Page 22 of Vivian

“You too could have the same pleasure. I want you to have that, Viv. I will take care of you, care for you. You will want for nothing. Don’t you see? You were meant to come to the court and be with me.”

There was something about his statement that struck me as odd. I was meant to come here, but not to be with him. I was told to come and destroy him. Suddenly alert, I smelled the sickly smell of cotton candy in the air.

“Chocolate chip, banana pancakes!” I yelled out and pushed him back.

Cian looked confused, “What?”

“That is my favorite thing to eat. I like to watch cooking shows, but I am terrible at cooking. My cheerleading coach is a bitch, and I really miss my mom and dad.”

Cian began to frown, “Why are you telling me this?”

Once I had started I couldn’t stop, “I don’t like math, and I am a good writer. I like to snow ski, but am a terrible water skier. You said that I was meant for you, but you don’t even know me. I am a high school senior, or at least I was. I suppose that I graduated, I don’t know. My prom date’s name was Jimmy, and I am not ready to have sex. Not in the garden in front of everyone and not with someone that doesn’t even know my middle name. I need to go.”

This time Cian didn’t chase me as I ran from his room. I knew that I had angered him, but I didn’t care. I just wanted my old life back. I wanted to be Vivian Browning, the vegetarian that liked swimming and endured running. I didn’t want to be a murderer or a virgin vampire.

Strong arms wrapped around me and at first, I struggled to get free. I was about to bite when I smelled his familiar scent.

Brendon.

I sank into his arms, and he cradled me as if I were the most precious thing in the world.

“What happened?” he gasped.

I tried to formulate the words, but I hardly knew how to tell him what I had seen.

He tensed, “I will kill him.”

“He didn’t do anything,” I blurted out, my hands clutching Brendon’s chest. “Please, just take me somewhere we can be alone. Please...”

The break in my voice must have brought him back to his senses. Within seconds I was in his arms and he was running into the night.

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