"Changed" Chapter 12 & 13

Chapter 12:
I just stood there, frozen to the spot. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breath. I couldn’t think.

“Charlotte, I am very pleased I have run into you. I have been looking for a long time.”

Finally I stammered out, “wh-why have you been looking for me?”

“Well, I’m sure you know by now what you are and who I am. I made you for myself. I left you in the basement of the Chinese restaurant because I knew you would be safe there. When I returned a little while later you were gone.”

“Why weren’t you there when I woke up? How could you leave me like that?” I asked pitifully. My emotions were a wreck right now. I didn’t know whether to be frightened or intrigued.

“I left you for only a short time. When I left, you still had hours until you should have awoken. I came back you were gone. Since then I have wandered all around this island looking for you.”

“But why? Why did you do this to me? Why were you looking for me?” Finally my anger was surfacing.

“Charlotte, I made you to be my companion.”

“Your what?!”

“You may have noticed that I am not exactly up to date with the current times. I brought you over to help guide me through this puzzling era. I have been watching you for months. At your home on Long Island, at your school, with your friends, when you were at parties, as you slept… you have barely had one moment alone in the past few months.”

That shut me up. My mind couldn’t process all of the information this stranger was throwing at me. “What is your name?” That was the least important question on my mind but I figured the answer would come with the least surprise.

“I am Bernardo. Come with me now. We can talk later,” he said simply as he reached out to grab my hand.

I yanked my hand away and took a step back. “I’m not going anywhere with you ‘Bernardo’. I don’t care if I was supposed to me your ‘companion’ or not,” then I turned sharply on my heels and began to briskly walk away from him.

Suddenly I felt a hard hand on my shoulder. “I am truly sorry Charlotte, but I am afraid you have no choice. I did not waste all this time for you to simply walk away. I love you and you WILL be my companion whether you like it or not,” his voice was deeper and more menacing than before.

I looked over my shoulder to see his hand firmly gripping my shoulder. He wasn’t going to let me go that easily. I decided that this conversation was over.
I grabbed his hand suddenly and ripped it off my shoulder. Before he had time to realize what had happened, I was sprinting away from him, weaving between pedestrians. I was running faster than I had last night with Nicholas. Nicholas. I had to find him.

I ran back in the general direction of Webster Hall. When I was about a block away I slammed into a hard man for the second time tonight. I really hoped I wouldn’t be making a habit of this.

The difference between last time and now was that when I looked up into the face of the man I had bumped into, I sighed in relief. It was Nicholas.

“Charlie! I’m so glad I found you. I’m sorry for what happened in there. I was being thoughtless and—“

“Nicholas, Nicholas stop. We can talk about that later. Right now we need to get out of here,” I said as I began pulling him in the opposite direction I had come from.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“When I left here, I went walking to try and cool down. During my walk I ran into my maker,” I paused to give him a minute to let that sink in.

“You….what?”
“I found my maker. Or rather HE found ME. Apparently he has been looking for me.”

Then Nicholas stopped abruptly forcing me to stop too. “Charlie, tell me everything that happened.”

“Nicholas, no. We need to get out of here. We need to go somewhere where he can’t find me.”

“But why? Why are we running from him?”

I sighed in frustration, “Nicholas, he didn’t just make me and leave me there to wake up alone. He has been watching me for months. He made me on purpose. As his companion,” I paused to grimace a little. “He said he loves me and he isn’t going to let me just walk away. We need to go. Now.”

“Fine, lets go back to my place. But I’m telling you right now Charlie; I am not going to run from him forever. I am only doing this to make you happy. I have never feared one of my own kind in the past and I don’t intend to start now,” with that he led me by the hand and we began to run towards his apartment.

When we got to his apartment, I finally let myself breathe again. How long had I been holding that in? Nicholas had walked in before me but he turned now, to look me in the eyes.

“Are you alright?” he asked the concern in his eyes was unmistakable.

“Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just a lot to take in you know?”

He closed the gap between us and wrapped his arms around me. I sighed in contentment and let myself melt in his arms. My anger from before was completely gone.

Finally he let go of me and took a step back. “So what are you going to do?”

I stopped short, “About what?”

“About your maker. Are you going to go with him?” he asked, trying to hide the pain in his eyes but I could see right through it.

“Of course not Nicholas. I want to stay with you. I have told you that before. I don’t even know this guy. I don’t want to have anything to do with him. Why would you even ask that?”

He looked down, “I don’t know. I mean after you walked out of the club…I didn’t know what to think.”

My breath caught in my chest. I had hurt him. I hated myself for what I had done. “Nicholas,” I began as I took a step closer to him and put my hand on his face, forcing him to look at me. “I am sorry for the way I acted. It’s just that I have never felt this strongly about anyone before.”

“And what is it you are feeling?”

It was my turn to avert my eyes. I looked over at the wall, searching for a way out of this. Finally I looked back at him, deciding to go with the truth.

“I love you,” I said simply. Really there was nothing more to say. If he rejected me, I wouldn’t put up a fight. I would leave. I wouldn’t let my words make him feel like he owed me anything.

“Charlie—,” the tone of his voice made me feel like I didn’t want to hear what came next.

“Nicolas, stop,” I interrupted. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m sorry for putting that on you. I’ll leave.” Then I turned around to walk back through the door I had just come through. I reached for the doorknob, feeling the tears well up in my eyes.

I opened the door but Nicholas’ hand shot out and closed it again. My head dropped as I turned around to ask him to let me leave. Suddenly I was being embraced by him again. I didn’t wrap my arms around him this time though. I don’t think my non-beating heart could handle letting go again.

Then I felt his head dip down as he whispered in my ear, “I love you too Charlotte.”

I whipped my head up. What did he just say? He couldn’t have said he lov—

“Yes I did. I am sorry about before. I never should have said that to you in the club. After you left, Diana found me and explained what she told you earlier. She told me that you have been trying to hide that from me all day, and how you didn’t want to tell me how you felt before I knew it myself. When I heard your thoughts at the end of the fight, my immediate reaction was to deny it. The last time I was in love I was hurt and I was…afraid I guess. I am so sorry that I hurt you I promise that I will do whatever I can to never do that again. I love you Charlie,” he finished and gave me a little smile.

All the emotions inside me decided to bubble up and spill over at that moment. The tears began running down my face as I cried hard. I must have scared Nicholas because the next thing I heard was, “What? What’s wrong Charlie? I thought you would be happy…”

“I…am…happy,” I managed between sobs. Nicholas just stood there staring at me. Finally I gained control over my absurd emotions and wiped my face. When I looked down at my hand it was covered in blood. I panicked.

“Don’t worry Charlie, nothing is wrong with you. The only fluid inside of us is blood, so when we cry, that’s what comes out.”

I just stood there for a minute examining my hand. Finally I looked up at him with a weak smile and whispered, “So now what?”

Nicholas smiled his gorgeous smile and wrapped his arms around me. Then he put his hands on both sides of my face and kissed me hard on the lips. It was almost like kissing a new person. There were some things that felt the same as always but overall there was a new edge, a new urgency to this kiss. I guessed the fact that we had both admitted our love for each other had to do with why this kiss was different.

Suddenly Nicholas picked me up, although never taking his lips from mine, and walked upstairs to the bedroom. He effortlessly opened the door and swung me inside, kicking the door closed and softly placing me on the bed.

I was lying on my back with Nicholas propped up on his elbow, almost directly over me, still kissing me. His other hand was holding my face gently. Then his hand ran down my face and along my neck. He kept traveling down the length of my arm and over to my waist. He broke away from kissing me to kiss my chin and my neck. Then he slowly lifted my shirt, like he was nervous about whether or not I would allow this. I couldn’t object at this point.

His lips made their way slowly down to my neck as he kissed my collar bone. Finally his lips parted from my skin only to be replaced on my stomach that had been perfected when I was changed. His lips made small circles around my midsection as he slowly started to lift himself up.

He looked up at me and I could see the same desire I was feeling in his eyes. I leaned up my head slightly to meet him halfway. I didn’t want to wait any longer to feel his lips on mine. I didn’t think it would have been possible, but we began kissing with more passion than before.

I reached over to gently lift the edge of his shirt up to reveal the perfect muscles I had glimpsed earlier. He realized what I was trying to do and detached one arm at a time from me so I could take his shirt off completely. I sat up a little more and gently rolled so I could be on top of him. As I kept kissing him I ran my hands over his smooth chest. Every time he came up for a breath he would whisper “I love you”.

Nicholas put his hands on either side of my waist and held me there for a second before he slowly started lifting my shirt up again. He was about half way up my stomach when we heard a knock from downstairs. Actually to call it a knock would be an understatement. It sounded more like a bang.

Nicholas pulled his lips away from mine but I didn’t move my face far away from his. I heard him groan and try to sit up. I put my hands on his shoulders to try to keep him there. “Maybe if we ignore them, they will just go away,” I tried.

Nicholas grimaced and said, “No, I know her and she won’t go away.”

As soon as Nicholas had said that I heard the door downstairs slam. Nicholas picked me up and put me to the side of him on the bed. I sat there pouting for a second. Nicholas noticed my face and I’m sure heard my thoughts about the intruder downstairs.

He laughed and kissed my cheek, Don’t worry love, this isn’t over,” he promised. My breath caught in my throat at his vow. I saw that Nicholas’ back was turned to me as he was retrieving his shirt. I stood up on the bed and as soon as he replaced his shirt I jumped on his back, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.

I kissed the side of his neck and he laughed as he gripped my legs to get a better hold on me. With that he walked towards the door and down the stairs. As soon as we were on the second floor landing I got a look at who had interrupted us.

It was Elizabeth.

Chapter 13:
“Its nice to see you two have gotten so close. That didn’t take you long at all Nicholas.”

“Hello Elizabeth. What brings you here at this hour?” Nicholas replied in a calm voice, ignoring her comment. He let go of my legs and I slid down his back. He picked up my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“I was just dropping by to visit. I was hoping she wouldn’t still be here,” for the first time since we had come downstairs, Elizabeth looked at me. I liked it better when she didn’t.

“Well she is. Now tell me what you want or please leave,” finally Nicholas’ temper flared a little.

Her face softened slightly, “I have missed you. I couldn’t bear to not see you for any longer. Please, let’s all sit down,” she asked while she moved towards the couch. She saw the hesitation on Nicholas’ face and added, “I promise to be nice.”

Nicholas sighed and led me over to the living room area. He sat down at one end of the couch and pulled me next to him. I saw Elizabeth’s eyes tighten as she watched us but she stayed silent and sat down.

“How have you been Nicholas?”

He turned to me and smiled as he said, “Better.”

“Well I just got back from Spain. I really do love it over there, it is simply gorgeous. You and I should go sometime,” she said, obviously annoyed that his attention wasn’t on her.

“Hmm…maybe we will all go someday. I’ve been meaning to plan a trip to Ireland for Charlie. Perhaps we can do a small tour of Europe,” Nicholas suggested. I smiled and thought, you remembered. He just nodded his head at me.

“The invitation was meant for only you, Nicholas,” her voice acidic.

“Well them I don’t think I will be able to accompany you Elizabeth,” I saw the muscles in his jaw clench; “Maybe you can take one of your young boyfriends instead?”

She just sat there looking at him for a second. Then out of nowhere I heard Nicholas say, “That’s too bad Elizabeth.” What the hell? She hadn’t said anything…

“Yes, I do remember. That is why we are not together anymore,” his tone of voice was getting angrier by the second.

Abruptly Elizabeth jumped to her feet though she wasn’t touching the floor, “WHY?! Because of her?! I will not stand aside and let you make that mistake. You two will never have what you and I had,” she was screaming now and her body kept inching higher and higher.

Nicholas just sat there calmly, “That is exactly why I am with her,” he replied in a dark whisper.

Suddenly Elizabeth’s feet touched back down to the floor and she stormed off, slamming the door as she left. I wondered if that was always how she left this apartment.

I heard Nicholas laugh mildly from beside me. “Yes, lately that is how she always leaves. She doesn’t like when she does not get what she wants,” he explained.

I just shook my head. “What was she saying to you before?”

He sighed, “She said she would rather go with me than anyone else and then she asked me if I remembered what it was like when I we were together,” he said softly.

I sat there silently, trying to keep my thoughts in check. I couldn’t help one little question from slipping through: what if he changes his mind and goes back to her?

“Charlie, that won’t happen. Trust me. I love you and that wont change. You and Elizabeth are like night and day. I put up with her for far too long when we were together. The way I feel about you and when I’m with you is nothing compared to when I was with her. I am…happy. All the time. Remember earlier when I left you with Diana and went to talk to Christopher? When you asked me what we talked about I lied to you. The whole time we talked about you, about my feelings for you and what I was going to do about them. Now I know and I don’t want you to ever doubt them again. I’m not going anywhere and I won’t let you either. We are in this together now.”

I was shocked. He loved me. Really. I looked deep into his eyes and saw the truth behind his words burning there. Suddenly his face faltered a little. “You’re still hungry aren’t you?”

“Actually, yes. I never had the chance to feed from more than the one guy,” I answered him. I realized now that that wasn’t nearly enough. Nicholas stood and held out his hand for mine.

“Let’s go back out, this time we will go to one of my favorite bars instead.”

I took his hand and let him lead me out of his apartment and down to the street outside. He walked to the curb and held his arm up to get a taxi for us. A dirty yellow car pulled up and we got in. Nicholas gave the driver the directions and sat back in the seat with his arm around my shoulders.

I was looking out the windows to see if I recognized any of the buildings we were driving by when the cab suddenly stopped. I heard the driver cursing at whatever had made him have to slam on his brakes. Next to me Nicholas mumbled, “Perfect.”

I looked out the front windshield and my breath stopped. There, standing in the middle of the road was Bernardo. He had a furious look on his face and I shrunk against the seat. “Stay here,” Nicholas said quietly as he reached for the door handle.

“NO! You cant go out there. Lets just run,” I suggested but I knew it was in vain.

“Charlie, I told you I’m not running,” he explained as he opened the door and stepped out of the car. I leaned forward in the seat so nothing could block my view of whatever was going to happen. Normally I wouldn't be able to hear anything that was said but the Change had enhanced my hearing along with all my other senses.

Nicholas slowly walked up to my maker and asked him, “Would you mind getting out of the middle of the road? We have somewhere we need to be and you are in the way,” his tone sounded polite but I could hear the slight irritation there.

“This is between Charlotte and me. Do not concern yourself,” he responded as he made to walk around to my side of the cab.

Quickly, but not too fast as to cause suspicion, Nicholas caught up to him, grabbing his arm. “It does concern me and she isn’t going anywhere with you. It would be wise to leave. Now,” he threatened.

My maker shrugged Nicholas’ hand off of him and began walk closer to my door. “I am her maker and she belongs to me. Leave us be and I wont be forced to kill you,” Bernardo’s voice was still calm and matter of fact but the threat was clear.

Nicholas walked around him this time, blocking him from going any further. “I am not going to tell you again. Turn around and walk away or this will not turn out in your favor.

My maker laughed at Nicholas’ warning and continued to advance towards me. The next few events happened so fast that even I had trouble keeping up let alone my clueless cab driver.

First Nicholas grabbed Bernardo’s shoulder ripping him backwards and away from the cab. Next Bernardo ran towards Nicholas trying to tackle him to the ground but Nicholas was too quick and sidestepped his attack.

They moved around each other in almost perfect circles. The same pattern kept repeating itself over and over. Bernardo would lunge and Nicholas would dodge. Every so often Nicholas would be able to get a blow in. Finally after a few seconds that felt like hours, their cat and mouse game was taken off the street and into a parking garage on the side of the road that was closed for the night.

When I couldn’t see them anymore I jumped out of the cab and followed them. I heard the faint cries of the cabbie demanding to be paid but I ignored him as I made my way over to where I saw them disappear.

Their dance was still going on but I could tell that Bernardo was getting tired of this routine. Suddenly Bernardo jumped out of the circle and glared at Nicholas. “This isn’t over,” he promised and darted away from us.

I ran over to Nicholas and wrapped my arms around him. “Are you okay? Why did you do that? You could have gotten hurt! I wouldn’t be able to bear it if you were hurt because of me. I--,”

Nicholas cut me off then, “Charlie, relax. I’m fine. There was no way I was going to let him take you away from me. I would do anything for you. I wont ever let anything bad happen, I promise,” he said, his voice low and comforting. He wrapped his arms tighter around me and kissed the top of my head.

“Why don’t we just go home? We can eat there instead.”

I nodded my head in agreement and let him lead me out of the garage. Once on the street we ran, hand in hand, to his apartment building. When we were in his apartment we walked into the kitchen and Nicholas gently pushed me down onto a stool. “I’ll cook,” he said with a laugh. I rolled my eyes at him and watched as he warmed up some of the packages he had stolen the night before.

When we were done I began to think about my maker again. Before Nicholas could interrupt my thoughts, I voiced my concerns. “What am I going to do about him?”

“ ‘We' Charlie. We are together now and whatever happens to you happens to me.”

“Together?” I questioned the term he used to describe our relationship.

He looked down at his feet, “Well I just assumed since….If you don’t want to that’s…”

I walked over to him and put my hands on his face, lifted his head so his eyes had to meet mine. “Nicholas, I love you. I know we had this conversation already and we decided to not name ‘us’ but after all we have been through…” I stopped there, unsure of how to go on.

He smiled and I felt his arms encircle my waist. He bent his face to my ear and whispered, “So you want to be my girlfriend now?” he teased.

I leaned back and smacked his arm. “Well not if you’re going to make fun of me,” I was only slightly irritated. It was too much work to actually be mad at him.

Suddenly his face was completely serious, “Charlotte, I am tied to you now. I want nothing more than to be whatever you want me to be,” his tone of voice had completely lost the mocking tone it had before.

“I guess you can say we’re dating…I mean how else could we describe...this…” I stammered the last few words.

He stood there for a minute completely still and silent. Finally he took a deep breath and smiled, “I guess we can settle on boyfriend and girlfriend for now…at least until we can come up with something better.”

I didn’t know how to take that last comment. I tried to think it through but before I really got the chance, Nicholas scooped me up off the stool and darted upstairs with me in his arms. When we got to his bedroom he playfully dumped me on the bed.

“Wow, thanks,” I huffed as I tried to upright myself. Apparently Nicholas had a different idea. Before I was completely sitting up he pounced on me, pinning my arms down on either side of my head. Oh, he wanted to play this game huh?

I struggled slightly, playing up the 'damsel in distress' act. Finally I felt him loosen his grip a little, thinking he had already won the fight. Then I rolled slightly and we both went tumbling onto the floor. I was on top though.

“Hey! That’s not fair, you cheated,” he said, a little upset that he was being beaten.

I just laughed and kept my body pressed down as hard as I could so I could keep him in place. Suddenly he rocked forward and knocked me backwards. Then I found myself once again on my back with Nicholas towering over me, a look of triumph on his face.

I rolled my eyes, “Fine you win, you are the superior vampire here, I concede.”

He laughed in triumph and leaned down to kiss me on the lips. I wrapped my arms around my neck and pulled him down to me. His hands ran through my hair and down my face. He pulled back suddenly to look in my face. “I love you so much Charlotte.”

I couldn’t speak due to the sudden intensity of his confession. I was in awe. Why me? How could I be so luck to have this incredible guy love me so much?

“I must disagree with you Charlotte Kaye. I truly believe I am the lucky one here.”

With that he picked me up off the floor and stood me on my feet. “You get changed for bed. I’m going to go downstairs and get something real quick, I’ll be right back,” he said, already on his way to the door.

“Wait, what…,” I tried to call after him but he was already out the door. I looked around for the new pajamas I had bought earlier. I found them and quickly changed.

As soon as I was done changing, Nicholas walked back into the room carrying a piece of rolled up paper. “What is that,” I asked.

“Go sit on the bed and I’ll show it to you,” he said as he led me to the giant bed in the middle of the room.

I did as he asked, sliding under the maroon covers. Once I was situated in the middle of the bed I turned to him expectantly. He held out the rolled up piece of paper. I went to take it from him but he pulled it back at the last minute.

“Actually, I think I want to explain this to you first. Then I’ll show you what I made you.”

What he made me? Nicholas ignored my thought and said, “Charlie I draw and sometimes paint. Well at least I used to. I haven’t had a reason to in almost two hundred years. The library downstairs also used to be a studio where I would work on my art. I didn’t understand it at first, but ever since I met you I have had the urge to pick up that hobby again. Now I know why,” he smiled at me. “It makes sense that the girl I am so in love with could resurrect this talent of mine.”

I was speechless. Finally he handed me the piece of paper. I unrolled it and my breath instantly caught in my chest. It was a black and white sketch of me sleeping. He must have done this while earlier today. I stared at the picture of me and suddenly it was blurred. I didn’t have time to really study it because my eyes filled up with dark red tears.

I quickly leaned over and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Nicholas,” I tried to say between sobs, “this is the sweetest thing anyone has even done for me.” Just then the tears overpowered my ability to make coherent words.

Nicholas silently picked up the paper and walked across the room to put it on the dresser. Then he came back over to the bed and wrapped his arms around me while he pulled the covers up around us. “Please stop crying Charlie. Even though I’m fairly certain these are tears of joy, I still can’t bear to see you like this. I love you Charlie, more than I have ever loved anyone else. Please just relax and go to sleep,” his words soothed me enough for me to close my eyes and relax my body. Soon I was sleeping an un-restful sleep that should have been void of dreams. Even though I knew I couldn’t dream, I could have sworn I saw Nicholas in my unconscious mind that night.