Is Santa Clause real too?

Ana Pov

I stood outside my motel feeling the morning sun against my skin. I checked my watch for the hundredth time. It read 8:27 am. Most people would be heading to their first class by now but not me. No, I'm standing outside counting the seconds and hoping with all my might he wouldn't abandon me. It's this moment that makes me realize how much I need him to accept me. If he doesn't come back I don't know how I will be able to do this.

The door behind me opened and I hear lights steps follow.

"You've been out here since 6am" Marie said coming up beside me. I offer her a small smile. It's the best I can do given the amount of anxiety I'm feeling.

"I know. I'm just worried I lost him. It's not like I could even blame him for not coming back" I said dropping my head and fighting my tears. Marie's tiny hand gently lay on my shoulder. The action offered me some soothing.

"Ana, he will come back. He cares too deeply for you to just leave you now" Marie said softly. I closed my eyes and tried to find comfort in her words but I couldn't. I was too afraid.

"He's my best friend! I need him! When I close my eyes all I can see Simons horrified face." My voice gets a bit hysterical as my mind flashes back to last night when everything changed. When I told my best friend in the whole world that I was a vampire...

Last night...

“Come on you have something else to do” Seb said beginning to walk off.

“What else could I possibly have to do at 2am?” I asked half complaining. He stopped and turned back to me with a serious face

“You have to tell your friends you’re a vampire or leave them forever. Your choice Ana” Seb turned to walk back to the motel not aware of the turmoil his words just caused in me.

He can't be serious. I just got Simon back in my life, telling him I'm a vampire would surely send him packing. Or at the very least trying to get me committed for insanity.

"No" I whispered. Seb stopped. Slowly turning back to me

"What?" He asked. I looked him the eye and squared my shoulders.

"No!" I repeated more confidently. "I won't tell Simon"

"You must-"

"I can't! He is all I have! He is my best friend and the only one who has always been there for me! If I tell him I'll lose him." The last sentence actually hurt coming out my mouth. Simon has been the only person I could count on. I never even considered telling him about my turning. Simon is just such a reasonable person that vampires don't fit into his thinking. Sure he loves science fiction but it's always just fiction to him. He will lose it if he finds out something's aren't so much fiction after all.

"Ana, I know you’re scared but it's for the benefit of everyone. Marcos and Talon are after us. You have to explain the danger you accidentally put him in and why. If not we have to disappear. And I know it'll hurt you more to leave him searching for you again with no answers" Seb said taking steps in my direction.

 I gazed at him with tears in my eyes because he was right. If I just take off that would hurt Simon more than it did two years ago. He deserves an explanation. Even if I do lose him in the process I should at least let him make the choice himself.

"I hate when you’re right" I said with a chuckle. Seb graced me with that beautiful smile of his that he never lets show.

"I know. Now let’s go" He replied nodding his head in the direction of the motel. Grudgingly I follow. I know I have to tell Simon the truth but that doesn't make it any easier.

We entered the room to complete silence. Jace was standing by the window lost in thought. From the scowl on his face I was sure it had something to do with that kiss earlier. Simon and Marie were sitting on the bed. And Lily strangely enough was eating pizza.

"Where'd you get a pizza at this time of night?" I asked fully stepping into the room and closing the door behind me.

"Money can get anything. Want some?" She said shoveling another piece into her mouth. Pizza is the last thing on my mind. I take a glance at Simon. He has a warm smile on his face. That'll fall off after I drop this bomb on him.

"You feel better?" I ask Simon as I take a seat on the other side of him.

"Yeah, I puked up most of the liquor and Marie here nursed me back to health" Simon replied with a grin on his face. Marie had a slight blush to her cheek at his words. Wonder what that's all about.

I stood back up and began to prepare myself for my next announcement of the night. Glancing around the room at everyone I started to feel slightly nervous. Even though only two of them didn't know my secret, I was still a wreak.

Well it's now or never.

 I swallowed the dry lump in my throat and began.

"Umm I have something to tell you" I started looking Simon in the eye. He gave me a questioning gaze in return

"It's cool Ana. I know that fight between you and Kim wasn't your fault. Honestly I'm glad that you finally defended yourself. I like the new Ana" Simon said smiling proudly at me. That's great he just had to say that and make this even harder. We’ll see how much he likes the new Ana when he finds out she's a bloodsucker.

"Uh thanks Sy, but that's not what I meant" I paused. My eyes met with Seb and I could see the encouragement in his. I sucked in a breathe and let it out slow

"Simon what I'm about to tell you is the truth. And please don't freak out. But..." I stop again, close my eyes and blurt it out. "Simon I'm a vampire." 

For the second time tonight I'm met with silence after a declaration. Peeking open my eyes Simon’s confused face comes into view. If my heart could beat it would be hammering.

All of a sudden Simon bursts out laughing.

"Wow! New Ana has a sense of humor! Awesome!" He said still laughing. No one in the room spoke. We all just watched Simons hysterical laughing. It even left me speechless. Simon finally realized that he was the only one seeing this as a joke and his laughter died down.

"Whoa wait. You’re serious!" Simon accused. All eyes turned to me. The only thing I could do was nod my head.

"Ana" Simon said standing and gently taking my hand "Vampires aren't real. I don't know what happened to you the last two years, but now that your home we can get you the help you need" Simon told me nicely as he pet my hand like he would an injured puppy.

Is he trying to call me crazy?

Of course he is! It's Simon!

I pulled my hand back "Sy I'm not crazy" I said a little offended by his assessment of my sanity.

The expression on his face was enough to know he didn't believe me

"Okay. Do you want to talk about what's been happening since you left?" He asked in a manner someone would when talking to a basket case.

This is unbelievable! I was sure he would freak out not treat me like a mental patient! Okay maybe I thought he would think I was crazy but not to this point.

"Look I'm perfectly sane considering all the crap thrown in my life. But if it helps you understand I'll tell you what happened. I ran away, tried to save a girl and failed. The man that killed her was a vampire that also killed me. Except I didn't stay dead, instead I turned. He kidnapped me for the last two years until Seb and Marie helped me escape before escaping themselves. That pretty much sums it up" I rambled on so fast I wasn’t sure he heard it all.

I gaged him for the reaction I was expecting.

 Still Simon didn't react.

He just gave me that look of pity. My best friend truly thinks I lost my marbles.

"Ana maybe we should take you home to see your mom" Simon suggested.

Oh my gosh! That's it! It’s time for some drastic measures. Not thinking beforehand, I let my fangs sprout from mouth, accompanied by a frightening vampire hiss. Both Simon and Lily screamed. Simons was higher in pitch.

 My best friend tried to get away from me so fast he tripped over his own feet and fell hard on his ass. The look of fear on his face had me wishing I would have thought that through more. I watched wide eyed Simon scramble on the floor away from me.

“WH-WHAT THE HELL ANA!” Simon finally got off the ground and went to the other side of the room next to Jace.

“I tried to tell you but you kept treating me like I was loco so I just showed you instead” I explained pushing my fangs back

“YOU HAVE FANGS! YOU’RE EYES TURNED RED! THIS CAN’T BE REAL!” Simon shouted and was now pacing and mumbling to himself. Honestly this is going better than expected. I mean he is still here, even if he may be going a little insane himself

“That probably wasn’t the best way to break the news Ana” Jace said clearly annoyed by my methods

“YOU KNEW?!” Simon shouted at Jace. I really wish he would stop yelling. Jace nodded

“I CANT BELIEVE THIS! VAMPIRES! NO WAY” Simon continued to rant

“Jace is a witch!” Marie said out of nowhere. We all turned to her small frame now standing next to her brothers much larger one “Well he should know Ana isn’t the only one with secrets” Marie added defending me or herself, I couldn’t tell

“Is that true?” Simon asked Jace in a much calmer voice. Jace narrowed his eyes at Marie before turning back to Simon

“Yes” He finally admitted

“Half-witch to be exact” Seb tossed in with a smirk.

Simon collapsed onto the bed face toward the ceiling. For a second I thought he fainted but realized quickly he was just staring at the checkered roof in shock.

“THIS IS SO COOL!” Lily screamed jumping from her chair. Just my luck to put my real best friend in shock and my stalker in heaven.

“You are the coolest person I know! I mean you’re a vampire! That is so awesome!” Lily went on gleefully in her own world. I’m starting to think she needs to be committed. Who in their right mind would think this is cool. “I want to be like you when I grow up!” she added

“You’re older than me” I reminded her. She waved me off and turned her wild antics on Jace

“So are you a wizard? Or warlock? Do you have a wand?” She fired questions at Jace inching closer to his face. Jace’s expression almost made me laugh. He tried to put space between them but Lily had him in a corner

“I-I’m not a warlock or wizard and I don’t have a wand. Those are fairytales.” Jace said trying to get around Lily.

“So what are you? I thought witches were girls” Lily said blocking his escape

“No. Being a witch isn’t gender specific the way humans make it out to be. It’s a birthright. Humans just tend to only catch female witches practicing. Now can you move?” Jace didn’t wait for Lily’s answer and swiftly darted his way past her.

“As entertaining as this all is, Ana didn’t make her announcement for fun. There are some vampires after her to harm her. You three must choose to help Ana fight or stay out of it. Either way we leave at daybreak” Seb said stepping up and putting us back on course.

 I looked back to Simon as he lay in his shocked state. I wanted to talk alone but if I get close to him I might scare him. All I can do is wait and hope he can handle this. At this moment it’s not looking so good. 

“I’m in!” Lily jumped up raising her hand and beaming at me. Of course she is! I don’t think I could get rid of my new friend if I tried. Harder that is.

Simon abruptly sat up. I took a step in his direction but the look in his eyes stopped me. He was afraid of me. Seeing that hurt me deeply. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. I wanted for a second for everyone to disappear and give me a moment with my friend.

 Jace slowly walked over to Simon and handed him the old book Helia gave me. Why would he do that? Simon gave him a weary gaze before slowly taking the leather bound book.

“This explains what we are and where we come from. It should help you understand” Jace said moving back to give Simon some space. Simon nodded and swallowed so hard I could see his Adams apple bouncing. I felt like I should say something but I couldn’t find any words. My worse fear was coming true.

Simon glanced around the room cautiously. When his eyes landed on me I could see how torn, confused and afraid he was. He stood and made his way to the door

“Simon, please don’t go” I begged finally finding my lost voice. He paused with his hand on the knob.

“I’m sorry Ana” he whispered ripping the door open. By the time the door closed behind him the tears fell.

“I’ll go make sure he gets home safe” Jace said following Simon out the room.

 Somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered if that would be last time I saw my dearest friend…

Back to the Present…

“Ana, its 8:45am, we can’t wait much longer” Seb’s voice cut through my thoughts of last night’s events. Even though Simon walked out on me I still held hope he would come back.  We were after all close; I pray he doesn’t forget that. Another minute slipped by and my hope was fading. How stupid of me to think that I could tell someone like Simon I’m a vampire and expect him to just “hey that’s great” yeah right. He’s not Lily.

Speaking of Lily, I could hear her talking to Marie from inside. They were arguing about Lily’s mini skirt not being practical for our trip. It was funny easy dropping from so far away. Got to love these vampire ears. Though I would trade it all to have my friend back.

Just as I was about to meet the others inside, I heard the sound I’ve been dreaming to hear all morning. The screeching of Simons beat up car trudging into the parking lot. I was so overcome with joy my vampire speed carried to the parking lot in a second. Simon didn’t even have the car in park yet and I eagerly ripped the door open. Literally I tore his rusted door right off the car.

“Holy shit Ana!” Simon said clutching the steering wheel

“Sorry, I got too excited” I said sheepishly placing the door gently on the ground “I’ll fix that”

Simon laughed as he got out. The sound was music to my ears. “Don’t worry about it, this car is a piece of crap, we both know that” Simon smiled at me and I couldn’t help but engulf him in a hug. I was so happy that he was here I could scream. When I let go, Simon released a huge breath

“Geez your strong” He said breathlessly

“Sorry again, I thought I was hugging you lightly. I’m so happy you came back” I told him

“We are best friends, I would never leave you. Human or not you’ll always be my friend” Simon’s tender words caused a tear to slip from my eyes. Friendship isn’t about quantity it’s about quality. And with friends like Simon I can get through anything.

“Glad to have you back” Jace said walking up slapping Simon on the back. Seb, Marie and a pouting casually dressed Lily joined us too.

“Now that we are all here I can go over the plan quickly. I’m positive Talon or Marcos is gaining on us. So we need to get out of this town fast but without a trace. I read up on this town a few weeks ago and found there are tunnels that run underground into four major cities” Seb began

“Yes, but no one’s been in those tunnels for years” Jace added

“I’m sure I know why. There is a possibility that these tunnels maybe inhabited by creatures. Even so it’s our safest route out of the town without a chance of being caught or tracked.” Seb stated in his serious leader voice. It’s cute when he goes all Mr. Authority, sometimes.

“Creatures?” Lily questioned

“Do you mean Dwellers?” Simon asked. We all stared at him wondering what he meant

“Yes. How do you know about Dwellers?” Seb asked curiously. Simon shuffled through his backpack until he pulled out the book Helia gave me.

“They were in this. I spent most of the night reading about all these mythical creatures to help me understand what Ana and Jace are” Simon explained flipping furiously through the pages until he found the one he was searching for “Here, page 287 talks about the Dwellers or the cursed ones. It says “due to their violent nature and brutal killings of thousands of fae, Celeste the creator cursed them. She stripped them of their fangs, sight and immunity to light, forcing them to survive underground. During the wars on Nexus some escaped through the portal and came here thinking it would break their curse, but it didn’t’” Simon read only stopping when Lily gasped

“You think the Dwellers are here?” I asked Seb. I did live here my whole life and never once encountered anything supernatural

“When I researched the town’s history I ran across some stories about killings here a hundred years ago. They are consistent with the way Dwellers kill” Seb replied

“Dwellers have nails sharp enough to cut through metal. They use them to rip into their prey, drain them of all their blood before finally eating the skin, eyes and teeth of the victim” Simon said reading right from the book again

“What! There is no way I’m going down into some dark tunnels now!” Lily burst out “I can call my dad and have him send a jet or something” She offered instead

“We need a quick escape. Waiting on a plane is too long” Seb shot that idea down “Besides we have weapons and there is an exit every mile if we run into trouble” Seb added. This sounds very dangerous but what choice do we have.

“Does anyone have any better ideas” Jace asked looking around our small circle. All the faces were filled with dread and fear, including mine. Hopefully Seb’s research was outdated and the scariest thing down there would be the rats.

“Well then, the closest entrance is in the woods. Once we get there I will hand out flashlights and weapons” Seb said leading the way. We all timidly followed behind him. Maybe I should at least pretend to be brave since I am the only vampire. But from the description of these creatures Simon gave us, that’s easier said than done.

“I have to ask” Lily said breaking the silence right as we entered the woods. “Seeing that vampires and witches are real, is Santa Clause real too?” She asked hopefully.

  We all stopped walking and stared at her

“What? It’s a legitimate question!” She said defensively  

“No, Lily as far we know Santa remains a myth” I replied

“Damn. Guess that could explain why I didn’t get David Beckham for Christmas last year” She stated seriously.

Marie started to giggle and soon enough I joined too, along with Simon, Jace and a chuckle from Seb. She may be slightly annoying but Lily is entertaining and she managed to take our minds off the pending danger we were walking into.

That was until the unthinkable happened...

Halfway into the woods my whole body froze

There was a scent in the air that I would never forget no matter how much I tried. Seb instantly noticed my tense unmoving body and rushed to my side

“Ana, what’s wrong?” He asked full of concern

“Seb I can smell him. He’s here” I said cautiously darting my eyes around all the tress surrounding us. Seb immediately became stiff and slowly reached into the back of his pants for his gun.

“Who? Who’s here?” He whispered to me doing a slow scan of the area around us. I closed my eyes and inhaled deep. I was absolutely sure now that he was indeed close.

“Talon…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**************A/N: FANGERS!!!!!! I MISSED YOU ALL SOO MUCH!!!!\

*********** I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION IN SPAIN AND IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TIME OF MY LIFE AMAZING N BEAUTIFUL!****

************NOW I'M BACK!!!! SO MORE UPDATES 4 YOU ALL!*******

*************THERE WASNT A LOT OF ACTION IN THIS CHPT BUT THERE WILL BE IN THE NEXT SO STAY TUNED!!!!!!!!!!!**********************

****************ALL THE SUPPORT WHILE I WAS GONE IS SOOO WONDERFUL! I HEART YOU ALL SO MUCH! THANKS FOR HAVING MY BACK AND STILL READING  PURE!!!!!!!!!**************************

*************NO CLUE WHO TO PUT A PICTURE OF SO JUST TELL ME WHO YOU WANT TO SEE AND I WILL ADD THE PIC***************

******************UNTIL NEXT TIME FANGERS!*********************

*******************WHICH WILL BE SOON.............*******************

********************FANG ON!!!!!!!!!!FANGERS!!!!!!!!******************