"Do you need me to walk you home?"
I looked up at that Adam guy, surprised to see him offering me a hand, he helped me to my feet but neither of us moved, just stood there together rather awkwardly, hand in hand - looking at each other.
"What you did to Rachel wasn't very nice," he said unexpectedly.
My face reddened, I could feel the heat even around surrounding piles of falling snow.
"Yeah, well, what she said to me. . ." I trailed off, shit! Why did I open my mouth?!
"What did she say?"
"Nothing," I said. "And that's just the problem."
"Hmmm," Adam didn't sound very convinced. . .
I realized we were standing outside the door to my house.
"Do you want to maybe come in, for dinner?"
He looked at the sky, as if he could tell the time just like that,
"Yeah, sure, I've got enough time, I guess."
I led him inside, "you can just sit anywhere in there." I indicated the living room. While he went through to the living room I then freaked out, running to the kitchen I searched the cupboards. Oh, shit. Hell, this is bad.
I invited a guy to dinner, when I don't know what is for dinner! I mean, vampires don't even eat normal food like that, and I never prepared a meal in my life!
"Hey, sis. What's for dinner?" A voice cold as ice said - or rather whispered - to my back. I span around, my heart beat fast and hard against my chest.
". . . Brother?"
But nobody was there . . .
***
It was thirty-five minutes later that I walked in the living room with two plates of pasta, okay - so I said vampires don't eat, but the only food I can still feel comfortable eating is my pasta . . . well, along with my red wine . . . but when I entered that room, I stopped and my voice came out cold and sharp, almost like . . . my brother, or who I thought was my brother.
"What are you doing?" Said the voice that sounded so unlike me, because there was Adam, and he wasn't on the couch patiently waiting for me. No, he was standing there and even though he tried to hide his arrow, I knew that it was ready behind his back. And even though his hands trembled, he was reaching for it, and I was ready for that attack.
"Angel, is that boy in the picture your brother?" it was an innocent question: at least it would be if it had been asked by someone else. But from a hunter, it was nowhere near all that innocent.
"Oh, sure, but he was killed, a long time ago," I let the words slip from my dry lips while I felt confused and ashamed I'd let a person who killed people of my kind in my house, someone who killed my brother and thought they could befriend me. His fingers tightened around the arrow that had once been through Lucas' heart.
"You look just like him."
That shocked me, how he could say that, but vampire hunters have been trained to know who was a vampire or who wasn't, vampires mature much faster than humans.
"We were twins." but then I wasn't prepared for his strike, I decided protecting myself would be a faster and much quicker way than attacking and losing my balance as my knees felt weak, I dropped down fast but hard on the floor as the arrow grazed my arm, I bit down on my bottom lip, trying to forget the pain. Adam watched me, a slight amused smile turning up the corners of his mouth, but then his next attack was hesitant.
He stood over me, but I didn't let him see my fear: I smiled, and pushed my long brown fringe out of my eyes.
"Angel, didn't your brother ever tell you to always be prepared for a hunter, and never trust anyone?" Adam paused. "But I'm sorry as it's my job to finish you off." He raised his arm, something new was in his hand . . . was that a stake? I felt the sharp sting on my bottom lip and tasted blood. My extended fangs sharpened just a bit, enough just by the wonder I felt about how his blood would warmly slide down my dry throat.
He kept watching me, like he dared me to taste. But I didn't. And he didn't ask. Why would he? If I had to lean in right now . . . he would be dead.
"I won't kill you," he whispered to me. "Even if it would disappoint the others that I just left it right here, but I assure you, next time we meet again, I'll finish you."
I watched him get up and disappear through the door, I told myself I'd be ready for him, it was a promise that I'd take him down.
The phone rang, I put it softly against my ear.
"Angel!" Rachel's happy voice sounded through the phone, I wonder why she phoned, she's always on the other side of the door when she needs me. I laughed, "Rach, it's midnight and you're phoning me now??"
"Adam was here," her voice came again. "He just left half an hour ago, but guess what? He kissed me!"
"What? that's impossible, he was here by me and he left exactly half an hour ago," my voice shook slightly. It's true, it was impossible, those things can't happen.
"You're just jealous, you get all the guys and you can't face the truth that he likes me and not you . . . and you punched me so don't you dare think you can take him away from me."
That shocked me.
"Rachel, I didn't punch you, I slapped you and it wasn't out of jealousy, it was because you were being a bitch. The last time I checked it was you who wanted him to fall for me." I hung up on my best and only friend.
***
Past.
"Angel, do you miss mom and dad?" Lucas asked.
I shook my head.
"Lucas, I have you here with me . . ." I hesitated. "I do miss them . . ."
Lucas and I were only eleven then. Which meant the hunter killed him at fifteen . . . one hundred and two years ago. How could the hunter have lived that long?
***
Now.
"Angel . . ."
I didn't have to turn, I'd recognize his voice anywhere, the chilly cold voice I'd heard earlier. When I did turn, his appearance was a shock to me anyway. I mean, you'd think a vampire would look worse when they are really dead, right? Well, not this one, Lucas looked exactly the same.
Long ago, before I knew about vampires or that my brother was one himself my first thought was that he was ill or something before my brother let me know he was a bloodsucking monster of the night.
"Lucas," I whispered.
Something about him was different: I mean, his smile looked the same, but the way he did smile, my brother never showed his teeth when he smiled, and the way this Lucas' eyes darted from left to right as if nervous, like he hadn't been in this house before. The way when he spoke, his voice sounded hesitant.
"Who are you really?" my smile showed in my voice. Fear made his lips shut tightly and his eyes narrow, though he kept his voice calm and steady.
"Angel, I missed you." His arms wrapped around me and in what seemed like the longest hug ever I slowly pulled back, studying him.
"Enough with the bullshit, who are you?" I was angry, which is really, really a bad thing, which is why people who do know me prefer to not get on my bad side.
His face changed, what I saw confused me.
"Adam? What? No! So now you are trying to look like Adam, huh?!"
He just laughed at me,
"Let me introduce myself, love. I am Victor, Adam's twin brother."
In the dark his hair looked black, and with his sharp cheekbones he looked almost . . . No! Angel, don't you think about it! I silently told myself. He pulled me towards him, he bent his head, even though I wanted to run I stayed put. When his sharp teeth slightly sank into my neck, I realized how I'd missed it, my hands softly grabbed a handful of his dark hair, when he lifted his head his lips found mine. Just as he thought I really liked him my knee came up and hit him in the chest, he fell back toward the hard floor, I smiled as I sank my perfectly sharp fangs into the side of his neck as he did to me, the taste of his blood satisfied me more than I imagined Adams' would. Which I suppose does make sense: a vampires' blood is sweeter than any humans'
I stood up, my foot pressed against his chest.
"Now let me introduce myself," I whispered to him. "I am Angel, and when someone fools with me. They don't live, love."
Everything was so fast, in a blur he was at my side. Victor's hands on my waist.
"Now, love, we will meet again, something I will very much look forward to. Although, if you happen to meet again with my brother I will gladly get rid of him for you and I." One last quick smile from him and he was gone.
I hate him, I hate him! What the hell just happened? The taste of his blood had made my heart quicken, I wanted more. I wanted . . . him? No! Damn vampires! But I thought about that and took back that thought. I groaned,
"Hell, I'm going insane."
Feeling miserable and annoyed, I crawled under the covers of my bed and closed my eyes . . .
***
The sun that reflected through the curtains landed on my face as I opened my eyes, Adam was there.
"How did you get in?" I asked. His face was impassive. I reddened, remembering I was still in pajamas.
"You left the window open," now I saw the smile that came to his lips. "May I ask you something?" he asked.
"What?"
"I happened to see Victor come by your house last night, I thought maybe it'd be best for you to stay away from him, he's dangerous."
I gasped. "What the hell were you thinking spying on me? And how can a vampire - like me - be dangerous? Aren't you the hunter set out to kill me?"
My heart pounded madly against my chest,
"Adam, when you killed my brother, there was a girl there. You could have killed her too, you know? Because I was that girl and you had killed the vampire who had saved me."
Adam hesitated, "Angel__"
I hadn't forgotten Adam's words about the next time we met he'd kill me. I was outraged. In a second I was at his neck, but he knew what was coming so that left his stake pointed at my heart.
"Why are you still here?" I whispered. "How could you have survived? You aren't a vampire . . ."
"I know, I'm not like you, and I will never be like you, ever." His words were harsh, though I understood them.
"It runs through the family generation, a sort of immortality passed from father to son, Victor had the chance to prove to our father that he could be a vampire hunter and do well, and through the centuries he did do well, better even. Until he made the mistake of falling for Alethea, a vampire, and betrayed our father," Adam smiled, but there was nothing in that smile, only a smile to remind me of how many vampires he might have killed, that I'm just another one. I opened my arms wide.
"Go ahead, Adam, kill me if you want. But I will let you know that I got turned, too - I got turned because my mother and father died when I was still a child, who didn't even know what vampires were, my brother wanted me to be strong! Like he knew one of you__" I spat that word through clenched teeth like it disgusted me. It did. "__would kill him one day, but it wasn't then. You weren't supposed to kill him when I had already lost my parents, because of you I live in a huge house alone - if it wasn't for you my brother would still be here, because you had to come here me and Rachel are no longer best friends. Because you are such a pathetic bastard, you can't deal with it when you don't get your way. When you don't get your way you ruin everything for me."
The look that came across Adam's face lingered there for awhile as the seconds passed, my clock was in the kitchen, the tick-tick-tock- was so silent, my ears, though, could hear anything from miles away.
Well, well. Angel is such a cute name but it hardly suits you at all.
My knees felt weak, my head throbbed in pain. I mean, vampires can hear thoughts, but those words weren't from another persons' mind, it was inside my own head but someone else's voice.
"Yes. I understand that clearly, I'll go now."
I looked at Adam when I realized that he was speaking, I felt sick, my head still throbbed madly and I didn't think I could stand anymore. I'm not sure how that voice in my head could have caused this, maybe because someone knew my secret. Someone knows who I am, I thought. I couldn't see anymore, the room was dark, all I heard was the woman's words, repeating over and over again . . . and then a glow, somewhere there in the distance. Except the glow got hotter around, like the glow was moving towards me, the glow surrounded me.