A/N:
Date 9-19-17

Hey! Sorry for taking so long to update this chapter. I thought I already put up chapter five of this book. My bad XD

This is what happens when you write three books at once. But I do not regret my decision bc I love all of my books (If you hadn't heard from my other book, I am writing a third book. If you want more info on that it's in my book: Basically My Online Diary)

Word Count: 2855

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Chapter 5: Unforeseen Visitor

I didn't say a word, frozen in place as my boyfriend got off the elevator and came towards me. Or maybe he's my ex boyfriend. I really wasn't sure of our relationship status at the time. And I hadn't stopped to contemplate it because I didn't think he'd show up.

Zane grabbed me by the arm, pulling me along with a furious look on his face. I could tell I was in a world of trouble for leaving him like that. All I said in the note I left was that I was leaving and I'd miss him. Heck, if I received a note like that, I would be beyond angry.

I didn't protest as Zane pulled me down the hall. I even went as far as to make sure I kept up with him and my expression was blank so I wasn't angry or confused looking. That way if anyone saw Zane dragging me down the hallway, it wouldn't look like he was kidnapping me. I wouldn't want him to get in trouble.

Zane must've used his heightened sense of smell to figure out where my room was, because once we rounded the corner that's where we went.

Zane pulled me by my arm into my hospital room, closing the door immediately behind us. Once he did that, Zane let go of my arm and faced me with an unreadable expression.

It killed me to not know what he was thinking, but I would've never invaded his privacy by reading his thoughts if I had the chance. But because Zane used to have telepathy, I couldn't read his thoughts. Like how I couldn't ever read Lucy's thoughts.

I had briefly seen Zane's emotions at the elevator because he'd been as shocked as I was, but he put his wall back up to shield himself.

I decided to break the silence then because it seemed that he was waiting for me to speak up. "Look, Zane-" He cut me off immediately, closing the distance between us and smashing his lips against mine.

His movements were an outraged frenzy as I kissed him back, both of us stumbling until my back hit the wall. I could almost taste his emotions as he held onto my hips and I wound my hands into his blonde hair. It was as soft as I remembered.

Zane's grip tightened and he pushed me against the wall, becoming closer than I thought we could be in a situation like that. A situation I never thought I'd be in.

Zane broke away mid kiss, only locking eyes with me for a moment before he rested his head on my shoulder. I released my hold on Zane's hair, moving my hands to his back. I could feel his muscles move as he breathed in and out deeply to calm himself.

I hadn't realized until then how much I had really missed Zane. I hadn't allowed myself to. I didn't think I could let go of him this time. Not even for my family. I had to make him stay with me and help search for Jake so I wouldn't have to let him go again.

Zane took a step back with his head down and his hair mostly hiding his eyes. I felt it was his intention to hide them, but I caught a glimpse of red before his gaze hit the floor. Was he angry with me?

"What was that for?" I whispered to Zane, hesitant to break the tense silence between us.

Zane looked up at me, his eyes back to their normal dark blue that I had learned to love. Even though Zane was a vampire, and he pretended to be evil for awhile, I couldn't help falling for him.

It wasn't even the mysterious vibe that he gave off most of the time. It was his dark humor and the way he let me see what was wrong when he shut everyone else out. It was the way he always kissed me like we were running out of time and how he held me like I wasn't something fragile. He wasn't afraid of hurting me because he cared for me and knew that I was strong.

Zane had always believed in me and trusted me to make the right decisions. He never tried to stop me from doing anything. Like the day I talked to Ash after I found out about his bipolar tendencies. Zane didn't want me going anywhere near Ash, but he let me talk to him because it was what I wanted.

"I wanted to remind you of what that felt like before you tell me it's over. Maybe make you hesitate." Zane said with his chin up, not afraid to say outright what he meant. But I didn't get it.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I thought over what he said. "You thought I was going to break up with you?" I questioned as I finally understood what he said. I felt light headed again as his words kept repeating in a jumbled form in my mind like a broken record.

The only indication of change in emotion I got from Zane was when he clenched his jaw. He thought I was breaking up with him, that I was about to send him away. "I wasn't going to. I'm not going to. I- I want to be with you, Zane." I admitted as I grabbed hold of his hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

Zane stared down at our joined hands as he responded. "You left. You didn't answer your phone when I called."

Zane's words were true, but I regretted not talking to him. I hated myself every time I hit ignore when his name appeared on my cell phone screen. But it was only because I couldn't let him find me. Zane knew the dangers I would face by going home. I would put my family in danger and set myself up for exposure. And that's exactly what I did.

"I couldn't answer. I couldn't talk to you after leaving like that. But I had to help my family. I had to go home." I tried to explain, squeezing Zane's hand in mine until he looked back up at me.

"And what happened? Why are you in the hospital? You lost control, didn't you?" Zane accused in a soft voice, not being hateful in the slightest.

I glanced away from Zane in embarrassment, the shame and reality of what happened hitting me right in the gut. I could've killed my family.

That time Zane gave my hand a squeeze of reassurance. "I'm so sorry, Alicia." Zane said sincerely, pulling me into a hug.

I moved to put my arms around him when I realized what was being implied. "I didn't hurt them." I blurted out, causing Zane to step back to study my face.

"You didn't hurt them? How? Why are you here if no one's hurt?" Zane questioned me, furrowing his eyebrows with worry shining in his eyes.

"I got hurt. I mean, I lost control of my senses at dinner and ended up passing out..." I said with a shrug, attempting to make it sound less horrible than it was.

"What do you mean dinner? It's like three o'clock in the afternoon." Zane stated with a frown.

I didn't say anything, shocked at the fact that I'd been unconscious for almost 24 hours. "This happened yesterday? You were out a long time then." Zane observed with concern.

"I guess so." I said quietly, my head down as I stared at the ground. I was trying to process everything at once, but more thoughts and questions kept popping up to disturb the order I had going in my thoughts. In other words, I couldn't think straight.

Zane took hold of my chin lightly, tilting my head up so we were eye to eye once again. Zane leaned forward, giving me time to pull away, but I didn't want to. It was a tender kiss this time, not all sharp edges and aggression like before.

The door to my hospital room opened just then, causing me to jump away from Zane like a guilty teenager who got caught making out with her boyfriend in front of her parents. Zane let his hand fall back to his side as he glanced over to the person walking inside.

As soon as Zane saw Dr. Taylor coming in with a clipboard he was examining, he super sped over to stand protectively in front of me.

Dr. Taylor slowly looked up at us, seeing the situation for what it was. Dr. Taylor put his hands out in front of himself in an unthreatening way to show he wasn't about to openly attack. Then he raised an eyebrow teasingly and asked, "Am I interrupting something?"

"No." I replied coldly, still not absolutely sure that Dr. Taylor wasn't in league with Storm.

"Who's this?" Dr. Taylor asked, even though it was none of his business. He also didn't give me or Zane a chance to answer. "If he's the one who turned you, he's doing an awful job as your sire." Dr. Taylor announced, narrowing his eyes judgingly at Zane.

"You're supposed to watch over your fledglings, not leave them to fend for themselves and get themselves into situations like this! You're lucky she didn't kill her whole family last night!" Dr. Taylor exclaimed, speaking directly to Zane in his assumptions.

Zane growled at Dr. Taylor, flashing his red eyes defensively and clenching his fists at his sides, as if preparing for a fight. "Hey," I cut in, conveying my annoyance through my tone of voice. "Zane isn't my sire! And I can handle myself. I would never hurt my family." I proclaimed in defiance.

"Clearly." Dr. Taylor replied inquisitively. "And how did you do that?"

"Why don't you stop asking her questions?" Zane demanded protectively in a vigilant stance.

"Because I want to know how she did it! She's the strongest vampire I've seen in awhile. Hardly anyone can resist the urge to drop their humanity. Especially a newborn." Dr. Taylor admitted, although we'd already guessed that was his motives.

"I didn't kill my family. It's not that rare." Zane played it off as nothing. "Besides, her sire was stronger than most and it was passed onto her." Zane added to throw Dr. Taylor off track.

"What happened to her sire?" Dr. Taylor asked, both of them speaking as if I wasn't standing right there.

I took a step away from Zane to remind him and the doctor of my presence. "I ran away. I had to go home. And I have to stay with my family. I'm not leaving."

Zane turned slightly to face me while keeping Dr. Taylor in his line of sight, not seeming surprised by my words but looking ready to argue.

"You can't stay here. You will end up hurting your family or getting yourself exposed." Dr. Taylor rationalized, beating Zane to it.

Zane sighed, his eyes turning back to the same dark blue as the doctor's. "I hate to say it, but that guy is right."

"My name is Doctor Taylor." The doctor told Zane, which was a waste of time because Zane ignored him.

"You are putting your family in danger, Alicia." Zane disagreed with me. I could tell by the look he was giving me that this discussion was taking on a double meaning.

"I know what I'm doing." I informed Zane confidently, staring intently into his darkening eyes.

I could guess that Zane was thinking the same thing I did. We both thought that Storm could find me any day at any time and decide to take out my punishment on my family. Storm could take Lucy or my parents. I was sure he was the reason that my older brother was missing. Jake wouldn't just run off. He wasn't like that.

"Your parents and sister are coming. He needs to hide." Dr. Taylor announced suddenly, shattering my worried thoughts.

"I'm not falling for that again." I growled out at the doctor, not daring to listen to him again and get myself hurt.

"Alicia, I hear someone coming this way." Zane told me cautiously, reaffirming what Dr. Taylor said.

"It could be anybo-" I stopped talking mid sentence when I caught Lucy's scent from down the hall.

"Oh, no. You have to hide!" I whisper shouted at Zane, already knowing he didn't have time to get out.

"But where?" Zane asked in a normal tone, glancing around the room.

"Under the bed." Dr. Taylor suggested, pointing to the slim space underneath my hospital bed.

Zane wasn't big by any standards, but that hiding spot would be a tight fit for him. I listened closely and determined that my family was less than a minute away from walking through the door and seeing me standing next to a teenage guy dressed in all black.

A guy they didn't know and didn't trust. That would result in even more questions for me, and I couldn't even answer the questions that had been piling up lately. How could I explain this?

Zane muttered a string of profanities before dropping to the floor and squeezing himself under the bed. It had to be crushing his chest because the space was so small. Good thing he didn't have to breathe.

I heard my family's footsteps indicating that they were only a few feet from the door. Using my super speed, I leaped back into my hospital bed, trying not to crush Zane anymore than was necessary.

Before I saw it coming, Dr. Taylor grabbed my arm and attached a new IV onto my arm. I flinched as the needle pierced my skin and I glared at the doctor.

Dr. Taylor only shrugged at me. I hadn't even seen him getting the new IV ready. I must've been too distracted. I followed the doctor's movements as he grabbed his clipboard and moved a few feet away from me, pretending to read the chart just as my family came in the room, not bothering to knock.

"You're awake." My dad said in a monotone while Lucy hurried over to me.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked me using telepathy, which she rarely did anymore.

"Can you tell us what happened now, Doctor Taylor?" My mom asked, clearly concerned.

"I was just telling your daughter." Dr. Taylor gestured to me with a polite smile. "Alicia has a food poisoning called Norovirus." I kept my face neutral of any emotion and stared at my hands that I joined together in my lap.

"If it was food poisoning, why didn't we get sick as well?" My dad questioned Dr. Taylor as if he was an investigator.

"I'm not sure. It can take a virus up to 90 days to cause sickness. She might have eaten something you didn't eat. Did she go on a school trip somewhere?" Dr. Taylor inquired, being kind whereas my father was being rude.

"I went on a school trip over a week ago and I've been out of town since then." I answered before my dad could.

"So food poisoning was the reason that my daughter was sick, having no indications of sickness before, and suddenly she was so weak that she couldn't eat then dropped to the floor unconscious?" My dad challenged, raising one eyebrow in a sort of defiance.

"Yes. The norovirus causes weakness, and it can be very sudden. I suggest bed rest and liquid foods like broth or soup. It may take a few weeks for her to fully recuperate." Dr. Taylor suggested to my unreasonable father.

I had to admit that Dr. Taylor was being smart. It would be so much easier for me to live at home if my family thought I needed to be eating things like soup. I could probably eat soup, but completely solid foods had been making me nauseous. That was one of the reasons for my freak out the other night at dinner.

"Can we bring her home?" My mom asked, being the sensible one. Lucy was staring at me with a frown, probably because I didn't answer her telepathic message. I didn't want to slip up and tell or show her something I shouldn't.

"Yes, she can go home now if she chooses. As long as she's feeling better." Dr. Taylor said, pushing all attention to me.

"Yeah. I can go home." I nod my head. My mom and Lucy smiled at me before my mom spoke up again.

"I have a set of clothes for you to change into. I made a quick trip home while you were out. We'll go to sign you out." My mom hands me a bag that I hadn't noticed she was carrying.

Then my mom, Lucy, my dad, and Dr. Taylor exited my hospital room. That left me to figure out what to do about Zane. There was no way he was leaving and no way that I would go anywhere. I had to find Jake and Zane might be able to help, seeing as he used to work for Storm.