Escaping the Hunters

Appearing

When we went out, we made sure we were always around humans, huge crowds like at a fair, and a carnival. We were at popular restaurants, we walked in big named museums and parks. I sat with him, and laughed over old stories, and the witches had promised to do what they could about masking my trail. They called with some things that they weren't sure would work but they would gather the hard to find ingredients before coming to Texas to meet us.

As it was, there plan was to hop on a plane in four days. Until then, we were by ourselves since Bianca decided to go back home. Since she couldn't help the witches coming in any way, she didn't want to add to our stress, and to be honest I was sure she was grossed out or uncomfortable because of our loving... nature.

"I love you." I heard him whisper and I smiled and leaned back in Zanders arms. We were at a man made lake and he was sitting just above me on the small hill, and I was so relaxed in his arms.

"I love you too." I told him and he kept his arms around me and kept in his arms until the sun was setting. I got to the car with him when it seemed people where thinning, and we made sure that we were getting to the house using the busy streets.

In a way humans were my saving grace. No hunter would hurt a mass of innocent humans just to kill two vampires.

"How are we doing today on our worrying?" Zander asked me and I looked over at him and shrugged before getting to the end of block where his house was. We pulled in and I walked in slowly before hearing whistling. I knew the song, and I stopped walking. I felt Zander's hand on my hip as the whistling got louder, like he was getting closer.

I saw shoes, and jeans, and the more downstairs he got, the more I saw. I couldn't breathe, no more sounds were heard as he whistled. When he hit the bottom floor, he held out his arms like he was doing a magic trick, and then I felt it. Zander was falling to the floor beside me, and I barely exhaled again before I felt the fog from before, like I was back on that street corner running from something, it was clouding my mind. 

"Time to join me sister dear." I heard my brother just before I was out, and I wanted to reach for Zander, to hold onto him.

They either took me to another state or kept my asleep for hours. I could remember bits and pieces of being placed in this room, I could kind of hear my brother telling someone to be careful with me. I got to the end of the fuzziness in my brain to the point where I could stand up and move towards the bars.

"Hello!" I shouted hoping someone was here, hoping Zander was here, and then I saw him... in the shadows. Appearing like a ghost he should be... that I thought he would be.

But he was here in the flesh, alive and well, and smiling as if it was just any other day.

"Hi sister dear. Ready to come to the party?"

"Party?" I asked him and he nodded.

"Get in that dress... clean yourself up. I have people to show you off to." He told me and I felt confused before he reached through my cell bars and turned my chin to the side, there was a dress at the end of my bed with matching shoes next to it.

"Where have you been?"

"Now now... get dressed, and when we're done meeting people, you can ask all the questions you want." He told me and moved to leave. I couldn't see anything but the brick wall across from me.

I got into the tight fitting dress, feeling slightly exposed since it was short, tight, and low cut. I walked to the front of the cell, looking around again before closing my eyes and taking calming breaths.

"Done little sister?" I looked over to the hallway and I got to the end of the cell, near the door, and I watched him unlock it before putting his hand out for me to take.

"Where is Zander?"

"Your boyfriend? He's still sleeping. There is someone to bring him up when he does wake. I think my friend overdosed him just a bit, he is quite large in size." He told me as he pulled me out and down the hallway. I kept my fear in check, I walked with him to the stairs and the farther up we went the more I could hear music.

It was like a ball, and I felt like as soon as he stepped up the double doors, everything inside seemed to stop and quiet down. As the doors were pushed open there was applause and I felt too scared to walk in. Looking around I could see women and men, and it was a lot. He pulled me along, getting me to the middle of the room.

"I want to thank you all for giving me a chance to have my sister by my side yet again. May this be the start of our happily ever after." I felt weird as my brother  moved to basically show me off, and I was breathing hard as everyone I didn't know, didn't recognize cheered for him.

"What am I doing here?" I asked as he pulled me back into his side. He didn't answer, just smiled and started to mouth 'thank you's to people who were now calming down. "Paul what am I doing here?"

"Shush now sister, we're going to be talking to people but I will handle it all, just answer the questions they have for you." He patted my hand and I gulped before nodding. He had a look in his eye when I used his name, and he looked beyond irritated that I had asked twice.

He pulled me around, I answered questions about my drawings, about my work, and nothing else. Then the music started up again and he pulled me right to the dance floor.

"I have missed you." He told me and I relaxed a bit.

"Why did you let me think you were dead?"

"Would you have let me go any other way?"

"Yes! Of course. If you were not happy with me, if you wanted to be away from me, then you could have just told me. I would have-"

"You would have made me feel guilty with a simple look and the idea would have been out of my head." He told me as we started to waltz.

"So you let me cry myself to sleep-"

"I watched out for you still, you were safe, and taken care of." He told me and I just gulped before getting right into the dancing. It had been a long time since I had been dancing like this... so I had to concentrate.

"Why am I here now?"

"To meet all my friends... and... because my dear sister we have a chance." He whispered before kissing my temple as the song ended and we clapped before he pulled me back in. "These friends of mine are sure they have a cure for us. We can be human again." I couldn't fathom what he was saying.

Human? Us?

"How? We can?" I asked, stuttering like an eager child. He was smiling and laughed lightly as I started asking him to tell me.

"I can show you, as long as it works-"

"Vivian!" I heard Zanders voice and I turned, looking around before I saw him coming towards me, he must have spotted me before calling my name. He was in a suit now, glaring at people as they either got in his way or made sure to stay in his way. I pulled away from Paul and walked a few steps forward.

"Zander." I gave him a hug, a tight one. I knew I could live forever with him, happy and delirious, but now that we could be human... it could be a lifetime with babies and grandkids and aging.

"Are you ok? Did they hurt you?" He asked as he pulled away and ran his hands down my arms.

"No, I am ok. Paul. this is my brother Zander..." I called out and made sure they both got introduced. I smiled as I pulled Zander closer, but he seemed reluctant.

"The dead brother?" Zander didn't hold out his hand to shake Paul's, and I just sighed.

"Rather alive, just was in hiding."

"You're not going to believe it Zander... he said we can be human. That his friends here... they're going to help us." I told him quick and he looked down at me, like he didn't believe it, like he wasn't sure what was going on.

"You have turned someone back into a human?" He asked, looking up at my brother and I just took a moment before noticing my brother didn't say anything.

"Paul, someone has become a human again?"

"No... not yet." He told me and I just took a moment before getting to the point of focusing on reality again. "We got close the last time."

"And what are you using to do this?"

"Some of the friends I have are witches." Paul told me and smiled slowly as if it was a good thing.

"A witch? The one that put us to sleep." Zander accused and I just gravitated from one man to the other with my eyes.

"A friend. Yes she is a witch but she did as I asked." Paul shrugged his shoulders, it was very like him to brush off other things about a person he didn't think made sense, like the label didn't make them the person they were.

"Same one who was tormenting your sister for the past couple weeks?" I felt my heart stop and I just looked at my brother waiting for an answer.

"She was trying to do spells to find her, some stuff was crossed and went wrong, she told me that it might get all worried." Paul again shrugged it off.

"And seeing you at the mall? Trying to lead her away from me?" Zander asked and I moved my hand up to capture his and pulling it out of his crossed arms.

"Trying to get her to come back to me. To go outside of a standard mall and so the witch could see where she was. See a landmark." He shrugged like it made sense, and it was starting to for me.

"You just needed to know where I was."

"Yes. Little sister, you have been on my mind since we've heard about becoming human. I know you have hated what we are, how mother and father made us do this to ourselves, and the second I heard it could be done, I needed you here with me."

"These are hunters." I heard Zander accuse and I almost brushed that off too, not caring, until I realized that the hunters did try and kill us a couple times.

"They were coming after me to bring me to you."

"Yes." Paul exclaimed at my revalation.

"Yes, that is why they rammed our car, tracked us down, and tried to kill us." Zander wasn't seeing it how I was. "Why they went into my clubs and killed our kind-"

"We were all humans before we were turned, they were monsters and in those nasty filth ridden clubs..." Paul made a gagging noise as he turned his head and I hated it when my brother used to say things like that about vampires who chose to be in a coven, or to let loose and enjoy their eternity in their own way.

"I had friends, good people working for me, and they're all dead now." Zander seethed and I made sure to hold his hand in mine  a bit tighter.

"Very true... but they were the few to be sacrificed for our plan to work. I assume you would also like to be human like my sister and I?"

"No, never. I would never work with the hunters, or witches that have hurt Vivi." Zander pulled me just a bit into his arms and I gulped and looked up at him.

"You wouldn't turn human?" I asked him and he looked down at me... worried.

"Of course not. I want you just as you are." I felt my heart crush, knowing he didn't want what I had always hoped for. it wasn't death, and it wasn't eternity... it was hope of being human again.

"But I do want to. I want to be normal-"

"Are you not normal? You don't have to be human to be normal. You and I have been happy. We can still be happy, just leave here and go-"

"Oh you can't go." I heard Paul, and people around us seem to quiet down as he raised his voice. "If you are not going to do this for her, then I will make you." he raised his hand and before I could focus on what he was going to do with his hand Zander was grabbed, held back and as he was pulled away my brother took me back in his arms and as the music started... we were dancing again.

I barely got to focus on Zander being pulled out of the room and back down to the cells we had been in.

I thought long and hard the rest of the party about if I wanted to be human... or if I just wanted Zander.