Time Stood Still

Chapter 12: But The Taste Of Blood Remains.

Josh's POV

Half an hour must have passed and my bottom lip had finally stopped bleeding. My lip was swollen and tender and I still had a nasty copper taste lingering in my mouth which made me have the urge to spit but I resisted.

I contemplated on leaving the light house, but in all honesty, I had no idea how to find my way back home from here and it would probably take me hours to find the way no doubt. I knew my mum would be going crazy; it’s been about five hours or more since I went for my “one hour walk” maybe staying up here wasn’t such a bad idea.

I was sat slouched over the cushion sofa staring out to sea admiring the view, it was a nice day after all and I was soon lost in deep thought.
I didn’t really know how to get my head around all what’s happened the last few hours.
So, Oliver was a vampire. A vampire I feel madly attracted to and we just kissed…very hot and passionately I may add and then he made me bleed which then made him look like he was going to kill me. So yeah, today had turned into an eventful day filled with one surprise and fear after another.
How am I supposed to act around him now? I mean, I do really like him and man he’s a good kisser… but on the other hand he’s a vampire and he wanted to drink my blood… or am I suppose to forget that part didn’t happen? Don’t get me wrong, I’m bouncing with joy like a pathetic little school girl that I had my first kiss with the hottest guy in town but the down side to this all, is that he’s not even human.

I sighed in frustration, I didn’t know what to do with myself, Oliver just disappeared. He just left me here in the light house, I was hoping for him to come back sometime soon its been way over an hour now, he can’t just leave me here and expect me to find my way home on my own, I’m only human after all.

A familiar cold breezed appeared behind me and I instantly whip my head round hoping to see Oliver but instead I was met with a small petite pixie girl, her eyes black and wide like her brothers, her skin white as snow, her short black hair scooped under her chin, her body looking elegant as always as her little black dress reached the tops of her knees revealing all her leg tattoos, of course it was Hannah.

She smiles a small innocent smile at me, which I politely return and she steps towards me but I instantly freeze against the sofa, I forgot she was a vampire as well and there was blood stains on the sleeve of my denim jacket from my lip and my heart immediately begins to beat with fear.
She instantly stops walking towards me and sends me a reassuring smile, probably noticing how nervous I’d become in fear she was going to act differently to her brother. I was just getting used to one vampire let alone another one…

“It’s okay Josh.” Her voice sounding so sweet and innocent, exactly like the lovely girl I sit next to in my art class.
I shifted on my seat, my eyes looking to her and then the floor nervously; I just wanted Oliver to come back for me.
“Where’s… where’s Oliver?” I whispered.
“I’ve come to take you home.”
She smiles, now standing at the top of the spiral stairs hinting for us to leave the light house. She avoided answering my question about the where abouts of her brother, I hesitated for a moment wondering if I should ask her again but she probably just avoid it again. And despite all my fears, I get up from my seat and start making my way down the light house stairs. Hannah’s personality is completely different from Oliver’s, I felt like I could trust her, I’m so used to her as the innocent shy pixie girl in my art class to even write her off as an deadly blood drinking demon… and maybe that might cost me my life one day.

~~~

I sighed heavily as I leant against the small brick wall outside my house, I didn’t want to go inside because I knew what was to come from my mum, an endless argument which would probably have me grounded for the rest of my life or another slap across the face. I just wanted to see Oliver and talk to him about everything to make sure we were alright, its only been a few hours but I couldn’t help but feel like I did something wrong.

“Come on then.” Hannah’s sweet voice breaks me out of my own voice, leaving me confused.
“Come on what?”
“I’m going to help you through your bedroom window.”
“What?” my eyes widen in disbelief, there is no way she was insisting that she’d carry me through my window, like Oliver once did before.
She giggles shaking her head.
“Josh I’m perfectly capable of carrying you through your window.”
She’s got to be joking right?
She’s just so tiny and cute, vampire or not I couldn’t believe she could be so ridiculously powerful and strong. She was just the sweetest girl I’ve ever met and there is no way she would be able to carry me through my window, I’m a lump.

She holds out her hand for me but I refuse to take it, there’s just no way I was going to let her try and carry me. Once she knew I wasn’t going to participate, she rolls her eyes and takes my hand anyway and without a single second to protest, the next thing I know we’re already in my bedroom and I’m hit with the biggest rush of sea sickness. I literally just felt like I was on the fastest scariest roller coaster in my life but somehow blinked and missed it.

Hannah lightly places me back on my feet and I can’t help but stumble back onto my bed from the light headiness.
“Whoa.” I say, resting my good hand over my face to try and stop the dizziness.
“Sorry, but you was going to be difficult.”
“That’s for good reason!” I cringe at the horrid urge of wanting to throw up.
“You’ll get used to that Josh.”
I remove my hand from my face and raise my eyebrows. Used to it? Oh I forgot, Oliver said she can see the future, which means she’s obviously seen me being carried around by these vampires on more than one occasion.

When the dizziness soon faded I remained seated on my bed, apart of me felt a little awkward to be around Hannah now. One reason being, I now knew she was a vampire and I wasn’t exactly sure how to act around her incase I did something “human” which would cause her to want to kill me and the other simply being I just made out with her brother and she most likely saw it happen through her vampire visions. So yeah, just a bit awkward.
Hannah stood a few feet away from me, both of us allowing the silence betweens us to grow louder and the more it did the more my thoughts kept thinking about Oliver and where did he run off to and did Hannah know what he was doing at this precise moment in time? Would she tell me if I asked? Probably not, but it was worth a try, I was getting worried…

“Is Oliver okay?”
“He’ll be fine Josh, he just needs a little time to cool down.”
“Was it because he made me… bleed?” asked timidly, I feel extremely awkward to even mention blood around them now.
“Stop stressing your pretty little head, he’s going to be fine, trust me.”
“I can’t help but think that me bleeding caused him to act the way he did… I’ve ruined everything haven’t I?” my worried eyes met with hers, she just smiles to herself.
“The taste of your blood gave him a little head rush so to speak, that’s all.”

I felt really guilty at the thought of my blood making Oliver feel really uncomfortable, I didn’t want to cause him pain, I wanted him to feel like he could be near me without suffering.
I shrugged myself out of my denim jacket; I didn’t want the blood stains to make Hannah feel uncomfortable either or give her any reason to want to bite me… one bite from a vampire is enough for today. I grabbed my jacket and throw it across my room hoping it would land in my laundry basket, but only having one arm and sitting at an off angle on my bed, my jacket completely missed and knocked over a glass of water I had on my desk, making it smash when it hit the floor.
Shit, nice one Josh.

“Joshua!” I flinch as I hear my mother’s voice, soon followed with loud foot steps coming up the stairs.
“Oh no.” I whispered, I knew what was coming and to save myself from the shame and embarrassment from mine and my mothers relationship, I scramble off from the bed and stand in front of Hannah, not too sure of what to do with her… why couldn’t she just disappear at the speed of light like Oliver did? She was just standing there staring at me with those big black eyes acting like nothing was wrong but little did she know what goes on behind these close doors when no one else is here to witness.

“Josh calm down, nothing is going to happen.”
“No you don’t understand, please just disappear!” I say panicking, pushing her towards my window. She had no idea what my mother was capable of and what she had done to me before, Oliver swore to never tell anyone so I knew Hannah had no idea and I really didn’t want her to hang around to find out either.

“I told you an hour!” my mother yells, storming into my room without even knocking.
I spin round in panic, pushing Hannah behind me hoping she’d get the hint to try and stay hidden.
“I’ve had it with you and you’re behaviour and I’ll take no more of it Joshua!” she yells, pointing her finger at me and she comes towards me.
I hang my head, trying my best to block her out and pretend that this wasn’t the most embarrassing thing happening right now. Funny thing about all this is, that there’s a vampire standing in my room and I fear my mum more than I fear Hannah right now… how fucked up is that? I feel Hannah’s cold smooth hand wrap around my arm as she creeps around the side of me, appearing visible to my mum. Fuck Hannah, what are you doing?!

My mum freezes when she sees Hannah standing next to me, she seems completely mesmerised by her and shuts up which is a first.

“Oh, who’s this?” she asks.
“I’m Hannah Sykes.” Hannah smiles as she continues clutching onto my arm sending a cold shiver to run down my spine, I was still getting used to how cold they were. Hannah then rests her head against my arm, sending my mother innocents smiles and then look back up at me. Oh god, was she actually pretending to flirt with me in front of my mum? I smile back awkwardly.
“Hello Hannah.”
“It’s my fault Josh is back home late, I hope I don’t get him into any trouble.”
“Joshua’s middle name is trouble, he doesn’t need to shift the blame onto anyone else.”
I roll my eyes at her comment.
“Even so, I’d hate to think I got Joshua into trouble, we just bumped into each other and got carried away talking, and one thing led to another.”

My mouth literally dropped opened, was Hannah for real? I shouldn’t complain my mum was actually buying everything Hannah was saying to her. My mum’s mood had completely changed all thanks to Hannah and I guess I was grateful for that.

I noticed my mum looking at me and then at Hannah and then back at me and frowning as her eyes fell to my mouth.

“Well I can see your mouth has been doing all the talking Joshua.” She says.
My hand flings to my lips, instantly wincing at the pain as my finger tips trace over my swollen cut lip and that’s when I register what my mum was referring too. I could feel my cheeks burn red with embarrassment, she was trying to humiliate me in front of Hannah and she was doing a pretty good job at it too, I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.
And to make it worse, Hannah was giggling into my arm, obviously she knew what my mum was hinting at as well and she did nothing to deny it either, she just simply played along to allow my mum to believe we’ve been making out until my lips were sore. Oh my god, could things get anymore awkward?!

“Anyway Josh, I better be going. I’ll see you soon okay?” Hannah says, pulling herself away from my arm and smiling up at me. I had a feeling I’ll be seeing her sooner than I intend to.
“It was nice meeting you Mrs Franceschi.”
“It’s Ms Smith now thank you.”
“My apologies.” Hannah smiles before walking out of my room and seeing herself out. I felt reluctant to let her leave, I wanted to talk about Oliver but I knew now wasn’t the best time when my mum was here.

“Wow, she’s absolutely beautiful. Not too keen on her tattoos though… but she’s very beautiful.” My mum says, completely mesmerise by Hannah.
I shake my head; of course she had to pick at something. But she turns to me and scolds.
“If you plan on hiding girls in your room Joshua, I hope you’re being sensible and using safety measures.”
“Mum!” I hiss, cringing.
Oh my god! She did not just say that. Just because there was a girl in my room, she automatically assumes I’m having sex! How could I even have sex with one arm? Well, I’m sure there’s ways but that’s beside the point. She had no idea what she was even talking about, how she’s got it so wrong. Little did my mum know it was the beautiful girl’s brother I was into… and how I was already craving to have so much more of him.

~~~

I decided to go to college this morning, I was getting fed up of being grounded and having no one to talk to besides my mum, and let’s face it, there was no conversation there.
Oliver wasn’t answering any of my texts, and I couldn’t help but feel like I’ve ruined things betweens us. I shouldn’t have let him kiss me, I should have known kissing a vampire wouldn’t end well… but at the time, I wasn’t thinking.

I decided not to tell Vic I was coming to college today because I wanted to surprise him. I haven’t seen him in days and to be perfectly honest, I missed him… a lot actually.
When I reached the bus stop at the top of my road I missed my bus by literally minutes! So I had to wait for the next one which me made me an hour late for college, man how I hate buses in the country side, in London I wouldn’t have this problem, there’s a bus literally every two minutes. Oh well, its not like anyone was expecting me to show up anyway.

By the time I got to college it was already lunch time, so I headed straight for the crowded lunch hall. I searched the room for a certain face hoping he or his sister would be here but couldn’t find either of them, I sighed. I should have known they wouldn’t be here. I pushed my way through the busy lunch crowd and found my friends sitting in the usual spot in the canteen. Vic had his back to me, he was so easy to spot from everyone else, he had his own little unique style. He had his snapback on backwards like always, his shoulder length curls stood out against the large white t-shirt he was wearing which drown his small frame and I soon realise I’m smiling to myself as I stood from a far and took him in. He was in deep conversation with Jaime which gave me the perfect opportunity to surprise him.
As I slowly approach Vic, Tony who was sitting opposite him sees me and smiles but I bring my finger to my lips to signal him not to give me away and he goes back to acting like he hasn’t seen me.
When I’m close enough, I place my hand on Vic’s shoulder making him jump in fright and he looks up above to see who was standing behind him and his beautiful brown eyes widen when he realises its me.

“Josh!”
Vic leaps up from his seat, and practically throws his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug forgetting that my arm was in a sling and still in pretty bad shape.
“Ow Vic.”
“Oh sorry.” He says, pulling away with an apologetic smile on his face.
“Why didn’t you say you were coming to college today, I would have picked you up.”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
He smiles grows bigger in response but soon turns into a frown when his eyes fall to my swollen lip.
“What happened to your lip?”
“Oh err, nothing, I just bit it.” I say hanging my head and covering my mouth with my hand, suddenly feeling really paranoid that he would start suspecting things.
Thankfully he doesn’t question it further but pulls me down to the seat next to him and flings his arm around my neck and pulls me in closer to him.
“I’m so glad your back Josh, these guys have been boring me to death.”
“Oh well I’m sorry we don’t appeal to you anymore.” Jaime says, making us all laugh.
I felt like I hadn’t laughed in such a long time, I already felt so much better being out of the house and around my friends again, I definitely need this.

The group starts to talk amongst themselves which let me and Vic able to talk to each other without anyone getting involved.
“How’s home been?” I knew he was hinting about my mum and wondering if there’s been anymore abuse, thankfully there hasn’t but I guess my swollen lip tells him otherwise.
“Alright. Thought coming to college would give me some room to breathe, you know?” I sigh, already feeling loads better talking to him about home.
“You’re always welcome around mine, if you ever need a place to escape.”
“Thanks Vic, that means a lot.”
“No problem.” We both smile at each other, having a little moment but its soon interrupted by the groups drama queen.

“Oh look who’s back in the arms of his knight in shining armour.”
“What?” I asked feeling confused at Kellin’s comment towards me as he joins the table with Kate.
“It didn’t take you long did it Franceschi?”
“Shut up Kells.” Vic warns, glaring at Kellin.
“Just saying.”
“Well don’t.” Vic hisses, shutting Kellin up and making the rest of the group fall silent and have all their eyes land on us.
I shift in my seat feeling slightly uncomfortable at the whole situation. Have I missed something? Why was Kellin being such a prick towards me for?
I frown, turning my head towards Vic.
“What’s that all about?” I whispered not wanting the others to hear, as they all continued with their own conversations.
“I’ll tell you later.” He sighs, before pulling me closer to his side.

~~~

The rest of the day dragged by slowly, I missed my music lesson with Vic in the morning and when English came around after lunch, I was sat alone because of course Oliver didn’t show. I started to feel like he was avoiding me… he probably was and maybe it was a good thing, I didn’t want to cause him to want to drink my blood again. But then again, I felt like I needed to see him, I needed to see if he was okay and to see if we were okay. He kinda left me hanging with no expiation at all, so now I’m left tearing my mind apart about everything’s what’s happened.

I was now in the car home with Vic, Mike had work at one of the beaches near college so it was just me and Vic alone in the car. We were about half way to mine and we hadn’t really spoken to one another.

“Are you alright?” Vic says, glancing towards me and then back at the road.
“Yeah, I just have a headache.” I mumble, apart of it was true. I was still suffering from headaches from the accident and I still couldn’t stop thinking about Oliver, his absences were kinda getting me down.
I send Vic a small smile anyway to let him know that I was okay; I didn’t want him to worry and start asking more questions about my mood, but then I remembered he still hasn’t explained while Kellin was being such a bitch to me earlier.

“You gonna tell me why Kellin was being such a bitch?”
“You really don’t remember much from Halloween do you?”
“Not really, no.”
Vic frowns, suddenly going all quiet and I knew something was wrong.
“What’s wrong Vic?”
“Nothing.” He answers bluntly.
“Oh come on, don’t lie to me. Something obviously happened that night which is bothering you that I can’t remember!” I press; I wasn’t buying the ‘nothing is wrong’ act. I could tell something was on his mind and I was determined to find out what.
I watch him sigh before he glances back at me.
“You told me that Kellin warned you to stay away from me, like he didn’t like us being close.”

Shit yeah, I remember Kellin interrogating me about Oliver and he basically told me to keep my hands off of Vic because I was leading him on and I would hurt him or some shit. I forgot all about that.
“Oh yeah, I kinda remember him saying something. Is that why he was being such a bitch at lunch cos you had your arm around me?”
“I guess so. I confronted him about it the other day and I told him to butt out, but you know what Kellin’s like.”
“Yeah.” I mumble, turning away from Vic and glancing out the window. I was kinda annoyed, annoyed that I forgotten all about it and annoyed at Kellin over all. Like who the fuck does he think he is? What a prick. Now that I remember I won’t be so nice when he comments about us again.

I felt Vic place his hand on the top of my thigh and I literally whip my head round, looking at him with wide eyes.
“You said you wanted to keep us private.” He says, noticing my shocked reaction.
“Keep what private?”
“Halloween you said you wanted to keep the ‘touchy feely’ stuff to ourselves... you don’t remember saying that either?”
“No.” I shake my head trying to remember but I really didn’t.
“Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.” He says taking his hand off my thigh and back on the steering wheel. My heart ached when I saw how hurt he looked and of course I wanting the contact back.
“No no it’s fine, sorry, I just don’t remember saying it that’s all.”
“So you’re okay with it? You don’t mind?” he asks, making sure I was really okay with it.
I nod my head at him and he places his hand back on my thigh and I smile back, placing my hand on top of his. My heart was actually beating like crazy, well hello again butterfly feeling.
Fuck Josh what are you doing? I really don’t know where my mind is right now, but I couldn’t resist, my body was screaming for attention.
Yesterday I made out with Oliver and apparently I belong to him but he’s just disappeared and ignoring me and I don’t know what to think. And now, I’m telling Vic that its okay for him to touch me wherever and apparently I told him before its fine and god knows whatever else I’ve said, I dread to think. Shit, I just don’t know what to think anymore. I like both Oliver and Vic so I guess its official that I’m into guys seeing as I’m allowing myself to let them both have their way with me… I guess Kellin has every right to be pissed at me for flirting around with Vic, but I guess its harmless fun as anything’s official with either of them just yet.

~~~

When Vic dropped me home, we agreed that he would pick me up tomorrow like usual as I decided I’ll be going back to college. I was home alone which I liked, mum had gone back to work seeing as I’ve gone back to college, so I guess she was working overtime to make up for the days she’s missed. I drop my rucksack on the floor and begin to look through the kitchen cupboards for something to eat and found myself making a pot noodle as it was easy and quick and I was starving and couldn’t be bothered to cook anything. I head upstairs after I finish eating and go straight to the bathroom. I turn on the shower and start to undress myself while I wait for the water to get warm, it was actually the first time I’d taken my arm out of the sling and unwrapped all the bandages from my upper arm. It still felt extremely sore and from what I could see it was still heavily bruised. I don’t waste much time looking at my arm and step into the shower when the water was warm enough, I wince at the pain as the water pouring from above me hit my bruised arm, I didn’t think showering could be so damn hard, so I basically stuck my bad arm out the shower curtain and showered quickly.

Once showered, I walk into my room and dump my dirty clothes on my desk chair and pull out some sweatpants and a baggy grey t-shirt to change into. I towel dry my hair quickly, dropping the towel on the floor when I was done and stand in front of my full length mirror to take a better look at my arm. I couldn’t be bothered to wrap it up in bandages again so I’ll just left it for tonight. My arm was still heavily bruised; The dark purple and blue colouring stained my pure pale skin. I ran my finger tips gently across the bruises, hissing in pain as the area was still very tender and sore. I notice a funny shape pattern around the inside of my bicep. I frown looking down at it and again looking at it through the mirror, twisting my arm around to try and make out what have cause it to bruise in such an odd pattern.

Cold marble fingers gently wrap their way around my tender bruises on my arm making me gasp at the sudden touch and surprise of someone else being in the room without my acknowledgement. I look up instantly and see Oliver standing behind me, his black orbs staring down at my stained coloured arm but my eyes don’t leave his face.

“I’m so sorry.” He says, in barely a whisper.
“Oliver?”
His eyes still remain on my arm while I try and figure out what to say.
“I.. I..” I stuttered, I didn’t really know what to say to him, I was just glad to see him again.
“You’re arm is worse than I thought.”
My eyes shifted to him and the floor, I felt nervous, I was happy to see him but at the same time I didn’t really know what to say or do with myself.

“You were avoiding me.” I finally managed to confirm, frowning when I do.
“I had to.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong Josh.” He says, finally pulling his gaze away from my arm and at me.
“I did. You disappeared because I made you feel uncomfortable...” I looked away, feeling guilty.
“No Josh, that’s not why I disappeared.”
He steps in front of me and places his hands on my hips keeping me firmly in place.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you and I’m sorry that I avoided you. But seriously Josh don’t feel guilty, you did nothing wrong. Your body only reacted the way it was supposed to.”
“Stupid human body.” I muttered.
Oliver cups my cheek with his hand, causing me to only flinch a little at the coldness but making me look at him nonetheless and he lightly traces over my swollen bottom lip with his thumb. His dark eyes closely fixed on my lips as he examines his damage.

I could feel my pulse start to race, but all he was doing was checking how badly he had bitten me but I couldn’t control the way I was feeling towards him. The butterflies were going crazy at the pit of my stomach and my body just felt like it was on fire, I had a sudden urge to lean forward and attempt to kiss him again, but my body was frozen. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from his beautiful face, I didn’t have the strength to lean forward, I couldn’t take being teased by his adamant black eyes examining my body anymore, I knew what I wanted and I wanted him now.

So I did the only thing I thought I could get his attention, well, when I finally managed to find my voice again I could only handle to choke out a couple of words which were literally so quiet, I doubt he even heard me.

“K-kiss me.”