Move Along... 19

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BigFan-Thanks! Meh, tension builds up for better things. When they kiss on the first chapter it annoys me, cause they don't really know the person or anything. And I like the tension. It amuses me.

Rachel T.-Hopeless romantics are what make the romance stories flourish! We need people like us! And... every girl is a romantic down under, sadly and awkwardly.

SumaiiyaBaybiie-Well, I'm thinking about the sequel. Not quite sure yet. This may just be one REALLY long story. Thanks, I loved writing the whole awkward scene.

AG Baby-Cool! Thanks!

Xara-Lol. Yeah. Probably a cliche, but I loved writing it!

K-Thanks!

MaikaRose-Lol. I'd probably post something like "Post now, da** it!" or something like that. You're not so forceful. ;)

Vemn P-Lol. I know right. That was the point of Elizabeth not answering. Messes with you. And I did love writing the awkward part, it made me laugh the whole time. Elizabeth is magic with the make up!
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Carmen woke me up, thought I didn't know I had even fallen asleep. I had passed out on the couch in my apartment, she woke me up by poking my stomach. I groaned and rolled over.

"Mommy, wake up. And stop rolling over! You'll ruin your make up!" Carmen shouted right in my ear.

I sighed and opened my eyes, rolling over to see Carmen all lammed up, but not as much as me. She was wearing a cute winter green sweater--much like mine, only it was smaller and didn't hug every curve--and a pair of nice black slacks. She even wore little black dress heels. These trials were pretty serious.

I sighed again. "Fine. I'm up. What is it?"

"Wizzy says we're about to leave now. You gotta get ready!"

"I'm already ready."

"Did you eat?"

"... No..." I mumbled.

She threw up her hands. "Then you're not ready!"
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Two Pop Tarts later, we were heading downstairs. Elizabeth had touched up my make up--I didn't see anything wrong with it, but she didn't shut up for the whole walk down the hallway and the stairs--and we were back on track.

Adrian's reaction to my outfit was, well, kind of classic. The tips of his ears turned pink, his eyes were wide and he didn't say a word. He just stared. Eventually, Elizabeth hit him on the back of the head and yelled at him to stop acting like a stalker. He blinked and looked away, his ears a darker pink. Elizabeth made fun of him for a long while.

We all loaded into the van--Adrian was still staring at my outfit, and I was trying very hard not to notice--and headed to the trial spot. Apparently they kept the trials in more than one place. This one was at Alexander's house. How scary was that?

His house was, well, kind of like a mansion. I mean, I thought Elizabeth and Adrian had a huge house, but WOW. There were huge marble columns around the marble front porch. The whole damn place was made out of either marble or ivory. There were vampires everywhere, and they were all pissed off. They all wore angry faces--I preferred to call them the No More Mr. Nice Vampire faces--as they murmured to one another. They eyed me with distant. Some just stared at my legs, or cleavage, or my butt. I just held onto Carmen as a shield, suddenly wishing she wasn't here to see this, and walked to the desk that was almost identical to the ones from my Dad's trial.

Carmen sat on my lap, Adrian to my left, Elizabeth was to my right. My stomach clenched as a pile of dark hair, piled in with combs and gems, made her way up to the desk next to us. Behind her were two men, one young with caramel hair and one old enough to be dust. Thaddeus smiled and nodded at me. I smiled back, resisting a wave. They were all wearing plain black. They were the sulky Goth vampires, with different signature looks. Liam looked like the aging doctor that you liked but he was cenile. Liam looked like the good guy who got caught in the wrong crowd. Lady Illosovich looked like Bloody Mary was her role model.

Mrs. SnaggleTooth stood up, which made everybody shut up instantly, and motioned for everybody to sit down. "Today, we are here to see if William Alexander Stratton is guilty of stealing a human girl, a pet of Adrian Thomas Stratton's and Elizabeth Amelia Stratton." I blinked, because the three of them all had the same last name.

A young vampire--well, he looked young--stood with a raised hand. He cleared his throat, then said in a soft English accent, "Lady Ilosovich, why are we here to deal with the affairs of an insignificant human? They're going to eat her anyway. Why must we have a trial?"

Lady Illosovich stared at him. He sat down quickly. "He reportedly stole her and has plotted against the family, my right-wing here. Whether she is human or not is not sufficient to the matter. Nobody steals another's pet without a trade or mark on paper."

Another man stood up. "Fair Lady, why must my son be held trial?"

The scary woman with gray eyes stared at him for a moment, then smiled. It wasn't a real one, just an emotion of the face. Nothing except her lips moved. "Fair point, Lucifer." She spoke louder. "We have sufficient evidence that he is guilty. Thank you, Lucifer, for making me realize your son's guilt. He shall be sentenced to a year without blood. If he lives through it, he may go free." She was about to stand up, but she looked at me. I cringed into my chair, holding Carmen closer. "You. I've heard you've attacked a certain Penelope Tudors while you were under Alexander's hold."

I blinked. She seemed to be waiting for my reply. "I--I don't even know a Penelope--"

She shook her head, her face returned to the icy mode it normally was. "No, she filled out a report with correct bruises. She says you have done it." She motioned to the guards at the front doors. "Bring her in."

A girl with lovely red hair and a pixie-like figure walked in, her citrus orange eyes staring at me with a certain look I couldn't quite figure out.

I glared. Oh. Bitchy anorexic Alexander-obsessed vampire chick. We meet again.

"Do you recognize each other?" Lady Illosovich asked.

Her voice was frightened, "Yes, ma'am. She's the one who attached me."

Lady Illosovich nodded and considered it for a moment, then had to look at me. "And you, human?"

I nodded "Yeah. She's obsessed with Alexander and saw me as a threat for some reason I can't understand. Started yelling at me in a foreign language."

She nodded and looked away, staring at the desk with her fingers folded under her chin. "I see. Do you have proof of any of this?"

"You saw the pictures," Penelope said lightly.

The gray-eyed vampire shook her head slowly. "No, those were done by a vampire. And I have no interest framing an innocent girl because you act like some lovesick schoolgirl for a man who barely acknowledges your existence. Alexander, the marks have been made by a vampire. Whether you wanted to frame the human or are just so damned to lay a hand on a little girl, I do not care. I do care that you changed a girl who was barely twelve, though it is not the case. Alexander, you are guilty. Why I bothered to even bring in the girl is meant as well, she shall spend the same time as well. She shall probably die alongside you, remember this." She stood up. "Court adjourned."

The room was suddenly fierce and people were fighting. Three vampire launched themselves at me. Adrian bodily picked them up in the air and threw them out a window. It shattered and sunlight came in. Vampires screamed and dodged for something to hide behind. Penelope actually burst into flames. She ran around, screaming, and caught some others on fire. A ray of sunshine hit Elizabeth's cheek. The skin turned dark pink, then blistered progressively worse for the three seconds it sat there until Elizabeth moved out-of-the-way. When Penelope was extinguished, she was a crumbled heap on the ground that looked like what would have been left from a vampire. Her eyes were white, like someone who was blind, and the rest of her was withered and black.

Someone sighed, like a dog got into their trash and they were stuck cleaning it up. "She's dead. Such a waste." He looked at Alexander, who's holder was currently swatting at the ray of sun like it was a pesky fly. "And you, you've messed up, Stratton. Nobody will be happy about this, but nobody would come against Illosovich either. Watch yourself."

Alexander looked at me, a wordless glare that made me cringe back in my seat further.
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I didn't feel like eating. Carmen was a bit shaken, but she seemed to be fine and ate six smore Pop Tarts, covered with fudge sauce. And some whipped cream. How that girl stayed so small was a mystery to me. Adrian, to my surprise, was the one who suggested that I eat.

He was staring at the ceiling, like he's done since we got home. "You need to eat something. You'll feel better."

"Fine," I snapped. "But why do you have to look at the ceiling every time you're around me?"

"To keep from staring at you, which will make my sister slap me, and I'll get angry and she'll get angry and Carmen will stop crying and you'll have to go help her and I end up being the bad person," he said plainly, most of it coming out in a rush.

I blinked twice, then got up and tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't answer. "Adrian?"

"Yes?"

"You're being an idiot."

He chuckled. "Yeah. So, can you leave the room now or something? My neck's hurting."

I sighed and looked at him, staying exactly where I was. "Why?"

He blinked, but still looked up at the ceiling. "I told you, my sister will slap me--"

"No, not that." He blinked, clearly not understanding. "Why are you trying so hard to keep me alive? I honestly don't get it. I mean, you've had other humans before, right? Sorry if I don't sound grateful, but why don't you just drain me and get it over with?"

He looked down at me, clearly confused. Then he gave me a small, ghost of a smile. "Because I like you." Then the tips of his ears went pink and he looked away, to the side. "And more importantly, my sister does. So... there." he shifted his weight from foot to foot, then started to walk away. "I'll make you some tacos," he said as he left.
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Five tacos--Adrian's a good cook--later, I was curled up on the couch, reading a sappy romantic book about a guy who was falling out of love with his wife of three years. How the wife decided she didn't want to lose him and committed suicide, leaving himself alone in life with their one year old daughter. I was starting to cry when the man had to tell his daughter about her Mother never coming back from her "shopping trip" when there was a light knock on the door.

I sighed and pulled my dark, damp hair into a ponytail. I had just come out of the showed, wearing casual black PJ bottoms and a white tank top. I remembered to wear a comfy sports bra this time. I set the book down and walked toward the door, getting hit in the face when Elizabeth opened the door a second before my hand touched the knob. I stumbled against the wall, cursing, and tried to get up. There was a little sparks flashing in front of my eyes as I rose. Elizabeth's pupils took over her eyes again. I didn't know why; my cycle was nearly over. There shouldn't be anything left to smell. Then I smelled something like rust and salt, and lifted my hand up to my temple, pulling it back down when I felt something wet under my fingers. I pulled it back down and saw red.

I exhaled slowly, my pulse probably showing in my throat. I looked at Elizabeth and braced myself as she slowly came towards me.

"Carter," she purred. "You've never looked so great..." She glided up to my side, taking a deep smell of my temple. She smiled, opening her mouth to show teeth that would have made a shark scream in terror.

"I--" I faltered, then nearly screamed when Elizabeth was suddenly pulled back, thrown out into the hall. Adrian was in front of me, showing his sister back at least ten feet across the room.

"Stay behind me," he commanded. "You've seen her like this before; she'd not exactly rational."

I nodded, accepting it. I just assumed it was a vampire thing, when I met her tha first day. But maybe it was just her thirst for blood that made her so insane. I leaned up on my toes to whisper in his ear, "Why aren't you all... you know..."

He gave me a grim smile. "I'm in better control with that side. Or it may be the predatory instinct to protect. Either way, I've got to keep you safe now."

I nodded. "But what about Carmen?"

Elizabeth, who was watching us from the hallway, suddenly gave us the fanny grin and was gone before we could yell for her. Adrian went after her, wrapping his arm around my hip and carrying me downstairs.

He left me for a second of a moment to get Carmen--he gave me a knife before he left--and the second he was gone, there was a body behind my back. I couldn't move, or even breath. The feeling of desperate fear took over me, adrenaline surging through my veins and my pulse hammering.

Adrian was holding Carmen at his hip, staring at us. Both of their eyes were wide, but Adrian knew perfectly well what was happening. Carmen was just confused as to what was going on with Elizabeth's eyes.

"Elizabeth, let Carter go. You know her. She's your friend. Nobody's going to hurt you. Just let her go," Adrian said in a soothing voice. He took a small step towards us.

Elizabeth's steel grip on my shoulders tightened. I twitched and moved, but let out a yelp when something moved that wasn't supposed to move. I could feel cool breath on the back of my throat, moving my pony-tailed damp hair.

I heard her let out a little childish whimper. "I know, brother, but she smells so GOOD!" She wailed, almost coming out as a sob.

I looked at Adrian in sheer terror. He'd come and help me, I thought frantically. Like he did with Alexander.

But the sinking feeling was deeper than it was before, and the look on Adrian's face told me Elizabeth was more unstable than I had thought.

I took in a breath, trying not to sob. This was going to hurt. A lot. I was going to DIE in pain and agony, not seeing my brothers one last time, not even getting to kiss Adrian--

Why the HELL do I keep thinking about that? Why, of all things to worry about for my last seconds, do I think about some bipolar, cute, sarcastic, amazing, arrogant, caring--

DAMN IT, I'm doing it again!

I let out a sigh/sob and took one last look at the people who'd see my death. Carmen was watching, her cute face pale and scarred, and whispered in Adrian's ear, "Daddy, why is Mommy crying? And what's Wizzy doing?"

Adrian looked pale, even for a vampire, and in total distress. I gave him a little smile, trying to look assuring, though it probably just came out terrifying, and tried to stop crying. Hadn't even realized tears were gushing out of my eyes, dripping off my chin and making uneven lines down my face. Probably mingling with the blood that had started this whole incident.

Elizabeth looked exactly the same as the first time I saw her. Her pupils ate her whole eyes, making them just black and reflecting light. I think I was too scared to scream or pee myself.

She gave me a small, sad smile. "I am sorry." Then, my hopes of Adrian flooded away as her fangs sank into my neck and the world went black.
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~*Bet you guys didn't expect that in this chapter. And btw, cutest country song ever: "She's My Kind Of Crazy" by Brantley Gilbert. Had a craving for that song today! Just thought I'd tell you. Nearly cry each time I hear it. Helps me with all my sappy romantic moments! Favorite phrase ever would be:She's too cute to get on my last nerve. Song relates a lot of people, surprisingly.*~