My father ended up going to his room shortly after our talk. He had admitted to me that he looked so stressed and tired because he was scared for me. After learning everything about what I could become, he knew that my life wasn't going to be easy. Not as easy as he had hoped. So, he had been using all of his time at work trying to find ways to protect me. Moving was one of the options. Hide me away so that I didn't have to be apart of their world, but he also feared that it may be too late now.

My father didn't stop me when I followed him up the stairs and headed for his office. He probably figured that there was no stopping me if I wanted to pursue things with Derik. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not. I liked Derik and I wasn't going to say 'no' if he asked to start a relationship. But I wanted to learn more about him and the world that he came from. The world of the Seadonnas and Shidonnas.

When I entered the room, Derik was laying on the green leather couch texting on his phone. He glanced at me before putting it away and sat up, patting the spot next to him so I could sit next to him.

“Derik, what did my father mean by everyone being afraid of you joining the Shidonna Family?” I asked the moment I sat down. I wanted to know everything that was needed to be known before I made any stupid decisions.

After a long sigh from Derik, he stared at nothing for what felt like minutes. He rubbed him face making it appear that he was struggling with something. That what it appeared he was doing all of the time since I met him. Also made me wonder if that was what his life was like. One big constant struggle.

“My father praises me for a reason. He thinks the more he praises me, the more they won’t think I’d turn. The family elder told Boss that there was darkness in my heart. She feared that I was doomed to become the very evil that is Ricky’s brother,” Derik finally explained, “Everyone looks at me as if I already killed innocent people, when I haven’t even taken on the blood of the prince. I’m not even turned and I’m being treated like a disease.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder as he tried hard not to break down. It was like I could feel his pain at this point and it made heart ached for him. It was horrible that he had to go through such a painful experience alone. Derik placed his hand on mine and smiled at me with a sad smile.

“I’d break the rules just to have a chance with you, Leah. I never felt like this towards anyone before,” Derik whispered. Admitting his feelings towards me. It was stupid, but my heart skipped a little at those words.

“Then I guess you are going to break those stupid rules,” I said with a smile on my face and then kissed him softly on the lips. My heart was practically jumping with joy as he pulled me in for another kiss. I knew then that this was the beginning of something special and something that was extremely stupid. My father's words were long forgotten as I pulled away and stared into dark brown eyes.

Eventually my eyes landed on the couch. All he had to sleep with was the decrotive pillows and a small green throw blanket. My father didn't even bother giving him anything to make him comfortable. It showed how much the stories had influenced him. It was like saying, "Why show you kindness if you are going to be one of them anyways?" Hearing it was heartbreaking enough. But seeing it made me feel even more sorry for him.

Deciding that he might need a better pillow and a bigger blanket, I left the office and headed downstairs to the closet full of spare bedding in the hall. For some reason I stood there for a few minutes after grabbing a royal blue comforter. Debating if I should put a pillow case on the spare pillow I was reaching for. It was dumb really, but something was keeping me from making the choice.

But my decision was made for me when someone grabbed the pillow for me along with a royal blue pillowcase. My eyes followed their movement to see a very upset David placing the pillowcase on the pillow. Normally a person would scream at the sudden appearance of someone who didn't belong in their house. Instead all I did was stare at him as he held out the pillow for me to grab.

"How did you get in here?" I finally asked.

David gave up trying to hand me the pillow and just placed it on top of the comforter in my arms before answering, "Your old man really needs to learn to lock the doors. I just so happy to check it out while doing my rounds."

"Your brother mentioned the same thing," I pointed out to him.

"Jack?" he sounded surprise, "I guess we are brothers after all. Even if it's half."

"You've doubted it?" I was kind of shocked that I even suspected that he did. It was kind of obvious that they were brothers. The more I looked at David's habits, the more like Jack he was. Even though it was clear to see that David was the older one of the two.

David closed the closet for me before turning back to me, "You don't know my mother like I do. She will do anything to hurt my dad. She is one of the few that don't believe in some things that the family does. She is like that asshole upstairs."

The jealousy coming off of David was plain to see. It was something that I didn't expect to see coming from him. He looked like someone who was always serious. But I guess even serious people can get jealous. I then mentally slapped myself because that was a dumb thought. Everyone of course gets jealous. I just didn't think David had a reason to.

"Leah, I know that if I told you that we are supposed to be together, you wouldn't believe me," he said catching my attention. I nearly dropped the blanket and pillow in my arms. It seemed like my day just wasn't done with the surprises yet. He then looked me in the eyes and said one final thing before leaving, "I'm not supposed to interfere, but don't expect me to make being with him easy."

Him leaving after that made me hate him more. Now the whole thing is going to bug me for as long as I was dating Derik. Constantly making me feel guilty about the choice I made. I don't want to like David, but I did. The guy grew on me like fungus. Or, a bad rash that I can't get rid of.

With a small huff and stump of the foot, I headed back up stairs to give Derik the blanket and pillow. All the while trying to forget everything David just told me. Also I know that he would live up to the final words he said. This relationship with Derik wasn't going to be an easy one. David was going to make sure of it.

Half an hour later I was laying in my bed staring at the ceiling hating myself. The words were getting to me a lot more than I would like. It was making sleep impossible to come. I could hear the faint snores of both my father and Derik as they slept soundly upstairs. I envied them for being able to have a peaceful sleep.

Deciding that it was just a losing battle, I got out of my bed and walked over to my bedroom window. As I stared out, I let today's events fully process in my brain. The night was still young but I'm sure everyone was mentally exhausted from explaining things to me. Also the fact that there is a possible evil vampire roaming the streets.

That was the one thing that was really hard for me to believe. Vampires existed but they weren't like in the movies and that was the scariest part of all. Ashley didn't explain how many there were or where they were mostly located, but she made it sound like anyone could be one. My father even mentioned that I was one of them. That part was the hardest to believe.

It was times like this I wished Jake wasn't so busy doing whatever they made him do. I didn't even bother trying to contact him. He will be here first thing in the morning anyways. Ready to complain about what ever he had to do and who with. I can already see him now.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Derik's voice made me jump. Turning around I saw him walking in as he stretched his arms over his head.

"Weren't you sleeping?" I asked when he was a few feet away.

He let out a small yawn before answering, "We are trained to have little sleep because you never know when the Shidonnas are going to make a move. I'm not officially one of them, but my father arranged to make me train like I was a Royal Guard."

Confused I asked, "Royal Guard?"

With a small smile he explained, "The Royal Guard is what protects the Seadonna family. They are the fastest and strongest. You probably already know that David is considered the leader and his job is to protect Ricky at all costs. The family can't afford to lose their one and only good prince to the bad one."

I remember David and Ricky mentioning that Ricky was the head of the family. But they never really explained that he was a prince. Or, at least considered one. This is information that would have been slightly useful earlier on. But I couldn't think about it much because my thoughts were interrupted by a slight movement outside my window. A gasp of fear escaped me as I latched on Derik's arm, staring out the window. Trying to see the source of the movement.

Derik held an amused smile on his face as he tried to pry my hand off of him, "You're safe, Leah. They are just making sure that Donny doesn't sneak around the house." I gave him a confused look, "Ricky and David are both out there. The movement you saw is the least graceful of the two. But you can't expect much from a prince that just started training when I did."

There was that word again. Reminding me of what Ricky was, "How is Ricky a prince?"

"Not a lot of us are born as vampires. We are only born with the gene. Ricky and his brother are a special case. They were born from two pure breeds that come from the direct line of a servant that belonged to Vlad the Impaler," Derik explained, "Those born with the gene in full swing are considered pure breeds due to their bloodline not being contaminated by human blood. Also it makes Ricky a whole lot older than he really is."

"How old is he?" I was afraid to ask. He looked at least in his mid-twenties.

"Fifty-seven in human years. Twenty-eight in Seadonna years," Derik answered, "David is also a pure blood and he's fifty-three in human years."

How was that even possible? But then I remembered that I'm dealing with vampires here. This was still too much for my brain to fully process. It was all still unbelievable to me. My mind was refusing to accept any of it.

Placing a hand gently on my shoulder, Derik directed me towards my bed, "Get some sleep, Leah. Ashley will be here early in the morning to explain things more since she had to go through this as well. Her story is a little similar to yours. I'll continue to keep watch with the two outside."

I followed his suggestion and layed down in my bed. Letting him throw the comforter over me and tuck me in. It kind of made me feel like a little kid, but I wasn't going to argue. Only because I suddenly felt sleepy. David's words were long forgotten due to the presence of Derik standing by my bedroom window. The last thing I saw before I fell into a deep sleep was him opening the window to talk to someone on the other side.

I sat in the kitchen with my father as the smell of bacon filled the room. Derik wasn't kidding when he said that Ashley was going to be here early in the morning. Around six o' clock she was shaking me awake with a big smile on her face. I didn't even question on how she got in because I figured that Derik had let her in.

My father and I were sitting at the island. He was drinking a cup of coffee while reading yesterday's paper. Acting like it wasn't strange to have someone completely unknown to us cook breakfast in our kitchen. Ashley was making it look like she did it everyday though. Kind of made me jealous because every time I tried to cook, something always ended up getting burned.

She quickly came over and placed two plates filled with food on them before returning to the stove to load up more plates, "It's best to serve you two first before the others get here. The boys like to try to out eat each other."

Ashley made sure to keep the food she made on separate plates. A mountain of bacon sat in a bowl lined with a thick layer of napkins. A mountain of eggs sat steaming on two different plates, one plate scrambled while the other one was fried. Sausage links and patties filled two more bowls. And a small plate of toast completed the set on the counter.

Once everything was layed out nicely, Ashley grabbed a chair from the dinning room we never use and brought it to the island. It was clear that the chair wasn't made for the location it was at. Ashley's head barely cleared the top of the island, but she didn't seem to mind as she ate from her own plate of food.

"It looks like you prepared for an army," Amanda said as she walked into the kitchen being followed by her husband Mike.

Ashley gave her a look before answering, "Have you seen how much your husband eats when he is with Ricky? I fear I didn't make enough."

Mike went to say something, but Amanda immediately covered his mouth before he could. In a motherly tone she ordered, "Play nice. We have Leah's father in our company."

He followed her orders and kept quiet. Instead he went to grab a plate and started loading it up with food. Not looking too happy about the situation the whole entire time. This was the first time I actually got to really look at him and see a bit of his personality. His whole behavior right now reminded me of a three year old that didn't get the piece of candy that they wanted.

Mike was pretty tall, I would guess around six foot two inches. His had bleach blonde hair that made his fair skin have a bit of a tan to it. His outfit showed of how slim and fit he was even though he was eating half of the food that Ashley left out. I also could see that he took his favorite colors to heart when I actually took in his outfit. He wore black jeans that hugged his legs in all the right places and a bright yellow short sleeve shirt that may have been a size too small.

Amanda's outfit clashed with his. She was wearing dark purple leggings and a light pink tank top that showed of her decent size baby bump. Her hair was still in the messy braid that hung over her shoulder. A black sweater rested next to her side, hanging from the pink purse she was carrying.

"Ashley," Mike said, catching both mine and Ashley's attention. Making us look at him right when he stuffed his mouth with a bite of toast loaded with scrambled eggs, "Did you cut up any fruit for Amanda?"

"In the fridge. Top shelf," she answered. Making him put down his plate and grabbing a small bowl filled with different kinds of fruit in it.

I watched as he searched for a fork and then walked over to Amanda, handing her the bowl. She smiled lovingly at him as she took the bowl. There was another couple that obviously loved each other. Suddenly I wasn't so hungry anymore.

"So Leah, how long do you and Derik plan on being a couple?" Mike suddenly asked. Making me wish that he didn't. I closed my eyes so I didn't have to see the look my father gave me after he slowly placed the paper down in front of him.