“I always knew you were stupid, but this just shows a whole new level of your idiocy.” Seth laughed as he made himself comfortable in the chair within my room, which was placed next to the sofa where Aurora lay unconscious. Humor was spread all over his face; mockery was within the depths of his eyes. There was no way I was ever going to here the end of this…
“Just shut up…” I muttered as I managed to pull a small blanket out from the bottom of my closet. I never use it, and I knew I never would… Maybe it was my human sub-conscious that made me keep it all these years… I swear one day, that was going to get me into trouble. “You’re the last person I want to hear from.” I told him as I lay the blanket over her.
A sudden worry that she might get hot now nagged at the back of my head. It had been a little over a century since I had felt the difference between hot and cold. When it came to the proper body temperature of a human with the corresponding room temperature I was completely clueless… But now, maybe I was thinking way too far into this. It was just a small blanket, not heavy at all. There probably was no reason to worry at all.
Feeing partially satisfied that Aurora would be okay with how she was; I sat myself down on the floor on the opposite of the room. A small breath left me, I finally felt like I could relax. That is until I heard Seth laugh, which caused me to tense remembering that he was also in the room. “You’re very motherly.” He spoke with a smile as he rested his elbow on the arm o the chair and lay his chin upon his fist.
I made no comment. I didn’t want to deal with him right now. I had to force myself to relax… Trying to reason that he wouldn’t pull anything, not right now anyway. I attempted to give off a vibe that he wasn’t getting to me and that he wouldn’t succeed this time, but part of me knew that wasn’t the message he was getting at all…
“Em’s furious at you, ya know.” I had been waiting for him to mention it the entire time he was there. I more expected it to be one of the first things that left his mouth upon entering the room. It was a shock to me that he waited so long it speaking about it.
It was completely obvious that Emmy was enraged when I brought Aurora through the door. After a long moment of shouting and yelling between us – and a bit of input from Iris as well – it was finally decided that we keep her. Iris wanted the young girl to be roomed with her, but having the smallest room, we choose to veto that idea. Em and Seth had the largest room, but obviously that was completely out of the question from the very beginning. Zander’s room was no better than Iris’s, so… that left mine.
“She hates your guts right now.” Seth continued. I wasn’t sure if he was taking amusement in my silence or if he was trying to get more of a reaction out of me. Whether he knew it or not, he was getting the exact feeling to weld up inside me that he wanted. I felt like someone had run a sword through my middle, and to top it off, they twisted it. But I knew there was more pain to come…
“She mentioned leaving.”
I snapped. “Are you finished?”
“Oh…” iris’s voice came from the doorway. My gaze instantly turned to her, happy that someone else was here other than him. “Should I… come back later?” She asked, looking between both of us, pointing down the hall.
Seth smiled widely and stood from the chair, shoving his hands into his pockets. “No need. I was just leaving.” He said, gaze meeting mine for a short moment – making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end – before taking his leave.
Iris watched him a moment as she stood clear of the doorway before moving in, her gaze on me, seeming concerned. “Are you okay?” She asked in a hushed tone.
Sighing, I ran my hand through my hair and let my head fall back against the wall with a thud. “Yeah…” My answer was half-hearted and I made no attempt to try to fix it.
“Ya sure?” It was Zander who spoke this time. He leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. His expression didn’t seem concerned, for all I knew, he only asked so that he could take part in the conversation.
Giving him a small nod, he entered into the room and sat himself down in the same chair that Seth had been. His green eyes moved to Aurora, remaining quiet for a long moment, Iris remained silent as well. Turning back to me, he spoke. “Why’d ya bring her here?”
“Trust me, if you saw where she was, you wouldn’t have left her either.” I said as my eyes feel to my hands, which were currently occupied with my ring. Running my fingers along the smooth metal was a habit I picked up in stressful times. It was more of an attempt to calm myself than anything.
“Guess I’ll just have to take your word for it.” He sighed. “So, did you see the attackers face?” He asked, from the sound of his voice, he wasn’t all too curious, but iris’s face lit up at the subject change, craving the answer I knew she wanted.
It took me awhile to answer, trying to think of the details that I did get from the new vampire running loose. “I know nothing other than our assaulter is a woman. She wore a cloak, I couldn’t see her face.” That was all the information that I had for them. It wasn’t much – actually none at all – but it was the best we got and we would start from there. Step one: find the one vampire running rampant. Done. Step two: identify. That was the tricky part.
If that vampire was smart, she would lay low for a while. Wait for things to settle down before making another move. Especially with both the police and a covenant group of vampires after her. But then again, there was no guarantee that this vampire was smart, or intelligent in any way. She could merely be running on bloodlust, if that was the case, she wouldn’t last long. And if she does continue with killing, there would be no doubt that the Hunters would show up to get rid of her…
“Well, that’s helpful…” Zander spoke sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and slouched lower into the chair. “I say we leave it to the authorities.”
“What authorities?” Iris asked, hands resting on her hips, clearly disgruntled by his suggestion. “The police won’t last against a vampire, not with the weapons they have. And those… Killers won’t even give a second thought into burning her alive!”
Iris hated the Hunters, which I could understand. They were a group made up of half-vampires and they killed their own kind without a second thought. With hopes of whipping us from the face of the earth. Even a group like us had to be careful with them. Despite our efforts to stay hidden from the human race and with a ‘no killing’ policy, we were still in danger.
Unlike the Hunters, Iris believed in second chances. Even for someone who has killed millions of people, she always thought that if given the chance, one would make better choices. She was so naïve…
“After sucking someone dry, I say she deserves what might come her way.” Zander countered. There were times when he really needed to learn to shut his mouth. After all, everyone here had done more than kill a single person…
Iris was fuming, he face was flustered red and she clutched her fists tightly. “So you’re saying that we all deserve death then?” Her voice was forced; this conversation was obviously upsetting her. “Then why don’t you step right up and be the first Zander!”
Zander stood, he towered over her, but she didn’t give any sign to backing down. “I didn’t say that.” He spoke strongly, not wanting to abandon his views. They usually didn’t fights… and when they did it seemed like pesky sibling quarrels, but this… This almost had the same atmosphere were Em and Seth fought. The aura of arguing lovers. Had they developed into something more?
I was completely overwhelmed with the thought that I lost track of the angry engage between them. It was to be expected that something such as that would happen among them such as that, but never did I actually think it would happen. A sudden older brother protectiveness took over me as I stood from the ground, grabbed Zander by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the wall. My arm pressed firmly against his throat and laid a heavy glare on him.
“Josh!” I heard Iris scream and felt her grip at my arm, trying to pull me away.
Zander met my gaze without hesitation, seemingly knowing my reasons for attacking him so abruptly. There was no need for me to speak any words before her spoke.
“I love her.” His words were simple, but still overpowering. My breath held in my throat for a long moment, I felt as though someone close to me was being taken from my life forever. Among everyone that was in the household, Iris was my closest friend.
With a few heavy breaths, I parted myself from him and rushed down stairs. I couldn’t be in that room any longer. Making my way to the kitchen, I almost grabbed for another bottle of alcohol induced blood, but decided against it. The liquid wouldn’t help me no matter how much I wanted it to. A hard fact slammed me in the face up there. I was alone. Completely and utterly alone. This world had a sick and twisted way of stating the obvious.
Was there much of a point in going on like this? The sun would be up in about an hour. What if I just wait outside and let the sunlight—
“Josh! Come quick!” Iris screamed from upstairs. Without any thought other than getting up there as fast as I could, I ran up the stairs and stopped in the doorway. Part of me expecting to see a horrifying sight, instead, I was left in awe.
“She’s awake…” Iris spoke quietly now, her eyes not leaving the girl.
Slowly stepping into the room, I watched her as I moved closer. Her light blue eyes didn’t move from their spot on the opposing wall even as I approached. She was sitting up now, her hands absentmindedly brushing over the fabric of the blanket on her lap. Her strawberry blond hair hung partially in her face. Kneeling beside her, trying not to startle her in anyway.
After a long moment, her gaze finally turned to me and that’s where she kept it, seeming to wait for me to speak. Licking my lips and taking a small breath, I did just that. “Hello…” My voice was soft and slightly hesitant. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to say to someone who was picked up off the streets after being attacked by a vampire. But… she was so calm, like nothing ever happened.
She remained quiet, not breaking my gaze and I continued. “How are you feeling?” I asked feeling like it was something important to ask after having woken from being knocked out.
Aurora’s gaze feel to her own body, her hands lifted and she gently began to pat herself down. Once appearing to be done with her inspection, she turned back to me meeting my eyes again and without words I was able to understand the message in her eyes; that she was okay. The feeling of how I would know such a thing felt so sure that that was exactly what she was trying to get across. No matter what I thought, I couldn’t shake that feeling…
“Do you know where you are?” I went on with my gentle questioning, as if there were no strange thoughts stirring in the back of my mind.
Her eyes lifted again, scanning over all the walls. Turning back to me, this time giving an understandable message through body movement; she shook her head.
That was something that should’ve been obvious, but even so, I felt it needed to be asked. Chewing the inside of my lip for a moment, I thought about what question to ask her next…
“What’s your name?” Even though I had already asked her that a few hours before hand, there was a nagging in my head that told me to ask her once again.
She was still, keeping my gaze and this time answered me without moving her eyes away from mine. She shook her head.
Slowly, the message of her body language sank in. She doesn’t remember anything…

The Eclectic Pen - The Hunted (Part 3)

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