I've Got a Nice Big Vampire Problem

I awoke suddenly, aware there was someone watching me.

Conan was crouched in front of me, a foot away, staring at me with intense eyes. Again it seemed like he was trying to see through my skull to my innermost thoughts.

Tearing my eyes away from him I looked around. We were in another dumpy motel, this one without a television. I had been sleeping sitting up on the couch.

My eyes ended up on Conan after surveying the room. His wild iris' still glinted with anger, but he did not look dangerous as he had last night. In fact, he looked more frustrated than angry.

Conan stood, keeping his eyes on me. I studied him carefully, wondering if he would yell at me for last night.

He started to pace, his hands clenching together behind his back. His jaw slid side to side, his eyes staring at the floor as if looking for the right words to use with me. I was beginning to wish he would just get it over with. He was making me nervous.

Then he turned towards me, his feet planted firmly on the ground. His face showed his previous frustration.

"Abigail."

I blinked. His musical voice was soft and tender. When people yelled at each other they did not try to sound nice. He spoke again.

"You can't- I- no, it's not..."

He shoved a hand into his hair and blew out sharply.

"You can't possibly believe that last night was your fault."

I blinked again. "I screamed- I drew attention to us," I muttered, confused. "You were mad at me."

Conan's shaking head made me stop. "I was not mad at you. I was mad at myself for putting you in such a position."

I gripped the couch cushion. "But I screamed-"

"Of course you screamed," he said, taking a step towards me. "If you hadn't I would have been worried about your sanity. You saw a good three inches of your best friends' hair, did you not?"

I treated that as a rhetorical question.

He took another step towards me, standing in front of me, obviously wanting me to look up. I looked at my knees. I had a problem with looking up a people. It was okay if they were naturally taller than me when standing up, but sitting down and being forced to look- that's when my pride kicked in. It was like a very powerful pet peeve.

With one swift motion he was kneeling in front of me. I looked at him- his head only slightly higher than mine was as he kneeled- and immediately became surprised at how close he was.

It was no closer than any other human would be, but Conan had a tendency- being a vampire- to stay as far away from me as possible.

Since Conan was using his intense eyes again I was quickly rendered speechless. He spoke before I could remember to breathe.

"I am not mad at you," he said quietly. "I was not mad at you last night. It was me I was mad at. I had endangered your safety, and for that I cannot forgive myself."

It took me a moment to realize he was accepting the blame for last night. I looked down again. "Really, Conan, don't be like that. It wasn't-"

He put a finger under my chin, lifting my face again. I was quickly silenced. Not noticing the effect his touch was having on me, he started to talk.

"Please, Abigail, don't say it wasn't my fault," he said shortly. "I will argue with you if you do say so. Now I must apologize."

My eyes looked down again, blushing. He nudged my face upwards with his finger and I looked into his eyes again. One look into his patterned eyes told me he was being completely serious. Noticing the words building up on my tongue he quickly continued to discourage me from speaking.

"You must understand that I have a slight issue with my temper," he rushed on. "Of course it doesn't make how I acted last night tolerable. Not at all. I made you upset, and even worse I scared you."

My pride decided to speak for me. "I wasn't scared of you." He gave me a reproachful look and I blushed again.

"Yes, you were," he said. "I could hear your heart beat pounding like a stampede."

I sighed. Damn him and his superior senses.

"Conan, it's not your fault-"

"You trying to take the blame off of me will not suffice," he said, determined as ever. "It does not matter that you thought I was mad at you. If I wouldn't have acted out so much then you, Abigail, would not have thought my anger was towards you. I might have been able to say what was bothering me- but I didn't. And I'm sorry."

His finger still hadn't left my chin, so when I looked down he lifted my chin up again. Even if I fought against the finger, he would have been able to lift my face no problem.

I had never seen someone so determined to lay the blame on themselves. So set on apologizing for something that was only half their fault. Taking a silent breath, I spoke.

"It's not your fault," I said again. He tensed, ready to explode with reasons why is was his fault. His mouth opened. I gave him a stubborn glare, which I was sure looked a little funny mixed with my blush, but it worked. He closed his mouth. "You're anger had every right to be there. If I hadn't been so childishly naive I would have seen why you were mad. I was being self centered-"

A sharp snarl interrupted. "Can't you just say, 'You're forgiven Conan'?" He looked serious enough, and I couldn't tell whether he was joking or not. Even so, a smile grew on my face as I repeated the words he wanted to hear.

"You're forgiven Conan."

He nodded. "I'm glad you see it my way." He removed his finger from my chin and my pulse immediately calmed down. I was sure he could hear the change, but I kept my face straight, as if I didn't know my heart was reacting to him.

He stepped away from me and straightened up. "I went back to the hotel last night."

I stood up and followed him as he walked to the door. "Why?"

Conan opened the door and waved me through. "To get Mackenzie's hair. Though it isn't blood, it gives me a good indication of what she smells like."

It was still night time. I guessed I had been asleep for about ten hours.

I gasped, excited. "So we'll be able to find her now?"

"Well only if she's close," he explained. "The scent of hair is nowhere near as strong as blood is."

We walked into the motel office where a lady sat behind the counter. Her feet were on the counter top beside a mini television. Conan dropped the key on the counter and left. I looked at him, wondering if he was contemplating eating her. It had been two days since he last ate, so maybe he wouldn't be hungry.

"How far would I have to go for you to not smell me?" I asked as we moved towards his glossy black car.

"Very far." The tone of his voice made me change the subject.

"Do you have any idea where Mackenzie is now?" I asked, clamouring into the car and slipping my seatbelt on. He got in as well, his graceful movements making me momentarily jealous.

"No, I can't smell her," he said, turning the ignition. The engine purred. "I think Percy is going to take her to one of the hideouts Lysias provides."

Worry soared through me. "There must be other vampires there too!"

Slowly, Conan nodded. I groaned. "She won't be killed or bitten," he assured me. "Percy is going to keep her alive because he needs her to negotiate with you. He won't bite her in fear of her being stronger or faster than him and escaping, or worse."

I shuddered. The thought of Mackenzie in a den with a ton of crazy hungry vampires still made me want to be sick, whether or not she would be harmed.

"Where are we going?" I asked, trying to distract myself.

"We're going to look for some vampires."

Distraction Accomplished.