Promise me Love, To Never Look Back...

Miaka felt very out of place in the room full of Alex’s friends. Everyone was passing around wine glasses and talking quietly in groups and couples. She was starting to wonder why Alex has brought her with him. They weren’t doing anything and every time she turned around David was staring at her angrily.

“Miaka, are you ok? You’re very quiet.”

“Everyone’s quiet.”

Alex laughed then took her hand. “I’ll introduce you to some people.”

“Ok.”

Alex walked over to a group of people standing around a coffee table. “Hey. What's going on?”

“Oh, hey Alex. Where have you been,” asked a girl in a black dress.

“I was at my house. Just chillin’. By the way, this is Miaka. Miaka this is…”

“Dana. Hi. Alex’s cousin.”

“Hi.”

“And this is Cecelia, Edward, Richard, Devin and Nicholas.”

They all nodded in greeting.

“Does she know about…?” Nicholas trailed off.

Alex put his finger to his lips.

“I thought that. Anyway. You missed it.”

“Missed what?”

“David gave us all a lecture about spies and some nonsense about decreasing numbers. I wasn’t really listening. But he said something about the death of your mother. Is that true, Alex? Is Julia really dead.”

Alex glanced at Miaka who was trying to act like she wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s true. David shouldn’t blame himself though. I don’t expect his forces to show up every time something goes wrong.”

“Yeah he seemed pretty beat up about it,” Dana said. “I’m sorry, Alex.”

“Don’t apologize to me about it. We just have to build up our defense, that’s all.”

“I just don’t see why we weren't informed sooner. With you father inactive you’re vulnerable, Alex.”

“Yeah, maybe. But I’m not defenseless.” He looked back at Miaka. “Catch you guys later.”

“You’re not leaving, are you?” Dana asked.

“No. Just going over there for a while.”

Alex took Miaka into an empty room. “I’m sorry I dragged you into all of this, Miaka. You’re probably confused. I know I said my father was dead, but he’s not. I didn’t want to lie but you have to understand…it’s not a common situation so I wasn’t just going to blurt out…well the truth…”

Miaka smiled and leaned against the wall. “Like I said, it’s none of my business what you so in you’re spare time. I’m just a guest here so you don’t have to worry about spilling it all out to me.”

“I like telling you things, Miaka. You have a good understanding of what you hear and what you don’t. That’s a good quality for an…outsider…no offense.”

“None taken. It worries me though. It what I think’s right, is right, then I think id probably…I don’t know…freak out or not believe it.”

“Why don’t you tell me what you think? I’m not going to laugh at you.”

“Why don’t you just tell me?”

“Because,” Alex looked at the wall. “I don’t want to shock you if it’s the complete opposite of what you think.” He sighed and turned to her. “Maybe there will be some sort of sign that will just spell it out. But you’ll figure it out eventually. I’m sure.”

Miaka looked at her watch. “It’s gonna be noon. I hope John isn’t looking for me, but I think he would have called.” She flipped open her phone to see if there were any missed calls. But before she could tell, Alex took it out of her hand and put it n his pocket. He stood in front of her. “What…?”

Alex held her by her arms then kissed her forehead. He put his arms around her and hugged her close to him. Miaka felt tiered suddenly. She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. Someone walked into the room. Alex looked up at Nicholas. Where his eyes had once had color was black. He glared at Nicholas then hissed at him sharply. Nicholas left without a word.

Alex tipped back her head and put his hand on her neck. Dana ran into the room and grabbed Alex’s arm. “Alex, don’t.” Her tone was cold and serious. Alex pressed his fingers in his eyes. When he looked at Dana his eyes had returned to normal.

“You’re right, Dana.”

“I know it’s hard, Alex, but you can’t let your guard down.”

Alex picked Miaka up. “I’m leaving.”

Miaka woke up in her room. The clock on her wall said three o’clock. All she could remember was Alex holding her, then nothing. She couldn’t even remember dreaming. Miaka turned over and almost screamed. Alex was asleep on top of the covers. He was on his back with his arm across his eyes. Miaka made sure she was still wearing clothes then shook Alex.

“Oh good you’re awake,” he said as he sat up. “I was afraid you wouldn’t wake up until tomorrow.”

“What happened? Why did I fall asleep?”

“I…dam. I’m sorry. I lost it but I’m better now.”

“What do you mean ‘lost it’? What did you so to me?”

“I just lost it. Let’s go somewhere else to talk about it. Ok?”

Alex took her to the window seat down the hall. “I took you to the room because I was going to…” He stopped and rubbed his forehead.

“Going to what, Alex! Were you just going to take advantage of me or something?! You’re so low! I trusted you!” Miaka ran down the hall back to her room and slammed the door behind her. Alex waited a minute then went after her.

“Miaka? Please let me finish. I don’t want you to think I’m that kind of person. You have it wrong.” Miaka didn’t answer. “Please talk to me Miaka.”

“I’m listening, Alex.”

“You said you wanted to know what was going on, right. I guess I should just tell you. Miaka I’m not in a cult or a devil worshiper and I’m not a murderer. I’m a vampire, ok. Is that what you wanted to hear? Is that what you thought?”

Miaka didn’t say anything.

“The reason I wanted to get you alone was because I was going to bite you. Dana stopped me. I let my guard down. It jut took over. Miaka, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.” He paused to open the door. “That is what you thought, right?”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

“You can be angry with me, Miaka, as long as you forgive me.”

Miaka closed the door partially. “I'm going to take a shower and hang here for a while. I’ll talk to you later.”

Miaka didn’t see Alex for the rest of the day. When he would knock on her door she’d tell him to come back later or not answer at all.

It was after eleven when Alex tried for the last time. Instead of knocking he looked under the door and made sure all of the lights were off, then opened it quietly. Miaka was asleep at the desk. Alex looked at her laptop. There was a website up about vampires and another site with soft music playing. Alex was afraid that if he were to carry her to her bed she might wake up and scream or get mad. She was already going to be angry enough to find him in her room. Alex put his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently.

“Miaka.”

She sat up stiffly. “What’s going on?”

“Come on, go to bed.”

Miaka closed down the vampire site on her laptop. “Yeah, ok.” She looked up at him. “You’re not Jonathan.”

“No, I’m not. Sorry I came into your room, but I wanted to make sure that you were…doing…alright.” He said unsurely. “Jut get some sleep, ok.”

Miaka sat on the bed and crossed her legs. “Thanks Alex. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

“Good.” Alex kissed her on the cheek. “Goodnight, Miaka,” he said then left.

“Goodnight.”

The next morning Miaka went downstairs to find Jonathan leaving. “Hey. Where ya off to?”

“I have some things to do in town. I’ll be back later.”

“Ok. I’ll see you later.” Right after he left she went upstairs to find Alex. Once on the third floor she heard loud rock music playing. Miaka knocked on Alex’s door.

“It’s open!” he yelled over the noise. Miaka went inside and closed the door behind her.

“Oh, good morning Miaka. Sleep well?” Alex turned down the music so they could hear.

“Yeah. Fine.”

Alex had apparently been reading all night. There were books on his bed and on his desk. “So,” he said while flipping through a book. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. John left so…”

“So…”

“I’m sorry. You look busy. I’ll com back later.”

“What? You’re not bothering me. This isn’t really important. I can do it any time.” He pulled out a chair for Miaka.

She sat down and picked up a book. It was in a different language so she put it back. Alex walked up with another chair and sat in front of her.

“What's on your mind?”

“Nothing. I just thought I’d come and hang with you.” She looked at his clothes. He was still wearing the ones from last night. “You didn’t sleep did you?”

“Not exactly. But if you give me a few minutes I’ll clean up. That ok?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll see you downstairs in,” he looked at his watch. “fifteen minutes.”

“Ok.”

Miaka went downstairs and sat on the bottom step. She had been sitting there for a full ten minutes when there was a series of hard knocks at the door. Miaka looked around for Alex but he wasn’t there. She got up and answered the door.

Miaka was unhappy to see that it was David. “Where’s Alex?” he asked sharply.

“He’s upstairs…showering and stuff.”

David sat in a chair and stared at her for a minute. Miaka resumed her spot on the stairs. The silence in the room was thick and irritating. But it wasn’t long before David spoke. “Alex probably told you everything. Didn’t he?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just forget it. If he hasn’t told you then I’m not going to be the idiot to do it.”

Miaka wondered if they were thinking about the same thing. Davis made it seem so dark and serious. She shrugged it off though and waited for Alex.

When Alex ran down the stairs he didn’t see David. “Hey Miaka, you know what? I was in my room and I found something I don’t remember ever having.”

“Um, Alex…”

Alex looked over at David. “Oh hey David. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. What was up last night? You just left. You missed the…ceremony.”

“Apparently I missed a lot last night. Sorry I had more important things to do. Next time.”

“What kind of important things?”

Alex gave him a ‘don’t go there’ look. “Just some stuff.”

“Oh!” David reached into his coat pocket. “One of the initial reasons I came here. Here,” he said handing Miaka her walkman. “I took this from you. Sorry I forgot about it.”

“Thanks.”

“By the way,” Alex said looking at Miaka. “it was a porn DVD. I really need to start cleaning up better after parties.”

“Yeah you do.” David laughed. “What was it called?”

“I dunno. I chunked it. Tried to shove it in the paper shredder. Now I have a broken paper shredder.”

“You always were the smart one,” David said, rather disappointed. “Alex, can I talk to you outside for a minute?”

“Yeah. Miaka, I’ll be right back.”

“K.”