In Plain Sight (A Hunted Rose)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Candy.  I was surrounded by nothing but candy.  I had been right, Liam was able to give away every single piece of candy that he had bought, much to the joy of all the kids that rang the doorbell.  But, that wasn’t taking into account the candy I got from going out with the guys.  It formed a perfect semicircle around me, making my teeth hurt and my stomach turn just by looking at it.  At least I was going to be throwing it away. 

When I showed what I had collected to Liam, he laughed at me.  Then, he laughed some more when I told him that it wasn’t even half of what I had collected; I had been able to sneak quite a bit of my candy into the guys’ bags of candy.  If they had noticed, they were more than happy to keep the candy I had given them. 

Liam had abandoned me an hour or two ago, planning to go out drinking and have a good time in a bar or something a few towns over.  Alcohol didn’t affect us, but we – me not included – drank for the taste of it.  So I was alone in my house, surrounded by a seemingly endless expanse of candy, and I was bored. 

My doorbell rang, bringing me an excuse to get up and kick a path through the candy to reach the door.

I opened my front door to see Rylan standing there.  It was a surprise, but I still invited him inside.  He stepped into my living room and turned to face me.

“You realize it’s like, one in the morning, right?”

“That shouldn’t be bothering you.”

“Why?” I asked.  “Most normal people are sleeping at this point.”

“I know what you are.”  His words were blunt, to the point, and while I honestly had no knowledge of what he was talking about, I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I blinked, and panic started to rise in me, but I tried to keep calm.  “What do you think I am?”

Rylan pinned me with a hard stare, the red flashes in his eyes flaring like the embers of a dying fire.  “I didn’t say think, I said know.  As in, I know what you are.”

“And what is that?” I asked again, playing dumb.

“Stop pretending that you’re stupid.  I know for a fact that you are actually smarter than most of the people in this town.  And, I know that you’re a vampire.”

“Why would you say that?” I planned for it to come out bold, and confident, but in reality it was little more than a whisper.

“Because,” Rylan said, “its part of my gift.”

“What, exactly, is it?”

Rylan cleared his throat and said “When I have physical contact with someone, I get a sense of who they are; whether they are good or bad; human or nonhuman; I just didn’t know that it also included vampires until I hugged you that first day in the training room.  I hadn’t been sure, so I made sure to accidentally brush my arm against yours at lunch that one day.  I still hadn’t believed it, so that was when I grabbed you at the parade.  That was when I decided that what I was feeling was real, and I’ve known for sure since then.”

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll admit it.  But, why didn’t you say anything?  And, how can it be a part of your gift.  I thought you dealt with fire?”

“I didn’t say anything, because, while my gift told me you were a vampire, it also told you were a good person.  I learned the hard way that it is always right, so I decided to trust it regarding you.  I’m telling you now, because I’m leaving the day after tomorrow – or, well, tomorrow actually – and I wanted you to know that you have someone on your side.”  For a millisecond his joking behavior was back when he said “I didn’t expect you to admit it so quickly though.”

“Did you tell anyone else?” I asked.  “And you didn’t answer my other question.”

“I don’t know why I have two abilities – only that I do.  And, yes, I told my team.  I don’t hide anything from them.”  That scary, serious face of his was back, not showing a single crack of the kind, warm guy I knew was beneath it.

“Why do you think I’ll need someone on my side?”

“Because,” Rylan said earnestly, “one day, your secret will come out, with no regards as to if you like it or not, and I know that you’ll need some people to back you up, and to say that you are trustworthy, and that you are a good person.”

“Not that I’m a person,” I said to him honestly, and with a sense of melancholy.

“Rose,” he sighed.  “You are a vampire, yes, but you were once human.  I believe that you still have human traits even as a vampire; you still have the ability to mess up, or make mistakes; you can still care for people – you’ve proven that with my cousin and his team.  If you ever need anything, just know that I will try my best to help.”

“Thank you Rylan,” I blinked.  “That means a lot, especially coming from a hunter.”

He smirked and then hugged me.  “If you haven’t noticed, Babe, I’m not your traditional hunter.”

We talked a little bit, but not much – conversation seemed slightly awkward now that he knew my secret, but there was a weight off my shoulders knowing that there was someone who knew that I was still me.  Before he left, Rylan handed me a small black device that looked oddly like a garage door opener. 

“What is it?” I asked him, turning the object over in my hand.

“Consider it a parting gift.”

“That sure is nice of you,” I said, “but what is it?”

“It’s a pager,” Rylan told me.  “A little old school, I know, but if you ever get in trouble and need help, there’s a button on the side that, when you press it, will automatically send me an alert message and a picture of where you are.  That way, I can get Jayce to port me to wherever you are, in order to come help you.  So make sure you don’t press the button when it’s in your pocket or something.  I can’t help you if I can’t get to you.”

His explanation warmed my unbeating heart.  Before I could stop myself, I had gone up to Rylan, wrapped my arms tightly around him, and jumped up on my tiptoes to give him a quick, simple kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you,” I whispered in his ear, my voice clogged with emotion.  “You have no idea how much this means to me.  I feel like I finally have some of the weight off my shoulders.”

“I understand,” Rylan quietly stated to me.  “It took me a long time before I decided that I could trust my team with the knowledge of my extra ability, even though I knew that I could trust them.”

“I just…” I trailed off.  “It really means a lot to me that you haven’t told, y’know, them.”

Rylan bent down to look me in the eye.  “It’s your secret to tell.  But, it will come out sometime, trust me on that.”

With those final words, he walked out my front door and into the dark night surrounding us, leaving me with no clue when I would ever see him again, considering he was leaving before noon the next… or I guess, this morning.  The only thing that made me certain that I would see him again was the small black pager clasped gently in my hand, inactive until I might need it.

Tell me if you liked it!  Sorry about the delay, but I will try and put up another part sometime soon!