I've Got a Nice Big Vampire Problem - [Chapter 1] -

You guys I am SO sorry for not getting this out sooner. I'm in big trouble with my parents, so I'm lucky I could get this one on. Gah, I'll probably get one out super soon though, only because I love you guys.

---

I stood in front of a bathroom sink and a mirror, glaring at Conan, who stood behind me.

We had gone back to the hotel room at about 6 in the morning, when the sun had started to rise. I had fallen asleep in the car but I still exhausted once I woke up. In my grumpy state, Conan decided he couldn't trust me to actually apply the hair dye correctly. When I asked who would do it if it wasn't me, he told me he was going to do it.

Obviously he did not see the oddity in this. I tried to tell him that it was unnatural for boys to want to do this, unless they were hairdressers. He said, "Well I'm a vampire. I eat people. I'm not normal.

I was not happy at all that I would be dyeing my hair. Mackenzie and I had made a pact. Neither of us would dye our hair, ever. A pact was more serious than a promise, and here I was, being forced, by a man ten thousand times stronger than me, to go back on it.

I huffed. Well, I was doing it to save Mackenzie. I think it would be allowed.

Conan had laid everything out on the counter beside me. "Are you sure you don't want to know the color?" He asked.

"Surprise me," I said sourly.

The process was a little tense. Conan very gentle as he worked his finger through my hair. Even though I knew one twitch of his finger could rip out a huge patch of my hair, I wasn't worried. My heart raced the whole time, and my dry throat and mouth didn't help my position.

At one point he moved from my left side to my right, his thighs grazing my butt. My heart gave a thick thud and I inhaled sharply. I felt him freeze beside me. It took him a few seconds to calm down enough to continue working. I just plain didn't calm down.

He let me rinse it out by myself, probably because he had almost eaten me three times in ten minutes.

Once I was done I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around my head without looking in the mirror. The water in the sink was dyed a murky brown, so I guessed my hair was now brown.

Since I was completely exhausted, I walked into my bedroom, collapsed on the bed and fell asleep with my towel on.

---

"Wake up."

I ignored the enchanting voice.

"Abigail wake up."

No, I thought.

"Wake up Abigail."

I'm sleeping, go away.

"You're stubborn even when you sleep," the voice mused.

You're still annoying when I sleep.

"Abigail, wake up."

I could feel myself waking up. Stupid, stupid enchanting voice.

"Shut up," I grumbled.

"Hmm, grumpy too." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," I moaned, turning my head away from the voice.

Without any sound of movement, the voice moved to the other side of the bed.

"Wake up, Abigail. I want you to see your hair."

I became acutely aware of the lack of towel on my head. I sighed into my pillow. There was nothing I could say or do that would make him go away.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Conan was kneeling beside the bed. I decided to make one last attempt. "Conan, go eat someone and go to sleep. Don't worry about me. Really, I'm perfectly fine here."

He chuckled. "And who would protect you?"

Yawning, I snuggled my head further down into the bed. "Me," I said simply. "I'm a killer pillow fighter. I'll take 'em out no problem..."

With a hearty laugh – one that made me grin – he tore off the sheets and scooped me off the bed. In one small movement, he brought us both into the bathroom, him placing me on my feet in front of mirror. All the fast movements made me dizzy. I wobbled.

Conan placed one of his hands – that equaled two of mine – on my back to steady. My knees locked and my heart went wild. He removed his hand immediately. To hide embarrassment I looked in the mirror.

I almost didn't recognize the girl reflected in the glass.

My hair was now deep reddish brown. It still had the same length, down to my collarbone, and was still a little bit wavy, but I looked different. Older, maybe. More sophisticated sounded better. The color of my hair kind of smoothed into the bright yellow of my t-shirt.

I liked it. The deep brown had a reddish glow that added some fun to the color.

Smiling, I nodded.

"Ever considered being a personal hairdresser?"

---

The next three days were possibly the longest I've ever spent.

There were only two things that existed on our schedule.

One. Drive around all night looking for my best friend and evil undead.

Two. Go to a hotel, shut all the curtains and me sleep until it was time to go out again.

I was practically nocturnal by the end of the three days.

Conan, seeing how boring the car rides had become for me, bought me to a small twenty four hour store. He gave me ten dollars and told me to buy something to occupy myself. I bought Extreme Connect the Dots and Sudoku book.

The Extreme Connect the Dots proved great amusement for both of us for about half an hour. The Sudoku was a good distraction for the first thirty puzzles at least. After that I had to keep asking Conan what number would go in a certain box. Eventually, they got so hard Conan just did the puzzles for me.

Today wasn't much different. Conan and I sat in the car, me staring out the window at nothing in particular.

I sighed quietly. I missed my best friend. I wanted her with me, to crack jokes and make me laugh and giggle with me about how gorgeous Conan was.

As I thought about the night she was kidnapped by Percy, I started to wonder something. When I had thrown myself in Conan's lap, why had he ripped himself out of the car? Was it because he wanted to eat me, or was it because he didn't want to be near me?

"Conan?"

He looked at me, his confused face making me want to melt. I looked away to remember the question.

"You know when I stole your car?"

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw him smirk. "I'll never forget it."

A small grin flitted across my face before it disappeared. "You know how I practically threw myself at you to get you out of the car?" I peeked up at him.

Conan's eyes darkened and he looked back out to the street. "Yes I remember," he stated, sounding a little mad. "I almost ate you. That was very stupid of you."

I relaxed. So it was because he wanted to eat me. Somehow, I was relieved.

Conan froze, his eyes wide, his chest not moving. I froze too, knowing it wasn't me he was reacting too.