Exception [discontinued]

8. Big, Human-Like Mosquitos

(Nico)
I slammed the bathroom door behind me, running a hand through my hair as if I could somehow search my brain to find out what the hell just happened. What is wrong with me...? Will was a vampire, for God's sake! For all I knew, this was an elaborate lie to lure the Association into a false sense of trust so they could wipe out their only threat. Were they that clever?

I stared at the mirror, trying to pull myself together when I heard a knock on the door. "Cutie? You okay in there?"

"Y-yeah," I called back, cursing myself for stuttering. I'll just have to learn to live with being called that... I flushed the toilet so it would be somewhat convincing that I'd actually had to pee, then opened the door to face him. There was an oddly playful smirk dancing across his lips. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said in a way that told me that it was definitely something, and he just wasn't going to tell me what it was. Oh no... What if he knew what I'd said to him?! With my luck, he was fluent in Italian and was just playing with me! "Want to walk around until dinner?" he asked casually.

"Dinner..?" The idea made my wary.

Will stared blankly at me for a three count, then said, "Oh-oh, I'm sorry. No, no, human food, Cutie, human food!"

"Vampires can...." I rolled my eyes, muttering to myself, "Of course they can.. Why not?"

Will chuckled at me. "Yeah, we can live on human food alone for about two weeks, maybe three depending on the vampire. I can go about two and a half weeks. Since we have the tablets, it's not really necessary anymore, but human food is very tasty." I wondered silently why he knew exactly how long he could go with out blood.

We walked aimlessly for about fifteen minutes when a scene that I just couldn't understand from vampires–a crying girl being comforted by a somewhat taller, bulkier girl. The crying one was pretty–for a girl–with brown hair and fair skin; her face was buried in the shoulder of the taller one. Will picked up his pace. "Clarisse, Silena, what's wrong?"

The bulky one replied quietly, "It was Beckendorf.." The smaller girl sobbed.

"Oh... Oh, Silena..." Will set a tentative hand in the girl–Silena's shoulder. "I'm so sorry..."

The larger one, Clarisse, I assumed, glared at me. "This is what the Hunter Association does. Is this what you intend to do?" She seethed. The venom in her voice caused me to recoil slightly.

"This is why you need to be here. To get the word out." Will said in a gentler tone that didn't quite mask his own anger. He took my wrist and pulled me away from the duo.

One we were out of earshot, I asked, "Who is Beckendorf?"

Will sighed. "Last night, we went to take care of some savage vampires, try to get them to see compassion and stop killing humans. When your team of Hunters showed up, most of us panicked and scattered. Someone went back early this morning after everything calmed down. Found two piles of vampire dust. One was the Savage I killed to protect that girl. The other was one of our own. Since everyone was scattered everywhere with no real form of communication, we didn't know who it was. All we could do was wait and see who didn't come back. Apparently, it was Charles Beckendorf. He was Silena's boyfriend," he added.

I felt an awful weight on my chest. I knew what it was like to lose someone. I'd lost my sister.

"Did you ever even considered it? That vampires can feel grief? Can feel anything?" he asked suddenly.

I tried to gather my thoughts. "I used to," I admitted," but over time, I just started telling myself the same thing everyone else does. Vampires are beasts in human form who drink the blood of living humans. I guess it's easier to kill if you start to see your victims as nothing more than big mosquitos." It wasn't meant to be a joke, but Will cracked up.

"'Big mosquitos'?" he asked between breaths?

"Yes," I said firmly, trying to keep a straight face, "You are a big, human-like mosquito."

Shaking his head, Will checked his watch. "Time for dinner," he said.

Word count: 746

DOES THIS SUPER-LONG AND FEELSY CHAPTER MAKE UP FOR THE WAIT??? I HOPE SO!!!