Chapter 8 Stay Away

• “Now I understand what was so important. She just doesn’t give up, does she?”
• Olivia nods, not finding it very funny.
• “My mum doesn’t care, as long as I’m alive. It’s Mel who can’t leave things alone.”
• Cayson nods. “She’s just worried – overly worried, yes – but at least you have someone to worry about you.”
• Olivia laughs. “Trust me, it’s overrated. Sometimes I think it would be better to not have a family.” She looks at Cayson guiltily, realising what she had just said. It was inconsiderate of her; he had lost his family decades ago.
• “Sorry, I didn’t think. I doubt not having a family for so long is much of a good thing.”
• He laughs, shaking his head.
• “As I said, Olivia, it runs in my bloodline, so my family are there, just none from when I was born. I do see family from time to time. Most stop shifting after around twenty or thirty years, settle down and whatnot. I just don’t see the point in that. I enjoy protecting people; I can’t do that without shifting.”
• Olivia nods wordlessly. They both sit in silence for a few moments.
• “I’m sorry,” she starts, “I know you said goodbye and that you never wanted to see me again.” She should never have made him feel like he needed to come here.
• “Olivia, I would love to keep seeing you. Let’s be honest though, my world will just get you hurt, and I can’t live with that happening again.” She looks up, curious. What does he mean, ‘again’?
• “What do you mean, ‘again’?” She voices her thoughts and he avoids making eye contact, his eyes fixed on the floor. Yasmine. Yasmine was beautiful.
• “That doesn’t matter right now,” he says after a pregnant pause. “Just take it from me; you’re safer without me than with me.” He can’t go through that again. Yasmine was an amazing witch who was killed just because she got too close to him.
• “Look, everyone needs friends, especially ones who know what they are going through.” Cayson nods in agreement. It’s selfish of him to want to keep her around, he knows that, but maybe she’ll be fine after all?
• “So, that is Dan then?” He changes the subject swiftly, pointing to the newspapers, while Olivia nods.
• “Everyone told me I was stupid, that it just a crush, that it wouldn’t last. When he disappeared, everyone told me it was him running away because he’d realised I was a child and he needed a woman. I almost believed them until I remembered seeing a similar story in the papers, so I did my research and found more.” She stands up, heading towards the kitchen.
• “Drink?” Cayson nods. He’s already here, staying can’t do much harm.
• “Coffee, please. Black, no sugar.”
• She nods as she walks through to the kitchen, making the drinks, while quietly humming. As she does, Cayson looks at the papers she has collected, distracting himself until she walks back through and hands him a steaming mug.
• “So, he was twenty-five when he disappeared?”
• Olivia nods. Mel wasn’t pleased about that; her mum, however, thought it would be over just as quick as it started.
• “Yeah, we had been together since I turned sixteen, we got this house together on my seventeenth birthday.” Cayson makes a small interested noise. Dan must have liked her to move in with her.
• “So, what about you? Just Yasmine?” Cayson nods.
• “Yeah, in terms of serious relationships. I’ve had one night stands but as far as relationships go, Yasmine was the only one.”
• “Do you have any friends who aren’t werewolves?” She looks at him as he nods.
• “No. They’re the only ones who aren’t at risk as a result of knowing.”
• She nods, that isn’t good. Sometimes people need to rant or complain; how can he complain about being a werewolf if he needs to when his friends are all werewolves too? She glances around. She knows how it feels because it’s kind of the same situation as her. She doesn’t have anyone she can complain about her mum or sister to.
• Everyone she knows also knows her mum and sister, so they’ll just agree with what her family says. Every time she made a friend, somehow the friend always ended up with Mel’s number, and she lost that friend quickly because everything she did or said got passed on to Mel. Dan was the only one who was different. He pulled her away; he listened to her and never told them anything.
• “Surely you need freedom from it all, though? From everyone who knows you and expects things from you?” He should have a friend who isn’t in that world.
• “Friends come with danger, Olivia. Those who hate us see which mortals we spend time with, and know the easiest way to get to us is through that person. So no, I don’t have friends who can’t protect themselves anymore.” Olivia laughs. Cayson turns to her, shocked.
• “Sorry, but mortal? Every time you mention something else, it just makes me laugh and think this is crazy and that I must be in some sort of movie.” She looks at him, realisation hitting her. “I’m dead, aren’t I? That night I thought was bitten, I was, but I died, didn’t I? This is just one long dream.” Cayson laughs, his body shaking with humour.
• “Oh, honey, you’re far from dead. You’re staying away from everywhere I said, right? No wandering the streets after dark?”
• “You sound like my sister now.”
• “Maybe I do, but it’s to protect you. What choice do you have? He’s gone, and he’s not coming back. Trust me when
• I say even if he wasn’t killed, you don’t want to find him.”
• “You know something, what do you know?”
• “I had a feeling. I remember a guy walking through called Dan, he was with someone else. I didn’t connect him to your partner until I saw those pictures.” He gestures to the floor. “He won’t be who he was, Olivia, he may still be walking around out there but he isn’t alive. Anything he felt for you is gone.”
• “Surely he could still be good, though? Just because there is a chance he was turned, surely that doesn’t mean he killed someone and became bad?” She can’t see it, Dan was amazing and caring, and he wouldn’t kill anyone. Why would he? Why would anyone kill if they didn’t need it to survive?
• “Being a Ceprimora isn’t easy if you were once a human. All the thoughts, the feelings, the emotions are stronger. Their own human blood mixed with that of those they drink pushes them to the edge. Not many can handle it. After a few months, the emotions, the visions, and the memories settle down, but many of the new-borns don’t last that long. Most choose to become a Monventla after a few days, to remove all sense of feelings and emotions. Some are not just battling that. Some are chosen to be turned because the vampire turning them can sense they will have underlying powers, something more. Those with powers often struggle even more.”
• “Vampires can have powers? Like what?” Cayson shrugs his shoulders.
• “The usual, some are just stronger than they should be, others have the power to manipulate your mind, make you do things you shouldn’t, make you agree to things you shouldn’t. Others can control emotions, hear what you think, see what your next move is.”
• “Can werewolves, too? Do they have powers? What do you mean, manipulating the mind? You said they make you do things you shouldn’t; is there no way of stopping that? Can’t you stop someone who’s been manipulated?”
• “There are some things that can clear a mind that is hazed over by a vampire’s words, yes. Not many know, about it. Werewolves, when they have shifted form, can hear the thoughts of anyone around them, we can heal quickly and help others heal too.”
• “That is it, that’s how the bite is gone with no scar or anything.” Olivia rolls up her sleeve, looking at her arm. There isn’t anything but there definitely should have been. She remembers checking her arms that night, there were no nail marks either.
• “Yeah, you were bleeding badly, and we’re not meant to heal people but I couldn’t exactly carry you to a hospital. It would have raised too many questions.” He also didn’t want to just leave her there and hope she survived.
• “Well, thanks, I think.”
• Cayson nods. He should leave; he’s putting her in danger by being here.
• “Wait, I didn’t tell you where I lived. I was waiting for you to reply but you didn’t; how the hell did you know where I live?” Olivia should be more freaked out than she actually is.
• “Two reasons. The number of times you walked through that place and I followed while I was in my wolf form I heard your thoughts, saw everything in your mind, so when you were thinking about going home I could see your house as you pictured it in your mind. Secondly, I followed you home for a few nights when you left after I noticed you were being followed home, it stopped them from following you all the way home.”
• “So they know where I live as well?”
• Cayson shakes his head at her, she clearly didn’t listen.
• “No, because when I started following, they left and walked away. Look, Olivia, just promise me you’ll stay away from those places. Stop looking for Dan, because that only ends one way and it won’t be a happy ending like it is in films.” She needs to get this thought out of her head that vampires are cute, cuddly things, because they sure as hell aren’t.
• “I will, I promise.”
• Cayson nods, standing up and nodding a quick goodbye as he leaves. Olivia was telling the truth: she will stay away this time and she means it. She’s come too close to death now to risk any more.
• She knows Cayson is just as dangerous as the vampires if not more, but she can’t bring herself to stay away from him. He’s told her all about vampires and how even the nice ones can become nasty, but werewolves? She has no idea what they are like.