Bleeding Love

by Ashley Andrews

  “I felt nothing,” she said, unable to look him in the eye anymore. “Both my mind and my heart felt nothing.”

  He exhaled deeply, heart pulsating, before he shook his head in disbelief and ran a hand through his mocha-colored mop of hair. He wasn't going to let his feelings for his best friend drag down their relationship anymore. He understood that she had kissed him in order to see if she felt anything for him in the slightest bit.

  “It's as easy as that,” he sounded like he didn't want to say what he was saying. “We're nothing.”

  “Nothing beyond being best friends,” Adrienne said, smiling and hoping he'd cheer up. “You're still the person I trust the most, Tryst, aside from Brianna of course.”

  He nodded, realizing that was the best thing she could say to him, and when they looked up and locked gazes, the cart started to move, bringing them back down to the ground. “I'm glad you still want us to be friends.”

  “Best friends, Tristan,” she reiterated. “We've been too close for too long.”

  “We can try,” was the answer he gave her, and his tone of voice held extreme uncertainty and distrust in his own words. “Try.”

  Adrienne grinned. That was the best thing he could give her. She read his mind, and knew that his feelings for her weren't just going to go away in a snap. He needed time, and she was going to give him that.

  “I'll wait, you know, forever.”

  Tristan's lips did a shy upturn.

  “For now, I'm glad to call you my friend.”

  They shared a smile and an understanding, one that said that things would get back to normal in the future, but right now, they were just going take it slow. The Ferris wheel ride ended and they got off the cart. Brianna, with Aidan, Xavier and several other vampires trailing behind her, were waiting patiently at a bench.

  Bree was enjoying a snow cone and it was only after a few seconds that she noticed Tristan and Adrienne walking over to her. “Did you two fix things?” she asked, finishing the last of her drink.

  Adrienne nodded, and the three, Brianna, Adie, and Tristan shared a smile. They were grinning at each other, their lips reaching across their faces.

  The vampires eyed the three. In a matter of seconds, Yvonne, Valeria, Tatiana, Aidan, and Xavier were able to discover what had gone on during the Ferris wheel ride since they read Tristan's thoughts. All their eyes darkened as they stared at Adrienne, their tiny saucer-like eyes widening in horrified shock. Adie, who was at the moment the center of attention turned to face Xavier. She had never seen him this disappointed. The expression on his face was somewhere between abhorrence and displeasure.

  “What's going on?” Tristan and Brianna asked, noticing the evil glares the vampires directed at Adrienne.

  “Aidan.” Brianna pulled her boyfriend closer to her and forced him to tell her. He whispered something to her, and when Bree found out, she started laughing. She didn't stop, and Adrienne and the rest couldn't figure out what was so funny about the whole situation whilst Tristan remained in the dark.

  “You two,” she said, pointing over to Adrienne and Tristan. “We have to talk.”

  Brianna grasped both their arms and started pulling them away.

  Before they could even get a foot away from the vampires, a hand took hold of Adrienne's. The contact was warm, and without turning Adrienne's could tell the touch was Xavier’s. She couldn't help but react to his touch. With a tug, he slowly pulled his fiancé closer to his side, and after a while, Brianna completely let go of Adrienne.

  “I have to talk to Adrienne, first,” Xavier said unemotionally. “Her father, as principal, wants me to deliver a message to her.”

  Unable to figure out whether Xavier was lying or not, Brianna bit her lip and nodded, letting Adrienne go. “We'll just see you later, Adie,” said Bree, watching her friend walk away, she frowned. What was going on?

  Tristan broke her musing. “Are you crashing over at Max's place?”

  Without thinking twice, she replied,” Of course, Tristan—” She was cut off when she saw Ethan and a few of the guys holding up beer bottles. They were shouting 'Cheers' at random people, disturbing even some parents who were with their young kids. She glanced back at Adrienne, glad to see that her friend had noticed them. Adie would need to keep an eye on them if they started getting out of hand.

  Even if the school officials had banned drinking and Adrienne was supposed to turn them in for the offense, she just let it go. They were just having fun, and carnivals were supposed to be fun.

  “You guys, take care!” she shouted and saw Tristan already joining them. “Save some booze for later at Max's, okay?”

  Max was the one who shouted back. “We're saving the expensive ones later for you, Adie!”

  Adrienne couldn't help but laugh at her jock friends. They were so messed up. They were silly and harmless, as long as this was all they did. She couldn't help but flip them the bird. She was only joking of course, when she stuck her middle finger, her friends knew that. However, the vampires didn't. They started whispering, saying a few offensive things in the process.

  “They can't even live forever, and they're just wasting their lives by doing ridiculous things,” Yvonne said, starting the backstabbing. “They have no respect for one another and they're killing themselves faster.”

  Adrienne growled, vampire instincts coming to the fore. “Oh, get a life. You guys may live longer, but you are dead boring. This is what you call having fun, and I suggest you try it.”

  “So is making out what you call 'having fun' too?” A smirk appeared on her flawless, porcelain face. “Did you have a fun a while ago?”

  Adrienne knew what Yvonne was talking about, and she also knew that she was purposely trying to make things awkward between Xavier and her. She glanced sideways and saw how Xavier stood beside her. His posture was stiff, and he was looking down at the ground, avoiding anyone's eyes.

  “I did it for a reason,” Adrienne said, but she wasn't going to explain herself to the vampires. Excluding Aidan and Xavier, they would probably mock her.

  Yvonne got in her face. “And what's the reason—”

  “Shut up.” Adrienne did not have to explain herself to the annoying female vampire.

  Beneath the protection of her contacts, Adrienne's eyes turned crimson. She moved closer to Yvonne, and grinned. Then she reached out with one of her vampire powers, and started to suck Yvonne's negative energy—pride—out of the beautiful creature. She grinned and watched Yvonne slowly sink to her knees. She leaned over the vampire and whispered, “To clear things up, it wasn't fun,” Adrienne felt more alive. “But this is.”

  Yvonne growled loudly, capturing the attention of a few onlookers. She wasn't going to apologize since she didn’t believe that Adrienne deserved it. No matter how much she wanted Xavier's fiancé to stop harassing her.

  “You don't deserve him,” even if Yvonne's voice was weak it still came off as smug and arrogant.

  Adrienne was so tempted to drain more of her energy, but she stopped when Yvonne said those words. “And you do?” she asked.

  In reply, Yvonne nodded. “Of course.”

  Adrienne stepped back, away from the group of vampires. They were glaring at her, their cold, hard gazes made her shiver. Even if she looked tough, she was actually frightened of them. These people had no loyalty to her. In fact, they thought of her as an outsider. Maybe with the exception of Aidan and Xavier, but she didn't even know if they were going to back her up. She sighed. But she would not back down from this, saying, “I'm betrothed to him, so whether you like it or not, you two are not going to happen.”

  In half a second, Yvonne stood before Adrienne, and they were sizing up one another. “I'm not just going to let you have him that easily, Adrienne.”

  The vampire princess held her fiancé, the prince's, hand, and pulled him closer to her.

  This irked Yvonne even more. She was pretty, and smart, and talented, so why did she still have all this envy inside her? No matter w
hat she did, Xavier was never going to take an interest in her.

  Adrienne looked at Yvonne, in some ways feeling sorry for her. Were vampires really like that? Were they just bound to be with one person for the rest of their lives? Were Xavier and Adrienne going to be mates until the end of time whether they liked it or not? Was Aidan still going to love the human Brianna even after she been dead for decades? None of them knew, not even the Vampire Regents, but one thing was sure, “I'm going to fight for him, for me, for my father, for us.”

  She didn't know what unknown force had pushed her to say that, but Adrienne felt a pull at her heart while her stomach was taken over by wild butterflies. She was going to fight, for Xavier. And not just for the sake of proving Yvonne wrong.

  Behind her, the vampire prince was smiling, his scarlet eyes burning and turning into a much lighter and calmer shade.

  Adrienne could feel Xavier shift behind her and move closer. She wanted to turn and look at him and return his gaze, but someone called her attention. It was Cameron, their Class student council representative, and the same Cameron whom Adrienne flirted harmlessly with during the last council meeting with the Night Class.

  “What do you want, Cam?” Adrienne asked, still holding on to Xavier's warm hand.

  “Did you forget, babe?”

  The female laughed at the nickname.

  “It's your turn on the kissing booth!”

  Immediately, Xavier let go of her hand and thinned his lips. “I'll hang out with Yvonne and the others.” Was he trying to make her feel something? Bad about going to the kissing booth, jealous that he was heading out with Yvonne, perhaps? Even he didn't know what he was trying to do. The words just slipped out. “I'll catch up with you later.”

  “Xavier!” Adrienne called out after him.

  He stopped, wondering if she’d changed her mind about the kissing booth. He turned and faced her.

  “You said my dad wanted you to give me a message. What was it?”

  He sighed, shook his head at her, and then left.

  Chapter 10: Halloween Trilogy: Scare 2

  Wet. That was the only adjective to describe how the guy's lips felt. Worse, he’d paid an extra three bucks for some tongue action, so the usual one-second kiss became five, and at the very end of the fourth second, Adrienne pulled away hastily. The pre-teen's smile was geeky, sheepish, and, eww. Adrienne waved him off.

  “Here I go again,” she said glumly, fearing the middle-aged (most probably, single) man who was taking his time walking to her.

  Adrienne sighed and breathed out loudly. Everything she was doing was for a good cause—fundraising—and there was no room for complaining. Lips twitching, she forced herself to smile, but what happened was that only one side of her lips turned upwards. It was obvious she was only being kind.

  “Hey pretty lady,” said the all-too experienced smooth talker. “What's cooking, good looking?”

  Adrienne controlled herself from feigning a gagging expression. Well, that's a first. No one had ever tried that on her.

  “You paid,” her tone was unemotional. “So we can skip the greetings and the pleasantries.”

  He did what he was told, and before Adrienne could even breathe out a sigh of relief, the middle-aged idiot abused her lips mercilessly. The kiss was everything she didn't want it to be. Too strong. Too wet. Just, too much.

  “I-it's,d-done!” she shouted, pushing back from him. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand, and glared at the man. She stepped back from the front of the booth. Frowned, and then grunted. She checked her left wrist, groaning at the time on the watch. She realized that her shift at the kissing booth was far from over.

  “Are you still holding up?” Sabrina asked, her arms around Max's waist. The two were just passing by the kissing booth and happened to witness the dreadful maltreatment inflicted upon Adrienne's lips seconds earlier. It was a nightmare, in all seriousness, and she truly felt sorry for her friend.

  “It's not like I have a choice, Sab,” was the forlorn answer.

  The coupled nodded. Adrienne was right. She’d offered herself in the first place. She totally forgot about old, sick bastards who wanted to kiss a teenage girl, and the pre-adolescents that wanted their first kiss from a hot cheerleader. She had thought this would be fun, forgetting the dark side of the kissing booth. It was too late now.

  “Just look at it this way, you'll be making the town’s male population happy,”

  Adrienne rolled her eyes.

  Max decided to interject, “I'm happy just the way it is,” he said, and to prove his satisfaction, he gave his girlfriend a lingering kiss on the lips.

  For a moment there, the two forgot about Adrienne's pitiful state until Sabrina nudged Max's hip. “Adie,” Sabrina's voice sounded hopeful. “You're day, or should I say night, is just about to turn brighter.”

  Confused, Adrienne followed Sabrina's gaze. Oh, how right she was! Sauntering closer to her was a Greek God.

  While Xavier was still unbeatable in the looks department, the guy walking toward her had him beat, hands down. He wasn't tall, dark, or mysterious, but instead, he was the complete antithesis. Scarlet-colored strands of hair surrounded and shaped his pale, chiseled face. His jaw line was sharp and his nose was pointed. His stance was confident, as if he knew of his God-given gifts, but didn’t really give a damn.

  Adrienne couldn't help but wonder why someone as handsome as this guy would still go to a kissing booth and pay if he could get the same thing for free. He walked up and stood in front of her, waiting.

  “Did you pay extra?” Adrienne asked, her voice an octave higher than normal.

  “Extra,” was the mischievous reply, and before she had time to react to that, he leaned into her and his lips crushed against her own.

  He certainly wiped out all memory of the previous kisser.

  The kiss was masterful. It was strong and forceful and demanding, and she couldn't get enough of it, of him. His lips were caressing, punishing and yet rewarding her at the same time. With a swift lick of her bottom lip, he enticed her to open her lips and give him access into a more private part of her body, her mouth. With her tongue, she started to explore and stroke his gums, tongue, and teeth.

  The make-out session had gotten pretty heavy, and the action intensified. She continued to repeatedly swipe her tongue against his teeth, and then, before she knew what was happening, her lip started to bleed and she felt fangs brushing against her mouth.

  The guy was a vampire! She tried to move back, worried that he was exposing himself to everyone passing by the kissing booth. He didn’t let her retreat. He kept hold of her head, his mouth fused to her rapidly swelling lips.

  He was ripped away from her. Adrienne blinked and backed up. She saw that Xavier had a hold of the guys shirt, and was pulling him away.

  “What did you do to her?” Xavier asked, his voice firm and strong yet the calmness remained.

  Someone in line decided to shout, “Pretty heavy make-out session you two had! Wouldn't be surprise if she has a hickey!”

  Adrienne took a deep breath. Thank God, she thought. It was a good thing today's generation was wild and crazy. Adrienne forgot about that—the foolishness of teenagers, people like her. They would bite and act like animals even if it wasn't their nature to do so. Thankfully, no one saw the guy’s fangs, or the redness of his eyes.

  “Vlad was just having a little fun, Xavier! Nothing to worry about!” one of the redhead's friends shouted out as a tease.

  The President of the Night Class held a tighter grip on the collar of Vlad's shirt, and from the way his eyes darkened into an almost-black color, Adrienne figured out that her fiancé was far from happy.

  “All of you come with me.” His tone was demanding, even authoritative.

  “I told you this wouldn't be a good idea,” one of the quieter vampires added.

  “Shut up.”

  “You had to dare Vlad to kiss Xavier's fiancé, didn't you?” another one said, as they all
followed Xavier out of the carnival, walking closer to the principal's office.

  Adrienne was tagging behind all of them.

  “It's not my fault. I didn't know our President here's the jealous type!”

  That caused Xavier to stop and stare, and seeing him in this fiery state scared Adrienne. She had never seen him so mad. His face was red, and his fists were balled up. He hadn't even let go of Vlad who was currently feeling more embarrassed than he had ever been in his entire immortal life.

  “So how much are you lot supposed to pay Vlad here?” he asked, turning back to eye Adrienne for a second.

  “Well, the kiss lasted more than ten seconds,” one of the vampires hesitantly answered.

  “Excuse me?” That was Adrienne. “What did you just say?”

  “You heard right, princess,” replied one of the more arrogant bloodsucking creatures. “You've just been the center of our bet.”

  “And you're going to be the center of my father's wrath when this story comes out, maybe I’ll embellish a bit? What do you thing?” was the witty quip.

  Several of the vampires gasped at her pronouncement and Xavier turned to look at Adrienne again, and he couldn't help but grin. She really wasn't like any of the other female vampires who took things too seriously. She joked around and hurled the funniest insults, the most sarcastic comebacks, and the cleverest remarks. She was a force to be reckoned with.

  “That's my girl.” was Xavier's alluring voice.

  “And you're punishing Vlad because he kissed your woman?” someone asked.

  “Partly, but that isn’t the only reason.” Xavier didn't feel compelled to explain himself to them. In a few minutes, they were more or less going to be suspended.

  “And what's the other reason?”

  Adrienne stepped up beside Xavier.

  He scowled out at the group. “You almost exposed our existence, you imbeciles.”