Time Stood Still

I Can Taste The Failure On Your Lips.

Josh's POV

I ignore the sunlight blinding me as I open my eyes, sitting up abit too fast than I should have and feeling my head go all light headed. I drag my left hand down my face trying to get rid of the dizziness and when it soon passes. When I remove my hand from my face, I’m more than confused when I realised I was sitting in the lighthouse.
I replay this morning’s events in my mind, trying to figure out how I got here. I remember walking along the beach and then exploring inside some caves I found and then…
That’s when it hit’s me and I remember what happened.
Oliver.

I spin around behind me to search the entire room and there he was, acting all “human” sitting down across the other side of the room, gawking at me.
I gasp in sudden fear and scramble back in my seat as I feel the panic begin to take over me again.

“Don’t be afraid Josh.” He says calmly and I completely freeze.
I sit as still as I possibly can and stare endlessly at him.
My eyes were wide and my breathing was heavy and loud… I couldn’t help wonder why he brought me up here… away from the human eye… where I was completely alone with him.
He was definitely going to kill me.
“You passed out. So I brought you here.”
“Y-you’re… you’re not going to k-kill me here, are you?” I stutter, still feeling incredibly scared for my life.
I see Oliver frown, looking highly offended.
“No Josh, I’m not going to kill you.” He says bluntly.
I watch him get up and walk towards the stairs.
“In fact, I’m leaving right now.”
I was still absolutely terrified, the truth of him being a vampire still hadn’t sunken in yet... it was so surreal. How on earth did he expect me to react? Couldn’t he have made up some bullshit about some disorder he has, which doesn’t allow him to age or whatever? Even though that is utter crap, I’m sure I would have preferred to hear that, than to know he was a blood drinking demon.
As he started walking down the stairs, I found myself not wanting him to leave. My mind was all over the place and I didn’t know what to believe… the guy I thought who was my friend is actually a… vampire.
But that’s just it, he’s still my friend and I couldn’t let him leave without explaining what the hell is going on.

“Don’t go.” I whisper, barely loud enough for him to hear me.
But he stops and looks at me between the banisters of the spiral stair case.
“You’re not afraid that I might drink your blood?”
My eyes widen that he actually heard me and my eyes instantly look away from him.
“Erm, well… I’d be grateful if you wouldn’t.” I say nervously, hiding behind my knees as I was sitting with them close to my chest.

I see him smirk and shake his head at my comment before he decides to walk back up the stairs.
He takes a couple of steps towards me and I freeze, feeling myself begin to panic again, backing up further into my seat.
He notices and immediately stops walking.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my distance.” He says, taking a seat across the room from me at an abnormally fast paste. I’m a little freaked out but I kinda relax being thankful he respected my space.
After a few minutes of trying to breath normally again, I speak.
“So, you’re a vampire.” It felt ridiculous to even say it.
“Yes.”
“Who would have thought those things are actually real.”
“It’s fascinating what you humans believe is fictional and what isn’t.”
“Are you gonna tell me unicorns are real too?”
I watch as he shakes his head, I couldn’t help myself from saying that, but could you blame me? I guess I wouldn’t be surprise if he said he has one as a pet. The truth just keeps on becoming insanely ridiculous.
But surprisingly, I feel myself getting more relaxed over the situation and don’t feel so afraid.

“I see you don’t melt in the sun light then.”
Pointing out that it was midday, the sun at its highest in the sky and he was still very much alive… well, alive as he could be.
“Most of the stories you’ve heard about us vampires is just made up nonsense. But no, I don’t exactly melt. If I’m in the sunlight for longer than hour my skin will gradually start to burn, I have to be in the sunlight for a certain amount of time for the sun to actually do some serious damage to my skin.”

I raise my eyebrows, I can’t argue over the fact he was telling me the truth about himself. But there’s so many things I still don’t understand, things which don’t add up, I want to know the truth but at the same time, I’m shit scared of what he might tell me. Him actually admitting he’s a vampire is a major confession, and him not drinking my blood dry is also a major thumbs up as well, so the worse was over right? I could cope with the rest right?
I wrap my good arm around my legs and hug them to my chest, feeling like its some sort of safety barrier protecting me from the truth from this strange creature.
I must be completely mad, but I’m going to try and have a conversation with him and see what I can find out.

“There’s so many things I don’t understand.”
“Do you think you can handle the truth?”
I swallow hard.
“I think so…”
“Then I’ll try my best to answer your questions the best I can.”
I don’t say anything but nod back in responds, trying to figure out where to even begin with all the questions.
“But first, let me ask you a question Josh.”
My eyes turn away from my lap and stare deep into his black ones. What could he possibly want to ask me? He’s the fictional character here, I’m nothing more than a boring human. But I continue to stare, my ears all open ready for his question.

“You say you don’t remember anything from your childhood?”
I shake my head.
“No.” I sigh.
“When I was five years old I drowned and ever since then I can’t remember anything. My mum says the accident must have traumatized me so much, I blocked everything out.”
He doesn’t say anything straight away, it was like he was trying to deal with my answer… he seemed abit off?
“That must explain why you don’t remember me.”
I narrow my eyes slightly as I look at him from a cross the room. I’m still a little creeped out that he’s been watching me… and I wonder for how long too. I guess now is the best time to find out.
I bit my lip in hesitation.
Oh for crying out loud just ask him Josh, I’m sure he won’t kill you over a simple question. And besides, I deserve to know.
“Why have you been watching me?”
“Like I said earlier, I’ve know you ever since you were a child, three years old precisely.” He smiles to himself and I’m instantly horrified that it’s been that long, but yet I remain calm and let him continue.
“I came across you by accident, something about not being able to read your mind made me curious to continue you watch you-“
“Wait, what? You can read minds? Like, actually hear what people are thinking in their own head?”
Is that even possible?! Can you imagine having that sort of power? Oh no, that means he can read mine!
I dart my eyes back at him with fear, dreading he has read everything I’ve ever thought around him.
“Everyone but you that is.”
“Why not me?”
“I’ve been trying to figure that out for the last fourteen years.”
“Oh…” I frown.
“Is something wrong with me then?”
He chuckles but it cause’s me to frown, I’m glad he finds me amusing.
“What’s so funny?”
“I tell you I’m a vampire, a deadly creature who can read peoples mind and you think something is wrong with you.”
Oh, I guess I avoided the obvious there. But still, why can he read others and not mine? Surely there is something wrong with me…

“Erm, so why haven’t you changed at all over the years then?” I continue with questions.
“The body of a vampire remains frozen in the human form they were changed at.”
“Oh right.” I tried to make out like I understood but I really didn’t understand at all. Like he said before, the made up nonsense I’m used to reading, describes vampires as old middle age males who prey on the innocent, not young beautiful seventeen year old boys, who watch the innocent…
I was curious.
“How old are you?”
“In my time or yours?”
A cold chill ran down my spine at his question. Did I really wanna know? I mean, for the last fourteen years he’s looked exactly the same, can it be any longer than that?
I bit my bottom lip as I hesitated to ask.
But I did really wanna know.
“Erm, both?”
“My body froze at the age of twenty but my existence continued. I’m exactly a hundred and fourteen years old.”
“Whoa.”
Okay I wasn’t expecting him to say that! That was a lot more than I thought… a hundred and fourteen, man he was old. Old but absolutely beautiful, I couldn’t deny I still have a stupid boy crush on him…I’m kinda grateful he can’t read my mind, because that would be unexplainable. His perfect pale face doesn’t look a day over twenty and yet he’s- wait.

“Wait, your twenty? I thought you were seventeen?” I pull my knees away from my chest and sit properly on the circular cushion seat. I lean forward, curious to know more about his age.
“The human kind believe I am seventeen, therefore I can get away with being seventeen. The younger I appear in public to the humans, the longer I can stick around for without anyone finding me suspicious.”
“Oh right, I see.”
I found myself shuffling closer and closer towards him, everything in my mind was saying no, he’s a monster I should stay away but yet, everything about him was drawing me closer to him and I don’t know why.
I got about half way and stopped and started picking at some loose thread on the cushion sofa, using it as some kind of distraction not to get any closer to him.

“I was wondering, if you’ve been watching me my entire life, how comes you’ve only just made yourself visible to me now?”
He closed his eyes, lost in his agonizes confessions.
“You moved away when you were five and not being able to read your mind, I wasn’t able to find you when you left. I tried looking for you over the years but no matter where I searched I couldn’t find you.”
“Hang on… so, you haven’t seen me for twelve years? H-how did you even know if I’m the same child?”
“Hannah.” he sighs.
“S-she’s a vampire too? Can she read my mind? Has she been watching me the whole time as well?”
“Slow down Josh.” Oliver raised his hand in a gesture to slow down with all my questions. But I couldn’t help it, the questions seemed to be never ending and when I think it couldn’t get any weirder, it does. Now his sister is involved… I should have known, they’re twins after all and they have this weird bond of knowing/feeling everything about each other.

“My sister has a very rare gift, she can see the future.”
“What? Really? Is that even possible?”
“Yes. She saw a vision of you moving back here so that’s how I knew it was you.” He stared off into space for a few seconds before speaking again.
“And of course, I could never forget your eyes.”
He stared deep into my blue eyes, a small smile appeared on his lips, like he was remembering a long lost memory. I couldn’t ignore the heat which flushes to my cheeks, obviously revealing my blush like a silly little school girl, I tried hiding the embarrassing colour stain my pale cheeks but I already knew he that he saw them.
I heard him chuckle quietly and as I looked back up, I notice I’m sitting right next to him and I hadn’t even realised I moved.
Earlier, I would have completely freaked out and backed away from him in fear of my life but as more of the secrets kept unravelling, the less afraid of him I’d seem to be.
So I continued with my annoying human questions.
“Why have you started getting close to me?”
“Because you kind of belong to me Josh.”
“What does that mean?”
He reaches his hand out towards me and I instantly flinch back in fear, expecting the worse. Oliver sends me an apologetic smile, assuring me that he means no harm and after a minute or two of debating to myself, I nod, feeling a sudden urge of confidence to allow him to touch me.
He reaches out for me again and I do everything in my power to sit as still as I can not to flinch back again. I can’t help but catch my breath when he tucks my hair behind my left ear and begins circling his cold finger tips around the little birth mark which was marked there.

“This mark here proves that we are one.”
I frown a little in uncertainty; I don’t see how a simple birth mark can prove that I “belong” to him. Everyone has them, it doesn’t automatically confirm that we belong to certain people.
“It’s just a birth mark, how does it prove anything?”
“Because I have the same one.”
He pulled his hand away and tucked his hair behind his left ear, which revealed the exact same birth mark.
I feel my eyes widen, there’s no way it can be exactly the same.
I learn forwards, not taking any notice that I was literally only inches away from his face, I was too occupied with the identical birth mark we both had.
I traced my finger over the small light brown blotch which was marked behind his ear, exactly like mine. I begin examining the mark closely, the size, the placement, the shape, the colour, it was definitely identical to mine, and I hadn’t seen anything like it before.
I sit back cross legged on the cushion sofa, feeling confused more than ever.
Oliver didn’t even looked phase, he just sat as still as a statue like he usually does when I’m sat beside him.

“I’m…I’m so confused.” I whisper, not really knowing what to think of all this.
“Hannah has the same one too.”
“She does? What does it mean? Why do I have the same one?”
“The vampire kind belong in pairs, in order to become a pair you need to find your life long mate which has the same identical birth mark to yourself and then you are destined to spend the rest of your existences together. Because Hannah and I are already one, we thought we weren’t supposed to have a mate, we were already a pair. But you have the same birth mark as us Josh, which we thought could not be possible but you do. And your birth mark indicates that you belong to one of us, its not just coincidence, it all adds up… Hannah can see you in her visions; I’m not able to read your mind, the placement of your mark will relate to our gifts as well as your own if you were to ever become one of us.”
There was a long silent pause between us, I didn’t really know what to say, I was blown away by all the information which just came out of his mouth. My gaze met with his black eyes which only confused me and I answered without even thinking properly.

“So what makes you think I belong to you, I could easily belong to Hannah.”
Out of everything he’s just told me, I have no idea why I picked at that one thing in particular… well maybe I did know why… I wanted to know why he was so sure that I belonged to him. I mean, he said so himself I have the same birth mark as him and Hannah and I could simply belong to either one of them.
I could feel his eyes burning into me, but I was too nervous to look at him.
“Believe me Josh, your mine.”
I bit down on my lip, debating to argue with him or not.
“Just because I can’t read your mind doesn’t mean I don’t know how you feel towards me.” he says, tilting his head to the side.
“Your human body gives that away all too well, I can see your cheeks flush red everytime you look at me, I can hear your heart beat race and the blood rushing through your veins when I’m somewhat near you, I can see the smile appear on your lips whenever you see me, I can feel your eyes observe me when I enter a room, you stutter most of the time I speak to you. You can try to pretend that you don’t find me attractive Josh, but believe me when I say you are mine and I won’t stop until you give in to me.”

I was lost for words. I really had no idea how to reply to him because he was absolutely right. For someone who can’t read my mind, he read me like an open book. For some time now I’ve had feelings towards Oliver, I’ve never admitted them of course, I just kept them to myself, but the last few weeks we have gotten closer and my feelings were growing stronger but I was to afraid, defiantly now because of his sudden confession but should I really let that get in the way…

He gently placed his hand on my cheek, I was surprised at myself I didn’t jump away at the sudden cold touch. He searched my eyes for any discomfort but I just lost my gaze in his beautiful black orbs which I could honestly stare into forever. I hesitantly lift my hand and hovered it over his cheek, I don’t say anything to him, just ask him with my eyes if it was okay to touch him and he nodded lightly. Still incredibly nervous, I finally place my hand on his cheek and I gasp at the sudden touch.
He felt like hard cold marble, his cheek was smooth but at the same time it felt so delicate, like one of those beautiful china dolls. His eyes never left mine and he sat perfectly still under my touch, I kinda felt like he was allowing me to be in control, like he wanted me to feel comfortable and confident to be able to touch him and to be honest, it made me feel a lot safer too. His eyes fluttered closed and I begin tracing the outlines on his face with my finger tips, making a note to myself of this stunning man in front of me.

He opens his eyes again but the look in them was different, they blazed nothing but lust.
I see Oliver’s eyes look down at my lips and I swallow hard, getting the hint of what might happen next.
“Stay perfectly still Josh.” He whispers.
As if I wasn’t already frozen.
He slowly leaned in towards me, his eyes never leaving mine, my mind and body was telling me to be terrified but I was far from it, and before I could even react, I felt his perfect marble lips press gently against mine.

I felt the blood in my body burn through me and rushed straight to my lips, and I couldn’t help but gasp, breaking the kiss a little. I hear Oliver growl and press his lips straight back to mine, as he begun kissing me hard and hungrily. My fingers of my good hand knotted in his hair, clutching him closer to me and he willing let me do so, I feel his hands tighten around my face as he holds my head in place as his slides his tongue into my mouth and I can’t help but moan at the intense feeling.
My lungs felt like the were on fire, I was desperate for air but I refuse to stop the kiss to breathe, I’ve never felt anything like this before and there was no way I was stopping it for a little bit of air.
Oliver deepen the kiss more, our tongues gliding with one another’s passionately, he came back to my lips, biting and tugging at my bottom lip several times and I was just so overwhelm with the entire kiss to even notice the salty copper taste which filled my mouth.
Oliver bit down harshly on my bottom lip, making me whimper loudly and pull back slightly, only to have him bite at my bottom lip harder, causing me to place my hand against his stone hard chest and push him away.

We finally break apart and I was breathing heavily as I tried to catch back my breath, and that’s when I could taste the blood in my mouth. My trembling fingers touch my swollen lips and the evidence appeared on the tops of my fingers.
My eyes flutter back to Oliver’s who was licking my blood from his lips and I should be absolutely horrified at what I’m actually seeing but I swear I haven’t seen anything so damn hot in all my life.
His eyes suddenly turn wide and they darken greatly. The tingly butterfly feeling soon disappeared from my stomach and was shortly replace with fear once again. I’ve never seen his eyes look like this before, they scared me. These were his vampire eyes, his feeding eyes. I saw him swallow my blood, his lips parting slightly revealing his deadly fangs, his nostrils flared and a low growl escaped his lips.
When I was just about to scream for mercy, he disappeared from the scene within seconds.