YIELD

"And what is your name, little flower?" He asked.

Maybe he was just as mesmerized as I was at seeing a human. Vampires and humans barely had any interactions with one another. I wondered what vampires were taught about humans and what their response was supposed to be.

But then I caught on to what he said. Little? Was I really that small to him? Flower?

I didn't feel like a flower. After the whole walk I was exhausted and probably had dirt and mud marks everywhere. At the library I wore a simple outfit consisting of denim overalls and an off-white shirt with pink and yellow flower prints on the shirt.

I would talk to Avalon about his pet name later. For now I focused on him, and I lifted my head, chin towards the sky.

I said, "My name is Valerie Judd, daughter of a war hero."

His eyes narrowed when I said "war" and he asked another question.

"What war are you speaking of?"

I didn't think it would be wise to mention the vampire war, seeing as he was a vampire himself and maybe he would get triggered if I talked about anything like that.

"There is more than one war?" I asked.

Before he could answer, his ears pricked up and he looked down at me before speaking again.

"Someone is calling your name."

He pointed behind me, back where I'd come from. His finger brushed past my shoulder as he pointed.

Of course, my father and our helper would be calling for me at this hour. If I was gone for any longer they would start searching for me. I marveled at Avalon's ability to hear things so far away.

"It's my family. I've got to go," I said.

I held his gaze for a few more seconds and then I said, "it was good to know you are alright."

"Did I say I was alright?" Avalon mused.

"Well you didn't exactly say that, but you seem fine." I smiled as I spoke.

He looked weirdly at me when I smiled. Again I wondered if I had something on my lips. I thought to ask him whether there was anything on me that might possibly cause him to be so interested in my mouth, but I promptly disagreed with myself.

"It is not safe to wander around the dark woods alone." He told me.

"It's fine. I was only going to stop for a few moments. Besides, it's only near the entrance of the dark woods." I explained.

"I will escort you until you can find the path home." Avalon offered.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly ask you to do that," I protested.

I made an 'X' motion with my hands and he looked like he found that amusing, a faint hint of a smile forming on his lips. He had full reddish lips, and they looked very nice.

Despite my words, Avalon started walking ahead, and he mentioned, "watch out for the snakes, they're poisonous."

Shuddering with one last look at the snake on the floor, I hurried to follow him.

"Did you kill it?" I asked.

"I did," he responded.

"Why?" I asked.

"A whole group of snakes were trying to attack me. I had to," he said.

We fell into an easy rhythm walking next to each other.

"Why were they trying to attack you?"

"You have a lot of questions, little flower." Avalon said.

"You have a lot of answers," I quipped.

There it was again, that faint smile on his lips.

We reached the path that led back to Locketon, back to the safety of my home. But something inside me wanted to stay with this man, wanted to find out more about the life he lived.

"Well, this is goodbye." He said.

"I guess it is." I said.

He started to turn when there was a fierce shout that stopped him from moving. The growling shout came from a person, and that person was my father, stepping out of the shadows with a wooden stake.

"Father!" I breathed.

"Valerie, get behind me!" He hissed.

"No, father he was injured," I tried to interject but my father's focus was entirely on Avalon.

"Wretched vampires. You dare turn up on our land? You are violating the treaty!" My father roared.

"I haven't violated the treaty yet," Avalon said.

My father paused, and he looked to where Avalon stood, just before the path. My father put his hands down from attack mode and he spoke sternly.

"You may be correct but if I ever see you step foot inside the human kingdom, I'll make you regret every moment thereafter."

"Come, Valerie." My father motioned for me to move to his side.

I swiveled my head between Avalon and my father.

"I would like to thank you for accompanying me back," I said to Avalon.

The veins in my father's forehead twitched.

"Don't speak nonsense. Hurry now."

With one last fleeting look at Avalon I crossed over to my father's side.

Big mistake.

My father immediately charged towards Avalon, and I screamed, in fear one of them would be gravely injured.

But Avalon was much faster, with super speed he ran off and with a blur, blended in with the shadows of the night, leaving me and my father staring into the darkness.

My father turned to me, slowly. His eyes were like twin pools of death.

"What have you done, Valerie?" My father enunciated each word with a step towards me.

I stepped back, now more afraid of my father than the threat Avalon posed.

"We do not talk to vampires like they are our friends. Because what, they are not our friends. They are the enemy. You are lucky he didn't drink from you and leave you to die. You are lucky I was here." My father started lecturing.

"What did I say about the dark woods? But of course, you continue to defy me. And now you will suffer the consequences of your poor choices. I will not have my daughter taken and killed by vampire scum."

"No supper for you. You are to sit in your room and think about what your actions have caused. I will need to report this sighting tomorrow first thing to my commander."

I knew I should be sorry, but I didn't want to feel that way. So I kept silent, trudging slightly behind my father as he walked ahead.

I thought that was it. My one special encounter with a rare vampire. The only time I would cross paths with such mythical creatures.

But I was wrong, and time proved to me that I would meet Avalon again, sooner than I thought.