When I woke up on Sunday morning, what happened yesterday re-
played over in my mind. But something didn’t feel right to me. It felt like
someone was watching me from the outside world and I tried to ignore
the feeling. It wasn’t going away.
I finally decided to get out of bed and I walked over to my window,
but couldn’t see anything or anyone looking in. Now I was slowly going
insane. I was sure of it. I looked over towards the roses Nathaniel gave
me and sighed. Would that be it for his gifts or would it be every time
he did something wrong, I would be lavished by roses or some other
flower?
Something just didn’t feel right. My thoughts went back to Na-
thaniel, making my walking slow right down as he entered my thoughts.
I knew that there was something wrong with him and his family and I
just couldn’t put my fingers on it, but he wouldn’t spy on me, would he?
Nathaniel would respect my privacy and wouldn’t do anything like that,
I decided, but still felt unsure about what he was capable of doing. The
second person would be Jason, but he wouldn’t be dumb enough to
hide until the last minute, giving me a chance to catch him.
“Brianna, are you alright? You look like you have seen a ghost,” mum
said when I entered the kitchen.
“I don’t feel right,” I muttered, looking around the room just in case
someone was hiding outside, looking into my life.
“I’m sure that it is only just the virus you got still knocking you
around. It use to do that when you were a little girl and I’m sure that
wouldn’t have changed in ten years,” mum said and went back to mak-
ing her coffee.
“No, I mean that I feel like someone is watching me, but when I look
back, there is no one looking in.”
She dropped the spoon on the floor and turned around so she could
look at me. It appeared all the colour from her face had drained also.
Mum quickly turned back around and stared blankly out the kitchen
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window, not saying a complete word to me. Did she not believe me or
something? Why would I lie about something serious like that?
“Well, I didn’t want to say anything just in case you didn’t believe
me, but when Nathaniel was here yesterday and last week, he was look-
ing at you strangely, but I just couldn’t place the look. That boy is con-
fusing sometimes and you can’t follow his eyes,” mum told me after a
while, making warning bells go off in my head.
“You don’t think he would spy on me, do you?” I asked, unsure of
what her answer would be. “I mean, he should know how to respect
privacy and we are friends. He wouldn’t want to risk that if he got
caught, right?” I asked, sitting down at the kitchen table.
“Honey, Nathaniel and his father is different to us and I have tried to
ignore it but sometimes it is hard so anything is quite possible at the
moment with Nathaniel. It seems like Nathaniel will do anything to
make sure that you are safe and protected at all times,” mum said, still
looking out the kitchen window.
“His whole family is different to us mum. People don’t have that sort
of beauty naturally. It’s like something you would never see on a hu-
man, like immortal beauty, but that would be hard to achieve since they
are alive. They are cold to touch and I have asked questions about it,” I
said, following mum with my eyes as she walked over to the kitchen ta-
ble and sat in front of me.
“What did he say?”
“He said that he couldn’t tell me because it was dangerous and that
he is extremely dangerous and that his whole family is the same and he
didn’t want to put me at risk. I mean, Amylia spoke under her breath
and Nathaniel’s brother James, understood every word that she said
and I couldn’t. And I thought bodies were meant to be soft, not hard as
ice or stone,” I said and started to play with the loose piece of cotton on
my top to keep my mind off everything. “It is just strange.”
Mum looked deep in thought. It was obvious that I wasn’t the only
one that saw there was something different with the Pryor’s. I started
to think about whom else in Forrest and Colac could see that something
was different about them but was too scared to say anything.
“The only thing I can think of is that they have contracted something,
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like Tuberculosis; but that disease is only in third world countries,” she
said.
“What is Tuberculosis?” I asked, feeling curious about something
that I had never heard of before in my entire life.
“It’s known as the curse of the vampire. Apparently, people who suf-
fered from 1840 until 1940 showed signs of being a vampire; like the
pale skin, sensitive to bright light and the beauty caused by the disease,
but as I said, that would be impossible for them to contract it as they
are still young and I don’t think they would travel to where it is still
around without a good reason,” she conducted.
Could Nathaniel and his family be...vampires? If they were, that
would mean that Brandon would be one also, and Hudson would know
all about this and if she didn’t, how could he keep it a secret from the
girl he is meant to be madly in love with? It was a good thing I got a lap-
top for my sixteenth birthday. I needed to do some research on all of
this before I went crazy out of my mind with curiosity. When I finished
my toast, I made my way back to my bedroom and stopped when I
opened the door.
The window was wide open and there was a single white rose sitting
on my pillow with a note tied to it. I slowly walked over to it and looked
down at it.
For someone as beautiful as you, but only you have my heart and soul and you will have it until the day I die, it read. I had never seen that writing before, and I
couldn’t pin it on Nathaniel as I had never seen his writing. He always
hid it from me my hunching over every time he wrote something. Did he
do it because he had plans on breaking into my room and I couldn’t
blame him for it if I didn’t know his writing? I placed it on my bedside
table so I could study it later on and hope it was Nathaniel that sent it to
me and no one else.
Picking up the rose, I looked at it and saw all the thorns were miss-
ing. At least I didn’t have to worry about cutting myself on the danger-
ous part of the flower. Thinking back, I saw Bethany had these in her
garden, but a lot of people grow white roses. I placed it with the blood
red ones and made my way to the window. That was impossible to open
from the outside, but somehow, it opened. Okay, now I was started to
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silently freak out. First it felt like someone was watching me and now a
single white rose has appeared out of nowhere. I think it was safe to say
that I was being stalked.
I grabbed my laptop and plugged in the wireless internet, my nerves
all jittery with what I might discover. I needed to know if Nathaniel was
a vampire or not and then I could decide what I was going to do about
it. When I finally got the internet working, I typed in the first word that
came to mind; vampire information.
Most of the pages didn’t catch my interest, but when I clicked on
one, I almost fell off my bed when I noticed it had everything about
what I noticed about Nathaniel and his family; the cold skin, beauty that
appeared to be immortal, hard skin, icy and civil to humans and the
corpse like pallor they all had. It looked like they had been out of the
sun for six months, and they did have a lot of expensive things that a lot
of rich people wouldn’t even be able to afford. Slowly, but surely, every-
thing started to add up and the realisation dawned on me; Nathaniel
was a vampire.
Nathaniel couldn’t be a vampire. They are monsters and Nathaniel
isn’t and his family isn’t. I quickly got dressed and decided to go for a
walk, hoping to clear my head. I walked down the hall, telling mum that
I was going for a walk.
“Have fun and don’t be too late,” was her reply.
My mind was screaming at me to see Nathaniel and to force him to
confirm that he was a vampire to me, but my heart was telling me to
leave it and to protect myself from getting hurt by not saying anything
to anyone. And there was an extremely high chance that he could deny
everything and make me look like a complete and utter idiot for voicing
my suspicions. I decided to listen to my heart, but still had no choice but
to go past Nathaniel’s house.
“This was going to be interesting,” I muttered to myself as I made my
way past it.
Nathaniel was out in the front in the garden doing something, almost
making me grind to a halt so I could look at him, but I forced myself not
to stop. Placing my hair in front of my face and hanging my head down, I
walked past, hoping not to be noticed by him. It didn’t work. He called
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out my name, making me walk faster than my body would have liked as
it started to protest. If I stopped and spoke to him, I wouldn’t have been
able to stop myself and I would have asked him for the truth. And there
was a very high chance that wouldn’t have ended well.
“Brianna, stop,” Nathaniel said, getting in front of me.
“I’m sorry Nathaniel, but I can’t stay. I have to go,” I said, my voice
breathless and tried to get past him.
He wasn’t having a bar of that. He grabbed my arm and forced me to
stay where I was. At the moment, it was my head versus my heart and
neither of them was helping me in my current turbulent and tantalizing
relationship with Nathaniel. I was breathing heavy and just wanted to
be left alone so I could think.
“Can you please let me go?” I asked, feeling defeated and flattened.
“Brianna, why do I get the feeling that you are trying to avoid me?”
he asked.
“I don’t know. All I know is that I am in a hurry and don’t have the
time to talk, so how about a raincheck?” I suggested, sacrificing time I
craved to spend with Nathaniel.
I knew if I caved, our friendship would be over in a second once I
opened my mouth and asked him if he was a vampire or not. I wasn’t
ready to face that. Nathaniel sighed and closed his eyes before nodding
and looking down at me.
“Fine Brianna, but I want to spend all my time with you tomorrow,”
he said and stepped aside to let me through.
“It’s a date,” I shouted as I walked away.
I was tempted to pretend to be sick tomorrow so I didn’t have to go
to school and face uncourtly attention that I didn’t want, but then Na-
thaniel would decide to keep my company in the comfort of my own
home. And if Nathaniel was a vampire, him and I alone for a long time
with blood running through my veins, his sweet nectar of life, I could be
a dead, blood drained corpse if he slipped up and didn’t realise what he
was doing.
My mind started to go back into over drive one again. Would I be
able accept the fact Nathaniel could be a vampire? I couldn’t find it in
me to find a fault so far, besides the fact that every time I was around
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Nathaniel, I was putting my life at risk, but I couldn’t seem to care. It
seemed like I was willing to die to spend time with Nathaniel. That was a
sacrifice I wanted to make. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make.
Something else I realised that shocked me was the fact I knew and I
could feel that I was slowly falling in love with Nathaniel. Did he feel the
same way or was I putting everything on the line for a possible rejection
or death?
“Brianna!” Dakota said and stopped in front of me. “A little birdie
told me that Nathaniel had asked you to be his date to the dance to-
morrow night.”
“Yes he did ask me,” I said, trying to pin point what she wanted.
“Well, I will give you a tip on how you can knock Nathaniel off his
feet. Wear something that is the same as your hair colour. We don’t
really know why, but he has something for the colour of your hair.”
“You mean the fact that it looks like blood and he likes it because of
that fact?” I snapped, my subconscious doing a little victory dance.
“Are you alright?” Dakota asked, automatically knowing something
was wrong.
I sighed before answering. “I just figured out something that I am still
trying to get my head around very quickly.”
At the moment, my head was the devil and my heart was the angel.
They were both telling to do something different and making me feel
completely and utterly confused. Dakota looked suspicious but didn’t
say anymore.
“Okay, well if you ever feel like talking, you know where I live so
don’t hesitate,” she said and brushed past me in her designer clothes.
When I got home, Nathaniel’s car was in the drive way, parked be-
hind mum’s commodore. That was a shock to see and made my heart
skip a few beats in the process. What did he want? I made sure I was
quiet so I could hear what they were talking about. I took a few steps
and made sure not to trip or step on anything that will catch the atten-
tion of both of them. That would make them stop talking and I would
miss out on information that I wouldn’t be able to get any other time.
“Brianna just didn’t seem herself before. She never has blown me off
before, but she did and it was strange. Are you sure that she is alright?”
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I heard Nathaniel say from the kitchen.
“Nathaniel, Brianna hasn’t been herself all day. She hates Valentine’s
Day because of attention. We both know she doesn’t like it when all the
attention is on her, but this is a lot worse than I have ever seen before,”
mum replied.
“Marie, can you promise me that you won’t tell Brianna this?”
“What do you want to tell me?” mum asked as I walked quietly so
they wouldn’t stop talking.
“I have feelings for your daughter and I plan on telling her tomorrow
either at the dance or at school,” he said, making me knock over a pho-
to from the shock.
“Crap!” I exclaimed and stood it back up right.
The noise was enough to catch their attention and to make them
stop talking. Leave it to me to stuff everything up by knocking some-
thing over by mistake. I mentally yelled and swore at myself in my mind
while my inner ego stood upright, hands on hips and tapping her foot on
the ground while shaking her head at the same time.
“Brianna, are you back? We are in the kitchen if you are looking for
us,” mum called out towards me.
Does she think I’m dumb or something? I thought to myself as I
walked into the kitchen, acting like I didn’t know anything when I clearly
heard everything that I wanted to know. I smiled at both of them before
walking back up to my room. As I put my laptop away, Nathaniel ap-
peared in my door way, looking at me directly.
“Hello,” I said and looked up at him.
“Have I done something to you Brianna?” he asked and walked to-
wards
“What makes you think that, Nathaniel?” I asked and crossed my
arms, getting ready to become defensive.
“Because you are acting cold towards me; it’s like you know some-
thing that I don’t,” Nathaniel said and crossed his arms.
Oh Nathaniel, you are on the money with that remark.
“Actually I do know something that you don’t, but I don’t know how
you will respond so I’m not going to say anything.”
“Brianna, don’t you think I need to know what is going on? I mean,
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so it won’t affect our friendship?” he asked, moving in closer so our
noses were basically touching. I could smell the sweet scent of his hair
and his minty breath almost made me lose my train of thoughts, but I
held myself together.
“Well how about that I tell you what it is tomorrow at the school
dance? I still need to practice my speech on how to break it to you and
hopefully I will be able to figure out your reaction while I’m practicing
my speech in front of a mirror tonight,” I suggested, waiting for his an-
swer.
Nathaniel took a while to reply, but he did after a while. “Fine; I will
see you tomorrow bright and early at school and there better be an ex-
planation on your lips Brianna.” And he left the room, leaving me stand-
ing there without the chance to say goodbye.
Once I told him my suspicions about what he is, I didn’t know if that
would change his feelings for me. He just should be happy that I didn’t
plan on running away from him either way, even though I should have
to save my life in the end no doubt. Halfway through my thinking, mum
walked into the room and started firing away with her questions.
“So what happened?” mum asked.
“What did Nathaniel want? And you could have let me know he
would have been there when I left this morning,” I said, ignoring her
question completely.
“Nathaniel just wanted to know what was wrong with you and ad-
mitted a few things to me. Also, I didn’t know that he was going to show
up and if I did, I would have forced you to stay put. He arrived five
minutes after you left and started asking questions straight away,” mum
said, looking down at my floor.
“And I know what that is. Nathaniel has feelings for me, but is too
gutless to admit it to me now,” I said and looked my mother’s lowered
head, waiting for her to look up.
“Brianna, how did you find out?” she asked, breathless.
“I happened to come home and heard you and Nathaniel talking. I
know he would have stopped once I entered the room so I decided to
be quiet and because of that, I heard that he has feelings for me and will
tell me tomorrow night at the dance.”
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“How do you feel about him, Brianna?” she asked, finally making eye
contact with me.
“I think I’m falling for him, but I have found out something’s that
could change everything about us.”
“It can’t be that bad, can it?”
“In the end, I believe that it will be a matter of life and death, but I
need him to confirm it before I can make a choice on if I end up dying in
the future or not.”
“What do you know that might ruin everything? I mean, it is pretty
hasty to say that this could kill you so how bad can this be?”
Do I tell her or keep it to myself. Mum deserved to know everything,
but then I couldn’t risk her life also in the process. The worse Nathaniel
could do is cut me out of his life if I wasn’t meant to tell mum. My inner
voice started speaking: Brianna, Brianna, Brianna, Nathaniel could drink
your blood until you are dead if this wasn’t meant to come out into the
open so anyone else can’t find out about it. We are talking about the
fact that he could be a vampire, after all and we all know that they are a
dangerous creature of the night.
My inner voice did have a good point, but in the end, I decided to risk
it and tell mum the truth instead of lying.
“I believe Nathaniel is a vampire,” I whispered.
“How can he be a vampire?” she asked, confusion lacing her voice.
“What you told me about Tuberculosis made me think about a lot of
things and then I did some research and everything I found confirmed
everything that I was thinking about them. I just need get the courage
to tell Nathaniel about what I found so he can tell me if it’s true or not. I
do find it a shock if he and his family, plus Brandon have the same
things in common with a vampire and I don’t even know if I should be
telling you all of this just in case if it is true and I’m putting your life in
danger by admitting all of this.”
“All I can say is Nathaniel should be glad that you haven’t decided to
run from him after finding all this out because if I were you, I would
have by now and I would be not looking back over my shoulder. This is a
lot of information to process and you are only sixteen years old, but you
have always had the mind set of an adult since you were a little girl.”
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“What if he doesn’t want anything to do with me after tomorrow? I
said to him when he was here before that I would tell him what I know
tomorrow night at the dance. I just don’t that backfiring and me being
all alone while he falls into the arms of Augusta, which she will use that
to her advantage on making the rest of my time here a living hell be-
cause she got Nathaniel and I didn’t because I blew the only shot that I
would have had with him.”
“Sweetie, I don’t see him doing something like that. Nathaniel seems
to be smitten with you and you haven’t even started a relationship, and
if he does, I won’t hesitate to go and get answers from him straight
away and I won’t be nice about it. Plus I don’t think his father would like
it if his son decides to hurt a girl when Jack has told me that he has
taught Nathaniel to treat a woman like a princess and with a lot of re-
spect. Nathaniel might be immortal, but I don’t think Jack wouldn’t hesi-
tate on hurting him if he did something to hurt a woman,” mum told me
before looking walking out my room and leaving me alone in my
thoughts once again.
I was looking out the window most of the night until I could hardly
stay awake. Before I left my room to get ready for bed, the roses caught
my attention. I had a feeling that Nathaniel left the single white rose
also, but I couldn’t prove it and I craved to do so, but that was just an-
other thing I would have to ask Nathaniel tomorrow if he were still talk-
ing to me. It’s not every time someone announces that they are aware
that you are undead and drank blood for a living.
As I was just getting under my comforter, there was a tap on my win-
dow. I looked over towards that way and saw the second person in the
world I didn’t want to see; Jason. Hitting the pillow, I whimpered, trying
to ignore his consent tapping, but it was going to be hard with someone
that did never get the hint when I told him I wasn’t interested in a rela-
tionship with me and all the stalking problems he was giving me. In the
end, he got on my nerves so I had no choice but to open up the window
and listen to what he had to say. I yanked on the opening and had to
use all my force to pull it open, letting all the hot and humid night air
into my room.
“What do you want?” I asked when I opened up my window.
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“I was just coming to remind you tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day just in
case you forgot all about it,” he said with a smug smile.
“Don’t you think I know that? It’s a day I hate with a passion, but you
are on that list in first place,” I seethed back.
“Why can’t you accept that we are meant to be together Brianna?
You will love your gift from me tomorrow at school and what time will
you be ready for the dance so I know when I can pick you up? Oh and
wear something lacy and black that will make your figure even more
revealing,” Jason said, trying to look down my singlet top.
“First, I don’t want anything from you and second, I have a date al-
ready for the dance,” I replied.
“Of course you do; it’s me and only me.”
“Ha-ha, no; try Nathaniel Pryor. You know, you’re enemy for my
heart? Well he asked me and I said yes,” I said and felt smug when Jason
looked shocked. “He was the only one I wanted to go with in the first
place and I got my wish, so you better not even dare try to ruin every-
thing for me and for N