chapter 2: follow

I wasn't sure how long I spent following Kale around like a pathetic little puppy. The only time I wasn't clinging to him was when I was sleeping. I would everywhere with him. Partly because he told me to, partly because I was afraid to be in this place alone. I didn't really spend any time getting to know any of the other hooded people. I tried my best to stay away from Jared, who scared me the most (not that I really could tell who exactly he was anyways.)

I hadn't seen Dante since that first night, or day I was here. I figured there were at least 50 people in this place. It wasn't really a house, a house would be way too small. If it was a house me and Kale would always be around the others. But that wasn't the case. No one was ever around. Probably because we spent most of our time in the kitchen, which the people here never used.

I was so used to Kale being around now. And i'm pretty sure he had gotten used to me. We were both a lot more comfortable around eachother. But it felt like I had been in this place for well over a month because I was just about ready to lose my mind!

“Isn't there somwhere we can go? Like I don't know, outside or something??” I looked at him. I had gotten used to the hood over his face. I hardly even noticed it now. He shook his head.

“I don't think so, Jamie—”

“But Kale--” I interrupted.

“No. It wouldn't be safe--” He interrupted me now but then he was instantly interrupted by a voice that came from the dark hallway leading out of the kitchen.

“Why don't you two go out for a little while, it'll be fine.”

Kale turned to the figure standing there now. I looked as well. He pulled back his hood, revealing his face. Kale's mouth was turned down now.

“You should really stop doing that, Dante.” He muttered sounding annoyed that he kept pulling back his hood. Dante smiled.

“Just proving to Jamie that it's me. Now go, the both of you look like you need some fresh air.”

Kale must have been watching him. After a moment he nodded.

“OK. Come on, Jamie.” He tugged on my arm gently, I followed. We walked into the TV room where he went over to a small desk where he pulled out a headband which he then proceeded to cover my eyes with.

“Can you see?” He asked.

“No.” I muttered, kind of annoyed that he had to do this. He should have trusted me by now! I wasn't going anywhere, I had no idea where we were and still had yet to figure out why I had been kidnapped in the first place.

“Good.” He began to walk, pulling me along.

It took forever but I finally felt a light breeze after hearing a clicking sound. He led me over to a vehicle and helped me get in.

“Don't take it off yet.” He said as I reached for it.

He shut the door, then I heard him get in next to me. Then I heard what sounded like a garage door opening and the engine start. He pulled out and we took off. Another while went by before he spoke again.

“You can take it off now.”

So I did. We were in a truck, a big black one as far as I could tell. It looked like the sun had just gone down. I had no idea where we were. I wasn't even sure if we were still in my home state! I looked at him.

“Isn't that illegal?” I almost laughed. I had gotten used to his hood but I have never seen anyone drive with something covering half there face. Maybe I shouldn't have been laughing, this could be dangerous...?

“Only if I get caught.” He muttered facing the road.

“Can you see through that?” I asked curiously, maybe even a little concerned. He nodded.

“It's thin enough to see perfectly fine.” He assured.

“Well...O.K...” I murmured. I looked out the window watching the scenery go by. Well, I watched what I could see anyways. Eventually we pulled up to what looked like a deserted park.

“It's out first night out and you take me to a park?” I teased. He shrugged.

“Maybe on our next date i'll take you out to dinner.”

“A date? Oh, is that what this is?” I continued to tease. He laughed turning off the truck.

“Dante said fresh air. This is fresh air.” He got out, I followed, as always.

We climbed the hill up to the swing set. As we reached the top I understood what he meant by fresh air. It was nice to finally be outside again after so long. I took in a deep breath, soaking it all in and went over to the swing set where Kale was already sitting.

“This is nice.” I sighed, sitting down on the swing next to him.

I looked at him as he nodded. I secretly hoped that his hood would knock his hood back. It stayed put over his face. He turned to me, I realized I was staring so I looked away. My legs helped me move the swing back and fourth gently.

“Have you figured out what i'm doing here?” I asked almost out of nowhere. He didn't answer right away. Not until I looked at him again. He sighed now.

“I've been trying. Dante is very good at keeping secrets.”

“What was the “preparation” thing he talked about that first day?” I never thought to ask that, probably because I figured he wouldn't tell me at the risk of Dante or someone showing up.

“That had nothing to do with you.” He muttered. “We have sort of a, gathering every year. He was referring to that.” He continued.

“Oh...” I looked down at the sand beneath us. “Well, what about your hoods? Why do you guys wear them?” I looked back at him. He seemed to be waiting before answering.

“We're like...a secret society.” He seemed to be choosing his words carefully all of a sudden. “When we go out in public we wear them. We always wear them around--” He stopped as if not wanting to finish.

“Around humans?” I asked . He didn't say anything. “You guys are vampires, aren't you?” My heart began to drum as the question came out of my mouth.

He turned to me now. His mouth was open, his face probably shock. But since I couldn't see his face, I just guessed by reading his mouth.

“How did you...?” He stumbled over his words and changed his sentence. “When did you...?” His voice trailed off completely. I shrugged.

“I just kind of assumed, I mean the way Dante looks and all. You guys are really strong and fast, your skin is so cold.” I reached over touching his hard hand. “I've known for awhile now.” I pulled away.

“And you're not afraid?” He sounded amazed.

“Of you and Dante, no. Especially not you. But of the others, just a little.” I said softly.

He must have been looking at me for awhile before he finally continued what he was talking about.

“That's why everyone was so shocked when Dante showed you his face. We just don't do that.” He looked like he something just came to his mind. “Why were you surprised?”

I looked out into the darkness. This darkness was different then the darkness in that place they kept me in. This was a beautiful darkness, tinted just slightly silver by the near full moon beyond the tops of the swaying trees.

“I saw him in a grocery store not even 45 minutes before you guys came after me...”

“Oh...” He murmured.

A moment passed and then I was suddenly looking at him.

“Does that mean...” I hesitated before continuing. “...that i'll never get to see your face?” I asked quietly. I never took my eyes off of him. I noticed that he had a hold of the chain of my swing, making me extremely close to him. He shook his head.

“I don't know, Jamie.” He seemed to whisper. I felt my eyes shift back and fourth as I stared at the cloth that should have been where his eyes were.

“I want to see you, Kale.” I whispered back. “I want to see my eyes reflecting out of yours.” I lifted my hands to his face and slid them up the hood, having no intention of pulling it down. I wanted him to do that on his own, if he wanted to. I think he knew this.

I just wanted to at least touch his face. My hand slid past the rough part of his jaw, and slid up the side of his face which was smooth. I got to the corner of his eyes, which I knew he had just closed. My hands went over his eyebrows, through his hair which was soft but I couldn't quit tell how long or short it was. My hands slid back down slowly. I pulled one out, leaving the other one on the side of his face. My other hand was now rested against his hand that gripped the chain tightly.

“Jamie...” He breathed. He was trembling.

“What are you afraid of?” I asked moving my lips closer to his. I felt his jaw tense beneath my hand.

“Hurting you...” He barely was able to say. I felt his warm breath on my lips.

“You won't” I whispered back, leaning in just the slightest bit.

Our lips met. I lost all control I might have had and I think he did too. Our lips moved together, as if they knew eachother all their lives. They were just waiting for this moment, when they could be binded together.

His free arm moved around my waist, pulling me closer as his other hand pulled the swing closer with me as well. I wasn't sure how long I wanted this, I just knew it was worth the wait. Our lips fused together, our bodies were getting there. We tasted every inch of what our lips could touch.

I heard him let out a moan, then a moment later he was snarling. Very suddenly, as I felt his entire body tense he growled and let both me and the swing go. I fell back into the swing as it glided away from him. A low growl was coming from the back of his throat. His jaw was tense. I stood.

“Sorry...Kale, I'm sorry.” I said feeling a rush of panic. I didn't mean for that to happen! He had become my best friend, this could have just thrown all of that out the window. He stopped growling abruptly, turning away.

“Sorry.” He muttered. I took a step forward. He stood quickly. I took a step back. “Uhh...We should probably go back.”

I could only get myself to nod in response.

We got back to the truck. He put the blindfold on me, his hands were still trembling slightly. I heard him start the engine. I wanted to take his hand in mine but figured I was making him tremble and it would only make things worse. We got back, he led me inside and took the blindfold off of me.

“You should go get some rest. There's somewhere I have to be.” He said as we walked int the kitchen. I was nodding again.

“Oh. Okay.” I spun around, heading to my room.

My head was swimming. I didn't think I was going to be able to sleep. But as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was gone. I ironically dreamt about Kale. I saw his face and it was that cold face, that mean cruel one that was in the car. I was terrified at first but deep down I knew that if that truly was him, I wouldn't care.

I woke up to the sound of a distant knocking. I woke up but my eyes didn't open. I heard my door open. My eyes finally did flutter open. I knew it was Kale. He always woke me up in the mornings. He would knock once, wait a moment or two for my response; “Come in.” I would mumble tiredly. Sometimes when I wouldn't respond he would still come in and sit on the side of the bed I wasn't sleeping on until I woke up.

The first time he did that I screamed, not expecting to see a hooded figure sitting next to me when I woke up. He had jumped, startled at my reaction.

“Jamie! It's me, Kale!” He explained in a way that sounded like he felt bad for scaring me. After that when I would open my eyes, looking over at him, I didn't scream and he would smile at me as if relived.

Today, or maybe tonight, this morning possibly...? he sat down like usual. I sat up. He smiled just a little bit as I looked at him. The awkward silence floated through the air.

“Listen, about last night--” He started.

“I know. I'm so sorry!” I interrupted.

“Jamie--” He began again, frowning this time.

“KALE!” There was a loud, alarmed voice that came from outside my door, down the hall. Kale stood. We both looked as the door flew open. “Kale! They're here!” He said panicked. “They're looking for Zero!”

Kale let out a growl. “Where is everyone?!”

“Most of them are gone, others are still around the house.” Again, house does not cover what we were living in.

“Dante?” Kale asked. He just seemed to stare at Kale. “Jared! Where is Dante?!”

“I don't know!” He bellowed out. Kale growled again. “For some reason they think we have Zero, or know where he is and we're just not telling them.”

Kale sneered. “Get Jamie out of here. I'll distract them!”

“But Kale! It's Jared, you know I don't trust him!” I jumped out of the bed. He spun around.

“Then trust me, Jamie. You know I wouldn't leave you with him if I thought he would hurt you. Now both of you go!”

I reached for him but he pushed me into Jared's arms and took off into the darkness.

“Protect her!” He shouted from somewhere down the hall. His distinct voice echoed down the hall and through my ears. Jared snarled before lifting me off my feet and taking off. We were out in the garage in seconds.

“Jared, let's go!” Someone shouted. The garage was huge, full of probably 20 different good sized cars and trucks. We got into the nearest one, speeding off. Other cars followed behind us. As we drove we heard screeching tires. I looked back, seeing a few cars go off the road. Whoever was driving sped up.

“Faster!” Jared shouted.

“I'm trying!”

“They're catching up, go!” He continued to shout. “Go damn faster!”

“Shut up!” Me and the driver both snapped. He glanced over at me. His lips curled into a smile. It wasn't like a Kale smile though, sweet and warm, it was arrogant and cocky. He was facing forward again. Jared was quiet as he sat beside me. There were about three others in the back. And then I realized we were actually in my car. As I came to this realization the car lurched forward and then stopped. I could hear the wheels spinning in place, the smell of burning rubber smacked my nose and that's when I saw the smoke.

“Stop!” I cried. “It will blow up!” I didn't know if it actually would but it smelt like it was going to catch on fire. He finally pulled off the gas.

“Damn.” He muttered.

I had no idea why we didn't just run. These guys were really fast. And how come they couldn't just fight whoever was after us? Something landing on top of the car made my mind stop wandering instantly. They walked across the car and landed in front of us. I've seen this happen before, my heart sped up.

A man with long black hair, pale skin, dark eyes and fangs, wearing jeans and a simple t-shirt smiled devilishly at us. All the men in the car growled at him. Very suddenly there was another man and another and soon way more then us.

We were surrounded and they literally captured us, throwing us into a black van where the others they had caught were. Why weren't “my” vampires putting up a fight? Were they weaker then these vampires? They seemed anxious, nervous, maybe even afraid of this different group of vampires.

“Oooo, a human!” One of them hissed as he pulled me out of the car.

“She can ride with us.” Another one said. Another one pulled me away from both of them.

“Keep her with her friends. We'll have to just wait and see what he wants to do with her.” He snapped throwing me in with the others.

I honestly think we drove for days but of course, I'm not sure what time it even was. I sat in the corner of the van, nowhere near the others. I pulled my knees to my chest, staring down at my feet. I was in a van full of vampires that I hardly knew but my thoughts were only on Kale.

“It's the girls fault.” I heard murmuring.

“Her scent is too strong, they were bound to find us eventually.” Someone else agreed. I bit my lip, trying to ignore them.

“They weren't even after her, they were after Zero.”

“What does that matter?! It's still her fault! Her scent--”

“Enough!”

I looked up, hopeful. Thinking maybe, just maybe...but then realized that was not his voice. My eyes made there way to Jared, who this whole time I hadn't noticed, was sitting near me. He was actually the closest one to me.

“Like it or not she is still Dante's guest. We are still loyal to Dante. Unfortunately we have to protect her, for him.” He snarled.

“For Kale...” Someone muttered. The others began to do the same. Then finally began to talk about other things. I was still looking at Jared. He turned to me. His lips were curled into a sneer. I looked away, resting my head on my knees. My ears caught the conversations.

“Zero and his clan probably killed all the others...”

“We're next.”

“Damn them. I though we made a deal with them!”

“They're out rivals, Zero is stronger then Dante, always has been. Being that strong, he can do whatever the hell he wants....”

There was murmuring. The same vampire spoke.

“You all know it's true!” He snapped. It was then that I realized that there was a possibility that Kale could be dead.

The van stopped after awhile longer of driving. I never once slept, so not only was I tired but I felt very weak from lack of sleep, food and water. The back door opened up to absolute darkness. (No surprise there.) I squinted, wanting my eyes to adjust. The dim light in the van didn't help.

“Where's the human?” Someone hissed from out in the darkness. All the vampires turned to me. “Ah! There she is.” He came out of the darkness, climbing into the van. The others glanced at eachother, or at least it appeared that they did. All of them sneered. Some of them moved in front of me. I believe it was Jared who pushed me against the back wall of the van, moving between me and the vampire. I couldn't see anything. But I heard growling and felt the van move as if there was a struggle.

“Stop!” The vampire grunted as one of them must have hit him. “Zero demands your release! You can go, just leave the girl!”

“You expect us to leave after what your clan has done?!” Someone snapped.

“The rest of your clan is safe. Zero sincerely apologizes for the misunderstanding.” He snapped back.

“Misunderstanding?! You call killing and capturing us a misunderstanding?!” Someone growled out.

“And Zero had nothing to do with this! He didn't even--”

“Just give up the girl!” A different voice then the first vampire shouted. Jared pushed me closer against the wall. “If you don't it will be your death!”

“You can't kill the rest of us!”

“We know your weakness, dumbass, of course we can!”

“Zero ordered you to let us go!”

I listened to the arguing, so much shouting. I couldn't stand it. Even if Kale and Dante were killed by this group of vampires, I just couldn't let any of the others die, even if I didn't know them very well or at all for that matter. I pushed my way from behind Jared. I heard a low growl from him, his grip tightened as I struggled to break away from him. When I finally did, I rushed over to the back of the van.

“You'll really let them go?!” I asked in a rushed tone. I came up to the two vampires who were snarling at the other vampires from the edge of the van. They looked at me, then at eachother. One had blonde hair, very blue eyes, both with pale skin, well built and tall. The one with blonde hair looked at me with almost wild eyes. The other one had short black hair and dark eyes.

“Yes.” The blonde sneered.

I looked at him carefully. It had been a long time since i've seen an actual face.

“Fine, then i'll go with you.” I agreed quietly.

I heard murmuring behind me.

“Why would she--”

“What's in it for--”

“Some human--”

“Is she doing it for us, or--”

There sentences began to run together. Then someone grabbed my arm tightly.

“I can't let you.” He said between clenched teeth. I looked up, not exactly sure who it was but assuming it was Jared.

“Why? I won't be a problem anymore.”

“I made a promise to Kale that I intend on keeping.”

I realized how loyal he was to those close to him. He was a mean bully but loyal.

“Kale's dead.” I said as coldly as I could, trying to be very blunt about it with no emotions. His hand went limp and he let go of my arm. Before I could give myself away I spun around. “There's no point in keeping promises to a dead vampire.” Dead vampire was kind of an ironic statement. I jumped down out of the van. We were in the middle of nowhere.

“Feel free to take the van.” The blonde one said to the others as the dark haired one led me across the dirt road to a car. He pushed me into the back. They got in, speeding off. I dug my face in my hands and cried silently. I cried because what I said about Kale just had to be true. He was dead and it was all my fault.

We drove on and by some miracle I fell asleep. I wasn't sure how I could. Probably because I was weak, exhausted and worn out from crying which was something I didn't normally do. I was awakened by a sharp pain in my arm. My eyes snapped open. My eyes met dark eyes, staring at me. He had a hold of my arm very tightly.

“Let's go.” He hissed, pulling me out of the car carelessly. I landed on the hard ground. I didn't help that he ripped me from the car and let go of my arm.

“Get up!” He snapped as if it was actually my fault.

“Come on, James. Zero wants her alive, remember? He specifically said not to hurt her.” The blonde came over, taking a hold of my arm and pulled me to my feet. James mumbled angrily behind us as we began to walk.

We were at the bottom of a hill, I couldn't see anything on top but we were headed up it. The hill was pretty steep. As we climbed we came to a large wooden door just laying there on the side of the hill. It was nearly invisible unless you walked right up to it or knew exactly where it was. James yanked it open and let it drop with little effort even though it looked really heavy.

The blonde vampire pushed me forward and we began to descend down stone steps, leading deep into the hill. The door slammed heavily behind us. It was now pitch black so I kept hesitating before continuing. The blonde let out an annoyed sigh. In seconds he was quickly leading us down the stone steps.

We finally got to the bottom, or at least I thought we did. We went forward for a few feet and then turned sharply to the right. There was another set of stone steps but this time I saw a dim whitish-yellow light at the bottom. We finally got to the bottom of those stairs and entered a room where a bunch of other vampires were just standing around.

We didn't stop. They stared at me as we moved through the room toward one of two forking tunnels. It was dark. Completely black. I probably should have been used to it but I really wasn't. We walked past other openings on the sides of the tunnel. I could almost see them after my eyes adjusted.

We walked down the tunnel for a little over 10 minutes. We came to a large wooden door, like the one we first came to on the hill. The blonde opened it and I was actually blinded by light for once. I shut my eyes as he pulled me along. I finally opened them again when I felt him pull me in front of him, pushing me forward. I had to blink a few times.

It was a big room with stone walls. The floor was hardwood. I looked to my right seeing an opening leading to more darkness. My eyes scanned in front of me. There were three steps leading up to a little bit of a higher level then we were standing on. Three men, or vampires stood at the top. Behind them was an archway that also led into darkness.

Before I could get a good look at two of the vampires the one in the middle motioned with his hand for them to leave. They descended the stairs, passing us in a flash. James turned to leave too but the blonde didn't move.

“Zero...” He began to speak but Zero lifted his hand and motioned for him to leave again. The blonde stared at him before nodding and spinning around.

I heard the door shut loudly behind me. I looked over at Zero who was watching me carefully. He had dark hair which was messy like he had just gotten out of bed or something. It seemed to work for him. His eyes were a very bright blue, besides the difference in color, they reminded me of mine. He was clean cut when it came to any facial hair. His mouth was in a straight line. He seemed to be completely emotionless but something in his eyes told me otherwise.

Of course he was pale and well built, he didn't have to be sneering for me to know he had fangs. If I wasn't hating him right now, I would think he was very handsome. I started to tremble out of anger. My fists subconsciously clenched.

“You're Zero?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from shaking. He didn't do or say anything. “Where's Dante?” Still nothing. I got angrier. “What did you do to Kale?” His eyes widened slightly and he seemed to tense as if it surprised him that I knew them but he gained his control back instantly.

“You killed him didn't you?! Give him back! He's all I have left and you took him from me!” I was kind of contradicting myself but I was so upset that I wasn't paying much attention to what I was saying.

I didn't even notice he had moved until he was standing right in front of me. I blinked the angry tears away, only to have them fall anyways. He wiped it from my cheek with his rough fist. It was then that I could really see just how close to me he was.

I pushed him away. He took a step back but grabbed my arm and pulled me to him pressing his lips against mine. I slapped him before even slightly feeling the kiss. It hurt me rather then him. That was uncalled for! Why the hell would he do that to me?! He was just tormenting me because he knew there wasn't much I could do about it! But he pulled away, letting go of my arm.

As he opened his mouth to speak I felt the world spin beneath me and everything ironically turned to darkness. My body finally forced me to pass out from lack of food, water and good sleep over the course of four or five days.

*****

I woke up because my stomach told me to. It cried out. My mouth was dry too. I was in a large bed, a dim lamp was on the bedside table. On the other side of the room wasn't a door but a hole in the wall. I could see out into the big room that I had passed out in. It wasn't completely empty. Without warning the big door opened. I couldn't see it but I heard it.

I rolled over on my side, pulling the covers over me more and shut my eyes. I heard footsteps, they got closer and soon they were in the room with me. I instantly smelt food and heard the clinging of dishes as the food was placed on the table next to me.

I felt my hair move and heard a sigh. I didn't move, as creeped out as I was, I just listened. A moment past before his footsteps disappeared back into the big room. I heard the door open and shut again. I waited. It was silent and I was alone again.

I sat up. My stomach was going crazy! I pulled the tray over my lap. It was a big bowl of Mac and Cheese and a huge glass of water. I drank that greedily first. Then I went after the food. Afterward, it came to my attention that I was still exhausted. So I put the tray down, settling back into the bed and instantly fell back asleep.

Note: Okayy, so now you know she was kidnapped by vampires. shocker! (that was sarcasm.) honestly how could you not know they were going to be vampires. before you think to yourself that its lame that i pretty much instantly had her figure out what they are, the point of the story isn't really about figuring out what these guys are, but figuring out why they had actually kiddnapped her...which you're going to find out in the net chapter and then from there the story really gets fun. keep enjoying and still id love some feedback :)

The picture in this chapter is Dante