"Who is Nanna?" I asked as I pulled away far enough to look at him. Letting me see the worry in his dark eyes.

"She is the family elder. The one who says that I will join the enemy," he answered, "She is also the only one who has premonitions or at least until now."

Confusion filled my mind. He must have seen it and almost panicked. Pushing me at arms length he looked me right in the eyes, "It's not for sure yet. It's just a theory that David has, but Mike and Amanda are with Jack just in case."

My mind spun. Now they were starting to think that I could see the future? As if being a vampire wasn't enough. Now they had to throw that into the mix.

"It's normal for a Seadonna to have a dream that hints at how they will die, but none of us can see what will happen to another person in the family," Derik explained some more.

"It was just a dream," I told him in denial.

"Is it really?" he made me second guess myself. Nothing had been considered normal since him and all of the others have entered into my life. Being average didn't look so bad anymore, "We always tell you that Gene V has many mysteries. Who fully knows what it is capable of?"

Derik had a point. But I still hoped that nothing else will come up and surprise me anytime soon. I don't think I would be able to take it.

As much as I didn't want anymore surprises, I ended up getting another one. Jake finally was able to come to my house and he had more then just a hug for me. Standing behind him was none other than Jordan, Jared's best friend. My confusion was plain to see when I saw him at my house.

"I told you I didn't want a girlfriend," Jake whispered in my ear as he gave me a long hug. My eyes instantly went to Jordan.

He still looked the same as he did in high school. Jordan's body still had the same physique from when he played basketball. I heard that he even got a scholarship to play for one of the big colleges in the country. But it wasn't like he needed it. Jordan came from a rich background that was passed down generations.

But I never could imagine Jordan dating my best friend. My mind was trying to figure out how it even happened. When did it happen? Obviously it was while Jake was being kept away from me. What did they have him do anyways?

Jake pulled away from our hug and let out a laugh as he saw my confused face, "Don't hurt yourself too much, Leah."

"Just trying to figure out when and how you two became a thing," I told him honestly.

"Helping Jared out with things did wonders, I guess," he told me as a response. Scratching the back of his head nervously. In a way it made sense to me. Sure I didn't see the whole Jordan thing, but Jake has been trying to tell me in how own way for a while now. I guess it is just a shock that I didn't figure it out sooner.

A smile spread out across my face from ear to ear, making Jake relax and sigh in relief, "I'm just happy that you found someone worth your time finally."

Jake let out a chuckle as he gave me another hug. I could see that he was so happy that his best friend accepted him the way he was. There was no reason that I shouldn't. He has been there for me whenever I needed him, why should I turn my back on him when he needs me? That wouldn't be being a good friend.

Looking around Jake I greeted Jordan, "It's been a while Jordan. Make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks Leah," he responded with a half smile. He wasn't able to say more due to the fact that Jake suddenly grabbed onto my wrist and nearly dragged me to my bedroom.

I sat down on my bed as Jake ended up laying down and stared at the ceiling. He wore his favorite striped brown hoodie with ripped light blue jeans. The summer months felt like they were ending early as fall was coming right around the corner. It made me kind of sad since my father, when he talks to me, has been mentioning that I should think about going to college.

"How did they manage to keep you away from me?" I asked as I looked at him.

He let out a groan, "I got stuck helping Katelyn plan the stupid wedding. Jared at least saved me a few times and had him help clean his garage," he glanced at me, "I love you, but I won't help you plan any weddings."

"Noted," I told him with a smile, "I'm surprised that those two aren't married yet."

"It's delayed because Jared caught Katelyn fooling around with an ex," Jake mentioned. Making me cringe. Knowing fully well that this was just a preview of what their marriage was going to be like. It made me feel bad for Jared, but maybe he can be the one to straighten up Katelyn's attitude.

"What did I miss when I was gone?" Jake asked suddenly as he sat up.

I wasn't sure what to tell him. There was stuff I knew that had to stay a secret, like the fact that I'm surrounded by people with a gene mutation that made them vampires. Also that there is an evil one after me for some reason. I wasn't even sure if it was to kill me or make me join his twisted family.

Gene V is something you can't really mention anyways. Jake would probably look at me like I was crazy. But then I remembered that he acted like he knew something before all of this was revealed to me. Part of me wanted to ask him, just to see what he knew, "Have you heard of Gene V?"

He looked away from me as he nodded his head, "Kind of have to when your older brother is one of them. Not easy to keep that a secret. It's also how your father knows about it."

Guess that answers that question. Also it makes talking to him so much easier. I didn't have to worry about hiding anything from him.Which would have made things so much harder for me. Having a friend in this would be greatly appreciated at this point. It was like I was in need of a different point of view just so I could understand a little bit better on all that was going on.

"That's a relief," I said with a sigh, "I would hate to keep something from you. How did you do it?"

"I gave you hints that you completely ignored," Jake joked as he gave me a small push. Making me laugh with him.

"Am I interrupting something?" came Derik's voice that made me look toward my bedroom doorway. An even bigger smile spread on my face at the sight of him.

"Derik!" I said happily as I got up and ran to him. Wrapping my arms around his neck as he hugged me close. Jake made a gagging noise and pretend to throw up. Making me give him a glare after I pulled away from Derik.

I know he wasn't happy about the whole me dating Derik either, but he could at least be a little nicer about it. He didn't take my glare to heart as he got up and shrugged his shoulders. Jake also patted Derik on the shoulder as a greeting while he left the bedroom. He was probably on his way to see how Jordan was doing on his own surrounded by people that he didn't know.

Derik and I both watched him walk down the hall, heading towards the living room. Once he was out of sight, Derik's attention went back to me. A small smile was on his face making him even more attractive then before. But that could just be the two month separation talking.

"I hear you had quality time with David," he mentioned. Making me roll my eyes, "What did you guys do?"

"Just educating me on my future that I didn't ask for," I told him as I left his side to go sit on my bed. My smile long gone by now.

"We never really ask for it to begin with. Most of us don't have a choice," Derik told me as he walked to stand in front of me. He placed and hand under my chin to make me look up at him, "It's not easy but I'm here to help you through it. I'll protect you if I have to."

His words made my heart swell up with all different kinds of feelings. I was falling hard for Derik, but part of me also knew that there was something for David. The whole thing reminded me of the TV shows I watched where the lead had to choose between two lovers. For some reason they always ended up with the wrong one only to have the right choice save the day. Even though my life is similar, I hope that it didn't have the same outcome.

“Leah, I know it’s too soon, but I think it’s a good a idea,” Derik said kneeling down in front of me. He had the look of determination in his nervous eyes. I had a feeling on what was going to happen next, but I wasn't going to say anything. Not wanting to be wrong and make a complete fool of myself.

He then pulled something out of his pocket. I couldn't tell what it was, but it looked small in his hand. There are very few things that could be that small. Part of me hoped that it was a bracelet he was holding and that the rest of it was being held in his fist. But I knew what it was as he held it up higher up for me to see more clearly.

It was a ring that had a gold band. There were only three diamonds on it. One big one with a small one on each side. The ring was pretty but it wasn't something I envisioned my engagement ring to look like.

“Leah, please marry me. We can even start a family,” he said even more nervous, "I'm not as strong as David, but you can bet that I will die trying to make sure you are safe."

Words refused to form in my mind as I took in the sight in front of me. Derik was proposing to me, but if we were dating longer, he would know that this isn't what I wanted. But the hope in his eyes made me keep from turning down his proposal. I didn't even bother to accept it either. My mind needed a little time to process and decide if I really wanted to marry Derik.

"Why are you doing this all of a sudden? We just started dating two months ago and you have been gone majority of the time," I tried to reason with him. Also to keep me from screaming the word "yes". I needed to hear a good enough reason first before I jumped in.

Derik sighed as he let his hand holding the ring down. Annoyance was clear to see on his face. It was plain to see that he didn't want me to question things and just accept his proposal.

"I just want to be sure, Derik," I tried to explain to him, "I don't want to end up regretting the decision I'm about to make."

He refused to look at me after that. He was getting even more annoyed, "Is it because of David?"

His question took me by surprise. "David has nothing to do with this. This is about you proposing to me after only two months and not taking the time to get to knwo me."

"We can still work on that. But I've already realized that I love you and I don't want anyone else by my side," he said looking serious as he stared into my blue eyes, "If you second guessing already, then don't accept." He stood and slammed the ring onto the bedside table. "I'll give you some time to think it over, but if you are going to hesitate then I hope you are happy with David."

"Why do you keep bringing him into this? He has nothing with me needed time to think this over. You even said that it was too soon," I was now getting annoyed. It seemed the more I talked to to and tried to be the rational one, the angrier he got. He really had no reason to be angry with me. It took everything I had to speak to him calmly, "I understand that when you planned this that you didn't think we would be having this conversation. I'm already going against everyone by being with you. If I accept right now, it would feel like I'm doing it just to annoy them more."

Derik was still fuming, "Leah, just admit it. You don't love me as much as you love him."

"David has nothing to do with this, Derik. Get that through your god damn think head," I nearly shouted, "I had a choice to pick either you or him and I chose you. Unlike everyone else, I gave you a chance. The benefit of the doubt. Even when everyone tried to convince me otherwise."

Derik began to relax a little bit. His anger slowly disappearing. "If it means that much to you, I'll marry you. But let us take things a little bit slower from now on," I finished as I picked up the ring off of the bedside table and placed it on my ring finger.

"I'm sorry," he said with a heavy sigh, "I know I shouldn't push you to do things you don't want to, but with Donny after you I got desperate." he then pulled me close to him, making me kneel along with him as he wrapped his arms around me protectively, "But I'll make sure you never regret anything that involves me."

Part of me wanted to believe those words while another one told me to listen to the hidden meaning. To listen and pay attention to what had just happened. But I buried that part of myself deep down into my thoughts where I could forget about it. Derik was just the way he was because of how all of the others treat him. I will just have to teach him to trust again.