Dagger (Chapter two)

If you've ever been trapped between an evil and possibly insane murderer and a stranger who might turn out to be a vampire, you probably know exactly how I feel right now. But, on the off chance that you haven't, here’s what I was thinking: Oh my god. Please quit closing in on me... I need to get out of the way! oooww!
"Let go of me!!" I shrieked, but a hand muffled my mouth.
"If you take another step near me, you'll lose her." Dagger's eyes widened in shock, his face pained. Then, before I could blink, He disappeared, just like back at the shelter. Another second passed by, and then out of nowhere, literally, He appeared and took hold of him, pulling him away from me.
"Chrissy, run!" He yelled.
"Where?!"
"Anywhere! Run as fast as you can! I'll find you!" I hesitated, unsure. What if something bad happened? I had no way of knowing... He seemed to see right through me. "I promise." With that, I took off out the door and away from the house. There were a lot of trees to dodge, but I was still going really fast. I didn't pause to look back, I just kept running. The house was probably disguised by all of the trees anyway. I kept going for about ten minutes, but then I slowed to a stop. I was breathing heavily, but I kept walking; I needed to get as far away from that guy as possible. Eventually the trees cleared, and I entered a huge meadow. Out of breathe, I leaned against a rock. Worry began to take over my thoughts. How long would I have to wait here?

I had been sitting down in the meadow, right out there in the open, waiting for someone to find me for hours. Well not someone, Dagger. If anyone other than him came to get me, like Eli, I don’t know what I’d do. That would mean…. something happened to Dagger…But Daggers going to get away. He’s going to find me. Then everything will be ok…. But what if he never comes back? That wouldn’t be the first time somebody has abandoned me. Then I would never know if he was actually a vampire, or if he was fooling me, or if I was imagining the whole thing; dreaming or something. The whole thing happened so fast that it didn’t even seem real: one moment I’m safe in my bed, the next moment I’m somewhere in the mountains with no other choice but to wait to be rescued. Did I go to far from his house? Maybe he won’t look all the way over here, maybe I should go back… “Chrissy, you’re over thinking this! Just stay put!” Talking to myself wasn’t helping. I sounded crazy. The only thing that kept me from going insane was to keep replaying Dagger’s look of sincerity when he had promised to find me. For me, promise was a hard concept. When I was younger, I used to become so attached to everyone, and so dependent. Then when my parents had “promised” to come back for me after a few weeks at the shelter and never came back, well, it just kind of ruined my ability to trust anyone. Now IF he comes back, I will not allow myself to become attached. But, that rule will probably never need to be enforced anyway. Then I heard something coming from the woods, far away. My heart jumped, but sank again. I just imagined it. of course. I leaned back against my rock, holding back tears. What was the use? Why even bother listening…I heard it again. I held my body very still, trying as hard as I possibly could not to get my hopes up. It could have been an animal, the wind, my imagination, oh my god there he is.
“DAGGER! Over here!” I jumped up and down, frantically waving my arms at him. In the air, faster than I could blink, he twirled around, a huge grin on his face. Then he was at my side, looking worried now, seeing my tears.
“Chrissy, don’t cry, it’s ok… It’s ok. I feel absolutely terrible, this has been horrible for you , hasn’t it” I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have-”
“No, no it’s ok! Look! I’m fine.” I gave him an encouraging smile. He relaxed, letting out a breath.
“Good. Well, I managed to fight off Eli, for the time being. It was so hard.” He paused, seeing my worried expression, then continued, walking past me to sit on the rock. “He had a knife, but he couldn’t see me through the entire process, so it was easy enough to escape, after I had made an impression on him, of course.” He glanced up at me. “I’m boring you aren’t I?”
“No, I’m just… I don’t like the woods very much. Can we get out of here?” Dagger looked amused. “Let’s just go back to your house,” I continued, “I’m really not that hungry, anyway.”
“We’re never going back to that house.” Startled, I looked up.
“Oh.”
“If we went back there, he knows exactly where to find us, at what ever time is convenient for him. It just wouldn’t be safe, Chrissy.”
“Where can we go then? ” It was silent for a moment. “Do you know anyone whose house we could stay at for a while, any apartments for rent…” His face lit up.
“Autumn will let us stay with her!
“Autumn?”
“Yes, she’s my close friend. It’s only about 10 minutes to her house from here. Lets go.” He reached out for my hand and I reluctantly grabbed it.
“Ready?”
“Nope.” And then we were off.
We landed Several yards away from a huge mansion that looked about 100 years old. It was surrounded by wheat fields and the forest cut off just about a block away from it. The walls were dark, and vines were covering them. It was bigger than any house I had ever seen.
“We’re going to stay here? Are you kidding me?” Dagger laughed.
“Big, isn‘t it.” I nodded, bewildered. He led the way up the stairs leading to the door, and knocked. A moment later, a girl, a few inches shorter than me, opened the door.
“Hey, Autumn.” She smiled and hugged Dagger.
“Hi! It’s been so long since you’ve came over!” She had dark brown hair that faded to black at the tip, going down to her shoulders. She was really pretty, so pretty that I was beginning to feel like the only normal one. I sighed, apparently a little to loud. Autumn glanced over at me, not looking me straight in the eye.
“Who is this?” she asked him coldly. Wow, thanks for the warm welcome.
“Her name is Chrissy. She’s going help me out with the Eli problem.” Autumn frowned.
“Is that really necessary?” she asked him. “If you ask me, I like option two better.” What was option two? She turned and led us into the house. Inside the mansion, it seemed even bigger than on the outside. There was a harp in the center of the room. There were corridors leading off in different directions from the living room, and the ceiling was really high. Surprisingly there weren’t any paintings on any of the walls. Unlike Dagger’s house, there weren’t any books.
“I don’t know about this,” Autumn said. “Just choosing a random person off the street? What if she isn’t ready to be changed?” Changed as in ability, changed as in training? What does she mean?! I hate this, She’s talking to him like I’m not here. She still hasn’t acknowledged me directly.
Dagger changed the subject. “Well anyway, Eli broke into the house. Yeah, he found out where I live. I had to fight him, and eventually he broke down and ran away.”
“Oh my god, are you ok?”
“Yes, we’re both fine. But we figure that if we return to my house, he’ll come back, with backup.”
“Oh, so you want to stay for a while?” I wish there was another option. I could tell I’m not welcome here. I don’t think I did anything wrong for her not to like me. Maybe she just doesn’t like humans. Or maybe she’s a human. I’ll have to ask Dagger about it later.
“If it’s not too much trouble.”
“Of course not. I’ll have the maid grab you some tooth brushes and everything. You know where the bathroom is, Dagger.” He nodded.
“Thanks,” I added, speaking for the first time.
We climbed the staircase and walked into the huge, marble bathroom, where a brush, toothpaste, and two toothbrushes were waiting for us. I jerked the brush through my tangled hair that hasn’t been properly combed for weeks.
“God, owww…” Dagger glanced up at me, amused at my expression. I ignored him. As soon as we were finished, Autumn showed us the two bedrooms where we were staying. I was so busy gawking at the enormous, decorated ceiling that I tripped over the rug and lost my balance and almost fell over. I flailed in pathetic attempt to keep myself up. Dagger grabbed my hand just before I hit the ground, and he effortlessly pulled me up. Autumn turned around and stared blankly at the wall behind us.
“What just happened, Dagger?”
“Nothing,” He said, trying to keep himself composed instead of laughing hysterically like he probably wanted to. I don’t blame him; I was already laughing. With an angry expression on her face, she said goodbye to him and left.
“Is it just me or is she, like, completely ignoring me? Seriously, she hasn’t said one thing to me ever since we got here… Am I missing something?” He sighed. Well, don’t tell her I said this but…” he lowered his voice and leaned in closer. There was a tiny smirk on his face. “I think she’s jealous” I snorted.
“Of what? I haven’t even-”
“Shhhh she has really good hearing! God you’re so loud,” he said jokingly. I remembered my question I had wondered about before.
“Oh and one more thing,” I continued, “Is Autumn a vampire?”
“No. But she wants to be.” His gaze met mine, and I couldn’t read his expression.
“Oh.”
“I’ll see you later, Chrissy.” He gave me a warm smile and turned into one of the bedrooms. I headed into the other one, and plopped on the bed. It was about 2 in the afternoon, but for some reason, I was really tired. It could have been all the stress lately or something, I don’t know. In just a few minutes, I was asleep.
When I woke up, I could see that it was dark out. The maid had set some new clothes for by my bed. I locked the door and changed into them. There was a dark blue tank top, and a black mini skirt. It was almost too tight, probably Autumn’s old clothes that she‘s already worn once before. I decided to go downstairs and see if Dagger is awake.
When I was going down the stairs, I began to hear a soft sound coming from downstairs. I paused, and it became louder and more clear. It was a melody being played - probably on the harp that had been in Autumn’s living room. I silently hurried down the stairs so I could peek into the room. There was Autumn, sitting at the harp. Her eyes were closed, and her fingers were gracefully plucking the strings. It sounded so
Beautiful. Like…well I have no idea, it just was stunning. Me, never being able to hear hardly any music at all before, just stared wide-eyed at her. Her hands stopped moving and she let the last note echo in the huge room. Dagger, who had been sitting on the couch a few feet away listening, clapped loudly and rose to talk to her.
“You’ve gotten even better since I heard you last. I wish I was as skilled as you…” I watched as a smile crept across Autumn’s face.
“Thanks! You really think I’m talented?” Dagger laughed.
“Of course.” Autumn stood up.
“Then do you think I’m talented enough to get Eli out of the way?” Suddenly they were both serious. He sighed.
“You know why I can’t choose you.”
“No, Dagger, I don’t. Please fill me in.” Autumn’s voice was cold. I waited silently for an answer, praying that no one would see me peeking out from behind the entrance.
“With you’re condition, I don’t want to take any chances. I just… I can’t loose my best friend.” It was silent. I can’t loose my best friend. Does that mean he doesn’t care if he looses me? Am I just a tool? A sharp pain ran through me. Autumn was staring aimlessly at the ground.
“I’d be fine,” Autumn stated in a weak tone. I ran back up to my room.
“Chrissy?” Dagger had followed me upstairs, and was walking into the room. I was sitting on the bed, silently scolding myself for not seeing this coming. He sat down next to me.
“Are you alright?” He seemed concerned. Even with the worried expression on his face, Dagger still looked like an angel. I looked down, holding back all my tears.
“Yup. I’m miles away from home, my life is going to be in danger, I have no idea what’s going to happen, and-”
“Don‘t worry, everything will be ok.”
“How is it ok? Am I missing something, because to me this definitely doesn’t seem ok!” he sighed and looked at the floor. “And also, why did you say that you found me because you don’t want Autumn to get hurt? Don’t you care if I get hurt?”
“Of course I care! How awful do you think I would feel if I took you out of safe hands and something happened to you? I don’t want you to get hurt either, Chrissy. To tell you the truth, if Autumn would have gotten her way, she would be the one in trouble. There’s complications.” There was a pause. “I don’t know if I should tell you this, but…” He hesitated. “Autumn’s blind.” Wow. That explains a lot. There was silence as I tried to process this.
“Why wouldn’t you be able to tell me that?” there’s no reason for it to be a secret or anything.
“She hates it. Every one always takes pity on her and treats her differently when they find out. I know you don‘t understand much about what we‘re going to do, but if someone who was blind tried to mess with Eli, it wouldn’t end well.”
“Oh my god. I had no idea… She seems to have no trouble at all, I would have never known. Her eyes do look a little cloudy, though.” Now that I thought about it, that distant look she always had in her eyes now made so much sense…
“Yeah.”
“But now Autumn thinks you don’t care about me and only care about her.” I looked questionably at him.
“That was completely stupid. I shouldn’t have said anything at all. I really am not just using you to get what I need, you have to believe me. I wouldn‘t be able to live with myself if you two were both mad at me.” His eyes were pleading, and I could tell he was telling me the truth.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” I assured him. He smiled and let out a relieved sigh.
If there was ever a time when I wished I were somewhere else, it’s right now.
“Why on earth would you tell her?! She’s a stranger and there isn’t any reason she should know AT ALL!” Autumn’s high pitched voice filled up the entire house. Dagger was the only calm one in the room. I was fidgeting in awkwardness, and Autumn was practically fuming.
“She deserves to know, Autumn. As I’ve said before, it’s not something to be ashamed of.”
“Yeah, whatever. If I wasn’t blind, everything would be perfect. Of all people, I thought I could at least trust you, Dagger!” Hello, still right here, guys… He looked up, his bright blue eyes suddenly burning.
“This whole argument is pointless!” At that, Autumn had nothing to say. She just stood there glaring at nothing. Dagger turned to leave.
“I’m going for a walk.” He slammed the door. I don’t think I’ve seen two people so frustrated with each other before in my life. Especially two friends. And it was my fault, I realized with guilt. I glanced over at Autumn , and instantly regretted it. She looked like she was going to burst out in tears.
“It’s not a bad thing if you’re blind. I mean there’s stuff like that about every one.” Her expression was skeptical.
“No offense, but you have no idea what it feels like to have something this big wrong with you. Besides, there’s nothing like that wrong with Dagger. Stupid, perfect, emotional vampire…” She wandered into the kitchen and felt around on the counter, apparently looking for the bowl of fruit that was their. We both grabbed a pear.
“Is that why your upset? Because You don’t think you’re good enough for him?”
“Why do you even care?” I might have deserved that. Well for my first time talking to Autumn, we sure are getting somewhere.
“Sorry, just trying to get my facts straight. I’m going to go upstairs.” She didn’t reply. I guess I might be able to sympathize for her. I mean it would suck to be best friends with someone like Dagger, and if you add the fact that she’s blind… that just makes it worse. In my room, I laid on the bed and waited for Dagger to come back.
About half an hour later, which was the longest half hour of my life, my door creaked open and he stepped inside. I didn’t even here him come up the stairs. I sat up, and he came and sat down next to me, a little uncomfortable.
“Sorry about earlier,” he said. “It’s just been really weird lately, you know? Don’t worry, I didn’t usually get in fights with people this often.” Because I hadn’t been in your life yet…
“That’s ok.” Dagger brushed his messy, dark hair out of his eyes. “I found something for you,” he said, reaching into his pocket.
“Really?” I watched as he opened his hand, revealing a bracelet. It had beautiful stones that were the prettiest color of blue I had ever seen. I silently clipped it around my wrist and smiled. Perfect fit. Dagger was grinning flawlessly when I looked over at him.
“So where did you find this thing?” I asked, marveling at it on my wrist.
“It was at my house. I don’t know how long I’ve had it, it’s probably really old.”
“It’s beautiful…” It’s not every day that someone gives you something this awesome, for lack of a better word. Amazing, maybe. I smiled at his old-fashionedness.
“Thanks so much,” I said sincerely. Dagger beamed and pulled me into a hug. The feeling of him touching me sent adrenaline flowing through my veins, and I tried my best not to freeze. I hugged him back. He smelled really good, and I know that sounds weird, but hey, it’s the truth.
“No problem,” He whispered. Without warning, his muscles tensed. His breath came to an abrupt stop. Before I could blink, he darted to the other side of the room. He moved so fast that he was almost a blur. His eyes were burning, just like earlier, but this time with true hatred. My heart sank. There was a silence, and the only noise in the room was my short, nervous breathes.
“What’s wrong?” I really didn’t expect an answer. He moaned, clutching his stomach, and sinking to the ground in agony.
“God, that was stupid.…” I waited, bewildered, and praying that I didn’t do anything wrong.
“Is there anything I can do?” He held up a shaky hand.
“No, stay where you are, Chrissy.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his mouth. Then he opened his eyes, all the traces of stress gone.
"It’s gone.” I remained frozen, fearing that if I moved, it would trigger whatever caused him so much pain to happen again. He looked at me, a concerned look on his face.
“You’re scared of me aren’t you?” There was a pause.
“I’m scared of the fact that I caused that to happen to you.” He still looked troubled, but smiled in attempt to comfort me.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’m more concerned about you, you’re sure you’re ok?” I nodded.
“God, I’m so sorry,” I sighed.
“No, no don’t be. I just… It happens.”



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