The Purity of Blood: Volume I (72 page)

“What do you
mean?”

“I mean, I could
tell them that after I got home, you came after me and we made up and now we’re
back together again.
 
Turns out it was
all just a big misunderstanding.
 
Or I
could tell them when I got home, you called and we talked for a long time.
 
We decided that even though we have feelings
for one another that we’re just not meant to be together.
 
That we’ll always be living in two different
worlds.
 
So we decided that it would be
best to not see each other anymore.
 
I
can think of several other permutations on the same themes, but I don’t know
what to say that won’t be a lie.”

“I see what you
mean,” he said as he picked up his paper again.
 
From behind it he asked “What would you
like
to tell them – if you could pick from one of your
permutations?”

I was a little
annoyed at him now.
 
I’d stuck my neck
out and had the distinct feeling he was toying with me in return.

“Well, I’d like
to tell them I was stupid enough to fall in love with a vampire.
 
That another crazy vampire ran me out of town
and a couple of other vampires you may have seen around campus finished him off
after I started to kill him with my blood.
 
And now … now …”

Unable to finish
my thought, I closed my eyes and tried to shut the world out.
 
I heard him put the paper down again and
opened my eyes only to see how much he wanted me to continue.
 
But I was too much of an emotional train
wreck from everything that had happened over the past few weeks to give him
what he wanted.
 
Not sure I had the
strength left in me to deal with this; I got up, took a few steps away from the
table then stopped.

“And now?” he
asked, nervously, expectantly.

I spun around to
face him, tears welling up in my eyes.
 
“Now I love that stupid vampire more than ever, and all he does is drive
me crazy.
 
He just sits there and looks
at me, when all I want is for him to tell me he loves me just as much as I love
him.
 
To tell me that yes, this is a
crazy relationship, but somehow we’ll find a way to make it work.
 
That he doesn’t care that I’m a fragile human
who’s just going to die and that he’ll love me for as long as I live.”
  

I was yelling
now.
 
It felt cathartic to finally
express what I’d been fighting for so long.
 
I just wished the tears would have stayed in my eyes instead of
streaming down my hot cheeks as they were now.

I watched as he
slowly rose out of his chair and walked over to stand directly in front of me.
 
He reached out and took my hands in his.

“I love you,
Sara Donnelly.
 
I love you
more
than you love me.
 
Yes, this is a crazy relationship, but I know
that somehow together we can make this work.
 
I don’t care that you’re a fragile, beautiful, precious human, because
I’ll love you for the rest of my existence here on this earth.
 
I need you, Sara, more than I need anything
in this world.”

That’s when I
really
started to cry.

“This wasn’t the
response I was hoping for,” he mumbled with his little boy smile as he pulled
me into his arms.

“Well, this is
what you get for loving a human,” I said, sobbing into his chest.

“It’s always
going to be something with you, isn’t it?” he muttered, but I could hear the amusement
in his voice.

I reached up and
kissed him softly on his lips.
    
Was it
over, the long emotional roller coaster ride we’d been on?
 
I hoped so.
 
As I felt his soothing lips on mine, the muscles of his whole body
relaxed in my arms as I snuggled deeper into his embrace.
      

Was this what
love was like for everyone else?
 
It
wasn’t the first time I’d asked the question, but I’d yet to receive a
satisfactory answer from the universe.

Leaning back,
Daniel smiled down at me as his fingers caressed the side of my face.

“Get yourself
together and let’s get you back to school.
 
If I don’t take you now, I’m going to forget I’m a gentleman.”

Hummm
… What would that be like …

He drove me down to the satellite
lot where we said goodbye.
 
He seemed
reluctant to let me out of his sight and made me promise to call him in a
little while to let him know I’d settled back in.
 
Leaving him, I drove my car over to the
backside of Capen Hall, grabbed my duffle out of the back and headed up to my
room.
 
As I opened the door, Darcy
instantly sprung out of her chair and ran over to grab me up in a big hug.

“I’ve been so
worried about you.
 
How dare you
disappear and only leave me that stupid note!” she scolded.

“I’m sorry.
 
I should have called or waited for you, but I
was in no shape for that.
 
I really
needed to get out of here in a hurry. – It felt like the walls were closing in
on me.”
 
I knew it sounded pathetic, but
it was the best I could do.

“Well, I’m glad
you’re back.”
 
She stepped back and
looked at me appraisingly before she frowned.
 

“You look tired,
Sara.”

“I am,” I said
as I dropped my bag and collapsed on the bed.
 

“Ben called –
like a hundred times.
 
I really think he
might have a crush on you or something.”

I didn’t answer
her.
 
What could I say?
 
I wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t right.

“So what happened?
 
You broke up with Daniel?” she asked, as she sat
down in her chair.

“Yes, but he
sort of chased after me when I left, and well, we made up.
 
It was all a misunderstanding, our
fight.
 
I’m not sure where we’re going
from here, but for now we’re back together.”
 

I think I was
grinning.
 
All I really wanted to do was
pick up the phone and hear his voice again.

“Well, you look
happy and that makes me happy.
 
However,
the next time Ben calls,
you
answer
the phone.”

I gave my assent then picked up my phone and called
Daniel.
 
I could hear the relief in his
voice as he told me to go to sleep.
 
After saying a quick goodbye, I rolled over, and thoroughly exhausted,
fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

The next morning I woke
early.
 
Having gone to sleep early, I’d
slept for a lot longer than eight hours and seemed to have regained my energy
plus some.
 
Personally I preferred to
think it was because I was happy and in love again.
 
Who knew a healed heart could cure everything
that ailed you?

After I dressed
and scarfed down a couple of bowls of fruit loops, I started cross campus to
meet Tabitha.
 
She was in her usual spot
on the front steps of the lecture hall, her nose deep in our Art History text
book.
 
When she looked over and saw me
coming, she instantly sprang up and ran over to pull me into a big hug.
 

“Darcy told me
you were back!
 
I wanted to talk to you
but she said you passed out cold right after you sat down on your bed.”

“Yeah, that
sounds about right.”

It was nice to
feel her arms around me.
 
I wasn’t much
of a hugger – well, except with Daniel, but when she hugged me, I could feel
how much she cared about me.
 
In the
short few months I’d known her, I’d grown to feel closer to Tabitha than
girlfriends I’d known my entire life.
 
Pulling back, she looked me over with an approving smile.

“She also told
me you patched things up with Daniel.
 
I’m so glad for you.”

Despite what
she’d previously said about Ben, she genuinely seemed to mean it.

As we joined the
host of students climbing the stairs into the lecture hall building, she
pestered me with concerned questions about what had happened while I’d been
gone.
 
Thankfully, I was able to sidestep
most of them without lying much more than giving half-truths as answers.
 

Normally at the
start of class I was full of anticipation, my heart racing at the thought of
seeing Daniel, but this time I was calm.
 
I knew he’d be there and I knew he loved me.
 
I’m not sure if I’d ever actually believed
that before, at least not whole heartedly.

A minute after
we took our seats, Daniel walked in with Rodney stumbling behind him like the
eternal sidekick that he was.
 
When his
eyes looked up and found mine, his face lit up with a smile as I’m sure mine
must have, then he jumped right into his lecture on Post Modernism.
 

This time I was
able to pay attention to the lecture and at the same time feel the warmth of my
love for him.
 
Somehow, my previously out
of control emotions seemed strangely still there, but now controllable.
 
I assumed this was a good thing and I’m sure
it was.
 
But still, I’ll admit I kind of
missed them a little.

When class
ended, I left Tabitha at the end of the row to contentedly trot down the stairs
to see my Daniel.
 
The gaggle of female
admirers were there as usual, but I didn’t notice them.
 
I watched as Daniel patiently answered their
inane questions only to finally wave them away when his patience ran out.
 
Without a word, he walked over to where I
leaned against the wall and kissed me softly while gently brushing back my hair
with his long fingers.
 

“Dinner
tonight?” he murmured in my ear causing me to melt inside.

“Alright, but let’s
make it a late one.
 
I’d like to catch up
with my friends first.”

He leaned back
and with a playful smile said “So I hoped you picked out your story.”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure I know how it’s going to end,” I said
as I slipped past him with a wink before heading up the stairs to get to my
next class.
 
I could feel his eyes on me
as I double timed it up the stairs.
 
Pausing at the top, I turned to see him in the same spot I’d left
him.
 
With the smile I think he reserved
only for me, he held up his hand and then placed it over his heart.

As I’d done dozens of times
before, I walked through the cafeteria line in the Hasbrouck Dining Hall and
picked out the least offensive thing to eat for dinner.
 
This time I went with just a salad.
 
I didn’t want to deprive Daniel of the
pleasure of watching me eat later on.
 
Not To mention the pleasure I got from watching him watch me with his
look of smitten fascination.
 
I knew I’d
never really understand it, but I’d come to accept it for what it was, love.

After I paid, I
walked over to our usual table and joined Mike, Tabitha, Ryan and surprisingly
Darcy who were already seated.
 

“I’m surprised
to see you here,” Darcy said as I took the seat next to hers.
 
“I figured you’d be out with Daniel.”

“We’re meeting
up later on,” I smiled, a little embarrassed at the way everyone was looking at
me.
 
“I wanted to spend some time with
you guys first.”

Ryan looked up
and halfheartedly smiled my way.
 
I think
he’d finally resigned himself to the fact that Daniel wasn’t going
anywhere.
 
Either that or Tabitha had
told him about our trip to the
Huguenot Cemetery the week before last.
 
I’d make a genealogist out of her yet.

About half way
through my salad Ben came over and sat down across from me.

“I’m glad to see
you,” he whispered as the others laughed at some story Mike was telling.
 
“I was worried about you.”

“I know.
 
I’m sorry I ran off like that.
 
I had some things I needed to deal with, but
everything is back to normal now.”

Ben looked
hesitant for a moment.

“What about
him?”
 

I knew he meant
Daniel.
 

“We’re back
together.”

His mouth
hanging open, he stared at me in disbelief.
 

“I don’t know
what went on between the two of you to make you run off like that, but –”

“No, you don’t,”
I cut him off with.
 
“Look, I appreciate
you being there for me when I needed you, Ben.
 
You’ll never know how much that meant to me, but I love Daniel and
that’s not going to change.
 
I think you
know that.
 
I think you knew it back then
too.”

The rest of the
table was still laughing, paying no attention to the hushed conversation
between the two of us.

“I don’t know
what to think,” Ben muttered.
 
“But I
know what I saw in your eyes that night on the bench.
 
You were in pain, but you also looked at me
with something more than friendship, Sara.”