Love's a Crime - Chapters 9 and 10

Chapter 9 - First Date

I woke up to the smell of bacon coming from the kitchen downstairs. My head felt groggy as I lifted myself from the silky bed. I looked down to see that I was still in the clothes from yesterday, great... now my clothes are all wrinkly. I gently swung my legs from the bed sheets and stood up slowly. My muscles felt stiff and my neck had that same sore spot from yesterday event. I remembered me and Stephen hugging each other and him carrying me up to the bedroom since I had been starting to get sleepy. I wonder why he has a bed if he doesn't even sleep at all since he's a Vampire. That word sent a shiver down my spine. I still couldn't process the fact that he was a Vamp... I mean the mythical creature. I quietly walked to the door and opened it carefully, the smell bacon hit me harder than before as I inhaled the delicious aroma, this caused my stomach to rumble soundly. I tip-toed down the stairs and headed to the direction of the kitchen.

This is where I found Stephen cooking the bacon on a small dark blue pan, he had a plate full of sausages with eggs ready to the side and some strips of bacon were placed on it too. He turned around quickly and before I could process what was happening, he had lifted me up and spun me around in the air, then he set me down and hugged me tightly. "Good Morning my princess, how are you feeling?" Stephen whispered and kissed me on the forehead. I blushed deeply and giggled shyly, I looked up and saw him staring at me with an expression that I couldn't really comprehend.

"I'm feeling good, so why are you cooking so much food?" I asked looking around him to stare at the big plate of breakfast. "Well you need to eat a good breakfast to get the energy, you will need for today," he said turning around while placing the last pieces of bacon on the plate. "And why would I need this much energy for today?" I asked him, staring wide-eyed at the huge plate of food he was putting in front of me. "Well today, we are going on a special trip," he said mischievously while pouring me a glass of apple juice. "May I ask what this special trip is?" I said as I put a piece of sausage in my mouth, mmm this tastes really good I thought as I savored it slowly. "Nope," he said while popping the "p"

I frowned and put another piece of sausage in my mouth, I chewed it quietly and stared at him weirdly. He grinned at me and kept watching me eat, I looked down at my apple juice and decided to change the subject. "So... Where's Drake?" I asked him as I grabbed a bacon strip with my fingers and tore it in half. "Oh.. I think he's out hunting," Stephen said absent-mindedly. I nodded thoughtfully and threw the piece of bacon in my mouth, "What is your relation with Drake, Stephen?" I asked him suddenly.

Stephen's eyes widened in surprise but then he regained his usual composture and leaned his arms onto the table I was eating on. "Drake's a close friend of mine, he was the one who helped me through my feeding frenzy stage. He has always been there for me and has never let me down not even once. He is like a brother to me and he's a part of my family... Well technically... He is my only family..." He finished his sentence while going into deep thought.

I looked at him in awe and drank in every one of his features. He looked very casual dressed in a white button-up long sleeve and fitted with black slacks and formal leather shoes. He wore very professional type of clothes and didn't dress like someone of his normal age. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't even know his real age. "Stephen... I forgot to ask you this but... How old are you?" I asked him, breaking him from his previous thoughts. He looked over at me in bewilderment and scrutinized my face, as if searching for an explanation for my sudden curiosity. He sighed deeply and looked down to the table surface. "I am.... 456 years old," he said silently as he studied my expression.

I tried to keep on a poker-face but it turned out to be really difficult with what I just heard from him. "Oh that's r-really nice... I never would have guessed....." I said nervously as I fiddled with my apple juice cup. He nodded hesitantly but let it go. I mentally sighed in relief and stood up to put the dishes in the sink to wash them.

"It's ok, I'll do them, go upstairs and get changed into the outfit, I laid out for you on the bed. I'm guessing you didn't see it since you were too focused on the bacon smell." He said winking at me, I blushed and ran to the stairs. As I got to the room, I saw the outfit Stephen had laid out for me. It was a dark blue t-shirt with a white tiger printed on the side and it had a bright blue waterfall in the background, the pants were a pair of white skinny jeans that had rips on the knees and thighs and as for the shoes, they were light blue converse that were located to your ankle. I put on the shirt and pants but didn't put on my shoes since I couldn't find the dumb socks, I finally found them on the floor near the left bed leg, they were a normal pair of white ankle socks that felt thin. I hurriedly put on the socks and shoes and ran downstairs.

Stephen was waiting for me on the bottom of the stairs. He smiled and held out his hand so I could take it, I grabbed it and held it firmly. "So are we going to walk to your secret destination?" I asked him as we headed out the front door. "No, we are going to take my car." He said pointing to a shiny sleek black lamborghini parked by his house garage which was right in the middle of the forest. I gaped at the intimidating vehicle that was right in front of me. He pulled my hand and took out his car keys from his pockets, he clicked open his car doors as he walked to the driver's seat while I walked to the passenger seat. I got into the car and sat down as I closed the car door, he selected the key into the car key slot and turned the car on. I heard the motor engine purr back to life as Stephen maneuvered the car from its parking space and onto the concrete roadway. "So can you tell me where we are going now?" I asked impatiently.

"No, you'll just have to wait until we arrive there," he said smiling. I sighed and crossed my arms grumpily, we had been driving for a full 15 minutes, The place we were driving through looked desolate. It was like a forest but it looked sophisticated and well maintained. We still kept going and the forest started disappearing, the road was becoming wider and there were less trees. We crossed a flat bridge and entered in what looked like a small town.

I read the welcoming sign and it said - "Welcome to Dashville, Peace and Prosperity will be your main friend" it looked pretty calm around here, the homes were mostly farms and it had more pastures than houses.

We finally stopped at a place called "Henry's Horse Round Up" I gasped and looked at Stephen in disbelief, "Don't tell me we're going-" "Yep, we are going horse back riding," he said grinning. I swallowed hard and looked at the outer part of the place where there were horses lined up in wooden stalls, I gulped and looked nervously at the place. Well....Here goes nothing, I thought as I got out of the car with Stephen.

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Chapter 10 - Things Go Bad

Stephen grabbed my hand as we walked to the front of the little farm's door, as he opened the door I noticed that the inside looked more like a shop than a barn. The walls were decorated with metal horse hooves and it had stallion figurines plastered on the tall shelves. They had tons of agriculture tools in various aisles and the place was packed with horse, cow, and bull care supplies. "I thought you said we were going horse back riding, I didn't think you meant you were going to buy horse care supplies." I said scrunching up my nose as I picked up a bottle on a shelf that had "Henry's Horse Shoe Polisher" written on the front in big blue letters. He chuckled lightly and grabbed the bottle from my hand while setting it back on the shelf, "You need to ask the cashier for the visitor pass and then they'll let you out onto the pasture which is right outside that door." He said pointing to a big green wooden door on the right side of the shop where there were some souvenir stands by it. "Oh.... I didn't know that," I said looking another way uncomfortably, talk about making myself look stupid.

He tugged at my hand and walked us up to the wooden counter, he rang the little silver bell hop bell twice and put his hand in his pocket as we waited for someone to assist us. A man came out of the little office in the back, He had brown curly hair that covered most of his gray eyes, you could see white teeth in his mouth as he smiled at us, he was lightly tanned but it fit him, he was pretty muscled and you could see his huge biceps through his tight white T-shirt. He wore tight blue jeans paired with brown work shoes, and he looked like he was in his mid-twenties from the childish look on his face.

"How can I help you good folks today?" He said in a deep Texan accent. "Well, I'd like the two passes for the horse back riding event." Stephen said in a tight voice as he gritted his teeth harshly. I looked at Stephen in surprise as I heard the tone of his voice, why is he mad all of a sudden?

"Sure thing partner, here you go, one for you.... And one for this beautiful lady," the guy said winking at me while handing me the pass in my hand slowly while touching his fingers to mine. He let his hand linger a little longer than usual until I snapped my hand back quickly as I felt my cheeks burn up. I heard Stephen gnash his teeth together noisily, he harshly grabbed my hand and yanked me away from the counter, I looked back at the guy and he was smirking. When he saw me looking at him he winked and blew me a kiss, I looked back at Stephen in shock and noticed that he had been staring at me angrily while he pulled me to the green wooden door which led to the pasture he had been telling me about.

We finally got outside to the grassy fields where all the horses were, Stephen had finally let my hand go and he walked over to the stalls, I followed right behind him hurriedly but it was hard to catch up since he was walking really fast. "Stephen! Wait for me!! Don't walk too fast! Just wait will you!" I screamed at him angrily but he still ignored me. My speed-walking turned into sprinting as I got closer to him, he had finally reached the stalls and had quickly got on a black mare who was tied to the pole, he gently kicked the horses sides and off he went.

He rode past me quickly without even sparing me a glance, What's wrong with him! First he's happy, then he gets angry with me for no reason. I dragged my feet slowly to the stalls, my brown hair curtained my sad face and my arms dangled freely to my side. I got to the stall and looked at all the horses there. Most of them were eating out of their food bucket but some were aimlessly looking around. They all looked magnificently graceful but the one that caught my eye was the white stallion that had brilliant icy blue eyes, he had a gorgeous silver mane that reached past his neck and his tail was as twice as long, he was very tall and looked ready to ride. His saddle was already secured on his back and was tied around his belly, his harness was tied to both sides of his mouth, and he had his metal shoes placed on the bottom of all of his feet. "I see you have your eyes set on Prince," said a deep voice, I turned around to see the guy from earlier who was flirting with me.

"Yeah I do, can I ride him around?" I asked pointing to the white stallion. "Sure darling, let me help you get on him," he said while opening his stable door, he cooed the horse out and rubbed his head affectionately. He came forward and stepped in front of me and wrapped his arms around my waist, then he lifted me up gently from the ground as he placed me on the horse's back. I wiggled uncomfortable but then got used to the new feeling, "Thanks for helping me Mr...." I said awkwardly while looking at him. "Call me Chris honeybunch," he said winking at me. I smiled back shyly and waved bye to him as the horse started trotting by himself, "Thank You Chris," I yelled back at him as he grew smaller, from my view. I kicked the horse's side softly and he started sprinting faster, I loved the feeling of the soft wind blowing through my hair. It made me feel like I was flying all alone in my own little fantasy.

I giggled loudly as Prince started running faster. He seemed to be enjoying himself a lot too, since he kept neighing loudly from time to time. I laughed as a leaf got stuck in my hair strands, I kept smiling widely as I looked through the plains of the pasture, the yellow hay stacks, the green grass, the thin straws of wheat and lastly, the sun shining through the white fluffy clouds. I sighed happily and had forgotten of Stephen's anger towards me.

I looked around and noticed that we were really far away from the ranch, I couldn't really see, since there were tall grassy fields in the way, I tried to see through the hills of vegetation but it was too tall to see clearly even if I'm on a giant horse. I froze as I heard a strange hissing sound coming from the ground, I looked down and saw my most greatest fear of all time.... A snake.

I sucked in a sharp breath and looked at Prince, apparently, I wasn't the only one who saw it. Prince neighed loudly, he stepped back frantically and kept bucking harshly, I held on as tightly as I could to his mouth harness but this made him more infuriated. He neighed loudly and got up on his hind legs, "NO!! Prince please calm down!" I yelled at him as he tilted backwards, I screamed as I fell down from the saddle and landed extra hard on the ground, my head was first to hit the ground, then came my back and my butt. I felt blood leak from my head as I laid there motionless while hearing Prince trot away faster than ever before. His gallops were now faint to my ear until I couldn't hear them anymore. My head and back were in burning pain and every time I tried to move, a blistering pain went through my whole body like electric wires. Tears formed in my eyes as I heard the hissing come closer to me, it sounded clearer than before and it was dangerously near. I felt something slither over my arms, onto my stomach, and stop at my chest. I opened my eyes fearfully and found two yellow eyes staring at me curiously, the snake was looking at me as if debating whether to eat me or not. It was a deep redish-orange with an oval shaped face, it was probably a feet or two, since I could feel its tail ending on my mid-thigh.

I guess I didn't look tasty enough because it started slithering over my face and it got off my body. I grimaced as I heard the sounds of leaves crunching under its body as it slithered away slowly, I recognized the type of snake it was since I had seen one in a zoo when I was little. The snake was called a corn snake since its mostly found in corn fields or farm pastures. So it doesn't surprise me that I had an encounter with one here. I shook my head from the thoughts of the snake and focused on trying to get up, I propped myself up on my elbows slowly and as I tried to go further up, an agonizing pain rippled through my back.

I cried out in agony and laid back down, where was Stephen when I needed him the most? My doubts of him disappeared as I heard loud gallops coming my way. I looked up with high anticipation of him coming to rescue me but my sweet thoughts vanished as I looked up to see Chris on his horse instead of Stephen. "Hon, are you okay?" Chris asked jumping rapidly off his horse and rushing over to me. "No I'm not okay, I have a cut in my head which is bleeding. My back hurts horribly every time I try to get up, and my legs feel numb." I said angrily, he looked at me in apology and tried to pick me but my back hurt like hell. I whimpered silently as tears poured out of my eyes. "Shh, shh, don't cry babe, I'll get you back to the farm as soon as possible, so I can check your injuries immediately!" He said softly while picking me up effortlessly but as carefully as he could.

"Where is Stephen?" I asked him softly as he mounted me and himself on the horse. I was in front of him and sitting on his lap. "Stephen? Oh! You mean the guy you entered with? Oh, well he was talking to this blonde girl who was on a brown horse, but seriously... If I could describe her, it would be that she looked like the full version of a slutty barbie," he said shaking his head softly.

My eyes widened in surprise and I looked up at him in disbelief, would Stephen really pick a slut over saving me? I took the nasty thoughts out of my head and looked up at Chris. He had a calm expression on his face but his eyes looked concerned. I looked away from his eyes, I didn't want him to pity me and his concern made my heart pound furiously. I looked in front of me instead and focused on ignoring the pain in my lower back.

I gazed into the direction of the ranch and saw something that shattered my heart into a million pieces. Stephen was hugging with a golden-haired beauty who wore clothes a size too small. They looked as if they were in a deep conversation, and it pained me to see him hugging another girl while we were on a supposed "date". So far, my first date ever has been a complete disaster. First, Stephen gets mad at me for no good reason then ditches me. Second, my horse knocks me off his back and throws me to the ground while encountering a snake..... And third.... I see my date in the arms of another girl.

I push back the tears that threaten to spill from my eyes and cringe back into the chest of Chris. I feel him wrap an arm around me while pulling me closer. He kisses the top of my head and continues riding the horse in silence. We finally arrive at the ranch and Chris gets off the horse while grabbing me in process.

He carries me in a bride type of way but it's the best way for me since he's not putting any pressure on my back. I hear someone running towards me quickly and I feel them stop right in front of me, "Oh my god! Sage! What happened?!" I heard Stephen say frantically. I ignore him and signal for Chris to keep walking, he obliges and starts moving in the direction of the store.

"Sage? What's with you!? Why are you ignoring me?" Stephens says angrily. I don't care anymore about this, I just want to home, I whisper something in Chris's ear, he nods and gently puts me down on my feet but still leaves one arm around me.

My back is starting to hurt again and my head is throbbing badly but I ignored it, "What's wrong with me you say? Why am I ignoring you, you ask?! I should be the one asking you those damn questions! You said you were taking me out on a trip! I didn't know that you had to get mad and ditch your partner, I absolutely thought the opposite! I thought it was something we could do together, you know, the two of us! I was hanging around all by myself and because of that, I ran into a snake which caused my horse to knock me off of his back, that made me hurt my head while injuring my spine! But noooo! You wouldn't know that would you because you were too busy getting cozy with a blonde bimbo bitch!" I said screeching the last part in anger.

Stephen is just frozen in place, his mouth is wide open and his eyes are bulging out of their sockets. I sigh deeply as Chris turns me around, I smile shyly at him and wrap an arm around him carefully. He smiles back softly and guides me to the door, I turn around to look at Stephen but he's gone... It may wound me to say this but.... Our love... Is a crime...