DARKNESS LULLABY (part 5)
As I pulled into their driveway, my tires came to a screeching halt. Nathalie and Benjamin were outside before I shut the car off. When I got out, I noticed that I had made long black skid marks from my immediate stop. (Oh well, I'd apologize later.) Both of them rushed over to me as I slammed the door shut.
"What's wrong?" Nathalie called.
"Findle wit wot?" Ben spat out.
"Someone came into the house and got a hold of RikkenHe told me to run."
Nathalie and said something to Benjamin and he went off somewhere. Nat came up and took my arm, her eyes filled with terror. With her other hand, she pushed back her fiery red hair back. At about that time, Benjamin came around the corner in Nat's Lamborghini that was the same color as both of their hair. Ben jumped out and Nat jumped in. I then rushed into the passenger's seat. Benjamin bent down to hug his sister before we raced off into the horizon.
"Ben's not coming?" I asked.
"He's staying behind to help Rikken."
"Won't they need more help?"
"Don't worry, Adria. Benjamin is a skilled fighter. They'll be fine."
"Why aren't we staying behind?" I was starting to get unexpectedly frantic now.
"Because they were after you. Therefore, you need to be as far away from them as possible."
"Who exactly are they?'"
"Whix's followers. They call themselves, The Honor.' They're after you because they want your power. See, if a vampire drinks every last drop of another vampire's blood that has powers, the powers are transferred. This is what Whix plans to do to you."
"But, why do vampires follow him?"
With a humorless laugh, she said, "I think it's because they just want to fit in somewhere."
The rest of the drive was silent. Neither of us spoke because there was nothing to say. We both sat quietly staring out the windshield. At one point, Nathalie looked over at me and started playfully complaining about how I was still in my pajamas. She said that we'd be going to her friend Alora's house. After that, I tuned out. It took us a long time to get there since it was in the day and we were forced to drive the speed limit. It was right around three in the afternoon when we arrived at Alora's suburban house. I wasn't sure where exactly we were, but I think we were still in the borders of North Carolina.
Ignoring obvious stares from the neighborscourtesy of Nat's Lambowe got out and knocked on the door. A voice called from inside and so we went in. There was a sweet smell swirling through the air. Once Nathalie had led us into the kitchen, I could see the smell was coming from a pot boiling on the stove. Coming from the fridge was a short woman who looked no more than twenty-two. Her super short platinum blonde pixie hair reflected the light shining through the window. The little blue dress she was wearing matched her eyes perfectly.
"Hey Nat, who you got here?" She asked dumping some stuff into the pot.
"Alora, this is Adria, the time stopper."
Alora stopped and eyed me down. "She's a cutie, isn't she? How old?"
"Forever frozen at eighteen." Nathalie replied.
Alora dropped whatever she was holding in the sink. "Forever frozen? You mean, she's turned?"
"Artemis' doing."
"Do you know how hard it will be to protect her?"
"Shouldn't be much when her powers kick in." Nat's British accent rang in my ears.
"I'll get to work on a protection potion then."
"Potion?" I interjected.
"Yes, I am a witch."
"A witch? Really?"
"Yes." She turned to Nathalie. "Doesn't she know anything about the mythical world? Teach her when you get a chance."
With that, Alora disappeared into another room, leaving the pot to boil. Nathalie and I went to sit down in the front room. "Is she immortal, too?"
"Every mythical creature is."
We waited for along time before Alora came back to stare at me a bit. She did this a time or two before again disappearing into the other room. Nat assured me that Alora was only observing what to put in the potion. Them ore it fit the person, the better it worked. We must have sat there for hours because I could see the sun start to set.
As every second passed, I kept thinking of Rikken. Was he okay? Why hadn't he found us yet? How long would it be before I could look into his eyes again? A deep pain thrived inside of me with his absence. Aside from the bad side, I couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss him. I couldn't stop thinking about how it would feel to be so close to him
H-O-L-Y M-O-T-H-E-R! What was I doing? I was daydreaming and day-worrying about him! I had only known this guy for, what, like a week! What was wrong with me? I had never been this...obsessed with a guy before (not in a stalkerish way or anything). What in the world was going on with me? (Come on, Adria, SNAP OUT OF IT!) He didn't even want to be close to me, let alone all the things I was thinking of in my mind(hee hee). Anyways, I told myself, snap out of it!
The sun had officially disappeared when I actually started lookingI mean really lookingat the living room. It was completely monochromatic, but not the least bit boring. Everything was the same shade of blue. Not like the sky blue you find in a Crayola box, but lighter and softer. By everything, I mean everything. The carpet, the walls, the ceiling, the couches, the loveseat, the recliner in the corner, the little tables at the end of the couches, the entertainment center, the TV, and even the lamps were all matching in the same beautiful blue.
When I was done observing the room, Alora came back with a little bottle that waswhat else?blue. She handed it to me and instructed me to drink it. The potion itself smelt horrible. Thankfully, the taste was rather delicious. It tasted like a combination of honey, sugar, and peanut butter. Sounds gross, I know, but it's a delightful mixture.
Once I had finished the potion, I put my power to use and sent it floating back to Alora who was at the edge of the couch next to Nathalie. They both froze. I forgot that no one had told them yet about my power seeping in. I cleared my throat and said, "Don't have a cow or anything; it's just my power coming in."
"It's come this early?" Nat asked.
"Just found out this morning."
"And you already know how to use it?" Alora asked.
"Sort of, it's not that hard. I just think about it and it happens."
"Nathalie, I've known vampires for as long as I can remember and I've never seen one who can use their power like this on the first day."
"She's not a normal vampire, Alora, she's the time stopper. Everything about her is going to be unexpected." Nathalie said as Alora let out a small scream.
She turned around and said, "Rikken, I thought I told you to stop doing that!" She hit him on the arm.
"Sorry, Alora, couldn't resist." Oh, it felt so good to hear his extravagant Irish voice again. I was breathless for the most part when he came over and kissed the back of my hand. Trying to hide my blush with my hair, I told him hello. "Glad to see you're well, beautiful."
My face got redder as he let go of my hand. He told Nathalie something that I didn't catch because I was too caught up in taking in the moment. When he was done with that conversation, he took my hand and stared into my eyes. I blinked and as soon as I did that, we were back in my room at Rikken's houseon my bed. I was laying down my back and he was above me, holding himself up so that we didn't touch.
"I'm so happy that you're safe." He whispered gently as he leaned toward me. As he did this, I took in his scent. It was mesmerizing.
"Same here." I said lifting my hands to run my fingers through his hair.
Leaning in a little bit more, he softly told me, "I don't know what I would have done without you."
In this wonderfully amazing moment, I realized that I liked this side of Rikken. I loved how he was ignoring whatever complication he wasn't telling me and got so close to me. He bent down and his lips brushed mine. It wasn't a kiss, but the effects were just about the same. (Loss of breath, rapid heart beating, blushing like a maniac on speed) As soon as I embraced these feelings, Rikken disappeared and then reappeared at the doorway. "I'm sorry." He said walking out of the room. OH COME ON! Could I not have one moment?!?!? This was absolutely ridiculous and way beyond unfair! I let out a sigh. Instead of following Rikken and getting into another pointless argument, I pulled back the covers and nestled myself into the soft bed. Closing my eyes, I fell asleepthinking about what had just happened before Rikken realized what he was doingwith a smile on my face.
Waking up, I only drank half of the blood on my nightstand. Nice to see my thirst was dying down. I then rose out of bed and entered my closet. Not feeling like dressing up, I simply slipped on some jeans, a black spaghetti-strap top, and some skater shoes. Grabbing the first hoodie I saw, I realized that lately it had been unexpectedly cold for an Emissy November.
I walked down the stairs and found Rikken in the music room staring out the window. His head turned immediately towards me when I stepped in to the room. I sat down on the piano bench next to him. All signs of tension from last night were nowhere to be found once a tiny smile slid across his face. (Goodness, this guy had multiple personality disorder or something.)
"Why couldn't you teleport when those people attacked you?"
"I can only use it when I'm perfectly concentrated. I was too worried about you."
"So you can only use your power when you're selfishly thinking of yourself?" I asked jokingly.
He laughed (mission accomplished). "That's a strange way to look at it, but I suppose that's true."
The rest of the day went pretty well. We talked a little here and there, but mostly we sat in the music room. I watched as he played note after glorious note. Surprising, though, that the day went on without one of our infamous stare-offs. The sun began to set and a wondrous full moon took its place. Rikken, all of a sudden, dropped his head and clenched his fists. It scared me because he looked like he was in so much pain.
"Rikken, what's wrong?" I asked gingerly.
"Adriaget out. Go toNathalie's." He said, his accent coated with rage.
I didn't say anything more. I took his instructions and drove to Nathalie's in a hurry. I didn't question him becausehonestlyjust then, he was scary. Deep down, I knew that the only reason he told me to leave was to protect me in some way. When I got to Nat's, I walked in, not bothering to knock. She came down the stairs when she heard the door open.
"Adria, what brings you here?"
"Rikken told me to get out. He's acting really strange."
She looked out the window and said, "You must be tired. Come, you can sleep in my room." Her tone got a little jokingly when she said, "Now I thought I told you to look fabulous!"
We both laughed and went up to her room. Although it was late, I wasn't tired. I stayed up until Nat made me go to sleep. All the while, she sat in a chair in the corner watching me and occasionally glancing out the window with an expression that could only be classified as being completely scared out of her skull.
The sun blazing through the window woke me up the next morning. Nathalie still sat in the corner, but her eyes were closed. When I adjusted myself a little to sit up, her eyes sprung open. What in the world was so wrong that it terrified her so much? For the time I had known her, Nathalie wasn't the type to be scared easily. So whatever this was, it was B-A-D.
Downstairs, I could hear two people. One, obviously, was Benjamin. The otherwasRIKKEN! As soon as I realized he was there, I bolted from the bed to find him in the living room with Ben. He turned his head and as soon as I saw that shaggy brown skater hair and those emerald eyes, my heart did a flip or two. In his left hand was a wine glass. Using my power, I made it float into my hand and took a sip. I walked in the room and placed the glass on a little coffee table in front of a couch.
Sitting next to Rikken, I felt safe again. He delicately took my hand and kissed it. If I wasn't immortal, I'm pretty sure I would have just died. I stared into his glossy eyes and said, "We need to talk." He detected the urgency in my voice and said goodbye to Ben and Nat who was now at the edge of the room. In the blink of an eye, we were back in Rikken's music room.
"Tell me what happened and what you've been hiding. I'm smart enough to see that they're related somehow."
"Adria, you don't understand."
I stood up and got really angry. "Tell me right now or I'm going to jump in the Vette and go somewhere far away from here."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because you won't tell me the truth and" I paused for a minute until things clicked in my head. "You're supposed to be dangerous' right?"
He took a moment to contemplate things and then said, "Fine, I'll tell youI'm a werepire."
"Which is?"
"Half vampire, half werewolf." He said quickly.
"That's it?" That's your big secret?"
"You don't understand!" He said rising from the bench. "Every full moon I get thisthis urge to kill vampires. I don't have control over anything. The people I'm close to are the main targets because I know them so well. And sometimes, when it's not even close to a full moon, I'll just turn into a werewolf. That's why I can't afford to be so close to you because I don't know what I would do if I hurt, or possibly killed, you when I just randomly change."
So now there were werepires? Oh no, it wasn't enough for there to be vampires, witches, and apparently werewolves, but there were werepires, too. But, I didn't care. What did it matter? When my power came in fully, I could just stop time and run away if he changed. "Rikken, I don't care."
"You don't care?"
I shook my head.
He instantly got incredibly furious and pinned me against the wall. "HOW CAN YOU NOT CARE? I could KILL you!"
I stared into his eyes and refused to back down. "Because I"
"Because you think I wouldn't?"
"NO! Because I know you wouldn't. I know that you have more control than that."
"You've known me for a little over a week!" He said with the same irritation in his voice.
"Yeah, what does that matter? Have you hurt me in that time span? Or how about Nat and Ben? Have you ever hurt them?"
"No, but there's a chance."
"THERE'S A CHANCE FOR EVERYTHING, RIKKEN! There's a chance that Whix might kill me. There's a chance that I might, for some unknown reason, run off to Siberia! There's even a chance that monkeys will turn blue and fly and rhinos will become the Earth's leaders!"
"Adria"
"No, let me finish! I believe everything I said will come true before you hurt me."
"How can you just accept this so effortlessly?"
I screamed, "BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, YOU FRIKEN IDIOT!"
He caught me by surprise asin half a fraction of a secondhe pressed his tender lips against mine. I reached up and tangled my fingers in his hair. His arms wrapped around me tightly. His irresistible scent intoxicated me. He kept trying to pull me closer even though it wasn't physically possible since there was absolutely no space between us. Our lips moved in a gentle rhythm together. I twisted my fingers out of his hair and wrapped my arms around his neck as our lips parted.
I gripped tighter because there was no way this moment could be overIt wasn't. He dragged his lips to the edge of my jaw and kissed it. Then he went down to my neck and laid a gentle kiss. His lips traced the base of my neck and then found themselves back up to my lips. Everywhere his lips had touched was now burning like fire across my skin. A moment too soon later, he said silentlystill touching my lips"This isn't rightI'm endangering you."
I pushed him back to where we could look into each other's eyes. "Shut," I said slowly, "up."
I pulled him back quickly and it was almost too much. It felt like the world was tilting the wrong way on its axis and any second I would fall. I felt a surge of warmth spread throughout my entire body. His lips were like novacaine. Every time he would break from my lips and peck a kiss to my jaw or hollow of my neck, it would paralyze me. In this moment, I felt like melting, just melting into the carpet.
All of a sudden, I felt like I was floating. It felt like I wasn't even standing on the floor anymore. Rikken took his lips from mine and looked down. Funny thing I felt like I was floatingbecause I was. Rikken and I were hovering above the ground. My face turned red with a blush as he said, "Ok, not even I knew this was within your power."
We both smiled and locked our arms around each other again. I laid my head in the little space between his neck and shoulder. He leaned his head on mine. It was such a wondrous moment. The sun shining through made a rainbow in the room. The sun's warmth was comforting. Birds outside were chirping gleefully. And thena gasp came from the edge of the room.