The Vanderwoods and Oliver were looking inside a small shop that sold very random things. The shelves sat covered in everything they could imagine, from regular beach items like a bucket and spade to crystals, puzzles, odd treasure boxes, fossils and many more.
Oliver picked up a massive shark tooth. He wondered how big the shark had been for that to fit in its mouth. The human glanced over to Vinny who looked at an unusual blue crystal. He seemed so intrigued, the human almost chuckled. He watched how his chocolate brown eyes gazed over the item before he put the shark tooth down and wandering over.
"That's beautiful," he spoke and looked closer at the crystal. The blue shined bright; he could see the cuts and the different layers, shimmering on the inside.
The vampire felt Oliver brush his fingers lightly over his, turning the crystal around.
"But not as beautiful as you," Vinny added, deliberately making his soulmate cringe.
Oliver shook his head and turned towards the shelf, knowing Vinny would make a fuss if he saw him blush. Controlling his flustered cheeks was getting very hard.
"You can't hide it from me." Vinny placed the crystal back with the others.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Oliver turned his back to him when the vampire pulled on his shoulder.
"Show me."
"Why do you like it so much?" he asked after giving in and turning around.
"Because it shows how innocent you are, and I like how I can make you feel that way," Vinny said truthfully. "And you look so cu-"
"No stop, don't say it," Oliver interrupted, knowing that his red cheeks would deepen.
"So cute," Vinny finished with a satisfied smile. Oliver groaned and walked away. Vinny watched, he couldn't understand why he would like someones flushed cheeks so much, but the vampire loved everything about the human, especially when he gets embarrassed at his compliments.
Oliver spotted Madison looking at some wind chimes, so he decided to go over and leave Vinny to entertain himself.
"Hello," he smiled when Madison turned.
"Oliver, what do you think of this?" she asked and held up a very elegant wind chime. It was wooden, with a silver sun in the middle. There were different patterns and beads embedded in the driftwood.
"I like it." he said, "It makes a nice sound." He remembered when he used to visit his grandma. She had a similar wind chime that hung above her front door. It reminded him of her.
"I think so too, although Duke might not like it," she said and looked around. "He doesn't have to know."
Oliver chuckled and watched her walk over to the counter. There was a very polite woman standing behind it. She looked honoured to have vampires in her shop.
"Darling, not another wind chime," Duke moaned, catching her trying to sneak it into a bag.
Oliver decided to leave them to it before walking down another aisle and stopping by some seashells. A lot of them were regular, and it would be easy to find the same ones scattered along the beach. He picked a big one up from the top shelf. It had an unusual colour to it and was big. He liked shells, but would much prefer to find them himself. So that way, they would have memories added to their purpose.
He put it back and turned to see what else this shop sold, but the vampire was standing right next to him. He didn't expect it and almost jumped out of his skin.
"My god Vinny," he breathed and rested a hand on his stressed heart, "don't do that!"
Vinny watched with amusement, trying to hold back a smirk.
"What?"
Oliver stared blankly.
"How do you do that?" he questioned with narrowed and curious eyes.
"I just do," Vinny shrugged before glancing at the same shelf as his soulmate. Oliver liked his mysterious nature. Vinny could always sneak up on anyone, and he was very good at hiding in the shadows. The human would say it was a gift of his.
"Boys, shall we go and get some lunch?" they heard Duke shout, making them turn. Vinny nodded and pulled Oliver with him. He saw that Madison was carrying something in a bag and wondered if she had won the wind chime argument.
"We will get you a warm drink," she smiled while Oliver held the door open for her.
"That sounds great." He sniffed back the cold and stepped out and onto the snow. Vinny waited for him before they headed in the direction of a little cafe. The streets were silent as they figured everyone would want to stay in and avoid the freezing temperatures.
Oliver kicked the snow while he walked. He could feel the cobbles under his feet. The village did look quite old, and it had a lot of character, and the shops were tiny and sweet.
It was peaceful, which is why when he looked up, he didn't expect to see what he could only describe as a black mist appearing right front of him. It crashed into him at a phenomenal speed. The human gasped, he had no time to react after getting thrown backwards. He travelled almost six meters until he hit the ground, hard.
The surprise stalled their actions. Not even Duke saw it coming. His son turned, just as Oliver hit the floor. It all happened so fast.
Vinny's mind quickly registered that his soulmate was getting attacked, and he started running towards him, but something jumped on him and knocked him to the ground. Oliver groaned when he tried getting his breath back. He was heavily winded and his chest, back, and neck ached.
Madison and Duke turned in shock. When their eyes had adjusted to what was going on, Duke ran to Vinny while Madison ran to Oliver.
"Get off him!" Duke yelled as he attacked the person who was pinning his son to the snow.
As Madison ran to the human, someone coiled their arms around her, knocking her to the ground too. She cried out in shock but was entirely out of her depth. Oliver's mind was confused and spinning, but he saw that she needed his help and he did his best to stand up. When trying to run towards her it was clumsy, and he couldn't stay in a straight line, but he didn't slow down and charged into the attacker. They crashed into the snow and Madison desperately shuffled away.
Oliver kicked the person in the face and knocked them out immediately. He was shocked by his actions, but he felt incredibly protective.
"Are you okay?" he breathed and tried to stand still while the world spun around him. "Are you hurt?"
"Oliver watch out!" she screamed but he was too slow and got knocked down by something he could barely see, it was moving so fast. What was happening? Where are all the bodyguards?
"Get off me!" Oliver tackled against the woman, holding her down. He caught a glimpse of fangs, and his eyes widened.
Duke and Vinny both had to work together to get this guy off of him. Vinny punched him in the face as Duke pinned him to the ground. It was clear this person was a vampire, but they had no time to think about why it was happening until they were all safe.
"I got this, go help, Oliver!" Duke shouted, also taking a turn to punch him in the face.
Vinny looked up to see his soulmate squished to the ground. His mum tried to push the person from Oliver, but they shoved her over too. The young vampire's blood boiled as he wasted no time and ran to their aid. He was outraged and maybe a little out of control.
He jumped on the persons back and dug his fangs into her neck. Oliver watched as the woman screeched in pain and released him. He didn't care that Vinny was biting someone as he scrambled to his feet and helped. He kicked the vampire in the face, knowing from the last guy that it was pretty useful. Vinny let her fall to the ground while they continued to work together. Vinny followed his soulmates idea and also kicked her in the face. He knocked the woman out instantly; the teen vampire was strong and powerful.
Vinny wiped his mouth, and thankfully he was a clean biter, so no blood was on him. His fangs were still showing as they ran over to Madison.
"Mum, are you okay?" Vinny put his arm around her. He would comfort Oliver, but he knew he was stubborn and would convince him he is okay. They both preferred to calm Madison anyway; she looked very shaken up.
"Yes, yes. I think so," Madison breathed as they pulled her up, just as Duke and Jed ran over.
"Where the hell have you been?" Vinny roared to his bodyguard.
Jed had come to Duke's aid when Vinny ran to Oliver.
"I was attacked, just like you, and there was a lot of them," he breathed, looking somewhat apologetic.
"We need to get back to the car, now!" Duke ordered, just as more bodyguards appeared and put handcuffs on the unconscious vampires. "Jed, they're vampires, they will escape if they wake."
The people who attacked them were messy, and even Oliver managed to knock one out. So he had a theory that they might be newly turned, but by who?
"Don't worry; those handcuffs are made to hold even Vampires." Jed had no time to explain how and pulled out his radio. Only seconds passed until a car screeched in front of them. "Get in." Jed swapped places with the driver while Madison climbed in first. Duke followed after his son and the human.
The car sped off before they had time to put their seat-belts on.
"Buckle up," Jed said and watched Vinny and Oliver after adjusting the mirror, making sure nobody needed medical attention. Vinny helped his soulmate with his seat-belt before attending to his own.
"Are you hurt?" he then asked as he inspected the humans face.
"I'm fine, are you?" Oliver's chest was hurting a lot, but he wasn't someone to complain unless he was on his deathbed.
"I'm fine too."
They both then looked at Madison and Duke.
"Boys, are you alright?" Duke asked while rubbing his wife's back.
"Yes, mum are you hurt?" Vinny sat forwards and reached for her hands.
"No Vinny, don't worry, I'm okay." Madison's smile was not warm; she looked weary as she squeezed his hands. Vinny watched her a little longer before squeezing them back. He didn't care that he was showing his soft side, the vampire knew his mum would feel better if he did. And he really cared about her feelings.
Oliver ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't believe how things changed so suddenly. One minute they were happy and okay, then they were panicked and full of fear. Why were vampires attacking other vampires?
"Vinny?" he asked, making him turn and rest a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes. How did those vampires move so fast? I didn't even see them coming."
Vinny took his hand from his shoulder and said, "All vampires can do that. It takes a lot of concentration, but that's how I can sneak up on you so easily."
Oliver didn't know that they required such a thing, but he nodded, showing he understood.
Vinny sat back with a troubled sigh.
"I'm sorry you saw me bite someone." He should not have gotten so angry, but when it came to his family, he would do anything to protect them.
"Don't be ridiculous," Oliver said. "I kicked two guys in the face for you and your family."
The vampire smiled the best he could. Oliver was just as protective as him when it came to his parents, and he was very grateful for that. He was also surprised by his bravery.
"You're quite the little fighter," Duke spoke, surprised by Oliver's efforts at defending himself from vampires, but he couldn't be more thankful that he went out of his way to help Madison.
"I am when I'm angry."
They knew Oliver wasn't the type to get angry very often, unlike their son.
"Oliver I'm so thankful that you took the courage to help me." Madison wasn't one for violence and does panic quite quickly when she's in situations like those. She is so used to Duke and Vinny being her protectors; she wouldn't mind learning how to defend herself. Madison can't rely on her family all the time. She would love to help protect them, just as much as they help to protect her.
"You don't need to thank me." Oliver shook his head and tried to take a steady breath. "You've been nice enough to accept me into your lives, the least I can do is offer my help when you are in trouble."
Warmth flooded Vinny's body from his soulmates heart of gold. He watched how Oliver's eyes sparkled. He knew it meant a lot for him to understand that the Vanderwoods accepted him.
Duke and Madison then turned their attention to Jed, discussing what actions should fall into place about the situation.
Vinny leant forwards and brushed his nose against Oliver's cheek, before kissing it for a long second. He was still stunned that everything happened so suddenly. They had all those bodyguards and yet, they found themselves in an unsafe situation.
But who were those Vampires and where did they come from, why were they attacking everyone and why had they been so clumsy? It was like they had no idea who their target was or what they were doing, which raised suspicions about whether they had been ordered to target the Vanderwoods, but by who?