Traveling Backwards

His reaction was something I wasn’t use to seeing in Wolf. He simply leaned forward and kissed me. Right on the mouth.
He. Kissed. Me.
Can’t lie, I wasn’t use to him being so affectionate. He usually just cursed or…got angry. Whatever. It was wonderful though. I liked the feeling of his lips against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, drawing him closer. I took refuge in his arms. Strange, I know, but…I was so tired of all this shit. I just wanted to be…numbed from all this.
But vampires will be vampires. Suddenly, Ryder came whirling past us on Lurk’s back, screaming, “Awwwww!” as he rode off past us. I growled as we untangled ourselves from each other.
I glanced up at Wolf and sighed. “Well…I better go,”
I began to walk away, hiding the blush on my cheeks when he roughly grabbed my arm. “Uh, no.” he began, “We’re gonna get through this together. Got it?”
Even if his choice of words were sweet, his voice came out harsh. I turned and nodded slowly before yelling, “Ryder! Get over here!”
He returned moments later with a stupid grin plastered across his face. I sighed. He was never going to let me live it down.
“Go get the others,” I told him, grabbing Wolf’s hand in my own. It felt strong and rather cold as well. He disappeared before reappearing with our gang of freaks. “Where’s the book?” I asked, glancing around.
“Here,” Lurk said, producing it from his jacket and handing it to me. I took it gently in my arms, shifting through pages that smelled musty. It reminded me a bit of my father. He was always reading something, but I never paid any attention to what it was. Though, I can’t remember him every having this book at the dinner table. Some lose papers were covered in my father’s hand writing. Most of the pages were filled with strange markings and drawings. Wolf leaned over my shoulder, frowning at some of the pictures.
“Hey,” he began, grabbing one and holding it closer to his face, “This is a blood ritual chat.”
“A what?” I asked, feeling chills run down my spine.
“In ancient times, Vampires would sacrifice their kills while chanting these things.”
“Sounds pretty dark,” I admitted, rubbing my free hand on my jeans.
He nodded, slowly taking a few other drawings. “Looks like your dad was pretty into vampire stuff,” Ryder announced, joining the huddle.
I glanced back up at Lurk. “What happened to Kaige?”
“He’s gone…for now,” his voice a deep growl.
I bit my lip but forced myself not to worry about them right now. I wanted to know why my father had this book. And soon. Suddenly, something fell and landed on my toe. I frowned, leaning down to pick it up. “What is this?”I asked, blinking curiously at it.
Suddenly, the vampires took steps back, their faces becoming paler than normal. “What?” I asked as I stood up straight.
“That’s a…” Ryder began.
“A hunter’s charm,” Dimitri breathed.
“A...hunter’s charm?”I echoed. They really had to stop talking like this. I had no clue what they were saying.
“Look, Jaydee,” Wolf said, gently taking my shoulders in his grasp and staring me straight in the eyes. “A hunter’s charm is for a human to use to defend himself from a vampire.”
“So…does that mean my dad had enemies?” I asked, not quite following him.
He shook his head, “No…Jaydee,” he began, pausing a moment as if to find the right words, “Your dad…was most likely…” he paused again.
“YEAH?” I asked, getting annoyed.
“Your father was a vampire hunter.”