Shades of Red

by T L Christianson

  I had wanted him to come to me in tears, telling me that he'd made a mistake, that he was sorry and that he trusted me. But he hadn't, and he wouldn't. He had wanted something from me, and I gave like I always had.

  I turned the lever on the study door and opened it inward.

  Just as I suspected, the trail led to the bookcase where the stairs led to the secret lab.

  I hadn't led anyone here… the pictures I'd sent were only of documents, nothing about the lab, or where it was located.

  Examining the trails, I closed my eyes. "Oh, my goodness." Becca had found her dad's lab and led the unknown vamp straight to it.

  Owen and I stood there in the stillness, the smell of the old leather-bound books and paper surrounding us.

  "Her scent leads to that bookcase, but she's not alone. The vampire is with her. Do you have a weapon?"

  He pulled out his handgun from a body holster and expertly held it in front of him then neared the entrance to the secret lab.

  I picked up an enormous, heavy paperweight from his desk and nodded to him.

  "I have a laboratory through there," he told me.

  I nodded, because what else would I do?

  He triggered the switch, and the bookshelf inaudibly swung inward.

  "He knows we're here," I whispered as Owen led the way down the stairs.

  The filing cabinets had been broken open and papers littered the floor like snow. Sitting there before us at the desk was Becca, tied up, tears staining her cheeks. I let out an uneasy breath of relief and sniffed as I held my own sobs in check.

  Owen focused on the intruder and had already fired off two shots into the vampire dressed in black combat gear. The intruder leaped and kicked the firearm away, then the two began to fight in earnest. My employer was holding his own with a vampire. They kept exchanging quick blows, so I turned to Becca.

  Trying to undo the knots in the rope that bound her, I found that they were too tight and defied my efforts. So, I bit the cord, using my teeth. When she was free, she sprang up like a jack in the box.

  "Run! Becca, run and hide!" Seeing my sweet pea flee, I knew that she'd be found if this attacker got the better of Owen and me.

  I couldn't let that happen.

  Owen was taking a beating but had gotten some good hits in. The attacker was also bleeding but seemed to be holding up better.

  I wasn't sure what I could do to help.

  Spotting the gun across the room, I inched my way around. I was near it when the intruder gave Owen a hard push to the ground and lunged at me.

  Hefting the paperweight, I heaved it like a shot-put and threw it as hard as I could toward the vamp, aiming for his head.

  The block struck his temple, and he fell to the floor like a rag doll.

  "Oh!" I gasped as his dark blood began to spread out around his body.

  "Take this." Owen threw me a chain. "Wrap it around his wrists." As soon as I caught it, my hand burned, and I used the front of my t-shirt to keep from touching the silver again.

  I checked for a pulse. It was weak but still there.

  Recognizing the intruder from the other clan, my hands shook. Regret flooded me, but there was no going back. The rogue clan had broken our agreement. We needed help, and I would have to tell Owen.

  He was on his mobile speaking rapidly before he sat down in the chair, holding his gun. "I've called Hazel Richards at Chronos. They'll be here soon."

  We looked at each other in dazed silence before I leaped up, "Becca! I need to find her!"

  He nodded, and I went in search of the sweet but pesky seven-year-old. She didn't precisely follow orders because I found her, eyes round, watching us from the stairway.

  I turned her away from the unconscious man. "Don't look, don't look at that." Searching the scene with my eyes, I wanted to ask if Owen was all right, if he needed help. He paced around the prone vampire, aiming his gun at the man.

  "I'm taking Becca to get something to eat from the kitchen," I said.

  "Is there anyone else in the house?" he asked.

  I looked at the scent trails. "Not that I saw. No, I don't think so."

  "All right, just keep an eye out."

  What was I to him now? I wasn't his girlfriend any longer, was I?

  I wasn't his anything anymore.

  Becca and I sat eating mint chocolate chip ice cream in the kitchen. I washed her face with a warm washcloth, and then made her hot chocolate.

  I held her while she slurped the drink, stroking her hair.

  A little after an hour had passed when I heard a loud flop-flop-flop of a helicopter nearing. I stood to look out into the clearing and watched as a giant chopper landed and several black military men holding machine guns leaped out.

  "Owen! Owen!" I yelled out, panicking.

  "They're friendly!" he shouted back. "It's Chronos."

  I hurried Becca up the back staircase to my bedroom. I locked the door and checked the window. "Here, sit on the bed, sweetie." I motioned to Becca before turning on the TV. I wanted nothing to do with whatever was going on downstairs, even though my curiosity nagged at me.

  After a while, Becca had fallen asleep to the antics of Sponge Bob, so I unlocked the door and began creeping down the front staircase.

  I could hear a woman's low professional tones and Owen's calm voice above the sea of activity on the main floor.

  I lurked on the front stairway, listening and taking one step at a time.

  Until a soldier held a gun on me.

  "Hands up!" he shouted. "I've got an unknown Moroi in the front hall."

  "What!? I work for Dr. Bennett. I'm the teacher!" I spat out in exasperation.

  A bead of red light shone over my heart between the words, "savasana until mañana" on my yoga tee.

  "Oh, for God's sake! Would you get that…"

  Owen appeared, hand lifted to the soldier. "It's okay. This is Elizabeth, my kids' tutor… and my girlfriend."

  I raised my eyebrows at him.

  The soldier pulled a clipboard from his buddy and looked the chart over. "We were under the assumption that," he flipped through the pages, "Miss Kepner was human."

  The man was definitely in charge and began looking me over before motioning to the first soldier. "All right. Well, she needs to be cleared to be in the house. We have no idea if she's involved in this."

  "She's not involved in this!" Owen cried.

  "I'm not involved in this!" I yelled.

  The woman whose voice I heard earlier appeared sporting a gray suit and updo to match her commanding professional voice.

  She was a vampire also. "Hazel Richards." She held her hand out to shake mine. "Owen says you hit the assailant and knocked him out."

  "Elizabeth Kepner," I said quietly, shaking her hand.

  "So," she accepted a clipboard from the commander dressed in black, "Miss Kepner, according to our records you are… supposed to be human." She surveyed me up and down. "And it's obvious that you're not. I wonder how that one slipped through the cracks?"

  I hesitated, unsure what to say. I was glad that Owen already knew.

  Hazel waved a hand in the air. "No matter, we need to get the perp processed." She looked at Owen. "I'll leave two guards here on duty until you're done with… the project." She looked at me. "Miss Kepner, we need you to answer some questions. Come with me to the kitchen."

  I followed Ms. Richards and caught Owen watching me pensively as I walked away.

  "Becca's asleep in my room," I called out behind me.

  About an hour later, the group of forensic techs and investigators were finally done and packing up.

  I was exhausted and sat on the couch, my eyes closed.

  I felt Owen approach and looked at him. He sat before me, his face repentant.

  I knew why he was sitting there, I could read it in his expression. The way he looked hopefully at me warmed the ice around my heart. His eyes burned me with intensity, so I spoke to break the uncomfortable silence.

  "C
an you take me back to the hotel?" I asked.

  "Yeah." He tapped his phone on his knee. "I'm having Flor bring Jack home and help with the kids for the rest of the day." He hesitated. "I was hoping that you would come back." His hair stood on end, and he tried to smooth it down. "I could make you dinner?”

  I pressed my lips together and sniffed. "I'm not hungry."

  "Okay, well, let me take you to get your things."

  I stood, and he touched my arm.

  "Will you come back home?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with hope. "I'm so sorry I made you leave. I freaked out. It's still difficult to believe that you’re Moroi."

  I nodded and searched his face, having not quite forgiven him. "I will, but…" I felt my heart breaking. I needed to stay cool, to be reasonable. I couldn't bear for my heart to break any harder. "I don't think we should see each other anymore… in a romantic way."

  I pulled my British upbringing around me like a shawl and forced my face to become emotionless. I held myself with this hardened expression, like a mask.

  "Liz," he pleaded and turned his back to the group who were packing up their forensics gear and leaving the house. "Don't do this."

  "No," I snapped quietly, "I asked you not to make me leave the other night." Our eyes locked, and I didn't blink. "You did this. I won't put myself through this again."

  He looked away first and sighed. "Come on, we can work this out." His voice was frustrated.

  I shook my head. "I've realized that this," I motioned between us, "is only going to end in suffering.” Allowing myself to soften a little but still stay firm, I said, "I don't age. I won't ever change. Sooner or later, people will ask questions. Sooner or later, one of us will have to leave the other. That's the way it works. To be honest, at first, I thought you were a vampire like me. Maybe then…"

  "No, you know we have something special. We have a connection that's…" He shook his head, unable to explain it. "Unearthly."

  "Maybe." I sighed and shook my head. “Though someday, someone will get suspicious, people always get suspicious. What am I supposed to tell Becca when I look younger than her twenty years from now? What happens when you're an old man, and I still look how I do? You'll grow old and die…" I closed my eyes to contain the tears. "I can't… I won't do this again." I thought about Isabel, who eventually died from old age.

  "Again?" His brow furrowed.

  I shook my head. "I'm not going to talk about this with you… Not right now at least."

  "So, then what?" He threw up his hands. "Are you quitting?"

  "No, I want to stay and finish up the year teaching the kids. They deserve that."

  "What do I deserve?" His nostrils flared.

  I bit my lip and answered him as honestly as I could, "You deserve better than what I can give you."

  I walked out the back door and got into his car.

  We drove in silence to the hotel, where he pulled up under the covered entryway. He said nothing as I stepped out, my hand resting on the door.

  "I'm going to collect my things. I'll come back in a little bit."

  He looked at me with sad golden eyes.

  I nodded and closed the car door.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I started school back up with the kids. It was the second-semester start date that I had penciled in anyway.

  The time seemed to drag on and on, and I couldn’t keep my mind off of Owen.

  There were armed guards in the house now around the clock. I hadn’t introduced myself yet because they seemed kind of scary, but I planned to. Even though I felt a little intimidated by them, I was interested to know about their lives.

  What exactly was Chronos Corp? How had they become vampires? What was it like living with and knowing other Moroi? How many vampires were there? I didn’t want to scare them off, so I knew I’d have to ration my questions.

  I hadn't seen Owen at all.

  I’d avoided him.

  I wanted to run to him and tell him I loved him and that I wanted things to be the way they were, but I couldn’t.

  While he was human, things could never work out between us.

  I finally introduced myself to Martin and Samuel, the security guards. I was coming downstairs to grab lunch for the kids, and they were at the table talking to Elaine. Blech!

  I wasn’t going to tell her anything about Owen and me. I could just imagine the smug look on her face.

  The cook was wiping the counter down with a dish towel and acted as if it were utterly ordinary having two muscle-bound armed men sitting in the kitchen.

  Well, at least she had made them cookies, and her cookies were delicious.

  “Hi,” I said, “I’m Elizabeth.” I held my hand out to the two men.

  They both smiled at me and introduced themselves before offering me a cookie.

  I could hear the other woman snort in the background before leaving for the day. Did she know that Owen and I had broken up?

  I stroked the pendant at my chest absentmindedly and asked how the guys liked Durango. We bantered back and forth, until the subject finally came up about me being by myself out here.

  “Oh, I’ve always been by myself,” I told them. “I never knew the vampire who changed me.” This seemed to surprise them.

  “It’s actually a crime to leave offspring that you’ve made,” Sam raised a brow.

  “Well, when were you made?” I used his terminology. “I mean, maybe this was before this law passed.”

  The men exchanged a glance. “Not likely, it’s always kind of been an unstated rule.”

  “Hmmm… well, what was it like to have a maker? Are you still with him or her?”

  “You’re pretty lucky to have survived this long without help,” Martin told me, ignoring my questions. “Most newborns wouldn’t last a month without their maker.”

  I looked down at my cookie and broke off another piece. “Well, it wasn’t easy.”

  “When were you made?” Sam asked.

  “1916, during the war.”

  Martin said, “A lot of Vamps get made during wars. I was made in ‘Nam, and Sam was made during the Civil—”

  “War of Northern Aggression,” Samuel interrupted.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  I felt a presence in the doorway.

  Owen stood against the frame, watching us.

  “I’ve got to get back to the kids!” I told them. I quickly took to my feet and gathered up the lunches, fleeing like I’d done something wrong.

  I knew he saw me hold the pendant. I should probably give it back, but I couldn’t bear to part with it. I felt like it embodied the way it felt to be around Owen and our connection.

  I had let go of him, but I couldn’t let go of this symbol.

  Come mid-January Samuel and Martin were still here. I’d been avoiding Owen, but it wasn't too hard to do, considering he’s been working long hours.

  He’d been leaving me gifts, though, some chocolate almonds, and origami animals and flowers he’d folded.

  I thought of the first paper lily he’d given me on the plane ride to New York and couldn’t help but question my decision to end our relationship. Would it really be a bad thing to go back to him?

  I was drawn to him still. I missed his company, his smile, and his scent.

  I felt chaotic inside, but with Owen, my heart slowed, and I was able to stop my turbulent thoughts and just be.

  I was going to give in even though nothing had changed, but I craved him. I couldn’t be near him without being with him.

  I didn’t know if it was the wrong thing to do or not, but I understood why he was so freaked out when he learned I was a vampire. The more I got to know Samuel and Martin, the more I felt like an outsider with my own people.

  I hadn’t been able to get into the lab, and I didn’t know if I wanted to. I was thinking of coming clean to one of our guards about my kidnapping and unwilling betrayal.

  I’d kind of struck up a friendship with Martin, but as lovely as both gu
ys were, I was afraid there’d be consequences for what I’d done.

  “So,” Samuel said. “Moroi date humans all the time, but it’s usually for blood.”

  “What? Why can’t you just change someone if you’re in love?” I asked.

  “Nope,” Martin answered. “It’s practically impossible to turn someone. First, you’d need special permission from both your own clan and the Global Council. Then there are strict population controls in place to prevent the Moroi society from growing to more than three percent of the human population.”

  “So, most Moroi have relationships with—”

  “Other Moroi,” Sam cut me off. “Monogamy is really a human construct. Most of us don’t live within the confines of human social ideology.”

  Martin agreed, “We usually live in groups.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Wait a minute. Are you all like swingers or something?”

  They laughed and told me it was difficult to explain.

  “So, how many vampires are there in the world?”

  “Over two hundred million.”

  “Wow! That’s so many!” I couldn’t believe it. “Are any politicians vampires?”

  The two looked at each other as if they were sharing an inside joke.

  “No,” Martin answered.

  “We like to pull strings from the shadows,” Sam said with a laugh.

  There were so many things to learn. I also found out that as a rogue vampire, I was supposed to register with the Global Council. They said I could do that in New York, and they gave me a business card for Chronos Corp. Chronos Corp was apparently many things—an investment company, a biomedical group, a vampire clan, and an office for vampire leadership.

  “Won’t I get in trouble?”

  “Nah.” Martin spread cheese on a cracker. “But you will if you don’t register right away.”

  That was some food for thought. I told the guys that I was planning on going back to the city over Easter, and they said that was a good idea.

  I'd kept Iona’s phone off and hidden behind some books in my room since her soldier invaded the estate. I was planning on telling Owen everything but changed my mind. I knew this was hypocritical, keeping my run-in with the other clan secret, but that was behind me, over and done. My life had turned into a series of rationalizations, but there was no turning back now.