Only in the Shadow's Darkness (Chp 9)

I woke up earlier than my alarm to the sound of Brandon having a nightmare. I sat up slowly in the bed and looked to the mass of blankets and pillows on the floor that he had called a bed. Though I told him I didn't mind sharing a bed with him, he wanted to be the gentleman and sleep on the floor. Since the past weeks that we have been staying at Frost's, the sleeping arrangement never changed. So when I sat up and looked towards his idea of a bed, I saw his face, pinched and struggling, as he tossed his head from side to side, letting out soft moans into the night.

"Brandon," I said in a whisper, but he still squirmed.

I sighed, and tossed the blankets and sheets aside. I slowly walked over to him and placed my hand on his cheek.

"Brandon, wake up." I said again, and his body jumped. He grabbed my wrist then quickly opened his eyes and stared at me, his breathing loud and fast. His eyes stared atraight into mine, as if to see if I was real or not.

"It's okay. It's me. You were having a nightmare." I whispered to him and he slowly let go of my wrist. He licked his lips and blinked a few times, turning his head to the side.

"Sorry I woke you." He whispered.

"It's okay. I'm glad I awoke you before you got louder, though." I pulled away from him and sat beside his head, pulling my knees up to me and wrapping my arms around them. "What were you dreaming about?"

He swallowed hard and looked back toward me. "I don't know." He said after a pause. "I'd say it was a demon, but I can't be sure, because I never actually saw it. But there was magic. It was heavy and it was dark magic. It had to be real... I still felt it when you awoke me, that's why I grabbed you. I thought you were the one doing it." He shook his head and shivered a bit.

"Well, it was just a dream. But it's really shaken you. Are you okay?" After a pause, he nodded.

"It just felt so real. Like a bad omen," He seemed to have said to himself. I slipped my hand into his and squeezed his hand.

"Are you going out hunting?" He asked, running his thumb over mine.

I shrugged. "Maybe. After all, I am awake now. I was going to go more closer to dawn, when my alarm went off. But now that I'm awake, I might as well, right?"

He nodded. He let go of my hand and curled back up under the blankets. Once he seemed to get comfortable again, I started to stand up. But Brandon reached out and touched my leg, stopping me.

"Be careful." He said. "I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe it's just the dream, but something dark is out there. I can still feel it."

I sighed. Ever since we started staying at Frost's, Brandon has had bad feelings about everything. He still doesn't have trust for the three vamps that have taken us into their home. The only person here besides me that he trusts is Darien, though sometimes I think even he doesn't get that. Brandon was always protective, so I know I can't really hold it against him. But still, it gets on my nerves. I'm a big girl now. I can handle it.

I patted his hand as reassurance, and he pulled away, getting comfortable under his blankets and sheets. I stood up and stretched, going to my closet to change and gather a few weapons. I picked out a pair of dark jeans and a navy blue top. I walked down to the end of the hall where the bathroom was to change.

As I made my way back to the room to gather stakes and anything else that I wanted to carry on this night, I noticed Angel's door was ajar. For the time that we've been here, his door was never left open. Though my curiosity wanted to get the best of me, I shrugged it off and went back to the room. Brandon was already snoring on the floor and I let out a soft chuckle as I snuck in there and grabbed two stakes and my cross. No heavy duty weapons tonight. I didn't plan on finding many out tonight. Not to mention that I didn't plan on going far into town, with Rok still out to get me and all.

I went downstairs and found out while Angel's door had been open. He wasn't inside his room. He was sitting on the couch, watching the Twilight Zone.

"Are you kidding me?" I said, standing on the last step, watching him. He quickly turned and smiled at me.

"What? Can't I watch old Sci-Fi shows?" I shook my head and walked into the living room.

"You just never seemed to be the type that enjoyed this sort of stuff."

"Well, when your cooped up in a house with nothing to do but sleep, you tend to find some sort of entertainment. I happened to find it many years ago in these shows. They always made me laugh."

"Right." I said with a smirk. "And next your going to tell me you like Chico and the Man."

He smiled and gave a shrug. "Well," he began, but I threw my hands up in the air and laughed. He let out a soft chuckle and clicked the T.V. off. "Are you going out?" He asked, stretching before he stood up.

"Yeah."

"You're not going alone, are you?" I looked around me, as if showing him that no one else was with me.

"Well, I was planning on it. Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

"Rok." He said. Straight to the point. When I gave him a look to continue, he sighed. "Frost wouldn't like it if you went by yourself."

"Why should I care what Frost wants?" I asked.

Angel rolled his eyes and folded his arms at me. "You know you care what he wants. It's obvious that there is something going on between you two."

I opened my mouth to automatically protest, but quickly closed it. I wasn't entirely sure what to say to that. I hated to admit it, but there was something about Frost. Something about him that I couldn't resist. I found myself being attracted to him, and I hated it. Then he started showing signs of interest. I would always find him watching me from a distance, wearing a smile and eyes filled with admiration. It had made me blush many times, to where I'd have to leave the room. The others had seen it. They all poked fun at us becasue of it. I hated it. Brandon hated it. It seemed to please Frost, though, because he always made it worse.

"Fine." I said, and turned to walk away. "I won't go by myself then."

"Who will you go with?" He asked, and I waited a moment for him to offer to go with me, but Frost beat him to it.

"I will, if she doesn't mind." He said from the shadows of the basement door. I hadn't known he was there, let alone that his door was open. I wondered if Angel had, and how long he had been there. To see me hesitate on what I thought about him caring about me? Most likely.

I sighed and went to the front door. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just go so I can kill something." I opened the door and found Frost coming behind me. Angel winked at me and I glared at him before I stepped out the door into the night.

I made it to the bottom of the porch steps when Frost finally closed the door, his weapon of choice in his hand. He had a love for swords and blades, so that was usually what he took. The one he had tonight was a small katana. The handle was black and silver. The blade silver with gypsy engravings at the top. I had once asked why those were on the sword and he only smiled at me. He said maybe one day I would know, but not then. I never asked again. If it was some big fancy to do spell, him explaining it wouldn't help me much. When it comes to magic, it is better understood by seeing, not hearing. At least in my case, anyway.

Frost went off to the garage on the side of the house without saying a word to me. He came back around, pushing his motorcycle towards me. Now, I know they aren't the most quiet way of transportation out there, but I liked riding on the bike. Plus, that was the only car they had. One bike. Frost's bike. And considering where their house as located, it wasn't always fun walking into town. Not many Vamps are lurking in the woods surrounding a vampire/demon killer house, you know?

"How far into town are we going tonight?" I asked as he sheathed his katana on his back.

He shrugged and handed me a helmet. I slipped it on, as he did with his. "How late do you want to stay out?"

"Not too late, so let's not go in too deep."

"How about St. Bernie's Cemetary? That's not long down the street from Longview here." He said, stomping his foot ont he road as if to remind me what street his house was on.

I only nodded and got on the bike behind him. He started it and we went down the road, my hands gently holding onto his sides. I couldn't help but to think of his body, hidden underneath the black jacket that he always wore when he rode the bike. I kept thinking about how badly I wanted to touch his skin, and wondered if he felt the same about me. I forced the thoughts out of my mind by the time we got to St. Bernie's. I jumped off the bike fast and took off the helmet. I watched as he slowly did the same, getting caught in time as his eyes met mine, and for a moment I felt lost.

"Stop it." I said out loud, and turned away from him. I heard him let out a tiny laugh before I heard him stepping closer to me. When I turned to face him, I shoved my helmet into his hands, then turned back towards the graveyard. I walked away from him as he called out to me.

"Morena!" He said, and after a short moment, I heard him running after me.

"Yes?" I asked when he got back in step with me.

At first he didn't say anything, and I found it quite unnerving. Then it occured to me what he was doing. He was studying me, figuring out my thoughts.

"Stop it, Frost." I said softly.

"You like me." He said, teasing. I couldn't help it. My face went hot in a heartbeat.

"No."

"Don't deny it," he said, stepping in front of me, stopping me dead in my tracks. I tried to not look into his eyes, but I couldn't help it. They dug into me. I saw it, though whatever "it" was I couldn't explain. But there was something in his eyes at that moment. I quickly looked away, and focused on a gravestone that had only the name Rogerson carved on it.

Suddenly, from behind, I heard someone coming. I glanced up at Frost and found that he had heard it to, but he couldn't see it. He kept his eyes focused behind me, but with his hands, he motioned for me to go left, so I did. I only took a few steps left, before spinning around to give my eyes a chance to see, or at least try to see, whatever we had heard. You'd think, how can something be sneaking around a graveyard and not be seen. Well, this one just so happens to have a fairly big mosoleum nearby, blocking our view. Not to mention quite a few trees. And it's dark, so not many good factors going on here. However, it wasn't long before we heard a sort of growl. Not that of an animal, but of a vampire already turned. It was loud, so he was close. Frost pulled his katana and I had a stake in my hand, ready.

Suddenly, a dark figure leapt from behind the mosoleum. He charged us instantly, going for me. Why do they always attack the girl first, honestly? I quickly spun around, kicking my leg out and hitting him on the bend of his knees. He fell, like I'd hoped, but recovered quickly. As the vampire charged me again, I half expected Frost to move in on him, but he didn't. Frost had his eyes on him, but didn't attack. Only watched. I had only time to duck a swing and return the favor, nailing the vamp in the jaw. As I had practiced many times, I kept on swinging, hitting the vamp in the face, in the gut, even made a kick to the groin, before he got a hit in on me. Fast punch right to the side of the head. It caught me of gaurd, and sent me to the ground out of loss of balance. I quickly rolled over, even with my vision blurred momentarily, and avoided a kick to the head. I stood up as fast as I could and donkey kicked the vamp in the gut. As it stumbled back over a gravestone, I saw my oppritunity, and drove the stake right into his heart. The vampire screamed out before its body turned to dust, then was gone.

I picked my stake up from the bit of ash left behind and dusted myself off. I looked over at Frost, who only looked at me as if nothing was wrong. That pissed me off, more than the fact that he didn't even help. I stalked over to him, teeth clentched.

"What the hell was that?" I asked in as normal of a voice as I could, trying not to explode, yet. I stood before him, staring up at his face. It stayed empty, eyes blank, as he stared back.

"Well? Is there a reason you didn't want to join in?"

"I knew you could handle yourself." He said calmly. I folded my arms and kept my hardest glare on him. He smiled.

"Your cute when your mad." He said with a smirk. When I didn't smile back, his face fell back to normal. He unexpectedly took a step closer to me, until our bodies were nearly touching, and his face softened. He slowly raised his hand to my temple and touched it. I winced, not realizing the pain before. I pulled away and saw blood on his fingers.

"Shit." I said to myself, I put my hand over the wound on my head. "He hit me hard."

"It's only a small cut." Frost said, stepping closer to me.

"Don't. I'm pissed at you."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. You know you enjoyed killing him all on your own. I was ready to jump in if I felt it necessary. You fought well. One tiny accident on the head, but you played the game well. Point for you." He nudged me with his elbow, and I let a tiny smile escape my lips.

"I hate how you know me so well. I think I would have been more pissed if you didn't let me kill it."

"See?" Frost said, spreading his arms before me. "So what are you mad about?"

I sighed and shook my head, sitting on a gravestone. Frost leaned up against the mosoleum and folded his arms, studying me again. When I looked up at him, I found comfort in his eyes, and I suddenly felt vulnerable and open. I wanted to blurt out that I was thinking about him, wishing I could be enveloped into his arms, but I held back. Something told me he already knew.

"What are you thinking?" I asked, pulling my hand away from my head, to find the bleeding has slowed to minimal. It really was only a small cut, but it would definatly be a pretty bruise.

Frost suddenly froze in place and scanned the area behind me.

Before I could even ask what he saw, I had my own problems. Five vampires were standing before me, seeming to have come from no where. I made a quick glance to Frost, only to find he was watching whatever was behind me. Call it a wild guess, but I bet it was more vampires. Great.