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Vargas
Victor had been staring into space for the past 5 minutes. The fire was…a new thing. All the vampires were still getting used to it but Victor had taken to sitting by it every evening with a mug of some beverage and just, sitting there.
“Victor.” Vargas sat beside his friend, nudging him.
Victor blinked before turning towards him. “What’s up?”
“You’ve been staring at nothing for the past 5 minutes. You good dude?”
Victor gives him a sheepish smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong. Just thinking.” He turns back to stare off at the same spot.
Vargas wants to brush it off, but he follows his friend’s gaze.
Oh.
Nova, the daywalker with long hair was sitting across the fire. She looked busy, surrounded by daywalkers and with a book in her hand, but Vargas watched as she slowly lifted her eyes from the page to send a small smile Victor’s way when she caught him looking. Victor grinned wide and stared down at his mug, but it wasn’t long before his eyes would wander back to the daywalker.
Vargas sighed and looked at his best friend, still lost in thought and staring at Nova. This wasn’t going to be good.
Vera
She wouldn’t say they were friends, but they had grown up together. She could tell when something was up with Victor.
“What’s the matter with you!” She protested. “I’ve been trying to talk to you.”
They were next to a cabin, and Victor was leaning against a wall not facing her or Vargas.
When he didn’t respond Vargas sighed and yanked his sleeve. “Vic.” They had a silent conversation before Victor slowly turned back toward them.
“What’s up Vera?” His words were forced, and he looked annoyed at the idea of being around them.
“These daywalkers are getting to you.” She huffed, hissing at a group of them as they walked by. “You’re going soft. Or maybe you always were. They’re nothing but trouble Victor. They’re the enemy.”
Victor’s eyes flashed from annoyance to anger in a second. But Vargas jumped in, placing a warning hand on his shoulder. “Vera.” Vargas sent her a look before adding, “Back off.”
She bared her fangs, annoyed by the two of them. They were both going soft. “What has gotten into both of you?”
Vargas wasn’t paying attention to her though, he was looking at Victor whose eyes had wandered away again.
There she was, Little Ms. Perfect. Nova Bright was laughing across the way, standing underneath a tree and talking with Ray. And Victor was staring at her.
“They’re the enemy Victor. Don’t forget what we’ve been taught our whole lives!” She stormed off in a rage, but some small rebel part of her brain noted that the two of them looked awfully cute together.
Zed
It was close to dawn when Zed decided to go for a walk. His sleep schedule was out of wack being around these kids, everyone being awake at different times.
It was a weird time, most of the vampires were retreating inside and most of the daywalkers were only just emerging. The camp would be busy and loud again around noon but for now Zed assumed he’d be the only one out and about.
He was sorely mistaken. As he rounded a corner he spotted a familiar daywalker and a familiar vampire together.
It looked like Nova and Victor had just finished a walk. Nova was on the steps of her cabin, and Victor’s hands were sheepishly shoved in his pockets but they were both smiling, clearly not wanting to end their little conversation. The best part, Nova must have gotten cold in the dark because Victor’s leather jacket was slung around her shoulders.
Zed grinned. He so called it, he couldn’t wait to tell Addison.
Ray
Ray didn’t consider himself protective of Nova, he was well aware that Nova could protect herself. He also knew you didn’t want to be on the wrong side of her roundhouse kick.
However, as her oldest friend the job fell on him to stop her from making a stupid decision. Even worse, a decision that could lead to her getting killed by the hands of a vampire.
He wasn’t an idiot. He could see how Victor looked at her over the campfire. He could see how their eyes always seemed to meet, even when they were across a long distance from each other. He could see how Nova would smile every time the vampire walked past.
“You’re making a mistake.” Was his opening line, as he slid next to her by the fire.
She was reading, but the book looked really old. “What do you mean Ray?” She barely looked at him.
“Where did you get that?” His eyes narrowed on the book.
“Victor found it it in his cabin. It’s dated from before the vampires and daywalkers started the feud.” She was smiling wide, why was she smiling so wide?
Ray’s head felt like it was spinning. “Nova, you can’t trust him. He’s a vampire. Our sworn enemies. We hate vampires.”
She rolled her eyes. “You haven’t gotten to know them Ray. They’re not all bad.” He watched her look up to make eye contact with Victor. And she smiled.
“You’re going to get yourself killed. This isn’t good Nova. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Ray. Befriending one vampire isn’t doing me any harm.”
But the sinking feeling in Ray’s stomach wouldn’t cease. She didn’t see it yet but vampires were evil. And she was falling right into Victor’s trap.
Even if the look in Victor’s eyes was always pure. Filled with joy and maybe even love every time he saw Nova.
Ray pushed that thought away. There was no reason for a vampire to have good intentions with one of them. He’d just have to protect Nova, even if she wouldn’t protect herself.
Victor
He didn’t know he was falling for Nova until it was too late. She was unlike any daywalker he’d met, she wasn’t at all like the way daywalkers had been described to him. The second she dropped into his life she lit up the previously dark and predictable existence he lived. She was his guiding light.
She shared his dream of uniting their people. She was tough, but despite everything they had been told they were becoming friends.
“We don’t hate each other.” He said with a shrug, their faces illuminated softly by the torches she had lit.
She gave him this look, eyes sparkling from the light of the fire. “Yeah, we need to work on that.”
His heart thumped.
Whoa.
Now Victor wasn’t the best with emotions sometimes, but in this moment, looking at Nova who didn’t have a single trace of fear or hatred in her eyes, all he wanted was to stay right there forever.
He grinned a devilish grin. “Or not.”
Nova blinked in surprise, but she smiled back at him. “Or not.” She agreed, making Victor’s heart thump again. All he could see was her, standing in front of him with her eyes locked on his.
Her eyes that he was convinced held the key to uniting their people. “Your people aren’t gonna go for this.” He shrugged, slipping his hands in his pockets.
Nova’s lips held the faintest of smiles. “You’re my people now too.”
He could have evaporated right there on the spot.
Nova
Nova couldn’t consider herself an emotional expert, but she wasn’t too bad at figuring it out. In this moment however, she had no clue what to make of herself.
Days had passed, days where Nova counted every stolen moment of eye contact, every shared smile, and every secret meeting. Victor had unexpectedly dropped into her life and changed it forever.
Right now was one of those moments. They were concealed in the darkness of the forest, sitting against a tree.
“What happens when we find the last key?” Nova played with the chain around Victor’s neck.
“I don’t know,” He admitted. “Is it wrong to admit I’m scared?”
“No, but I think you’re brave to say that.” And she meant it. Victor wasn’t scared to make change, and maybe he inspired her to make change too.
He looked at her, and Nova’s heart fluttered. It wasn’t one of their little stolen glances, he was looking at her. At everything she was too afraid to share, truly seeing her. “What’s going on here Goldie?” His hand caught hers as she tried to move it away from his necklace.
Her breath caught at the nickname. “I, I don’t know.”
He let her hand fall, and finally tore his eyes away from her. “Me neither. I’m not good at this Nova. Like, feelings. My aunt says they make leaders weak.”
“Victor, your emotions make you stronger. You are going to be an amazing leader.” She grabbed his hand again, lacing his fingers through hers. “And hopefully, I get to watch it happen.”
This time his smile was so wide she could see his fangs poking out.
Nova didn’t know what to make of her feelings for Victor, but right now, maybe Victor had feelings for her too.