Kidnapped By The Vampire Prince

I rolled my eyes at him. “And here I actually thought you were going to say something semi-romantic.”

“Me? Never,” he replied with an impish grin. “Look, there are the others!”

Following his pointing finger, my gaze landed on Alli, Leah, and Joel, who came in place of Fiona seeing as how she was helping Sebastian with something back at the manor. He started jogging up to me, an apologetic look on his face. “Hey, Emily. Do you mind if I leave? Samuel is in dire need of someone to play Halo with-”

“He’s lying,” Leah interjected, smiling slyly. “He’s going on a date. Some girl named Tiffany.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”

Joel scowled at Leah. “You ruin everything, you know that?”

“Who’s Tiffany?” I asked, feeling a smile spreading onto my face.

He pursed his lips at me. “Never mind.”

“Aw, are you embarrassed?”

“Do you care if I go or not?” he demanded.

“Umm, is that a good idea?”

“Yeah. Nothing’ll happen with this many people around,” he told me casually. “Just make sure you go right home after you leave.”

Going against my gut feeling of telling him to stay, I agreed with him, and let him leave. Kai and I rejoined the rest of the group. Alli was holding a half-eaten baked potato. As I approached, she held it out to me to take. I shook my head to refuse her offer. “So have you guys looked around yet?”

“A little bit,” Leah responded, folding her arms over her chest. “There’s a lot of food booths. Not so many game ones.”

“Are you kidding me? There are plenty!” Alli disagreed, looking at her friend skeptically. “Are you sure you don’t need glasses?”

Leah rolled her eyes. “I’m sure.”

“Let’s take another swoop around then,” I suggested, leading the way.

“Swoop!” Kai mimicked.

I shoved him sideways, causing him to laugh. “Don’t make fun of me.”

We circled the entire carnival twice; taking in everything was there. During the second round, I stopped and bought some cotton candy. After that, Kai started pestering us to play games. My hand found its way into my pocket, fingering the money I had on me. Normally I spent way too much at these types of attractions, so this time I’d decided to limit myself and only bring thirty. With the purchase of my cotton candy, that left me twenty-five. Enough for a few games.

“Emily,” Kai started, turning his pleading eyes toward me. “You know what you should do? Play that basketball game and win me a giant penguin.”

“That’s not fair,” Leah complained. “I want one of those gigantic stuffed animals too! You can only win once!”

Kai stared at her. “Then play yourself.”

“But with Emily it’s a guaranteed win!”

“I asked her first, so ha!”

“Emily!”

I crossed my arms. “How about you both try to win for yourself? That sounds pretty fair to me.”

Kai shoved me toward the basketball hoops. “Just go win something for me.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. “But you and Leah can fight ’till the death for the plushy. I’m not choosing.”

Determination flashed across Leah’s face. “Understood.”

.

.

Together we walked up to the worker in charge of the booth. He was a grizzly old man, resembling a bear in many ways starting with the thick beard on his chin and his bulky physique. A happy smile crossed his face as I stopped in front of him. “Would you like to play? Two dollars for one ball, five for three.”

“She only needs one,” Kai told the man confidently, holding out two singles to him.

“Sure,” he responded, taking the money and tossing me a ball. “Good luck. One in wins you any prize.”

No sooner had he finished his sentence, my basketball swished in the net. The worker’s jaw dropped. “W-what would you like for your prize?” he finally asked after a moment of awed silence.

“Penguin,” I said, pointing to the black and white animal. When he gave me it, I quickly put it on the ground. “Okay. You guys can go after it in three, two, one…” I stepped away from the stuffed animal and Kai and Leah both lunged for it, causing Alli and I to burst out laughing. Leah had its feet while Kai had its flippers and they were both caught in some kind of tug-a-war.

“While they’re busy, I’m going to get a drink,” I told Alli, slipping around her in search for a food stand or trailer. In the immediate area were only game booths, so I had to travel a little ways before I could find a concession one. I went to the closest one and ordered a can of overpriced coke. As I turned to go back, a familiar silver-haired person entered my vision: The smoky-eyed man.

My breath caught in my throat. What was he doing here? By the looks of it, he was alone. He stood casually, his hands in his tight black jeans’ pockets. A light blue, long-sleeved Hollister shirt covered his torso. An expression of mild amusement was on his face as he watched a couple of children play with tiny water guns. My feet were glued to the ground as I stared at him. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. What I needed to do was find out who he as, but I didn’t want to go over to talk to him. What if he was Ashton? No one was around to help me out.

With that thought in mind, I spun my heel to go round the booth I was at so I could evade him. As long as he stayed where he was, I could pass without being noticed. My pace was unusually quick as I all but jogged past the two booths that separated us. What if he noticed me? Would he even recognize me if I was moving this fast? Would he call out to me? Did he remember my name? What if-

My thoughts were cut off when someone suddenly turned the corner of the water gun booth, causing my body to barrel into theirs. Two firm hands steadied me as my head reeled from the impact. My body went rigid when I recognized the Hollister shirt. When my eyes met smoky grey ones, I wasn’t surprised. The young man smiled at me. “Hello, Emily.”

“H-hey,” I stuttered, taking a step back away from him as casually as I could manage. If I acted normal, he wouldn’t think anything was weird between us.

“We always seem to be running into each other,” he told me, his voice deep and smooth.

I nodded in agreement. “S’pose so…”

“I don’t think I’ve ever formally introduced myself,” he started, holding out a slim hand to me. “My name’s Kyle.”

Kyle? I eyed him suspiciously. “We’ve never met before. How did you know my name?”

“I’ve seen you on Facebook,” he admitted sheepishly. “Friends of friends.”

“Like who?” My voice sounded more accusing than I intended.

“Well for starters, Kai.”

My shoulders sagged in relief. If he knew Kai, that meant he definitely wasn’t Ashton. “Oh, well nice to meet you in person.”

.

.

Together we walked up to the worker in charge of the booth. He was a grizzly old man, resembling a bear in many ways starting with the thick beard on his chin and his bulky physique. A happy smile crossed his face as I stopped in front of him. “Would you like to play? Two dollars for one ball, five for three.”

“She only needs one,” Kai told the man confidently, holding out two singles to him.

“Sure,” he responded, taking the money and tossing me a ball. “Good luck. One in wins you any prize.”

No sooner had he finished his sentence, my basketball swished in the net. The worker’s jaw dropped. “W-what would you like for your prize?” he finally asked after a moment of awed silence.

“Penguin,” I said, pointing to the black and white animal. When he gave me it, I quickly put it on the ground. “Okay. You guys can go after it in three, two, one…” I stepped away from the stuffed animal and Kai and Leah both lunged for it, causing Alli and I to burst out laughing. Leah had its feet while Kai had its flippers and they were both caught in some kind of tug-a-war.

“While they’re busy, I’m going to get a drink,” I told Alli, slipping around her in search for a food stand or trailer. In the immediate area were only game booths, so I had to travel a little ways before I could find a concession one. I went to the closest one and ordered a can of overpriced coke. As I turned to go back, a familiar silver-haired person entered my vision: The smoky-eyed man.

My breath caught in my throat. What was he doing here? By the looks of it, he was alone. He stood casually, his hands in his tight black jeans’ pockets. A light blue, long-sleeved Hollister shirt covered his torso. An expression of mild amusement was on his face as he watched a couple of children play with tiny water guns. My feet were glued to the ground as I stared at him. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. What I needed to do was find out who he as, but I didn’t want to go over to talk to him. What if he was Ashton? No one was around to help me out.

With that thought in mind, I spun my heel to go round the booth I was at so I could evade him. As long as he stayed where he was, I could pass without being noticed. My pace was unusually quick as I all but jogged past the two booths that separated us. What if he noticed me? Would he even recognize me if I was moving this fast? Would he call out to me? Did he remember my name? What if-

My thoughts were cut off when someone suddenly turned the corner of the water gun booth, causing my body to barrel into theirs. Two firm hands steadied me as my head reeled from the impact. My body went rigid when I recognized the Hollister shirt. When my eyes met smoky grey ones, I wasn’t surprised. The young man smiled at me. “Hello, Emily.”

“H-hey,” I stuttered, taking a step back away from him as casually as I could manage. If I acted normal, he wouldn’t think anything was weird between us.

“We always seem to be running into each other,” he told me, his voice deep and smooth.

I nodded in agreement. “S’pose so…”

“I don’t think I’ve ever formally introduced myself,” he started, holding out a slim hand to me. “My name’s Kyle.”

Kyle? I eyed him suspiciously. “We’ve never met before. How did you know my name?”

“I’ve seen you on Facebook,” he admitted sheepishly. “Friends of friends.”

“Like who?” My voice sounded more accusing than I intended.

“Well for starters, Kai.”

My shoulders sagged in relief. If he knew Kai, that meant he definitely wasn’t Ashton. “Oh, well nice to meet you in person.”

.

.