Rose Blossom (7 page)

             
"Rho, please I am begging you break it off with Julian."

             
"Go away Athol I am not speaking to you right now," I said, tired and not wanting Julian to see him.

             
Athol's hands came up and he gripped my shoulders hard, "I won't go away, not until you promise to break things off with that creep."

             
"Leave her alone Athol, what's gotten into you?" I heard Mel ask. I smiled a not-so-happy smile hearing the mothering tone in her voice.

             
"Yeah dude, better back off before Julian or Mel decide you're worth an ass kicking," Killian's voice drifted over my shoulder.

             
"Not a chance," Athol's eyes looked past me and a sadistic grin stole over his features, before I knew what had happened he kissed me, I struggled away from him, heart lurching into an uncomfortable pattern as the sound of blood rushing began to fill my ears.

             
But before it could get much worse Julian was there, I heard him snarl something and then Athol was flying through the air, almost 10 feet. It happened so quickly most people didn't even notice until Athol landed with a huge thud into some bushes.

             
I heard Mel's gasp and I looked around to see several people taking notice and beginning to form a small circle around us. Julian was standing near Athol, hands clenched at his side, face full of rage. I did a double take, there was an odd shadow over Julian's face, like a dark spirit was raging a war inside him and his hands were curled into claws. But as I blinked everything returned to normal and he just looked like Julian again.

             
"Stay away from her Athol," he growled and Athol shook his head.  Julian advanced and I knew it had to stop before Julian hurt him, and deep down, I knew he could, too. I wasn't sure what Julian was exactly but it wasn't a normal teenage boy, and if I didn't do something Athol was dead.

             
"Julian, I don't feel well," I practically whispered the words. They were partially true. I felt faint and a little sick but my heart was coming back under control.

             
Julian whipped around and was at my side in seconds. He picked me up, cradling me to him.

             
"I'm sorry you had to see that," he told me, his arms almost crushing me, their coolness causing me to shiver. "I shouldn't have reacted like that, you make me forget myself."

             
When Julian took me to the nurse's office ,people parted for him faster than I'd ever seen, like they were in fear and awe of him, I briefly noticed him making eye contact with his sister Avalon who was hiding in the shadows of the hallway.

             
When we walked into the office, the nurse, who had known me since I was a child, and the office secretary instantly surrounded us, pestering Julian with questions and fussing over me.

             
"I think it's just a bit of shock really," Julian was telling them, "she hates it when her friends are upset. I really shouldn't have argued with the boy," I knew he was stretching the truth and charming them into believing him, but I didn't care, I was feeling sleepy, lounging in Julian's strong arms. I only took a moment to second guess their easy acceptance and my overly tired state.

             
"I would just like to take her home, if I may?" I heard him ask and I closed my eyes. I didn't open them again until he had me buckled into the passenger seat of his truck and we were half way home.

             
"Wake up my Rose blossom," I heard him say and suddenly I was wide awake.

             
"What did you do?" I asked, sounding a little scared.

             
"Just some basic compulsion magic to make them believe me and make you tired so you couldn't contradict my story," Julian looked worried, like he thought I might hate him or something.

             
I swallowed, "Compulsion magic? Just another of your weird quirks, I guess?"

             
"It seems I have no control when it comes to you Rose, I am sorry," Julian pulled over to the side of the road, and put the truck in park, he undid his seat belt and mine, picked me up and held me in his lap. Cupping my face he made me look at him, "I am sorry I scared you, do you still want to be with me?"

             
"Of course I do, but Julian, I think," I took a deep breath, "that you need to tell me what you are. I can't keep getting a different piece of the puzzle every day."

             
"I know, I was thinking about that in the nurse's office," Julian kissed my nose, sending shivers through me and making my toes curl.

             
"I think it's time I took you to meet my family, it's a little sooner than I would have liked....but today seems to have sped things up a bit," Julian hugged me, his flowery masculine scent enveloped me and I felt like I could breath easily, I felt healthy and whole, I tilted my head and kissed under his chin, wrapping my own arms around him.

             
We sat there for a few minutes before I got back in my seat and he drove me home.  After we parked in my driveway Julian brought my hand to his lips, hot breath flowed over my fingers as he kissed my knuckles.

             
Letting me go he said, "how about Friday I pick you up and we'll ditch. I'll take you to meet my family. I know Mel usually picks you up for school but let me, okay?"

             
I smiled, perking up at the thought that even though I had to leave him he was making future plans with me and that was promising. I leaned up and kissed him, catching him off guard as my happiness bloomed within me.

             
He kissed me back, and when it ended he murmured, "Rose." I opened the door and suddenly his hand was on my shoulder, I turned back to see his eyes darkening like earlier, "Don’t let me ever see you with Athol again."

             
"Why would I?  I have you," I asked, I opened the door, and slowly dropped to the ground, and saw that while his mouth was still grim his eyes were sparkling.

             
"I'll see you at school tomorrow," we both said together, laughing.

             
I turned and began to walk to my house, excited about going to school the next day.  When my parents got home they thought it was just because of the great report card I had brought home, but truly that was the furthest thing from my mind.

Chapter 5

             
Friday morning came quickly, without another incident from Athol. I often saw him lurking just outside my peripheral vision, but he stayed away. I saw Julian every day and each day a new piece of the puzzle that was him fell into place. I had never smiled more in my life than when I was with him. No longer was I a quiet, shy, sick girl, but I belonged to someone, was loved by someone and with those new and wonderful feelings there was more enjoyment in my life than there ever had been before.

             
I shivered in the morning's cool air, hopping from foot to foot to keep the circulation going in my freezing feet. My parents had already gone off to work and left me, they thought, too tired to make my morning classes. Both had fussed over me and poked and prodded me until they were sure I was just exhausted and not suffering a new malady caused by my heart condition. They did however; stress the fact that if I did not attend my afternoon classes, I was going to the doctor's tomorrow.

             
Mel had sounded suspicious when I called her to say I wasn't going to school but she'd finally hung up, resigned that I wasn't going to tell her the truth.

             
I had on a long black skirt and black tights and was wearing what Mel called my "kick ass boots." They were calf high black leather boots.  I wanted to look pretty so I had chosen a golden tank top, since it was just going into fall it would be hot a little later on. But for now I was stuck shivering inside my thin black jacket, even my neck was cold since I'd pulled my hair into a high pony tail.

             
I was wondering about how Julian's parents would react to me and getting even more nervous by the second when he pulled up. I walked over to the truck as he rolled the window down.

             
"Hey pretty girl, looking for a ride?" he asked, amusement in his crystal blue eyes. I hopped onto the running board and leaned into the open window and kissed him good morning. When I pulled back his eyes were a little wider.

             
"You feel well this morning." It wasn't a question, and he was right, I did, nervous, but health wise I felt really good.

             
I went around to the other side to get in, he had the heater on and my shakes from the cold began to lessen.

             
He pulled away from my parent's house and I stared out the window, quiet for the first bit of the drive. Julian looked rather pale that morning, almost as pale as I was and I was curious as to why the sudden change in his pallor.

             
"Julian, are you sick?" I asked turning my face to his, and like always my breath hitched when his eyes stared into my own. His eyes were like burning crystals in the sunlight, abnormal but so incredible you could overlook the weird factor.

             
"No, why?" he asked, looking back at the road, his pale lips spreading into a slight smile, he let go of the steering wheel with one hand and reached for me, finding my own hand in my lap he began to stroke his fingers over my skin. He was colder than normal, his skin like ice instead of the comfortable luke-warm that was normal.

             
"You're paler and colder than normal," I shrugged, mesmerized with the feel of his hand touching mine.

             
"I haven't.....eaten....yet today," he told me, I looked up at his word choice, he hadn't meant eaten, it was just in the tone and the pause, that knowledge that there should have been a different word.

             
Having pretty much no experience in life had crippled me in more ways than one, I had no information about the supernatural or religion or anything that fell in those categories except what I'd seen in the movies or the books I read. The night before, sleep had evaded me while I was trying to decide what Julian could be.  If I had to pick something that he was most like it would have been a vampire. I had tossed and turned while thinking of the coincidences and I'd almost had myself convinced and freaked out that I was dating a vampire until the flaw in my plan had slapped me in the face.

             
I had seen Julian in the sunlight plenty of times and if there was one thing I knew about vampires it was they couldn't go out in the sunshine nor have the suns rays touch their skin. So I was back to my original questions; what the hell was Julian and when would he trust me enough to tell me?

             
Coming out of my thoughts I realized Julian had been speaking to me, and it was about his family. Groaning to myself I shook my head and began to pay attention, his family was an important subject, especially if I was meeting them soon.

             
"Avalon isn't my real sister," Julian said, he looked at me strangely, as if he knew I had just come into the conversation.

             
"And both of us are our mother's adopted children." He squeezed my hand and I smiled at him, his strained face relaxed and I leaned over, breathing in the scent that was uniquely his. He tensed as I brushed my lips lightly across his neck. I felt his breath slowly exhale, and retreated not wanting to push either of our control.

             
"Will Avalon be there today?" I asked, settling back into my seat.

             
"Yes, but she's shy so don't expect much from her," I barely heard his answer since we were pulling into his driveway at the same time. Julian's house was in the foothills a bit, in the small community of Bangor.

             
The house was old; I could tell that just by looking at it. But not falling down crumbling old, nice and well kept old. It was two stories, covered in dark brown wood siding and a large off white porch. It reminded me of our old house before my mother had decided to Stepfordize us.

 
           But what truly caught my attention was the row of Sterling roses that led from the driveway to the porch steps. Sterlings were my favorite rose, aside from the deep blood red ones that I grew. They had silvery purple blooms and were thornless.

 
           “Oh Julian, the roses are lovely,” I told him as he opened my door and held out his hand.