Chapter five: Forest of Vines. |
My dreams had been twisted for the past seven weeks. They seemed to be visions of my future. They seemed to me like nightmares. Nathan said that I had been tossing and turning most of the night. There were a few days where I didn’t go to school because of lack of sleep. All I had an interest in was sleeping. I never got out of my bed. Nathan pretended to show up at my door; he asked mom if he could see me. He had my schoolwork. Surprisingly mom let him come up to see me. He set my homework on the table next to my bed. The pile of homework was starting to get out of control. Come on Melissa, you can’t just lay in bed all day. Your friends have been trying to talk to me to ask of I know why you’ve been out. I only grumbled. My face was still buried in the white, un-fluffed, pillow. The bed sank down; Nathan was sitting at my waist. His hand reached out to touch my shoulder. I turned my head, out from the pillow to see what he wanted. Melissa… He looked like he was editing what he was about to say. It made sense because he probably had no intention of hurting my feelings. You haven’t responded to me very much from he past few weeks, and you’re really starting to make me worry. Can you please tell me what’s wrong? I want to help you in any way that I can… I couldn’t help but talk to him now. It wasn’t his fault I was depressed and I didn’t want to make it seem like it was his fault either, that was wrong. I sat up, leaning against Nathan; his body was still cold. I remembered his lips being scarcely warm when they touched my skin. I felt the bite marks still not proceeding to scar over. They still looked fresh. I looked up at him, trying to find the right words to say. “I…I don’t really know why I’ve been depressed…I’ve been feeling well…drained of energy I guess.” I wasn’t quite sure if Nathan wanted to hear that. He probably felt bad because drinking my blood was probably part of why I haven’t felt good. I wanted to try and confirm that it wasn’t his fault. “B-but its probably because if something that was spreading around school…” Yeah, okay, I don’t think my teeth would spread around the school… He brought on that comeback so quick. I sat there in awe. It was no laughing matter. “Its not your fault Nathan!” I finally just came out with it. But it is my fault, if I didn’t drink your blood… I couldn’t let him finish his sentence. He knew as well as I did that he would have eventually done that. Though, I didn’t feel like arguing with him. My arms slid around his chest, bringing him in for a hug. Bus something felt different about the hug that Nathan returned to me. It was a sign that said ‘I think you’re changing on me… please don’t.’ It scared me. His hug was so tight. I could barely get escape. But the thing was, I didn’t want to escape his hug. His hugs were addicting. He stared down at me, like he always did when he was hugging me. Nathans eyes sparkled, trying to read me again. That was another one of his habits. I like that habit though. I stared at his mouth first. His fangs stuck out from under his top lip. He was thirsty again. I knew I would say yes to and let him drink my blood again. He grimaced; his eyes ached with his mouth. His vampire kisses were more than enough to satisfy one ‘lucky’ person. It was glad that that person was me. It was odd in a way because I wasn’t afraid of what was happening around me. Jason did scare me though. He was the only acceptation to me fright. Nathans hand brushed up against mine. It made the hairs on the back of my neck jet out. I thought I would be use to this by now. But every time this happened, it felt like he might do something different. His hand now slid up to me forearm. He felt colder than usual. My eyes traced down to his note pad. I love your eyes… Melissa… He complimented me? I was strangely flattering. Nathan leaned closer towards me; my heartbeat became faster and faster, the room became darker. But it still felt lit. Nathans eyes were why it felt that way. They were like two little night-lights helping me see better. His fingers traced around my ear, down the back of my neck and then circled around his latest bite marks. I could feel his body weight pressing against mine. It was relaxing. His body was still cold though. My hand grasped around the clothes on his back, cringing. Melissa…let me drink your blood. His body weight was too much to withstand carrying. I fell back on my bed. He leaned in; his mouth touched my neck. “Okay.” I finally whispered back. This time when his teeth dug in beneath my skin, it felt deeper than the last time. He was draining more of my blood. My nails scratched along his shoulder blades. This was like an intense sugar rush. More of my blood was taken from my body. He detracted his teeth as soon as he realized it. He went to sit back up, but my arms wouldn’t unlock. I couldn’t loosen my grip. I didn’t want to, even though it just felt like all of my blood had been drained from my body. I felt power surge through my body. Like I had became ten times stronger than normal. Melissa, is something wrong? Nathan saw my face; it was pale. I just stared at him. Giving him that hungry look. My strength was finally dimming down. I let my grip from Nathans back so he could sit up. He didn’t sit up though. His body weight still squished my body; nothing more or less of feeling like I’m being crushed by a big ice cube. But I had to admit; he was one hot ice cube! Warm lips still pressed against my skin. It felt like I was in heaven. Light breathing flowed around my neck and my face. He had an incredible sent. Melissa…your body is becoming warmer a-and my hand is sort of…on your stomach… “O-oh well… My hands aren’t holding you down.” I blushed saying that. But Nathan seemed to take me seriously. Well in any case you should get some sleep… do you want me to get up so you can get comfortable? “No, I’m fine like this.” I said automatically. My hands hesitated, thinking he was going to sit up. Nathans cold body grew on me, it seemed like he was warmer than before. That’s when I noticed he was secretly blushing. I closed my eyes, feeling sleepy. Something felt as if it was crawling under my back. It was Nathans hand. Well I guess I could stay like this, you are a good pillow. Nathan smirked at his comment. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut at this one. I had to say something. “Are you calling me Fluffy?” I giggled. No, you’re just nice to cuddle with. My cheeks became the brightest red, I never thought existed. Heh-heh…Come on, even though tomorrow’s only Saturday, you should still get some rest. “Yeah, rest sounds like a…good thing” I yawned. My eyes shut again. I clung to him to keep him close to me. His heartbeat pounded at the same speed as mine. Every time something like this happens, my eyes always want to stay open. But they always fail in doing so. I never wanted any moments like this to end. That’s why I didn’t want to shut my eyes. My life was now, way much better than a dream. It was a dream come-true. My eyelids kept falling. Trying to shut them-selves. His left hand—now stroking my hair—was amusing me, and I didn’t want to fall asleep while he was doing that. It felt way to comforting to miss it. This time though, I shut my eyes again and my eyelids felt like there were two five-pound bags on them. His breath caressed my neck. “Nathan, can you stop time for a few hours please?” I mumbled, half asleep. I had to force my eyes open one last time to see what he wrote. Yeah Melissa…I will, but not for long, remember, tomorrow’s Saturday? “O-oh…yeah…” I fell asleep amongst my sentence. Good night Melissa… Nathan slipped his lips to my cheek and kissed it. He watched me sleep. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I woke up to Saturday. My blinds were shit and my lights were still off. I peeked out from under my blankets. Nathan was still hugging onto me, but he was warm. Maybe I had just gotten use to him being there. He opened his eyes again. Blinking, my eyes dilated to cope with the lighting in the room. I focused on him. Good morning Melissa… I smiled, stretching and turning on the back in the bed. My ceiling was plain and I couldn’t look at it for too long. Did you have any good dreams, because you said my name in your sleep? His smirk turned into a big flashing smile. My eyes widened. I was embarrassed. “I-I did really…Oh wow.” My face turned bright red. It was so embarrassing! Ha-ha! Its okay Melissa, I didn’t mind, it was kind of cute. His smile dulled into a light grin. He got up off the bed and opened the curtains, to a bright sun staring straight at him. He hesitated at first but he stepped out of the way. His moon colored eyes didn’t shine like they normally did. They were like red moons. Like they were baking from the suns kiss. I found a sharp object and cut my hand, so he could feel better and hopefully his eyes would go back to normal. I walked towards him carefully, walking through the ray of light. It seemed to be stinging my body. But I paid no attention. M-Melissa, y-your hand is…bleeding… He grabbed my hand and began to drink the blood that rose up from my hand. Nathans eyes turned pure white again. After three minutes he stopped and hugged me. He let me go so I could shut the curtains. “Wow, that was intense.” I said. Not believing that his eyes could have changed. I sat back down on my bed. There was a knock oat my door. It was mom. The door creaked open. “Honey! We’re going swimming today! Get changed.” Oh yeah, swimming. I thought to myself. I was wondering though, would Nathan go swimming with me? I looked to see if Nathan was still there, sure enough he was gone. Mom was still standing at the door. The bottoms looked like shorts, they were also light blue. It “Hey mom, are we going to the beach or are we going to the YMCA?” I asked. I was hoping she would say the YMCA. I liked that place, not many people went there. “Yeah, we’re going to the YMCA. But it’s just going to be you and me. Jason said he couldn’t afford to miss work.” That was a relief on me. I wouldn’t have to deal with my stomach. My eyes drifted to my closet, where I saw Nathan. So I guess he didn’t actually leave this time. I assumed he was listening to the plans for today. His note pad was on my bed still. I looked down at it to see if he wrote anything. He did… You want me to come to? I’m looking though your closet to find you a good bathing suit to wear… I smiled. He really did love picking out my clothes. It gave him something good to do and he gave me a benefit from having to do it myself. Mom looked at me a little weird but I just brushed it off. I smiled at her. “All right. I’ll be ready in a few,” I watched mom turn around and shut the door behind her. Nathan stepped out of my closet. He had in his hands, a two-piece bathing suit. The top almost looked like a bra, it was a very light shade of blue with black lining. It had a fishnet belt that faded from blue, to dark blue, to purple, to black. The shorts had a little bead attached to one of the loopholes. It had a ‘m’ on it. Standing for the first letter in my name. Nathan handed it to me. Gesturing that I should put it on to see what it looks like and it if was comfortable. I walked into my closet and quickly slipped on the bathing suit. It practically hugged my body like a glove. But I had to be brave and ask Nathan if he could tie the back on for me. “N-Nathan, can you um…tie the back for me please?” I held the top snug to my chest. He tied it tight so I could be comfortable wearing it. “ Thank you.” I noted. Walking over to the mirror on the back of my door. I looked awesome! The bathing suit showed off all of my features without over showing them. I felt secure in it. I heard Nathan clap. A smile framed under his nose. I heard mom yelling up to me from downstairs. “Lets go Melissa, were going to be late!” I slipped on a pair of shorts and a tank top over my bathing suit. I grabbed my towel and ran out of my room. I noticed Nathans note pad was still in my hand, all the more better. I’ll meet you there. Don’t tell your mom just make it be a coincidence that I was there too. All right. I answered him mentally. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I got to the pool and I saw Nathan. He was in his swimming trunks, no shirt. I forced my jaw to say shut. Though I couldn’t stop my cheeks from turning crimson red. He walked over to a seat and waved at me with a silly grin. Mom looks at me when I waved back. “Who is that Melissa? Someone you know?” “Ha-ha! Mom, Its Nathan, remember? The same boy you took with me to Denny’s.” I laughed under my breath, trying not to flip out like I normally do when where’s a hot guy in the room. Nathan was just so stunning though. Now I felt like if I look another step I would accidentally fall in the pool or trip over my own foot. It was going to be embarrassing either way. My feet dragged along the floor, making sure I didn’t trip or fall. All Nathan did was smirk when he approached my mom and I. I could sense he was going to say something. Mom walked silent to a table to set the towels and other miscellaneous items down. “You look good in just trunks, maybe we should do this more often.” I looked down at the note pad to see his expected, witty comeback. Yeah we should, you look great in that bathing suit too by the way. His smirk turned into a fully toothed smile, teeth shining just as bight as his eyes. I didn’t have anything else to say so I walked slowly to the table—so I didn’t trip on the wet floor—I took of my tank top and shorts quickly revealing my bathing suit. He studied my figure, which made me a bit paranoid. I looked at his eyes. “Are you ready to go swimming? `Cause I am.” I placed a polite smile on my face. My cheeks making the smile better by blushing. Out of the very depth of the back of my mind, I had a question. Does water affect a vampire or its powers? I would probably ask him when we walked away from mom. “Melissa. I’m going into the sauna for a few minutes okay? Be right back.” Mom all ready had her bathing suit on too. Her leaving would make it better to ask Nathan without listening ears. I took Nathans hand and walked him to the stairs leading into the pool. “Um, I have a question.” I didn’t want to hurt his feeling so I tried to edit as much as I could in my mind before he replied. Okay, what’s the question? “Does water affect you at all? I mean, being a vampire an all.” My voice trailed off, hoping I could forget what I just asked and plunge underwater. Well, if I were a vampire that had no experience with water, then yeah because my powers wouldn’t be use to ‘otherworldly’ things. He realized why I asked. I was a little concerned over that matter. Its okay, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be all right. He was so stubborn sometimes. It was normal for me to worry, and sadly, it was a bad habit I didn’t want to get rid of. Nathan walked in the water. He left a trail behind him of sparkling, rippling water. It was a lighter blue than the rest of the water. Everywhere he walked that was what followed him. I touched that part of the water. It was colder than the rest of the pool. Maybe it was because of Nathans body, being as cold as it was. His hand gestures told me to join him. The water reached my hips when the stares ended. It made my body just from the quick change in temperature. My stress levels seemed to deplete the longer I stayed in the path where Nathan had walked. I took one deep breath and plunged into the water. Diving in face first, it felt great! My worries seemed to disappear. Mom still had not came back from the sauna. My head popped up from under water the rest of my body followed. The cold air saturated my skin, bringing a shiver to travel down by spine and into my legs. It had been like that at the pool, for what seemed like the longest time. It never seemed to end. But when it did. Everything I had forgotten about came back… ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Today was a long day. The sun had all ready set so it was easier for Nathan to feel at ease. My bed felt so nice, so cool. The sheets, untouched since this morning. I lay my head on the soothing white pillow. If I lay really still, I could feel the movement of the water from the pool. I could smell it even. |