“Mom, Dad…I…uh…” Clearing my throat one more time before I blurted, “Sully and his family are moving to New Orleans, and I have decided that I am going with him.” I bit my lip after I said it, preparing for an explosion.
My mom’s eyes got huge, and her mouth parted slightly on the verge of dropping open. My dad stayed relatively calm. I wasn’t sure if I should be nervous or not. He wasn’t an easy one to read. Bringing his palms together, he interlaced his fingers resting his chin on top of them, as he remained standing.
“What exactly has brought you to this decision, Adelay?” He was still calm for now.
“Well, Dad I’m eighteen years old. I want to experience new places while I’m still young. New Orleans has so much extraordinary culture, architecture, magic, and myth I want to explore; but I wouldn’t ever want to go on an adventure like that alone. So, what better than to be with people I know will keep me safe?”
“What about your schooling? I thought we had agreed you would attend Dartmouth in the fall. I have devoted my entire career to fund your schooling; so that you could go to the best of the best schools that many kids don’t have the opportunity to go to.”
I knew he would pull the college card. My mom was still in utter shock. Thankfully, it was keeping her from chiming in alongside him for now.
“Well Dad, I think I am going to go take a year off and enroll in college in Louisiana once we get settled.”
He took a moment to process what I was saying. I had caught them completely off guard, leaving them for the most part speechless; but it was obvious they weren’t happy with my decision. It was a fire ready to ignite.
“You kids haven’t been dating long enough to go running off with him on a whim. Weren’t you dating his brother not long ago? I mean no disrespect, Sully.”
“None taken, sir.”
Here was the moment I wasn’t looking forwards to explaining. “I love him Dad, and I can’t stay here without him. I think it will be a great adventure for us to see if what we have is real.”
He shook his head at the cliché of every teenage girl in love. “You need to move out of state to see if what you have is real? Why New Orleans, Sully?”
In his usual calm and casual tone, Sully answered my dad. “My father’s services are needed down there, and the opportunity to take over one of the old morgues has opened up. My mother’s art gallery is already set to be reestablished down there as well; since art seems to be much more appreciated in such an incredible city such as New Orleans. She has an amazing venue on Bourbon Street.”
My dad nodded with the notion that he did, in fact, think Sully had a valid reason for leaving Hanover. Whether or not he agreed that I should be going with him was another story.
“You can’t possibly just stand there and allow her to make that decision, Adam. She’s eighteen, she doesn’t know what she wants.”
“That’s just it, Mom. I am eighteen; so, I’m able to decide my own life from here on out. I graduated just like you expected, and now I’m choosing to go to New Orleans and start a new life with my boyfriend. I want a new experience while I’m still young.”
“Adam!” My mom clutched her chest in dismay, looking to my dad to intervene and forbid me to go.
“Ophelia, let them enjoy their graduation night; we can discuss this later.”
Her head snapped to where he was still standing in the doorway, holding his glasses in his hand, and squeezing the bridge of his nose in between his two fingers.
“We can’t very well just let her leave right now without getting this resolved!”
“It isn’t open for discussion. Go have fun, kids; we will talk about this later.”
I didn’t wait around for either of them to say anything else. I quickly jumped up heading straight for the front door.
“Well, that went better than expected.” I looked over at Sully who had a smirk on his face after he said that.
The Mustang purred to life, leaving my house behind where I knew my mother was fuming inside. I was glad to be out of there.
“Are you kidding me? That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do! That was just the calm before the storm, I’m not looking forwards to discussing it further with them when I go home.”
“Well, I’ll keep you out as late as I can, princess. At least the hardest part is over; now it’s just getting them to accept your decision.”
“I don’t think acceptance will ever be in the equation.”
The Cell swarmed with Hanover High’s freshly graduated seniors. Music blasted from a DJ booth that was most likely one of our classmate's after school job, and the ritualistic bonfire roared to life in the center of the havoc. This was to be our last hoorah of the year before we all went on to do our own things with our lives. Friends parted, couples split, and lives changed from here on out.
My life was taking me in a direction I never could have predicted it would. New Orleans was not in the cards by choice. Most of our group of friends were gathered next to the fire with camping chairs set up claiming their spot, and an ice chest filled to the brim with beer. Gretchen was comfily strewn across Andy’s lap, as he engrossed in drunken conversation with Robbie who was straddled on top of the ice chest. Sarah was sitting on a large sleeping bag that was opened up on the ground.
“Hey you two, we have a whole chest of cold ones for us tonight!” Robbie jumped up quickly, pulling out a beer for me and Sully the second we approached them.
“Thanks, Robbie.” I smiled, taking the glass bottle off his hands.
One thing that we could always appreciate about Robbie was the fact that wherever there was a party, he was right on top of providing us all with the booze.
He raised his bottle up above his head. “Here’s to all of us making it out of Hanover High alive, and for the many drunken college nights ahead of us! May we all remain friends and be no more than a quick drive away from each other.”
Everyone shouted out cheers of agreement except for me. I was the one who would be breaking our tight knit circle soon, but I followed along with the raise of my bottle as to not stir up any questions yet. Sully winked at me, taking a swig from his beer.
Gretchen startled me when she jumped up from Andy’s lap, grabbing my hands in hers and pulling me towards her.
“Come inside The Cell with me real fast. Andre from second period is selling his family’s infamous street tacos inside. They usually only have them at Saturday market, but he brought a whole shit ton for tonight’s special occasion; and I’m dying to get my hands on some before they are all gone.”
I signaled to Sully who was content drinking next to Robbie, that I would be right back. Walking into the old shell of a building that once detained crazies still held a residual aura of unease, and a musty stench in the air.
There were just as many people inside as there were outside. Most were here for Andre’s tacos, but the others I predicted just wanted to get out of the cold that was still lingering around on these spring nights, even though the days were beginning to be much warmer.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bernadette laughing with her minions across the way, and behind her stood Davin looking as unentertained as I could imagine someone would be, having to listen to the ridiculous and unintelligent gossip she was undoubtedly stirring up over there. She was too involved in herself to notice me, but Davin had already spotted me within seconds. I turned away quickly when I caught him watching me. Even after all these months my heart still jumped whenever he looked my way, even if it was only a glance in passing.
“Let’s get our tacos and get out of here. Davin and bitch face are over there. I prefer not to be in the same vicinity as them any longer than I have to.”
Gretchen turned the direction in which where they were standing. “Bernadette is over there, but I think Davin is heading our way.”
“What?” I turned back around and saw that Davin had broken away from Bernadette and was definitely heading straight towards us.
&nbs
p; “Go for a walk with me, Adelay.” His voice was next to my ear. The voice that always gave me butterflies in my stomach. I glared up at him.
“What’s the point?”
“Does there have to be one?”
“Well, considering you haven’t said more than two words to me since Halloween I assume there has to be at least one.”
“Quit being stubborn as usual, and just go with me.” I rolled my eyes offended. “Please?”
“Fine, I guess. I’ll be right back, Gretch.”
She nodded wide-eyed and just as confused as I was. Honestly, I had no idea what the reasoning for going with him was, but maybe deep down I wanted any excuse just to be with him, even if he wasn’t mine anymore.
He took us out a different way than we came in. An empty archway where a door used to be was on the far wall, hidden behind the crowd of partygoers. I assumed he brought us this way to avoid running into Bernadette, or Sully for that matter. Once outside, he walked us in the direction of the woods.
“Can you tell me what this is about Davin?”
“Can you just tone down the need to be feisty for a minute? I want to get away from all the damn commotion.”
We walked a ways before stopping in front of the all too familiar weathered down stone staircase that was embedded into the side of the snowy hill. It would ultimately lead us up to the other secluded building at the top. I kicked away some of the leftover snow that was hiding the first step underneath it.
Davin had already begun to ascend them with a flashlight and was holding his hand out to help me up the slippery area. I hesitantly accepted his gesture, grabbing onto his cold hand. A sudden spark of memories flooded my brain, displaying glimpses from all of the times we had formerly shared together, imitating a personal movie reel playing itself out inside my head just from the mere touch of the skin on our hands. I had seen Davin’s memories before, but I hadn’t been awake when it chose to happen; thus, this proved that there was still a bond between us even if we were forced to ignore it.
Chills etched down my spine at the sight of the abandoned building standing before me, the one that I had gotten well acquainted with the night Gretchen and I were brutally attacked by Dalton and his helper.
Autopsy tables were still strewn throughout the room inside, and rusty instruments scattered across the floor from the altercation. I shook off the dire feeling that still hung close in the musty air.
Dalton was dead but the terror still remained. I didn’t wait for Davin to say anything first. Something was eating at me, and I was going to get it out before I took one step further inside.
“Why did you choose Bernadette when you turned your back on me?!” I blurted out the question that was tearing me apart every day. He didn’t answer me right away; so, I asked him again. “Why Davin? Out of every girl possible why did you choose Bernadette, the one scenario that would hurt me the worst?”
I felt warm tears welling up as he contemplated his answer, but still didn’t answer me. He owed me at least some sort of explanation even if it was one I didn’t want to hear. “Tell the truth and shame the devil, Davin.”
His black eyes slit into a glare as he intently studied every feature on my face. For the first time I thought I sensed threatened tears hiding behind his thick black lashes.
He grabbed my arm forcefully, pulling me toward him. “Don’t you see that I am trying to make you hate me?” I opened my mouth to speak, but he continued on. “Because if you hate me, it makes not being able to love you hurt less. You are the only thing that ever mattered to me in this godforsaken life I was given. For once, in over two-hundred years I felt whole, like I had found myself and a purpose to live; and then it was stripped away again all because of one stupid mistake. I never should have left.”
His voice remained calm and collected even though I knew he was struggling with hiding his emotions, but his words still hit me like a ton of bricks. I missed him so much. His grip tightened as he brought his face closer to mine. The smell of spicy mint on his breath tickled my nose. My heart beat hard in my chest, aching for his touch again. I craved his aggressive but compassionate kiss on my lips that always led to my body desiring much more.
The moment his lips finally touched mine, for the first time in almost eight months everything felt the way it was supposed to, the way it had not so long ago when we were happy together...until his memories took over mine. Visions poured inside, of his lips touching Bernadette’s in the exact same way his were on mine right now, while she giggled at his wandering hands on her tanning-bed baked skin.
My head ruthlessly began to spin out of control. I could feel my knees getting weak, and then the unwanted glimpse into their personal nights and sexual rendezvous that they had spent together sent me over the edge.
I ripped my arm out of his grasp, pulling my mouth away from his, and furiously pushing him as hard as I could in his chest; that unfortunately wasn’t enough force to make him budge much more than an inch, but I knew by his surprised look I had caught him completely off guard. He reached for me as I teetered backwards, still dizzy and trying not to trip over my own feet, while I distanced myself further from him.
“Don’t touch me!”
“What’s the matter with you Adelay? What happened?”
“Is that why you insisted I come up here with you? As some kind of sick plan to ensure that I hate you? Well, it worked Davin! I completely hate you!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t act like you didn’t know that by kissing you I would see into your memories with Bernadette once I touched you. That was a really low blow Davin, even for you.”
I turned from him, hurrying back towards the way we had come in. I had to get as far away from him as possible. He was toxic, and I would never allow him to get that close to me again. I couldn’t let our past together torment me anymore. The past was the past, and there was no changing it. I had to get over it and get on with my life no matter how bad it hurt. After tonight, Davin needed to be forgotten.
“Adelay, come back!”
The cold icy air stung my face as I ran back to the stone stairs. If he was chasing after me, I didn’t care because I wasn’t stopping until I was back at the party and asking Sully to take me home.
Sully was sitting on the sleeping bag next to Sarah, still drinking and talking to Robbie and Andy and some other random kids that had joined them. I slowed my pace, trying to catch my breath before I made it over to them. He looked perfectly content without any indication of noticing anything was out of the ordinary.
“I love you Adelay…” An airy whisper spoke inside my head.
“Leave me alone,” I uttered under my breath just as I approached the group. Sully looked up at me with no look of concern or wariness of my whereabouts. I faked a smile.
“Hey princess, have a seat.” He patted the ground next to him. I kneeled down, seeing Davin slip by past a small crowd and back into the building where he had snuck away from.
My blood still boiled from the unwelcomed infiltration inside my head back there on the hill. Sully draped his arm around my shoulders, hugging me into him. I rested my head on him for a minute, still trying to keep my breathing regulated and unnoticeable to him. Not much later Davin emerged from The Cell with a clearly wasted Bernadette sloppily hanging all over him and walking straight towards us. The orange glow emitting from the flame of the bonfire flicked off of his face, illuminating off his silky pale skin.
One thing that was for certain, I was getting real sick of seeing that bitch constantly strutting her slutty antics in my face, and by the perma-scowl that was always plastered on her face I was pretty sure she hated being around all of us just as much; but if it meant rubbing Davin in my face she would continue to endure the pain.
“Can you take me home, Sully?”
He glanced down at me where I rested my head on his shoulder. “Are you okay, princess?”
“Yeah, I’m suddenly really tired. Being here just doesn’
t feel right after all that has happened.”
“Of course we can leave. I don’t want you uncomfortable.” He stood up helping me to my feet.
When I was sure Davin was secretly watching from across the way I stood on my tiptoes, flirtatiously running my hand up Sully’s chest and whispered in his ear. “You can stay with me if you want. My parents were expecting a late night, so they should already be asleep by the time we get there.”
I could feel the heat of Davin’s stare burning a hole straight through me that no one seemed to notice but me. I wondered what he was thinking right this moment, and if I channeled into him, I could probably find out quickly; but I figured maybe I was better off leaving it a mystery. I just hoped he felt even half of what I battled with every day. A part of me felt more guilt about my malicious behavior than I should have.
Gretchen held her hand up to her ear mimicking holding a phone and mouthed ‘Call Me’ as we were leaving.
“Stop this Adde…” I blocked the rest of his soft voice that was whispering in my head again.
"Sorry Davin, but you lost that right a long time ago." Whether or not he heard my counter thought remained uncertain.
CHAPTER TEN
“So New Orleans huh?” Xander was standing in my empty room with his eyebrows raised. “Out of all places, I didn’t think you would take us to New fucking Orleans.”
I looked up from taping one of my last boxes of things. “Take us?”
“Yep us. I told you I was sent back for you; so, if it’s New Orleans you chose then I will be going there too.”
“I’m scared, Xan. I’m scared of moving to the unknown, and honestly I don’t know if I can be restricted to living under the same roof as Davin.”
“You were given a rare supernatural gift from Rosalinda along with a heart that’s pure as gold. Everything will be okay.”
How did he know about Rosalinda Babic?
Blood Curse Page 15
