Do Mine Eyes Deceive Me...A Gorgeous Sadistic Vampire?

Exactly right. I couldn't possibly fathom any imperfections while Harrison and I lay together on the couch, deep into the night. He was on his back with his hands folded behind his head. I lay on top of him with my head on his shoulder and my right index finger tracing patterns on his chest through the material of his shirt.

"Harrison, I have a question for you?" I whispered, not wanting to disturb the peace.Truly, I worried that if I spoke too loudly, everything would come crashing down back into reality.

"Hmm?" he inquired lazily, but interestedly. "What's that?"

"What ever happened to your parents?" I asked. It was a question I'd been wondering about for a while, but hadn't found the right moment to ask. "I mean, if I'm the only Turned in this school, then you would've had to have been born by two vampire parents, right?"

He didn't respond at first. I could tell by the lack of movement in his chest that he'd stopped breathing - whether it was necessary or not; it was habitual. And when an immortal stopped "breathing," you could count on that it meant they were thinking very hard on something and couldn't quite concentrate on breathing.

"That is a good question, Joanalie," he finally breathed out. "I suppose I haven't offered much information on my personal life or background, have I?" he asked.

I didn't say anything. The question seemed rhetorical, and I didn't want to press it if it would disincline him.

"I'm sorry, Joanalie," he sighed, unclasping his hands from around his head. I wondered if he was trying to get up, so I began to wiggle off of him in a way that wasn't actually ungainly. It had seemed like an impossibility . . . but then again, so did immortality and vampires. "But I don't think we're ready for that just yet. I promise you that I'll tell you, but another time?"

I nodded my head, and began to get up, but his hands were now firmly around my waist. I had to steady my elbows on his chest to keep myself from flopping back against him.

"Don't run away," he pleaded. I looked down into his eyes to see a desperate look. "Please, I'm sorry. I know it's not fair of me to keep these things from you - but there's always a reason."

"I don't want to go anywhere," I told him. It wasn't fair, really. How could he make me feel so vulnerable. I couldn't keep anything from him, even if he couldn't read my mind when we weren't in the same room. I knew I could tell him anything, but that scared me how fast I was able to open up. Even when he'd been horrible to me, I'd been attracted to him. And now, with those memories still fresh on my mind, I felt more deeply about Harrison, and I hardly knew anything about him.

I didn't have to wait for him to initiate anything this time. I leaned down of my own accord and pressed my lips to his softly. He responded eagerly, and soon I felt my bottom lip being tugged at and felt a rumble emanate from deep within Harrison's throat.

I knew how this could end up, and I kissed him harder. Within milliseconds, I found that we'd switched positions and I was now underneath him. One of his hands was curled into a fist in my hair behind me head. The other was kneading his thumb against my hip bone in rhythm with our tongues. I almost laughed, but it felt too good. I didn't even notice my own hands crawling underneath his t-shirt.

That was, not until there was a knock on the door.

We both pulled away and blinked a few times, before jumping out and straightening ourselves out. I looked him over to make sure he was presentable and he did the same for me. Once we'd received the thumbs up from each other, Harrison whispered something in my ear before going to open the door.

This all occurred in the period of about one-and-a-half seconds.

When he opened the door, a young-adult guy stood in the door way. He looked to be in his early twenties, and was good-looking, but not quite handsome or cute. He had gold and black hair that was short and spiky. He was about my height, maybe taller. 5'8"?

My first impression of him was, 'Whoa, Hello Mr. Emo.' Then, I looked into his eyes. One of them was a deep, midnight blue. The other a stormy gray-blue, kind of like a tornado on the sea, if that made any sense. Both of his eyes had cat-like slits for pupils.

"Hey," he said simply. I was sitting on the couch with a book in my lap; the epitome of innocence.

"Hello," Harrison said. "What may I do for you?"

"One of the teachers sent me up here to get you. There's an emergency staff meeting," he explained, looking back and forth between Harrison and I.

"What time is it?" I asked, piping up.

"It's about 8:30," he answered skeptically.

"Oh, well Miss Rivers and I were just going over a few things, since we are both new, I thought I would fill her in on what was to be expected. I figured she might me more comfortable talking with someone else who was new, too," Harrison explained without the slightest infliction.

The guy's face cleared up then, and he no longer looked unsure. "Well, the meeting is in the Teacher's Lounge," he said, before looking at me. "Would you like a tour, new girl?"

I stood up and agreed, remembering that I was supposed to meet Claire this morning at my dorm a little later on. Everyone here was just so friendly.

Harrison held the door for me, and as I passed him I heard another deep rumble from within his throat. This one had a different tone then the sound he'd been making a few moments ago, however. This one sounded angrier, as opposed to . . . desireful.

We walked down the hallway in the opposite direction as Harrison. I would have said goodbye, and I wanted to look back, but I couldn't do anything that would make this guy think there was something more going on.

"So, Miss Rivers, do you have a first name?" he asked

"Yeah," I laughed a little. "Joanalie Joan. And yourself?"

"Shayd Inglo, at your service," he said bowing a little. "Stopped aging at 23-years-of age, and am a fellow immortal, and skilled shape-shifter if I do say so myself."

"Well, Shayd, aren't you the modest one?" I said facetiously. "What kind of tour is this, anyway? I mean, we have only just met."

"Is that supposed to be your imitation of someone trying to act prudent?" he asked, looking as if he were about to burst into laughter.

"Actually, before I was bitten, I was a very prudent girl," I told him, sticking my nose up in the air for emphasis.

"No way!" he exclaimed, jumping into the air a little.

"Really, it's true-"

"You're the new freaky hybrid chick?" he nearly shrieked. I looked down at his red, long-sleeve polo, and khaki cargo shorts.

"Oh, and you also have a way with words," I chuckled.

"Oh, please," he dismissed, as we reached the door that led outside. He held it open for me. "Everybody's been talking about the new celebrity. You're going to be a legend, I know it. With the power I've heard you have, and those looks . . . damn, girl - you're gonna have us all wrapped around your finger and kick Eris right off her high horse!"

I looked around outside. It was beautiful. Tall, impending brick buildings surrounded the cute little courtyard. It was covered in grass and there was a charming fountain in the middle of it all, surrounded my picnic tables and benches.

"I don't want to be kicking anybody anywhere," I told him, kicking at the grass. "I was hoping to just keep a low profile, get good grades, and then scoot out of here and get on with my life. That doesn't seem like a high probability, does it?"

"No, not really," he laughed freely, throwing his head back. "But now you have me as your spectacularly sexy body-guard, right? What else do you need?"

"You don't look like much of a body guard," I admonished, eying his lanky frame.

"Shape-shifter, remember?" he said, pointing to himself. I shook my head, and then watched in awe as a loud popping sound erupted with a cloud of smoke before my eyes where Shayd had been standing.

I cleared away some of the smoke with my hand, coughing in the process. Now, standing before me, was a giant behemoth of a man. Six and a half feet tall, three-feet wide shoulder, and muscles rippling all over the place. He was really pretty scary, actually. His buffness held no appeal for me, seeing as it looked artificially enhanced, and body-builder freaky.

"OK, you've made your point. Now stop being so big," I scolded.

'Joanalie, I want you to be careful around him. You don't know him and he seemed to be hitting on you. Don't let your guard down, but let me know if you need anything,'

So that was what that growl was about? Harrison was jealous? I could have laughed at the ridiculousness of that. Although, I had to admit, the feeling was rather flattering.

'Flattering,' I heard him snort. 'It occasionally amuses me how naive you are.'

I shrugged my shoulder internally and returned to reality where Shayd had just poofed back into his regular size. It was beginning to feel like Claire might not be the only new friend I would be making.

"So, it looks like there's not too much for me to tour around here, and I have to meet somebody back at my dorm at 10, but why don't you show me around?" I suggested. "I mean, that is what we're doing, right?"

"Well," he began in a playful tone. "You could say that. But, how could I resist asking you to come along with me this morning. Do you know how sweet you looked sitting on that couch with this concentrated look on your face while staring down at that book?"

"Shut up!" I punched him in the shoulder hard enough that it would hurt so he would know I wasn't into that kind of thing, but soft enough to let him know that I was sort of joking around.

'You can convey all that through a punch?'

I rolled my eyes and ignored his comment. I could tell Harrison was trying to keep from laughing at my thought process, but obviously pleased at my motives.

'Men!' I shot back.

Then, I turned to see the look on Shayd's face. He was so nice, I really hoped that he would be my friend. I could see he, Claire, and myself all becoming the new happy trio around school, albeit the only other student I had even seen had been Eris. I wasn't quite sure how she would play into that friendship - but most likely, she wouldn't.

His eyes became clouded, and I couldn't tell anything from the expression on his face. "OK,:" he said, forcing an enthusiastic tone. "Well, actually there's a lot to see around here. I can show you the common rooms, the cafeteria, the lounges (which are different than common rooms, of course), and the gift shops, libraries, and food stops."

"Sounds like a plan!" I replied. "But just make sure we're back at Building C by 10:00. There's someone I want you to meet, if you two don't already know each other . . ."

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