Outcast

Chapter IV

Hellen yawned. It had to have been about three in the morning by now and she still hadn't become adjusted to staying up all night and sleeping during the day. Her internal clock was off due to the lack of sunlight and never knowing what time it was unless she happened to see a clock somewhere random.

Yet here she was standing before the large door to Thomas's office.

She knocked and waited until she heard him give her the okay to enter. Once inside Hellen closed the door behind her and stood in the middle of his office. She had been in here several times before, but it was rare to be in the same room as him.

He sat behind his desk scribbling something down on paper. She watched him working. She didn't understand why but it was rather relaxing to watch. Perhaps it was because she was so tired? Or the fact that it was quiet in the room and the only sound was her breathing?

Regardless, Hellen stood there watching Thomas as if in a daze.

"You're staring." He noted after a while. His eyes still on the paper. Hellen felt her cheeks warm from embarrassment. She lowered her eyes to the floor.

"Sorry." She muttered having her fingers play together. An anxious tick she had since she was a child.

"Do not apologize. There's a reason behind it. So, why are you staring?" He questioned putting his pen down and seeing that she was now looking to the floor. After a moment of silence Thomas sighed deeply and rose from his chair.

"You're very odd for a human. You show no signs of fear when it comes to us, yet you worry about staring at me." Hellen looked to Thomas. He was around his desk now and standing at her left side of it. She chewed on her inner cheek and swallowed the frog in the back of her throat.

"Why?" He questioned. Hellen put her hands in her pockets and stood there. Her jeans that she wore every day since coming here started to fade. Her shirt wasn't looking all too well either. Sure she had them washed every few days, but she wasn't looking her best and she knew it.

"I dunno. Guess I care more about what other think than who they are?"

"You mean what they are." Hellen's eyes widened and her heart nearly exploded from her chest. Thomas had been at the side of his desk and now in the blink of an eye he stood before her. He was so close to her that if he were alive she could have felt the heat coming off his body.

Her body stiffened as a chilling finger reached under her chin and turned her to look up at him. Her whole body covered in goosebumps at how icy he felt. The coldness reminding her that he was indeed dead.

"You are an odd girl." He whispered. His finger slipping more around her throat to the point where he grazed his lanky fingers over her pulse. He paused inhaling deeply as he traced her large vein along her neck and down to her collar bone.

"You're nervous." He pointed out. Nervous? Of course she was nervous. She had a vampire trailing his cold and dead fingers across the largest vein on her neck. He might have been drinking artificial blood like the rest of the vampires here, but she wouldn't put it past him to rip out her throat if the notion hit.

"You have nothing to fear. I'm not going to kill you just -- " He spoke his head dropping toward her neck. Her lips parted and her whole body tensed to the point where it hurt. She felt Thomas's breath against her neck. His breath which was shockingly warm. She stood there still with her eyes closed as she swore he stood there smelling her.

Why? Why was he smelling her? Was this another weird vampire thing that she didn't understand? He said he wasn't going to kill her so what in the hell was he even doing? More importantly why was she allowing him to do this?

"Be aware that not everyone here is happy with you. Be careful with who you speak to and who you allow to get close to you." He whispered. Hellen's eyes snapped open. He was warning her?

"David can only do so much. We're not always going to be here with you."

"What do you mean?" She questioned back. He kept close to her. She felt his nose touch briefly the side of her ear as he pulled up and away from her skin.

"What I mean is there are things in our world that you couldn't even imagine. Things that won't hesitate to kill you because you are close to my son. Things that will try and use you to harm him." Things that would use her to harm him? David? He didn't care about her enough for her to be used as a piece of leverage?

"You need to learn how to defend yourself properly against these threats. Which is why I asked you here." Hellen looked up into Thomas's gaze. He pulled away completely from her now. The odd closeness seeming as if it never even happened. What had just happened?

"Here." He said holding out his cane for her. She looked at him oddly and hesitantly took it from his grasp. She looked at the black smoothness of the cane. The incredibly beautiful head that seemed to be made of silver.

"Tonight you will begin to learn how to defend yourself against such threats. Hopefully you'll never have to use what you learn, but it will undoubtedly be inevitable." Thomas said nodding toward his cane. Hellen looked from it to him.

"What am I suppose to do with this?" She questioned causing him to smirk and chuckle in amusement. He walked back around his desk and stood in front of his chair for a moment. His fingers pressed against the wooden surface.

"Hold it with your arms straight out." He replied taking a seat. Hellen arched a brow.

"B-but for how long?"

"Until I say." Her mouth dropped. She watched as Thomas grabbed a fresh piece of paper and went back to writing down things on the white sheet. Hellen swallowed and stood there dazed and confused for a moment before she grabbed the cane by both ends and extended her arms out in front of her to hold the cane out just like Thomas had told her.