Chapter Two: Empty like his Stomach

*~*~Mark~*~*

What was he supposed to do now? Mark sat down on the bed with a sigh as he leaned forward and put his head in his hands. This was almost as bad as being chased! First, he woke up somewhere unfamiliar then he was chased away by a group of vampires. Mark was forced to figure out where he was while he tried not to get caught. He’d wanted to get home as soon as possible. There were too many vampires for him to even try to fight them. Not that he was good at that either. It hadn’t been that long since he’d learned to fight. As he looked around for something to help him, he spotted a nearby park. It was the perfect place to lose them. Or at least hide, until someone found him. 

Worst idea ever! 

Now he was locked in a house with a woman calling herself a guardian and unable to go home. Mark closed his eyes and leaned his head back as he took a deep breath. Panicking wouldn’t help. Right now, he needed a plan. He clenched his fists as he stared at the ceiling.

[Can you talk right now?] Mark jerked upright. Even though this wasn’t his first telepathic communication, it still took some getting used to.

[Yes, Master.] 

[Has she harmed you?]

[No, but...] He was about to shake his head when he realized that Adrian wouldn’t be able to see him.

[What is it?]

[What’s a guardian?]

[A Guardian’s job is to keep the humans safe.]

[Then why did she say she was going to help me?] Could she have been mistaken? There was still a lot he didn’t know. Maybe it was the same for her.

[Because she’s also an observer.] Observer? His confusion was probably felt by Adrian because he elaborated. That was another thing he was still getting used to. Vampires had the ability to feel the emotions of others. Well, mostly it was the emotions of humans. Something to do with how they hunted. Mark frowned. He couldn’t remember the exact reason but he didn’t like to think about that since it hadn’t been long since he’d been human. 

It still felt wrong. 

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. As his Master, Adrian was also able to feel his emotions no matter how far apart they were. The clan wasn’t large but all those emotions must be overwhelming. He didn’t want to add to that if he could help it. 

[It means that she watches us and any information she collects is given to her superiors. Any information they gain is used to their advantage.]

[I’m sorry.] Mark hung his head as he frowned. So because he was here, she might cause trouble for his clan.

[It’s not your fault. I wasn’t expecting you to end up in her area or I would have explained things sooner. Actually, how did you end up there?] Mark told him as much as he remembered, from when he had been near the safe house to all the way until now. He even told him about what Marie had said about leaving. [I see.]  

[What’s going to happen, Master?]

[Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. I’ll be back tomorrow to take you home. Try to get some sleep until then.] Adrian’s voice was light but even Mark knew that things weren’t looking good. The conversation was over, but there was no way Mark could just go to sleep. Adrian said he would be here tomorrow but would Marie just let him go home? Mark stood up and glared at the bedroom door. He couldn’t believe he trusted her! Mark paced back and forth as his hands balled into fists. He froze halfway across the room.

Wait! 

She was probably asleep right now. This would be the best time to collect as much information about her as possible. If he could figure out something out, then maybe Adrian could use it to get him out of here. 

Mark surveyed the room he was in. He had been too nervous earlier to get a good look. Was this actually her room? This room had a lived-in feel to it. There was a book on the nightstand with a bookmark in it. He looked it over. The title said mathematical incantations. He flipped through it but couldn’t understand most of it. Mark put it back before he scanned the rest of the room. He glimpsed clothes sticking out of the dresser. Mark averted his eyes as he felt his face get hot. That wasn’t the kind of information he needed. He wanted to find her weakness but he wasn’t going to search there. 

Mark strode towards the set of doors to his right. Inside was a bunch of dresses hanging up and shoes lined up neatly underneath. This wasn’t any better. He nearly slammed the door shut but stopped at the last moment. Mark quietly closed it the rest of the way before turning around. If she let him sleep in here then there probably wasn’t anything of importance here. Yeah, that was it! He left the room quickly. 

He stopped at the top of the stairs. Mark glanced at the room she should be sleeping in. Her soft breathing reached his ears but he didn’t hear anything else. It was probably safe to continue. 

As soon as he reached the first floor, Mark took stock of his surroundings. Since he was trying to discover her weakness, he should be as thorough as possible. He ignored the doorway straight ahead since that led back to the living room. There were two doors to his left. Mark went to the nearest door and opened it. He didn’t get a very good look before he backed up. A sneezing fit overtook him and he hunched over and leaned against the wall. He tried to sneeze as quietly as possible. He sneezed three more times before the urge to sneeze finally left. Ugh. Mark took a deep breath. He straightened up and peeked around the doorway.

There was dust everywhere. Mark covered his face with his hand so he wouldn’t have to breathe it in. It didn’t help and he had to hold the doorway again as he had another sneezing fit. He closed the door and waved his hand in front of his face to ward off stray dust that had flown out. Since vampires were able to see in the dark, he had been able to tell what was in the room without turning on the light. Thankfully. Anymore dust and he might have died. There was nothing in there of interest though. It had looked like a normal dining room with a long rectangular table and four chairs. That was it. Obviously, no one had used this room in a really long time. The door next to it was just as disappointing. It led to a small bathroom. This room was clean but it was so small only a toilet and sink barely fit in the room. No place to hide anything in here.

The living room was just like any normal living room. Sofas and side tables with no hidden compartments. He examined the area. The kitchen was to the left and to the right there were more closed doors. Mark went left first. There was a door next to the kitchen doorway that he hadn’t noticed before. It was a little stuck at first but he carefully applied more strength and easily got it open. Once he opened it, he only found cleaning supplies inside. His stomach growled as he closed the door and figured that was his cue to search the kitchen. 

The first place he checked was the fridge. And it was the most disappointing out of everything he had seen so far. He knew she wouldn’t be keeping blood in the fridge, like back at home, but generally you would expect to see food. She was human so she had to eat, right? Yet there was only a small package of bologna and some sliced cheese. That was it. The cupboards and pantry were just as bare as the fridge. After an extensive search, where he opened every cupboard, cabinet, and drawer, he was beginning to doubt his chances of survival. He found bread, sugar and coffee. Lots of coffee. It was the only thing she had a lot of. He sighed. At this point, there were more cups than there were ingredients. Mark closed everything he had opened back up. He looked around at the kitchen. 

Another sigh escaped. 

It was a good thing he was going home tomorrow. If he was forced to stay here, he would end up dying from starvation. His stomach growled again, reminding him it was still hungry.

Mark took his sandwich and walked towards the front door. What he really wanted was some blood but he would take anything at this point. According to the other vampires, he would eventually get to the point where he could go a few days without drinking blood and it wouldn’t affect him but that day was not today. He swallowed the last of the sandwich before wiping his hands on his pants. Mark took another deep breath before he inspected the doors before him.

The front door was straight ahead but the other two didn’t give any hint as to what lay inside. He went with his usual method, eeny meeny miny moe, to decide. Right! He placed his hand on the door and yanked it open, ready to jump away just in case. Something moved and he jerked back and almost fell. Mark caught himself in time but twisted his wrist in process. He straightened up and rubbed his wrist. Just because he had the ability to heal quickly, didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt. Mark took a deep breath and glowered at the jackets that were still swaying slightly. He closed the door and turned around.

[Are you okay?] He got another scare when Adrian’s voice spoke to him. 

[Yes! I’m fine.] His embarrassment only grew worse, knowing that Adrian was feeling that too. 

[Alright. Let me know if anything changes.] Mark felt like hiding away for a couple of years or screaming. Neither of those would help him right now. He shook his head and sighed before turning towards the door on the left. Mark didn’t even try to be on guard. He just grabbed the knob and opened the door. 

Mark gaped at what lay before him. A room packed to the brim with books lay before him. There were shelves on every wall but the books were everywhere. Piles on the floor, on top of the shelf. Even the table and chairs in the center of the room were covered in books. Mark skimmed the shelves nearest to him. Nothing was in order but the subjects covered were vast. There were books on demons, dragons, werewolves, lamias, illusions and even a book on the history of tattoos. He checked several more shelves but he didn’t find any books about guardians. Mark went to another shelf and found a book on vampires. He flipped through the pages but it was all about legends and myths. Mark carefully stepped over several piles as he went to another shelf.  He didn’t want her to find out he had been in here. 

As he glanced around, a book caught his eye. It was a really old book with a brown cover. The books around it were newer with clear titles visible on the spine. The spine on this one was so worn that if there had been a title it had been rubbed off long ago. Mark pulled the book out carefully. It was heavier than he thought. He opened it and started to flip through it, stopping here and there to study the pictures. Mark didn’t understand anything in here but the symbols looked familiar. Where would he have seen something like this? Mark closed the book and put it back. 

The book was interesting but this wasn’t what he was searching for right now. He went to several more shelves but he didn’t find any books on guardians. Mark yawned as he stretched. He didn’t know how late it was but he should probably get some sleep. It wouldn’t be good if he was too tired tomorrow. He needed to be alert and ready for whatever happened. 

Mark made his way back upstairs and stopped. He listened for several moments. She was still sleeping. He went into the room and closed the door quietly behind him. Mark stared at the lock. Did she have a spell to unlock doors? He wrestled with the idea of leaving it unlocked but locked it anyway before heading to bed. Mark laid down on the bed. His weariness caught up with him and he fell asleep quickly.