Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Crystal ❯ Chapter 9

Crystal, Chapter 9:

 

 

Scott didn't show up for school the next day. Or the day after that. By the third day, I began to get suspicious.

 

I found Johnny hanging around the pizza shop the next town over. I hadn't seen him in the last three days, either. There were several groups of high school kids, some I recognized, some I didn't. Johnny fit right in. He wasn't talking to anyone—just watching a game of pool. I stalked over to him.

 

“Quit it,” I said, pushing against his chest.

 

He didn't move, but he did raise one eyebrow.

 

“Quit what?”

 

“You know.” I pulled his arm to make him follow me. I had snuck the keys to his car off the hook, hoping that my mother would assume Johnny had taken it. He raised his other eyebrow when he spotted the car.

 

I stopped in front of the car. “I want you to leave Scott alone.” The rumor was going around school that Scott was really sick, that he might have mono. That wasn't what was wrong with Scott.

 

Johnny's face hardened. “Why should I?”

 

“Because he didn't do anything,” I said. “It was my fault. Johnny, if you keep taking blood from him, he's going to die. Is that what you want?”

 

“Yes!” Johnny hissed. He took the keys from me and got in the car. I got in on the other side. Johnny braced both forearms on the steering wheel and he laid his head between them. “This is what I am. This is what you want to be.” He lifted his head and nodded towards the brightly lit restaurant. “What about them? Am I supposed to leave them alone too?” He sounded almost bitter.

 

It occurred to me that if he hadn't followed me to the pizza place a few days ago, he would probably not have targeted those kids. I don't know why it bothered me now. It hadn't bothered me when he brought me hunting at the mall. The difference was that I didn't know those kids. Some of these kids were my friends, or at least my classmates.

 

I didn't answer Johnny. He gave a sharp laugh.

 

I wasn't being fair. This whole thing had started because I couldn't control my craving for blood. Johnny was right. I wanted his life, if only to be with him. “You don't have to kill,” I said reasonably, and he laughed again. This time I was sure I could hear the bitterness in his voice.

 

“It's what I am,” he repeated, turning the key and starting the engine. We coasted out of the parking lot and onto the road. There was no moon tonight, no street lights, and only our headlights illuminated the darkness. “I was made to be a killer. Blood of my enemies.” He spoke the words in that old language that nobody but our kind remembered. “He shouldn't have touched you.”

 

It was more than just Scott, I realized. It was Paul, and the Scottish brothers, and Johnny having to hide yet again when he had finally, finally been able to be himself among us. I leaned my head against his shoulder and felt him relax a little. “Let's go back,” I suggested. A peace offering.

 

Johnny glanced at me, but he didn't slow down or turn the car around. “No,” he said quietly. “Not tonight. Do you want blood? I'll take you somewhere else.”

 

I shook my head. “It doesn't matter,” I said. “As long as I'm with you. What about you—did I interrupt you before you could-- you know?”

 

Johnny smiled. “I'll manage,” he said. “Where's Paul tonight? I'm surprised he let you out of his sight.”

 

So I was right. It was about Paul, among other things. “It's your idea for me to keep being friends with Paul,” I reminded him. I chuckled. “I told him the truth, that I was going to find my boyfriend. He doesn't think you're much competition, you know.”

 

“Want to go show him otherwise?” Johnny slammed on the brakes, throwing us both forward.

 

I couldn't tell if Johnny was kidding. “No. I don't want to think about Paul tonight. Let's go to the cottage! You can get in without a key, can't you? We can hang out there, just you and me for a change, okay?”

 

Johnny slowly stepped on the gas, and took the turn towards Lockwood that would eventually lead us to the cottage. The water was turned on, but it was still too early in the season for any of the family to be using it. It was perfect! Johnny probably thought I was trying to distract him from going after Paul, but that wasn't my real reason. My heart thudded and my palms were sweaty with the thought that I was going to be alone with my boyfriend. No parents in the house, no victims to stalk. Just me and Johnny. All alone.

 

Blood was the last thing on my mind, for once. I was hoping it would be the last thing on Johnny's mind tonight, too. He was my boyfriend, dammit! For once, I wasn't going to take no for an answer!

 

Johnny did something and the door opened. It was so black outside that I couldn't see the steps. Johnny had to lead me inside and help me sit on the couch while he went out back to turn on the electricity. I was with a lethal vampire and yet it was so dark, I felt scared until the lights came on and Johnny made his way back beside me. He brought in firewood and started a fire, after which we didn't really need the lights anymore.

 

He settled next to me on the couch, and I moved to kiss him. The cottage still smelled a little musty from being closed up all winter, but it was a familiar smell, one I associated in my mind with Johnny from the days when I first knew him. I had loved him since then.

 

But I was all grown up now. Johnny had waited for me. I loved everything about him, his thirst for blood, his convoluted morals, his touching gallantry underneath his harsh exterior. Johnny was ruthless; he made no apologies for it. Yet he was also kind and gentle and honorable. I wanted him more than I'd ever wanted blood.

 

“Johnny.” I realized I would have to make the first move. Slowly, I unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it over my head. He watched me without expression, neither stopping me nor showing me any indication that he wanted me to continue. I swallowed. “I love you.”

 

I kissed him again, wearing only a bra on top. It covered more than my bathing suit, but it was what it represented. I playfully bit at his neck, not even trying to break the skin, and suddenly Johnny was galvanized into action. He flowed—that's the only word for it—over me and I was lying on my back, staring up into Johnny's black, black eyes. I had seen his eyes go dark before. It meant he was in need, for blood, or so I thought.

 

Johnny was old, older than most of us realized. He was at least a thousand years old. Many of those years he had spent under the water, hidden away from time and the cares of the human world, but he had seen a lot of life, experienced a lot of life. More than me.

 

He put his weight on me and kissed me, and moved his hands up and down my back until my bra unlocked much like the front door had for him, and suddenly his hands were all over me, unbuckling my pants and sliding them off me and then it was too late for me to change my mind. I wasn't the one in control anymore.

 

He must have seen something in my face, because he stopped, and looked down at me. “Tell me to go and I'll go,” he said.

 

“No.” I pulled him closer. “Never.” I tugged at his shirt, and he helped by lifting his torso so I could pull it over his head. He wriggled out of the rest of his clothes without ever taking his full weight off me. Then he did that flowing thing again and brought us both down to the rug in front of the fireplace, where the light from the flickering flames did strange things to our skin. He kissed me again and ran his hands up and down my body. I tried to follow his actions and whenever I hesitated, he took my hand and guided it, teaching me his body while he got to know mine.

 

Is this what making love was like? I thought it would be more sudden, more violent. More like taking blood. I wanted Johnny. The craving started like the blood craving but it encased my entire body. Johnny laughed when I squirmed against him, trying to get closer any way I could. “Do you doubt I am human now?” he murmured into my ear, kissing, then nipping at it, and continuing down to my neck. He nipped there, too, and drew blood, and I liked it. I arched my back. I was tingling all over.

 

“No,” I breathed, staring up into his eyes. I wondered if my own eyes were as dark with need as his were. At that moment, Johnny rocked violently and I gasped at the suddenness of it, then dug my fingers into his shoulders. I liked tingly, but violent was good too. I rocked with him, and for a while I couldn't think, I could only feel. I thought I would explode with the pressure, and then I did, and it went on and on until I was sure I couldn't stand it anymore. Pleasure on the verge of pain. I felt a wetness against my lips. Johnny had slashed his wrist and held it up for me to drink, so I rode the wave of pleasure down and one pleasure morphed into another as my belly, still tingling from our lovemaking, turned to molten gold as Johnny's blood hit my system. Vaguely, I was aware that Johnny was drinking from me, too, completing our blood exchange. I felt lethargic, but so, so good.

 

“Better than human,” I murmured into Johnny's ear, as I flopped back, boneless, on the rug in front of the fire.

 

He leaned on one elbow and grinned. “How would you know?” he teased.

 

I gave a languid stretch and smiled back. He could tease all he wanted. There was nobody else for me. “I don't want to go home,” I said, knowing it was inevitable. I wished we could stay like this forever.

 

Johnny sighed, and pulled me close. “Mine,” he whispered in our secret language. I felt my body stir at his nearness. He let me go and sat up, pulling on his clothes as he spoke. “Crystal.” The look he turned on me was sad. I had never seen such an expression on his face before. “I'm a killer. You know that. It's what we are, underneath it all. We can't afford the luxury of friends. You can still change your mind. If you stop taking blood, the desire will fade over time.”

 

He was talking about Scott. Just because I didn't want Johnny to kill him.

 

“Wait a minute,” I said. “That's not the point.”

 

“Isn't it? I've agreed to protect family, Crystal, and that was against my better judgment. Your little school friends are not family. I'm no longer bound by blood and promises; there are no more enemies for me to feast upon. What do you want me to do?”

 

What did I want him to do? From both my flashes of vision and from what Johnny had told me of what he remembered from his own past, I understood Johnny's nature. I accepted it. I wanted it. Why this sudden attack of morals?

 

“You haven't killed in a long time,” I reminded him.

 

“But I want to, he replied softly. He gazed into the fire.

 

We didn't speak for a long time after that. What was there to say? Johnny was right; I knew the way he was. This whole thing with Scott, and indirectly with Paul, was his way of striking out against his own anger and frustration. I didn't think Johnny would attack Scott again since I had made my feelings clear. I stopped short of telling him to stay away from all the people I knew because I wasn't sure if he would do it. His control was only so good. What about me? When I was changed, would I feel the urge to kill, not only to take blood? Could I kill someone? I didn't know.

 

Johnny was wrong about not having the luxury of friends. He had friends and family in Lockwood. He had told my mother long ago that he was going to kill her when he didn't need her anymore. But the truth was, he would always need her. She knew what he was and she loved him anyway. So did my brothers, and Kenny, and Ellie, and me. Johnny had given his protection to the family in Lockwood; by extension, I had started to include the rest of the town too. Was that so very wrong? Lockwood belonged to us, Johnny and me.

 

I got dressed by firelight while Johnny watched me silently.

 

“You know,” I commented, “you're not getting rid of me that easily.” I slid my arms around his waist. “Mine.” I murmured the word.

 

“I didn't think I would,” Johnny replied, gathering me close. I could feel his heart beating as I laid my head on his chest. “I'm glad.”