Innocence - Chapter 16

When I woke up, I was blinded by the light coming from the double doors leading out to the balcony. I stood up and strode over to them. They were opened.

“Aden?” I called.

“Out here.” He called back. I went onto the balcony and saw Aden standing on the balcony, soaking up the sun with his shirt off. My heart skipped a beat as he turned around to face me. His chest was as pale and smooth looking as the rest of his body. Every muscle was pronounced through his tight skin.

I looked up at his eyes and noticed they were as bright green as the grass outside.

He chuckled. I was pretty sure it was because of my heart. “Good morning. How did you sleep?”

“Great. I see had a nice night yourself.”

“I went with Ryan.”

“When did you leave?”

“When you were sleeping.”

I stared at him. “And when did you get back?”

“About 20 minutes ago.”

I walked over to him. “Don’t you sleep?”

“No.” he said sincerely.

“Why not?”

He grinned. “Because I don’t have to.”

I looked at him stunned. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not alive.”

I stood there dazed. What did he say?

“Come here.” He held out his hand to me. I put mine in his and he brought it to my chest. “You feel that?”

I nodded. I felt my heart beat. It felt like it was trying to come out of my chest. Then he brought my hand to his chest.

“You feel anything?”

I concentrated hard but I couldn’t. I looked up at him with my eyes wide.

“Your not—“ I mumbled.

“No.” he admitted. I pulled my hand away from his chest and looked out at the horizon. All I could see was trees. I assumed that was where they hunted.

“Does that bother you?”

I looked over at Aden and met his gaze. He seemed upset. “No, I’m just thinking.”

“There’s a full moon tomorrow night you know. I could take you flying when it’s dark.”

“Why when it’s dark? I love the sun.”

“A full moon as other side affects as well. Flying is the only good thing.”

“Like what?” I asked curiously.

“On days of a full moon—if I step into the sun I will burst into flames.”

“Oh—so tomorrow night it is.”

He chuckled. “There’s more. I also become more powerful, stronger than any other day. The thirst for blood becomes more pronounced and I—I don’t know how bad it will be with you here with me. Today is the last chance I get to be in the sun before I have to go into the basement with everyone else. I don’t know what we are going to do with you.”

“I want to stay with you.” I winned.

“We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.” After a long pause he said, “So what do you want to do today?”

I smiled. “Not get killed?”

He smiled back. “Good plan.”

I took his hand and we headed for the kitchen to have breakfast.

The rest of the day Aden and I spent our time outside. We played soccer, had a picnic in the front yard and went to the oak tree. When we came back from our walk, Ryan and Clark told us it was time to eat dinner. Aden and I decided we weren’t hungry so we went and sat on the front yard.

We both were on our backs looking at the clouds go by. “Your mom doesn’t need to keep making dinner for me you know. I’m fine with making myself something.”

“I think she enjoys it. She hasn’t ever been around this much. I think she misses having to care for her family.”

“Well I don’t want to ruin her fun.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. I like Amy anyways.” I looked over at Aden and saw he had his eyes

closed. “Why can you go in the sun?”

He opened one eye to look at me. “There is this myth between vampires—“

“So tell me.”

“Well some vampires actually can’t go in the sun. The myths say that around 1700 all the vampires couldn’t go in the sun. I was told that there was one young vampire that came from Romania and could go in the sun. Her name was Anna. She was said to be a witch before she got bit which is why she could go in the sun. Every human she bit and didn’t kill also was able to go in the sun. Eventually the people that could go in the sun bit person after person until most of the vampires today can go in the sun.

“There are 13 original vampires that Anna bit. They are called the sun hunters. They went against all the laws of vampires and hunted in the sun to show their superiority to all the other vampires. The sun hunters got aggravated at Anna one night and killed her. They started to make an army of young vampires and attacked whole towns at once, killing thousands at a time.

“When the night hunters found out, they started a war; night hunters against the sun hunters. Of course the sun hunters had a huge advantage because they could go out during the day. Eventually the thirteen original sun hunters fled to America. None of the young vampires came. They were all slaughtered by the night hunters. The night hunters believed they were a curse; although being a vampire altogether is a curse.

“Eventually the original 13 sun hunters started to bit people here. The population grew and spread around the world besides Romania. No sun hunters are allowed in Romania. If they are spotted, they are killed.”

When he finished his story he looked over at me to see my reaction.

“Wow.” I said breathless. “Do you know one of the original 13?”

He thought for a moment. “Sort of, Marissa is one of them.”

“Really?”

He shrugged. “I’m pretty sure. My grandfather told me she was.”

“Was your grandfather a vampire?”

“No. His dad was a vampire hunter so his dad told him lots of stories.”

“Oh yeah, you told me that. That book in my library—wasn’t that his?”

He nodded.

I looked up at the sky, it was almost sunset. “Does it ever get easier?”

He obviously knew what I was talking about. “Not really. The first fifteen years are the hardest, but it really doesn’t get any better. It hasn’t for me anyways, maybe for others.”
“The first fifteen years are when you are young, right?”

He nodded. “The worst fifteen years of my life.”

He looked into my eyes. “And this past month has been the best month in my life.”

I looked away embarrassed. “Mine too.”

When I looked up again his face was inches from mine. I didn’t flinch away although it did startle me. His lips rolled over his teeth in a wide smirk. He leaned closer touching nose to mine. Then he leaned away. “Ready for dinner?”

My heart was pounding so fast I was sure he was able to hear it. He still had the smirk on his face.

I stood up starting toward the house. In a blink of an eye, Aden was at the front door holding it open for me.

I glared at him.

He was always showing off. He chuckled at my reaction.

When we entered the dining room Amy was saying, “We were thinking that we all should go down in the basement for tomorrow.”

Aden pulled out a chair for me. “I know.”

Amy smiled. “Oh right.”

“I don’t think I am going to. I’ll stay up here with Candace.” He sat down himself.

“Are you sure you should do that?” Clark asked.

“Would it be better for Candace to stay in the basement with a young vampire, and five very hungry, dangerous ones?”

“She could go home.” Ryan suggested.

“No! I’m staying here.” I practically yelled.

They all looked at me in surprise but Aden.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll just cover the windows and lock the doors. You guys go down stairs after we hunt and I’ll stay up here.”

“No.” Aden said after a long moment. He was glaring at Ryan.

He cowered in his seat, seeing how mad Aden got. “It was just a thought.”

What?” Amy and I said in unison, confused.

Clark answered. “Ryan wants to let Trevor out and have him stay up here with them.”

I forgot that male vampires can read each others minds. I was guessing they were constantly listening in.

What had they heard?

What had they seen?

I didn’t want to know.

“Who is going hunting? We all should eventually.” Amy asked to the room at large.

“I already went today.” Ryan said. “I can stay here with Candace when you guys go.”

Aden looked apprehensive. “Are you sure you’ll be fine?”

He nodded then smiled. Aden smiled back. I knew I was missing something again.

“We should go now. Then we can be back before it’s too late.”

Everyone stood but Ryan. I went and gave Aden a hug. He took both of my shoulders and said, “Stay safe.”

I smiled. “I always do.”

He didn’t smile back. He gave me a peck on the cheek then left with his mom and brother. I stood there, realizing I had never really talked to Ryan before, nor even be in the same room with him, just him.

I sat down and started to dish some fruit salad on my plate. I was so hungry because I missed lunch.

“He loves you, you know—“

I looked up from my plate. Ryan was still sitting in his chair, looking at me.

“I know.”

“He would do anything for you. I can’t imagine how he feels.”

“I can.” I said plainly.

Ryan got up from his chair and sat in the one Aden was in. “He thinks about you all the time. Truthfully it gets a little boring.”

“Oh really?” I asked irritated, glaring at him.

“Not to be mean.” After a pause he said, “He loves your eyes.”

I softened my expression. “Why?” My eyes were nothing special.

“They tell him how your feeling, what your thinking.”

“Oh—“

“He also loves the way you never think about yourself. He is amazed by you.”

I blushed and he smiled at the sudden redness in my cheeks. “He also loves that.”

“Well I don’t.” I snarled.

Ryan’s face suddenly fell. He seemed to be listening to something.

“What?” I asked, anxious. Every time Aden did that, it wasn’t good.

“They’re almost in New York.” Ryan murmured. I knew who he was talking about. Aden has been worried about them for a few days. Marissa and her cult. Just thinking about her made me shiver. How did he know this? Was he sure?

He turned his head to look at me. “The others already know. Clark said they don’t know we’re here. We’re safe. Aden said not to worry. He has a good feeling about tomorrow.”

“How does Clark know anything?”

“He can see every vampire in a thousand mile radius. He can see what they’re doing, where they are, and what they’re thinking, even if they’re female.”

“Is that his power?”

“Yeah.”

I watched him as I ate. He was constatly talking to himself and talking to the others through thier minds. It was quite interesting, actually.

When I was done eating I went upstairs and took and a long, hot shower and dressed in my pajamas. When I got out I went on the couch and turned on the TV. There was a movie on. I hadn’t seen it before so I laid down on the couch, getting comfortable.

When the movie was over I fell asleep on the couch.

When I woke up I was surprised for a moment to be in complete darkness. Then I remembered Aden was going to cover the windows and doors.

“Aden?” I whispered into the dark. “Where are you?”

To the left of me the bed seemed like a large weight came on the bed. “Looking for me?”

Aden whispered in my ear.

I jumped. “Don’t do that!”

“Sorry.” He gave me a small squeeze before turning on the bedside lamp.

When my eyes adjusted to the sudden light I looked around. The windows were covered. The doors were too. When I turned to look back at the place Aden was, he was gone.

“Aden?” I called.

He appeared at the door with a tray of food. He walked over to the bed and set it on my lap.

I smiled. “Thanks!” Before I dug in, I frowned. “What did you do?"

He frowned too. “What do you mean?"

“When a girl gets breakfast in bed she is either spoiled rotten or the person serving did something really bad and they want to get the other person in a good mood before they tell them the bad news.”

Aden laughed. “Really? Well it’s actually more like lunch in bed. It’s noon.”

“I’m sorry. Being out in the sun makes me really tired.”

“It’s fine with me. I like to watch you sleep.”

I blushed.

Aden smiled and brushed his finger over my reddened cheek. When I looked into his eyes, I saw they were red, just like Maryana’s. I scrabbled to my feet, knocking the tray to the ground.

I took a few steps back and ran into the wall. I could hardly breathe.

Aden was so oblivious to why I was acting this way. He got up slowly, over exaggerating his movements. “Candace?” he asked, looking hurt by my feelings.

Aden all of a sudden went stiff. A second later Trevor walked in the room. I thought he was locked up?

Aden and Trevor were talking to each other telepathically. When Aden looked away from me to look at Trevor I moved away from the wall toward the couch. I had no idea why I was so scared of Aden. It was Aden, my boyfriend, the one I loved.

When they both looked back at me Trevor spoke. “Candace? Are you okay?”

I couldn’t speak. My heart was pumping so hard I could hear it.

Aden came closer to me and I copied his moves, moving further away. “This is just what happens when we get close to blood on a full moon our eyes turn red. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Trevor took a step closer to me. Again I took a step back. “It happens to all of us.”

As I looked at Trevor I could see his eyes weren’t red. He could see I didn’t believe him. In a second Trevor he was few feet away from me.

I jumped.

He slowly, over exaggerating his movements like Aden, came closer to me. When he was only a three feet away he closed his eyes. For a few seconds nobody moved. A

den looked very scared that Trevor was this close to me. Trevor seemed calm. He was breathing deeply.

Trevor’s head was drooped, like he was looking at his feet. When he brought his head to look at me his eyes were open. They were just as red and menacing as Aden’s. It didn’t make me more scared. It actually calmed me.

“We won’t hurt you Candace.” Trevor said soothingly.

Aden appeared next to his brother. He held out his hand to me. I hesitated. Why was I feeling this way? Was it because it reminded me of Maryana?

I didn’t like being afraid of him. I held out my hand but didn’t put it in his. I looked up into his eyes. He seemed more scared than me. Why was he scared?

I slowly put my hand in his. When I did he sighed.

Trevor went and sat on the bed. I followed him with my eyes. I saw that when he looked back up at me, his eyes were back to brown. I looked up at Aden’s face. He didn’t seem happy that Trevor was out of his jail.

“How did you get out?” Aden asked sternly.

“Clark said I should be up here.”

Aden groaned. He squeezed my hand then let it go. “I think you should go back down stairs.”

He started toward Trevor, and he stood up. I heard a low growl from Aden’s throat. Trevor leaned into a crouch. Aden followed. Were they playing around or were they really fighting?

I got my answer.

Before they pounced, they both had wide grins on their face. I couldn’t understand why were they doing this? Couldn’t they tell how freaked out I was? They both were a blur, rolling on the floor pinning each other to the ground. Suddenly they both stopped.

Aden had Trevor’s arm behind his back and Trevor had Aden’s leg. They looked like two children. Their faces weren’t happy though. They looked scared. They both exchanged looks then looked at me. Instantly I knew something was wrong.

Ryan appeared at the doorway. “We need to leave!” Aden and Trevor let go of each other.

Aden looked at me, his eyes wide. “Get dressed.”

I did as I was told. I went into the bathroom, took off my pajamas, and got some clothes on.

When I came out Ryan was gone, but Trevor and Aden were still there. They were both sitting on the bed listening to each others thoughts.

“What’s going on?” I asked frantically. Neither answered at first. They both just looked at each other.

“Tell me!” I yelled stamping my foot.

“Marissa is here.” Aden admitted. “She knows we’re here. We have to leave.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“You are staying here.” Aden said standing up.

“No!” I protested.

“I am not going to put you in any danger. We are going down stairs to figure it out.” They both left the room with out another word. I ran after them to the dining room where everyone else was sitting at the table. I sat in my normal spot at the end.

“We need to go to Greenland. She would never find us there. There are no vampires there.” Amy said urgently.

“We can’t travel until its dark. That won’t be until about 7:30. She can’t travel either so we are safe for now.”


“What time is it?” I asked.

Without looking away from Aden, Ryan said, “2:30”

“What are we going to do about Maryana?” Amy asked, glancing at Trevor.

I looked over at Trevor and saw he wasn’t even really listening. He was looking absently at the wall.

“We have to leave her. We can’t bring a newborn.”

So we leave at 7:45 to Greenland—“ Clark stated.

Everyone nodded.

“What about me?” I asked looking at all of them in turn. E

veryone looked at Aden, waiting for his response.

“You can’t come.” He said coldly.