Covenant (A Lapidot Fanfiction)

Chapter 41: Empathy

I stepped outside into the bitter cold. I was sure that the only thing more bitter then was Topaz. At least she wasn't as cold. I found her sitting on a tree that had fallen down on the border between the beach and the forest. She was staring down at the ground, appearing to be more sad than angry. She seemed to have so much control over herself. I was thinking that she would have gone into a blood rage instead.

"Topaz?" I called out quietly, hoping not to startle her. Then I realized that she had probably already heard me coming.

"...what?" Her silky voice answered, failing to cloak her anger.

"I-I came out here to check on you," I squeaked. "I was scared that you...left...I wanted to make sure you were still here."

"Why do you care?" Her anger cloak was completely failing now if it had ever been working in the first place.

"I don't agree with her," I said. "...I feel terrible...I hate how she's acting like that. All you want is to redeem yourself and she's giving you no chance!" I growled. "She can be a jerk sometimes...especially recently."

Topaz didn't reply, instead appearing deep in thought. She looked back at me with eyes closer to amber than gold. She was getting hungrier by the minute.

"You don't trust me either," she growled.

"...well...she has a point in some things. You still are capable of having blood rages and succumbing to your cravings," I said. "I think she's partially right in saying that I can't place every bit of my trust in you." She was glaring at me now. "But that doesn't mean I don't like you! I like you a lot more than she does, you know that. I think it's really sweet that you want to help with the baby. She seems to like you a lot."

Topaz shook her head. "She's just a baby," she replied darkly. "She doesn't know me. If she knew what I did, she'd probably run away too."

"Topaz..." I said. "You're her friend. She's calm when she's with you. She likes you. You're one of the rare people that doesn't make her feel nervous. I'm sure she wouldn't run away."

"That's what you think," Topaz growled. "Everyone runs away from me. Don't act like you haven't too."

"...please..." I said, my voice becoming weak. "Please don't go...as much as she puts you down and acts like we don't, we need you! We really need you! Turquoise needs you! I need you! Even Peridot needs you!"

"Yeah, right."

"She just doesn't know it yet."

Topaz went silent once more. I sat there, my eyes starting to well up with tears. I felt humliated. How did I feel this bad? I was going to cry in front of a vampire. An angry vampire. She must have noticed the sound of the first tear hitting the ground because she looked up at me. She was watching me as I tried to cover my tears. I didn't want to feel this dependent on her. We needed her, yes, but not this much. Perhaps I was acting like this because she had become family. Family to me.

"Sit down," Topaz said, moving so quickly that I didn't notice her moving to the other side of the tree trunk.

I walked over to her and sat down next to her, reaching to wipe my tears. In one invisible movement, Topaz was there before me, gently wiping my tears away with her thumb. Every touch against my skin burned and froze at the same time.

"I can't cry anymore," she explained, the sweet honey sound in her voice returning. "Human tears are...fascinating to me now, you could say." She met my gaze. I was very confused. "And the way your blood rushes to your cheeks...are you embarrassed? Flustered?"

"Embarrassed," I said, looking away. "I don't like feeling...vulnerable like this."

"You're always vulnerable," Topaz responded. "Just more so now."