by Tarisa Marie
“Maybe,” I agree seriously. I’m not afraid to eat half a pizza all on my own. Not even in front of him. Like I said, I love food.
“I want to show you something tonight, will you come with me after this?” he asks hopefully.
“Show me what? I have lots of homework,” I admit. “You do too.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like we have to actually pass, we just have to pretend that we’re 16. We can even drop out after a while and pretend that we’re being homeschooled or something if we want.”
I scowl at him and say nothing.
“Come on,” he insists, giving me puppy dog eyes.
I let out a short laugh and resign. “How long is it going to take?”
“Not long,” he promises, while gobbling down his fourth piece.
“Okay, what is it?” I ask again.
He winks.
“What?” I demand and take the last piece of pizza.
“It’s a secret.” He grins.
“Well, let’s go then,” I insist and get up to go pay.
“No, no, you’re not paying.”
“Well technically it’s my dad’s money,” I say while waving it in the air like a fan.
“I’m paying because I was raised to always buy lunch for the lady. Especially on the first date,” he grins and pulls out his wallet.
I’m so shocked by his calling this a date that he gets past me and races to the cash register, beating me by only a second. I wonder if this is a pity date because he told me the other night while he was under the influence that he’d take me out for supper.
When he’s done paying we head out to the car and he begins driving out of town.
“Uh, where are we going?” I ask, hoping for a hint of some sort.
“I told you already that it’s a secret.”
“I don’t like secrets,” I tell him truthfully.
He wags his eyebrows at me. “I don’t care.”
“That’s not nice.” I make a pouty face hoping that he’ll feel bad.
“I don’t care,” he repeats with a playful smile.
I cross my arms.
“Suck it up, princess,” he teases.
“Don’t call me that,” I say quickly.
“Why not?” he asks curiously, noticing my immediate protest.
“I’m not five.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re such a drama queen.”
“Am not! You’re the one always rolling your eyes at me.”
He shakes his head and makes a left. We pull into a field where the road becomes no more and we’re heading up a hill on a beaten down grass path.
“Are we going to get arrested for trespassing?” I wonder out loud.
He shakes his head. “No, because this my land. I purchased it yesterday.”
“What?” I ask wondering if I’ve heard him right.
“This...is...my...land...I...bought...it...yesterday,” he says slowly as if I’m dumb.
“Why do you need land?” I ignore his jab at me.
“The price of land is always rising. It’s an excellent investment,” he answers flippantly and stops the car outside of a patch of bushes.
“Do you have cows too?” I ask, almost excited.
“Uh, no. Too much work.” He laughs. “Would you like me to buy you a cow?” he asks completely serious.
“No, no.” I shake my head quickly. I hate it when people buy me things. Why would he buy me a cow of all things anyhow? Aren’t they expensive? I mean dogs are expensive and they’re so small compared to cows.
He shuts off the engine and gets out. He leads me through the trees to a clearing with a small natural spring in the center of it. The water runs down the hill we drove up and down into a small pond. I’ve never seen anything like it. Then again, this kind of stuff doesn’t really exist in the middle of Denver.
I’m fascinated by the countryside.
He reaches down into the small pool of water and cups some in his hands. He takes a sip.
“Careful, you might get sick from drinking that,” I warn him, remembering what I learnt in biology class back at home.
He looks at me as if I’m stupid and I remember that no it won’t make him sick.
“Try some,” he insists. “It’s the freshest water you’ll ever taste.
I hesitate but end up cupping my hands together like he did moments ago and taking my own sip. He’s right the water tastes so much different from the treated stuff I’m used to. It tastes earthy but in a good way. Not like dirt but like nature in general. That’s the only way that I can describe it.
“Neat, huh?” he asks.
“Yeah, is this what you wanted to show me?” I ask.
“Yeah, well, I knew you grew up in Denver so I thought this might be cool to show you. I mean you went to that field party in the dark the other day but it’s still light out so I thought you’d appreciate everything more.
“Definitely,” I agree while taking in my surroundings. It really truly is amazing.
He goes over to a bush and begins plucking something off of it. I approach him to see what exactly he is doing. Leaf collecting?
When I get closer I realize that he’s picking little blue berries.
“Are those edible?” I wonder.
“Yes. They’re called saskatoons. Here, try one,” he suggests and pops one into my mouth.
I’m surprised by the taste. They look sort of like blueberries but they sure don’t taste like them.
“Shouldn’t we wash these?”
He chuckles. “No, there’s no pesticide chemicals on them like produce at the store. The only thing on these is bug shit and maybe bird shit which is very unlikely to kill anyone normal, let alone us.”
At the thought of poop on the berries, I should be repulsed but they’re just so good that I throw some more into my mouth. I take a seat under the bush and lay back in the grass.
“Tired?” he asks.
“Shhh,” I mumble. “I’m listening to nature.”
He laughs again, removes his shirt, and then lays down beside me. I can’t help but gawk.
“Stop checking me out,” he teases and I immediately feel heat enter my cheeks. “I’m kidding.”
I close my eyes and pretend to be relaxing so he doesn’t bother me or make my cheeks any redder but it doesn’t stop him.
“You’re beautiful, you know,” he says softly and I realize that he’s much closer than I anticipated.
I don’t say anything in return. Maybe he’ll think I’m sleeping. Wrong.
“Do you want to get back to do your homework?” he asks while playing with a strand of my hair.
I sit up and nod although it’s exactly what I don’t want to do.
Chapter 16
Later, I’m lying in bed sleeping when I hear D cussing loudly in his room. Confused, I jump out of bed after glancing at the clock and seeing that it’s nearly two in the morning. When I reach his room, his door is shut but a light shines underneath it. I knock.
“Come in,” he groans as if in agony. I open the door and find him sitting up against his headboard with his math textbook in his lap. “Sorry if I woke you, I’m trying to do this crap.” He raises his textbook up so I can see it.
“Need help?” I ask him sleepily.
“You look exhausted, Ariella, go back to sleep,” he insists and returns to punching numbers into my calculator.
“No, it’s fine,” I try again and take a few tired steps into his room. He’s decorated in here more since the last time I was in here. I notice a couple books cases filled with large books and boxes full of nicnacs. I wonder if he’s brought this stuff from home, wherever that might be. I peak into one of the boxes and pull out an old worn photo album. I flip it open. Inside, are pictures that look too old. The kind you find in senior centers. They’re all black and white. It takes me a moment to realize that D is in the pictures. He’s wearing a soldier’s uniform in many of them and in others he is working with paper or fooling around with other peopl
e. I recognize my father in a few and even Jacob in others. I can’t comprehend the fact that they all look to be the exact same age as they do now. It’s almost freaky. It is freaky.
“Don’t look at those,” he says and suddenly the book is shut and back in the box where I found it. Him and his stupid magic.
“Why not?” I ask tiredly.
“Because they’re old,” he answers seriously and closes his textbook. “You should really go back to sleep. I promise that I’ll be quieter.”
“So what if they’re old?” I ask confused. Why does it matter how old they are? What difference does it make?
“If you’re not going to go to bed, then come help me with this math stuff.” He ignores my question.
I give in and wander over to his bed.
“Take a seat.” He pats the spot next to him. I hesitate before getting close to him because every time I do it feels like an electric current is whipping through my body and I can’t help from swooning like a little fourteen year old girl. Even my breathing goes erratic! Like seriously, Ariella, get a grip!
“Are you going to sit down and help me or have you decided to go to sleep?” he asks amused by my hesitation.
I reluctantly take the seat he is offering me and lean back against his headboard. We go over most of the equations before I’m too tired to keep my eyes open and I drift off into a deep sleep. I wake only momentarily at some point when the bed shutters because D is moving. I realize he is turning the bedside lamp off and I’m still passed out in his bed. I think about getting up and going to my own bed like I should but I’m frozen here with exhaustion as my eyes attempt to close once again. My mind is foggy and I vaguely wonder if I’m dreaming.
“Good night, Ariella,” D whispers and I wonder if I’m imagining it when I feel his soft, warm lips press against my forehead.
The next morning I awake in D’s bed and sit straight up in shock. I notice that he’s not lying beside me and so I race out of his room and into my own. After I close my bedroom door, I hear an array of voices downstairs and realize that my father and Jacob have returned. I get dressed quickly realizing that I’m almost going to be late for school and rush downstairs.
“How was your trip?” I ask, still unsure what exactly they were gone doing.
“Good, what about your first day of school?” Jacob asks while eating a pancake. It’s weird he and dad only seem to eat for pleasure now that I know.
“Fine,” I answer and grab my backpack. “Where’s D?” I ask, glancing at the clock. It’s nearly time to go.
“No clue. You’re not going to school today though. They called, it’s been cancelled. There was a car accident last night just outside of town. Three very young kids well-known in the community were killed and with the recent death of that girl in high school, they’ve decided to call of the next two days,” Jacob explains.
I nearly fist pump because I don’t have to go to school but then reality of it sets in and I feel like crying. How much loss can this little village take? I remember what the school was like after the death on the weekend, it’s no wonder they’ve closed for the next two days. I wonder how old the kids were, did I see them at school yesterday? Of course I did, I decide. This poor village. So much loss.
“So what is the plan for today then?” I ask Jacob. He shrugs. “Dad is out looking into getting you a car. But you know him, he’s trying to pick out the perfect one. So whether or not it’s ugly, please pretend you like it. He wants it to be a surprise so act surprised when he tells you. So anyways, I’m supposed to tell you to practice your witch stuff. D said he’d be back later to help.”
Great. More practice at lifting light objects with my mind and getting nowhere. Looking forward to staring at a piece of paper for more hours and wasting my time. Although D says I have the ability, I don’t buy it. If I did, wouldn’t I have at least been able to move the paper a little bit by now? Ugh.
Chapter 17
The next few days fly by and then so do the next few weeks. Suddenly school's out for the summer and I’m left bored as can be. I’m constantly being hounded to practice both my magic and my combat skills. Neither seem to improve much. I do manage to lift the piece of paper using my magic, at least D says I do, although I don’t see it actually happen. He says magic is like a muscle and the more I work at it the easier and stronger I’ll become but I’m pretty sure that the paper didn’t actually move and he’s only trying to keep me from giving up completely. I can see it in his eyes, when he watches me practice, that he thinks that I should be progressing far quicker than I am.
Over the last few weeks of school I spend a lot of time studying for tests that I really don’t need to study for and helping D with his math. Basically all of my time is spent with D either at school or at home practicing something. Jacob asks how I can stand to be around him so much and I usually just shrug because in reality I’m enjoying his company. More than that, I’m loving it.
It’s not unoften that I fall asleep in his bed sometimes even on his chest and I no longer feel completely awkward about it. Neither my father nor Jacob questions it and I’m so very thankful for that. I know that neither of them would ever suspect us as being any more than companions and really, the two of them aren’t around enough to see anything more between us anyways. They’re always out working on some master plan that no one will let me in on. All I know is that they’re rounding up people to attack Marco.
I find myself wondering quite often these days whether or not D and I would have been together in another life. Another life where he wasn’t ancient and wasn’t my father’s best friend. Sometimes I can tell that he is thinking the exact same thing. Neither of us have time to dwell on the fact though because we’re so busy with other things.
When the end of school year rolls by without further disputes, I’m thrilled. I try to avoid confrontation at all costs. Eric and his monkeys as I call them, leave us and Blake alone. No one protests when Blake sits at the big table every day and everything seems to go smoothly. I make a couple of friends but we don’t really do much friend-like stuff seeing as D isn’t allowed to leave my side and I’m far too busy anyways. I miss girl time with Mindy, I miss Mindy but again, I don’t have time to dwell on it.
Then impossibly it’s almost the end of summer vacation and time to head back to school.
I guess I should be thankful that Marco hasn’t found me yet or invaded my dreams again but I just can’t help but wonder what my life would be like if none of this supernatural crap ever came to be. Truthfully, the only thing, or person I should say, that keeps life bearable and keeps me sane in general is D.
Today we’re going to a nearby city to go shopping upon my request. My father and Jacob are gone as usual and so it’ll just be the two of us. He’s taking me to pick out some more summer clothes and a bathing suit as I’ve spoken up about wanting to pick out my own clothes instead of everyone else buying them for me. I especially would like to pick out my own undergarments because having my father pick them out is just plain weird.
I shuffle down the stairs and into the kitchen where I expect to smell the usual scent of bacon but it’s the first time in months that I haven’t. I’m surprised to find a note on the kitchen table stating that D has gone out and will be back in a couple hours. Very rarely am I ever left alone and when I am it’s only for a few minutes. I use this freedom to slump on the couch and watch TV. This is something that I haven’t had enough time to do lately. After four or five hours and D still not returning, I contemplate calling my father and alerting him but I really don’t want to get D in trouble if he is just being held up somewhere. My father will kill him if he finds out that he’s left me alone for a few seconds let alone hours.
I call his phone, it rings and then hits his voicemail. This is the strangest part because normally, even if he is busy he will answer his phone. I hold my phone in my hand, my thumb hovering over the contact that reads ‘dad’. I debate for what feels like hours but is only seconds before I end
up putting my phone back into my pocket.
My stomach growls. I know there’s no food in the house but I also don’t want to leave. D will kill me if I do. I search the cupboards and all that I come up with is some ravioli which looks entirely unappetizing. I finally decide that I’m going to make a quick run to the store. It’s only a few blocks away and if I’m lucky D won’t beat me back to the house.
I slip on my sandals and decide to run there instead of walk just because it’s faster. I manage to make it to the store and back without D beating me back home. Now I’m really worried.
I call my dad. His phone goes straight to voicemail. Strange. I call Jacob, his also goes straight to voicemail. Now I’m really worried. But in all seriousness, what can I do? I have no idea where they are. I can’t just start combing the country for them.
Then the front door opens and in walks D covered in mud from head to toe.
“What the hell?!” I shout furiously.
He looks up at me but seems to look right through me.
“Where were you?” I demand.
“Kicking some vampire butt. We’ve got to get out of here, Marco might be coming,” he instructs, no sign of his usual happy attitude. I don’t argue. I know the drill. I very sadly shut off my phone after erasing all of its data and throw it on the table. I take my noodles from the microwave and then we’re out the door and in his car.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“Remember that chunk of land I have outside of the village? The little clearing? I spelled it so it’s like it doesn’t even exist. I can only do it with small areas so I thought it would be the best bet. You can only enter it if you know it exists. That’s why I took you there before I spelled it. Others who walk near it will skip right over it and end up on the other side of it,” he guarantees.
“So it’s safe?” I ask hopefully. My heart is racing.
“It should be. Only problem is, your father and Jacob don’t know it exists but they’re over in Sweden and shouldn’t be home for a few days. Hopefully the vampires will have given up searching Taverd by then. I think I killed every one of his minions that seen me. At least I hope I did or they’ll be reporting back to Marco and then we’re screwed. Well we’re screwed anyhow because he’s going to come looking for his missing minions, that or he’ll send someone else searching for them.”
