A Vampire & Her Angel. - Chapter 7

And run we did. Little did I know, but Nick owned a car. A gorgeous one at that. A sleek BMW, dark silver with tinted windows....and it went fast.

'Nick, where can we possibly hide? It's God we're running from.' I muttered skeptically.

'We can't hide, Maggie. We just have to keep running and running.' He explained, overtaking yet another car on the highway.

'So that's what we've doomed ourselves to do, for the rest of our lives? Run?' I squeaked.

'It's either that or stay and fight. If we fight, we die.' Nick sighed.

I raised an eyebrow. 'Well, you're optimistic.'

Nick grinned at me. We'd been arguing and repeating this conversation over and over. Because simply, I really didn't want to spend my life on the run. If you spent your life running, then you'd forget to live. Forget to make memories. And without that, what was life worth? Not much. I sighed and relaxed into the leather seats. Nick shifted the gear and put his hand over mine.

'We'll be fine. I promise.' He said quietly, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to look at me. I smiled.

'I really hope you're right, Nick.'

He grinned. 'I'm always right.'

I raised an eyebrow. 'Right. Well. Where are we going?'

Nick turned the music down. 'A little slice of paradise called
Byrez.' he said, smiling. I could see a hint of awkwardness under his smile though. I wondered what put it there.

Nick turned back to the road. Now, with no music audible, and the silence, awkwardness had completely engulfed the car.

I turned and stared out the window. A light ran had begun to fall outside, and almost sensing my thoughts, Nick reached out and turned on the heater.

I smiled softly at him. 'Are you okay?'

He nodded. 'I'm fine.' He closed his eyes for a second and then sighed.

'No. Other than the obvious, what's wrong?' I pushed.

'Byrez.' Nick said quietly.

'What about Byrez?' I asked.

'Byrez, is where my father was killed. He did the same as I have; decided to fall in love with a vampire.' Nick said quietly.

Nick had never spoken about his father to me. Ever.

'The Angels found them. And they were massacred. No mercy.'

'So why are we going there?' I squeaked, my face getting paler than usual.

'Because. It's my home. We'll be safe there.'

'They weren't!' I blurted.

I felt bad as soon as I'd said it. I knew that had hurt Nick. And the expression on his face confirmed my fears. Before I could even utter an apology, Nick spoke.

'Times have changed. It's....safe. now.'

I nodded and murmured a sincere "Sorry."

Nick nodded once in acknowledgment.

I blushed. I'd never seen Nick look so torn in the entire time I had known him.

Nick put his foot down as we sped past the last of civilization and began the long drive to Byrez.
****
Nick woke me up as we entered the Byrez city limits.

'We're here.' He said quietly.

I looked out the window. Byrez wasn't pretty at all. It was dark, with boarded up shops and graffiti everywhere. I shuddered. I had never really been exposed to this type of neighborhood. And to be frank, I was a little scared.

Nick sighed under his breath. 'Don't worry, the house isn't as bad as the town.'

I nodded, hoping he was right. And he was. Partially.

You could tell a fight had gone down here. And I didn't know how Nick had the strength to be here if his Dad had died here. It amazed me. But the house itself, in its heyday, would have been stunning. But now, tonight, it had smashed windows, broken doors, missing floorboards on the veranda...it reminded me of a haunted house. In fact, not that I'd mention it to Nick, it probably was.

'Here we are. Home sweet home.' Nick said wistfully, as we fought the rain and entered the house. The door creaked eerily as he pushed it open. I looked around. There was tree root and leaves everywhere.

'Nick, has anyone been here since....'

'No.'

'Oh, well, I don't mean to be rude, but is it safe?'

Nick looked at me and sighed. 'I already promised you it was.'

'No, I didn't mean from our pursuers, I mean the house itself. It's not going to collapse while we sleep is it?' I asked, trying to imagine what we'd do if that happened.

Nick sighed. 'I promise, it's not going to collapse.'

I sighed hoping he was right and took a step forward. As I put my foot down, I realized I had stepped on a piece of rotted wood, and my entire leg swiftly disappeared into the basement. I freaked out and screamed for Nick. He grabbed my hand.

'it's only your leg, -' he grunted as he pulled me clear.

'You said it was safe!' I yelled, jabbing him in the chest after I'd brushed the dirt off my jeans.

Nick shrugged. 'Maybe not. Watch where you walk.'

I glared at him and strategically stepped around the hole in the floor. I quietly hoped he'd hit a soft spot and fall through himself, but I found that highly unlikely.

'I grew up here,' Nick stated.

I raised an eyebrow.

'When it was in better condition.' He added, smiling.

I nodded. 'I imagine it was beautiful.'

'Yeah. Especially in spring. Mom used to have this rose garden outside. The smell of rose would just envelope the whole house.' Nick explained.

I grinned.

'Watch your step.' Nick pointed out, as he began ascending the stairs. I followed in his exact footsteps, the wood creaking underneath our feet.

We finally got to the top and surveyed the area. It was cleaner than downstairs, and prettier too. In fact it was almost untouched.

Nick pulled me into a room which I figured used to be his. We lay down on the clean-ish sheets, and slept.

Until a giant bang woke us up.