Chapter 5

Dinner was a noisy, fun-filled affair, with everyone trying to be heard over everyone else, there was laughter in abundance, the constant clanking of utensils against delicate chinaware, the ever frequent requests to pass the potato salad or the rice or whatever food out of close range and the hushed silence which ensued whenever a seemingly exciting story was being told.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, even Cort, who couldn’t partake in the feast, was one of the smiling faces sitting around the crowded table. Sunday was my favorite day of the week because of the time I was able to spend with my family, including our new addition, Jullian, who started to share in our Sunday meals a month ago after Neil had invited her over for the first time.

She was his only human friend and though they tried very hard to hide this fact from the rest of us, everyone was aware that they were ‘secretly’ dating, they made it way too obvious and it didn’t really help that my parents could read their minds.

It was also common knowledge that Neil had yet to tell Julian that we weren’t human, it had taken a lot to convince the Bently’s, for a while  they’d even thought we were crazy, threatening to disallow Tira from spending time with us, but after a few demonstrations they’d finally wrapped their minds around the idea of having non-human friends and now they hadn’t missed a Sunday dinner in two years so we were all confident that  after he told her, things would only get better, after all, Jullian was an open minded and caring young woman, she’d definitely understand.

            At promptly 7o’clock, everyone gathered on the terrace. Soft music drifted in through the open glass doors and couples were already swaying in each other’s arms.

“The pork was great honey” my mom kissed my cheek ,then went to sit with my father on the white lawn chair.

“Thanks” I said softly.

Mr. and Mrs. Bently were enveloped in each other’s arms swaying to the music, beside them were Gabe and Daniel trapped in a kiss so intimate, I had to turn away. Neil and Jullian and Cort and Analise stood close together at the railing drinking in the sight of the beautiful star-filled sky.

Despite the euphoria I was experiencing at the sight of my family’s own happiness, I still felt a pang of regret, not for the first time that night, I wished Pristine was here to share in the festivities, I knew she would have enjoyed it. I groaned, the pain in my wrist had escalated, so I turned and entered the dining room, I glanced at the now clean kitchen as I passed but when I reached the stair case I heard a soft familiar giggle followed by an equally familiar chuckle and stoped in my tracks allowing my gaze to travel up the lengthy stair way. At the very top sat Tira and Sultan, hands intertwined faces close together.

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat at the sight of my two best friends basking in the glory of each other’s presence; I felt a strange pain in the region of my heart and a nudge of disappointment which I quickly squelched. Sultan and Tira were a perfect match, I could never love her the way he did, I didn’t even know the first thing about love.

I don't kow why but I cleared my throat alerting them to my presence, at the sound, Tira tensed and dragged her hand from Sultan’s, they both looked down and spotted me just before I teleported to my room. After swallowing a pain pill and feeding Bobby, I grabbed my laptop off the night stand where it had lain untouched since Friday, and plopped down unto my unmade bed.

In my mind’s eye I saw the way Tira looked at Sultan, a look I couldn’t begin to understand, it was like the look my late grandfather used to get when he spoke of the lady he ‘loved’. I shivered at the thought. What I didn’t  understand  was my reaction to the sight of them on the stairs, this is what I’d been waiting for for three years, for my brother to finally man up and ask Tira to be his girl, yet I’d felt almost physically sick when I saw them holding hands, of course they’d held hands a million times, but this time it was different, almost intimate and I’d felt like an intruder, like it was a moment I had no right to have witnessed. I couldn’t wait for this pathetic attraction for the human to disappear, the sooner the better because it was driving me insane.

I dragged my left hand through my mussed hair and watched as the screen lit up. After waiting rather impatiently for the programs to load I went onto messenger, she wasn’t on, no surprise there. There were no new messages in my inbox so I began typing one.

xxxx

(Pristine's POV)

“You’ve got mail”, the electronic voice reverberated around the room. Pristine swiped at the tears and half ran to her pc, she smiled through the sheen of  tears when she saw Jasam’s message.

“ Pristine I need  to see you. In  person.  Soon. I doesn’t matter where you are, just give me the time and place and I’ll be there. Don’t cancel this time. PLEASE.  -Jace.

Prisine understood his urgency, she’d been dying to meet him ever since the first day they’d spoken and after the incident tonight she couldn’t wait to get out of the house, away from the life she had to endure daily, even just for a few hours. She thought back to the moment she opened the door for the vampire earlier that night.

She’d tried unsuccessfully to use her power of control over him, it had shocked her to the core when her ability had failed her, but then in the same instant she’d remembered something her tutor had said about vampires;

//FLASHBACK\\

“They did not originally call themselves vampires, but as centuries passed they unconsciously adapted the human reference to what they are. These blood drinkers are truly a gruesome lot, not to be trifled with” he paused, shaking his balding head, a faraway look entered his eyes,

“ Hollywood got  it  wrong, for vampires, as well…put together as they look, have no internal organs, blood doesn’t run through their veins, they are merely empty souls born for the sole purpose of satisfying their cravings for flesh”

“What do you mean cravings for flesh? I thought they only drank blood and you said they were born aren’t vampires created when humans are bitten? Curiosity burned in her dark brown eyes.

“ ahh yes child, you see, once again the human world is mistaken,  vampires do not only drink the blood of their prey, it many instances they feast upon their bodies, I’m still unsure why they do this, I’ve asked the few vampires who work for your father but they refuse to explain why, it really is quite strange”

 Pristine grimaced; it was bad enough that they drank blood, but to eat the flesh of their victims? Absolutely repugnant! “What about them being born instead of created?”

“You have to be born a vampire, conceived after the coming together of two ‘mythical’ beings, but in the case of vampires, the child is a deformity, born without organs, blood, infertile and set on drinking blood.

They grow just like any other creature, though I can’t imagine how and they live for quite a long time, they are immortal I think..They are so grotesque in their…practices  that many creatures live in fear of their child being born a vampire, unfortunately it is very common, which would explain the many vampires in existence today.”

//END OF FLASHBACK\\

            Which would also explain why she couldn’t control the one from earlier, she controlled the flow blood  in a person or animal in order to control their bodies and since vampires didn’t have blood, she had been fighting a losing battle. If her father hadn’t arrived home unusually early she’d be dead for sure.

She shivered at the thought and typed up a message. She would meet  with Jasam two weeks from today, her father would be out of town for a day. This time she was positive he’d leave even more protectors, but since they’d be under her command that day, as they usually were, she’d send them away, give them the day off or something, that way she could spend a few well deserved hours with Jasam and there was no way in hell she’d cancel, if she had to defy her father, then so be it, she was finally going to  meet Jasam and she couldn’t wait.

xxxx

“ Jamaica, mandeville/manchester 14 ward avenue .Thusday, June 21, 2010.

Sure you can make It?                   -Pristine

(Jasam’s POV)

I typed a solitary word, “ yes”, turned off the laptop and went to bed , with Pristine on my mind and determination in my heart.

        At 7:00 a.m I awoke to the ringing of my alarm clock. I slammed down the  button and the noise stopped abruptly. I yawned then sat up in bed running my hand through my hair. Usually I’d drop back into bed and sleep until 10minutes before the bell was due to ring, but today I was in a good mood.

Ever since the rather short emailing session with Pristine last night, I felt as if I was floating on a cloud of intense happiness, I had a great feeling everything was going to work out , she wouldn’t  cancel this time, I just knew it. The wait would soon be over and that  would make my days more bearable. I could hear Sultan shuffling around in his room, ever willing to rise early so he could get to school around the same time as Tira.

I hopped out of bed and grabbed the bottle of pellets from my book shelf as my door swung open and he entered, holding a shirt in each hand.

“Which one looks better?” he held them up, it was the same every morning, he had to look perfect for Tira.

“Why does it matter what you wear, she’s already your girlfriend you don’t need to dress up for her anymore, she’ll like you no matter what” I said through gritted teeth, almost half of my euphoria had vanished at the thought of them as a couple,

“About that” he switched his weight over to his left foot and cleared his throat “ she isn’t exactly my girlfriend….yet”

 I stared at him for about half a minute before I asked “ What do you mean she’s not your girlfriend, I didn’t imagine that little moment you two had on the stairs yesterday”

“ We were just holding hands”

“Just holding hands?’ I parroted “the heat between you two could boil an egg! Didn’t you see the way she was looking at you? It doesn’t get any more intimate than that…well unless-“

“Yea well I was about to ask her, but then you showed up and ruined the mood”. He grumbled and sank into the room’s only chair. So he was blaming me for his cowardice, there went my good mood. Sultan picked up on the change and looked up, hands held up as if he was trying to ward off an attacker.

“Not that I’m blaming you or anything, I’m just saying that was one reason I didn’t ask her”

“ And the other is? I enquired, eyebrows raised.

“I don’t want to ruin our friendship by asking her to be with me, I mean, what if she doesn’t feel the same way?”

It was common knowledge that boys didn’t talk about their feelings with each other, if you were sad or heartbroken you kept it to yourself. Sultan and I however, were different, other than the whole Pristine situation, we told each other everything, I knew his darkest secrets and his greatest fears and he knew mine, we were like an extension of each other, if he was hurting, then so was I.

In many cases it was as if we could read each other’s minds because we thought on the same wave length, but when it came to Tira, his thoughts seemed to be processing on another frequency all together, which was why I now felt the almost overwhelming  urge to smack him upside the head and knock some sense into his now senseless brain.

“Tira loves you Sultan, anyone with a functioning brain could see it in the way she looked at you last night, so get a grip and ask the girl to be with you”

“Yeah I …. I think I will” he said rising from the chair, but I could see he wasn’t so I added;

“ Do it before it’s too late” he looked up at me then, eyes tormented, then turned slowly and walked out of the room. Not a minute later he returned;

“ You didn’t tell me which one looks better” she grinned sheepishly.

Laughing, I pointed to the blue one and pushed him out of the room, it seemed I was going to have to take matters into my own hands to ensure Sultan and Tira’s happiness, they deserved to be happy, my heart be damned and I knew just how to make that happen.

                                                                                xxx

                                                               AUTHOR'S NOTES

SO FAR THE STORY HAS BEEN A BIT DULL BUT I WANTED TO ALLOW YOU GUYS TO GET AN INSIGHT INTO THE LIVES OF THE CHARACTERS. THE REAL ACTION BEGINS AFTER THIS AND WHILE IT WONT BE ALL FUN AND GAMES RIGHT THROUGH, THE PLOT WILL CERTAINLY GET MORE INTERESTING... TRUST ME :) AS ALWAYS LOVIES..THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT, COMMENT, VOTE AND ENJOY <3 -DoUbLe.A

-unedited