Curiosity Ch. 01

"I'll sit here and watch the bags while you go grab something," I said. Lynne went off and I decided to check my phone. 10 new text messages. Talk about persistence.

I looked around the food court for any familiar faces. I only saw a few. I waved a hello to them and looked back at my phone. I eventually got bored with that and put it back in my bag. I decided to people watch some more until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see the smiling faces of Adam and Jaime. Adam and Jaime were two of my favorite people ever. Adam and I worked and went to middle school together while Jaime and I met at a local concert. I was actually responsible for hooking the two up a few months back, and they had been head over heels for each other ever since.

"Hey Kristi, what are you doing here all by yourself?" said Adam.

"Oh, I'm here with Lynne. She's getting food right now while I watch her bags. How are you guys?"

"We're good," said Jaime. "We're just here to kill some time before Andrea's party. You should come with us. By that look in your eyes, you need a distraction."

I forced a laugh. Was I really that easy to read? I was trying to push off thinking about . . . the situation . . . but I guess it wasn't working. "Uhm, I might swing by and say hello, but I've got something else to take care of."

"Like what?"

"Just, personal things I need to take care of."

"Do those things involve you lazing around your house and chain smoking?" said Lynne as she arrived to the table with a tray full of greasy junk food. I could feel my arteries clogging at the sight of it. I shuddered.

"Ha ha ha very funny, but no. I'm done sulking. I'm done with this whole mess. I'm done wi-"

I stopped abruptly when something caught my eye. I didn't register at first, but when it did, my eyes widened and I gasped as my jaw hit the floor. I couldn't believe the gall - the audacity. I just couldn't believe it! I saw red, and my hands started shaking. I was ready to unleash the wrath of a thousand angry Gods upon those two insignificant pieces of shit. Carter and Ariel showed up to the mall together, holding hands no less, like they were a couple that had been going out forever. I wanted to be sick again. I heard three other voices gasp after they noticed what I was looking at. I felt hands grab my upper arms as they led me away. My anger began to rise and I struggled against Lynne, Adam, and Jaime, but their grip didn't waver. I wanted to go over there and raise hell on them: the stupid slut that stole my boyfriend and the idiot that went along with it.

My three friends led me to the parking lot so I could try to calm down. I grabbed my pack of cigarettes, took one out and lit it up, breathing heavily and pacing back while my three friends looked at me with concern etched into their weary faces. I couldn't take it anymore; I let it all out.

"I bet my douche bag of an ex-boyfriend had his sights set on Ariel for a long time. I mean, why would he be interested in a girl like me? I mean she's a pretty, intelligent, pure individual who thinks about others before herself, right?!" The sarcasm flowed out of my mouth like water from a cup. "She gets better grades, she's going to a better school, she hasn't had sex with every that walks and has a penis -- how the fuck would I compare? Huh? She's an all around better fucking person than me, so she deserves better things, right? Am I right?!" I fell silent and kept pacing back and forth outside of the entrance, shaking my head at how ridiculous things were getting. I suddenly stopped pacing, sat down on the ground, and stared into space. I was dead quiet. I guess I was a little too quiet, for Adam decided to speak.

"Kristi . . .?"

And then I lost it. I broke down. I let out all of those harsh feelings. It was no use pretending like it didn't matter; it sure as hell did. It was like my best friend and boyfriend never cared about me to begin with. I loved Ariel like the sister I never had, and I never planned on leaving Carter, ever. And they spat all over it. Shit like that just wasn't fair. "That asshole never cared about me. Ever. I'm so embarrassed for letting this happen. Why?"

After a while, my heavy sobs finally died to quiet sniffles. I then started to feel embarrassed for crying in front of my friends over a boy. I felt like a freshman again. Christ . . .

"Oh, guys, I'm so sorry, I'm just-"

"Don't you dare apologize for anything," said Jaime. "If anyone needs to apologize for anything, it should be those two for humiliating you and betraying your trust. I swear, I just wanna go in there and . . . Ugh."

"We feel for you, sweetheart, we really do," said Lynne.

"Thanks, you guys." I sighed heavily. No way was I going to stay here and chance running into those two. "I wanna go now. Let's go to the café and chill."

"Alright, we'll leave now." She gave me a comforting smile and walked back in to get her bags. She came back out with her stuff and said goodbye to Jaime and Adam. We hopped into my car headed away from the mall. Sooner or later I had to face my problems, but I was perfectly okay with running away from them.

***

Tristan stood silently in the large study, surrounded by rows and rows of books. He watched Dell as he sat at his large mahogany desk, his face leaning on his hands while they were in the prayer position. Tristan could feel the frustration radiate from him and knew exactly what was coming.

Dell released a sigh and looked up in to Tristan's silver eyes. "I noticed you decided to linger a bit after you came back from feeding, Tristan," Dell said calmly. "Why is this?"

"I apologize, my lord. But I felt to need to know why a human would trespass on our property so late at night. Wouldn't you think so?" Tristan replied, insolence edging at his tone

"Then explain to me, please, why you would defy me and your coven and attempt to speak with a human." Dell paused, waiting for Tristan to answer. When Tristan looked away and didn't answer, Dell snapped, "Well? What do you have to say for yourself."

He knew the answer was going to sound ridiculous even before he said it. Looking down, he said timidly, "I was merely curious, my lord."

Dell hit his desk with his fist, the sound of the "thump" echoing throughout the room. "Merely curious? Tristan, you must understand the risk of your actions. Do you know what could possibly happen? Your curiosity could spark her curiosity, and then we'll have humans trespassing and attempting to explore what lies here in the manor! They are already curious enough as it is!" He caught his breath and sighed, "Please, my son, don't let this happen again."

"Again, I apol-"

"That will be all, Tristan," Dell snapped again, cutting him off.

After the rude dismissal, Tristan left Dell's large study immensely frustrated. He knew he shouldn't have let his curiosity, of all things, get the best of him, and he didn't like being reprimanded like some child. True, he was younger than most of the vampires in his coven, but only by age. And age is just a number.

As he walked through the manor, he felt eyes on him. He stopped and turned around and his silver eyes locked with the emerald green of his best friend. Tristan wasn't in the mood for anything Vincent had to say, joking or otherwise. He turned back around and walked quickly down the burgundy carpeted hallway to his room.

"Tristan! Wait!" Vincent shouted from down the hallway. He ran after his agitated friend in hopes of making him feel better, but Tristan only walked quicker. He made it to his room and tried to shut the door, only to have it slam on Vincent's foot.

"Vincent, don't. Just go," said Tristan.

"No."

"Vin. Please. Give me some time to myself."

Vincent stood there and stared at him. He knew when to be serious, and now was that time. He raked his long blonde hair back along his scalp and took a step towards the door. His eyes were full of concern. "Fine, we can talk about it later. You know I'll be here."

"You always are. Thanks," replied Tristan.

Vincent saw himself out of the room and shut the large wooden door.

Tristan began to pace the room back and forth, brooding on what had happened the night before. Why hadn't he just gone straight back to the manor, like he should have? Why did he let one insignificant human being distract him? Most humans stayed away from the manor for fear of "ghosts" and "demons" lurking within its walls. Yet the human girl seemed so at peace in the meadow near it. But it didn't matter who she was, how she got there, and why she was there, and he had no valid reason for almost exposing himself to her just out of "curiosity." It was a childish and foolish thing to do. That frustrated him even further.

He threw himself onto his large king-sized bed and sighed deeply. He desperately wanted to leave the manor and roam the streets. He didn't enjoy being holed up inside more than half the day with barely nothing to do. Even though his coven and the surrounding ones were planning an uprising, it was only in the beginning stages. Frankly, he really didn't want much to do with it. Being known was too flashy and obvious for him. He liked being under the radar.

What was the need to let humans know that vampires existed What fun would that be? Letting them think there was a possibility was entertaining. All the books, all the movies, all the TV shows. He wasn't really sure what they based all of those off of, but most depictions of the "vampire" varied from sort of inaccurate to insanely inaccurate. Some of the vampires people made up didn't even have fangs. What the hell was up with that? The blood sucking thing was probably the only thing they got right. That and not being able to go out into the sun. But the other things were just silly made up things to frighten the gullible and naïve. If they only knew. . .

The human girl, though. She obviously was neither of the two. Completely carefree. Or rather, careless. He stood silent within the cover of the woods staring at her, slightly mesmerized, yet confused. Who the hell was she? She was lying on the ground looking up at the stars listening to music, trying to find peace. She did seem tense. And she was . . . beautiful. Beautiful in her own way. Her medium brown skin looked so smooth, and her lips . . . they were full and kissable. Her long, shiny black hair was spread out on the grass and had a soft glow in the moonlight. She was definitely busty, and probably had curves that would stop traffic. He felt something stirring inside of him, something that kept him standing in that same spot. He wanted a taste of her so badly.

When he saw her get up to leave, he felt disappointed. He would probably never get a chance to see her ever again. His curiosity got the better of him. He thought that talking to her without her seeing him wouldn't be that bad. So that's exactly what he did. And now, he was beginning to regret it. Either he scared her off, or she would get suspicious and try to find out who was speaking to her.

He hoped for his own sake that it was the former.