It was two days after the dance, and so far, Augusta hadn’t done any-
thing.
I couldn’t understand why I was feeling scared of her. She sure didn’t
have the power to convince Nathaniel to leave me, but there was some-
thing there about her that still made me so scared of what she might do.
And I still hadn’t told Nathaniel that mum knew about his secret also. I
didn’t know how that would go down and I didn’t want it ending in
tears, or bloodshed.
“What are you thinking about so intently Brianna?” Nathaniel asked
and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
I looked at him, glad that he had pulled me out of my thoughts of the
one person that I didn’t want to even think about. I know that I should
have been paying all my attention onto Nathaniel and not worry about
that witch, but that was an extremely hard thing to do. I was not only
protecting myself, but my mother too.
“I’m worried about what Augusta has planned for me to make my
life a living hell,” I admitted.
“Baby, you don’t need to worry about her. We can take care of her if
she even dares to try anything. I do have a surprise for you after school
to take your mind of everything though,” Nathaniel said and stole a bite
out of my sandwich.
“And what’s that?” I asked, looking at him.
“A date,” he announced.
“Nate, we are a couple, so why do we have to go on a date?” I asked.
“Because I want to take you on one, that’s why Brianna,” he said, his
tone of voice daring me to challenge him.
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“What time?” I relented.
“Be ready at six, but I will be with you at your house anyway to make
sure that you are ready to have a fun night out,” Nathaniel said before
kissing my cheek and walking over to his table and towards the curious
eyes of his family at his current happiness.
Alex looked up when Nathaniel walked past his table and walked
over to where I was sitting. I looked up at my cousin and kicked out a
chair for him to sit down. He sat down in front of me, his eyes glued to
mine the whole time.
“Can I help you?” I asked, grabbing the sandwich that Nathaniel had
bitten and not sure if it was safe to eat.
“What is going on with you and Nathaniel?” he asked.
“I thought mum would have told Rachel by now. Nathaniel and I am
a couple.”
Alex sat back in his chair before shaking his head. “That is something
I wasn’t expecting you to say Brianna. So does Nathaniel know about
Saul yet or are you still keeping him in the dark about it?”
“I haven’t told him anything as of yet, but I will admit everything in
due time. Don’t rush me into doing this Alexander.”
“He needs to know Brianna. You can’t keep him in the dark about
this forever.”
“Don’t you think I know that Alex? I know that I need to tell him eve-
rything, but I don’t know what the hell Augusta has planned before I can
even try to find the courage to tell Nathaniel. For all I know, she could
invite him to town just to hurt me that bit more and then there is mum.
I need to consider her in all of this as well. I can’t afford her getting hurt
anymore and you should know that by now.”
Alex got out of his seat and walked over to me, before giving me a
hug. He could tell that I was getting upset about all of this. Once every-
thing had calmed over, I planned on telling Nathaniel everything, but I
wanted to know about his past also. I wasn’t going to be pleased if I told
Nathaniel about my past, but he didn’t tell me anything.
“I will be fine Alex,” I said and pulled away from his embrace.
“But I don’t want to leave you knowing that you are upset,” he ar-
gued.
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“This is nothing compared to how I have been before and you know
that,” I pointed out.
“I’m not leaving Brianna,” he said, putting an end to that argument.
He stayed with me until the bell rang. Nathaniel was waiting for me
when I got outside and took my hand, leading the way to our next class.
Mr. Franklin looked up when we walked into the room and a smile came
onto his face when he saw our entwined hands.
“About time, Nathaniel,” he muttered.
Most of the class, I could feel Nathaniel’s eyes on me, making me
nervous about what I was doing. I didn’t really want to fail this class and
he wasn’t helping me one bit. I kept my eyes on what I was doing so I
wouldn’t stare at him for the whole lesson.
“You do know that you get more beautiful every second?” he asked,
brushing a piece of hair from my face.
“Nate, stop trying to flatter me because it isn’t going to working,” I
said, looking up at him.
“Do you think that will make me stop?” he asked.
“It will if you make us fail this class due to your lack of help with this
subject,” I said and laughed when he pouted.
“You are mean,” he said.
I leaned in and gave Nathaniel a kiss on the cheek. I was counting
down until the bell since I could spend the afternoon with Nathaniel and
see what this date was that he had planned was. I soon remembered
that he wasn’t aware that I had told mum that he might be a vampire.
“Nate, I have to tell you something,” I said, still trying to gauge his
reaction.
“What is that?” he asked, sounding completely happy, but I had a
feeling that was going to change once I sprung my news on him.
“Mum knows that you might be a vampire, as I told her when I fig-
ured it out so you might have to tell her,” I whispered so no one could
hear us.
“Oh,” he responded.
I didn’t like the sound of that, but it was actually a better response
than I had anticipated from Nathaniel. He didn’t have the best track
record when it came to his moods and I didn’t want him snapping.
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Mr. Franklin decided to let the class go early, which pleased me.
When I got outside, I stopped walking when I spotted Augusta leaning
against Nathaniel’s Ford Falcon, waiting for him. He followed my eyes
and growled under his breath, but I still was able to hear it. Augusta
looked over at us and smirked.
“She just can’t get the hint.”
“Will she ever give up?” I asked.
“I have an idea that might work,” Nathaniel said.
I looked at him confused until he glued his mouth against mine, mak-
ing me follow his lead. Augusta screamed in frustration, and walked the
other way, her high heels clicking along the ground. I pulled away and
took a deep breath that I needed.
“Well, that worked,” I breathed.
“That it did and I felt like doing that anyway,” he replied.
“Let’s go back home before mum starts to worry,” I said and walked
over to his car.
When we got back, mum was pacing on the front porch when Na-
thaniel pulled into the driveway. She walked down to the car and
tapped on the window.
“You could have called and said that you were going to be late,” she
said as I got out of the car.
“We didn’t know mum,” I said and bit my tongue so I wouldn’t snap.
She had never been worried before.
“I’m sorry Marie, we lost track of time and that was my fault,” Na-
thaniel said, using his forgive me smile that he hasn’t tried out on me
just yet.
“Well, I guess everyone makes a mistake every now and then,” she
said and walked back inside.
“Thanks a lot Nate,” I whispered.
“Something wrong, Brianna?” he asked.
“Every time we come back late or something happens; you are going
to use that smile of yours aren’t you?” I asked
“I didn’t think that it would bother you. At least you don’t have to
answer to your mother when I do that. You should be happy that I am
saving you a job.”
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I huffed and crossed my arms in frustration. I hated it when he was
right, but it would be nice to see the concerned mother for once, not
Nathaniel beating me to explain what had happened by using that smile
of his that would let him free of murder.
“Come on,” Nathaniel said. “Let’s go inside.”
“What are you both doing for dinner tonight?” mum asked from the
kitchen when we opened the front door.
I walked into the kitchen and saw that mum was looking in the
fridge. Nathaniel came up from behind me, and placed a hand on my
shoulder.
“Um, I plan on taking your daughter out for dinner tonight. Nothing
too fancy of course as Brianna would have my head if I tried,” Nathaniel
said, sounding nervous for the first time since I’ve known him.
“Sounds nice,” mum said and shut the door. “What time do you plan
on going?”
“At six,” he replied.
While they were talking, I slipped back into thinking about what plan
Augusta had. She had never bothered me until now, and that’s what
scared me. What if she did invite my father into town to make my life a
living hell? Would I be able to cope with that? Would mum be able to
cope with that if it were to happen?
“Brianna?” I heard mum ask, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Are
you okay?”
“Sorry, I just slipped into my own world there for a second,” I re-
plied, feeling a bit spooked.
Neither of them looked convinced, but didn’t ask any questions, for
which I was happy about. Quietly, I slipped away and walked into the
lounge room. A car that I had never seen before was parked out the
front of my house caught my attention. I walked over to the window to
try and get a better look and stepped back when I figured out that the
man in the car was looking straight into my house and straight at me. It
was like he didn’t care that he had just been caught. He then placed the
car in drive and left, the dust in the air the only reminder that he was
there.
That was creepy; really, really, really creepy.
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Nathaniel walked into the room and I had to play it cool. I didn’t
want him knowing that some man was just out the front of my house
and was looking in and didn’t stop when he saw me standing there.
“You look a bit pale,” Nathaniel said and placed a hand on my fore-
head.
“I’m fine,” I replied, brushing off what I just saw. I didn’t need Na-
thaniel knowing and going into overprotective mode.
“So, we are set for tonight. Marie gave me the name and address of
a pub that she thinks you would like,” he said and sat down on the
couch.
“Great. So mum isn’t fussed that you are a vampire dating her very
mortal daughter with blood running through her veins that would be
tempting you every single second we are together?” I asked.
“She said Jack explained everything to her on break before so she
feels that she doesn’t really need to worry, but I told her to be wary an-
yway. You never know when something might happen by mistake. Not
being concerned for being around a vampire is the one mistake that you
could ever make that could cost you your life in the end.”
“I’m sorry that I said something to her,” I said.
“It’s fine. I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not mad at you for say-
ing something, but at least I don’t have to act human around your
mother and neither does my family for a change without the constant
worry of slipping up and exposing our true colours. That is hard enough
as it is and the fact that we can be ourselves around two humans is a
welcome change.”
“Just so you know, I am not really a fan of meat,” I said and sat next
to him.
“Why is that?”
“It makes me sick.”
“That just means I would have to take care of you but I won’t force
you into anything that you don’t want to do,” he said and pulled me to
his chest.
Mum walked into the room and looked at us with a longing look on
her face. I knew that deep on the inside that this would have to be hurt-
ing her, seeing her only daughter with a teenage boy that treats her like
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a princess. In Nathaniel’s eyes, I would be a queen to him and he would
be the type to worship the ground that I walk on.
“Are you alright mum?” I asked.
“I’m fine. Just seeing the two of you like that brings back memories
of your father and me,” mum said and sighed.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what was Brianna’s father like?” Na-
thaniel asked, completely shocking me.
I looked between mum and Nathaniel, not sure on how she was
even going to answer the question. I was dreading the response but
then at the same time, I was curious.
“He was completely different to you Nathaniel. He wasn’t really car-
ing or romantic and never really liked my parents. He was judgemental
and didn’t like it when other people were around us. When I fell preg-
nant with Brianna, I thought he would have changed, but he didn’t, so
that’s why we aren’t together,” mum said, looking at me.
I was glad that she had given him the short version on what hap-
pened. I didn’t really want to fight with Nathaniel if she told him every-
thing.
“I can find a picture of him,” mum said and left the room.
“You are like your mother,” Nathaniel said. “Good at heart.”
“That is good. I never really wanted to be like my father.”
Five minutes later, she walked back into the room with a photo al-
bum in her hand. When I saw the cover, I almost went green. They were
my baby photos that I didn’t want anyone to see ever again.
“Are you kidding me? Couldn’t have you found another photo album
without photos of me in them?” I cried.
“These are baby photos?” Nathaniel said, sounding excited.
“Nate,” I warned.
“Brianna, let the boy see them. Who knows, if you have kids, they
might look like this,” mum said, a strange look in her eye.
“I don’t see that happening in the near future,” Nathaniel said, mak-
ing both of us looks at him.
“What do you mean?” mum asked.
“We can have children, but it is rare for a male vampire to create an
offspring with a human as we aren’t meant to date.”
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“What would happen if a human female fell pregnant with a vam-
pire’s child?” I asked in a small voice.
“I don’t know the answer to that as I have never seen that.”
There was something about the look on Nathaniel’s face that I didn’t
like. I planned on asking Nathaniel more question when we were alone.
It seemed that he wasn’t telling me the whole story because mum was
around and I wanted to know everything that he was hiding from me.
When mum was halfway through the photos, I looked at the clock
and saw that it was almost time to go.
“That is Brianna’s father,” mum said and handed Nathaniel the pho-
to.
He looked between me and the photo before handing it back to
mum, muttering something about how I didn’t look my father. That was
an understatement. Everyone knew that I looked like my mother. I
didn’t know if it was genes or what it was that caused this, but all I knew
was that it caused a lot of heart ache.
“We should go,” I said and grabbed a jacket just in case it got cold
later tonight.
“If we are going to be late, I will let you know beforehand,” Na-
thaniel told mum.
“Have fun,” she said and went back into the kitchen.
When I got to his car, I saw the same car that was out the front of
my place down the end of the road, but he was still looking to where I
was. He looked like someone I had seen before, but I just couldn’t place
the face and it was driving me crazy.
“You know what you said about you can have children, is that true?”
I asked, putting my full attention onto Nathaniel.
“Yes, that is true. A human can carry a vampire’s baby, but they
don’t go full term as the foetus is a lot stronger than a normal human
baby. It’s usually about seven or eight months until the water breaks
and the baby is born, so it’s close enough to a full pregnancy for the
mother so she can still do what she wants and can still go out into public
and that way it doesn’t look suspicious to everyone else from the out-
side world for the rest of us vampires. They are called a Dhampir which
means they are a mix of vampire and human.”
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“Then why didn’t you just say that instead of lying?” I asked.
“Then Marie would be hounding us for grandchildren if she knew
that you could carry them for that long, like Bethany is hounding me.
She wants grandchildren, but doesn’t understand why no one is adopt-
ing and Brianna; you are fertile and give her time because she will be
asking for grandchildren.”
“My mum doesn’t want me to make the same mistake of having a
child so young Nathaniel, so I think there is much to worry about in the
department. She wants me to live my life instead of being weighed
down with the task of caring for a newborn baby.”
The first thing I noticed when we got into Colac was the cloud cover.
Was it meant to rain or something? There was nothing like a summer
night storm to cool things down to help you sleep. We pulled up out the
front of the place where we were going to eat and Nathaniel got out of
the car before making his way over to the passenger side and opening
the door for me like a gentleman.
I got out of the car and smiled at Nathaniel. He smiled back and led
me inside. He found a table and pulled out the chair for me to sit down
in. I did that and was pushed in before Nathaniel walked away and or-
dered our food.
“I hope you like chicken,” he said when he sat in front of me.
“Yes I do. It is only type of meat that I can handle,” I explained.
“The messy hair look makes you even more beautiful,” Nathaniel
whispered, sounding captivated while he was looking at me, adoringly.
Blushing, I looked over to the other tables and saw that man that
was outside before was in here and looking at me. He was stalking me.
Nathaniel noticed where I was looking and did the same.
“Are you okay?”
“That man was outside my house before,” I muttered.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Nathaniel asked, sounding angry
“Because I didn’t want to get you or mum worried for no reason,” I
said.
I thought back to my photos and tried to place the features. The
same nose, eyes, hair, skin...oh no way. This could not be happening to
me, not here and not now. Not around Nathaniel and not when I wasn’t
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prepared for the worst. The blood in my body went cold when I realised
who it was. My father was back in town and I had the feeling Augusta
was behind all of it. What other reason would he be back for? I wanted
to murder that bitch for the pain she was going to cause mum and my-
self.
This was going to make mum extremely livid when I told her who
was back. Nathaniel’s eyes widened for some reason, but he didn’t say
anything. I was getting a bad feeling about all of this. I didn’t need Na-
thaniel to figure this out before I had a chance to explain everything to
him.
“Let’s just forget about all of this and just enjoy our date before we
have to go back to school?” Nathaniel suggested.
“Sure,” I replied, open to that suggestion.
“When is your birthday?” Nathaniel asked after taking a sip of water.
“I was born on March fifteen.”
“Turning seventeen or eighteen?”
“Seventeen, but I don’t anything for my birthday. I don’t like cele-
brating them.”
“Then I will try my hardest not to find you something,” he said, but
there was a look in his eye that gave me a bad feeling.
“Do you have a favourite colour?” I asked.
“Blood red, as it reminds me of you. What about you, my angel?”
“I like forest green,” I replied and that was only because of his eyes
that haunted my dreams every single night since I have met him.
Nathaniel nodded and sighed. “I still need to explain about being a
vampire to you. Amylia said that you were curious about our powers
and everything else about being a vampire, but she didn’t explain as it
was up to me.”
“She said something about your past and that if you wanted me to
know, you would tell me but she recommended that you did tell me.”
His eyes became hard and the tendons in his fists were standing up
on edge as he clenched his fists. I slowly placed my hand on his arm and
watched his hands become flat back on the table. I didn’t know how bad
his past was, but what I said didn’t have great results.
“I’m sorry if I said something that you didn’t like,” I whispered.
138
“I can’t stay mad at you, but I think back to when I was human, it
makes me full of rage and anger at everything that I went through and
was forced to do over the nineteen years I was alive,” he whispered so
no one close by would be able to hear what he was saying.
“Nate, you can tell me about it,” I said.
“I will another day but I do want to show you something over the
weekend.”
The girl brung us our food and glared at me when she saw that I had
my hand on Nathaniel’s arm. That was something that I had to get used
to.
“Will there be anything else for you?” she asked Nathaniel and com-
pletely ignored me.
“Brianna, do you want anything?” Nathaniel asked.
“I’m fine,” I muttered, keeping my eyes on the food.
“My date and I will let you know if we need anything,” he replied
coolly.
She nodded and walked away, not saying another word. I took small
bites out of my meal as I wasn’t really hungry. I could feel everyone’s
eyes on me as I was with the most beautiful guy in the room. No doubt,
half of them would be planning my death so they could get my Nate.
“Tell me what is wrong,” Nathaniel said suddenly.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, looking up and trying to play
dumb. I must not have been very convincing.
“Anyone can tell that something is bothering you. I want to know
what is wrong with my girlfriend.”
“It’s just; everyone in this room would be thinking the same thing
over and over again. How can someone so plain and pasty skinned can
get such a beautiful guy who is way out of her league?” I asked, lifting
my hands in the air.
“If anyone is the lucky one, it is me. You could have completely cut
me out of your life once you found out my secret, but you didn’t and I
am grateful for that.”
“You know that I wouldn’t do something like that,” I stated.
“But you never know Brianna. I don’t think that I am worthy enough
for you and I will always think that. You should be with someone that
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has a heartbeat and is human and that won’t take your love for granted
like I will.”
“What if I don’t want someone like that? What if I wanted to date
someone different to an average human, like you? What if I wanted a
challenge?”
Nathaniel didn’t have a response for that. It seemed that I had
proved him right about something for once. Either that or, he was still
trying to figure out what I was giving him the time of day and didn’t
have an answer to his question.
I couldn’t help myself but to have just one more look at the man that
I bel