Into the Darkness

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Scarlet thompson

Looking around, she doesn't see or hear anything. Confused, she slowly turns around. Only to come face to face with yours truly. Startled, she jumps a little with a loud scream. Closing her eyes, she lets it all sink in before opening her eyes once again.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, soaking in his form like some kind of pervert. Once again, her eyes get stuck on his and she finds herself staring at them. Luckily, she's a little used to them, so she finds it easier to break her gaze away and look down at the ground.

Only then does she notice that her notebook is laying wide open with his picture on it. Although it wouldn't matter what page he flipped to. They are all filled with pictures of him. At moments he wasn't paying attention, she was sketching him. It had begin to come natural, and if she just caught a glimpse of him in his car, she would be able to draw the whole scene. Down to the wrinkles in his shirt. Even though the pictures weren't what one would call a work of art, someone could still tell what it was just by looking at it. She had even begun to get strange dreams and pictures of scenes from them were in there too.​
 
ATTICUS JORDAN
Atticus picked up the sketchbook with lightning, paranormal speed -- he was unleashing all of his powers around her at once, not bothering to act human around her anymore. She was probably going to find out he was a vampire soon enough anyway. Atticus riffled through the sketchbook, studying each image carefully. They were all of him. They weren't good, but you could tell they were all of him. And they were real-life scenes; there was him in the parking lot, him in physics, him writing a Shakespearean poem on the blackboard in English.

"What am I doing here?" he said, still looking through the textbook. His voice was monotonous. "What are you doing here? This is the woods. There are all types of predators in here." She probably picked up on the double meaning behind his words. He was the predator.

She stepped toward him. Atticus leaped backwards, practically flew a few feet and landed on a high branch of a nearby spruce tree. He looked down at her.

Yep, she was going to figure it out.

Here goes nothing.​
 
Scarlet Thompson

"Wh-what...h-how did you do t-that?" Scarlet begins to stutter. A bad habit she had when she's nervous, but she has so many bad habits that one day, she going to lose track. Terrified, Scarlet slowly back up. Letting what he said sink in, thoughts began to flash through her head. Hitting her like a ton a bricks theories begin to play through her mind.

Remembering all off the unnatural things Atticus had done that she dismissed, including jumping back as far as he did, she came up with the conclusion that he wasn't human. He couldn't be. "What...What are you?" She says, more composed.​
 
ATTICUS JORDAN
Atticus shrugged. "What am I?"

Atticus leaped from the branch he sat on, leaving the sketchbook there, and threw himself to the tree Scarlet stood under. He landed silently on the branch above her head. Grasping the branch with one of his hands and hooking his knees around it, Atticus swung himself downwards, hanging like a gynmast before her. He was showing off, but he didn't care.

"What do you think I am?"​
 
Scarlet Thompson

Scarlet slowly started to back up and was getting more and more freaked out by the second. She just stared at him in response. Feeling herself begin to tremble she tries to stop it by hugging herself but he attempts go unsuccessful. "I don't know. Don't make me guess."

Finally her back pressed against another tree and she stopped moving altogether. Sadly, she started to shake again and she tried to take out her phone to call someone. Unfortunately, she remembered that she left it in her bag, which was where Atticus was. In denial, she tries to look at anything but him.

The ground suddenly becomes her new best friend as it makes a distraction for her eyes.​
 
ATTICUS JORDAN
Atticus could see Scarlet growing more and more scared. He felt guilty -- he hadn't meant to make her scared.

"I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry."

Atticus flipped himself over, landing silently on the ground. He took her phone from her bag and handed it to her. When she took it, he gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist.

"Do you feel that?" he whispered. "Do you feel how cold I am? Can you feel my pulse?"

He knew she couldn't.

Because he didn't have one.​
 
Scarlet Thompson

Scarlet eyed his hand with a furrowed brow. He was cold. A lot colder than he should have been. Also, she realized that he really didn't have a pulse, and every living human she knew had a pulse. Unless he wasn't alive... but if he were dead, how is he standing right in front of her.

She had done a fair share of research to know that there were a lot of things that walk around dead. Never had she thought she was going to come face to face with one. She didn't even think they were real. Though due to the fact that he had a human form, only one word popped into her mind. A word that terrified her.

"Vampire?" She said in a barely audible whisper.

She would have started to back up again but not only was the tree there, but his hand was still holding her wrist and despite her accusation, she didn't want him to let go. She didn't even know if he was being serious or just playing with her.​
 
ATTICUS JORDAN
Vampire.

Atticus nodded.

"Jasper's one too," he said. "He's quite a bit younger than me. I met him in England in the 1940's, when he was only about twenty years old -- twenty of our years, I mean. Thirty-seven of your years. He was still killing humans, but he was really depressed about it because, despite being completely blood-crazy, he has the kindest mind I've ever met. We came over to America. I've been training him to kill animals instead for about seventy years. It truly takes about two centuries to get your thirst under control. I'm one of the luckier, talented ones. It only took me thirty-three years, until I was fifty." Atticus didn't know why he was blabbering like this. Caught in the moment, he seemed the only way to calm Scarlet down was to explain everything. "And even in that thirty-three years, I never killed a human. Scarlet, I know you probably think I'm on drugs, but I swear to God, I swear on my life, I am one hundred percent serious. And I swear on my life, I will never hurt you."​
 
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Scarlet Thompson

Scarlet wanted to believe Atticus, but growing up, she was taught something entirely different. Any time she would mention something like a vampire, she was dismissed and frowned upon. One thing was for sure, Atticus wasn't on drugs. He looked way too clear headed for that. Every bone in her body was urging her to run away, but her feet wouldn't move. She wanted to leave, she wanted more time to think, but she couldn't help looking into his eyes and seeing how serious he was. Even if he is a vampire, he said he would never hurt me; that he's never even killed a human before. With a sigh, she finally allows herself to calm down enough to where she can think. "Okay..." She starts, unsure of how to finish her sentence. "Prove it." She says, regretting her decision. Too late... ​
 
ATTICUS JORDAN
Prove it.

Two little, refreshing words Atticus had never thought he'd hear.

In response, Atticus placed his left hand on her right cheek, and bent down until his nose hovered right beside her neck, precisely at a large vein -- the one vampires usually bit. "I can smell everything," he whispered. "Your scent, your fear, your blood. I can smell your blood. It smells so good -- yet it's doing nothing to me. Jasper would be going mad trying to control himself. Vampires centuries older than me would have already killed you. But I feel nothing."

Atticus inhaled deeply.

"Your scent pulls me in, drags me toward you like gravity. Not your blood, but the actual smell of your skin. Your signature scent. Your designer perfume, if you will." Atticus grimaced at the comparison and inhaled again. "It's such a ... beautiful smell. It's what ties me to the world. It's what makes me unable to leave you alone."

Atticus dropped his hand and stepped back a little. He kept her eyes locked to her. He was unable to look away.

"It's what makes me feel the need to protect you. It's what made the last three days complete hell for me. I could track you everywhere by your scent, of course, but I couldn't see you. I didn't know what you were doing. I didn't know if you were safe." Atticus ran his hand through his hair, clenching the dark locks so tightly, he feared he would rip them out. "I nearly killed Jasper that day. He was crying -- well, he would have been if it was physically possible for us to cry. But my kind-hearted, completely innocent, baby brother was tearing himself up over what he almost did, and all I did was scream and threaten him. He hasn't spoken to me in three days."

Atticus locked his eyes onto hers, and took all the seductiveness out of his voice he could. He wanted to sound as normal as possible.

"If that doesn't prove that I would never hurt you, Scarlet, I don't know what will."​
 
Scarlet Thompson

Scarlet stared into his eyes. She knew that what he was saying was true. If he wanted to kill her, he would've done so. Slowly, she forced a smile unto his face. Not one her urgency to believe him, but the amount of trust she was willing to put in him scared her. She also began to feel bad for Jasper, although the amount of restraint he used was great, it wasn't good enough. Now he was probably feeling bad somewhere. All because of her. Reaching her hand out, she lightly touched his cold cheek before letting her hand drop.

"I believe you, you're secret's safe with me." She said in a slight whisper. Unsure of what else to say, she furrowed her brow and stared at the spot in which her hand just was. "I'm sorry about Jasper. Looking around, she noticed that the sun was starting to go down. "I should get going." Looking back at him, she sighed, unsure of what to think.

Walking around him, it took everything in her not to reach out and touch him again. "Oh, and just so you know. I feel something... something i've never felt before when i'm around you." She said as she grabbed her bag. "I don't know if i like it, but you consume every thought i have." She announced, feeling embarrassed. Not looking at him, she glanced up at her bag on the branch and sighed. "You can keep the notebook."
​
 
ATTICUS JORDAN
Atticus leaped to the branch where her bag sat, flipped back down and handed it to her, after taking the sketchbook out of it.

"I know you won't tell anyone." Why would she want a one-way ticket to the loony bin? "I trust you."

He paused when she said she felt something too. Did she really, or was she just making it up?

A thought struck him.

"Tomorrow's Saturday, right?" he said. "I know some people in California who could know something about this gravitational pull thing, or whatever it is." Atticus looked at the ground. For some reason, he couldn't look at her while saying the next part. "Would you like to go with me?"​
 
Scarlet Thompson

Caught off guard by his question, Scarlet looks at Atticus. I doesn't take long for her to recuperate, and when she does, she smiles at him. "Sure, I'm not doing anything else." She says with a smile.

Truth was, even if she did have something to do she would have went with him. She wasn't even sure if her parents would let her go, but she was determined to go. She wasn't sure what the pull she had towards him was, but she wanted to find out more than anything. Although it is going to be hard to try and get her parents to say yes to her traveling across states with a boy they'd never met.

"Pick me up at ten?" She asked as she began walking back towards the school. Turning around, she started to walk backwards in order to see him.​
 
ATTICUS JORDAN
"Ten it is." And with that, Atticus turned around and bolted into the woods.

Thrilled she agreed to go to California with him, Atticus forgot about Jasper until he arrived back at the cabin. Jasper was laying on the sofa in the modern, spacious living room, watching TV. The cabin was more like a large house for humans -- vampires felt easily enclosed -- and sported four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two living spaces and a drawing room (and still felt like a cabin to Atticus). Due to the huge space, it had been simple to avoid Jasper these last three days.

Jasper owned a car -- a Ferrari, of course, yet he rarely used it. Like most vampires, he preferred to run. But Scarlet wouldn't want to run to California. Atticus had to borrow the car.

"Jass," said Atticus tentatively. "Can I borrow your car tomorrow?"

Jasper looked up. "Why?"

"I'm taking Scarlet to California to see Vlad and Victoria."

Jasper sat bolt upright. "You're taking a human girl to see Vlad and Victoria without me?"

"Jass ..." Atticus had to tell him.

He told Jasper everything, about the pull they felt towards another, how Scarlet knew their secrets and how deeply sorry he was for threatening Jasper.

"I forgive you," said Jasper. "You know that. And I don't even blame you for telling her everything. But why didn't you tell me about this pull thing?"

"You wouldn't know anything."

"You don't know that."

"Do you?"

"No."

"Point proven."

"Just let me go with you."

Atticus shook his head. "I can't. She's already scared of you. You might not be able to control yourself."

"I'm not an idiot," said Jasper. "I'll run to California, see Vlad and Victoria before you get there, hunt in the woods and then see them again when you leave. She'll never see me."

Atticus sighed. "Fine."

Jasper tossed him the keys. "Just don't dent my car."





The next day, at precisely 9:58, Atticus sat in Jasper's Ferrari, waiting for Scarlet.​
 
Scarlet Thompson

When Scarlet gets home, she is greeted by loud talking coming from the kitchen. Entering, she notices that everyone is already sitting down and eating. "Took you long enough. Come sit down." Her mother says.

"I'm going to take it up to my room. I have a lot of homework." Scarlet says and grabs her plate.

"It's the weekend. Since when do you care about homework?" Sam questions. With a sigh, Scarlet puts her plate back down and sits down.

Suddenly, the room is quiet except for the clanking of silverware on plates. "My friend and i are going on a trip to California tomorrow." Scarlet blurts out. The air becomes thick with tension and her father nearly chokes on his food.

"Tomorrow? This is kind of a short notice for California, don't you think? Who is this friend anyway?" He asks as he picks up his water.

"Honestly, it doesn't matter. I'm still on the fact that she would even say something like that." Bailey says. "Did you even think about us. I bet it's that Atticus guy."

"Guy?" Her father says as he raises his eyebrow. "No, there's no way i'm letting you go to California with some boy you just met."

"Hold on, calm down. It's only for a day. Plus, we're going to see some people he knows." Scarlet tries to defend.

"For what? Why can't you just call them?" Her mother says.

"We're writing a long paper for our lit class and they know a lot of information about the book. Even met the author once." She lies. A lump forms in her throat and she starts to fidget. Looking down at her friends hands, Bailey rolls her eyes. Scarlet looks over at bailey and gives her a pleading look.

"I do recall passing by some kids earlier today at the store. They were indeed talking about a long term paper that was due Monday." Bailey lies casually.

Staring at Scarlet and Bailey in turn, Her parents both sigh. "Fine, but... you have to keep your phone on and charged at all times. And if you don't call every two hours, i'm calling the cops on that boy." Her mother says.

"Michelle." Her father protests.

"What, she deserves some freedom. Plus, with all of the neighborhood gossip, Atticus can't be that bad. Although i have to admit, i don't know if you're lying Scarlet, but it's in your best interest that you're not." Her mother says with a stare.

"Of course, I'm not lying." Scarlet says. "He'll be by tomorrow morning at ten so i should be heading to bed."

"We all should." Her brother Sam says, breaking the silence that he and JJ were holding.
(JJ is short for Jackson Jr.)

Getting up, they all wash their dishes and file upstairs to their rooms. This time, both Bailey and Sam follow Scarlet to her room.

"I told Sam all about Atticus." Bailey confesses. "You're hiding something though. I can tell."

"No i'm not, i have to be up early tomorrow and i really don't feel like your accusations." She says to Bailey.

"Scarlet, don't do this, this isn't you. You don't push people away, you know you can talk to us. Anytime, we'll be willing to listen to what you have to say." Sam says with a furrowed brow.

"Yeah, i know." Scarlet says, pretending to yawn.

Reluctantly, they both leave, and Scarlet gives a loud sigh. After her shower, she puts a few things in a bag and sets it beside the door for tomorrow. Finally, she crawls into bed and drifts off to sleep.


***

The morning is a frantic mess. Everyone ks scrambling around to make sure Scarlet had everything she needs. The only person who was calm is Scarlet. "I don't need all this crap." She says as she puts it all on the table.

"Fine, at least take some pepper spray, there are perverts out there." Her mom says as she opens Scarlets bag and stuffs it in there.

"I'm just taking this small little bag. I'll be back tonight or tomorrow. I'm not staying that long." Scarlet protests as they try to fit a first aid kit in her bag.

"He's here!" Scarlets ten year old brother yells from the door. The little lookouts job was to yell when he arrived. In a hurry, Scarlet only grabs her bag, leaving everything else on the table.

"Bye guys!" She yells as she opens the front door and walks out.

Noticing that everyone is peaking out of the curtains, Scarlet rolls her eyes and looks away embarrassed. Waving, she walks down her driveway and to Atticus's car.​
 
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ATTICUS JORDAN
As she stepped into the car, Atticus noticed her family peeking through the curtains, watching. Atticus opened his door, stood up and waved, completely free of sarcasm.

"I did that," he said, sliding back in, "to ease their minds. Now, I warn you, as a vampire I have an unbridled tendency for both speed and long, sophisticated sentences with fancy words in my pretentious 1900's British accent. Therefore, I am planning to drive spectacularly and illegally fast, while talking your ear off."

Atticus drove the Ferrari out of town, favouring a smaller back road to the highway, so he could drive fast. As soon as he left town, he floored the Ferrari, shooting the car forward. "This is only a fraction of vampire speed, but I thought you'd rather drive than run to California. So, rather than being there in twenty minutes, we'll be there by eleven o'clock.

"Now, I'll tell you about the people we're visiting. Their names are Vladimir and Victoria, the two most stereotypical vampire names you could think of. They're this really old vampire couple that were born in the 1300's, have creepy Dracula accents and have met people like Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bathory. If you don't know who Elizabeth Bathory is, I strongly recommend you jump out of this car, unless you want a lecture on the epitome of female vampiricness.

"Vlad and Victoria live in the desert part of California that's closer to New Mexico which, if you ask me, is ridiculously stupid because if a vampire doesn't feed often enough, they burst into flames. And coyote blood tasted awful. They only drink animal blood, like Jasper and I."
​
 
Scarlet Thompson

Scarlet smiled as Atticus continued to rant about Vladimir and Victoria. Nodding at all the right places, she was only half listening and found herself staring out into the blurring line of trees. Truth was, she had never strayed to far away from home, but as she sat here next to Atticus, she began to feel more satisfied with her decision.

"Well, it's good to know that neither of them will kill me." She says sarcastically.

Scrunching up in a comfortable position. Scarlet brought her legs up to her chest and rested her head on her knees. She loved to be in small spaces, it made her feel safe and secure. With her hair sliding into her face and blocking her face from Atticus's sight, she closed her eyes, waiting for their arrival.​
 
ATTICUS JORDAN
"Okay, Scarlet, you have to listen to me here. Vlad and Victoria are JASPER'S friends. He introduced them to me. This is his car. He's coming, too."​
 
Scarlet Thompson

Scarlet only nods her head at Atticus's statement. As she keeps her head down, she is paying little attention. Fortunately, what he had said finally soaked in her head and she looked up.

"He's coming. Like, i'm going to see him? And do you even really know them that well?" Scarlet questions as she looks over at Atticus. Running her hand through her hair, she sits up with a sigh. "Why would you wait so long to tell? I mean, we're almost there for crying out loud."

Looking out the window, she starts to run possibilities through her head.​
 

"No you won't see him," said Atticus. "He's going to see them before we get there, and after we leave.

"And as for me knowing them, well. Jasper met them in the 1950s and introduced me to them. But they're incredibly mature. Jasper is quite childish. I feel comfortable in saying I know them better than he does."​
 
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