Blood Land, J.R. Lawson [electric book reader .txt] 📗

were almost inches away from each other.  They had also stopped dancing and just stood, holding each other, amongst the cold winter night.

“Nora…” Kale softly spoke as the tension seemed to continue to build between them, “Wherever your parents are now…be it hell or wherever…I hope they can see you.  See you now.  And I hope they feel horrible….for the way they treated you.  You didn’t deserve them.  Not one bit.”

Nora didn’t respond but inched her face a little closer to Kale’s, who in turn seemed to move in at the same time.  However, at the last second, when Nora was sure something was going to happen, Kale turned his face, so that his cheek was now facing her and he was looking away.  Nora recoiled a bit and at the same time pulled her arms away from around his neck.  Kale, in turn, let go of her waist and began to rub his hands along his suit jacket, nervously making the motion of dusting it off.  He then cleared his throat and said, “Well…um…maybe we should call it a night…”

Nora just stood, looking at him in absolute disbelief as he refused to look at her any more.  What had just happened?

“Really?!” she then appallingly asked.  Kale didn’t say a word, but just kept looking away from her, so eventually Nora scoffed slightly at him.  “Wow.  O.k.” she then wasted no time in turning and abruptly walking away.

It was then that Kale decided to turn back toward her as he watched her head for the door to the house. “Nora…” he said, as if to try to justify his actions with only one word, but Nora ignored him and kept going until she opened the door.

“Nora!” Kale shouted again, but she still disregarded him and entered the house, heading straight for her room, also hastily wiping a tear from her cheek as she went.

CHAPTER 42

IT WAS THE instant that Nora swung open her bedroom door that she was suddenly face to face with something that hadn’t been there before; the rocking chair Kale had bought her.  She stood in the doorway, her hand still on the doorknob, staring at it, unsure what to think about it, that is, until she heard someone coming up the stairs behind her and then a voice almost right next to her. “I brought it over from my place.” Nora turned around to see Kale facing her. “Well, Caroline got it.  But…I was going to surprise you…after dinner.  Until you ran off like that.”

Nora didn’t respond with words but instead just scoffed at his comment and rolled her eyes.

“What is your problem?!” Kale then irritably asked.

“My problem?!  You’re the one who seems to have a problem!” Nora then found herself shouting.

“What are you talking about?”

“What is this?!  What is all this, Kale?” Nora crossly asked as she indirectly gestured around her.

“What is what?” Kale asked.

“All of this!” Nora angrily reiterated, “The dinner, and the dancing, and the chair, and everything!”

“It…it’s a thank you…I told you that,” Kale somewhat nervously spoke.

“Is it?  Because I’m just really starting to get confused about things with you.” Nora sighed and looked up into Kale’s eyes which seemed to be trying to avoid looking back at her.  The two of them sat in silence for a little while until Nora then added, “What am I to you?”

“What kind of question is that?” Kale argued.

“Just answer it!”

Kale sighed and rolled his eyes a bit as he then said, “You’re my friend, Nora.  You should know that.”

“A friend.  Really?” Nora responded.

“Yes.”

Nora stood, staring at him in complete disbelief for a few seconds and then said, “A friend doesn’t do what we almost did to another ‘friend’.  They also don’t dance with said friend and then get her gifts like this!   And a friend doesn’t call another friend….beautiful.  Or look at her like the way you looked at me…” Nora felt the tears welling up in her eyes again and she took in a deep breath to try to suppress them.

“Nora…” Kale then started.  His tone was one of a person who’s about to give another person bad news and Nora heard it loud and clear.

“Don’t!” Nora then snapped, pointing at him and staring at him angrily. “Don’t start to say what I think you’re going to.”

“What do you want me to say?!” Kale then yelled. “What do you want me to tell you?!”

“Just tell me what’s wrong with me!” Nora then screamed. She could feel a couple of tears start to stream down her face and she tried quickly to wipe them away.

“What makes you think there’s something wrong with you?” Kale asked.

“You know why!” Nora continued to yell.

Kale sighed heavily and looked away for a second as he then said, “Look…we are friends.  That’s it.  And you know the reasons why it can only be that way.”

“No I don’t!” Nora argued. “Honestly, I don’t.”

Kale sighed again. “You’re human.  I’m a vampire.  That….doesn’t lend well toward things not being complicated.”

“But I don’t want to be human anymore!  You know that!” Nora felt her voice starting to crack as she kept arguing. “I want to be a hybrid!  Like Caroline!  But…you won’t let me!”

“For good reason!” Kale shot back at her, “I won’t let you become one of those things!  You’re a human and human is the way you’ll stay!”

“Uggh!!” Nora grunted in frustration.

“Don’t you get it?” Kale debated, “The more I turn you into one of them, the more I become like Dagon!  I won’t become him!  And I won’t see you become one of them!  I won’t see you be a monster!”

“Or maybe you just won’t let me become a hybrid because you’re afraid of your feelings and you want an excuse to not be with me!  You like me being human so you can tell yourself we can’t be together!” Nora then screamed, tears now streaming and her voice squeaking in places as she did.

Kale just stood and stared at her with an angry but slightly guilty expression. “You’re crazy,” he then said coldly, “I’m your friend.  That’s always going to be that way.  And only that.  Because you are a human.  But even if you weren’t that wouldn’t change.  I’m sorry if what I did tonight led you to believe something else.”

Nora bit her lip and just shook her head as she attempted to wipe the tears from her face one more time.  She looked down for a bit, trying her hardest to compose herself before looking back up and then saying quietly, “Then I can’t do this anymore.”

“Do what?” Kale asked.

“This.  This…doing whatever you want, whatever you ask of me thing.  I’m not your damn puppet and what I want is important too.  I want to be strong.  And I can’t do that around you!”

The two of them just stared at one another in silence for what seemed like forever.  Nora soon realized that Kale had nothing left to say to her so she stepped back, moving toward the open doorway of her room.

“Nora…” Kale said as he saw her step away from him and he then, in turn, stepped forward until he was in her doorway.  Nora stared at him from where she stood, inside her room. “Just get out,” was all she said, staring daggers at him.

Kale didn’t respond but just continued to stand there.  He didn’t really know what else he could say.

“GET OUT!” Nora then screamed as she reached out and shoved him in the chest, causing him to teeter enough backwards and force him to step out of the boundaries of her room.  He couldn’t help but really realize how much stronger she had gotten, considering that that push almost hurt a little.  Instantly after shoving him however, Nora slammed her door shut and Kale sighed, then consecutively turned, headed down the stairs and made his way all the way back to the backyard where he begrudgingly began cleaning up from the dinner.

It was after a while that Caroline interrupted him as she walked outside.  Kale felt her standing there and just staring at him quietly so finally, he reluctantly looked up and said, “What do you want?”

“What did you do?!” Caroline then asked.

“What do you mean?” Kale also asked as he then went back to picking up dishes from the small table he stood next to.

“To Nora!” Caroline angrily pressed, “I heard the two of you yelling upstairs, what happened?!”

“It’s all you’re damn fault!” Kale then suddenly shouted.

Caroline raised her eyebrows in surprise as she responded, “Excuse me?”

“You’re the one who convinced me to do this stupid dinner!” Kale yelled, “Now Nora has fucking feelings for me!  I knew this would happen!  I knew having this dinner would send the wrong message!”

Caroline sarcastically chuckled. “Oh, yeah, you’re right, Kale.  One dinner made Nora suddenly have feelings for you.  Right.”

Kale then narrowed his eyes at Caroline. “What are you saying?” he then asked.

“I’m saying…” Caroline continued, “She’s obviously been feeling this way for a while.  Couldn’t you see it?  And you too!  You’ve been trying to hide it also!”

Kale scoffed. “Please!!” he sarcastically remarked. “I have not!”

“Come on, Kale stop it!” Caroline argued, “Stop lying to yourself and everyone around you!  You didn’t have to agree to do this dinner!  You didn’t have to want to do something to thank her!  You didn’t even have to dance with her either or almost kiss her!  No one held a gun to your head!”

“We didn’t almost kiss!  And how do you know that?!  Were you watching us?!”

Caroline smiled and chuckled, leaning on her hip a little. “Come on, you know me better than that.  Of course I was watching you.”

Kale stood for a moment, looking around him, trying to organize his thoughts.  He sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck nervously before finally speaking again, this time a little more calmed. “I…I don’t know what happened.  Everything’s gotten so…complicated.”

“What were you guys fighting about?” Caroline then asked him.

“Nora told me she had feelings for me.  Just basically came out with it.  And I told her I didn’t.  I told her I couldn’t.”

“Why couldn’t you?”

“Because she’s a human!”

Caroline paused a moment, looking at Kale before she responded, “I was a human once.  So were you.  I’m probably more human than you thought I was at one point.  What is wrong with her being human?”

“Everything!” Kale yelled, “A vampire and a human can’t be together!  It would cause too many problems!  You know this!”

“But what about the fact that she doesn’t want to be?  She wants to be a hybrid, doesn’t she?”

“God, I’m sick of sounding like a broken record!” Kale angrily screamed, throwing his hands up in the air. “I told her this too and I’m going to tell you again! I refuse to turn her into a monster!  She’s human and that’s the way she should stay!”

“Why?  Why should she?”

“Because…” Kale calmed himself a bit before continuing, “Because that’s the way I want her.  I…like her like this.  I like the way she is.  I don’t want her becoming something like…us.”

Caroline sighed and took a few steps closer to Kale as she said, “But maybe you think that’s not really up to you?  Maybe that’s kind of up to her?”

Kale sighed too. “I just don’t want to be