I've Got a Nice Big Vampire Problem

It was nearing sunrise, and I was sitting on my bed, facing the eight tall windows in my room, watching the slight glow of the sun start to turn the sky orange. I couldn't sleep. I've had this sickening feeling in my chest the moment I stepped into this bedroom. I couldn't go downstairs for fear of Falvor seeing me look miserable.

Conan would have been sitting in my room at Cornet about twenty four hours ago. Had he known that I wasn't going to come back from Lena's? Had he actually been running around, planning his escape as well? How would he find me?

He had told Falvor where to go, that's it. He had to have, how else would he find me? Though he had told me I'd have to go very far for him to not be able to smell me, I knew he wouldn't be able to smell me from here. I had taken a plane for God's sake.

I sighed and the sun breached the mountains in the distance. The sky was orange, the clouds contrasting pink. It was gorgeous.

My stomach rumbled for the hundredth time and I frowned. I needed food, which would mean going downstairs. Wiggling my nose, I slid off the bed and made my way down the hallway. I took my time, admiring the fantastic house. The hallways were wide and lead smoothly to a curving stairway, which if you paused halfway, you could look right out the glass wall to see the lake. Currently, the water was reflecting orange and pink, the waves making it look like an optical illusion.

"Good morning Abigail."

I looked over the edge of the stairs to see Falvor looking up at me, a happy glitter in his eyes. Yesterday he had been the happiest I had ever seen him. He had smiled at me four times. I think it was the escape that brought life into him.

I smiled at him. Even though I was miserable, his happiness radiated throughout the house. I'd have to be clinically depressed to have it not affect me. "Morning Falvor. Did you have a good night?" I asked.

He nodded. "I did, how was your night?"

"Great," I lied. I walked down the rest of the stairs, asking, "Do we have any food?"

I peeked around the corner to see Falvor smirking. "Of course. What would you like?"

He led me into the kitchen and I smiled as he moved into the kitchen, leaning on the island.

"Umm, do we have any cereal?"

He moved over to a cabinet and opened it. The whole thing was full of cereal brands. Every single cereal there was in the supermarket.

Falvor looked back at me, seeming unsure. "Is this cereal? Because when I went into the big store, this was under the isle named cereal."

I laughed out of disbelief. "Yeah, Falvor, that is cereal."

"Is this enough?" He asked, looking at me, seeming almost worried now, probably because of my shocked response.

I smiled at him, shaking my head. "Falvor, this is the most cereal I've ever seen outside a grocery store. I would ask you how much you spent on all this if it weren't rude."

He nodded, his shoulders straightening as if he were proud of himself. “What kind would you like?”

I shook my head, stunned. “Umm, I guess Mini Wheats.” I smiled, unsure of what to say.

As he sped around the kitchen, getting the cereal ready, I sat down on the stool, facing the island. “Falvor, is cereal all you have?” I asked. Immediately I felt horrified, knowing I could have very well sounded ungrateful. I quickly tried to make up for it, my words sounding rushed and awkward. “I mean, I’m completely okay with that. I absolutely love cereal. I’ll eat it all day. I mean, we’ll need a lot of milk, but…”

Falvor placed the cereal, milk and glass of orange juice (which had appeared out of nowhere) in front of me. “I didn’t really know what humans like to eat, so I bought pretty much everything – even meat, because I heard you sometimes enjoy that.”

I nodded, the horrified blush still gracing my cheeks. I thought about trying to talk again, but my tongue felt fat and I couldn't think of anything that would make me sounds a little bit less evil, so I just picked up the spoon and ate. Falvor stood in the corner of the kitchen, with his muscular arms holding onto the counter top. He wasn't putting any strain in his grasp, or else half of the counter top would have been gone already.

He stood there and watched me while I ate, which I was comfortable with. I would have done the same thing to him, had he been doing something (such as eating something I didn't know the taste of) that I hadn't in centuries.

When I was almost done my bowl, Falvor decided he would begin a long string of questions.

"Did you go to the human school for people your age?"

I nodded. "Yes, it's called high school."

"We're you graded?"

"Yes, with percent. We got from zero to one hundred percent average. One hundred percent was impossible to achieve, because it's so high."

"What were you graded on?"

"Our schoolwork. Like essays and assignments and tests they gave us. Subjects like math and history and English."

Falvor inclined his head a fraction. "So the percent you got in those courses – five at one time I think you said – was averaged into your total mark?"

I shrugged. "Not necessarily a total. How you figure out our average is you add the final mark from each course together, then divide that number by five, because that's the number of courses you took. It comes out to a certain number that is your average."

Falvor nodded, and then looked at my empty bowl. "Are you done?"

I nodded. He disappeared for a moment then reappeared in front of me, on the other side of the island. My bowl was gone. He nudged the glass of orange juice towards me. "Drink this, it's good for you."

I smiled, picking up the glass, but not taking a sip. "How did you know that?"

Falvor's eyes glittered and he smiled. "I may be a little naive when it comes to modern human food, but the old stuff, I know. Orange juice has been along longer than I have, and its healthy properties known for almost as long." I laughed. "Besides," he said, "it tastes good."
________________________________________

Conan wrestled his way through the arms that had slackened grip on his limbs. The moment he was free he stood - his chest filled out, and then he let out an instinctual roar. His eyes landed on Salvador, who was staring at the scene, his jaw clenched and eyes tightened. The other vampires, seeing Conan's target, surrounded him with a semi circle and crouched.

Conan did not study the situation, or evaluate how he was going to take out Salvador's guards. He only had one objective, and that was to destroy Salvador – to end his life. He planned on killing Abigail, and for that he would die.

He crouched, bared his teeth, and with a guttural snarl, took a step forward.

Something touched his arm. His immediate reaction was to fling his arm towards whoever dared distract him from his mission, but his gut told him to stop. In the corner of his eye, Conan saw Gavin stepped up to his side, and on the other side, Mackenzie.

One of Salvador's guards opened his mouth and roared, but not offensively. Conan frowned at him, and then straightened. He was calling for help. A small hand laid itself on his shoulder and a smooth voice entered his ear. It was Mackenzie.

"Conan, we have to go, or you may never see Abby again."

A deep growl echoed in Salvador's chest. "Where is she?"

Conan's rage was almost replaced by shock. Salvador didn't know where she was? Lena had told him she was down there with Salvador. But now, come to think of it, he couldn't smell her. Her scent was only faint in this room, because she had been there a few hours previous. Lena had lied.

"I know Falvor took her, and I know you know where she is. Now there's no way you're getting out alive here, so you may as well tell us-"

About two milliseconds after Conan had heard Salvador didn't have Abigail he grabbed Gavin and Mackenzie and ran. They gained their own footing as soon as the three exited the white tunnel, and once that happened, Conan was able to run as fast and as hard as he could. He swerved and dodged the blurs standing still or coming towards him. Trying to stop him would have been pointless; they would have been trampled or died on impact.

The maze was passed in two seconds, and once out in the fresh air, Conan slowed to a stop and growled. He raised his head and inhaled deeply, his chest painfully constricting itself. He could barely smell her. She had been gone for too long.

With a glance behind him to make sure Mackenzie and Gavin were following, he took off through the forest. It didn't matter where she was, he would find her.