to closer relatives I hadn’t seen in a long time. Luella had promised me we’d see each other again and Solomon gave me his word he’d see to it. Knowing I’d see them again made me feel a little better, but it also made me feel depressed. Seeing them again almost meant having to deal with vampires again- setting aside Fiona, Vincent, and Joel, who decided last minute to enroll so Vincent wouldn’t be totally alone.
A smile crossed my face when I thought Joel’s profound apology. He’d practically dropped to his knees and begged for my forgiveness. After I’d accepted it, he berated me for not running away when I had a chance. I’d countered with something along the lines of, “I didn’t know vampires existed until about a week and a half ago. How was I supposed to know you succumbed to animalistic instincts while hurt? And, if you haven’t realized it, I healed you too.” It’s safe to say that shut him up.
“So what’s the story, Emily?”
I pulled myself out of my reverie, my eyes snapping to Sebastian’s emerald ones. “Sorry, what?”
He chuckled a low, deep chuckle. “What you’re going to say if your friends ask you why Vincent is at your house?”
“My parents decided to take him in so he wouldn’t have to be sent to a correctional institute for his uncontrollably bad behavior,” I recited, trying my best to remember what Solomon told me.
“And how do your parents know him?”
“My dad’s best friend’s son…?”
He nodded his head appreciatively. “Very good, Emily.”
Fiona giggled, glancing at Vincent. “His bad behavior? Well I guess it’s partially true.”
Vincent mock laughed, giving her a flat look. “You’re hilarious, Fiona.”
“Oh, I know.”
“There’s your school,” Sebastian announced suddenly, causing everyone in the car to turn their head in the direction he pointed. My stomach lurched when my eyes landed on the familiar building. My school… It was the first time in my life I actually missed it.
“Are there a lot of cute boys there?” Fiona twittered excitedly.
I cocked an eyebrow, turning to her. “Not too many. Not compared to you vampires, at least.”
Sebastian caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “You’ve only met a few vampires who are exceptionally handsome; not all of us are good looking.” .
.
“Really?”
He nodded. “Just like humans, there are ugly and beautiful vampires.”
Fiona sighed wistfully. “Too bad there are more ugly vampires than handsome ones…”
“I’m actually glad I’m not going to high school with you guys now,” Sebastian declared, his mouth twisting into a frown. “Fiona is going to be hard to deal with.” “Hey!” she protested.
“Try not to act too much like a love struck fool.”
She glowered at him. “I won’t!”
Raising a hand to my mouth to hide my smile, I gave Sebastian a knowing look. He pretended he didn’t catch my look, focusing intently on the road. A warm feeling grew inside of me- it was cute how he was jealous over Fiona. It made me wish I had someone to be jealous over… I shook my head. That would be a bad idea. It might be fun to tease jealous people, but feeling jealous wasn’t exactly a ball.
“Hey Stupid, what’s your brother’s name?”
My eyes snapped to Vincent and I frowned. “Don’t call me stupid.”
“I’ll do whatever I want, Stupid,” he drawled, gazing through the window mirror at me.
“His name is Jake,” I told him, deciding to ignore his taunting. “He’s a senior, like me, but older by a few months.”
“What’s a senior?” Sebastian inquired curiously.
I stared at him blankly. “You don’t know what a senior is…?”
“It’s what your called when you’re in your last year of high school,” Fiona explained, scooting her butt up in her seat so she could cling onto the back of Sebastian’s head rest. “You know this! I was a senior when we… We…” she trailed off, a blush crossing her face.
Sebastian cleared his throat awkwardly as Vincent shook his head, making a disgusted face. “I know, Fiona. I was just teasing Emily.” I gave him a sarcastic look. “Oh, ha ha.”
“Sorry,” he apologized with a sad smile. “It’s just that I won’t be able to see you for a long time after I drop you off…”
My heart sunk at his words. “Oh, right…”
“Don’t look so sad. I won’t be gone forever.”
“But it won’t be the same without you around,” I mumbled, slumping back into my seat. “There’s no one who’s as easy to talk to as you.”
Vincent snorted. “Save your love talk until I’m out of the car.”
“I think of him more as an older brother, for your information,” I snapped,
scowling at the back of his head.
.
.
“And you’re telling me this why…?”
I blanked. Why was I explaining that to him? It shouldn’t have mattered what he thought… But somewhere in me, I wanted Vincent to know I didn’t like his brother like that.
“Obviously because she’s head over heels for you,” Fiona commented casually,
causing me to choke on air.
“I’m not!”
Sebastian and Fiona chuckled, clearly finding my response humorous. Vincent just rolled his eyes, returning his gaze to the outside world. Embarrassed, I dropped my gaze, deciding to focus intently on my hands. What was Fiona thinking? Joking about something like that? It wasn’t even the slightest bit true! Surreptitiously, I stole a peek at Vincent. He was still gazing blankly at the green trees rolling by, evidently not affected by Fiona’s words at all. “Emily, do I take a right here?”
My eyes shot up to Sebastian, who was looking out his window to the left. I followed his gaze, my eyes landing on a familiar street sign. A rush of an excitement swept over me as I nodded. “Yeah, that’s the one!” He smiled at my enthusiasm. “Very well. Which house is it?”
I watched out the front window as we pulled onto my street. My gaze immediately went to number 27 on the left side of the street. A two-story, robin egg blue house met my sight, causing my stomach to flip. Using a shaky finger, I pointed toward it. “That’s my house…”
I was the first one out of the car when Sebastian parked in my driveway. Quickly following after me as Fiona, bounding to my side, her eyes open in excitement. “Ooh! Are your parents home? Can I meet them?”
My face fell when I gazed into the garage, looking for their Mitsubishi and finding it empty. “They’re not home…”
“Well, they’ll be back eventually!” Fiona chirped, laying a hand down on my shoulder.
I turned back to the car, watching as Sebastian and Vincent climbed out. Vincent’s eyes ran over my house, his mouth twisting into a smile. I knew he was thinking my house was like a teepee compared to his colossal mansion. It didn’t bother me though- my home was my home. I loved it just the way it was.
“Umm, would you guys like to come in?” I offered, itching to go through the front door and inhale the nostalgic scent of apples and cinnamon. My mom always used way too many of those air fresheners.
Sebastian shook his head. “I’m afraid I must decline. I have to return to the estate
and do some…” He hesitated for a moment, looking unsure of whether he wanted
to tell me what he had to do or not.
“Kingly duties?” I guessed.
He smiled. “I guess you could say that.”
We smiled at each other for a few minutes more before I ran toward him, nearly knocking him off his feet in a giant bear hug. Now that I was home, now that I was safe (okay, sort of safe), now that I didn’t have to worry about being away from my family anymore, I found new fondness of the vampires who’d once kidnapped me. They were more like best friends than enemies now. I clung to him as I forced myself to stay calm. It wasn’t like I’d never see him again. .
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“Are you going to let go any time soon?” he inquired in an amused voice.
I pulled away from him, but didn’t remove my arms. “I’m going to miss you,” I confessed, feeling my chest tighten. “I don’t want to say goodbye yet…”
“We’re not saying goodbye for forever,” he pointed out. “You can come visit me whenever you want. It’s not like you’re not allowed to return to the vampire world. We’re literally five minutes away from you.”
“Absolutely hidden,” I pointed out. “I won’t know where to go.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You do realize Fiona and Joel will be coming from there to here and back almost every day right?”
I stared at him for a moment. Duh. A sheepish smile spread across my face. “Well, it still won’t be the same. I’m going from seeing you every day to… who knows?” “At least once a week you have to come down,” he told me. “It’ll be fine, trust me.” I bit my lip, my chest tightening again. “Okay… I’ll miss you Sebastian.”
“I’ll miss you too, Emily,” he responded, pulling me into a hug. “I’ve really got to get back though now, so say goodbye to Fiona.”
I forced myself away from his strong arms, opting for Fiona’s much more slender ones. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she told me. “Bright and early!”
A grimace crossed my face. “Erg… I like the idea of finally seeing my friends again, but I still hate waking up early.”
“You’ll get used to it!” she laughed, pulling away from me. “Bye-bye, Vivi! I’ll call later!”
Vincent shot her a dirty look. “Why can’t I just go home?” Sebastian pursed his lips at him. “Because Emily needs protection.” “It’s not like anything will happen,” he stated, crossing his arms. “You never know.”
Sighing, I turned my back to Vincent, pushing Sebastian toward his car. “Come on, Sebastian. Time to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Sure,” he responded, easily moving out of my grasp. He paused before his car, sending me one last friendly smile. “Bye, Emily. Bye, Vince.”
Vincent did a quick, one-hand wave before turning his back on his brother. I waved as Sebastian and Fiona climbed into the car again, shortly disappearing from sight. With a heavy heart, I turned back to my house. As I headed for the door, the weight began lifting of my heart, and once again I was happy. Pushing open the front door I inhaled deeply. It smelt like home. My eyes nearly watered at the familiar sight of my kitchen- it looked as normal as always, with dishes piled up like a mountain in the sink.
“Are you going to stand there like an idiot or let me in?”
.
.
I jumped, momentarily forgetting Vincent was standing behind me. Annoyed, I turned to scowl at him. “This is my house, Vincent. That means you follow my rules. This won’t be the same as the mansion. You can’t disrespect me in my own house-”
“Move,” he demanded, pushing me out of the way. “Where am I staying? I want to put my luggage down.”
For a few seconds I glowered at him, but it soon faded into a small smile. An obeying Vincent wouldn’t be as fun as normal, egotistic, holier-than-thou Vincent. Even if he annoyed me, he was still amusing… In a way.
“The guest room,” I informed him, gesturing for him to follow me. “It hasn’t been used in awhile so it might smell bad…”
“Going from my mansion to this… What is my father thinking?” he muttered under his breath.
I paused, turning around to scowl at him. He nearly walked into me. “It may not be big,” I started, crossing my arms, “but it’s my home and I love it.” He looked taken aback for a second. “Er…”
“This way,” I ordered, trying to hide the smirk that threatened to slip onto my face. Since we were in my house now, he had to obey my rules. Oh, life was sweet. Vincent grunted, obediently following me to his temporary room- also a satisfying change. Instead of me having a temporary room, he did.
When I opened the oak door to my house’s guest room, a rank odor rushed out. Wrinkling my nose at the smell of mothballs, I held the door open for Vincent to go in. He didn’t seem effected by the smell in the slightest. I went straight for the window, planning to open it and get swap the stale air for fresh air. My intention was foiled when I realized it was stuck. Straining my muscles, I grit my teeth together, pressing my palms flat against the panes, and trying to push the window up. After a few fruitless seconds I paused, scowling deeply.
Without warning an arm shot out on either side of me, hands going straight for the window. Using no effort at all, Vincent managed to lift the frame all the way up, allowing the breeze to carry crisp air into the musty room. My heart skipped a beat his proximity and I desperately tried to move away, but only succeeded into stepping back into his chest. I twirled around in embarrassment, pressing my back against the window to put space between us.
“Something wrong?” he inquired, a smug expression crossing his face.
“I… Um…” What was wrong? Since when did I become so flustered when he was close to me? Well, that was a stupid question. I was always flustered, but still. “Stop showing off your stupid vampire strength,” I snapped, deciding to take the offensive instead of explaining my nervousness. “You’re supposed to be human.” He rolled his eyes. “I won’t stoop that low.” “Hey-”
“I’m hungry,” he started, speaking in a low voice and bringing his lips to my ear. “I’m allowed to go out to eat, right?”
I pushed him away, feeling my stomach twisting. “Do what you want. I just don’t want to hear about it. Can’t you survive on human food?” .
.
He shrugged. “I could, but then I’d be much weaker than if I drank human blood-”
“I don’t want to hear it! And don’t say that so casually!”
“You don’t like the fact vampires drink human blood?” he drawled, putting his arm out to block my escape when I tried to slide around him. Narrowing my eyes, I ducked under his arm. “No, I don’t like it.”
“Or do you just not like the thought of me drinking other human’s blood? I could
always drink yours…”
“No!”
He chuckled, jogging in front of me to stop me from leaving his room. “I’m kidding, stupid. My job is to protect you, not kill you.”
I shifted uncomfortably. Protect me? That sounded… romantic. Smacking myself mentally at the thought, I immediately shook it away. Vincent? Romantic? It was impossible. He was incapable of anything of the sort. Not to mention a vampire.
A muffled clattering sound abruptly filled the room. Vincent narrowed his eyes, a frown crossing his face. “Some guy is here. And a dog.”
Not even five seconds later my husky Hachi burst into the room, barking loudly.
My eyes widened at the sight of him. “Hachi!” Dropping to my knees, I threw my
arms around the pup, rubbing my cheek against his thick gray coat. “I’ve missed
you so much!”
“Emily?”
My head snapped up. “Jake!”
“Vincent!” Vincent cried mockingly, mimicking my tone.
I ignored him, using Hachi to push myself to my feet. He followed at my heels as I left the room, crashing into Jake before I could take three steps into the hall. My brother steadied me, his startlingly green eyes flashing in amusement. “In a rush to go somewhere?” he joked, shaking his shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes.
“I missed you, you idiot!” I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around him. “Okay, this is creepy,” he responded, putting his hands on my shoulders and shoving him away from me. “What’s wrong with you?” I scowled at him. “I’ve been gone for a week!”
“And?”
“You didn’t miss me at all?” I demanded.
He shook his head. “Actually, it was nice not having to hear your constant
blabbering.”
“You-”
“So where’s the delinquent?” he inquired, looking around the hallway. “Did he run away or something?”
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“I’m right here.”
Jake’s eyes shot to the side, landing on Vincent’s annoyed face. For a second they stared at each other, seemingly sizing the other up. Then Jake uttered one simple word that made both Vincent and myself freeze. “Vampire.” .
.
Vincent’s face hardened and I gawked at my brother, my jaw on the floor. How could he have figured it out so quickly? Did he seriously believe in vampires? Why wasn’t he freaking out about it?
“Are you stupid?” Vincent challenged, giving my brother the look he always gave me when I asked him something idiotic. “A vampire? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
My brother rolled his eyes. “No. I’m not saying you’re a vampire.”
“Oh,” I sighed, letting my shoulders relax.
“You just look like the stereotypical vampire,” Jake continued. “The Twilight version, of course…”
Vincent scowled. “I take that as an insult.”
“I’m talking about your good looks. Nothing else. Unless you sparkle.” “I don’t sparkle,” Vincent snapped as Jake snickered. “Why are you getting so defensive?”
I decided now was the best time to interrupt. “Ahaha, sorry, Vincent. This is my brother Jake, the vampire fanatic. Jake, this is Vincent…”
“Hey Vivi,” Jake greeted, smirking at the nickname he thought of.
Vincent didn’t look amused at all. “It’s Vincent.”
“I like Vivi,” Jake declared flatly. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, dragging me closer to him. “Now listen up, Vivi. You may have good looks, but if you lay a hand on my sister, I will kick the shit out of you.” “Jake!” I protested, feeling heat rise to my cheeks.
Vincent set his jaw. “You think you can’t beat me up? Why don’t you try-”
“Vincent!”
His eyes snapped to me. “What?”
“Don’t argue with him!”
“Don’t tell me what to do, stupid.”
Jake frowned at him. “Don’t call her stupid!”
“I’ll do what I want!”
“Vincent! This is my house! Obey me!” I ordered boldly.
He gave me a flat look. “I’m not a dog.”
“Speaking of dogs, I hope you like them Vivi,” my brother said, his eyes dropping down to Hachi, who was wagging his tail excitedly. “Since you’re living with us, you’ll be taking over my chore of walking him every day.” “Yeah right,” Vincent snorted.
I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to hide my smile. My parents were seriously going to give him chores? Oh, I could not wait to see that. .
.
“Ooh, by the way, Emily,” Jake started, calling me to attention. “I just rented a good vampire movie! Let’s watch it tonight!”
I opened my mouth to protect, but shut it swiftly. There was no way a vampire movie would scare me now. Not when… My gaze shifted to Vincent briefly before returning to my brother. “Oh? Sounds good.”
My response threw him off guard. “What? I don’t have to force you?”
“It’s been quite the week in Cali. I’ve outgrown that silly fear.”
He looked disappointed. “Really? Well, we’ll see. I heard this movie is terrifying. Vince, do you want to watch it?”
“I thought I was Vivi?” Vincent muttered in response.
“I’ll call you what I want.”
I winced. If this kept up, one day Vincent was going to kill Jake in his sleep. These two were like fire and water.
“I’ll watch it,” Vincent decided, his eyes meeting mine. “I’d like to see Emily’s reaction.”
Emily. I was so unaccustomed to hearing him say my name it sent a tingle through my body. It sounded incredibly attractive- nice. It sounded nice.
“We’ll watch it tonight then,” Jake stated, nodding his head. “I hope you like vampires, Vincent.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I prefer humans.”
I didn’t have to look up to know he was smirking. Without notice, my brother began dragging me down the hallway. Confused, I threw a confused glance at Vincent before turning my attention to my brother. “What?”
“I just want to chat with you in private for a second,” he informed me. “Stay there,
Vincent!”
“Whatever.”
I silently begged that whatever Jake wanted to talk about, it wasn’t something about Vincent because I knew he’d be listening with his stupid advanced vampire senses. “What do you want to say that you can’t in front of Vincent?”
“What went on between you two in California?” Jake asked bluntly. I blinked at him. “What?”
“There’s obviously some kind of tension between you too. Not sexual tension-”
“Jake!”
“-But definitely some kind of relationship tension. Did you date and it didn’t work
out?” he guessed.
I shook my head violently. “There’s nothing between us!”
“Ah, so you have a one-sided crush.”
“C-crush? What are you talking about?”
He smirked at me. “You think I can’t tell when my little sister has feelings for someone? I don’t like the idea of you liking that guy though. I don’t know what he’s done, but he’s a delinquent for a reason.”
My mind was in turmoil. Crush? He thought I had a crush on Vincent? A vampire? Was that even possible? Of course it was. That explained my flustered actions. I had a silly schoolgirl crush on Vincent. It wasn’t like it could be helped though. He was handsome and unexpectedly nice sometimes. A crush was okay. It’d go away eventually…
“Are you listening?”
“Uh-huh,” I mumbled, too distracted with my thoughts to say more.
He gently knocked his fist on my head. “Okay, then I’ll hold you to that. Let’s go back now.”
For a second I stared at the back of his head as he returned to where Vincent was. He was holding me to what? Curiosity burned on my tongue, but I did my best to ignore it. Whatever Jake was talking about would probably just annoy me.
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A complacent expression on Vincent’s face told me that he’d definitely heard everything my brother just said. Keeping my threatening blush under control, I puffed out my chest refusing to give Vincent any proof that what Jake said was true. While I could accept it, I couldn’t deal with the taunting I knew he would press on me if he found out. No, this was going to be my little secret.
“So Vincent, tell me about yourself,” Jake requested, throwing an arm around the vampire.
“I hate being touched.”
“Get used to it.”
A smile spread across my face as Vincent shoved Jake’s arm off of him. Having him staying with us was actually going to be very interesting. _
