After I was done eating, Derik took my dishes and cleaned up his mess in the kitchen. While he was doing that, I headed for my room and decided that I was in serious need of a good hot shower. I knew that it would be something that would make me relax enough to finally relax and sleep tonight. This whole day pretty much had me tired and ready to sleep for at least a week.

When the water ran cold, I turned it off and got dressed into my night shorts and a tank top. Derik sat on my bed when I opened the door and walked out of the bathroom. His elbows rested on his knees as he looked at me. I wasn't sure what I was seeing in his eyes, but it looked more like he was asking permission to stay in my room.

As much as I wanted him to stay in my room while I slept, I knew my father wouldn't allow it. Which brought the thought to my mind, "Where is my father?"

"He's at the house trying to figure out what to do about your safety," Derik answered.

"The house?" I was confused now. Then felt like an idiot because they had to stay somewhere when they weren't' at my house. They may be vampires but they still needed to sleep every once in a while.

Derik smiled at the faces I was making during my inner scolding of stupidity. He then stood up and walked up to me. Lifting me off the ground like I was nothing, he carried me to my bed and tucked me in. It was kind of weird, yet comforting.

After he was done, Derik started to walk towards my bedroom door. Making me wonder where he was going. "I'll be on the couch in the living room if you need me."

Part of me wanted him to stay, but the other part knew that it was for the best. Once he was out of sight and down the hall, I could hear the low volumes of the television. I keep forgetting that they don't need as much sleep as I do in order to function. Derik explained that it was part of their training because they needed to be on alert at all times. I wouldn't blame them with the constant attacks they get and I've only witness two of them.

Rolling over to my side, I closed my eyes. It wasn't long until the darkness of sleep took over. But I wasn't sure if I was going to have nightmares or not from today's events. As I slowly fell asleep, I felt like that this wasn't going to be a normal night of harmless dreams.

I knew I was dreaming because I was in a place I’d never seen before. It was like a basement due to the musty smell and the grey cement walls. Candles were spread around the room, giving the room an eerie glow. It was cool and I had to hug myself to keep warm enough let my teeth chatter. It felt like the room was getting colder the longer I stood in the middle trying to figure out where I was.

The room was almost a perfect circle. Pillars were evenly spaced along the perimeter. Paintings of different scenes hung between each one. But my eyes fell on the old woman sitting by a painting that looked as if you were looking out a window at a view of hills, flowers, and a blue sky. The painting was beautiful and something I would have hanging in my room.

“I was wondering when you’d come,” the old woman spoke, still looking at the painting. I could imagine what she used to look like when she was younger. She was probably as beautiful as a rose, but now withered with time. Her eyes were a milky grey, indicating that she was blind but she could still able to know where I was in the room. She wore an old cotton sweater with a long white skirt, rocking back and forth in a rocking chair. She gave off the vibe of peacefulness.

“You’re father should have taught you to not keep an old woman waiting,” she spoke once again. I had no idea what to say. It was like I was actually there instead of a dream. Like this was all actually real, “I know you’re not actually here yet, but we are connected with a similar gift. So we can communicate with each other on the astral field.”

I looked at her a little confused. What similar gift is she talking about? And, what was this astral field she was talking about? All I wanted was a peaceful night of sleep after the chaos filled day I had.

“I’ll answer all of your questions in due time. But, I have only so long until they have to take you back. You are going to die,” she was looking at me now. Strands of white hair hung over her face while the rest was pulled back into a tight bun, “You’ll have three weeks before everything goes wrong. You’re dreams are telling you what you must prepare for. They tell you how you will die and what will cause it. I hate to see Jack suffer, but it is needed in order for you to join the family.”

What was that supposed to mean? Something was going to happen to Jack? They told me that Mike and Amanda were making sure he was safe. But then the thought it me. The attack at my house injured two royal guards to the point that they couldn't protect me. Mike had to leave Jack's side in order to keep me safe. Was the attack only to weaken the protection on Jack?

“You’re a vampire that will save our family. Our race. You can do what my father once was able to do long ago,” the woman explained, “But, you’ll have a dark time before you become the one to lead this family to the great power it once was. You can reunite the brothers back to the way they used to be before darkness took over one's heart. In the future, you can talk to the hunters and make them stop going after our family. Only you can do all of this.”

Everything she said felt like she was telling me everything but nothing at all. It was like she was only telling me enough so that I could figure it out later on. Also for some reason it felt like I should take her words as if they were the wisest advise I had ever received. That it would be wrong if I were to ignore her warnings.

“You are so much like your father. You look like him to. He’s protected us so long that we couldn’t repay him enough. I remember the last time I saw you. Five years old and shy as ever. Your father made you wear a green dress that day,” the old woman smiled as she remembered the past. She even chuckled a bit as she stood up and walked towards me, slowly and careful with each step, “Do you want to know why your father loves the color green so much? It reminds him of the woman he‘s truly loved. A shame she stuck with tradition.”

Those words shocked me enough that I ended up waking up. A gasp escaped my lips making Derik come into the room. Sitting up I tried to make sense of the dream I just had. Derik sat down on the edge of the bed with a concern look.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he layed his hand on my shoulder.

I shook my head as I answered, "I don't know," I then looked at him, "Can you see how Jack is doing? Something doesn't feel right."

"Okay," Derik said as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. I could hear it ring for a bit before someone answered. "Hey Amanda, is Jack doing okay? Leah is a little worried about him and wanted me to check up on him," he listened for a bit, "Yeah, I can give her the phone."

Handing me the phone, I placed it next to my ear. The relief I felt when I heard Jack's voice was indescribable, "I'm okay, Leah. Jake and Jordan are here to help the girls keep me safe. There is nothing to worry about, okay?"

"Okay," I said, "I just have a weird feeling that is all."

"If this keeps up, I'm going to start thinking you share the same feelings as me," he joked. Making me roll my eyes. I'm glad that my rejection didn't change anything between us and that was an even bigger relief. Jack was a huge part in my life and like an older brother I never really had.

After what felt like five minutes of Jack reassuring me that he was okay, he finally hung up. Making me give Derik back his phone. He took it back and placed it back in his pocket without having his eyes fall of of me. Derik still looked pretty concerned and wasn't sure what to say. But he was saved the awkwardness by the sound of my father walking in through the front door.

I followed Derik as he got up to go greet him. My father didn't say anything as he walked up to me and hugged me tightly. It was as if he was afraid of losing me at any second. I know he was probably told about what had happened earlier and it probably scared him. It must be hard to lose two daughters in a two year span.

He then pulled away but made sure he was still touching my shoulder as he turned towards Derik, "I have a few questions for you before I hand my only daughter into her care," Derik went on alert, "Do you promise to protect her with your very life?"

"Yes, sir," Derik responded seriously.

"How do you plan to protect her if something like this happens again?" my father asked another question.

But before Derik could answer I asked my own question, "Dad, what is going on? Why are you asking all of these questions?"

My father looked at me then. The look on his face was one I hadn't seen since Sally died. It was the look of complete hopelessness. Seeing it on his face once again broke my heart and brought back so many memories.

"We've decided that you aren't safe here and that you need to be relocated. The best option we had was to have you live with Derik since you two are already engaged," my father mentioned.

I was a little shocked by what he had just told me. Was I even hearing right? "You want me to live with Derik? Is David okay with this?"

Derik looked at me like I shouldn't be even remotely close to worrying about what David thought. He had the look that said that we get a chance to be together and it was allowed. But instead all I could think about how much this was hurting David.

"Trust me. David is far from accepting this idea, but he is a little out of commotion to do anything about it," my father informed me, "Plus this is only until he can get back on his feet along with Ricky. Until then we need to hide you from Donny without raising suspicion in town."

I was understanding what he was saying, but it just wasn't registering. My mind just went blank as I tried to figure out if I should be excited or think that this was pushing my relationship with Derik in the wrong direction. Or, maybe this was just a blessing in disguise. My brain and emotions were too shot to lean towards either situation. The only thing I could do was just hope on and hope for the best, because that is what my father was doing. He was the only one I could trust in a situation like this right now. He wouldn't lead me anywhere that would cause me harm.