A Nighttime of Forever

by Matthew S. Cox

  “Oh, that.” He shakes his head. “You kids and messy break ups. What happened to the days of crying and gobs of chocolate… or drinking heavily? These days it’s all knives and guns. Is it the youth of the age or just America?”

  “Don’t ask me. I’m still one of those crazy kids.”

  “You would not have stabbed Scott if he broke up with you, though.”

  “No. I was planning on doing the crying and gobs of chocolate thing.”

  He chuckles.

  “I still might do the crying and gobs of chocolate thing.” I keep jabbing the hatchet at the dirt. “Killing and burning a guy’s kind of traumatic.”

  “Aye, right. Though you didn’t kill him. You caused a moving body to rest.”

  “Thanks.” I smile, and mean it. “I guess you’ve killed before…”

  “Right, lass. Though I managed to make it a while before I had to. Was during World War I. Decided to help out at night sometimes.”

  It’s beyond my ability to imagine I’m talking to someone who was around for things I studied in history class. I stand and turn my back on the burning Jeep. “Okay. I’ve seen enough. He’s not getting up from that.”

  “Nope.”

  “Dalton?” I glance at him.

  “No thanks, hon. I’m too old for you.”

  I punch him in the shoulder. “Ass.”

  He laughs.

  “Not what I was going to ask. Was that true about the slave thing?”

  “Nah. I said that to make him stop biting you… and feeding a Scrap vampire blood might finish the Transference. But it wouldn’t have worked unless you wanted to do that.”

  “Oh. Umm, how about no way?”

  “Although.” Dalton taps a finger to his chin. “The Academics can supposedly enthrall weaker vampires using blood magic, but I’ve only heard rumors.”

  “Creepy.”

  “Quite.” He gazes upward. “You know my favorite part about being a vampire? The stars.”

  “They’re pretty.”

  “Much more so with these eyes. All the details, the colors.” He smiles wistfully at the sky.

  We stand there for a while, stargazing, my hair tossing in a breeze that stinks like scorched shithead and burning plastic. The fire flutters and roars behind us.

  “What’s your take on Aurélie?” I ask.

  “Little bizarre, but most of the ones that old are a bit nutters in one way or another. She fancies cute things.”

  “Are you saying I’m cute?”

  “Adorable… in a lighting her ex-boyfriend on fire sort of way.”

  I snicker.

  A loud bang comes from behind, startling birds out of the trees and me into a low crouch.

  “Merely a tire popping,” says Dalton.

  “Oh.” I stand again. “Right.”

  “We best take our leave of here before someone comes to check out the fire.”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” I face him. “Thanks.”

  “Anytime, lass. All set then?”

  “I think so.”

  Dalton nods, waves, and zips off into the air.

  I sigh, shaking my head at what happened between Scott and me. In a way, I’m really pissed off at him, but more for cheating than stabbing me. His jabbing a knife into my chest kinda feels like he helped me find this new existence, which so far has been pretty cool. I dunno if I should be angry with myself for not leaving him sooner, for doubting my gut feeling. He never hit me or anything, just had a habit of being a prick. I’d like to think if it had gotten to that point, I’d have been gone. But given all the shit I put up with from him, I’m not so sure. He wormed into my heart, and head, and it took a giant knife to cut him out of there.

  Sigh. Why is clarity always too late?

  I glance back at the ball of flames one last time, too bright to see any trace of the body. “In case you didn’t get the message, Scott. You’re an asshole, and I am leaving you.”

  After a moment of silence, I hurl myself into the sky toward home.

  Early Admission

  26

  On a gloomy afternoon a few days later, I wander into the office of Seattle Central College to fill out an application form for night classes. Despite the cloud cover, the indirect sun makes the day feel like ninety-five degrees. Since I’m not expecting another life-and-death battle with a half-dead idiot, I risk wearing a dress with a shortish skirt. Jeans would be way too hot.

  Now that I think about it, I might even be able to swing a late afternoon class, but I’d have to call out ‘sick’ every time it was intensely sunny. I seem to be waking up around 2 p.m. with relative frequency, but I don’t know myself enough to trust it’s set in stone. The last thing I need would be to miss an exam because my vampire side refused to get out of bed until the sun went down. Granted, since I’m not registering for summer classes, and this is Seattle, maybe I could pull off a course that starts at like three in the afternoon. Still, better to play it safe. I’ll try to stick to classes scheduled to start close to 8 p.m.

  After a quick chat with a clerk, I get the forms and move to a table in the waiting area to fill them out. I brought all my high school transcripts, diploma, and everything else, so I should be able to get through this without having to run home to look something up. And if need be, I have my phone back, so I could always call Dad.

  The door opens about an hour into the process of filling out all this crap. A guy walks in, and his brisk stride for the admissions counter slows when he spots me. Ugh. It’s Hunter Lawrence. I mean he’s not a bad looking guy, but I can’t help but think of him as that creepy guy who stared at me ever since sophomore year. His wild hair, plain white T-shirt, and blue jeans makes me think he’s here to audition for a Nirvana biopic.

  We lock stares, and I can’t help myself. This dude’s been stalking me for three years. Since I can do this now, I have to know.

  I peek into his mind and discover that he’s had a serious crush on me. Like ‘hasn’t tried even talking to any other girls because of it’ serious. He’s still too shy to speak to me. Hmm. I can’t decide if that’s cute or pathetic. He’s thinking about a few times he almost tried to approach me, but after I started dating Scott the summer between sophomore and junior year, he backed way off.

  Hunter breaks eye contact and trudges over to the counter. I think his father’s a mechanic or something. Not sure what his mother does. Or maybe Hunter’s the one who tinkers with cars.

  The letters on the admission form blur in and out as my mind’s nowhere near on them. It’s not like I’m in any hurry to hook up with a guy, especially after what happened, but something about his innocent crush gets under my skin. He likes me… but nothing like the sort of life he’s hoping for could ever possibly happen with me anymore. He’s also on the timid side. Then again, I don’t need a boy to protect me. I’ve got no reason at all to listen to any ‘natural selection’ instinct and find a huge, strong mate to keep little old me safe in the cave while I pump out spawn.

  “Hey,” says Hunter. “Mind if I sit here?”

  Wow, he speaks.

  I shrug. “Sure, go ahead.”

  He slides into the ugly orange plastic chair across from me and sets his forms on the table.

  For a little while, the room is silent save for the skritching of pens on paper and distant computer typing from the admin office.

  “Hey, you’re Sarah Wright?”

  As if he didn’t know. “Yep.” I look up at him. “Hi, Hunter.”

  He twitches. “Umm. Hi. I’m, uhh, really glad you’re okay.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “Uhh, same reason you are. Trying to get a degree. Or did you mean that more like a philosophical question?”

  I smile. “No, I mean going for night school.” I point at his form, the same as mine.

  “Oh. I gotta work to pay for this. Parents can’t swing it and I didn’t score well enough for a free ride. So I gotta go at night.”

  “That’s cool. When you
graduate, you’ll have work experience.”

  He rolls his eyes, chuckling. “Yeah. Not sure waiting tables will count.”

  “What are you studying?”

  “Anything but education. My mom doesn’t make enough money to live on.”

  “That’s sad.”

  He glances at me.

  “I mean, that they don’t pay teachers enough to live on. You know Mr. Martin has a side job in the mall at this clothing store? Saw him there junior year. It blew my mind.”

  He chuckles. “Weird seeing a teacher working a job like that, huh? We think of them as these authority figures, then see them with the kind of lame-ass job a kid’s supposed to have.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, umm, why are you here? Weren’t you going to USC?”

  I tap my pen on the table. “I’d been planning to but… family stuff. I gotta stay close.”

  “I hope no one’s like really sick or anything.”

  “Nah. Nothing like that. Just, you know… that thing with getting attacked. I kinda wanna stay near my family.”

  He twiddles his pen between his fingers, nodding. “Yeah. I can understand that. Look, I know you think I’m creepy and stuff, but… I made a mistake by being quiet. After what happened to you, I’ve realized that life’s too precious to waste on being nervous.”

  I look up from the forms. Wow, his face is bright red, but he’s got a determined look in his eye.

  “I guess… maybe it’s too soon and all, but if you, umm, ever need someone to talk to… I’d like to.”

  “I broke up with Scott. That whole relationship is dead.”

  He stares at me, speechless.

  “You’re probably right about it being a little too soon,” I say, “but it would be nice to have someone to talk to.”

  “Umm. Would you maybe wanna go out sometime?”

  I smile. “I think I’d like that, but I oughta warn you… My life’s gotten complicated.”

  Hunter’s raging blush lessens. He sits up taller in his chair and grins wide. “I’m okay with complicated.”

  “Good.” I scribble my number on a bit of scrap paper and push it over to him. He rests his hand on it, as well as my fingers. After a hesitant few seconds, we wind up holding hands. “Because it’s really complicated.”

  Fin

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you for reading A Nighttime of Forever! I hope you’ll take the time to leave a review, even if it’s a couple lines.

  Additional thanks to:

  Alexandria Thompson for the cover art.

  Olivia Swenson for editing.

  And my awesome beta readers:

  Brandy Yassa

  Chrystal Roe

  David Lee Cox (not related!)

  Lee Hargrove

  Leslie Whitaker

  Louise Feagans

  Susan Maramonte-Gadbois

  Toni Latimer-Simpson

  About the Author

  Originally from South Amboy NJ, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Since 1996, he has developed the “Divergent Fates” world, in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, The Awakened Series, The Harmony Paradox, and the Daughter of Mars series take place. Along with being an editor at Curiosity Quills press, he has worked in IT and technical support.

  Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom RPG systems, and a fan of anime, British humour, and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.

  He is also fond of cats.

  Other books by Matthew S. Cox

  Adult

  (Divergent Fates universe – Science fiction / Cyberpunk / Paranormal)

  Division Zero series

  Division Zero

  Lex De Mortuis

  Thrall

  Guardian

  The Awakened series

  Prophet of the Badlands

  Archon’s Queen

  Grey Ronin

  Daughter of Ash

  Zero Rogue

  Angel Descended

  Daughter of Mars series

  The Hand of Raziel

  Araphel

  Ghost Black

  Virtual Immortality

  The Harmony Paradox

  Divergent Fates Anthology

  (Non-Divergent-Fates novels)

  The Roadhouse Chronicles Series (post nuclear apoc/zombie)

  One More Run

  The Redeemed

  Dead Man’s Number

  Faded Skies series (post-ww3 / sci fi)

  Heir Ascendant

  Ascendant Revolution

  Chiaroscuro: The Mouse and the Candle (vampire, drama)

  Temporal Armistice Series (urban fantasy)

  Nascent Shadow

  The Shadow Collector

  Wayfarer: AV494 (sci fi horror)

  Axillon99 (LitRPG)

  Vampire Innocent series (vampire, comedy-drama)

  Operation: Chimera (sci fi – with Tony Healey)

  The Dysfunctional Conspiracy (nonfiction memoir – with Christopher Veltmann)

  Winter Solstice series (urban fantasy – with J.R. Rain)

  Convergence

  Containment

  Alexis Silver series (urban fantasy – with J.R. Rain)

  Silver Light

  Samantha Moon Origins series (urban fantasy – with J.R. Rain)

  New Moon Rising

  Moon Mourning

  Maddy Wimsey series (detective / witchcraft – with J.R. Rain)

  The Devil’s Eye

  The Drifting Gloom

  The Far Side of Promise (anthology)

  Young Adult

  Caller 107 (contemporary paranormal – Note: strong language)

  The Summer the World Ended (nuclear apocalyptic/family drama/contemporary)

  Nine Candles of Deepest Black (witchcraft horror)

  The Eldritch Heart (fantasy / LGBT)

  The Forest Beyond the Earth

  Middle Grade

  Tales of Widowswood series (fantasy)

  Emma and the Banderwigh

  Emma and the Silk Thieves

  Emma and the Silverbell Faeries

  Emma and the Elixir of Madness

  Emma and the Weeping Spirit

  Citadel: The Concordant Sequence (post-apocalyptic)

  The Cursed Codex (LitRPG – Fantasy/contemporary)

  The Menagerie of Jenkins Bailey (contemporary fantasy)