Survivor by Kaye Draper

I wasn’t fazed by moonlight conversations with strange vampires.
    There was movement in the dark.  I think he nodded. 
“Haine,” he said softly.  “And you are Peter’s Melody?”
    I pushed my chair forward, and leaned my forearms on
the railing so I could look up at the sky.  “Are you hiding out here too?” 
    He snorted.  “Of course not.  It was just a bit
stuffy in there.  I wanted some air.”  There was a hint of humor in his voice
that made me think he might be smiling.
    “That’s one way to put it,” I said with a sigh.  I
pressed my hands to my temples, and took a deep breath of the cool night air,
hoping to soothe my building headache. 
    Haine dropped his folded leg, so that they both
dangled over the railing.  “It’s hard for you to keep up with us,” he
observed.  “I wonder if Peter knows how much it affects you?”
    I shrugged and dropped my hands back over the
railing.  “It’s fine.  I’m not as fragile as everyone seems to think.”
    He reached out and ruffled my hair, startling me
with his familiarity.  “Of course you are.”  He dropped his hand to rest on the
railing next to mine.  “But then, vampires are also more fragile than everyone
seems to think.”
    Something in his voice sounded deeply unhappy. 
“Well, we all have our issues I suppose.”  I was having difficulty thinking
around my fatigue.  “And vampires were human once.  I guess becoming immortal
doesn’t magically cure you of all your personality flaws.”
    He laughed, a rich sound that danced over my skin
like a caress.  “You have no idea how right you are.  But at least when you are
human you have your freedom, you have no master controlling your destiny.” 
    I sighed and backed away from the railing.  I wanted
to argue with him- after all I didn’t feel like I had much freedom, and my
guardians controlled my, er, destiny - but I just didn’t have the energy.
 “I’m going to head back inside.”  I paused.  “It was nice to meet you,”   I
said awkwardly.  Somehow talking to him out here had felt oddly intimate.  Like
I had known him forever.
    He slid off the railing and joined me.  “I’ll come
with you.”  We made our way back around to the front of the house.  Haine
didn’t seem to mind my slow pace.  When we were back in the warm glow of the
front porch, he put a big hand on my shoulder.  “Don’t let your differences
discourage you.  I like to believe that if you love someone deeply enough, you
can overcome any obstacle.” 
    I looked up at him, completely floored by the soft
sentiment.  His blue eyes were full of kindness.  He smiled and lifted his hand
to touch my hair, pulling back when Peter and Leah came through the door. 
Peter’s green eyes grew silvery as he took in Haine’s proximity to me.  The
other vampire gave him a wry smile of apology and stepped away, taking up a
place at Leah’s side. 
    Leah glanced between the two men.  “Take good care
of our new friend, Peter,” she said softly.
    He bowed his head and touched his heart.  It was a
formal sort of gesture, and Leah repeated it.  I got the feeling there was
something going on here.  Something vampirey.  And to think, Leah had said she
didn’t want to talk about politics tonight.
    We drove home in silence.  Overall, I had enjoyed
myself.  I had been accepted by Peter’s people, and I felt like I was part of
his life.  But still, I was slightly on edge.  When we got to my place, Peter
carried me up.  Opening the door with the spare key that now resided on his
keychain, he carried me straight to the bedroom.  He followed me down onto the
bed, kissing me deeply.  I was shocked at his intensity.  His eyes had gone
silvery and his fangs were elongated.  He pulled me against his body and his
urgency lit through me like a flame.

Chapter 9
    I wheeled into Dr. Walton’s office about
ten minutes late.  I’d forgotten my planner and had to go all the way back up
to my