Chapter 17 : Attack

As the afternoon came around we were still in that little clearing, the marble angel standing proud right in the center. I sat on one of the rocks at the side of the pond. It hadn't taken me long to figure out that they had been moved there purposely. It definitely did not look natural. The clearing had been made too. There had used to be more trees here as well. Even though he wouldn't admit it, I knew Braidon had made it all, for me or not it was still beautiful.

I had watched him pull off most of his clothes and then jump into the pond. After a little convincing I got in too. Its water was extremely clear and you could see all the way down to the rocks at the bottom. The water was half way up his chest when he stood up. It wasn't the deepest, but the water had been warm and the flow felt nice.

After the swim we had lied back on the rocks to dry off. The weather was getting warmer every day now, a sign that summer was on the way. I was happy the cold was gone and over with. Up North here it stayed cold for a long time. Especially in a small town in Canada, and Canada was famous for its winters.

We were lying down in the thick green grass when I had started to feel uneasy. I wasn't sure why. Braidon was lying on his back with his hands behind his head, socking up the sun. I was on my stomach picking at the grass and flowers. It wasn't a self-conscious feeling. It was more like a feeling you get when you're at a really high height and looking down at the ground hundreds of feet away and about to jump.

Braidon shifted and opened his eyes to look at me. His brilliant golden brown eyes were filled with concern. I found it amazing how strong this bond between us was. We were able to feel each other's emotions, to an extent. Usually when they're really strong we feel like they are our own.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I looked at him. "I don't know, honestly," I replied truthfully. I don't know why I had started feeling this way.

He nodded and looked back up at the sky. "What do you feel about a trip?"

I thought about it. A trip? Like a real trip? Was he serious? I had hardly been out of Lively in my whole life. This was another upside to being a Vampire. I could go wherever I wanted now. I could have the chance to travel the world and see every country and city there is. I had the time. I had more than enough time, to do all that and more.

"Really? Where would we go?" I could hardly contain the excitement in my voice. This would be an experience of a lifetime for me.

He shrugged. "Somewhere big, somewhere special. Just you and me. We wouldn't be gone long. As soon as Cameron is done high school here we can take more trips, we can even move away if you'd like. Right now I want to take you though, just me."

I felt happier than ever. I didn't care if we went to the worst town in the world. I was happy just going somewhere out of here, and with him. Then I thought about my family…my grandparents, my mom. An overwhelming feeling of sadness filled me. I wanted to see them again. The feeling about seeing them again was almost as powerful as the uneasiness.

"Can we go see them? Like, now…I just want to see them," I said.

Braidon sat up and kissed my forehead. "Of course, anything for you, love." He smiled and pulled me to my feet quickly. "How about we run there? It'll teach you how to use your speed. We'll race."

I smiled back. "A race, huh? I bet I can beat you," I taunted.

He shook his head. "No you won't. I'm the fastest Vampire I've met yet."

I laughed. With that we were off, racing through the trees. I didn't run into one thing. My instincts took over and I was able to dodge every obstacle in my way. Everything was a green and brown blur around me, but I could see clearly ahead of me. It felt like I was running normally, not like I was going at an inhuman speed. The only thing that proved I wasn't going at that pace was the fact that everything else either seemed frozen or going in slow motion.

I didn't pay attention to where Braidon was, or if I was beating him. The rush that filled me as I ran blocked out everything else. I knew exactly where my house was from here. It took no time at all to get to it.

I jumped off the tall rock and landed perfectly on my feet. Just a little further up would be my grandparent's backyard, and the pond. I could smell the water from it. It had always had this calming sent, but now it was more powerful. It wasn't just the lilies that I smelt anymore, it was literally the water. It would have seemed impossible since water wasn't supposed to smell like anything in particular. I couldn't describe it though; I just knew that's what it was.

I slowed as I got closer, and then stopped when I was standing at its edge. Only remembering then that I was supposed to stay hidden did I move back into the trees. I wasn't tired, at all. Even after running that far not even my heart was pounding.

I took in a deep breath. All the smells around me filled my senses. The pond, the flowers growing around, the birds, the grass, the trees, and something else. I knew what it was right away. I took it in faster then everything else. It had that same tinge that everyone else's possessed. Blood…I could smell blood.

Anger and panic built up in me and before I knew it I was opening the backdoor into the house. I looked around. The smell of blood was more powerful inside. Fear was added to my mixed emotions. If anything had happened to any of them I was going to kill someone. If they were hurt…I don't know what I would do.

I held back from calling out and instead quietly followed the powerful sent. It drove my senses wild, I wanted nothing more than to find it and have it. But I held back, I knew I had to hold back. Both Cameron and Braidon had warned me how difficult it would be to keep my control around people in general, but it would be next to impossible to hold myself back around exposed blood. That's what happened to everyone when they were first turned. They wouldn't be used to it so they'd have next to nothing of control. The longer you're a Vampire the easier it gets around humans.

I turned into the living-room and looked around. This is where the smell was the strongest, and I saw why now. I froze. I was shocked at first, and then the fear and panic grew. No one was dead. No one was even in the room. There was blood splattered on the window and covered the floor and couch, but no one was there. It didn't smell like any of my family's blood. If I had been paying attention before, I would have realized that.

This wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. I started backing out of the room when I was suddenly hit by something and thrown back into the wall. I got to my feet quickly and looked around. I hadn't been expecting it, but it was going to take a lot more than a wall to hurt me now.

I felt the other presence in the room. It was another Vampire. Vampire's had a certain sent to them. Like humans they all smelt different, but the same way all humans' blood had the same edge and appeal, Vampire's had the same sweetness to it.

The next second the Vampire was in front of me. Shit he's fast, I thought. I could follow his movements well enough but he was a lot faster than I knew I was and it was a little harder to track what he was doing. He grabbed me again and spun around, slamming me into the floor. I was pretty sure the wind would have been knocked out of me if it was possible anymore. The impact did send a shock through me, though, and my back hurt with the broken floor boards under it.

The Vampire pulled out a gun and shot. I watched the bullet fly at me and rolled out of its way. Bullets flew fast, but he must not have been stupid enough to not know they weren't fast enough. And he wasn't. He pulled out a knife suddenly and through it at me. The knife flew a lot faster than the bullet and I just barely had time to move.

I grabbed the knife sticking out of the floor and got to my feet. The other Vampire lunged and I aimed to plunge the knife into his chest but he moved at the last second and it drove into the air. I jumped back out of the way of his next attack. He was on me right away though and I didn't have time to block it. Instead of hitting me though he pulled away again at the last second and grabbed my shoulder instead. He swung his foot around and buckled my knee's in from under me, sending me to the ground again. He pulled the knife from my hands and was about to stab it into my heart.

I closed my eyes and held my breath, waiting for the sharp pain and then the black. But it never came. His hand was in the middle of its descent when the window shattered and he was tackled to the ground. I saw the figure and covered my face with my arm to avoid the shards.

The battle between the two other Vampires didn't last long. The one that had attacked me was on the ground, his right knee broken, and his face bloody. The red liquid dripped from the corner of his mouth and nose and tiny pieces of glass were visible in his skin.

Braidon was straddling the Vampire, his shirt clutched in his hands, his fist ready. He shook the Vampire violently.

"Why are you here?" he demanded. His features were twisted and his words were a snarl that escaped his lips. The Vampire coughed but refused to answer. "Tell me!" Braidon shouted, slamming the other Vampires head into the floor.

I flinched. I hadn't seen him this violent before, or ever. He was usually calm. It scared me. This was the first time ever I had seen this side of him. It was stupid of me to think he wasn't like this…

"I was sent here," the Vampire wheezed. His voiced sounded wet but rough. It was a disgusting sound.

"By who?" Braidon's harsh tone didn't let up any.

"A man who goes by the name of William. He told me he had orders from a powerful Vampire in England. I was sent to eliminate her," he pointed at me with a shaking hand.

Braidon's eyes followed his arm and looked at me. He looked shocked, but only for a second before anger filled his features and he turned back to the Vampire.

"Who gave William orders?"

The Vampire looked up at him, eyes wide. He was scared. I couldn't look at it anymore…

"HE gave orders to William. William is working for him now. He's controlling everything in England right now, he has his hand over everything. Some of the Vampire's there are praising him like a God, and from what I hear of his power he's nothing less. The others want to start a rebellion against him, though. People are saying it's going to be the first ever big Vampire war." He was admitting more than Braidon had asked now, he was blabbering. He raised his hands innocently. "Look I was paid to do this. I'm sorry, please let me go."

Braidon was quiet. I could tell he was weighing his options. But I saw it in his eyes, that change. He let the Vampire go and stood up. To mine, and the Vampires surprise, he held out his hand. The other Vampire took it and allowed Braidon to pull him to his feet. He limped a bit, then took all his pressure off his right leg. I knew he was already healing though, I could see his knee's bone snapping back into place.

"What's your name?" Braidon asked him. He had calmed down a lot now. His voice held no more anger or aggression and was back to its normal cool tone. I let out a long breath, as if I had been holding it in for a long time.

The Vampire looked at Braidon. "Walker. Haden Walker."

Braidon nodded and turned back to me. His feature's had all shifted back to normal. Every emotion I had felt earlier disappeared when I looked at him. I felt like everything else disappeared and it was only him left and those personal stars of his that lit up his eyes. He had been mad, but had only been forceful to get answers, I could see that now. As I thought about it, I hadn't felt those emotions at all the whole time. Maybe that's what was keeping me somewhat calm, the fact that he wasn't really feeling the way he had been acting on the inside.

"I think I know where we're taking our trip, Dakota."