Nightrose Chronicles: Book 1, Bloodrose

It was the next morning (Friday) when Tia approached Damien at his locker.

"Did I upset you last night?"

Damien turned and shook his head slightly. "No, you didn't. I actually thought it was kind of funny."

"Oh. That's good, I guess." Tia began to twist her hair with her index finger. It was obvious that she was wanting to say something to him.

"Something on your mind?" He asked after a moment.

"Well, no, not really, kinda, sort of, yes?" Tia stuttered at first. She had thought about this all morning and was feeling kind of jittery. "It's just that, well, the fair is here this weekend, and, well, Laurence and Shelby are going, and my mom bought me and Terri tickets, but Derrick Johnson asked Terri to go with him, and that leaves me with an extra ticket."

"Derrick Johnson? The Russian guy?" Damien shut his locker as he asked.

"Yeah, that's him."

"So, what do I have to do with this?" Damien leaned against the lockers. Where is this going?, He thought.

Tia began to turn bright red. "Well, I don't want to go by myself, and I couldn't think of anyone else to take except..."

Damien's eyes opened wide in shock when he realized she was asking him to come to fair with her. He visibly faltered.

"I-I understand if you don't want to go..." Tia mumbled. WHY DO YOU ALWAYS SCREW UP?! She yelled at herself in her mind.

"No, no!! It's just that...you don't mind being seen with me?" Damien began to turn a little red.

Tia simply smiled gently and shook her head. Damien smiled, too, and Tia could see something in his eyes that told her that he would like nothing greater than to go with her. They held their gaze until the bell rang, which sent them scrambling to class.

It was lunch time when Tia saw Damien again. She was sitting and eating her chicken tenders when she noticed he was in the lunch line. Still thinking of last night when he tutored her, she briefly thought about him. That is, until Terri started talking.

"I can't believe Derrick asked me out! How cool is that?" She exclaimed.

"That's pretty lucky." Shelby tossed her book bag under the table and sat down. "I thought he was going to ask that junior Tosha to go with him."

"I heard he was good with computers as well." Laurence chipped in, trying his best to be a part of the gossip. Shelby just rolled her eyes and pushed his shoulder playfully. Terri turned to Tia.

"Who did you ask?"

Tia didn't answer immediately. Terri called to her closest friend three more times before she answer.

"Huh? Oh. A guy."

Terri gave her a cross look. "OK, smart-ass, which guy?"

"I know that one!" Shelby giggled. "Damien!"

Terri had a horrified look on her face as she turned to Tia. "Damien?! You asked Damien?! WHY?!"

"Well, for one, he's really nice." Tia took a bite of chicken. "For two, he's really smart and can cook."

Terri glanced at Shelby and Laurence, who just shrugged. They didn't know what Tia was talking about either.

Tia, who didn't notice, just kept talking. "For three, his body is ripped."

"And HOW do you know that?" Terri asked suspiciously.

"Because he was working out when I got to his house yesterday for tutoring." Tia shrugged. Shelby started giggling again.

"I think I know why Tia asked Damien." She nudged Laurence in the arm.

Tia turned bright red. "I asked him because he's tutoring me for free!"

Shelby kept giggling. "I think you're lying!"

Tia turned a darker shade of red. "Am not!"

"Terri, you didn't see them in the hallway! They stopped and gazed into each others eyes!" Shelby sighed. "It was so romantic!"

Terri gave Tia a concerned look. "Don't get lost in those pretty eyes of his, Tia. He IS a guy. AND a vampire."

Tia nodded, then concentrated on her plate. Did she like him? Or was it just his muscles?

'No, it can't be that.' she thought. 'He's nice to me. He's handsome AND ripped. He has pretty eyes. He's a sweet guy, really. He just needs to someone to pay him some attention. Maybe I could...'

She glanced over at him, sitting in the corner by himself, eating wordlessly. He eyes softened as she pondered the one true difference between them.

He was a vampire.

She sighed. It couldn't work. They were just too different.

'Besides, I'm not really that attractive. Why would he be interested in me?' She thought. 'I'm shorter than him, too.'

She glanced down at her chest. 'You little bastards don't help my case, either!' She thought angrily. 'Why the hell can't I be like everyone else?'

She sighed again and adjusted her padded bra without anyone noticing.

'Why would he be attracted to me?' She thought. 'If I'm not attractive by human standards, how could I be attractive by vampire standards? I'm not a vampire anyways, so it couldn't work out.'

But a little voice in her head spoke up with two little words: 'Could it?'

'I don't know!' she thought sadly.

'Then why don't you try?' Said that little voice again. Tia looked up at the window that was nearby. Orion was there!

'Orion? What are you doing here?' She asked.

'I was passing by and decided to check in on you and Damien.' He licked his paws.

'You think I should try?' She took a sip of her milk and she spoke.

'Yes. I know he thinks highly of you.' Orion's ear twitched as Damien noticed him. 'Time for me to go. Bye.'

Tia watched as Orion jumped off the windowsill and ran off. She glanced over at Damien, who was staring curiously at her. She shrugged and went back to eating.

'What was he doing?' Damien thought as he put his tray up. 'Sneaky ass cat...'

<^>

"He's late!" Tia cried out. She was pacing close to the entrance of the fair. Terri, Derrick, Shelby, and Laurence stood close by, watching her pace. Tia was referring to Damien, who, unbeknowist to her, was sitting on the fence behind her. He had been sitting there for several minutes, waiting for her to notice. Everyone else had noticed his glowing eyes shining from the shadows except for Tia.

"I knew it! He-" Tia said loudly.

"Now Tia, don't get so hasty." Shelby interrupted her.

"Oh, come on, Shelby!" Tia spat. "Every time I've asked a hot guy out, I've been stood up or worse!"

Terri and Shelby's jaws dropped and Damien fell off the fence backwards when Tia called him hot.

"You think Damien is hot?" Terri asked when Damien had climbed back on the fence.

"Well, yeah." Tia shrugged. "I mean, I know he's a vampire, but he IS attractive."

"Then why haven't you asked him out yet?" Laurence asked what was on everyone's mind. They saw Damien's glowing eyes open wide at such a blunt question.

For several minutes, Tia was very quiet, a downcast look on her face. Then she spoke up.

"I'm not exactly attractive, am I?"

"Tia, that is untrue." Derrick interrupted before Terri could scold her friend. He thick Russian accent caused him to pronounce Tia's name as "Tee-uh".

"Yeah right." Tia said dourly.

"Let me tell you something. I have two brothers. They are twins. One is of wolf and one is of bat. They both argue one day over beauty of girl. Both come to decision: human girl not as attractive as girl of bat or wolf." Derrick explained.

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better." Tia rolled her eyes.

Derrick held up his index finger. "Not finished. Think of it this way: If Damien think you are more attractive than girl of bat or wolf, then that is good, no?"

Derrick stared at Damien as he said this, but Tia didn't notice. Damien glared at Derrick curiously. He knew two Russian guys that were twin brothers. Were they Derrick's older brothers? He knew one was a vampire and the other was a lycan, so it had to be Derricks older brothers.

Damien landed behind Tia without a sound after a moment of thought. He hesitated, then spoke up.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late."

Tia turned to him and spoke softly. "It's ok."

Damien's skin tingled as she spoke that way. He could feel his own heart racing. She looked incredible tonight. She had on a crimson T-shirt with Tribal patterns on it and a pair of split blue jeans.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Yep. Lets go." She started off. While they walked, she started humming something. It sounded familiar to Damien, but he couldn't quite place it.

They wandered around for about an hour, stopping at various vendors. The game they had the most trouble with was the game where a person knocks over the milk bottles with a baseball.

Tia stamped her foot in frustration as she missed again. She looked at a big and purple teddy bear and cursed. "Damnit. I wanted that."

Heart heart nearly jumped out of her throat as a baseball thundered by and sent the bottles flying. After recovering from the initial shock, she turned and saw the vendor man handing Damien the same teddy bear that Tia had been going for.

"Here." He said a moment later, holding the bear out to her. He was looking away and turning red. She felt her own face running hot, so she took the bear and looked away too.

"Damien?" Someone called out just then.

Hearing his name called, Damien turned around and saw a man in an unusual garb coming towards him. The man had long black hair (longer than Damien's) and piercing blue eyes with red flecks in them. At his side was a beautiful woman wearing a short skirt and a tank top. She had curly black hair and blue eyes with silver flecks in them.

"Headmaster Sildaekar, Headmistress Luana." Damien bowed his head. "I did not expect you to be here."

"We were passing through and decided to stop at this.." Sildaekar searched for the right word. "Gathering."

Damien nodded and looked to Luana. "You're dressed rather casual tonight, Lady Luana."

"I suppose so." Luana shrugged, then spotted Tia standing shyly behind Damien. "And who is this? A girlfriend?"

Tia turned redder than before and Damien gulped. This was an awkward moment for them.

Tia then held her hand out. "My name is Tia. Tia Brook."

Sildaekar shook her hand, but Luana gave her a hug.

"It's nice to see that Damien found someone he likes." Luana whispered to Tia. Tia stared at her blankly.

"What, you can't tell?" Luana asked her. Tia shook her head. Luana pulled Tia off to the side so Sildaekar and Damien couldn't hear.

"Well, I was wondering if he did..." Tia mumbled when they got out of earshot.

"But it's so obvious!" Luana exclaimed.

"It is?"

"Yes!" Luana looked at Damien. "He's talking."

"Huh?" Tia gave her a dumb look.

"Damien rarely talks. And most of the time, it's without any feeling behind. Almost lifelessly. And as long as I've known him, I have never seen him talk this much in so little time." She paused as Damien started laughing. His laugh caught Tia again, and all she could do was watch and listen to him.

"See? Now I KNOW he likes you." Luana insisted. "That is the first time I've EVER heard him laugh. Ever."

"I know he likes me. I just...." Tia trialed off.

Luana's eyes softened. "Is it because he's a vampire?"

Tia nodded and Luana pointed to Sildaekar. "See his eyes? He's a vampire, like Damien."

She pointed to her own eyes. "See my eyes?"

Tia was confused. "You're a lycan! And you're with Sildaekar?"

"That's right." Luana nodded. "For about three years now."

"But..." Tia trailed off again.

Luana took her firmly by the shoulders. "I know what you're going to say: I don't know him very well. Well, hang out with him. Talk to him."

Tia nodded. Luana let go of her and looked back at Sildaekar and Damien. She turned back to Tia, a smile on her face. "After all, they are just stupid guys."

Tia couldn't help but to laugh at that, and soon enough, they were both plagued with a laughs.

Sildaekar and Damien looked at them weirdly, then turned back to their own conversation.

"Girls." Sildaekar muttered. "Can't live with them, and can't live without them."

Damien chuckled at that. Sildaekar patted him on the shoulder. "Well, it's time we were off."

Luana and Tia came back over just then and Sildaekar told her it was time to go. She hugged Tia and Damien and waved bye as they left.

"Remember what I told you, Tia!" She called out.

"Okay!" Tia yelled back. She bumped shoulders with Damien. "Interesting people. Who were they?"

"They are in charge of the Angel Family, a group of humans, lycans, and vampires who are working for more rights and better co-existance between the three species." He shrugged casually. "I've been a member for a few years.

"They look so young." Tia remarked.

"They're only twenty. They were the best choice when the previous leaders stepped down." Damien rummaged in his pocket for something.

"And how would someone go about joining the Angel Family?" Tia asked, her voice barely audible over the bustling fair.

"You have to be referred to the headmaster or headmistress by a member. Why do you..." He looked to Tia as he spoke and saw that she was playing with the teddy bear's bow tie. He realized what she meant by that and turned away, embarassed.

"Well, we came here to have some fun, didn't we?" He said after a moment. Tia nodded.

'He said WE', her mind screamed as she followed him.

For the rest of their time there, they never strayed far from each other.The last ride they went on was the Ferris wheel. They sat across from each other as it rose into the air. The sky was crystal clear and the stars could not be brighter. As they rose into the night sky, Damien felt a sense of peace fal upon him.

"The sky is beautiful tonight." Tia said in awe.

"Very beautiful." Came the soft response.

For a moment, Tia didn't know if he was talking about her or the sky. Damien had his face hidden in the shadows, but she could see the faint glow of his eyes in the dark. A thought crossed her mind.

Why not? She decided.

To Damien's surprise, Tia jumped over and sat next to him. She lay her head on his shoulder and yawned.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"For what?" He whispered back.

"For not showing me up." She yawned again. "You're the first guy to do that."

She yawned once more. "It's nice knowing that there is someone...out there...worth...being...with..."

She drifted into sleep as she spoke. Damien, completely speechless, could only wipe a small tear from his eye. Unsure of what to do, he lay his head down on hers and watched the star until he fell asleep.

Shelby and Laurence were next in line when the seat Damien and Tia were sitting stopped. Shelby, caught off gaurd, took a moment to snap a picture. The ride guy smiled at the two sleeping youth, then woke Damien up.

"Hey kid. Time to get off."

Damien, still partially asleep, carefully picked Tia up and got off. He held her cradled in his arms as he made his way to a bench. When Shelby and Laurence got off the ride some minutes later, they found their friends sleeping like they had been on the ride.

"Hey, have you guys seen Tia?" Terri asked, coming up behind then with Derrick close behind her.

"Shhhh!!" Shelby held her finger up to her mouth, then pointed to Tia and Damien. Terri was shocked. Derrick chuckled.

"I have to say, I have never seen Damien so relaxed." He said quietly.

Terri, at a loss for words, shook her head. "Well, wake them up. It's almost eleven and my mom is waiting at the entrance."

Damien stirred just then. He yawned and strected, careful not to wake Tia up. Although he was still half asleep, he did notice a cricket crawling up Tia's pant leg. Ever so gently, he picked it up and tossed it under the bench.

"Time to go?" He asked them after another yawn.

"Yeah. Wake her, will you?" Terri nodded.

"No need." Damien said, easily picking her up and cradling her against him once more. Terri's mom already had the van doors open when they got there.

"Come on girls, you can stay with us tonight. I've already asked your parents." Terri's mom said. "Sorry boys, you can't come."

"It is ok." Derrick waved her apology off.

Damien gently set Tia down onto the backseat. She mumbled something and rolled over. He smiled and went to where Laurence and Derrick were standing. Terri's mom honked the horn and the girls waved as they drove off.

"I think she likes you, Damien." Derrick joked.

"Oh, haha." Damien raised an eyebrow. "I know your brothers. Do I have to sic them on you?"

"No, no, that's ok!" Derrick shook his head quickly. Laurence started laughing. Soon enough, all three of them were laughing.

'Nothing could go wrong.' Damien thought.

"So, did you girls have fun?" Terri's mom asked.

"Of course." Terri replied, stealing some of her mom's drink for the cupholder.

"So, Terri, was that you new boyfriend?" Her mom teased.

"Mom!"

"I'm just picking" Terri's mom turned head to her daugether as they stopped at a red light. "Who was that guy with the black hair? He was quite a hunk."

"Oh my God, I can' believe you just used the word hunk!" Terri shook her head in disbelief.

"What is a hunk, anyways?" Shelby pipped in.

"I don't know. We used it when we were in highschool." She grinned as she took her drink back from her daughter. "So who was he?"

"A guy Tia likes." Shelby giggled. "He likes her too, but they're too shy to ask each other out.

"Ah, young love." Terri's mom sighed. "I remember a time when your father and I-"

"Mom!"

"I'm just picking!"

"Where's Damien?" Tia sat up in the back and yawned. "I didn't get to say goodnight."

"Good, you're awake!" Shelby turned around and giggled at Tia.

She giggled again as she held up a camera. "Look at the picture I took!"

Tia look at the camera. She was wide-eyed and awake when she realized it was her and Damien sleeping in the picture. She reached for the camera, but Shelby pulled it out of her reach.

"Give me that!" Tia demanded.

"Nope!" Shelby teased. "I'm putting this on MySpace!"

"You better not!" Tia clambered over the seat and began to wrestle Shelby for the camera. It took a few minutes, but Tia finally got the camera and climbed back to the back seat.

"Owww, you smushed my boob!" Shelby groaned exaggeratively.

Tia, paying her no heed, smiled sofly as she looked at the picture. A sudden bright light from the right blinded her, and as she looked up, all went dark.