"Changed" Chapter 10 & 11

Chapter10:

When we were back at the apartment, Nicholas walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, motioning for me to sit with him. I walked over and snuggled next to him as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. This is unbearable.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…so what did you and Christopher talk about?”

“Um…nothing really. Mostly about hunting. We also talked about you some.”

“Really? What about me?”

“He just asked about us, how we were getting along, how I found you, how you came to be, what we are…”

“What we are?” I asked, confused.

“Yes. Are we serious,what our relationship is…”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him I wasn’t sure.”

I looked down at my hands, “Oh”, was all I could get out of my mouth. There were many more things I wanted to say but I couldn’t voice them.

I felt Nicholas put his fingers under my chin and raise my head up so I had to look at him. “I know that I am serious about what I feel for you Charlotte. But I suppose we can’t be serious together, unless we both are.”

“I’m serious too. I’ve told you how I feel. You keep telling me not to doubt your feelings, but it’s almost as if you haven’t heard me when I’ve told you about mine.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just so…new for me to have someone who feels the same way as I do. Well to be honest, it’s new to feel this way at all. I haven’t in so long…”

“So what does this mean?”

He sighed and looked away towards the kitchen area. I saw the conflict on his face. Then he turned back to me and said, “Charlie, I really don’t want to push you. With everything you have gone through in the last day, it would be totally unfair of me to ask you to start a relationship with me too.”

“Why don’t you let me decide that for myself?” I said angrily as I got up and stalked upstairs to the bedroom. I didn’t know where else to go. I walked in and started making the bed I had left messy earlier. When I was done, I plopped down on it, staring up at the ceiling as I tried to get my emotions in check. I want to be with him. I want to be in a relationship with him. But was it too soon? Was Nicholas right? Was I being unfair to him by rushing into something I might not be able to handle yet?

Just then I heard the door creak open but I didn’t look over. I lay where I was, still staring. Then I felt the bed move as Nicholas climbed over to where I was. He wrapped his arm around my waist and put his head to my ear. Then he whispered, “Charlie, I want to be with you. And I know you want to be with me. I heard what you were thinking up here and I agree with you. I want to have a relationship with you too but I don’t want you to have to move faster than you are capable of. Why don’t we just keep things the way they are for now and see what happens in the future?”

I turned to see his handsome face staring back at me. I could tell he was torn, like I was, between doing what was right and doing what felt right. I leaned over and kissed him on the lips. “Alright Nicholas, we’ll do it your way.”

He leaned in to kiss me again but this one had a new edge to it. Maybe the difference was that he l--. No just focus on his mouth moving with yours and his arm, wrapped tightly around your waist pulling you closer. Keep your mind clear.

We kissed like that for a long time. The kiss ended mutually and we just lay there, looking into each other’s eyes. I knew if we did this much longer that my mouth or my mind would blurt out something it shouldn’t. I sat up, to clear my head. “What do you want to do until we go hunting?”

“I don’t know. We can do whatever you want to do.”

“Actually I’m a little drained, mentally that is. Do you mind if we take a nap?” If I’m sleeping, then I can’t think.

“I’ll do whatever you want to do.”

We lay back down on top of the covers, with my head on his shoulder and his arm behind my neck, like last night.

“Will I wake up with you gone again?” I teased him.

“If that’s what you want, then I will be here when you open your eyes. I’ll be here every day when you open your eyes if you wish.”

“Actually I would like that a lot,” I said as I closed my eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I opened my eyes a little later to see the shadows around the room had changed. I rolled over to see Nicholas, already awake, just looking at me. I smiled. I still can’t believe this perfect creature next to me—

“Hello,” I said to interrupt myself.

“Hello,” he replied, “how are you?”

His pleasantries made me laugh. “I’m always good when I’m near you.”

“The sun is about to set, I thought we could lay here and watch it.”

I sat up a little and looked out the enormous windows on the other side of the room. Nicholas was right, this was a better view. When it was over, we lay there watching the blue of the sky get darker. The color of the sky reminded me of what Diana had told me earlier.

“So,” I tried to find something to say to keep my mind off what I didn’t want to think about, “Do you dance?”

His eyes looked confused but he smiled and said, “Occasionally.”

“Are you going to dance tonight?” I can’t let the conversation end.

“If you will let me dance with you then yes, I will dance.”

“What kind of music do you dance to?”

“I don’t really care. What is your preference?” Thank God he is starting to catch on.

“Hip hop or techno. It mostly depends on my mood.”

“And what type of mood are you in tonight?”

“Hmm… I think I want to dance to hip hop tonight. I hope that’s okay with you…”

He smiled and pulled me closer. “As long as you will dance with me, I don’t care what type of music it is to.”

I reached up to kiss his jaw just below his chin. Then I heard him sigh and say, “We should probably start getting ready.”

I sat up in the bed and let Nicholas help me to stand. “I’m going to go take a shower. I’ll put music on in the bathroom so you can think freely about whatever it is you have been hiding from me all day.”

With that he turned and quickly left the room. I stood there in shock, just staring after him. Damn it! I’m going to have to be more careful.

I walked back over to the drawer that held my clothes. I searched through it for my “club clothes”. Finally I decided on the black mini-skirt and a tube top that was silver and covered in large round sequins. I figured the silver would go nicely with the new gray color of my eyes.

I quickly changed into my new clothes. Then I remembered I had new shoes too. I saw that Nicholas had lined them up next to the dresser. I picked the plain black heels with straps.

As soon as I was done putting my new heels on I stood up to look at myself in the mirror above the dresser. Just then the door opened and Nicholas walked in. I froze as I saw he was wearing nothing but a white towel around his waist.

“I forgot to bring my clothes in with me,” he explained. For the first time since I had talked with Diana, I didn’t have to manage my thoughts. The only word my mind could manage to form was “wow”.

He stood there smiling as I raked my eyes over his body. He was muscular but not brawny and unnaturally pale but that was to be expected. I can’t tear my eyes away from his chest. Then a bead of water slowly dripped down from his collar bone to his—

Then I heard Nicholas laugh and my eyes snapped up to his. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything,” he said as he laughed harder.

“Oh. Sorry. Why are you still standing there then?”

“I was letting you finish staring at me so I could get dressed,” again chuckling at the situation.

I shot him a murderous look and walked past him, stamping my way downstairs to the bathroom. Once inside I slammed the door shut in frustration. I was so angry that I just stood in the middle of the bathroom for a minute breathing in and out.

I heard a knock on the door that startled me. “Charlie? May I come in?”

I stormed over to the door and whipped it open, “What Nicholas? Did you come to embarrass me some more? You know, just because you can read everyone’s mind around you doesn’t mean that gives you the right to comment.” I was practically yelling by the time I was done with my little rant.

I saw Nicholas’ face fall before he looked down at the floor. He looked so sad that I almost wanted to reach out and comfort him, but not quite. “Charlie, I am truly sorry. I never want to hurt you or make you uncomfortable. I certainly never want you to be embarrassed by your thoughts or feel like you can’t be yourself around me. I am just not used to hearing those kinds of thoughts from people.”

“Nicholas, you’re gorgeous. I’m sure you hear girls have the same kind of thoughts about you everyday.”

“Yes, but I don’t feel as strongly about any of them. I don’t want any of them they way I want you so when they have those thoughts I don’t think anything of it. When you have those thoughts, its…flattering. I shouldn’t have reacted that way and I am sorry. Please say you will forgive me?”

I looked at him for a few seconds, trying to judge how I felt about what he just said. I finally decided it was way too hard to stay mad at him and smiled. “Yes Nicholas, I accept your apology.”

“Okay good, I don’t like you being angry with me either.” He said as he smiled his beautiful smile at me. I finally noticed what he was wearing. I guess I was so angry before that it didn’t matter. He was wearing a black long sleeve shirt and medium colored jeans. The shirt was tight enough to reveal the muscles in his arms and chest that I was so tactlessly ogling at before.

“I’m just going to touch up my make up and then we can go ok?” I asked him as I turned to the counter and began searching for black eye shadow.

“I don’t think you need any but if it makes you happy then go ahead. Take your time.”

I just rolled my eyes. Guys always said they didn’t think girls need makeup but always drool over the ones with it caked onto their faces. I heard Nicholas chuckle from beside me as I uncovered a set of eye shadows that included black. I closed my left eye and gently rubbed the brush against my lids. Then I shut my right eye and did the same. After I was done with the eye shadow, I found the black eyeliner and ran it against my bottom lids again. Then I put the makeup I had used back and turned to him. “Ready.” He smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders as he led me down the stairs and out of his apartment.

Once out on the street, we started heading in the direction of Diana and Christopher’s apartment like we had earlier. We were silent as we walked down the city street hand in hand. As we turned a corner, for some reason a headline in one of those boxes containing newspapers caught my eye. I walked closer to the display of newspapers and bent down to get a better look. The newspaper I was looking at was the New York Post, not something I would normally read. I scanned the front page and gasped.

“Nicholas, do you have any change on you?!”

He looked confused but dug through his pocket to retrieve some coins. I put the appropriate amount in the slot, opened the glass door, and ripped the newspaper out, letting the door slam closed.

The headline read “Vicious murder of a Long Island Girl on the streets of Manhattan”.
Chapter 11:
“Looks and Flirts and Midnight in your Shortest Skirts.”
(Brand New)

My eyes were glued to the paper as I scanned down the font page looking at the picture of the alley where I had spent my last few minutes as a human. I don’t know when Nicholas had gotten so close to me but I suddenly felt him put his arm around my shoulders. I couldn’t respond to his touch, I was too absorbed in what I was reading in the paper.

“Charlie, are you okay?”

“I don’t know how to feel right now. I mean, I knew this would happen but still…it’s a lot different when I see that I’ve made the front page. This means my friends and family know about me now.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about. It’s all thanks to you that I was able to pull that off at all. Lets go, I don’t want to think about it anymore.” I said as I took his hand and led him back down the street we were on.

“Before we go to Diana and Christopher’s house we need to make a quick stop to get you an I.D. Especially now that your death has made the newspaper, it wouldn’t do to have you present your own at a club.”

I nodded my head and let him lead me to a photo shop at the end of the block. We walked in and Nicholas explained our situation. Then the man walked around from behind the counter to take a picture of me. For a second I froze what if I didn’t show up?

I heard Nicholas chuckle from next to me and whisper, “Don’t worry silly.” I just shook my head and stood there in my own thoughts while the man made my fake I.D. and Nicholas paid him.

When we were done, Nicholas led me outside and handed me my new license. “Claire O’Connell?”

“I thought it would be easier for you to remember if it was close to your own name,” he said with a laugh. “My I.D. says my name is Nathan Stanley.” I laughed at the absurdity of the situation. How was he always able to make me smile and forget about all the bad things happening around me? I knew he heard my thoughts because he picked up my hand and gave it a squeeze.

The photo shop hadn’t taken us out of our way at all. After another minute or two of walking we were once again in front of Christopher and Diana’s apartment. We walked up the steps and just like before, Christopher answered the door before either of us had the chance to knock.

“How do you do that?” I asked suddenly.

“Didn’t Nicholas tell you about my power?” We both looked at Nicholas as he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “I can see through walls. Well it’s not limited to walls. I can also see through doors and cabinets. More or less any surface,” he finished.

I suddenly realized that might mean clothes too and averted my eyes. I heard Nicholas laugh from beside me. “Don’t worry; his power is limited to hard, solid surfaces. We don’t know why but he can’t see through clothes but don’t worry.”

I heard Christopher laugh at what he had just heard. “I’m sorry; I should have been more specific. Please come in, there is no reason for us to stand here on the front stoop.”

Nicholas and I followed him into his living room. I looked around, confused when I didn’t see Diana. “Charlie, Diana is upstairs still getting ready. She told me to ask you to go upstairs when you get here.”

“Sure, where is she?”

“If you walk upstairs, she is in the second room on the left.”

I just nodded my head and walked towards the stairs. I noticed that the stairs and the hallway upstairs where carpeted in the same color as the living room. It was an odd color but it felt earthy and I liked it. I easily found the door Christopher had told me to go to.

I knocked softly and heard Diana’s voice, “Come in Charlie.”

I walked to their bathroom. It was very large and the color scheme included many shades of brown. I guess they were trying to keep with the earthy feel.

“Sorry, I’m almost done getting ready. I just wanted to talk to you before we went out.”
For the first time since I entered the bathroom, I noticed what Diana was wearing. She had on a black skirt that was multi-layered and swept down to just below her knees. On top, she had on a bright red halter top that clung to her slender frame perfectly. I looked down at my own outfit, slightly jealous of how good she looked, especially compared to me.

“By the way Charlie, you look absolutely stunning.”

This was another instance where my lack of the ability to blush came in handy. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Well after you left you felt extremely bad about the news I gave you. I realize how hard it must be to keep your feelings from Nicholas. Even though I think you should tell him, I understand why you aren’t going to and I support you. Tonight I will do whatever I can to keep your mind away from those thoughts. Other than that, how are you and Nicholas getting along? I know that with everything that is going on it must be nice to have someone as sweet as Nicholas guiding you through the changes.”

“Nicholas has been amazing,” I gushed. “I sometimes get frustrated at him for listening to things in my mind that I don’t want him to hear, but I know it’s not his fault. He has done everything he could to help me and I am really grateful for that.”

“Yes I know. Nicholas is one of a kind.” She finished putting on the last of her makeup and turned to me, “Are you ready?”

“Yep.”

“Well let’s not keep the men waiting too long. They always get touchy when they have to wait for me to finish getting ready,” she explained as she motioned for me to go back out the door I had come in.

We walked through the hallway and back down the stairs. When we reached the living room, Christopher and Nicholas suddenly looked up at us as if we were interrupting something.

“Ready gentlemen?” I heard Diana ask them from behind me. They both nodded and we made our way to the door. When we got outside on the street, I saw Nicholas walk over to the edge of the sidewalk and look down the block. It seems he found what he was looking for as he raised his hand in the air.

A yellow van pulled up to the curb in front and Nicholas walked back over to us to take my hand leading me to the waiting. We both sat in the farthest back seat, with Diana and Christopher right in front of us. Christopher leaned forward and gave the man the directions to Webster hall.

“Charlie, I want to quickly explain the dynamics of feeding on people before we get there. Remember when I told you that our blood helps us to heal extremely quickly?” he asked in a voice barely audible. I nodded my head and he continued, “Well our blood can also heal humans. What you will do, is find a person, gently bite them, and take some of their blood. You must stop drinking from them before it causes any damage. When you are done, you bite your finger to draw some blood and wipe it on whatever part of them you bit. Our blood will heal them and they will never know they have been bitten by a vampire. The other thing I want you to keep in mind is that you have never actually fed before. Make sure that the second you feel the slightest full, to not drink anymore.”

I sat there silently trying to remember all the instructions Nicholas had just given me. I was a little worried, what if I forgot and I hurt someone? “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you watch me feed before you go off and try to do it on your own.”

“Okay, that makes me feel a little better,” I admitted. Nicholas just smiled and pulled me closer to him. The cab ride only took about ten minutes. When we stopped, I saw Christopher lean forward again and pay the cab driver. He stepped out and offered Diana his hand to help her. Nicholas got out and did the same for me.

We walked up to the club and I noticed a line wrapping around the corner of he block. I groaned but Nicholas ignored me and walked straight up to the bouncer. He handed him a bill and tipped his head to the three of us standing behind him. The bouncer nodded and unhooked the rope, admitting us to the club. Once inside, there were people there to check any bags we bought with us and to see whether they needed to stamp our hands as “underage”. None of us had bags so we skipped over that line and straight to the I.D-checking person. We all had our I.D.’s out and I let out a small breath of relief when no one stopped me because mine was a fake.

“All of ours are fake. Don’t worry; I have been dealing with the man I brought you to for many years. He is very good and I have never had a problem,” Nicholas whispered in my ear.

We finally made our way past the all the lines and into the main dance floor of the club. Everyone there was dancing and sweating as a result. It was getting harder and harder for me to simply stand there. I turned around and saw that only Nicholas stood behind me. The confused look on my face made him reply, “They have fanned out. It makes more sense for us to split up and meet back up at different times over the course of the night. Now, stand a good distance away from me but close enough so you can see, while I pick someone out and feed.”

I did as Nicholas asked. I saw him walk up to a girl with tan skin and long curly brown hair that ran about half way down her back . I couldn’t really comment on her clothes because she was barely wearing any. Why did he have to pick the prettiest girl with the least amount of clothes on in sight? I watched patiently as I saw Nicholas walk up to her and begin dancing. He was standing behind her and I watched as her back rubbed up against his chest. They were dancing a little too close for my comfort, but I held my place and looked on silently. Their bodies were moving slowly to the rhythm playing loudly over the speakers. Then she turned around and put one of her legs between his so she could be closer as she rubbed against him harder. I couldn’t tell what Nicholas’ reaction was to this until he put his hands on her waist. He didn’t keep them there for long though. Soon Nicholas began to rub his hands up and down her slender frame. Caressing her. Finally his hands settled on her hips as he kept moving his body with hers.

Then I saw Nicholas look over the girls shoulder to me before he bent his head to her neck. It looked like he was whispering in her ear or kissing her. I preferred to think it looked more like the latter.

Then I watched as Nicholas quickly bit his finger and put his hand up to her neck, seemingly to pull her hair back, but I knew better. He left his hand on the back of her head running his hands through her hair. This made me madder because it looked very similar to what he had done to me before. The song ended and a hip hop song began with a faster beat. I figured he would politely walk away from her and back to me but they kept dancing! I was outraged. Why the hell did he still need to be dancing with her when he had already fed?! I stood there fuming for a few more minutes. I didn’t know if I was waiting for myself to come up with a plan to reduce my anger or for him to stop grinding with this absurdly beautiful woman.

I didn’t have to make that decision, because the answer walked over to me and began to dance. He was only a few inches taller and extremely good looking. He had short brown hair and bright green eyes. He automatically put his hands on my hips and pulled me closer to him. I stood there and moved my body to the beat that was playing. We danced like that for about a few minutes, as I tried to forget about Nicholas who was probably still dancing with that girl.

I decided it was time to try to feed for the first time. I reached up and gently sunk my teeth into his neck. For a few seconds I let the warm, delicious liquid flow into my mouth and down my throat. Then I remembered what Nicholas had said about not taking too much. I quickly reached my hand under his arm and up to my mouth biting my finger. Then I pressed my blood to where I had bit him and whispered in his ear, “Hi. I’m Claire.” I gave him my fake name as a precaution.

“Hi Claire. I’m Anthony,” just then the song changed again to another fast paced song, “do you want to dance again?”

“Of course,” I answered as I batted my eyelashes at him. I began to rub up against him harder, his body moving exceptionally well with mine. I never knew if I was a good dancer or not, but guys seem to like dancing with me and no one ever laughed so I assumed I was.

I wanted to find Nicholas, to see if he was still dancing with that woman. I slowly started turning and Anthony followed my lead. Finally I had us almost completely turned around in the other direction. I looked to where Nicholas had been before but couldn’t find him.

I turned around and rubbed my back against the front of this handsome stranger. He put his hands a little south of my hips, but I didn’t stop him. We kept dancing like that until the song ended.

Then I turned to him, “Thanks for the dance Anthony, I have to go find my friends now.” He just smiled and nodded, as he turned to walk away. I stood where I was and scanned the crowd for any signs of Nicholas.

Finally I spotted him. This time he was dancing with a girl who had short blond hair. She obviously wanted him. I could tell by the way she raked her hands up and down his chest. He didn’t seem to be minding at all. They were dancing even more provocatively than he had with the first girl.

I didn’t wait around to see if he would feed off of this one too. I had to get my mind off him. I found the first guy that could provide me with a distraction. Bachelor number two was very muscular with dirty blond hair and deep set brown eyes. I could tell that the girls surrounding us were staring at him.

I didn’t want to wait for him so I walked over and started grinding sensually against his strong body. This guy was a little pushier than the other. He grabbed me and pulled me against him. I knew that if I was still human that it would have startled me to be held that hard. I didn’t care now though. I hitched my leg around his waist and kept dancing. The new guy put his hand on my thigh and began stroking my leg up and down, from my knee to my thigh. Slowly but surely, this guy managed to find his way further up my leg and eventually up my skirt. This guy didn’t get to make his last rotation because I was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and swung around.

I looked up to see Nicholas’ furious face staring down at me. He pulled me away from my dance partner and led me to the edge of the dance floor. Then he stopped short and turned on me. “What exactly do you think you are doing?”

“I thought I was dancing, and about to feed. What did it look like I was doing?”
“It looked like you were letting some stranger take advantage of you!”

“Please Nicholas, don’t be dramatic. We were just dancing,” I retorted as I began to walk around him. I wasn’t in the mood to have this conversation right now. He grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back, not letting me escape. “Nicholas you know I hate when you grab me like that. What do you want?”

“I want you to explain yourself.”

“I don’t have anything to explain. If anyone needs to start talking I think it’s you.”

“I wasn’t letting someone take advantage of me. I was just hunting.”

“Yes you were just hunting. Its interesting that you automatically pick the prettiest girl you can find that is covering the least amount of her body.”

“You’re being ridiculous Charlie. I just picked the first girl I saw.”

“Sure you did. Funny how I saw a lot of girls before I saw that first one you decided to get friendly with.”

“Why does it matter who I’m dancing with. What’s the difference? This is how I have always hunted. Why should tonight be any different?”

Because you love me! I accidentally let that thought slip out of my head. Crap!

“No I don’t,” he answered quickly.

I just stared at him trying to decide whether to be crushed or furious. Suddenly I decided I didn’t need to be either. I just needed to be out of here. I stormed past him, noticing that Diana and Christopher had resurfaced to watch our episode. I pushed past all the dancing bodies that stood between me and the exit.

Finally I made my way out onto the street. The cool air was helping me to think clearly. I walked aimlessly around, running our fight through my head over and over. Diana had said he loved me. I wouldn’t think that something like an aura could be wrong. Why did he deny it then? Was he scared? Did my thought catch him off guard? Or worse, had he changed his mind since Diana had told me he loved me?
These arguments kept circling in my head as I walked through block after block of the city streets.

I turned a corner and accidentally bumped into a tall, hard man. He caught me before I fell to the ground. I looked up to thank the stranger when my breath caught in my throat. He looked exactly like I remembered him, only now I could see him through my new eyes that offered me better vision. I was frozen to the spot as I stared into the hard, grey eyes of my long lost maker.