"Christmas"

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Groggily, I opened my eyes to see my dark room.
Usually I take a little while to fully come to my senses, but today, I was immediately alert.

Today was the big day.

Okay, yes it was Christmas Day. . .but that's not what I was anxious about.
Today marked something much more important to me.

Today was me and my boyfriend's 1 month, 3 weeks, and 5 days anniversary.
Now, that may sound like the stupidest anniversary ever.

But, this was extremely important. But not in a good way.
The thing is that my boyfriend, Austin, is sort of a player.

It wasn't really by choice, but the result was still the same.
He didn't keep his girlfriends around for long.

Actually, he broke up with them after dating them for exactly 1 month, 3 weeks, and 5 days.
Now, what Austin and I had was much more special then what he had with his other girlfriends.

But, I was still panicking over today's date.
Maybe my blood was getting old to Austin . . . I mean, I know we're Blood Bound. . . but you never know.

You see, Austin is a vampire. And I am his blood donor. . . in the human sense of the word (thank you very much.) Austin drinks all his girlfriends bloods. . .but I'm the only one who knew he was a vampire. (After a complicated series of events) He always gets rid of his blood donors after 1 month, 3 weeks, and 5 days because their blood becomes stale to him. We aren't really sure why that is. . .but, the point is that after their blood loses it's flavor, they get the boot.

Now, Austin and I are Blood Bound. Now, I'm still not exactly sure what that means. All I know is that Austin and I are linked through blood. It gives us the ability to communicate telepathically, read each other's minds, and see into each other's head. It also switches Austin's moods after feeding. You see, a Blood Bind can only occur between immortals.

Which means, yes, I'm an immortal. As in; Not human.
Well, not entirely. I'm half human, half witch. Mom's a witch, dad's a human. Making me and my brothers human hybrids.

Now, I'm the only one in our family who even knows that we're witches.
My mom doesn't even know, and she's the only full witch in the family. My brother's don't know, and my parent's know.

I only know because of my immortal because when we found out Austin and I were Blood Bound, they knew I had to be immortal. Or partially immortal.
Tora, a witchy friend of Austin's family, recognized the signs and pegged me to be a half-breed witch.

I have magic lessons with Toraeveryday after school, to make up for lost time. I've been picking up magic pretty quickly. Which is weird 'cause I'm not a particularly fast learner.
Anyway, I haven't told my family they're witches because one of two things would happen.

They would believe me because inside they always knew they weren't human.
Or, they would call me crazy and have me locked away.

I understood both oppionions. I always knew I was different then 'normal' people. And, it was hard to believe in the mythical stuff.
If I hadn't seen the proof myself I would've never believed either.

But, I had seen the blood. . .seen the fangs.
But, it's a terribly long story and I'm not gonna get into it. It hurts my head to remember all of it.

I moaned unhappily, and rolled over on my other side. I was facing the window now, and could see all the snow that had blanketed the backyard.
They had said it would snow at least a foot last night, and for once the weather man was right.

I always loved the way the snow looked. It would stick to the tree branches, and coat the grass. It made everything look all glittery and white.
Like some kind of magical icey forest.

I noticed a black raven perched in the tree right next to the window. He was perched in the branch a foot from my window.
He was looking at me with wise intelligent eyes. It was none other then Raziel.

Raziel was a shape-shifter. He had the ability to switch his form into a raven. He had protected me from Shadow Slayers (human assassins) and promised to protect me from then.
The Shadow Slayers were still after me, but there hadn't been another encounter sense. But, I frequently saw Raziel the raven. I hadn't seen human Raziel in a while though.

I groaned and got to my feet, kicking the thick blankets off me.
I drifted to the window, wanting to get a closer look at the snow.

I opened the window and shivered at the cold air.
Raziel cawed at me in greeting.

"Morning Raziel" I said cheerily.
"Who the hell are you talking to?"

I spun around to see Jake standing in my doorway. Jake was my older brother, and was a general pain in the ass. He looked kinda like me. With the crystal blue eyes, mildly tan skin, and mahogany hair. His mahogany shaggy hair was disheveled from sleep, and his eyes were half closed. He had on boxers and a t-shirt. Pleasant. . .

"The raven" I said, rollling my eyes and gesturing to the window.
"You named the bird?" he asked, surprised, "It's a wild animal"

"Well, so are you, but mom and dad still gave you a name" I retorted.
He snorted, and rolled his eyes. "Are you coming downstairs or what" he asked impatiently "Mom's cookin' breakfast. . ."

I rolled my eyes, "When isn't she cooking?" I asked rhetorically.
"Are you 'comin or what" he demanded.

"Duh, of course I am. The sooner we eat the sooner we get to open presents" I said with a dramatic eye roll.
"Mhm. . .well, I'll see you downstairs. And put some pants on why don't you" he muttered as he stalked away.

I looked down at my over-sized t-shirt, which I used as a night shirt.
It was big and black and almost reached my knees.

"You first!" I called after him.
"Real funny, Becca" he muttered, mostly to himself. But, I still heard.

Pushing all my worries about Austin out of my head, I ambled downstairs.
My whole family was gathered in the kitchen.

My mom was in her pajamas and cooking something on the stove. My dad was in his pajamas too and was sitting at the table. He was actually involved in the conversation. Jake was hunched over a massive stack of pancakes eating like-well, like a boy. Ken was sitting next to him, stretching across the table to get a chocolate chip muffin. Jake and Ken were twins and basically looked the same. Except Ken had a more serious face and shorter hair. He was also a thousand times more quiet then Jake, but somehow just as annoying. And my older sister, Lydia, was sitting in her old chair. She had her brunette hair pulled into an oddly elegant bun for so early. She was taking dainty bites of her food, sitting straight and regal in her seat.

Lydia is my older sister, who was currently in her junior year of college. She was home for Christmas, and I was thrilled. Because I wasn't the only girl in the family (I don't count my mom, shes an adult.) Lydia was a really good big sister, but we're kinda different. She's kinda prissy, and, but gives great advice.

She had the same bright blue eyes, and mahogany hair. She was prettier then I was, but I'm proud to say I got the better body. Bigger breasts, and more curves.
Lydia had always gotten a lot of guys, and been generally popular. She reminded me a little of Kate. Except Kate wasn't nearly as prissy.

"Merry Christmas" I mumbled, taking my usual seat.
"Merry Christmas" my mom said cheerily.

She danced over to the table and placed a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of me.
"Thanks Mom" I muttered, digging into my pancakes. I seriously adore blueberry pancakes.

I instinctively glanced at the living room, where the tree was.
The presents had been under it for several days, but there were even more today. My parents always waited 'till Christmas day to put out the big presents. . .

My mom poured herself some coffee and joined us at the table. She nibbled at a muffin too.
"So, Lydia, how are classes?" my mom asked sociably. Lydia had only gotten here last night, so we hadn't had much time to talk.

"Classes are good" Lydia said "After break, I'm starting my internship at this advertising agency."
"Oh, that's wonderful, honey" my mom gushed.

"Yea, and I'm this close to having a 4.0 GPA. If I could just get my grade up in Marketing class. . . and oh my God, Becca, the hottest guy sits next to me in that class!" she trilled.
I smiled, Lydia knew I loved to hear about hot guys. . .

"Cool, what's he look like?" I wondered. My mother shook her head at us, smiling. Jake rolled his eyes, and my dad snorted. Ken didn't give a damn as usual.
"Tan, tall, dark shaggy hair, really intense eyes. . . ." Lydia told me "He's really smart too. . .his name is Robbie"

"Interesting, interesting. . ." I mused "Did he ask you out?"
She grinned, "Yea, just a couple of days ago! We only got to go out once, but it was great! I can't wait to go out with him again"

"Cool" I agreed.
"Yea, and theres this other hot guy in that class! David, he's soooo cute! And, oh my God, he has a British accent!"

"British accents are hot" I agreed.
"Yea, I know. So, kid, how's your love life?" she wondered, smiling.

"You remember Austin?" I asked.
"Your friend Kate's brother? Yea, I remember him" Lydia said.

"Well, he's my boyfriend now" I told her, shrugging.
"No way!" she exclaimed "That is soooo cool! He was so cute! I haven't seen him since he was like 14. . . I'm dieing to see what he looks like now. I bet he's gorgeous now!"

I laughed at her excitement. Ken snorted and rolled his eyes. He wasn't a big Austin fan. . .
Jake just rolled his eyes, and my dad made a face. My mom just laughed lightly and smiled.

"You won't be disappointed" I assured her.
She laughed, "So, how long have you two been dating"

1 month, 3 weeks, and 5 days.
Well, I'm not gonna say that and sound like a freak.

"Like 2 months" I said.
"Coooool. . .isn't his family like really rich too?" she wondered.

"Yep" I chirped, trying to hide my smug feelings, "Really rich"
"An extra bonus. . .congrats, sis, you've won the boy lottery" she joked.

I laughed, "God, I've missed you so much. It's so boring around here without you"
"I believe that" Lydia said "Mom and Daddy are never home. And Jake and Ken are such surly little punks"

Ken grumbled something unintelligible. While Jake took the offensive.
He grabbed the extra blueberries off the side of his plate and put them on his spoon. Then he bent the spoon back and let go. Flinging blueberries at Lydia.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed, pushing away from the table, "You little jerk! I'm gonna take a bat to your laptop!"
"Then I'll just flush your cellphone down the toilet" he threatened.

"Do that and your dead" she promised, and then he flicked more blueberries at her.
"Oh, that's it!" she said, and ran around the table towards him.

Jake got up from his chair immediately, and bolted.
Lydia chased after him, calling death threats.

They disappeared into the dining room, which was invisible to the people of the kitchen.
I could still hear them screaming at each other, though. There was only one person on the planet who fought more with Jake then I did. And that was Lydia.

Mom sighed dreamily, "It's just like the old days"
I arched an eyebrow at her. My mom had always been strange, perhaps because she was a full witch.

She grabbed my dad's hands across the table, and I had to hold back the vomit.
Old people affection. . .grossness.

My dad smiled at her, but their sweetness was cut off by a loud crashing sound.
"What was that!!" my dad demanded, pushing away from the table.

"Jake did it!" Lydia screamed.
"Did not!" Jake shouted.

"Both of you, cut it out" my dad grumbled, sitting back down.
Lydia and Jake came back into the kitchen. Lydia shoved Jake and he stumbled. He flipped her the bird and she stuck out her tongue. All behind our parents backs of course.

"So, Daddy, can we open presents now?" Lydia asked sweetly, sounding like a little kid.
"Sure thing, honey" my dad said. She always was daddy's little girl. . .

We finished breakfast in the next few minutes, and then helped mom clear off the table. Then Ken, Dad, and I helped mom with the dishes. While, Lydia and Jake cleaned up the glass from the broken china dish. Once all that was done, we all headed into the living room.

Dad sat in his usual chair, and my mom sat on the arm of his chair.
Lydia sat Indian-style on the floor next to the tree. Looking especially excited. She always did love presents.

Jake sat on the floor, petting Stanley (our dog) absently.
Ken and I leaned against the front of the couch.

"Who wants to open the first present?" my mom asked.
"Oh, I do!" Lydia trilled "I'm the first born, it's only fair"

"Okay sweetheart, that seems fair" my mom agreed.
I rolled my eyes. Although I liked Lydia, and she was by far my favorite sibling, I still felt that natural instinct of sibling rivalry.

"Yays!" she said, examining the presents, "I think I'll open this one first"
She selected a box about the size of a toaster oven. It was wrapped in pink sparkly wrapping paper, with a big 'ol white bow on top.

"I wonder what it is . . . " she mumbled as she ripped off the paper. We weren't in to saving wrapping paper. . .
When she finally stripped the present she exclaimed "Ohhhhhhhh! Stilettos! They're soooooooooooooo pretty! Thanks Mom, thanks Daddy! Oh, Becca, aren't these gorgeous!"

She showed me the contents of the box. Black strappy Stiletto heels. . .not bad. Pretty actually.
I wasn't sure if she had asked for those shoes or if it was a lucky guess on my parents part.

"Ohhhh, nice" I told her.
"I know right!" she trilled.

It took us about an hour for us to all open our presents. We all had a nice haul. Even our parents had some nice new things.
From each other, and from us. Lydia was especially proud of her presents for them. Because she had worked an extra shift at the campus coffee shop to afford them.

My presents consisted of, a new laptop, new converse, 50$, a new book series I wanted, some new clothes, a new make-up set, fishnet stockings, and a gift certificate to Hot Topic.
Most of my presents were from my parents. But, some were from my siblings. The gift certificate was from Jake, and the 50 bucks from Ken. The stockings and make-up were from Lydia.

I had given Lydia an adorable leather jacket I had seen at Barneys, during my second shopping spree with Austin. I gave Jake and Ken money, since I didn't know what to get them.
I was generally satisfied with my gifts and the day in general.

After presents I went upstairs and put on my purple pajama pants with the guitars on it. My legs were freezing in just the t-shirt.
When I came back downstairs, everyone was still gathered in the living room.

Lydia was smelling the new perfumes she had gotten. Mom was sitting on the couch, with her feet curled up under her. She was fingering her new diamond necklace, staring at it dreamily. Dad had been saving up for it for months, because he was sure she would love it. My guess is, he was right. Dad was at the computer, helping Jake activate his new IPod. Ken was lounging in Dad's chair, playing his new PSP.

I sat down on the couch next to my mom and picked up the remote.
I flipped through the channels idly. Until, I reached a channel showing "A Christmas Story"

"Oh!" my mom trilled "Keep it on! I love this movie!"
I left it on, and put the remote on the couch next to me.

For the next half an hour, we all did our own things in the living room. We were all half-watching the movie too.
Except my mom, who was completely engrossed in the film. Laughing, and commenting throughout it.

I was pretty content with not doing anything for the rest of the day.
Just chilling on the couch, spending time with my family.

Then, Stanley began barking two seconds before the doorbell rang. I was surprised, who would come by on Christmas?
"Who on Earth could that be?" my mom wondered "Don't they know it's Christmas?"

I shrugged, and got up from the couch. I headed over to the door to answer it.
Stanley tried to push past me, wanting to see who was outside. But, I grabbed him by the collar and held him back while I opened the door.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Austin. His blonde hair was all disheveled as usual, sense he didn't care enough to fix it. His wide silver eyes were sparkling, and there was a smirk on his handsome face. He was clearly happy and amused. He had on jeans and his grey Northface jacket. In his hands was a small box with gold wrapping paper.

"Merry Christmas" he told me in oh so hot voice. If someone tells you voices can't be hot, they are so wrong.
"Merry Christmas" I told him, leaning forward to peck him on the lips. It was difficult because I was still holding back Stanley, but I managed.

"What are you doing here?" I wondered.
"I'm sorry, is this a private party" he asked with mock-surprise.

I rolled my eyes, and moved out of the way so he could come in. I dragged Stanley out of the way too.
Austin came in and shut the door behind him. I released Stanley and he bounded towards Austin. He sniffed Austin's legs and ran circles around him, whining happily.

Austin pet him absently, because all that dog wanted was attention.
"Hi everyone" Austin told to my family.

"Hi Austin" my mom said cheerily, she always liked Austin. Most people did. . .
"Hi, Mrs. Callaway" Austin said politely.

"How's your mother?" my mom wondered. She was a good friend of Austin's mother.
"She's good. . .she told me to tell you to stop by some time" Austin said.

"Oh, that'd be wonderful. I haven't seen Helen in so long. . ." my mom trailed off thoughtfully.
"Hey Austin" my dad grunted. He didn't have a problem with Austin, but he didn't show any signs of liking him, either.

Jake and Ken both glared daggers at Austin. Austin pretended not to notice, seeing as he already had enough problems with my brothers. He just stood there, looking innocent.
So, I reciprocated by giving Jake and Ken both an icy glare.

I noticed Lydia staring at Austin with an open mouth. Which she promptly shut.
"And you remember Lydia, right Austin?" I asked.

"Yea, hey Lydia" Austin said sociably.
"Hi Austin" she said, looking dazed.

"So, your parents were fine with you just leaving on Christmas?" I asked Austin.
He shrugged, "Yea, they were cool with it. I just have to be back in like an hour. . ."

"Oh, okay. . .isn't your older brother in town?" I wondered.
"Yea, but he called and said that 'the storm slowed him down.' But, my guess is he was just running late anyway. He said he'll be up tomorrow" Austin explained.

Austin's older brother, Alex, was about 33. But, he appeared to be around Lydia's age. Austin and Kate had been born when Alex was 16. And, the year before the Kardigan's moved to Cold Springs, Alex had moved out. He visited on Christmas and such holidays, like Lydia. I had met him several times before. The story was that Alex went to boarding school and then to college. Because, Austin's parents seemed to young to have a son who was an adult when Austin and Kate where only 5. It would seem too suspicious . . .

"Oh, okay. . .so, did you come here just to ditch your family or to say hi to mine" I wondered.
Please don't be here to break up with me, please don't be here to break up with me. . .

"Actually, I came to bring you this" he said, lifting up the gold box.
Oh, thank God!

"Oh, I was gonna give you yours tomorrow, but I'll get it now. . . wait here" I commanded, and ran up the stairs.
I headed into my room, and dug around for Austin's present.

Lydia had followed me up, and was now leaning in the doorway.
"Oh my God, he is so gorgeous!" Lydia gushed "Even hotter then Robbie. And, damn, is that saying something!"

"I know" I said, still searching, "But remember two things. 1. he's my boyfriend. And 2. he's a minor. Remember that before you do anything"
She waved a hand dismissively, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna make a move for him. Kid probably couldn't handle me anyway. . ."

I laughed, "Probably not . . . I was just making sure"
"Yea" she sighed dreamily "I just like to look at him"

I shook my head at her as I grabbed Austin's present.
I headed down the stairs, and Lydia followed.

In the living room, Austin was sitting on the second empty couch. Jake was uploading songs on to his IPod, and Ken was watching the tv. Dad was sitting on the couch with mom.
Lydia went over to sit with mom and dad, and I sat down next to Austin.

"Here you go" he said, handing me the gold box.
I shook it, and listened. "Now, what could this be. . ."

"You wouldn't have to guess if you just opened it" he told me.
I rolled my eyes at him, and began to peel off the wrapping paper. To reveal a Droid box.

I squealed in delight. Not something I do a lot of. . .
"You got me a new cellphone!" I squeaked.

"Yep" he said, grinning gorgeously.
"Oh my God, Lydia!" I called "Look what Austin got me!"

She got up from her seat and pranced over.
I excitedly showed her the cellphone box.

"Ohhhhh" she said in appreciated "Cute and rich. . .damn, sis, you sure can pick him"
Austin raised an eyebrow and I just shook my head at him.

"Okay, here's yours" I told him, handing him the envelope. I was glad I had over-did my present, so now my present was just as good as his.
"Oh, yay, an envelope" he said sarcastically "I'm always excited to open one of these"

I shoved his shoulder, "Just shut up and open it"
"Pushy, pushy" he said, opening the envelope.

He reached inside and pulled out the tickets.
"No way" he said, examining the tickets, "You got my Three Days Grace tickets? Wow, how cool are you"

"Extremely" I supplied. He smiled, and reached over to hug me.
"Yea, seriously. I can't wait to take you to this" he said.

"I know, me either" I said.
Okay, so it's apparent that Austin is not breaking up with my any time soon. And that I've been panicking for no reason.

I mean, he bought me a pricey phone and is super excited to be taking me to a concert a month from now.
Nope, don't see a break up any time soon in our future.

Hope u like it! Ik the beginning part that just tells u wat u already no is boring. . .but u no in the beginning of a sequel u kinda have 2. Also, ik it may have been a little confusing with Alex. . .i didn't xplain his character's story very well. . .but yea. Also, I have pics of Lydia, Buffy, Princess Aurora, and Princess Fama on Jazper1843Hale's profile. Just 2 let u no. Anyway, thnxs 4 staying with me 4 the next instalment n im hopeing it's gonna b even better the first! n o yea, plz review! :)