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

I was back in my dorm now, trying to concentrate on homework. I wasn't doing a very good job of it. I had tutoring with Cal Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays every week until he was satisfied, and I was Harrison was no longer communicating with me. I tried hundreds of times to ask him why the hell he told me not to do it, but I was never answered.

Then, it occurred to me that I'd never really tapped into Harrison's mind. Sure, I'd talked to him via our minds, but I'd never actually tried to get inside his head and figure out what he was doing, like he always seemed to be able to do with me. Hence, I concentrated very hard on that connection that flowed between our brains. It was like a vein of ore in a cave and I was a miner whose job it was to follow that copper vein to its final destination, which in this case, was Harrison's thoughts.

Once I'd latched onto the connection, I relaxed and went with the flow that would take me into his mind. When I got there, all I saw was a ceiling. The ceiling in his room. What, was he just lying around on his couch staring at the ceiling? I concentrated harder to feel what he was thinking.

'Joanalie, you're contradicting yourself' he told me. Crap, I've been discovered.

'I just want to know why you told me not to take Cal up on his tutoring offer,' I explained.

'Yeah, well I'll tell you once I've found myself,' he mocked.

'You cannot tell me you didn't realize that you weren't acting like yourself. I just didn't want you to become someone you aren't because of me'

'I know, but I don't know who I am, Joanalie. I've changed from one person to another already. I can't be the bloodthirsty monster you first met and the over-sensitive pushover at the same time.'

'And I understand that you're confused. Hell, how do you think I feel? But I know you can do it. You just have to stop trying to be the kind of guy you think I want you to be. You have to be spontaneous and not think so much before you act. Then, I know you'll be able to find yourself.'

'Does this mean you're not mad anymore?'

'I was never mad at you. I was just frustrated with you.'

"Right," he laughed.

'So, are you going to tell me why I shouldn't let Cal tutor me?'

"You can stop talking to me in your mind, Joanalie. I'm right here," he said.

I sprung up off my bed to see Harrison standing there.

"I thought I locked my door," I told him, surprise overcoming my enormous relief to see him again. Ew, was I that needy? We'd been apart for a few hours, maybe and I could barely stand to be apart from him.

He pointed to himself. "Vampire, remember?" I laughed at the memory.

Then, I was in his arms. With my face at his neck, I took a deep breath. How was it, that he always smelled so good? Was that creepy of me? Oh, well.

I pulled away to look up at him, but he was busy kissing my neck. His arms were locked around my waist, and I really didn't feel like pulling away. But, I was finally strong enough to detach myself from him.

"Ah, ah, ah," I scolded. "Fun later, explanations now."

"Only if you come back here," he negotiated. I sighed, faking resignation.

"I don't want you going away this time," he said into my hair. "And you know why I don't want Cal tutoring you. Because, I'm finding out that the real me . . . yeah, he's a jealous guy. I'm sorry Joanalie, but you're not Cal's girlfriend. You're mine, and I couldn't be more ecstatic, which is why I don't want someone who is so obviously infatuated with you in such a close proximity."

"You don't have to be sorry, Harrison," I told him. "I'm glad the real you is shining through, and I might actually be worried if you weren't a little unenthusiastic about the Cal thing. Lucky for you though, I'm head over heels for you! I don't like Mr. Livend . . . at all, not really even as a teacher. I'm doing this for my benefit, and for the rest of the immortal world's. I don't want anything bad to happen because of my lack of control."

He groaned, and I could tell he saw the reasonable side of that. Then, he perked up and I could practically feel him smiling.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, I have an idea!' he announced. He pulled something out of his pocket and stepped back a few feet from me. I saw that he was holding a cell phone.

He held it up to his ear. "Yeah, it's Harrison . . ." I heard Cal's voice on the other end before Harrison told him to come to my room number so they could negotiate something.

"What do you think you're doing?" I whisper-yelled. "When he comes in here and sees the two of us in my bedroom, he'll know something is up!"

"That's the point," he said, tapping his temple as if I were naive.

Before I could protest, there was a knock at the door. Harrison went to open it without another word.

"How nice of you to join is, Professor Livend," Harrison said politely, closing the door behind him.

"Is this your room, Joan?" Cal asked, looking at me. "Ha, why doesn't this surprise me? You two are together, and you'd like to negotiate tutoring arrangements to the boyfriend's liking?" He looked at me while he spoke, but I felt no hint of guilt.

"Yes, actually we would. Now, we're only going to agree to this if-" Harrison was cut off.

"We're?" Cal repeated. "I believe this is Joan's decision to make. Not yours, Professor Rhinehart."

"We make decisions as a couple," Harrison shot back. "Anyways, like I was saying, you have to agree to a few conditions. First, you can't tell anyone about our relationship which you seemed to already know about. Second, I'll be walking Joanalie to and from every session, and I'd like a list of what you plan on doing for me to approve."

Then, Cal burst out laughing. I didn't know why. But, I didn't see why Harrison was acting so overbearing again.

"What are you? Her babysitter? God, man, give the girl her space!" Cal accused.I didn't want to admit my agreement with him, so the only thing for me do was defend my boyfriend.

"No, he's my boyfriend," I said shortly. "And I don't blame him for wanting to know what kinds of things you might have planned." Then, I turned to look at Harrison. "But, I think we can do without a list. You'll hear everything through . . . I mean, I'll tell you everything that happens anyways, and I promise to leave or refuse if any of his demands or unreasonable."

Oops, I almost told Cal about mine and Harrison's mind connection. I was pretty sure that I wasn't supposed to let anyone else know about that.

Harrison thought about it for a second, and Cal shrugged in agreement to the terms. "Fine," Harrison finally said.

"We have a deal, then," I announced.

©Copyrighted