Haven

Chapter 12

Emilio's POV:

I swear to god I'm going to find them! I've checked with the police and the neighbors; none of them know where they are. They are all so f*****g useless. That's why I'm here hoping her stupid friend knows what's going on.

I watched as he started walking home from school. I followed, waiting for some distance so no one would see. Finally, I ran up and picked the boy up by his collar, pushing him against a car.

"Where the f**k are they? I know you know punk!" I screamed as anger was coursing its way through me.

"Sir. Please... I don't know... I haven't heard from Mila in a while." He pathetically kept stumbling over his words.

"I know you're f*****g lying! So, tell me where they are!" I growled out.

"I really don't know. I've been trying to call. I even asked the school. They don't know." Ah, the school. That's right, I never asked them. I let go of the boy's collar as he fell to the ground. Pathetic.

"Sorry about your shirt, kid." I just walked off, making my way toward the school. I was going to get my f*****g answers.

"Hey, it's Emilo. I am Amelia Valdez's father. I wanted to make sure you got her transcript transferred to the right school?" I ask the lady sitting there. She seemed caught off guard but spoke up.

"Yes, Mr. Valdez, everything is transferred." She seemed a little jumpy.

"Amazing! Now, read back and spell out the school it went to so that I can double-check you didn't get it wrong." She seemed hesitant, so I put on my most charming smile.

"L-a J-o-l-l-a High School. Is This correct, sir?" Bingo. I could feel my smile turn into more of a smirk.

"Yes, ma'am, that's perfect, thank you." I got you now, you pieces of s**t. I'm going to find you now, and I'm going to f*****g kill you both.

Mila's POV:

My phone rang again... Unknown number.

"Babe. Just answer your phone that's the fourth time they've called." I loved the way she called me babe. Listening to her, I decided to pick up the phone finally.

"Hello, who is this?" I hesitantly asked.

"OMG, Mila! I haven't heard from you in forever. Where are you? Are you okay?" A frantic familiar voice responded back to me.

" Julian?" How did he get ahold of me?

"Yes, it's me. Answer me now!" The volume of his voice grew louder. I almost had to pull the phone away from my ear.

"Yes, I'm fine. I can't tell you where we are. My mom and I ran to get away from my... from that piece of shit." I looked at Emma, who was obviously hearing everything. I'm just now realizing that I will have to explain a lot of s**t that I was hoping I didn't have to for a very long time. Maybe never? One could only hope not to show the skeletons in one's closet.

"Mila, I don't know where you are, but he- I think he might know..." His voice became a whisper. Though the words were spoken softly, they hit me hard.

"What do you mean he might? How would he?" Now I could hear panic leaking into my words.

"He cornered me on the street asking where you were. I thought he was going to kill me. Obviously, I told him I didn't know. Then he started walking to the school and he went inside. I don't know if he found out anything from them!" f**k. f**k. f**k.

I immediately started panicking. I stood up frantically; I felt my heart start racing, and I felt my airway constrict. My whole world began to blur around me. Then out of nowhere, somehow, my world stopped spinning. Emma was there. She gently grabbed both sides of my face, and she kissed me. Oh my, that kiss. It was absolutely electrifying. I was floating, yet I felt grounded on earth.

"MILA!" I heard a scream from the phone. She looked at me with worrying eyes. I just held up my finger.

"Sorry, I needed a moment to process what you just told me. I'm sorry Julian, I'll call you later. I need to let my mom know. Thank you for telling me. Goodbye." As soon as I hung up the phone, I just felt my whole weight double and my knees buckle.

Emma caught me, ensuring I didn't fall to the ground. She ushered me to my bed. I sat there in silence as my head spun. My whole world felt like it was crashing down. He can't know. Please, don't let him know. I won't let him hurt my mom. Not again. Not anymore. I didn't even realize I had been crying till I felt Emma gently wiping away my tears. I almost forgot that I wasn't alone.

"Mila. Are you okay? What's going on?" she softly spoke. I could hear the concern and worry in her voice. I couldn't find my words, though. I was overwhelmed by so many feelings.

She got down in front of me to where we were at eye level, and all the anger and fear I had just washed away. I felt safe for some reason.

"How do you do that?" I asked my thought aloud.

"Do what?" She looked at me curiously.

"Anytime I feel my life is falling apart, and darkness starts to take over, all I have to do is look at you. As soon as I look at you all of a sudden,n it's like I'm happy, safe, and content; all of my ill feelings disappear." She smiled as she kissed my forehead.

"You make me feel the same way." I melted as I leaned into her. I was lucky to have her.

"So what's going on? Who's Julian? Who's the piece of s**t?" she said in kind of a demanding tone. Her tone was so soft and sweet just a few seconds ago.

It took me a few minutes before I could fully open up. Honestly, at first, I was just going to lie about it, but somehow all the truth came out. About how my dad beat my mom and me. How Julian is my best friend back home, and he was the only one who ever knew about what was going on. I told her about how my mom woke me out of a deep sleep to throw us on a plane a month ago. I told her about how I never knew my mom had a sister, let alone an identical f*****g twin. I then told her about how he possibly knew where we were and would find us.

Then suddenly, it came out of my mouth. Something I honestly had never told anyone. Something I had never planned on telling anyone. I don't know why it came out, but it did.

"I cut myself..." After saying this, I immediately looked to the ground and cursed myself. What the f**k Mila. You aren't supposed to tell anyone that.

"I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that," I whispered more to myself. I kept my eyes closed and head down because I didn't want to see her expression. Her pitty.

I was scared that everything on top of this was too much. I was afraid that she wouldn't feel the same way about me anymore. I then felt her cold hand lift my chin, so my face was looking at her instead of the ground. I kept my eyes glued shut, though.

"Mila. Open your eyes... Now." she said, softly demanding. I didn't want to, but then it's like I couldn't help it. I opened my eyes, and I looked into hers. They didn't show pity... they just showed concern and care. And love? I'm pretty sure that's love.

"Mila. I am so sorry about what your fath-" I cut her off before she could finish that word. A word that could never be used to describe him.

"Don't call him that!" I harshly spit out.

"I'm sorry, let me rephrase. I'm sorry for what that monster did to you and your mom. You both did not deserve that." The air around us shifted to one that was tenser. "If I ever see him. I'm going to kill him." Her eyes started to get darker as she was saying this. I knew she was being serious by the tone of her voice. The energy around us shifted again as her eyes lightened back up. She was more focused on me again.

"I won't let anything happen to you or your loved ones. I promise Mila, no matter what, I will always keep you safe." She sighed. Here is the part I was dreading.

"I want you to know that you are so beautiful inside and out. There won't ever be a moment where I don't think the world of you. I know we've only known each other a month, but I feel so connected to you, and I want you to know that you are my world. I am not going anywhere ever unless you wish me away, and even then, I don't think I can leave you." She sighed again as she looked down at my ankles.

She started to pull off my sock, and I went to stop her, but when her eyes met mine, I stopped fighting and let her continue. She got them off, and she looked at every cut on both of my ankles and softly rubbed them. She kissed each one. With each kiss, more tears made their way down my face. Once she was done, she got on the bed and started wiping away my tears. She held me close and started softly whispering in my ear.

"It's okay. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to take all your pain away, Mila, I promise. I won't let you ever be hurt again. Not by not by yourself, not by me, not by anyone." She held me closer as my tears really started to come down. I was soaking her shirt, but she didn't seem to mind.

This girl. This gorgeous girl knew everything about me at this moment, and yet, she didn't turn away; she jet held me tighter. I was falling deeper and deeper. Now deeper than what I ever thought was possible, especially in such a short amount of time. I don't want to ever be without her. I noticed that I started to calm down and stop crying. I was so close to her body, to her chest, and that's when I noticed something that caught me off guard. I didn't hear anything. Nothing at all. No heartbeat. I Immediately pushed back away from her.

"You-you..." I couldn't get the words out. She tried to move closer, but I held up my hand.

"No, stay there!" I could see the hurt pass through her eyes.

"Mila..." What the f**k is going on?

"Don't..." How did she not have a heartbeat? Was she? No, she couldn't be. They aren't real. Right?

"I think you need to leave." I'm too overwhelmed right now.

"No, Mila, please." I could hear the desperation in her voice pleading. It started to tug at my heart, but no, I couldn't face this. I couldn't face her, at least not right now. So I closed my eyes and let my head drop at the exact moment my heart did.

"No, Emma, I think you should go. Please." I felt her presence for a little bit longer, and then I heard my door shut. I let myself fall flat onto my bed and sink into it. Cold to the touch. Fast. Strong. I am now positive I have seen her eyes change color. No heartbeat. I sat up quickly.

"Holy f**k!" I whisper yelled. She might really be a vampire. That dream I had, it might actually be true.

Right before I tried to go to bed, I looked at my phone to find ten missed calls from Emma in a matter of 5 minutes. At that moment, I saw her name pop up on my phone again, but I couldn't gather myself to answer it. I didn't want to hear some lie or excuse. All I wanted was the truth, and if she couldn't give that to me, then, oh well, I will continue to ignore her. I put my phone on my bedside table and rolled over, staring at my ceiling, desperately wishing I could just sleep.

My alarm went off, but I was already awake. I Hadn't slept at all. I quickly got ready; that way, my mom wouldn't see the bags under my eyes. I didn't need her concerned. I made my way out to my car and started driving to school. I came back into my body once I realized I was pulling into the parking lot of school. I found Emma waiting for me as I pulled into my usual parking spot. I rolled my eyes. I really didn't want to deal with this right now. I got out of my car and she came up to me fast. Like very fast.

"Mila. Please talk to me." I was agitated at this point.

"Alright, fine. Tell me the truth then." I snapped.

"About what?" Her acting oblivious to what I was referring to made me mad. I don't know why I'm so mad, though. Upset, yeah, that's warranted, but I am actually very angry.

"Don't 'about what' me. You know damn well what I'm talking about. What are you?!" She didn't say anything. She just continued to stare at me as the silence between us continued. I scoffed.

"That's what I thought. I'm going to class now." I started walking toward the school doors when I felt her hand grab mine. I felt that electricity again. I had to hurry and pull away from her grip before the electricity paralyzed me.

"Mila. Please." Her voice broke, and not only her voice, but she herself sounded so small. She said it so softly, so desperately. I almost gave in, almost.

"No, Emma, until you can be honest with me and actually answer my questions, then no, I don't want to talk right now. I'm sorry. I have to go. I don't want to be late to class." I started walking away; this time, she didn't chase after me. I could feel the distance growing more and more between us. The anger and agitation were no longer present. All I felt was empty and sad.

The next few days she tried to talk to me, but I kept completely blowing her off. When she ate with Chloe and me, I would purposefully do homework to avoid conversations involving her and any eye contact with her. Want to get a good picture as to how much I've been dodging her? I have all my assignments for the next two weeks done. The weekend came and went so fast. It was so dark and lonely, I had more nightmares. I hate that. I didn't want to fight with Emma, but I just wanted the truth from her mouth, and anytime I did break down and acknowledge her, she would still answer my questions with silence.

I didn't care if she was a vampire or not. Sure, maybe I was scared for a second, but I'm more terrified of losing her. I don't want any lies between us. She accepted me. I could accept her.

-This has not been edited, yet.-