run but he grabbed my arm, stopping me from leaving.
“Don’t run,” Nathaniel whispered and pulled me to his chest.
“I have no choice as you are holding onto my arm, stopping me from
running.”
“Look, I know that you are mad at me, but I’m furious with you at
the moment,” Nathaniel breathed into my ear.
“You could at least confirm if you are or not,” I said, already knowing
that they were from the defensiveness.
“I don’t have to confirm nothing Brianna, and what gave you the
right to look up vampires?”
“I told you why Nathaniel.”
“You don’t see me looking into your past, so why should you look
into mine?” he pressed again.
“Let me go,” I spoke, calmly.
“I’m not letting you go Brianna until I know what made you look up
what I didn’t want you to know.”
“Well forgive me for caring about you and wanting to know why my
friend kept on saying that he was dangerous, but wouldn’t tell me any-
thing when I asked. Nathaniel, I classed you as a close friend as you took
time to spend time with me and didn’t ask questions like everyone else
and because you stood up for me against Augusta,” I said and watched
as his hand fell from my arm.
“Brianna, I didn’t know that you felt that way.”
“Well, you do now,” I said and turned around so I could look at Na-
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thaniel.
“Please come with me to the dance, Brianna. I only want to go with
you and no one else and if you don’t go, I happen to know where you
live and I won’t hesitate to bring bad movies and popcorn around and
watch them with you all night until you beg me to turn them off and
never want to see them again,” he said, making me crack a smile.
“Fine, but I’m giving you until tonight to tell me if you are a vampire
or not. I need to know this Nathaniel,” I said and walked to class before
the bell rang.
When I walked into the classroom, I saw Hudson sitting in Na-
thaniel’s seat. I placed my school bag on the table and looked at her.
“Hello Brianna,” she said.
“Can I help you?”
“What is going on between you and Nathaniel?”
“Nothing is going on; we are just each other’s dates to the dance
tonight,” I said and sat down.
“Brianna, I’m not stupid. I have seen the way you both look at each
other. You are in love with Nathaniel and he is in love with you. I mean,
why else would he go to Brandon and ask for advice on “picking a blood
red ruby ring for Brianna because of her hair colour and her heart” were
Nathaniel’s words to him,” Hudson said.
“Then why didn’t he just admit that he had feelings for me? I mean,
he told my mum when they thought I wasn’t in hearing range, but I
heard everything.”
“Hudson, why are you in my seat for?” Nathaniel asked, placing a
long box in front of me. “It’s your present.”
“Wasn’t the ring enough?” I asked.
“I got you something else when I was shopping,” he said and placed
the ring I dropped before back on my finger.
“Can I open it when I get home?” I asked, noticing the way his hand
lingered on my fingers.
“Of course,” Nathaniel said and shooed Hudson out of his seat.
“Remember what I said,” Hudson said and walked over to her table.
“What was that about?” Nathaniel asked, glancing towards Hudson.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, looking over my shoulder towards her.
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“Brianna,” Nathaniel warned.
“Can’t I just keep some things to myself?” I asked and looked at him,
my eyes pleading.
His eyes glazed over when they looked into mine, and he nodded his
head in agreement. Mrs. Franklin walked into the room and looked di-
rectly at Nathaniel and me. I had a sour look on my face and it looked
like Nathaniel was gripping the table with his hands. I was getting a feel-
ing that I was going to be asked questions after this class.
“Why do you have to know if I am a vampire?” Nathaniel asked after
a while.
“So I know if I am risking my life being around you. You said that you
are dangerous, Nathaniel, and I just need to know how dangerous that
you might be,” I said, looking straight at the blackboard.
“Brianna, can I talk to you after class?” Mrs. Franklin said suddenly,
shooting Nathaniel a look that made her look scary.
I nodded, not wanting to get on the bad side of her. Nathaniel spent
most of the class glaring at Mrs. Franklin, but she ignored him. When
the bell finally rang, everyone left the room besides Nathaniel, Mrs.
Franklin and I.
“Nathaniel, you aren’t needed for this talk,” Mrs. Franklin said
“I beg the differ Aubrey. I have a right to know what you plan on tell-
ing Brianna.”
“Leave,” she hissed and grabbed Nathaniel by his top and literally
threw him out of the classroom. My mouth dropped open when I saw
that.
She turned back around and slowly walked over to where I was sit-
ting, making me sit back in my chair when she placed her hands on the
table.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“I couldn’t help but overhear you and Nathaniel talking.”
“But we were talking quietly so no one would hear us.”
“You know Nathaniel’s secret, don’t you?” she asked.
“You knew about it?” I asked, shocked.
“Brianna honey, I am a vampire also. And so is my husband, Na-
thaniel and his family and Brandon. I’m surprised Hudson could keep
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her mouth closed about it once your relationship with Nathaniel
changed.”
“Why won’t he admit that to me then?” I asked and looked down at
the table.
“Nathaniel is scared Brianna. You are the first girl that has grabbed
his attention and he doesn’t understand why that happened. Most of
the young ladies throw themselves at him and you didn’t. Nathaniel was
expecting that to happen and he was shocked that didn’t happen and he
decided to know you better, but what he didn’t know he was slowly fall-
ing in love with you when he saw your beauty on your first day here and
now that everything is starting to come out into the open has him fear-
ing that you will run from him,” Mrs. Franklin said.
“I’m not that special,” I muttered, feeling embarrassed and looked
down.
She placed her hand under my chin and made me look up at her,
where I saw that she had a serious look on her face.
“You are a very beautiful girl Brianna, so I’m shocked no one else has
fallen for you also and Nathaniel; I know you are listening in to what we
are saying,” she said and walked to the classroom door and opened it,
making Nathaniel fall into the classroom.
“Why did you tell her that for? I didn’t want Brianna to know about
me being a vampire or my feelings for her and yet you tell her Aubrey,”
Nathaniel said his tone hard.
“I only told her because you are too gutless to do so Nathaniel,” Mrs.
Franklin said, crossing her arms.
“You have fallen in love with me?” I asked Nathaniel.
“I wouldn’t exactly call it love, but it would be pretty close to it,” he
admitted.
“Well Nathaniel, you have until 10 o’clock tonight to admit every-
thing to Brianna, including feelings and vampiric secrets or I will tell her
everything that you don’t want her knowing,” Mrs. Franklin threatened.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Nathaniel said his voice low and venomous.
“Try me,” she said, the threat in her voice and walked out of the
room with Nathaniel right on her heels.
I stood in the room and tried to process everything. I had the con-
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firmation that Nathaniel was a vampire; and second, he was close to
falling in love with me and there was a huge chance that he was lying
about that.
Grabbing my bag and the other gift that I placed in my bag, I walked
out of the classroom and went on a hunt for Hudson. She was the one
that could give me the answers that I wanted and needed to know. I
found her over with Brandon and made my over to them.
“Hudson, can I talk to you for a second?” I asked.
“I’m pretty sure that it can wait,” Brandon said, his tone cold.
“I know what you are,” I said, making both of them freeze.
“H-h-how did you find out?” Brandon asked, sounding and looking
shocked.
“I did some research and got my answers when Nathaniel became
defensive when I asked and also, Mrs. Franklin confirmed it for me as
well. I don’t think Nathaniel really liked being called gutless though.”
“He is gutless and at least Aubrey said it to his face. I have been try-
ing to work myself up to say that for years,” Brandon said.
“Does this affect our friendship?” Hudson asked suddenly, fear lacing
into her voice.
“All depends on your vampire boyfriend that is,” I said and looked at
Brandon.
He had his arms crossed and was looking me straight in the eye.
Hudson wanted to still be my friend, but it seemed like Brandon was in
charge of everything in the relationship. I narrowed my eyes, waiting for
him to respond.
“How do we know that we can trust you? I mean, I don’t want Hud-
son being at risk from anything.”
“Listen, all I want is answers because I’m sick and tired of Nathaniel’s
changing moods. I wouldn’t even know about this if it wasn’t for Mrs.
Franklin. I have feelings for Nathaniel and I know that he has them for
me also, so if he cared about me so much, why didn’t he want me to
know about what he is?” I asked and looked between both of them.
“If I knew the answer to that, I would tell you, but Nathaniel doesn’t
tell anyone anything. He doesn’t even tell us about his human life as he
shuts down when we ask,” Brandon said.
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“See what Nathaniel has to say at the dance tonight. If something
happens, we can bring you back home,” Hudson added and placed her
hand on my arm.
“Fine, but he better want to tell me why he didn’t want me knowing
about him being a vampire,” I said and turned on my heel, walking away
from them.
When I walked around the corner, someone grabbed my arm and
pulled me into the shade. James and Chase were standing in front of
me.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“How did you find out about us being vampires?” Chase asked in a
whispered.
“Why don’t you ask Nathaniel? He will be able to tell you what you
want to know because if I get asked one more question about this, I will
scream,” I said and started to walk away.
“What about your father? Do you want to answer questions on
that?” James asked.
I stopped walking and turned around to look at them, just staring
blankly. My body went numb and tears sprung to my eyes. Chase waved
a hand in my face, but I didn’t respond. I had shut down and felt a sharp
pain in my chest that came on every time someone mentioned my fa-
ther.
“How did you find out about him?” I finally asked.
“Augusta was kind enough to tell us some stuff that she managed to
find out. His name is Saul Morrison, is thirty-six years old and is from
Adelaide. Is there anything else that we should know?” Chase asked,
sounding smug.
“You don’t need to know anything about the pain and heartache
that man put my mother and me through for almost sixteen years,” I
said through clenched teeth.
“It can’t be that bad,” James said, trying not to laugh.
“He didn’t want me so he left and I haven’t seen him since. Are you
happy now that you have almost pushed me to my worst? Or do you
want to break me that bit more?” I snapped, looking between both of
them. “And just keep in mind; I’m not the only one hurting over this.”
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That wiped the smugness off both faces. James opened his mouth a
few times, but no sound came out of it. I shook my head and took a few
steps back from them. The pain that was currently inside of me was
starting to reach boiling point. Chase reached for me, but stopped when
he saw the look on my face.
“We shouldn’t have said anything,” he said, looking down.
“Well now you know that he left, so why don’t you go and report
back to Augusta what you know and let her spread it around the school
and leave me the hell alone,” I said and walked away, but not before
hitting the wall with my injured wrist.
The rest of the day went fast and when the last bell rang, I wanted to
get out straight away, but Nathaniel stopped me.
“Brianna, what is going on? You haven’t been yourself all day. Does it
have something to do with it being Valentine’s Day?”
“It has nothing to do with that,” I said.
“Then what is it? You know you can tell me Brianna,” Nathaniel said
and pulled me in for a hug.
“Why didn’t you tell me about your secret? You knew that I wouldn’t
judge you and yet, you still hid it from me,” I said and rested my head
against where his heart was.
“Believe me, I wanted to tell you, but it isn’t easy telling the girl that
you like that you are a vampire and knowing that she might run away
from you,” he whispered.
“Can you take me home?” I asked.
He nodded and grabbed my hand, leading me towards his car. On
the ride home, I kept on thinking about that I need to tell Nathaniel
about my father and what happened, but I just wasn’t ready to. How
can you tell someone that you are falling in love with that your father
didn’t want you from birth and thought that you ruined everything and
thought leaving would be the best choice?
“What are you thinking about?” Nathaniel asked.
“Just stuff,” I replied.
“Anything that is interesting?” he asked, trying to engage me in con-
versation but I really wasn’t interested at the moment.
“Not really.”
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Nathaniel stopped the car and I looked out the window, seeing that
we were back at my place. Just as I was about to open my door, Na-
thaniel grabbed the handle and bet me to it. He held out his hand for
me take, like the gentleman that he was.
“Thank you,” I said, getting out of the car.
“So I will pick you up at seven tonight?” Nathaniel asked when he
walked me to my front door.
“Sounds good,” I said and smiled.
Nathaniel slowly leaned towards my face, his eyes glued to my
mouth. Just as we were about to kiss, a car pulled up out the front of my
house. He took a few steps back and I looked down at the road, seeing
Amylia walking up my drive way with a smile on her face.
“Well, I see that you are closer than ever,” she said and placed two
bags on the front porch.
“And your point is Amylia?” Nathaniel asked his tone harsh.
“Grouchy,” she said and looked him up and down. “As you can see, I
have two bags here and hardly any time to make Brianna the bell of the
ball tonight. Be back here at seven sharp.”
“Shouldn’t I be allowed to see what Brianna is going to turn out
like?”
“Goodbye Nathaniel,” she said and shooed him away. “Unlock the
door please. I am going to make you look like a vampire’s dream.”
“Just don’t make me look like a Goth,” I whispered and unlocked the
front door.
Two hours later, Amylia had done my hair, make-up and polished
every bit of skin that she could get her cold, vampiric hands on.
“There we are,” she said and stepped back, admiring her work.
“Now, just for your dress and you are ready for a fun night of dancing
and being glued to Nathaniel’s side most of the night.”
“Why am I getting the feeling that all eyes are going to be on me and
Nathaniel tonight?” I wondered aloud.
“Eyes were going to be on the both of you anyway. Nathaniel
doesn’t pay any attention to the girls at school and then you come along
and changed everything. Most of them are jealous because of the fact
Nathaniel likes you and he doesn’t like them. They all are going to be
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green with envy when they see you on Nathaniel’s arm,” she said and
grabbed a dress bag that was zipped up.
“Is that my dress?” I asked.
“You are going to love it. Once I found out that Nathaniel asked you
to the dance, I spent most of the night making this dress just for you. A
one of a kind style that I know that you will only be able to pull off,”
Amylia told me and opened the bag.
I looked at her with shock. I wasn’t aware that she made clothes, so I
was flattered that I would be wearing a dress just made for me. When
she pulled it out, my mouth dropped open. It was...breathtakingly beau-
tiful. It had a black silk bustier with crystals sewn onto the belt and the
rest of the dress was beautiful. The rest was blood red with a diamond
brooch holding most of the fabric onto the side. I was actually glad to be
wearing that dress.
“I-I love it. Thank you,” I breathed.
“I’m glad. Now just for your shoes,” she said and opened up my clos-
et.
“I don’t have any heels,” I said.
“Then I was glad I brung these babies along just in case,” she mur-
mured and pulled out a black pair of stiletto’s.
“I’ll break my neck in them!” I cried, looking at the narrow heel on
them.
“You will be fine as Nathaniel will have a tight hold on you most of
the night. Now, get in your dress. I want to see what it looks like on
you,” she said and handed it to me.
I slipped the dress on and got Amylia to zip it up at the back before
walking to my full length mirror. I gasped in shock and had to blink a few
times. I was pretty for a change. My hair had been pulled back into the
messy bun and had a light dusting of make-up on my face, giving off a
healthy glow and for once, it looked like I had cleavage.
“Nathaniel is going to love you when he sees what you are wearing,”
Amylia said from behind me.
“Now I am glad that I have agreed to go to this dance,” I said and
looked out the window, hoping to see his car, but no one was there.
Amylia smiled and glanced down at the watch she was wearing be-
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fore clearing her throat. “Nathaniel should be here any minute now,
even though it isn’t seven, but he has never been good with time when
he gets excited,” she concluded.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“I see that Nathaniel hasn’t explained about our powers, but I’m
sure that he will in time,” Amylia said.
“Why can’t you tell me?” I asked, feeling frustrated.
“Because it isn’t up to me; if Nathaniel wants you to know every-
thing about vampires and his past when he was human, he will tell you
and even if he doesn’t want to, he should,” she said with a blank look on
her face.
“Is his past that bad or something?”
“Nate is here,” she said, not answering my question.
“Hello,” I heard him call from the lounge room.
“We are in Brianna’s room,” Amylia said and waited for him at my
door. “And close your eyes! I don’t want you to see her.”
“I will be seeing her anyway.”
“Fine; keep them open.”
I was looking out the window when Nathaniel walked into the room.
Taking a deep breath, I turned around and faced Nathaniel. His eyes
became wide when he saw me. I looked him up and down and saw that
he had a black suit on with a red top underneath it with a black tie. In
his hands were a bunch of roses.
“You look breathtakingly beautiful,” Nathaniel whispered.
“Thank you.”
“Alright, you better get going. I will see you there a bit later on with
James,” she said.
“What about Dakota and Chase?” Nathaniel asked.
“Other plans.”
She walked out of the room, leaving us standing there alone. I
walked over to my side table and grabbed a headband, before placing it
on my head.
“We should get going,” Nathaniel said and placed the flowers on my
bed.
I nodded and Nathaniel grabbed my hand. He led me outside into
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the cold, making me shiver as the icy wind wrapped around my body. I
locked the door and made my way over to his car. Nathaniel opened my
side of the door and helped me get into the car.
“I thought that it was meant to be warm today. It is summer after
all,” I said when Nathaniel started driving.
“Not today my angel,” he replied.
“I have a question for you,” I said, looking over at him.
“And what’s that?” he asked.
“Did you break into my room and place a single white rose on my
pillow?” I asked, watching his facial expression.
Nathaniel looked like he wanted to basically lie, but he quickly
looked over at me before talking a deep breath.
“Yes I did. I placed it there because it reminded me of your skin and
the beauty it held,” he replied after a few minutes.
Halfway towards Colac, Nathaniel grabbed my hand and didn’t let
go. He pulled up to the high school and the first thing I noticed was that
everyone was much prettier than I was. But of course, they all had
money, I thought to myself. I was raised on minimum wage most of my
life with the odd stapling of money my father decided to chuck in until
mum put her foot down and got the big guns involved.
I got out of the car before Nathaniel could and noticed Augusta
standing under a tree, waiting to pounce. She did when Nathaniel came
out into the elements.
“Nate baby, you look divine,” she said, pushing me out of the way.
Catching my balance in these shoes, I walked around her and stood
next to Nathaniel, looking at what she was wearing. If her dress was any
shorter, it would have been a skirt. It was bright pink with heels that
matched. I thought that she was meant to be wearing vivid red?
“For the last time, my name is Nathaniel. Only the people that I say
can call me Nate,” he said.
“How about we go dance?” she suggested.
“I’m staying here with my date.”
Augusta turned her eyes onto me and looked me up and down with
disgust written on her face. At least I didn’t dress like I was a stripper.
“Please, that dress doesn’t suit you at all. You aren’t even pretty, so
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why try and make yourself when you know for a fact that nothing you
do will be worth it,” Augusta said, satisfied that she was hurting me.
“At least her make-up doesn’t look like war paint and everything is
covered up,” Amylia said behind us.
I looked over at Amylia and saw that she had a yellow ball gown type
of dress on and flawless make up to match. James was wearing an all-
white get up.
“James, how can you handle Amylia when she is all wrong for you?”
“Nate, Brianna,” James said looking between us.
“I’m still waiting for a dance, Nathaniel,” Augusta said.
“Then you are going to be waiting for a long time,” Nathaniel said
and walked away, dragging me along with him.
When we walked inside where the dance was being held, all eyes
were on us. Biting my lip, I looked down towards the floor. I didn’t like
the attention part.
“Would you like a drink?” Nathaniel asked, grabbing my attention.
“Just some lemonade,” I replied and spotted Hudson talking to Alex
and what appeared