The Purity of Blood: Volume I (71 page)

A minute later
Daniel stepped back and instantly felt me over from head to toe, making sure I
was uninjured.
 
When he felt his way back
up my body, our eyes locked and in a flash he planted his lips securely on
mine.
 
His arms pulled me close, and for
a minute I lost myself in him, in the intensity of his passion for me.
 

Finally he
pulled back, and I turned around to see the others starting a fire from old
bits of wood Randall had collected from around the yard.
 
I was about to ask the question when I looked
closer.
 
Coming out of the side of the
flames, I saw a piece of Demetrius’ black cloak.
 
Wihtout
having to
ask, I had my answer.

Daniel stood beside me, and needing to feel him close, I
wrapped my arm securely around his waist and felt him tenderly kiss the top of
my head.
 
Standing there holding each
other, we watched as the others burned what was left of my hunter to ashes.

After a few minutes, they
finished, and walking across the yard came to stop at the bottom of the
porch.
 
For a minute they just stood
there lost in their own silent contemplations.
 

“Is he? …” I
asked.

“Yes,” Daniel
answered, kissing my hair and pulling me closer.

“What was
that?
 
What did she do?” Lily finally
asked.

“It was her
blood,” Randall answered.
 
He seemed
somewhat shell shocked.
 
I think it was
the first time I’d truly seen him off balance before.
 

Then he turned
to me.
 
“But how did you get the syringe
to work.
 
It shouldn’t have been able to
penetrate his skin.”

I smiled.
 
Had I really managed to keep a secret from
him?
 
I felt something like hope spring
up inside me.

“I guess I owe
you a diamond,” I answered, suddenly finding my smile again.
 
“I broke off one of the diamond tips from the
needles you use, and attached it onto the end of the syringe.
 
I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but
figured it was worth a try. – I guess you’re theory was right.
 
I
am
poisonous.”

Randall smiled
at me with pride, and as Lois came over and took his hand, I felt Daniel’s arms
come from behind and pull me back towards him.
 
I leaned back on his chest and felt the warm rays of the sun as they
edged their way over the tops of the trees to begin a new day.
 
Closing my eyes as I leaned back against his
chest, I felt the strength of Daniel’s arms around me and breathed deeply.

It was time to
go home.

SARA

We
stood around the back porch for what seemed like a long
while.
 
Standing in Daniel’s arms, I
listened as they calmly discussed what had happened over the last horrifying
hour of my life.
 
Daniel was silent.
 
He held me in his arms, and with my cheek
resting comfortingly against his chest, I couldn’t see if he was listening to
them, but I had a feeling he wasn’t either.
  
All things considered, I didn’t really care to hear the gory details.
 
I knew more than I wanted already.
 

It wasn’t long
after that when Daniel leaned over and whispered in my ear for me to get my
things together.
 
Even though Demetrius
was gone, I think he needed me back in the safety and familiarity of New Paltz
before he could truly begin to relax.
 
I
didn’t argue, I was just as ready to leave as he was.
 
Besides, as I looked around, I knew I’d be
back here again someday.
 
It hadn’t been
all bad memories here in Hopkinton.

Before we left,
I said goodbye to Lily and Thomas.
 
They
weren’t heading back to New Paltz, but were off to the west coast for a
while.
 
I hadn’t asked why.
 
If they weren’t volunteering info, I figured
it was probably best not to ask at this point.
 
Although Daniel said Thomas and Lily usually travelled together, it
wasn’t their way to stay grouped together with the rest of them for very
long.
 

Lucy left as
well.
 
She didn’t bother to say goodbye
to me which was just fine.
 
She still
didn’t like me and the feeling was way more than mutual.
 
I wasn’t sure what it was in their shared
past that allowed Daniel to be more than just friends with her, and to be
honest, it scared me to think about it.
 
I desperately wanted to know, but –
 
No, I’d never ask.

Had I forgiven Daniel?
 
I wasn’t sure it was necessary anymore.
 
I trusted him and that trust over road any need for it.
 
Whatever had happened was the past and I
trusted that past, present and future, he’d never do anything to hurt me.

Daniel packed up my things in the
kitchen while I went upstairs and did the same there.
 
Standing in the doorway of the empty bedroom,
I knew I’d miss this house.
 
I loved its
rustic wooden beams and creaky floor boards.
 
In the short span of my time here, it had really grown on me.
 
I wasn’t so sure about its builder though.

When I walked
back into the kitchen, Daniel turned and handed me my gun.

“I’m not sure
how I feel about that,” he said with a frown.

I tucked it in
my backpack and slung it over my shoulder.

“Don’t stress
about it.
 
I probably know more about
firearms than you do,” and as if trying to erase his frown, I reached up and placed
a chaste kiss on his lips before he opened the back door for me.

He’d pulled his
car out of the barn already and opened the door for me as I approached.

“Ready to go?”
he asked.

“Why do I get the feeling we’ll be back here again someday?”
I asked as I slipped down into the seat.

As we sped down Interstate 95 on
our way back to school, I asked him where Lucy had gone off too.
 
I’d seen them talking before she’d run off in
a blur down the driveway.

“I’m not
sure.
 
She didn’t say.
 
I think she’s still a little mad at me.”

“Why?”

“Who knows?
 
She’s a hard woman to read.
 
She says she wants to be with me, but I know
she likes to play the field way more than spend time curled up at home with
me.
 
I’m too boring for her.”
 

I rolled my eyes
at this.
 
It just seemed too
incomprehensible for words to me.

As the exits
quickly raced by, I opened my window.
 
Enjoying the crispness of the air, I rolled my head over and watched the
wind as it moved through Daniel’s hair.
 
It reminded me of fields of wheat on a Nebraska prairie and made me
wonder how something dead could look so alive.
 
I loved him so very much, but he still seemed like something of a riddle
to me.
 
Leaning back in the seat I wondered
what lay ahead for us.
 
More than one
thing had been settled on that hill in Hopkinton.
 
Demetrius was dead and so was the idea of me
ever becoming a vampire.
 
What did that
mean for Daniel and I?
 
I felt like the
time we could have together had been drastically shortened.
 
I had never really wanted to become a
vampire, or so I thought, but now that it was no longer a possibility I felt
sad.
 
Options are always a good thing to
have, even if they aren’t the ones you’d particularly want to choose.

A question
popped into my head.

“Would you
rather I wasn’t a pure?”

His head turned
my way, but I couldn’t read his eyes behind the mirror of his sunglasses.

“No, I don’t
think so.
 
Yes, it would be nice to not
have to be so extra guarded around you, but … I want you just as you are,
someone pure not only in your blood but also in your heart, mind and body.
  
I guess I like the whole package,” he
smiled.

As he turned
back to the road, I looked out the window hiding my deep blush at his mention
of my overall purity.
 
I suppose I’d
always wondered if he knew I was a virgin.
 
From his smile, I’m guessing it was something he didn’t mind.

I wished I could
come up with some response to interject a bit of humor into his answer, but
nothing came to mind that seemed anywhere near appropriate to such a
compliment.
 

I leaned back in the seat and watched the trees fly by the
window.
 
Something had been bothering me
all day, eating away at me as I tried to enjoy Daniel’s smiles and kisses
again.
 
It was who the nameless pure was
Demetrius had fed on.
 
Was it someone
like me, someone who was just going about her everyday business when suddenly
she disappeared and was never heard from again?
 
I had to accept the fact that I’d never know, and that bothered me.
 
I wanted to mourn whoever it had been
properly, but was forced to grieve for a nameless person who’d been murdered
because of me.
 
My only consolation was
that his or her killer was now dead and would never have the chance to kill one
of us again.
 
But still, I knew I’d probably
shed a tear tonight for my nameless fellow pure.
 
I was just holding them back long enough so I
could express them in the privacy of my room in Capen Hall.

Randall
and Lois had stayed behind in Hopkinton.
 
I don’t think he could stand the idea of leaving his house behind in the
state he’d found it in and Lois had remained to help out in whatever way she
could.
 
Their relationship was still a
mystery to me.
 
Antagonistic on the
surface, it was obvious she loved him deeply.
 
Yet Daniel said she’d leave soon only to reappear in their lives when
she was ready to return.
 
Why, I
wondered.

When we pulled off the thruway in
New Paltz, Daniel didn’t drive back to campus, but up to his house.
 
I didn’t say anything as I was happy just to
be with him, and there was plenty of time to get back to school.
 

We pulled into
the garage and went into the house feeling relieved but drained.
 
When I looked into his eyes, I could see the
past few days had taken as much of a toll on him as they had on me.
 
I slumped down onto the sofa and somewhat
vacantly stared out the window at the lake.
 

“I thought you
might like to freshen up before heading back to school,” Daniel said as he
dropped into the seat beside me.
 
Taking
my hands, he laid his head on my shoulder.

“Why?” I asked
absentmindedly, wondering where our relationship could possibly go from here.

“You’ll see,”
was all he said in reply as he began to twirl a lock of my hair around the
fingers of his other hand.

After a few
minutes, my curiosity got the better of me and I left him on the sofa.
 
I headed for his room and into the bathroom
where I looked in a mirror for the first time in days.
 
That was when I saw what he’d been talking
about.
 
I looked beyond terrible.
 
My hair was filthy and even though I’d washed
up a few times as best I could, I still looked like I had a layer of grime all
over my skin.
 

Most women
, I thought to myself,
try to look attractive for their men.
 
This is what Daniel gets.
 
Poor guy.
 
He could do a lot better.

I stripped off
my clothes and got in the shower.
 
Oh,
the hot water was heavenly on my sore muscles.
 
My neck still hurt from Demetrius’ grip and a faint ring of black and
blues hung around my neck as a reminder of my hunter.
 
In truth he’d also reinjured by shoulder, but
I’d purposefully neglected to mention that to Daniel.
 
He already winced every time my bruises were
visible above my shirt collar.

Once I got under
the water, I was in no hurry to get out.
 
I scrubbed every inch of my body raw and then started all over again until
the hot water finally ran out.
 
In the
end, I had to tell myself that no matter how hard I scrubbed, I’d never wash
away the memory of the feel of Demetrius’ hands on me.
 
Not only that, but how the evil creature that
had almost killed me was basically the same as the creature that sat in the
next room, the one I loved beyond all measure.
 
Was that just an extension of the irony that permeated my life – or was
it just wrong?

Reluctantly, I
stepped out of the water.
 
Wrapping
myself up in a big towel, I dubiously looked around to see if Daniel had
purchased a hair dryer yet.
 
When I
didn’t find one, I wrapped my hair up in a towel to dry.
 

I picked up my
shirt but didn’t want to put it back on.
 
Now that I was clean, I could smell Demetrius’ revolting stench all over
it.
 
Looking around, I saw the long
sleeve blue dress shirt of Daniel’s I’d worn last time still hanging on the
back of the bathroom door and slipped it on instead.
 

I was tired,
tired in my bones, and found myself sitting down on the edge of the tub before
I had a chance to fall down.
 
I felt free
from the mental weights that had dragged me down for weeks now, but still felt
the after effects of all the stress I’d been shouldering as it was finally lifted
free.
 
Taking a deep breath, I’d begun to
consider getting up when I heard a gentle tap on the door.

“Yes?” I
answered weakly.

“Are you
decent?”

“I suppose so,”
I answered, looking down at myself.

When the door
cracked open, Daniel appeared on the other side of the threshold.
 
His shy smile spread across his face, quickly
erasing the look of hesitation he’d opened the door with.

“I was beginning
to worry.
 
You’ve been in here over an
hour.”

“Why are you
looking at me like that?” I asked.

“Like what?”

“With that goofy
smile on your face.”

“I was just
remembering something.”

I cocked my head
to the side as if asking him to explain what he meant.

As he started to walk away, I heard him say over his shoulder
“You still look awfully cute in my shirt and that towel.”

A few minutes later I walked into
the living room in my jeans and his shirt and found him reading the paper at
the kitchen table.

“You look much
better,” he said when he looked up at my entrance.
 
“I’m sure if you’d showed up looking like you
had before your friends would have come up with all sorts of wild stories about
where you’d been.
 
Probably off on some
bender somewhere.”

I shot him a
sarcastic look along with a smile.

“Well, it
wouldn’t have been any stranger than the truth.”

“I can’t argue
with that.
 
So what
are
you going to tell them?”

“I don’t know
yet,” I said as I slid down into a chair across the table from him.
 
“I’d like to stick as close to the truth as
possible, but I guess I don’t know where we go from here.”
 

I stared into
his sky blue eyes, unable to look away.
 
As
they had many times before, I was caught under their spell.

Putting the
paper down on the table, he looked up to meet my gaze.