by Kara Joy
Orion shrugged, “you do tell me things, that you do not tell the other family members. After I find out, I am still not going to leave.”
I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. “So you are not leaving me again?”
Orion has to laugh at my enthusiasm. “No Anna! I am not going anywhere.”
“Promise?” Doubt filled my voice because I did not believe him. I felt ashamed for not trusting him but I finally had him back.
“I Promise. I can’t live without my heart.” He was so sure of his answer that I believed him.
I snuggled up to his cold, hard, chiseled body and sighed. I was content, finally, being in his arms. Then Augustine and Arianna walked into the room with three cups of blood.
Augustine forcefully stated, “You need to feed, and you need to do it without an I.V.”
Orion grabbed two glasses and Zack grabbed the third one. We all drank the blood and gave the glasses back to Augustine.
Orion turned to me. “Glad you are feeding again. Do you feel strong enough to go on a walk?”
“Yes.” I was so happy to be able to get out of the house; to be alone with Orion. “Could we go to Kill Devil Hills?” I sat up and answered him so fast, it almost made me dizzy. Though, I would never admit it to them.
“I will go anywhere you want to go sweetheart. Get dressed, and we will go up there.” I loved that he always gave me what I wanted. Of course, he always had a line that he would never cross because of my birth. I was not like the other vampires; I am much weaker than everyone else because I am half-human. I hated being weak but the truth of the matter is, I am humanly weak.
I smiled as Orion and Zack left the room to allow me time to change. Orion shut the door behind him, as I sprinted to my closet to find an outfit.
Once in the hallway, Orion turned to Zack. “Thanks for looking out for her while I was gone.”
Zack finally regained himself from the shock of Orion’s gratefulness. “You're welcome. I did not do it for you. If I knew that she was not feeding, then I would have forced her to feed.”
“I know, but I am very grateful that you were here for her. I should not have left her alone this long. I should have known that there would have been some trouble when I left.”
“You care about her, don’t you?” Skepticism ran deep in his voice.
“Yes, I do care about Anna.” You could hear the unspoken love in his soft voice as he said her name.
“Do you love her?”
“I am her Protector.” It was a statement, a fact. The love had gone out of his voice. Zack’s more recent question had put Orion back into his place; reminding Orion who he truly was.
When Orion did not say more, Zack went on to ask, “I know that, but do you love her?” He annunciated every letter when he said, love.
“Yes, I love her.”
They both were silent, as they thought over their conversation; in their own little world.
Finally, I was ready to go and I bounded out my door and ran right into Zack.
“Oops, sorry.” I laughed, mostly from my embarrassment.
“You need to be more careful, Anna. I need to get home. If I hear anything else, I will let you know.”
Orion was right there at my side handing Zack a small box. Looking over Orion's shoulder, I saw the cell phone, Zack was checking out. Orion looked at Zack, “This is the easiest way to reach us. Just hit speed dial number one, that is my number. Only use the phone in an emergency or to give us any new information that you come across.”
Both guys gave each other awkward glances. I realized that I must have missed something earlier. “Ok thanks. See you later, Anna.”
“Bye, Zack.”
Zack left the house as Orion and I climbed into his Corvette and raced to Kill Devil Hills. I watched the trees race by until we pulled into the park's parking lot.
“Want to walk, or sit here, and talk?”
“Let’s walk.” I was eager to get out of the car. I hoped that he would get distracted as we went into the forest.
We got out and walked into the forest reserve. When we were deep into the forest, we started to speed up. We walked into our meadow, where we hung out a lot, and sat down on our log.”
“Ok, Anna! What is going on?”
“I do not want to talk about it. You would not understand.” I stared at the ground because I did not want to look at him. If I looked at him, he would be able to tell that there was so much I was not telling him.
He grabbed my chin; making me look up into his eyes. He swept an escaped piece of hair behind my ear and told me, “I bet I understand more than you give me credit for.”
I shook my head in denial. “Nope. Sorry, I can't tell you.”
Orion stared into my eyes, “Why are you scared to tell me? This is me. You have never been too scared to tell me something. Please, tell me?” I nodded because I could not say the word no. I had never told Orion ‘no’ but it was all that I could do to keep him safe. I noticed that I was still shaking my head in denial as Orion leaned in and kissed me. “Well, you still won't tell me?”
This time the words came to me, “No, I still can not tell you. I have to keep you and the family safe. So, I will not tell you what I keep seeing.”
This time Orion leaned in and kissed me more passionately. His arms wrapped around my waist as he pulled me against him. When I finally pushed away, I was gasping for air. Even without him kissing me, I still felt like I could not breathe. I was not expecting the sadness that was in the kiss.
Finally, I sighed. I was always a goner when he kissed me like that and looked me in the eyes. I was a sucker for almost anything. It was so unfair. I knew he did it because he knew that he would get his way. “I have been having these weird…” I was afraid to go on, but I knew that I had to finish what I was saying. Maybe he would know more about them than I did. “Well, they are like flashbacks or nightmares, I guess.”
I paused, not planning on saying anything else. I had already said enough. When he realized that was all I was going to say; he pressed for more information. “Ok, what are the dreams about?”
I sighed, I knew that I was not going to get away without telling him every single detail. He would keep pestering me until he got what he wanted. “I see your face. There is terror and panic in your eyes. There is a silver cross in front of us. I am looking at it, then blood splatters all over it.”
Orion was silent for the longest time as he looked at me. “What do you think about the dream?”
“I don’t know, but it has me really freaked out, and scared. Do you know what it means?” I kept staring at him; waiting for him to give me an explanation of what I had seen. His face had gone emotionless, so I could not read his expression. I knew that this was serious, but his reaction was scaring me even more than I already was.
Orion finally looked over, noticing that he was starting to make me panic. He then broke the silence. “I think you should talk to Augustine about the nightmare. It is his choice of how much to tell you. We do not want all of your memories to come flooding back at the same time.”
“What do you mean?” Now I was starting to get agitated. I knew that our family had secrets. I just didn't know that they were keeping more secrets from me.
“Your mind has protected itself for almost one hundred years. You do not remember anything from the night of the massacre or the next five days. That is a good thing, in my opinion. We have had to be careful to not talk about it while you were conscious and able to hear us.”
I crossed my arms, huffing, as I moved away from Orion. “Why not? Why has Augustine not told me everything? He even avoided my questions, when he talked of the Prophecy when Zack first came to school.”
Orion could tell that I was getting mad and I wanted answers. He stroked my jawline and kissed me softly. That got my mind off of the answers that I wanted. Orion started to tell me some of the truth but avoided answering my questions. “Your mind needed to be protected from the dark memories.
” When Orion said this, he shuttered; which only sparked my curiosity.
Zack walked into his house. He could feel that they had company, but he just did not want to deal with any of it. Orion was back in town. Anna had always forgotten all about him when Orion was in the room.
“Zachary?” Ambrosia called from the living room, “Could you come in here, please.”
A woman dressed in all black with long auburn hair rose out of the corner chair. “Hello Zachary, I’m Andromeda Wakada. Do you know who she is?” She asked as she held up a picture of Zack and Anna, outside of Anna’s house the previous week.
“Yes, ma’am.” He refused to say the woman's name. He knew exactly who she was from the conversations with Augustine. Zack had been warned that it was dangerous for Anna if anyone ever found out about her.
“Her name is Annabella Lavada.” She held up the picture of Anna and Zack, again. “I am leaving to go back to France and tell them the news.
“No! You can not tell them about her.” Zack lounged across the room at the woman to grab the picture. Her guards moved quickly and threw Zack against the wall. They kept hitting him until he did not even try to get up.
I sat against the tree, looking at Orion. He had told me everything that he could. I kept looking at him, not sure what to make of what I had learned. Orion smiled at me, “Want to go swimming?”
I smiled because I always loved swimming with him. “Sure!” I also knew that Orion wanted to distract me from all of the information. I saw the pain in his eyes. I never wanted to cause him pain or worry as long as I lived.
Orion and I swam until darkness fell over the water. We finally started back towards the house. When we arrived Zack’s truck was in the driveway. My breathing almost stopped, “Orion, something is wrong.”
“I know. Zack should have called. Let’s get you inside.”
Before Orion could turn off the engine the boys were around the car. Their backs were to us. You could see the confidence and the fear in their black eyes. My door was opened as Griffin grabbed me, tucking me into his chest, running towards the house. We were quickly followed by two of the other boys. When Griffin finally sat me down, I was shaking in fear. It had been years since they went into full bodyguard mode. The mode made me nervous because it could only mean one thing. I looked around the room and saw Zack sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.
Orion burst through the door. He was more furious than I have ever seen him. It was almost scary to see him like that. “What the hell, Zack?” I told you to call…” His anger was prevailing in his emotions. His nose was flaring and I was scared for Zack. I started to say something but then I saw Augustine move in the corner of my eye.
Before Orion could continue Augustine laid his hand on Orion’s shoulder to quiet him and Zack looked up. It was the first time I had seen his face and now I knew why Zack had his head down.
I tried to muffle my scream but I was not very successful. “Zack, what the hell happened?”
“Anna, I am so sorry. I have put you in more danger than I could have ever imagined. I wanted to protect you, but I failed.” The agony was clear in his voice. It made me feel sympathy for him, even though I did not know what he was talking about.
“Zack, none of this is your fault. I have always been in a lot of danger. We are used to it.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Do not beat yourself up over it.” I tried to reassure him, but it did not work as well as I would have liked as my voice cracked on the last part.
Augustine then started in, “Anna, honey, this is much more dangerous than all of the other times.”
Orion interrupted before I could see what was going on. “Zack, why don’t you tell us what happened, since some of us are still in the dark.” Orion tried very hard to control his temper and everyone could tell.
“Ok, first of all, I am sorry that I did not call you. The phone was smashed to bits.” He was apologetic but he was scared and angry. I could feel his emotions rolling off of him.
“That is fine. I just need to know what is going on, so we can make plans.”
“Well, I left here and I went home. Andromeda was at the house. She had a picture of Anna and me…”
“What! You have a picture of you two?” Orion screamed to Zack and looked over to me. I cowered into Griffin’s side. I hated seeing Orion like this.
“No, I burned all of our pictures because it was too dangerous to have them with my dad in the same house. This was a picture someone else took. I tried to get it away from them. The guards beat me when I tried. After I blacked out, they left... after killing my mother.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you,” Orion even sounded like he meant it.
Zack just shrugged his shoulders. “I deserved it.”
Orion jumped in before Zack could say anything else, “No! You did not deserve being hit. They never should have done that to you.” Orion was fuming again.
Zack ignored Orion and looked over to me, “Anna, I am so sorry that I put you in this danger. I promise you that I will keep you safe, no matter what I have to do.”
I shuttered knowing what would have to be done to end all of this. “Zack, it is fine. Augustine, Orion, what should we do? They know that I am alive now. It is proven.”
Orion looked to Augustine, and I knew they were thinking through something. Augustine broke eye contact first, “Well since Zack is here, I think that it is finally time that you both hear what the Prophecy has said for the past eight hundred years.”
I sat up straighter. I knew I was finally going to hear the whole truth. I would hear all of the things that I had forgotten.
Augustine interrupted my thoughts when he turned and started to talk to Zack. “Have you ever heard what the Prophecy states?”
Zack shook his head. “No, my parents never talk about it. I never even knew my parents were vampires until I became one, and there were some accidents. Of course, you already know about those.”
Chapter 16
“Well, it was before my time. My great grandfather told me about it.” Augustine started in, reflectively.
I had to interrupt. I felt bad to annoy Augustine, but I had to know. “Wait. You said the Prophecy had to do with me. How can it deal with me if it is that old?”
Augustine smiled. “I will get to that. The Prophecy was proclaimed a long time ago. I never imagined it would come to be in this lifetime.”
I looked at Zack. He looked as confused as I felt but I kept on listening.
“The Prophecy states that a family will perish, and the survivor will unite the two worlds. The survivor will be the most powerful vampire to walk the Earth, but its nature will make it good and keep it from evil. It will follow a half-breed that it loves, but her heart will always belong to another.”
Zack was the one to speak this time. “Ok, I do not get it. How does the Prophecy deal with Anna or anyone here?”
Augustine looks at Orion completely stunned. He finally gained his composure. “Zack, have you ever heard of the Protector’s and the Invader’s?”
Zack shrugs, a little unsure. “I have heard of the Invader’s accidentally. But I do not know what it means.”
Augustine was at a loss of words, “I can not believe that you have never been taught about our heritage.”
“No one is ever around long enough to talk to about those kinds of things. I would have asked Anna but we are rarely alone.”
“We are the Protector’s,” Augustine stated as he pointed towards the rest of the family. “It is a group of 'good' vampires. Anna is a Vampiress. She was part of a Royal Family. The Invaders were obsessed with power. So one night they fought their way into the Sanctuary and killed all of Anna’s family.”
“Wow. I can not believe that they would be that obsessed with power.”
“They were. Anna’s mother and father could have gotten out safely, but they ordered me to grab my family and keep her safe.”
“Augustine,” my voice was barely a whisper, “they kept me safe?
He sacrificed himself for me?” Before I finished the sentence, Orion was there with his arm around me as tears began to fall.
“Yes, my dear. Your father told me to keep you safe. Over these last several years, you have become like one of my kids.”
“What else happened, Augustine? I do not remember much.” I had pleaded to Augustine over the years to tell me the truth. Though he always told me that I have to wait for my mind to heal and the information would come. He was finally telling us what had happened. It hurt for me to hear what he was saying, but at least I would learn the truth.
Another glance was exchanged between Orion and Augustine. Orion finally nodded as Augustine continued. “Your father pushed me out the door and closed it behind me. I heard the other door break open and some screams as I grabbed everyone.”
Orion’s arms tightened around my waist. I knew that he was trying to assure me that he was still there. Zack was sitting there taking in the story, as much as I was.
“When I ran to your room, you and Orion were sitting on the couch…”
“Wait!” I turned to Orion. “There was a cross on the coffee table, in front of the couch. It's the cross from my nightmare, isn’t it?”
Augustine looked confused and turned to Orion. This time Orion answered, “Yes, it is the same cross that you have been dreaming about.”
Augustine shook his head, “That is what you have been scared of?”
“Yes.”
“You should have told me.”
“I thought that I was losing it. I was trying to protect you all." I shrugged. "I thought I was seeing the future. If I was going to die, I wanted to make sure that none of you would get hurt.” After I said that there was some laughter from my brothers.
Augustine looked at Orion, “You know, I have never figured out why you were in Anna’s room. She was supposed to be asleep?”
When I heard what Augustine had said, I gasped, grabbing my stomach.
Augustine lurched forward to find out what was wrong. Orion’s arm tightened around me as the memories flooded to my mind and I suddenly remembered what had happened. It seemed like forever before I could hear anything. Everything felt so far away; like I was listening through a tunnel.
