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

"You guys, I'm really sorry. I just don't know if it's a good idea or not," I explained to them, pacing back and forth in front of where they sat on the fountain. It was a beautiful day, classes were over, and Shayd, Claire, and I were hanging out in the courtyard.

Basically, we'd met up after my last class (the rest of the day had been uneventful, and Harrison hadn't even been there to teach his class - he'd hired a substitute) and they knew something was up. Now, I was debating if I should tell them, and if I did, how much I could tell them. Yes, this is the type of problems secrecy causes! Once again, I thought of how unnecessary it was that Harrison suggested we keep our relationship a secret. And of course, I was also wondering if I'd been too harsh on him. I mean, he was knew to this whole being a good person thing, but I was afraid he'd taken it too far.

"Joan, you haven't known either of us for very long and the two of us were certainly not friends before, but we know how to keep a secret," Claire said. She was good at that, you know? Saying the right thing at the right time. It must be a faerie thing.

I looked at Shayd for reassurance. He nodded his head. "It's true, Joanie," he teased. "I'm a brick wall when it comes to secrets. Plus, I don't have many good enough friends to tell anything personal to anyways."

He shrugged when I looked at him questioningly. "See, guys like me," he gestured to his hair and his clothing. "are outcasts in the immortal world. Right, that's not a surprise, but I mean like there are literally only a couple of, I think you would label me as 'emo' beings that are immortal."

"I don't believe in labels," I scoffed.

"What a prude," Claire muttered under her breath, before looking up at me with a bright smile. I stuck my tongue out at her and she giggled.

Okay, these guys were my friends. I did trust them, I just didn't know them well enough. It's not my fault I'm new to this whole immortal thing. For all I knew, they became friends within a day all the time.

I still just felt like I needed to . . . ask permission before I divulged anything . . . or everything for that matter. I can just imagine what a weight would be lifted if anybody else knew my whole story, beginning from the night Harrison and I met. The last time I saw my parents. The night Sari was murdered. The moment two people's existences changed forever.

'Tell them.'

That was all I needed to hear. I was elated that Harrison spoke to me, and even happier that I knew he wouldn't be mad when he found out I told somebody what happened. I looked up at my friends.

Then, it all came spilling out. Every last detail that I could remember over the past couple months just tumbled right out of my mouth in furious whispers. All the while, I was making sure there were no eavesdroppers to this little powwow. I was speaking so fast that a human would have heard nothing but possibly a faint buzzing sound, and I could tell it was taking Shayd and Claire all of their concentration to keep up with me.

It went from Harrison biting me, all the way to the Banquet, all the way to when Devlin came into the picture and Harrison left, all the way to the Coming Out party when I realized the truth, all the way to Devlin's funeral and my transmutation, to me discovering what the hell type of immortal I am, to us having to come to school and hide our relationship.

When I finished, there were tears in my eyes, then flowing down my face. But the weight had lifted that I was hoping for, and I felt as light as a feather. Everything was a blur, and I didn't even notice when my feet left the ground. I wrapped my arms around myself and had no idea that my friends were calling my name while I hovered in the air and cried all my tears away.

I descended slowly back down to earth at the same time that my violent flow of tears ceased. I just sat there on the ground for a few seconds, until Shayd sat down beside me and pulled me into his arms. Then Claire came to the other side and put a hand on my back. It was comforting. These were my friends. They weren't judging me or running away. They were just here for me, and that was more than I could have needed.

"Rivers," a voice barked. I lifted my head from Shayd's shoulder to see Cal standing there. The three of us stood up, all sort of still in a group hug.

"What?" Claire snapped. That surprised me; I hadn't seen this side of her before, but she was standing up for me, and it was almost kind of funny.

Mr. Livend shot her a look before returning his gaze to me. My friends tightened their grip. "Report back to my classroom . . . now," he ordered before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Over my dead body," Shayd muttered, beginning to march off after Cal. I felt his body begin to rumble, and I knew what was about to happen.

"No, stop!" I protested. "It's okay, I can go."

He calmed down, but Claire was giving me a stern look. "Joan, I really don't think you're in a fit state to talk to anyone right now. You should relax for a while."

"Thanks for your concern, thank you for listening, and thank you for being my friends," I told them with all the genuineness I knew how to muster. "I'll have to make it up to you. But I'm not unstable or anything . . . anymore, at least. I should go; he's a teacher after all.

"We're not doing you any favors, Joan. We care about you, and it's what friends do. And, we'll be talking to you about all of . . . your experiences later. I don't know about Claire, but I have some questions," Shayd said seriously.

"Alright, I'll count on it," I gave them one last smile, before heading in the direction of Cal's classroom. I wondered why he had sounded so angry, and so serious. I wondered if he'd heard anything and what could possibly be so urgent.

I didn't knock on his door when I got there. I didn't feel the need to. I just opened it and walked in. "What do you want, Cal?"

He looked up from where he sat, smirking in his desk chair. "Now, I'm thinking you probably don't want to hear the answer to that question."

"Pig," I grumbled under my breath, but plenty loud enough for him to hear.

He just chuckled in a way that frankly, annoyed me. "But I will tell you what I called you up here for."

"Go on," I said, sitting down in one of the student desks.

"You need help controlling your powers," he said simply, standing up.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was only sort of playing dumb. I knew where he was getting at, but at the same time, I didn't see the importance of it.

"You had a breakdown back there. And, well I understand why. You've been through hell and back, but you lost control and your powers took over. Luckily, the extent of it that time only resulted in your floating up into the air, but it will only get worse the longer you put off training," he explained.

"You mean . . . you heard all of what I said?" I asked, ignoring anything else he said. I was beginning to slip into panic mode.

"Sure I did, but you shouldn't be worried about that. I knew most of it already, anyways. That's a story for another time, but as for now, you need to accept me as your tutor for controlling those incredible powers of yours."

How did he know? Why was he the one who had to help me control my powers? Why was he just always showing up everywhere? What was with his undesired infatuation with me?

I didn't like all of the questions running through my head. But I knew he was the only one who would be able to answer them, and if I could really cause something horrible to happen because of my lack of control, then I didn't really have any other choice.

Then, two voices sounded at the same time. Of course, Cal could only hear one of them - mine - but I heard them both as if they were my own.

"I'll do it," I answered.

'Don't do it.'

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