Chapter 4 Tom

“it would be easier if you knew, but I will try to explain, as well as I can, you know my name is Tom but my second name is Cullen”
I interrupted him now
“Tom Cullen? Sounds old fashioned”
“It is, any way I’m just seventeen”
He looked away sheepishly like he was lying this made me curious would he really lie about his age.
“my real parents are dead now, they died of an illness I don’t really know much about them”
“I sorry that must be heart braking”
He looked miserable he looked into my eyes and I could feel his pain, but he carried on
“I take after my father his name was Edward senior, I have an older brother he is seventeen, his name is also Edward his second name is Cullen and he lives with the Cullen family I have only just become a member, he also lives with his wife and daughter in Washington, America, he takes after my mother her name was Elizabeth Masen, he’s very smart you wouldn’t believe the amount of books he’s read”
He stopped for a second thinking of a way to explain
“when we were younger we lived in Chicago with our real parents when the epidemic hit, the man Edward is living with is the doctor that saved our lives and nursed our parents, but they thought I hadn’t made it and left me behind, when I woke up I was alone, shortly after that I was adopted by a couple who lived just out of the city, I stayed with them for a while their names are Daniel and Ashlie white, they are very kind, they took me in because they couldn’t have children of their own but I thought of them more as an uncle and aunt than parents, they didn’t mind they were just happy with me being there, we still keep In touch they call every month to catch up, as time passed by I got dissatisfied I wanted to meet my brother, to see if he was like me I stayed but all my time was taken up trying to find clues on where to find him eventually I got lucky, Daniel and Ashlie understood why I had to go and I set off to find him, I stayed with him and his family for a while but there are a lot of them and I felt a little bit like the odd one out so I set off on my travels I knew I was looking for someone a friend or even a partner I had no luck at first so I decided to try England it was a small place but it is similar to where I had been staying so I didn’t feel so home sick”
He looked up at me and smiled
“and then I found you, I saw you walking home from school one day you caught and held my attention, I tried to forget about you, your so young I thought you would just freak out so I tried to stay away but I couldn’t do it, I now I shouldn’t get you involved I tried not to be selfish but I am the selfish type, so I started to watch you, your so fascinating the way you react and the way you think about things truly fascinates me and I’m curious when you read your mind is totally focus I don’t see how you can do it I’m easily distracted”
He looked at me with a big grin on his face that automatically made me smile a reply.
“you know I’m not that young, I will be sixteen this year”
He laughed
“you don’t like being called young?”
“no its not that its just I’m not that young, fourteen is young and I’m older than that”
“ok then your old”
“no I don’t want to get old, when you’re old you lose your mind and all your memories the happy and the sad, doesn’t that seem horrid to you to lose almost all memory, to forget the important people In your heart?”
“yes that dose sound miserable I would hate to forget the people I love and have loved”
We sat and stared at each other we share so many thoughts and feelings it’s fascinating.
We stayed up late talking but eventually I fell asleep last nights worry had taken its toil and I couldn’t stay awake any longer.
I was woken the next day by Tom, he had stayed all night, and I had gone into the bathroom to get changed and to brush my teeth and returned to find him still there unmoving
“its half seven, there’s half an hour before anyone else gets up”
“I should be leaving now”
I didn’t want him to leave, if was my choice I would stay off school just to stay with him
“don’t go stay a little longer”
“alright” he sighed
He turned to me and smiled, I blushed
“you know you suck your thumb in your sleep”
My cheeks were on fire, oh god I know I suck my thumb but I can’t believe I did it last night
“I know it’s a childish habit and I should stop” I sounded so embarrassed which made the whole situation worse
“no, actually it’s quite cute”
My heart was pounding in my ears, he smiled at me as if he could hear it, I want to die,
“do you have collage or some thing?”
“nope”
I scowled at him and looked away
“that’s not fear”
He chuckled
“you have one week left of school before the summer brake”
I sighed he was almost right we brake up on Thursday at two thirty
“I really have to go now”
“will I see you after school?”
“yes I will come see you”
“promise”
“I promise I will come see you after school”
He laughed and ducked out of the window I watched him jump into the tree with one leap, he turned to me and waved and I waved back he leaped into the wood and was gone I felt so happy and full of life, we had known each other for a day and we were best friends all I had to do know was figure out his secret and I already knew part of it he isn’t human ,he’s given me enough evidence for that, what is he I know he is incredibly strong, he can leap through the trees and his face and voice are beautifully perfect and his skin is cold, my alarm started screaming at me it was eight o clock, I switched my alarm of and went to wake Roger and Kyeth up
“wakey wakey, come on get up”
“mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yawn”
They got up and I went downstairs
“morning Autumn your up early”
“yep, I’m going to head of early I have a bit of home work that I need to do”
“ok sweetie, tomorrow I’m going to go pick Myles up, Roger and Kyeth are going to Damon’s I don’t think it’s fair to make you baby sit again, will you have a place to go or do you want to stay hear?”
I smiled at her
“ill sort something out”
We sat together for twenty minuets talking about people and what things mum needed to buy when she goes shopping on Wednesday at twenty past eight I set off for school, I headed straight up to the ICT room I’m one of the first people hear I sat down at my normal computer and sighed on, I had to do some research, I typed various things into Google but nothing relevant came up I sat thinking how can I work this out when all the sites I needed were blocked and then it hit me, I had been reading a book, some of the characteristics between Tom and one of the characters were the same If I could just read a little more but the book’s at home, I would have to wait until school finishes, the bell rang so I got up and headed to registration.
Carrie had been nagging me all morning about why I hadn’t called her over the weekend and I tolled her repeatedly that I had no credit, we sat down at the lunch table, our school is small so the hall was used as the cafeteria and the P.E hall, other people came and sat with us all of them I new and were friendly with but you couldn’t call us friends
“fine I will let you off for not calling me but I’m coming to Alston in the holidays and you better be around”
“sure, sure”
“good”
I knew If I hadn’t agreed then she wouldn’t have let it go, I sat pushing my dinner around my plate I wasn’t hungry so I gave it away there is always one person on this table who Is happy to eat your dinner for you, Carrie and I went up to the ICT room and worked together on finishing our last bit of homework before the holidays, the afternoon was a drag everyone was tired and some people still had hangovers from a weekend of partying.
When the final bell rang I felt so relieved, the last week of term means no after school clubs I could go straight home and read that book, as I got outside it started spiting, not enough to make the sound I loved but just enough to be irritating, Kyeth was walking home with me today which wasn’t unusual,
“so how was your day, I heard your friends weren’t in today”
He looked at me with a very miserable face
“it sucked, I was picked on again”
I sighed this happened almost every week but Kyeth and I went the people who tolled any one but each other
“why didn’t you tell me when it happened I could have helped, was it him again?”
“yep, you know its always him”
I smiled at him
“it’ll get batter soon”
We walked into the house to find it empty, we went our separate ways, I got changed and headed back down stairs mum had just got back from picking Roger up
“Autumn honey can you make me a coffee”
I lent against the side waiting for the kettle to boil and the smell of coffee drifted up from the cup, I hate coffee its just mining, the look, the taste and the smell makes my stomach churn, I took the finished coffee into the living room
“anything else”
“um no thanks”
She was helping Roger out of his uniform, I headed back upstairs I was millimetres away from the book when their was a tap on the window, I knew it was Tom and my heart reacted thumping making me slightly breathless I opened the curtains and the window and he slipped in
“you ready to go?”
“go?”
“remember your coming to my place”
“right”
I had forgotten my mind had been so raped up it trying to unravel his secret, he looked a little upset that I had forgotten about it so soon
“you don’t have to come if you don’t want to”
I grabbed my mobile and a jacket
“see you In a second”
He left the way he came and I closed the window after him and skipped downstairs and into the living room
“mum I’m going out to meet a friend I’ll be back later, ok?”
“sure, would this be a new friend?
“maybe”
She smiled at me
“be careful and keep your mobile switched on I will call you when it’s time to come home”
I kissed her on the cheek
“thanks mum” I called as I ran through the front door he was waiting at the end of the road I caught up and we started walking
“I’m sorry I forgot, I had a lot to think about”
“what were you thinking about?”
We didn’t look at each other, I looked at the floor and he looked forward
“nothing”
You could hear it in my voice that I was lying, but he didn’t ask any more questions.
We arrived at the car park by the garage and he walked over to a very shiny, expensive looking black car and un locked it, he held the passenger door open for me
“you have a car”
“yes”
He replied as if everyone has a car I slipped into the passenger seat and put the belt on, the inside looks more expensive than the outside, all the seats were light coloured leather, there were lots of fancy gadgets and loads of CD’s and everything was immaculate he climbed in and put the key in the engine
“you do have a drivers licence don’t you?”
“of course I do I’m not stupid”
“is the trip long?”
“no don’t worry, its about five minuets”
“good”
“do you get travel sick?”
“yes”
We said no more, Tom is a good driver, he was busy with his thoughts so I looked out of the window trying to memorise the rout we pulled onto a track that was hidden by trees and slowly ascended up the fell I could see no house, the clime was quite steep and I was worried that the car wouldn’t make it to the top but as we got about halfway up there was a right turn and tom quickly got out and opened a steel gate that was rusted and dirty we drove through a cluster of trees and out the other side, there stood a very old looking house, it looked like it hadn’t been lived in for centuries, their was dust on the windows, the paint work was gray and peeling and the grass was long and wild, to be honest it looked messy but it had the most gorgeous view over Alston and the moor land.
Tom got out and opened my door and I got out, he looked a bit embarrassed
“um, I’ve only just moved in so I haven’t been able to clear it up yet”
He looked at the floor like he was a chilled getting tolled off, we walked to the door, he pulled a long silver key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, he held it open for me and I stepped inside, it wasn’t much different from the outside things were dusty and the wallpaper was floral and washed out
“wow, you really need to decorate”
“well I haven’t been around much”
“it doesn’t look like anyone’s been around much”
Well there was one good thing it didn’t reek most old houses smelt like old people but this one smelt quite fresh
“I could help you decorate”
“really? Most people find that boring”
I turned and looked at him
“if looked could kill”
He put his hands up in surrender
“I’m not most people”
“ok ok I will buy some paint and you can help, how about tomorrow”
I smiled at him
“perfect, mums going out tomorrow”
We both laughed
“you might want to bring a spare pair of clothes if were using paint”
I nodded
“would you like the tour?”
“ok were do we start?”
He walked me to a large room with a striking fire place
“this is the living room”
“nice fireplace, no furniture?”
“not yet”
We want back out into the hall, there were two doors one led into a good sized dining room and the other into a kitchen that was surprisingly dirt-free and equipped with all the modern gear and tableware
“I bought some food for you Justin case you get hungry”
“right”
I knew I wouldn’t eat it, I get really uneasy about eating and things in other peoples houses, also on the first floor was a utility room and a downstairs bathroom as we headed upstairs I hadn’t been watching where I was putting my feet and tripped on an old dust sheet, I had closed my eyes I didn’t want to see the floor as it slammed into my face, I waited but nothing happened
“you can open your eyes”
Slowly my eyes opened and I saw that Tom had caught me and he was sitting on one of the steps with me cradled on his lap, I was so embarrassed my cheeks flared red as I stared up into his warm honey eyes, he was looking down at me chuckling
“come on up you get, you cant sit there all day”
Slowly and grudgingly I got up, he took my hand and led me up the rest of the way, I thought back to when he asked me if his hand was cold, his hands have never felt cold to me.
We reached the top of the stairs there were five doors all leading of from the hallway
“that ones the bathroom and the other four are bedrooms”
“you need a house with four bedrooms?”
“well I could make one into a guest room and another into an office or library”
“right, which ones yours?”
“well as I said earlier I have just moved in so nothings sorted, but that ones mine”
He looked at me embarrassed and I looked at him eagerly, he rolled his eyes
“you can have a look but its nothing special”
He walked to the door and opened it, natural light poured into the hallway and my eyes had to adjust, the room was huge with a exposed wooden floor and the cutest widow, it had a window seat built in below it that had a small floral cushion on it looking a bit worse for were, all Toms belongings were in trunks and bags and there were allot of them, I waked over to the window making sure I didn’t trip of damage any of his stuff and looked out of the window, it looked out over a decent sized back garden enclosed by a small wooden fence that would obviously need painting, I smiled to myself at first glace this house was aged and broken but if you really looked it was gorgeous, it just needed a bit of love, I turned to look at Tom he was looking at me considerately, I wondered what he was thinking, he smiled at me and I blushed and smiled back, I held out a hand and he walked forward and took it, I pulled him forward, he looked a little startled and we looked out of the window together
“your stronger than I thought”
“shhhhh, how can you find a house that is so perfect?”
“perfect?”
“its sweet and has a real heart”
“Autumn”
I turned and looked at him, he was still smiling
“you know you really look like you belong here”
I blushed and looked away
“tomorrow which room are we starting in?”
He shrugged
“the living room I guess, we’ll get rid of the wall paper and get it painted”
I nodded
“I really like this house its sweet”
“shall we go back downstairs?”
I let go of his hand and we set off, he left the room first and I gently closed the door behind us, it was dark without the window I could barely see anything, I felt Tom’s breath on the back of my neck was cool and a cold shiver fluttered down my spine, I felt his hand slide into mine and he gently placed his hand on my waist
“come on blindy this way”
He lead me back down the stairs making sure I didn’t slip by the time my eyes adjusted I could see we were in the living room, Tom was standing by the fireplace and I was by the door, slowly Tom walked around the room opening what remained of curtains
“you really need to bin those”
“yeh I guess your right”
My phone rang at that moment, it was mum she couldn’t want me to come home already it was still light outside
“you should answer that”
I nodded and clicked the receive button
“hay mum what’s up”
“nothing, I just wanted to see how things are doing”
“right”
“so how is it?”
“everything’s fine”
“good, so who’s your friend?”
“I’ll tell you later”
“ok, but I want you to be really careful you know what some people can be like, I would like you to come home in one piece, where are you?”
“mum I’m only five minuets out of Alston”
“Autumn I want you home by ten is that ok”
“that’s fine mum see you later”
“buy sweetie be safe”
she hung up, at least she didn’t ask to many questions, I looked at Tom he was staring out of the window, he turned to face me.
We sat and talked about things that need to be done to the house, Tom had dug out some big cushions so we didn’t have to sit on the floor and had drawn a map of the house, we had written notes and drawn doodles hear and there once we had finished Tom stuck it on the wall and we talked about family,
“so wares your father?”
“my dad lives down south in Cornwall were I was born”
“why?”
“my mum and dad split up when I was about three years old but mum moved up north to be with her dad and my brothers and I went with her, he visited every now and then and called us but this cost money and dad didn’t have much so it was difficult, slowly we saw him less and now we see him once a year, he got remarried and is happy”
“do you miss him?”
“yeh but he and his wife work so its difficult to organise time to see him”
He smiled at me sympathetically
“Tom can I ask you some thing, the same question you asked me when we met”
He looked at me blankly for a second
“if you must”
“do you have a girlfriend?”
He looked at me curiously and then some thing sad pushed its way through
“no, I have never found the right person, I have tried once but it didn’t work, so I swore to myself that I wouldn’t brake anyone’s heart ever again, that I would wait for my soul mate if that’s what you call it, I don’t like hurting people”
A curious teasing tone saturated his voice
“why do you ask”
My heart was beating in my ears
“no reason”
“right”
He was being totally sarcastic
“what was her name?”
“she is called Summer, Daniel and Ashlie took her in because they thought she would be a good mach for me, she’s small but loud with short blond heir, she was very girly and always wore a dress, I tried to make it work but she wasn’t my type I thought of her more as a sister than a partner”
He was looking at the floor and I was glad I was jealous she sounded perfect and sweet and it was written all over my face but I knew I couldn’t cover it up so I didn’t try
“it wasn’t working she just grated on my nerves and I couldn’t stand it any longer, I didn’t love her I barely liked her, we got on for short periods of time but anything longer than that and I began to snap I had to brake it up I knew there was someone out there for me but I didn’t want to hurt her, I didn’t want to hurt anyone but I was hurting her and myself by lying, so I broke up with her she took it badly but Daniel and Ashlie understood and helped me through it Summer recovered but was in denial and followed me every were that is one of the other reasons why I left, I guess when they come to visit you will meet her”
He looked up from the floor
“what’s wrong? You look jealous”
I replied to quickly supporting the fact that I was jealous and couldn’t hide it
“am not”
He raised his eyebrows
“I’m defiantly not, who would be jealous over you, I just feel bad for you because she sounds like a total pain”
He sat there and looked at me it was written all over his face he didn’t believe me
“what about you, have you ever had a boyfriend?”
My face twisted up and I looked sour
“yes I have”
“what’s that face for?”
“it turned out badly”
He sat and stared at me, I sighed
“he’s a boy from my school, in my year, we were In year seven and had just started secondary school, someone asked him out even though I hadn’t asked them to and he’d said yes we were close and spent most of our time together we were an item for a long time but one day I heard roomers that he had been seen with one of my friends I dug about a little and found more roomers after a while I started noticing things, she sat next to him at the dinner table and they were sending texts to each other and I found the roomers to be true, I had to brake up with him it broke my heart, I spent the next few weeks crying”
Something warm and wet ran down my cheek and I realised I had started crying, I quickly rubbed my eyes but more tears came, I looked at Tom he looked like someone had ripped his heart out and had jumped on it, there was such pain in his eyes
“I’m sorry Tom”
“you don’t need to be sorry he be trade you and hurt you”
“I know but that’s not all of it”
“it’s not?”
I sighed through the tears, couldn’t stop crying
“no, a year or two passed and stupidly I made friends with him and slowly he made his way back and we were going out again it was only a few weeks before history repeated itself and I was left crushed”
“what was his name?”
“his name is Stefan, he has blonde hair and sea green eyes”
I was still crying but these were big sobs I couldn’t look at Tom I was embarrassed, I didn’t hear him move but he wrapped his arms around me and rocked me gently like a mother would and slowly I stopped crying and hugged him back he went still for a second but carried on rocking,
“thank you Tom”
He smiled down at me
“that’s what friends are for”
I looked at the time I had ten minuets before I had to be home and as if he had read my mind Tom pulled the car keys out of his pocket
“we should head off”
I nodded he helped me up and locked the door behind him as he did before he held the passenger door open for me and got in, the engine growled to life and he drove back down the driveway he drove to the garage and walked me home
“are you coming in tonight?”
“no I’m going to give you some time, and I need to order that paint”
I giggled
“when will I see you tomorrow?”
“I will pick you up from school if you like”
“wont people think it’s a bit weird if I go off with a seventeen year old?”
“Autumn do I look seventeen?”
I looked at him
“no”
And that was being honest he really didn’t look that old
“just tell them I’m fifteen, you’ll be fine”
“see you tomorrow then”
“cant wait buy”
It sounded like he whispered something under his breath but I couldn’t be certain I waved him off and walked into the house.
Mum interviewed me that night but all I tolled her was that his name is Tom he’s fifteen, American and new around hear she didn’t sound so concerned when she heard his age
“so have you found anywhere to go after school tomorrow?”
“yep, I’m going to Tom’s”
“you seem to spend allot of time with him”
“mum I’m helping him redecorate, you should see his house, it has that lovely feeling to it but it needs allot of work”
“ok sweetie how are you getting there?”
“Toms meeting me at school and were going to go then”
“ok but be careful you know what boys that age are like”
“mum! Toms not like that”
We smiled at each other
“I’m glad you have found a new friend but it’s late and you should be in bead”
I rolled my eyes
“ok, love you see you in the morning”
“night sweetie”
I got to my room and changed into my pyjamas, I sat on my bed thinking about Tom he was so perfect and I remembered the book and Toms secret I picked the book up and flicked through it all the words were there inhumanly beautiful, attractive voice, cold skinned, strong, fast but there were words that caught me off guard like un dead and immortal and one thing that caught my eye was drinking blood could this really be Tom’s secret all these things concluded to one thing, Vampire, could Tom really be a vampire I have to admit he is inhumanly beautiful and his voice is defiantly attractive but that wasn’t what made me believe this could be him it was cold skinned, he had said him self that his hand was meant to be cold and the strength he had almost punched a hole in that tree but I couldn’t think of anything for speed, I thought about it and slowly I remembered today on the Steris he had caught me before I hit the ground, I don’t know about un dead but he had looked away when he had said his age and he said he was on a special diet, most of it fit, I wasn’t sure but I think Tom Cullen is a vampire.

chapter 5 the secret