Nightrose Chronicles: Book 1, Bloodrose

Damien got to park about a quarter till eight. It was empty and quiet. He settled his back against a tree-trunk and waited. But not for long.

"Hey."

Damien opened an eye and glanced up and saw Tia standing there. She was well dressed and had an affectionate look in her eyes. They held their gaze for a moment longer before she sat down against the tree next to him.

"So what are you doing here?" Tia asked.

"Terri told me to be here." Damien responded, looking to the stars.

"Oh." Tia looked around for Terri. "She told me to be here, too."

"She obviously planning something." Damien stretched as he spoke. "I hope she doesn't show up."

"Why's that?" Tia asked.

He watched the stars for a moment before replying. "Because."

Tia followed his gaze to the star filled sky. She had never seen so many stars out and they complimented the crescent moon almost perfectly. "Why's that?"

"Because," he sighed gently, "She couldn't do anything to make my night any better."

A tear found it's way down Tia's cheek. She wiped it away and took his arms gently and wrapped them around her. He wrapped his arms around her tighter as she lay her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating, softly and rythmatically. As it lulled her to sleep, she could only think one thing:

'A dream come true: Someone loves me.'

Terri snuggled closer to Derrick. They were walking back from the park after making sure Tia and Damien got there.

"Thanks for coming." Terri kissed Derrick on the cheek.

He kissed her back, on the forehead. "It was nothing, darling. But may I ask a question?"

"Sure."

"Why exactly did we check on Tia? I mean, I understand why WHY, but why?"

Terri was quiet for some time. When she spoke up, there was obvious sadness in her voice.

"Tia's never had any luck with guys. Her dad used to get drunk and beat her. She almost failed the 6th grade because he beat her so often and violently that her bruises and injuries kept her from coming to school a lot. It wasn't so bad after her mom divorced her dad, but when she got into boys, she was always mistreated by them. After a while, she gave up, saying she didn't need love to be happy."

Terri chuckled half-heartedly. "Now look at her."

Derrick smiled softly. "You two are very close, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Best friends since we were little."

Derrick put his arm around Terri's shoulders. "I know now why my brothers like America so much."

"Huh?" Terri looked up at him. "Why's that?"

"Never a dull moment."

Terri thought about it for a moment, then began to giggle. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

Derrick began laughing, then began to tickle Terri. She took off, laughing. Derrick took off as well, their laughter echoing through the park.

A knock on the door caught Ms. Brook's attention. She jogged to the door and found Damien there, Tia cradled in his arms with her arms around his neck.

"Sorry to bring her back so late. We dozed off." Damien said apologetically. Ms. Brook looked at the clock and saw that it was half-past eleven.

"What were you doing? I thought she went to the park?" Her mom led Damien upstairs to Tia's room. It had four purple walls, a dark blue carpet, and a black ceiling. Damien lay her down ever-so-gently on her bed. It had blue sheets and pillow cases, a camouflage quilt, and an unzipped silver sleeping bag on it.

"Unusual bed attire." Damien remarked.

"Yeah, but she loves it." Ms. Brook looked at him. "So what happened?"

"Terri set up on a blind date. We dozed off while stargazing." Damien shrugged off Ms. Brook's odd look. "It's true."

Tia, whom Damien had wrapped in blankets, grabbed Damien's arm as he turned to leave. But Damien saw that she was still asleep. He smiled and replaced his arm with a teddy bear that was on her bed. The very same one he had won for her at the fair. She snuggled closer to it, holding it tight against her chest.

"Cute bear." He remarked to Tia's mom.

"She named it after after some guy she's got a crush on." Tia's mom said slyly.

Damien chuckled and pulled the blanket about her. Taking a chance, he kissed her gently on the forehead. He bid Ms. Brook a goodnight and left.

It was six fifteen the next morning when Tia came down the stairs. Her mom was sitting on the kitchen counter drinking coffee.

"You're up early." She said to her daughter.

"A good night's sleep." Tia got a bagel out of the fridge and put some grape jelly on it. "How did I get home?"

"Some guy brought you home. Your new boyfriend?" Ms. Brook teased.

"Maybe." Tia said slyly.

"That's my girl!" Her mom tossed her a granola bar. "So what's he like?"

"Perfect: smart, strong, cute, and kind." Tia sighed. "I keep thinking I'm in a dream."

"Well, guess what, hun? You aren't." Ms. Brook tossed a dirty rag at her. "Because in dreams you don't have to do the dishes when you get home from school!"

"Okay." Tia shrugged, which caught her mom off guard. Last time she checked, Tia hated doing the dishes.

"So what's his name?" Ms. Brook asked, now suspicious.

"Damien." Tia said before she could stop herself.

Her mom jumped off the counter, fury in her face. "I forbid you-"

"Don't finish that sentence." Tia interrupted, her own fury reflected in her eyes. For a moment, Ms. Brook thought her daughter's eyes changed color.

"You don't know him." Tia spat. "Don't you DARE judge him."

Ms. Brook, knowing Tia inherited her father's temper, held her anger in check. It was bad enough that she could never forgive herself for letting Tia's father abuse her, but to cause a rift between them?

Ms.Brook said nothing as Tia stormed out and up to her room to get ready for school.

"Cold this morning?"

Tia nearly jumped in her locker in fright. Damien had come up behind her, unintentionally scaring her.

"Yeah." Tia lied as she pulled her sleeves down to hide her wrists. Damien instantly knew she was lying because not only did she look away from him but her heart rate increased too. He took her hands gently and began to pull her sleeves up. She wanted to stop him, but couldn't bring herself to completely lie to him.

When Damien had pulled the sleeves up far enough, he found a row of white scars, a fresh cut at the bottom of the row. It was already scabbing over.

"Why?" Damien looked up to her.

"Mom doesn't like you." Tia felt herself on the edge of tears. "Because you're a vampire."

Damien held her against him. "It's alright."

She pushed away from him. "No it isn't! What if she won't let us be together?"

"Then we'll get her to like me." He said calmly.

Tia had been so upset this morning that she hadn't thought of that. She stared at him for a moment. "You really think that will work?"

"I think it will." He nodded. She hugged him, thankful that there was a chance. She had a sudden idea.

"What are you doing Thursday night?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said after thinking for a moment. "Why?"

"Come eat dinner with us?" Tia had a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Okay."

She hugged him again, which he returned. They went their separate ways after that because the bell rang. Three cheerleaders (the very same ones that stopped Tia) now stopped Shelby and Laurence after witnessing the exchange between Tia and Damien.

"Can we ask you a question?" The first one, Kasey, asked.

"Sure." Shelby looked to Laurence, who only shrugged.

"Are Damien and Tia dating?" The second one, Katherine, asked. "They look like it."

"But they also don't." The third one, Kristen, said.

"Well, they aren't. Technically." Laurence answered. "Dating is usually a temporary thing. What Tia and Damien has is something more."

"So, you two are a temporary couple?" Kasey asked, confused.

"Well, yeah. We have different goals, so it's not probable that we'll be together indefinitely." Shelby nodded.

"And you guys are okay with this?" Katherine asked them. Laurence and Shelby nodded.

Kristen shook her head. "You guys are all weird."

<^>

By the time Thursday rolled around, the whole school was buzzing about Tia and Damien seeing each other. There were some who scorned it, some that praised it, and others who just didn't care.

But then again, Tia and Damien didn't really care about what anyone else had to say.

It was now Thursday night, and Damien was pacing outside of Tia's front door. He was nervous. He was new to this and didn't want to mess it up. Orion was sitting in the tree next to Tia's window.

'You'll be fine.' Orion told him.

"But what if-" Damien started.

Orion interrupted him. 'Boy, shut up and ring the damn doorbell!'

Damien rang the doorbell and waited. The door opened and there stood Tia. Damien saw that she had her hair back in a pony tail. She was gorgeous.

Tia thought Damien to be just as good looking. But she wasn't about to let him know that.

"Too fancy?" Damien asked slowly. Tia shook her head and led him inside. They came to the kitchen, where Tia's mom was setting out plates.

"Mom, this is Damien. Damien, this is my mom." Tia nudged Damien toward her mother. Damien bowed slightly. Ms. Brook nodded and went to the stove. Damien sat down after seating Tia.

'A bit of a casual dinner.' Damien thought as Ms. Brook piled spaghetti on to their plates. 'She must not like me at all.'

She set a tray of bread down next to the spaghetti pot and then seated herself. They began to eat, not a word spoken between them. Damien's heart was pounding. This wasn't good. There was too much tension in the air.

"Excuse me for a moment." Tia said abruptly. She got up and left. As soon as Tia out of earshot, Ms. Brook turned to Damien.

"I swear to God, if you do anything to my little girl," She spat venomously, "You will regret it!"

Damien looked at her blankly. He wasn't surprised.

"Ms. Brook, I am going to assume that when you say I will regret it that you are implying that you will use my 'weaknesses' against me." He said calmly. "I'll have you know that that won't work."

To emphasize his point, he took a peice of garlic bread off the tray and bit into it. After setting it down on his plate, he pulled out the necklace around his neck. There was a cross on it.

"I attend church every Wednesday." He stated. "And I can go into sunlight for a periods of time."

Ms. Brook stared at him, dumbstruck. Damien leaned forward and spoke to her quietly.

"But none of that matters, seeing as I wouldn't harm your daughter even if my life depended on it."

Ms. Brook looked at him curiously. Tia came back just then. They went back to eating, finishing in silence. Tia dragged Damien to the living room and sat him down on the couch.

She went to the DVD rack. "What do you want to watch?"

"You guys have Titanic?" Damien asked, trying to get off the couch to no avail. It was fluffy.

Tia looked at Damien. 'A guy wanting to watch Titanic? Cool.'

She popped it into the DVD player and plopped down on the couch next to him. She giggled when he looked at her funny. Her giggled almost melted him, for it sounded as if only heaven could produce such a beautiful sound.

He brought his attention back to the movie, which had just started. Tia's mother walked by and headed upstairs.

Making sure her mother wasn't watching, Tia turned her head toward Damien and cocked it to one side. When he glanced at her, she looked away with a grin. Using the cushions as a spring, she bounced up into Damiens waiting arms. They were now laying in the corner of the couch, with Tia's head laying on the arm of the couch and Damien's arm.

She gazed up into his eyes and could see the love that he had for her. She was sure that what she saw.

'It has to be love.' She thought. 'What else could it be?'

Damien could not describe to anyone how incredibly happy he was right now. As he looked into her eyes, he felt like floating away.

And in that moment, both of them shared one thought.

'I've found love!'

It was some time later when Ms. Brook came down stairs to check on Tia. It was about eleven o'clock and past Tia's bedtime. What she found was Tia wrapped in Damien's arms, both fast asleep. The credits on the movie were rolling by, soft and gentle music enticing slumber into the air. She looked at them curiously.

'How strange,' She thought, 'Damien almost seems...human.'

'I must have been dreaming.' Tia thought as her mom woke her up. 'There's no way I could have found the perfect guy and gotten him so quickly.'

She sat up and yawned. Feeling movement beside her, she looked at Damien, who was struggling to get up.

'Oh my God, it wasn't a dream!' She thought in relief.

"I guess it's time for me to go." Damien yawned. He got up and headed for the door. Tia, still a bit groggy, followed him to the door and embraced his back with a hug. She wanted to tell him something.

He glanced over his shoulder to her. She was nuzzling him, a distracted look on her face.

"What is it?" He asked.

Tia sighed. It was now or never. She leaned up to his ear and spoke so softly that he almost didn't hear her. But he did. And what he heard were words that had never been spoken to him before.

"I love you."