The Last Protector

Chapter 7

Grayson pov

~The Dream~

“Come on, come down from there, your going to get hurt.” I heard myself saying. Though, that wasn’t my voice, was it? It sounded deeper, a harder quality to it, like a person who grew up with hardship and despair.

“Oh, come on, where’s your sense of adventure!” She called out from the top of the white stone awning, her bare feet tangling in the vines as she twirled. She grinned down at me, pulling her long luscious blond hair up into a ponytail with her hands, before letting it fall down her bare back again. I could see the deep red of her dress, the backless dress that flowed into a deep red and gold skirt. She kicked her leg up and twirled again, balancing on the precariously narrow awning. The gold bracelets on her ankles clinked together as she moved, and for the briefest moment I was enchanted by the way she moved, how she had no danger, no care, no worry. She threw her arms up into the air and her head fell back as she laughed, a deep sultry sound, and I was once again dumbstruck by her.

“Im going to bite you If you don’t get down here,” I heard myself call to her. The strange feelings flowing through me. Before, I wouldn’t have cared in the least. I would have bitten her without a thought, held her close to me, drank her deep rich blood. I would have laughed from the high of her blood, but now…now…what was wrong with me?

She threw her head back again as she laughed at me, mocking me, but…it didn’t bother me. “Oh, right here?” She asked, pointing to the side of her beautifully enticing throat. Teasing me, always teasing me. She was so sure I’d never hurt her, her trust in me was more than I had in myself.

Suddenly she turned sharply, jumping high into the air, her body angled towards me as she fell out of the sky, and landed right into my waiting arms. No fear, so daring, not a care or doubt in the world that I’d catch her. I should have let her fall, watched her beautiful neck break so I could drink from her vein thick and bloated with her blood. Even still, I caught her. “Well, here you are,” she whispered, tilting her head to the side, giving me easier access.

I held her close to my chest, enjoying the way she felt in my arms, her muscled thighs from all her dancing draped over my arm while her back was rested against my other arm. I stared at her neck, watching her vein throb as I felt my teeth lengthen, but…but…I sighed, pulling my teeth back and kissing her on the side of the neck, excitement flowing through me as she giggled in my arms. She turned to look at me, her green eyes staring right into me, and smiled. “I wish you’d make me a vampire.” She whispered.

~waking up~

I sat up abruptly, my forehead colliding with something as I fell back down, groaning. I opened my eyes to see a hand hovering over me. “Um, my bad. I was just about to try and wake you up.” I sat up slower, rubbing my forehead as I stared into Zain’s eyes. His eyes, they were light green, the exact same shade as the girl from the dream. I stared at him for a minute, comparing. Lana had darker green eyes, but Zain, his were the perfect shade of green to match the girl. My head was throbbing as I stared at them, and Zain turned away, a light red on his cheeks as he grabbed a pill bottle. I licked my lips, there was a strange taste in my mouth. It wasn’t bad, it was sweet, unrecognizable. “f*****g eyes,” he muttered.

“What?” I asked, wondering if I heard him right. Did I do something wrong? He shook his head, opening the bottle and popping out some pills, handing them to me with a bottle of water. I took it all greedily, swallowing half the bottle with the pills. I stared at him under my eyelashes, my heart racing. Why was I feeling like this? Was it because of his eye color? The strange girl. But Zain didn’t have a sister, so he probably didn’t know her either. “So the nurse just lets you give out pills and s**t?” I asked him as I poured some of the water into my hand and smeared it onto my sweaty face, brushing the rest through my hair.

Zain looked at me, his eyes wide as he stared, before standing up, turning his back to me. “Damn, Gray.” He muttered, his voice deepened as he took a deep breath. I felt my stomach tighten as I shivered, the water dripping down my face and falling to my shirt. What did I do now? “They trust me, because I’m an adult now, and he remembered me. Plus he knows,” he paused, taking a deep breath. “He knows I’m going to take care of you properly.” He said, before turning to look at me. “You’re my best friend, after all.” He finished softly, his eyes burning into me.

I took a deep breath, looking away from him as I nodded. Why was my chest racing? There was something wrong with me. “I remembered something.” I said.

Zain stared at me with wide eyes, the other water bottle and the pills in his hands falling to the ground with a loud clatter sound. “Wha, what?” He asked, a blush on his face. “What did you remember?” He stammered.

I stared at him, remembering my voice in my head. Who had I been talking to? ‘The idea of never playing with him again, it makes me sad.’ That’s what my voice said. Somehow…for some reason I couldn’t tell him that. I tried, but my lips didn’t move, no sound came out. Why couldn’t I tell him that? So I decided to tell him the other thing instead. “I f*****g hate basketball.” I said, watching him.

He paused for a minute, before letting out a soft chuckle, running his fingers through his pale blond hair. “Well, I didn’t know that, to be honest.” He said with a chuckle. I frowned, wondering if it was true then. Then again, the other sentence I heard, it made it seem like that was the reason I kept playing. “Well, was that it?” He asked, hope and hesitation in his eyes. I frowned, nodding at him as he sighed, grabbing my backpack. “Well, let’s go then.” He finished stiffly, turning his back on me again. I didn’t understand, was there something else I should be remembering? What was so important?

I sighed, shaking my head as I followed Zain out of the nurse’s office. “Zain?” I looked up in surprise, hearing Lana’s voice.

“Barbie?” Zain replied, his voice dripping with annoyance. I smirked, before shaking my head in confusion. Why did I just smirk? What was that about? I watched Zain as he crossed his arms across his chest, the way his large muscular back stretched out his cotton shirt.

“What are you doing here, Zain?” Lana asked as I followed him out of the nurse’s office. “Oh, Grayson. I was coming to visit you,” she said shyly, a blush on her face. “I wanted to make sure you were alright, I heard you fainted.” She finished.

“Why the f**k does it matter to you, Barbie?” Zain nearly growled at her, his posture tall and intimidating as he hovered over her.

I watched her take a visible step backwards as she grabbed the end of her ponytail, an embarrassed blush on her face. “Because Grayson is my boyfriend!” She said, a frown on her face. I had to give her credit for standing her ground against his big giant presence.

“What?!” Zain growled, turning to look at me. I could see her shaking in fear but for some reason I didn’t feel any fear. It was like it was deeply embedded in my mind that Zain would never hurt me, and That I trusted him, probably more than anyone else…but why?

I stared at him, half lost in thoughts as I shrugged, no fear in me as I stared Zain down. “She asked, I said yes. It happened at lunch.” I said to him, explaining.

He was staring at me, his gaze glaring through me, his light green eyes piercing me, and I felt guilt, even though I had no idea why. What was I missing? I could see the muscle in his jaw clench as he thought, before signing, running his fingers through his hair. “Fine,” he mumbled, turning his back on me. “I’ll be at the car.” He finished, before walking down the hall.

I stared after him, watching the way his shoulders slumped and his slow walk, so different from the soft smile in his eyes moments before. Why did my chest feel like this? It was thick, suffocating, like I was drowning. “Grayson? Was Zain here to pick you up?” Lana asked, cutting into my thoughts.

I turned to look at her, staring at her, and shivered, remembering the woman from the dream. Confusion swirled throughout me and I groaned, feeling a sharp jolt in my head. “Yes, he’s taking me to Lexi.” I said. She nodded at me, staring at me with her wide green eyes.

“He doesn’t still have feelings for Lexi, does he?” Lana asked me.

I shrugged, watching the hallway where he disappeared. “I don’t remember anything that happened before I woke up in the hospital, but from what I can see since I woke up, he has no feelings for Lexi and she doesn’t for him either. Lexi is with Jaiden, a guy y’all don’t know, and they’re very happy together. Plus, Jaiden and Zain are really close friends as well. I don’t think he’d be able to be friends with Jaiden if he still had feelings for Lexi.” I said to her.

My head was throbbing again as I thought of Lexi and Zain, but the fact that Lexi and Jaiden were so happy together, it didn’t worry me much. It felt like a pain in my chest, but a healing pain. Like a wound that was starting to scab over. But, that wouldn’t make sense. Wouldn’t that mean I used to like Lexi? She’s my cousin. Was I like that? But no, Lana said we both had feelings for each other. “How do I know that I used to have feelings for you before I forgot?” I asked her, throwing her off guard.

She frowned, blinking at me, before pulling up her phone. I watched her scrolling through her messages before finding one, and showing it to me. ‘You’ll never believe this! Grayson held my hand the whole way in the car, and he was blushing the whole time!’ Her text said.

I looked up at her, seeing the embarrassment on her face as I read her personal texts. Was I really holding her hand and blushing? But, I could see the date, and it was before I woke up in the hospital. So this wasn’t made up, it happened. I looked up at her, not caring enough to read the reply from Carrie. “Okay, I guess it’s true then,” I said with a frown. Right? “I have to go, he’s waiting for me.” I said, running my fingers through my hair before pulling my hood over my head. I kept moving towards the side, the way he left, wanting to hurry. “See you later.” I said to her.

She leaned forward, her eyes wide, but I looked away, towards Zain again, and she backed away again, a blush on her face as I turned back to look at her. “Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow, Grayson,” she said, her voice airy and hesitant as she gave a soft smile.

Not sure what else to do, I patted the top of her head, before Turing away and walking after Zain. I walked out the main door, and spotted him as he paced in front of his car. I frowned, spotting blood dripping down his hand. “Why is your hand bleeding?” I asked him.

He looked up at me with surprise, looking at his left hand. “It’s not bleeding.” He replied, shrugging.

“No, your right hand.” I said with a smirk as he lifted his right hand up, inspecting his already healing knuckles.

“Huh. I didn’t notice.” He said with a shrug as he wiped his hand on his jeans.

I chuckled at him, sliding into the passenger seat as he went to the drivers side. “How do you not notice that?” I asked him with a laugh.

He shrugged, gripping the steering wheel as he started to drive. “I don’t know, I wasn’t thinking I guess.” He said. I nodded, dropping the subject. I could tell he wasn’t in the happiest of moods, but I couldn’t tell why. What happened to piss him off? He had his right hand on his leg, resting palm down on his knee, as he drove with his left hand. I stared at his arm, a frown on my face as I noticed his left wrist.

“What is that?” I asked him, pointing to the two healed scars on his wrist.

He looked at me, then at where I was pointing, and my heart thudded in my chest as his face lit up with a bright blush. He turned his face away. “It’s nothing, just a scar.” He said softly.

I nodded, looking down at my lap, my hands resting on it. I had my sleeves pulled down over my fingers, and I casually lifted up my left sleeve, looking at my tattoo. There was two little dots just like that on my wrist too, before I got the tattoo. I sighed, my mind swirling with confusion as I pulled my sleeve back down. I pulled out my sunglasses and slipped them on, trying to block away the sun.