The Vampire's Friends (1)

Zero's friends gave a surprised look. They had suntanned skin, well-built and firm body muscles. The dark irises under short cut hair gave the vibe of a soldier, similar to the vibe came from my dad. They were so much alike each other, twins perhaps.

I would've asked if our situation was different. But right now, I had a more urgent matter. I needed to know the location of those who attacked us in Denver.

"Err… Who this might be?" asked the talkative Stuart.

"The target of the attack we've just discussed."

"What?!" The two men yelled in unison as if doubting their ears.

"Wait, how is she here? You saved her? When? And more importantly, how could?"

Stuart seemed had an unstoppable train of questions. He had even more than mine actually.

Zero remained indifferent, answered plainly, "… In short, yes."

"That's too short, you stupid vampire! Be polite and explain a little!"

"Save that for later!" Couldn't wait for longer, I grabbed Stuart's kerah baju and forced him to look me in the eyes. "First, tell me about the vampires who attacked Denver! Where are they?"

"A-alright … I'll tell. What about we sit and talk nicely?" Stuart signalled his eyes to his that I grabbed.

"Hey, let him go!"

His brother sounded offed from the side. I let Stuart go and found a place to sit myself. Stuart calmed Shane down and offered me a smile.

"I'm sorry to say this, but we lost them on the state's border. We'll continue to search but it's expected result will take a long time."

"You lost them?! They've done something so unforgivable! You gotta find them as soon as possible!"

"Yeah, sure. But what do plan to do when we find them?"

"Why do you ask? It's obvious. I'll kill them all."

"What? You can't do that, they're vampires."

"I'll find a way somehow. Don't underestimate human!"

Zero interrupted our exchange. "Stop it, you two. And, Key, you can never kill the vampire that turned you."

"I don't need your opinion!"

"It's not an opinion. It's the rule of blood caste."

Zero and I sent each other's best deadly glare as if competing on staring contest. Zero gave in first, sighed.

"You better forget any foolish idea of committing revenge slash suicide. The main reason of that attack was because he targeted you. And if turned you was one of his goals, then I highly doubt he'll let you die."

"Hey, Zero, what are you talking about? By 'turned' you don't mean …" Stuart asked timidly.

"Regrettably, yeah, as you've guessed. Von Blood turned Key into vampire."

Stuart and Shane gasped, turn towards me. Meanwhile, I couldn't care less about their reactions. I was mulling over what Zero said just now. He seemed to be the type who-knows-all. He even found out my hidden intention behind revenge. No doubt that he possessed keen intuition. But there was something wrong in his theory.

"No, actually it wasn't me, the one he targeted."

Zero looked a bit perplexed. "What do you mean? He chased after you, and from what he has done, there was no doubt that he was targeting you."

"He came for Karen, not me."

My statement sent a bigger shock to all of the three men in room.

"Why is that?"

This time, it was me who perplexed. I thought that Zero had the same intention as that vampire. So, he should've known that there was someone born with gift within my family. Or at least, so I thought. But it turned out that he didn't know.

'Well, what should I do? If he didn't know, then it might be better to keep it secret.' As I was trying to conjure up some lies, a voice suddenly gave a dreadful answer.

"Because I can foresee future."

I turned to the voice owner that stood behind me, Karen. Not quite sure how long she had been there.

"Wait, Karen-…" I couldn't believe it that she blurted the secret out with such calm demeanour.

"It's alright, sis. We can trust them."

I darted to her and spoke in very small voice. "No, we can't! I told you we have to leave this place."

"Leave? And where should we go? Is there even any save place for us?"

"We'll find it. But it's absolutely not here! Anywhere is better than a home with vampires."

"They aren't vampires."

"Huh?"

Zero who, despite sat on another side of room, could listen well with his vampire ears explained for me. "I'm the only vampire here. Stuart and Shane are human."

I looked at the twin who gave approval in their eyes.

"It's a long story to tell. In short, we lived together under an agreement. We don't have any ill intention to you." He turned to Karen without waiting my response. "Back to our real problem, you say you can foresee future, is that real?"

Karen nodded. "Yes. I was born with this gift. Although it just begun to develop when I reach eleven."

I put a hand in temple, tried to hold back anger that grew inside. I wasn't sure yet about how much I could trust from what Zero said. But I guess we could look into that matter later. What startled me the most was how Karen already buddy-buddy with these people as if she had known them for quite a while. She even revealed her own gift that our family had kept as secret for years. Yet, I didn't see a glimpse of fear or doubt in her eyes.

It was strange since Karen seemed a lot more mature than the last time I remember. But, right now, what these people reaction and what we ought to do was the most urgent matter. I glanced at Zero who put all of his attention on Karen. Probably struggled to find some words to say his disbelief.

"That's an incredible gift," Zero said. "No wonder there were people targeting you. But it still doesn't explain why he turned Key."

To my surprise, Zero did not doubt Karen's gift at all. And so did another two men in the room.

"Foresee future? Wow!" cried Stuart in excitement. "Isn't that a really rare gift?"

His twin agreed, "Hmm … I never met ones before."

"Oh, by the way, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Stuart Williams, and this is my brother-…"

"Shane Williams," Karen continued the introduction herself. "I'm Karen Wilder. We'll become good friends."

"What-? Did you just, like, utilized your gift to know about us?" Stuart excited. "You heard her, Shane? That's amazing, right? It is truly something that you can say after seeing future."

"Yeah, likewise."

"Nice to meet you, Karen." Stuart offered a handshake with a wide smile on his face. Karen took his hand and replied the smile.

"Nice to meet you, too."

Stuart shifted his gaze to me, signalled Karen.

"Oh, right. She's my sister, Keira Wilder."

When Stuart tried to offer me his hand, Zero interjected.

"Can you save the buddy time for later, please?"