• CHAPTER SIX: DREAMS AND DESPAIR


    My eyes flew open as I gasped and sat up straight in my bed. My heart was racing frantically and I was drenched in cold sweat. My room was pitch black except for the faint glow from the streetlights outside. Blindly, I fumbled for my bedside table clock and read the glowing green numbers: 3:47 AM. I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to steady my erratic breathing. I took several deep breaths and tried not to think about what had woken me up.

    The fearsome dream slipped into my mind anyway, because I was suddenly envisioning a terrible, pale haired, red eyed monster inches away from my terrified face, his sharp white teeth glinting, ready to kill. Behind me, I had heard someone scream, “SARAH!!!” and I had whipped around to see who it was. He was an astonishingly beautiful male, with dark hair, white skin and flashing hazel eyes. His expression was furious, but at the same time terrified. His eyes softened when he saw me, but agony ripped across his face when the creature behind me took advantage of my turned back and struck. I screamed once in my dream, and then I had woken up. Thinking about the nightmare, my breathing escalated again, but I reassured myself aloud, “It was just a dream Sarah. Just a dream…” I crawled back under the quilt and in a few moments, I was fast asleep.

    I awoke the next morning to bright sunshine streaming through my windows. I swung myself out of bed and then frowned once I was standing upright. Something didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t place what it was. I paced around my room, trying to figure it out. I glanced at the calendar on my wall and read the date: Saturday, September 13. Nothing special was supposed to happen today that I knew of, so why did I feel so strange? I crossed my arms and pursed my lips, giving my room another once-over. A light tap on my window made me suddenly freeze in my tracks. My nightmare suddenly flashed into my head and I held my breath, paranoid, and looked at my clock. It was ten in the morning; what could possibly be at my window? I took a deep breath and parted the white blinds slowly, my heart banging around in my ratty t-shirt. A god-like male with frosty white skin, dark, tousled hair, and golden-emerald eyes was perched on my room, smiling warmly at my just-woken up appearance. Relief flooded through me as I realized it was not a monster from my dream; it was almost the complete opposite. He raised a perfect eyebrow and cocked his head playfully, asking to come in. I gladly obliged, rushing over to push up the sill and let the beautiful creature into my room.

    Leo easily sprang from the sill into my room, silent as a ghost. He was a foot away from me in less than a second and when he focused his beautiful emerald eyes on mine, my heart melted like ice cream on a hot day. He took my hand and raised it to his icy lips, smiling at me the entire time. His perfect face cued the butterflies in my stomach and I could only stare at him for a few seconds, barely believing he was really in my room. He laughed, and I couldn’t blame him; I was probably drooling.

    “How did you sleep last night?” he asked as he gazed at me fondly, humor dancing across his pale, perfect face. His playful tone made me abruptly realize that I didn’t usually wake up picture perfect. He laughed gently at my horrified expression, and I quickly attempted to smooth down my tangled bedhead. I fought my thick hair for a few seconds and then looked up at him and smiled half-heartedly.

    “Sorry you have to see me like this.” I said sheepishly.

    “Personally, I like it.” he replied and smiled, a gesture that jumpstarted my reactions. It sent my heart racing and my breathing going way over the speed limit, He wrapped his icy arms around me, stroking my disastrous hair with his cool fingers. He pulled me closer to his cold chest, and I very willingly responded. I squeezed his waist, and it was like hugging a brick. Construction block or not, I could almost taste our connection, that special bond that tied us together forever. I suddenly realized that I was completely in love with him. It hadn’t really hit me until right then, but I subconsciously knew that this was as real as anything I could touch. There was no way I had ever, would ever, could ever feel this for anyone else… Anyone else… With a sudden jolt, I realized what had made me feel so strange before Leo came in. It wasn’t the fact that I had found the vampire I was to spend the rest of my life with; no, it was because there was a dark spot staining my happiness with him: Jared.

    I groaned and flopped down on my bed. For most humans, today was just a normal Saturday. For me, today was the day that I had to break up with my boyfriend of six months, two weeks, and four days, all because I had found my true other half overnight. I would probably have to find another way to explain that to Jared, though…

    Leo sat next to me and placed a cold hand on my cheek, concern and confusion reflecting in his hazel eyes. I leaned into his palm and said resignedly, “Jared… The sooner the better... that’s what you said.” His taut eyebrows smoothed out and the confusion receded, but the concern never left his emerald gaze.

    He took my hand and murmured, “It is kind of impossible to keep him around…” My spirits sank; I really wasn’t looking forward to breaking Jared’s heart, even though I felt absolutely nothing for him anymore.

    I sighed and said, “Well, there’s really no point in putting it off much longer. I might as well get ready. I’ll be back soon.” I attempted to smile at Leo, but failed miserably.

    He smiled tenderly and said, “I’m not going anywhere, Sarah… Hurry back.” He proceeded to sit down in the only chair in my room: a hot pink butterfly chair that had been in front of my desk since the fifth grade. Leo grinned at me; and there was something about an extremely attractive male vampire sitting in a pink chair that made me smile genuinely.

    Once I was in the shower though, the smile slid off my face. Jared would be heartbroken… Six months, two weeks, and four days was a long time… I threw on the first clean clothes I saw and put my hair up in a ponytail, brushing my bangs to the side as I usually did. I slapped on some makeup and rushed downstairs to eat, as if the faster I moved, the slower the future would come.

    My mom was sitting at the kitchen table immersed in a crossword, so she didn’t notice anything about my edgy, anxious behavior. She did, however, find an eight-letter word for funny: humorous. I quickly ate some Frosted Flakes and threw my bowl and spoon in the dishwasher, suddenly anxious to see Leo. I raced upstairs and burst into my room, breathless.

    “Hello, beautiful.” Leo commented, smiling, still sitting in the extremely masculine pink chair, looking as if he couldn’t be happier. My heart soared; Leo’s brilliant smile could do that to me, but it swooped right back down to Earth when I spotted my cell phone lying innocently on the desk behind him. It seemed to glare at me, saying: ‘Pick me up and break Jared’s heart. You horrible person. Falling in love with a vampire and leaving your boyfriend in the dust.’ I did feel bad, but it really was impossible to keep him around, as Leo had said earlier. I grimaced and walked towards Leo… and my mean-spirited phone.

    Leo rose from his pink perch and brushed my bangs out of my eyes, whispering “It’s okay, Sarah. I’ll be right here, always.”

    His words filled me with courage and I bravely picked up my phone, pressing the ever-so familiar numbers of my soon-to-be ex. Leo rubbed comforting circles on my back with his cool hands as I listened to the electronic trills.

    After a few rings, Jared picked up. “Sarah? I thought you were sick, baby. What’s up?”

    It felt so strange to hear him call me baby. It was kind of an insult with my current state of affairs. I cleared my throat and answered, “I’m feeling… uh, much better. I want to see you today. Can you come over… soon?”

    I could hear the curiosity in his voice as he replied, “Um, yeah. I can be there in five minutes. See you babe.”

    I hit END and groaned as I sank into my bed. Leo came over and sat next to me.

    “It’s going to be okay Sarah. I promise.” he whispered. I leaned on his cold shoulder and he wrapped his arm around me and held me close to him. I sighed, happy the second he was close to me.

    “Don’t worry, Sarah. Everything will work out eventually. We only have the rest of forever.” he whispered, and a smile slowly crept up on my lips. I looked up at him: my vampire, the one I was destined to be with. It was hard to believe I had known him for less that twenty four hours (the majority spent sleeping) and I already had the rest of my life… well, existence set in stone with him. I wished the whole Jared thing was already over and that Leo and I could simply be…

    There was still one little thing I was worried about though: vampirism.

    I knew it was destined to happen; the bond had pretty much set that in stone, and Leo kept talking about us being together forever. I didn’t know much about vampires though; I had only met one, and he was the love of my life, so it was kind of hard to be judgmental.

    I took a deep breath, but it didn’t help to calm me. Leo continued being perfect and comforting me about Jared while I racked my brains to think of a way to ask him about my imminent future. I finally said shakily, “Leo, I know that I’m going to be a vampire someday, and I want to know everything. I want to know what we’ll… eat and just… everything.”

    Leo’s comforting hand froze on my arm and he inhaled sharply. He blinked, a bit shell-shocked and then cleared his throat. “Ahem. That was a bit… straightforward, but I suppose you do need to know.” I nodded my head, and waited for him to tell me everything about my future existence.

    “Okay… Um, what we eat. Well, to be extremely blunt, if we’re very thirsty, we pretty much take down anything that can walk.” I shuddered, that wasn’t a very pleasant thought, and I couldn’t really see myself as a vicious, bloodthirsty vampire.

    He saw my disgusted face and said quickly, “Don’t worry though. We aren’t total barbarians.” He paused, studying my face. I tried to keep it expressionless as possible, but I was crossing my fingers, hoping the next words out of his perfect mouth wouldn’t be so grisly. He noticed my clamped fingers and smiled lightly, gently taking my hand in his, crossed fingers and all.

    “Most vampire cities have a… a blood bank, if you will. It’s kind of like a… restaurant. You get your “meal” and leave. It’s very civilized, and besides, most vampires don’t let themselves get thirsty enough to attack humans.” I sighed in relief. I wouldn’t have to be a bloodthirsty monster all the time, and I got to spend the rest of my life with Leo. I smiled up at him and said, “Okay... I feel better about that, but there’s still… one other thing I have to ask.”

    “Anything.” he said, and squeezed my hand lightly.

    I hesitated for a moment, and the words just spilled out of my mouth. “Does it hurt… a lot? When you turn into a… you know.”

    He pursed his lips uncomfortably and said quietly, “Well, it definitely isn’t… pleasant. It’s one of the biggest sacrifices in any bonded couple. Watching their partner in that much pain… It hurts for both.”

    “At least I’ll get to stay with you forever when it’s over.” I said after an awkward silence. He gathered me into his cold arms, being more careful than usual. I wrapped my arms around his neck and breathed in his wonderful scent. He smelled like fresh rosemary, winter sunshine, and some kind of citrus I couldn’t place. I wondered if I would smell as good as him when I was a vampire. So what if it might hurt a little? Well… a lot. As long as I was close to him, nothing else really mattered.

    My happy thoughts were rudely interrupted by the chime of the doorbell. Oh, goody. Jared was here, waiting, with no idea that I was about to crush his heart...