**
It was easy. So very easy to be with these humans.
Will sat shockingly close to my right arm. Julia and Spencer sat directly across from us. We sat at a kitchen table and chairs they pulled outside to the front lawn because the night was warm and the humidity had disappeared after the short rainstorm. Many other little parties could be heard down the street. Everyone was so happy.
And watching them be happy made me happy.
I wondered what it meant, that this was not hard for me, and not scary for any of them. Did Colin really lie about how humans reacted to vampires? That would be like him, to make up the perfect lie to keep a young vampire imprisoned in his ridiculous Castle. He said humans were instinctively scared when coming face to face with a vampire, like they would feel being close to any predator.
The story went, hundreds of years ago, man-like creatures hunted across the countryside, feeding on anyone who crossed their path. No one knew where they originated or how the species came to be, but they did exist. Ancient folklore and the world’s continuing interest in the concept could attest to that.
They did not hunt in packs, or live in families like we did now. The creatures were mostly animal then, relying more on instinct than anything else. Until one of their victims rose from the dead. This is what they now call vampire.
This new creature was clever, planned how to attack, became a leader among others like them. He—I assume it was male—figured out the secret to making others like himself, and the small population of the species grew. They caused mass hysteria wherever they were spotted, tore towns apart and were not careful about who saw them.
It wasn’t long before the humans went searching for the coven, successfully killing only the old creatures that had not yet evolved. The new creatures, the vampires, proved much harder to kill. They were too strong for humans to defeat, and even if a person were lucky, their weapons did no damage. The vampires healed and kept fighting.
Centuries passed and vampires evolved, but so did the humans. Four particularly powerful vampires understood the changing way of the world, and the wisest of them could see the humans were gaining power and would soon find a way to dispose of their species.
The Four led groups loyal to them to different parts of the known world and went into hiding. It was the only way to avoid being destroyed.
At least, that was what I was told.
But as I sat here, seeing no fear in anyone’s eyes, I had to wonder if the story was bull. It wasn’t like we had vampire history books that I knew of. It could all be made up to provide an explanation for our curiosity. It didn’t have to be true.
Yeah, that sounded like something the vampires I knew would do.
Maybe the entire story was another manipulative lie Colin cooked up to keep me in line.
Why did he hate me so much? The feeling was mutual, but still. He and Declan were close, like brothers. Maybe he hated me because I couldn’t love Declan. But it seemed to go deeper than that.
Hell, maybe it was my hatred for him. I didn’t exactly hide that I couldn’t stand the pompous jerk.
Whatever the reason, I was here now. Being among these humans felt pretty good. Mostly.
The two bites of cheeseburger from the afternoon hadn’t budged in the pit of my stomach. It still felt like two pinecones lodged in my guts.
I ignored the discomfort. That might be the best part about being a vampire. Mind over body.
Spencer, as he talked to Will, leaned over for no discernable reason and kissed Julia’s forehead. She took his hand, and squeezed.
Watching them was strange. They looked absolutely nothing like each other. In my limited existence, partners looked alike. I thought that had something to do with the siring process, and that humans, when turned, changed to look more like their sire.
Spencer was tall and strong and pale with flaming red hair. The complete opposite of Julia’s petite frame and her dark hair and skin. She was probably of a Middle Eastern descent, I thought, while he was probably Scottish.
This made their relationship fascinating.
They were together because they wanted to be, not because they were forced to be. They didn’t have to spend forever together if they didn’t want to. Knowing this made it all the more beautiful that they chose to stay together.
A glistening diamond that was a little too big for Julia’s fourth finger on her golden-brown, left hand bound them together. But a ring was not a mansion with locked doors and shaded windows. If she wanted, all Julia had to do was slip it off her thin finger.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Julia asked me, and I looked up from her finger to her face.
All three of the humans looked better than before. Julia had the most noticeable transformation since earlier that afternoon. The dark circles were gone from her eyes. Her hair was sleek and shining. The subtlety of the make-up on her face enhanced her natural beauty. When I first saw her, I thought she was rather plain. But she was a true beauty now that she was rested.
“Yes,” I replied, hardly remembering what she had said to me because I was lost in the exotic loveliness of her brown eyes.
“We haven’t set a date yet. No hurry, of course. But I always liked the idea of an autumn wedding. You know, in the park with leaves at our feet.”
“It sounds lovely,” I said to Julia as I tried to figure out what the look on Spencer’s face meant. I asked him, “How long have you been together?”
With this, his eyes lit and I understood the look he had. Spencer didn’t care at all about the wedding. But he cared for Julia.
“Four years,” he said with a big, goofy smile. “We’ve all known each other since freshman year.”
Thanks to Declan’s gifts of books, I knew what they were talking about. If it weren’t for those, I probably wouldn’t know what freshmen were. Or weddings.
“You’re like—” I began, but paused. “Family.”
If I were human, I’d be embarrassed for my lack of understanding. To me, they were family, like my vampire family. But humans had real families. Parents and siblings. I was aware of that, but couldn’t really understand it.
“Exactly,” Will took a swig of his drink and brushed his arm against mine.
It tingled.
“Dude!” a loud boy bellowed from the street and bounded toward us. He was athletic, and apparently liked to show off his muscles because he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
His skin was decorated with a drawing on the inside part of his forearm, and I stared at it as the humans talked. It was a tiger, but made of thick, black lines. It appeared to be crawling up the under part of his arm. The tail ended at the base of his hand, intermingled with the prominent blue veins on his wrist.
The decorated boy whooped and woohooed so loudly it echoed down the street. It was clear the three humans at my table were annoyed by him and wanted him to go away. It was funny how obviously this was written on their faces, and I wondered how the annoying boy couldn’t see it.
But I liked looking at the pictures on his skin. He had two more, an intricate, black knot encircling his considerable bicep and a circle encasing a colorful dragon on his back under the base of his neck.
He must have noticed me staring at his body and misunderstood my attention, because everyone was quiet as he looked me up and down.
“And who is this pretty little thing?” he asked with a grin I imagined he thought was appealing.
Will exhaled in a quiet huff and looked at me, “this is Lena.”
“Well hello, Lee-nah,” he exaggerated the syllables and made my name sound silly. “I’m Kyle.”
The smell of several different kinds of alcohol wafted off him and he drank from a bottle curled up in his hand casually, like he was very used to it being there. A different smell, a seductively musk scent came off his body in hot waves.
“Hey, maybe you wanna go somewhere and get to know me a l
ittle better,” he slurred. Was he still talking to me? Apparently, since he leaned in close to my face and breathed on me.
“Why don’t you go ahead and I’ll come find you,” I said, flashing the boy a look that made him flinch back and nearly trip over his feet.
He wasn’t sure how to take what I’d said. The look I’d given him was one I’d never used before, and I didn’t know what it must have looked like to him. But his drunken arrogance seemed to assure him I was being serious.
“All right then, rock on,” he woohooed again and slapped Spencer and Will’s shoulders before bouncing off to annoy some other people, or to find a private place to meet me. Either way, everyone seemed relieved he was gone.
“I can’t believe that worked,” Julia giggled and leaned close to me. “You, like, have magic powers or something.”
I felt the sides of my mouth lift a little, “happy to help.”
The conversation returned to whatever they had been talking about before the annoying boy interrupted. I again wasn’t listening to the words, but to the flow of their voices and the subtly of their movements.
I liked them all very much. Spencer was playful but with integrity, which reminded me of Lennox in a way. Though he was drinking alcohol, he was in no way loud and obnoxious like the other boy. Julia was encouraging and knew the boys better than they knew themselves. Will was careful not to invade my space. He was as honest as his face indicated, and his affection for his friends made him sort of glow.
They all had something many of the other humans I could see didn’t seem to have. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but suspected it had something to do with how well they knew, trusted, and cared about each other.
I wanted to stay with them, observing their interactions and getting to know what humans were really like, but I felt a pull on my body. It wasn’t something I’d ever felt before, but it was distinct.
I would have to pick my moment.
I would have to be sneaky.
But the feeling would be obeyed.