{ Really. <3 }

 "I already don't trust you," I replied coldly. "So the more you avoid answering... the more I don't want you around." Pulling my legs up, I hugged my knees, setting my chin on them. I couldn't help but notice how he'd avoided answering how old he was... the hair on my arms rose, a chill winding down my spine. 

"P-please just tell me," I insisted, growing desperate. My voice sounded whiny, but I didn't really care at the moment. "I'm already going half-mad, Eddie. I need to know what's going on. I need to know if what's happening is real."

I felt tears rising again, but this time I fought them back. I wouldn't let him look at me with pity in his eyes, or comfort me or even come near me. The less I showed emotion, the better off I was. "Just answer my questions." 

I sighed, defeatedly. I didn't want to make matters worse then they already were. It was going to end with me telling her everything, sooner or later. Why not get it over with?
"To be honest, I don't know how many people I've killed. I don't even know what I could estimate it as. How many times have you eaten these past years? It's hard to tell if you really think about it. I kill people to eat, not to hurt them. I can't help it once their blood..."
I stopped and finally had the nerve to look back up at her. This was always the hardest and most painful things to think about.
And now I was talking about it.
"It's not like I'm proud of this, Cherie. It's not like I want to be this way."
I said, in a whisper, yet just loud enough for her to hear.
"I'm not too old." I started, looking back down at the ground. "My real age is close to twenty or thirty plus my human age I'm stuck on.... It's hard keeping count once life goes on."
I said with a shrug. I hoped she couldn't hear the strain in my voice. I hated talking about my age also. It all just seemed so...
Monstrous.

I chewed my lip, an old childhood habit I thought I'd long grown out of. I know he could tell I was shaking, and I felt bad for it, but I couldn't help it. He wasn't human... he was something else. I knew what he was, but my mind was too warped and my mouth too foreign to speak the words. I felt like everything on me belonged to someone else.

"So you... so you drink blood? And you don't age at all?" I asked timidly, trying to hide the fear in my eyes. I could tell he was displeased... but I couldn't help but feel terrified. It was my first instinct. "I need you to say it out loud. I need you to tell me what you are."

I needed the confirmation, the closure, and the knowledge that I wasn't just going insane. I needed to know that there really was what I thought he was in my room. I needed to know if I really was dealing with one of them.

If I really was dealing with a vampire. 

[[Bahahaha this is sooooo a MOO&CH version of Twilight. All. The. Way. xDDD]]

I could see her shaking, and I had to fight a urge to just explain it all.
But, I couldn't. I couldn't give it all away.
I could tell her questions were more to herself. Like she was trying to figure out what I was.
But I didn't want her to figure it out. I wanted things to be the way they were, when I first came to her house face to face with her, when I held her when she cried on the couch, when I cried in front of her - which will probably happen again if she truly rejects me.
But, I knew she would, and it only made my pain worse.
"I... Cherie..." I covered my face with my hands at her command. I couldn't say it! I couldn't admit what I truly was...
"A vampire, Cherie, alright? A vampire."
I said, feeling defeated as I felt my body limp. I hated that word. Vampire. It's something you talk about during halloween. Or when you talk about scary stories.
I didn't want to be like a charactar in a horror movie.
"Cherie. I'm not what your imagining a vampire is though. Okay? You...You have to understand, I'm not just some monster waiting under your bed to kill you.." I emphasized not by saying it with clenched teeth. Maybe it was to strain any tears from coming.
For a vampire, I was such a sap.

{ LOL. /doesn't like Twilight. }
{ :u This version's SOOO much better. }

I stood up, setting my jaw bravely. I wouldn't allow his presence to make me scream and run. I could see the emotion in his words and actions; it was if he were truely human. But he wasn't, and I knew that now. Vampire. The word seemed like a curse all of a sudden. "Why do you call me that?" I asked quietly, finally taking notice of the nickname he'd so fondly given me, like I was a pet of sorts. "Why do you keep calling my Cherie?"

Not that I didn't mind. My mother had called me Cherie, once, and it made my heart skip for all the wrong reasons. I've read too many romance books to pretend I didn't know what was going on here. The way his eyes caressed my face; the way he spoke of me. It was obvious there was something more going on here.

"Where have you been staying?" I asked him, starting to go through my drawers in search of a pair of shorts. "Can you go into sunlight? Does garlic and running water effect you? Can you only be killed by a wood stake through the heart?" I felt the words tumble out of me, not really realising what I was saying. Naturally curious, as always. 

Her reaction... Wasn't what I suspected. She was asking me questions?
She wasn't kicking me out? OR rejecting me?
I felt a bit of relief as I listened to her ramble on with the questions, finally I said with a teasing laugh to show I was kidding,
"I won't be able to remember all of them if you keep going."
Maybe it wouldn't be so hard talking to her after all. She always was my favorite company.
"Let's see..." I skipped the first two questions. Again, maybe she wouldn't notice. "I can't go into the sunlight. I would burn. Garlic does effect me, but running water doesn't." Myths about my species are getting so odd these days... "And, the wood stake is for werewolves. We get killed by fire."

"Fire?" I inquired skeptically as I pulled on a pair of black shorts. She felt her mouth twitch upwards at the corners, but her smile died instantly. There was nothing to be happy about right now, as much as she wanted to be. "Hm. I guess that means I'm going to have to skip the garlic on my pizza then," I tried to joke.

It was so hard now. Everything was in a new, blood-red light, and I knew I would never be able to turn back time. "So you've been watching me for a long time, then?" I said, slowly piecing things together. "You're the 'Guardian Angel' my father speaks of? And the 'Night Leech' that scared my mother?"

Narrowing my eyes cautiously at him, I glanced him over once again. For some reason, I felt like his face was familiar, but I knew that was only because I'd seen him the night before. "Hm. Have you ever... have you ever spoken to my parents? Or one of my brothers when they used to visit for a summer? Or me?" I wrinkled up my nose as I thought. "I don't remember talking to you." 

[[I. Lost. My. Post. D:
So I'm going to wait until your on to respond. ]]

[[Homg D: ]]

I found myself smiling at her joke. But that wasn't the only reason why my lips stretched into that ex
pression.
She was talking to me. Like I didn't almost just kill her in her kitchen before. I knew she didn't trust me just yet but...
She wasn't rejecting me. And that was all I wanted. I could die now and  be fully content.
I nodded my head knowingly.
"I am that 'Gaurdian Angel' your father saw. And the..." I cringed slightly and looked down shamefully, "The Night Leech your mother saw..."
I was glad she had asked something after that so we could change the subject. Being called that was an insult to a sap like me, and talking about her mother wasn't the best idea either. I smiled, thinking back. I didn't ever talk to anyone else but her.
Only Cherie.
Would she feel wierd with me saying that?
I tried to word it differently.
"Well... When I became who I am today, I left this home - which is where I grew up..." For a moment, I looked around. She had my old bedroom. I smirked before continueing.
"Your parents came to live here, and you weren't even born yet. I never talked to your parents but I watched them all the time. But, when you finally became born, I... I talked to you all the time. I'd sneak into your nursery and talk to you the whole night." I realized I was starting a flashback, not realizig what I was saying to her. If I was even thinking, I would have said all this more discreetly.
I did a laugh and added,
"One time, you woke up from me talking to you - when you were a baby. You started to scream, and I guessed it was because my era is different then humans. I was different and you noticed that..." I shrugged, and looked down at my hands shamefully. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said all of that."

I listened, the breath catching in my throat. "I-It's fine," I tried to tell him, silently cursing when I realised my voice had raised a few pitches. Rubbing my tired eyes, I sat back down on my chair and pulled my legs close to me, as if trying to comfort myself. 

I wanted to know what he would say to me; what he used to talk to me about. I was only a baby, he said, which meant I must not have known much or held up a very good conversation. "My mother used to think I was going crazy when I was little," I remember, only a little too fondly. "Because I told her that things moved in the shadows. She said it was just my imagination. T-That was you again, wasn't it?" My voice shook now and then. 

Blinking, I tried to wipe the bored, irritated look of my face simply because it didn't belong there. I was just tired. "I-I'm sorry, you don't have to answer all these questions if you don't want. When I'm tired I get a little irrational and flighty. Though... I suppose you already knew that."

My hand stung where I'd cut it earlier, but it didn't bleed. I curled it into a fist, as if that would help keep any blood from escaping. I didn't want Eddie to attack again, my stomach churning at the thought. "How old was I when you last spoke to me?" I wondered aloud, keen brown eyes focused on him. 

No wonder I always liked talking to her. She had a way of keeping a smile on my face.
When was the last time I had a smile on my face this long?
And it kept going, and going, and going...
"It's fine. I'd rather you ask me questions, then you kicking me out..."
I said, this time picking my words carefully. What I meant was 'I'd kill myself if the one person that has been my friend ever since I became this monster rejected me from a terrible mistake I made.'
But, I didn't want her knowing how much she meant to me just yet.
I covered my face with my own hands, also rubbing my own eyes.
"Yes, that was me..."
I said defeatedly before taking away my hands.
"I couldn't control myself... I came here every night... I felt bad for making your mother think things like that, but I just couldn't help but... Come."
I shrugged and finally had the courage to look back at her eyes.
She looked tired. I'd suggest she'd go back to sleep, if I didn't want to talk to her so much.
"The last time I talked to you, not counting when you saw me in the tree?" I asked, clarifying. Which reminded me I still needed to get that cat...
"Well... A long time ago. Once you started growing up, and easily awaken more, I couldn't come as much... And, then it became, I couldn't come at all."
I said, saying the last part sadly, feeling a longing to go back in time just to talk to her again.
But, I wouldn't want to do that. Because then I wouldn't have the Cherie I had infront of me right now.
I smiled to myself, not caring how stupid I might look to her by doing it.

"Maybe things would have been different," I said thoughtfully, finding that a smile had nestled itself on my face like it belonged there. "If you'd kept coming. I mean, maybe I wouldn't have been as scared as I am- sorry was-. Little kids like mosters and stuff, don't they?"

Stifling a yawn, I stood back up as if I were restless. "Come on, Eddie," I said in a light voice. "Let's go sit in the barn. I want to check on the horses anyways, and now seems like a good time to do it." Stretching out my arms, a small popping sound came from my lower back.

I also needed to feed Willa, but the silver tabby was most likely wandering about, nowhere to be found. She had a habit of going where she pleased when she pleased, which always made me worry about her. Smiling sleepily, I moved towards the door and into the hallway.  

Her first thought that she said made me almost scoff aloud. If I'd kept coming, she would have been even more scared.
Atleast thats what I thought.
It made me wonder if Cherie was right...
My thoughts were disrupted at her standing up. I found myself staring out the door before I realized she actually invited me to come.
No. Commanded. But that was even more endearing.
"Sure. I'll come."
I said, feeling eager inside.
She truly wasn't rejecting me! She was inviting me to come with her!
My stomach lurched as I let her lead me out of the hallway.
"You go in the barn at night, alot."
I started, remembering all the times I've watched her walk outside at night.
"Why is that? I've always wanted to know."

I found myself pleased to find I was being asked questions now; it meant that he didn't know everything about me quite yet. It made me smile to myself as we walked, and as I pulled on my boots in the front room and answered him slowly, still thinking. 

"I watching the horses sleep," I explained slowly to him, unsure of my own answer. "Especially Milly. She was born the day my Mom left, you know, so she's really close to me. It...I don't know, calms me down to watch them sleep." She shrugged, opening the door.

My stomach churned. "That, and I get to see Willa sometimes. I found her by the side of the road a few years back; somebody dumped a bunch of kittens there. Pathetic." I realised that I was rambling, which caused my face to turn seven shades of red. 

I frowned at her response.
This meant I couldn't kill the dumb cat.
Since Cherie would hate me for it.
Just. Great.
I felt bad for having all of our conversations going back to her mother. It wasn't like I was trying to have it turn out that way but I tried to be more careful.
"Oh, I think I understand. I used to watch you-"
I stopped myself before things could get to awkward. Hopefully she didn't hear me all the way since she was putting on her boots. Hopefully she didn't even notice I said something. My shoes were already on, but I doubted I was getting anything on their carpet. Feeling paranoid, I nonchalantly glanced around.
As usual.
No trace that I was even here.
I knew this may bring to an awkward subject - maybe even an awkward ending - but I was curious.
"Did that cut on your palm need stitches or anything?"

I opened my mouth an close it as I left the house, subconsciously glancing down at my palm. It was sore and puffy, the skin an agitated shade of pink. But a scab had started to form, as far I could tell, which meant it wasn't too deep. "I didn't need stitches,'' I replied quietly, mind wandering off. "I just wrapped it up and left it be."

I wonder what happens when you light a vampire on fire. What happens when you stab one? What does blood taste like? Can vampires feel pain? What effect does garlic have on them? Do they have heightened senses? Why doesn't Eddie have red eyes?

So many thoughts and questions ran through me it was ridiculous. I needed to relax, and let my body experience some peace for once. I was always over-thinking and worrying. In fact, so much I completely disregarded what he'd said in the front room. 

Pushing the door to the barn open, I inhaled the sweet Spring air, looking at the stars for a fleeting moment before entering the large red building. Willa emerged from the shadows, tangling herself in my feet as I walked; a black tom cat joined her, purring loudly. Funny, I though. I've never owned a black cat.

Thinking nothing of it, I leaned against the gate that marked the entrance to Milly's pen. My palomino mare was upright instead of sleeping. She threw her head and snorted affectionately when she saw me. "This is Milly," I told Eddie, pointing to her. 

In turn, I pointed to my pony and clydesdale. "And that's Missy and Tyson." Smiling, I reached out and stroked Milly's velvety side gently. 

I did a quiet relieved sigh. The cut wasn't that bad. I was tempted to ask next how her back was doing. I did pin her down twice - by accident. It was my vampire side get the better of me again.
Such a pathetic excuse.
Scratch that. I was the one that was pathetic.
For a second, I thought that black cat was the cat that ratted me out in the first place. I was about to give it a piece of my mind.
And my strength.
But, realizing that was just me wanting to let anger out, the cat not being the right one, and not wanting to look like a fool infront of Cherie, I kept my eyes on Cherie as she led me inside the barn. Thinking nothing else of the dumb cats.
I felt awkward to touch the horses, so I stayed a good distance from them by just standing next to Cherie. The last thing I wanted was to make the horses afraid by my.... 'Era' like Cherie was as a baby.
I smiled admirably at Cherie as she pet Milly. Before she could notice my staring, I turned my head and looked at the other horses.
[[Sorry this is a fail. I didn't know what he could ask or say D: ]]

{ lol. :u Sorrryyyyy. }

"This is all so strange," I mumbled as I climbed the gate, intending to hop into her pen. Instead I sat on top for a moment, a leg on each side as I spoke to Eddie. "I mean, It's weird to think that you've always been here and I've never noticed or remembered." Blinking, I shrugged and slid off the gate, landing with a small thud in Milly's pen.

"I've got so many questions," I confessed to him as I leaned against the horse, stroking her mane affectionately. "I mean, a lot of them are probably personal so I won't ask you those, but there's a lot I want to know." Inhaling deeply, my dark brown eyes dug into his skin as if trying to read his thoughts. "Are there... others, out there? Like, Werewolves and witches and stuff? If there's vampires there must be something like that..." 

[[Sorreh. D: ]]

The way she looked at me made me want to melt as I leaned my elbow on the gate. I made sure not to make any sudden movements, for I was still worried of the reaction of the animals.
Personal questions?
I was dieing to find out what she meant by that.
"I'd answer any question you ask, Cherie."
I said with a serious ex
pression before doing a small chuckle.
"Witches? Well, technically yes, there are witches. Remember the century when people burned witches?" That wasn't a question I was asking her to answer. It was more of a rheitorical [spelling D:] question.
"And, there are werewolves."
I said, again more seriously. "There can be more of those 'others' you speak of, but I haven't run into much. As I've said before, I've been here all my vampire life." I pointed in the direction of the woods. "There during the day." Then I pointed in her house's direction. "Usually - there during the night."
I didn't feel self concious for saying that anymore. Since she wasn't acting very scared. I lifted my eyesbrows at her with a suspicious grin on my face.
"I'm actually interested in hearing these personal questions."
Honestly, I just wanted to keep this conversation going, so she wouldn't want to go back to sleep.
But, there was also a part of me that just wanted to tell her everything. Like when she was a baby.