I twisted sideways, pulling the t-shirt up carefully. My left side looked as though I had been hit by a freight train, never mind a car. I made a mental note to wear pants and a long sleeve shirt today. There was no way I could make a lie convincing enough to explain these injuries. ‘I fell out of bed’ didn’t seem like it would cut it.
With a resigned sigh, I let the material drop and went about fixing my appearance. After a quick face wash and make-up application, and a good fight between my brush and tangled hair, I was finally looking a bit more put together.
Hurrying back to my room, I pulled on a light long sleeved shirt and track pants, and ran down to meet Caleb.
“Well look at you!” Dad exclaimed as I came down the stairs. “You look like my daughter again, instead of the night of the living dead.”
I rolled my eyes, and grabbed my shoes.
“How are you feeling, Vivian?” my mom called out from the kitchen.
“Much better, thanks,” I said back.
“Where are you off to?” my father asked, smiling approvingly at me. I felt a twinge of regret at the worry I had clearly caused the two of them over the past three days. I promised myself I would try to make it up to them.
“I’m just going to grab some brunch with Caleb,” I said reaching up and kissing my dad on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
I grabbed my bag and ran out the door. Caleb was patiently waiting beside the open passenger door.
“Good morning,” he said, his eyes twinkling with heat and mischief.
My parents were still unaware that he spent every night at our place. It would have to stay that way for a long time. They still had the ‘not before you’re married’ frame of mind, which I respected, but had decided it wasn’t for me – at least when I had met Caleb.
“Cute,” I said with a grin. He leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the lips before shutting my door, and climbing into the driver’s seat.
“How’s the side?” he asked, noting the long sleeves.
“Horrible,” I replied sighing. “I’ll have to cover them up for at least a week.”
We arrived at the restaurant, and both ordered a large plate of eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes. I felt a little gluttonous eating that much food, but my stomach was absolutely starving. Caleb watched me with amusement, but didn’t say anything.
He was a smart boy not to say anything. It is always dangerous territory to ridicule a woman’s food intake.
We sat there and talked about general topics, which felt nice and… normal. Normal was comforting right now. It felt as if I hadn’t just hung out and relaxed in ages.
Caleb mentioned that he wanted to take a little trip, just the two of us, away from everyone. There was a house he knew of outside the city, where we could spend time alone together. The idea of going away made me remember our conversation about his mom the night before.
I was just about to bring it up again, when I heard my name being called.
I knew that voice.
I wanted to slide under the table– if only we weren’t sitting in the middle of the room. There was nothing covering the table that would hide me.
I turned reluctantly to see my ex, Corey, and his evil wench walking toward us, groaning under my breath as they approached.
“Hi,” I said, looking up at them as they reached our table. “How’s it going?” My smile felt as though it would break if I tried to hold it any longer.
“Good, how are you?” Corey asked, ignoring Caleb for the moment.
“I’m good.”
Awkward.
“I haven’t seen you all summer,” he continued, eyeing Caleb now. “How is the job at the firm going?”
“Pretty good, I would assume,” piped up the she-devil. She was hungrily eyeballing Caleb. It made me want to yank her hair out, but Caleb was pointedly ignoring her, which cooled my inner beast.
“It is good, thanks,” I said, biting out another stiff smile. “I’m learning a lot there.”
She snorted, and I wanted to kick myself for that. I could only imagine where I’d just sent her imagination. Apparently Corey’s as well, as the jealously shooting out from his eyes could have almost burned Caleb, if Caleb hadn’t been so self-possessed.
“Is this your boyfriend?” he asked, trying to make his tone sound neutral.
“Yes, I’m Caleb” he said, holding out his hand. His deep clear voice made Corey sound like a pubescent boy. I bit back a grin.
He shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, and it was good to see you, Vivian. We should be going though, so I’m sure we’ll see you around.” Corey smiled, and quickly turned to leave. I let out a deep sigh once they were out of sight.
Caleb sat, eyebrows raised, waiting for an explanation.
“My ex,” I offered.
He nodded. “Should we also head out?” he asked, eyeing my empty plate.
Nodding, we paid for the food and walked out holding hands.
Back in the car, I decided to bring up the topic I had wanted to talk about in the restaurant, before we were so horribly interrupted.
“Speaking of trips,” I began. “When do you think you’ll be going to Ireland to see your mother?”
“I never said I was,” he replied.
“I think you should though.”
He was quiet for a minute, his hands twisting around the steering wheel as he faced forward.
“I’ll be fine, Caleb,” I said.
“We’ll see,” he said, turning the key in the ignition.
The engine roared to life as I sat back in my seat. It felt as if I was a child whose parent just says ‘we’ll see’ to shut them up. You always knew as a kid that when they said ‘we’ll see’, it really meant ‘no’ most of the time. I decided to press the subject a little more.
“She needs you, and you’re not really busy right now, so it would be the perfect time to go.”
His jaw twitched, his eyes hardening.
“I don’t want to leave you,” he said flatly.
“It wouldn’t be for long, plus what’s the worst that could happen?” I asked, trying to smile so I could lighten the mood. It faltered a little against the unease in the bottom of my stomach.
We were silent for a minute before he spoke up again. “Collin is already going there to get his take on things. I will call him later and see what he says, and then I’ll make my decision. Does that work for you?”
I smiled and nodded. Point one for me.
Caleb left me at home so he could change and call Collin. As he headed down the street, I turned to sit on the porch swing, enjoying the heat of the day. My mind and body felt healthy again, after having slept for a bit. The dream was starting to be nothing more than a distant memory.
“You really are looking much better,” Mom said, as she came out to find me humming happily to myself as I swung. She walked over, feeling my forehead. It must be second nature for moms to just go up and feel their children’s foreheads. I didn’t mind though, her hand was cool, and I was starting to feel the warmth of the afternoon. “Do you mind doing me a favour?” she asked sweetly.
“Sure,” I said, smiling up at her.
“You’re feeling up to it?”
I nodded.
“I need some tomato paste and celery for dinner. Do you think you could go by the grocery store and pick it up for me?”
“Of course.” I got up and went in to get my car keys. She gave me a twenty, and said I could get an ice cream if I wanted as well. It felt as if I was seven again, although it was tempting.
I walked slowly down the aisles trying to find the tiny cans of tomato paste. You would think I would know where everything was by now in this store, having practically grown up here, but I never did pay attention to where things were kept.
As I crouched down in front of a shelf full of cans with tomatoes on them, I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I looked up in surprise to see Artem standing there.
“Hello,” I said. “Don’t worr
y I’m fully awake.”
“That’s good to know,” he chuckled. “Doing some shopping then?”
“Just grabbing a couple of things for my mom,” I replied, finding the item I had been looking for. “Are you following me now?” I asked with a slight smirk and raised brows.
“It’s a grocery store, Vivian, lots of people come here.”
“Right.” I turned and started to walk quickly toward the vegetables, the sound of his steps close behind me as he tried to keep up.
“I’m actually glad I happened to run into you here,” he said after me.
“Oh? Why is that?”
“Well I was hoping we could talk, if you’re available.” I looked over at him, curiously. “Alone, preferably,” he added. This was referring to Caleb in particular I gathered.
“What did you want to talk about?”
“It’s kind of…complicated. Do you have a second to maybe go sit somewhere?”
I grabbed a bag of celery and turned back to face him. He seemed anxious, the way his eyes darted around the store, and one leg sort of jiggled as though he was having a hard time keeping still. There was something extremely odd about Artem, but curiosity got the better of me.
“Alright, I suppose I could spare some time before I go back home. I can’t take too long though. Caleb should be back at my house shortly.” He nodded in agreement and followed me to the checkout.
We sat down at a small café just a few minutes down the street from the grocery store. He picked a patio table, since the breeze was nice and warm today. I had an iced coffee, and let the cold slide smoothly down my throat, as I sat there patiently waiting for him to begin.
“Ah, this is harder than I thought,” he began. “I feel really horrible saying this, but it needs to be done,” he continued slowly. “Vivian,” he looked me in the eyes. “I want you to come away with me.”
My jaw dropped. Wow. Odd was not a strong enough word, apparently. Artem was straight-up nuts.
Sitting there with my mouth hanging open, and the unquestionably confused and horrified look on my face, probably made me look like an idiot, but I couldn’t help it. Had I heard him right? My voice seemed to fail me, so he continued before I could respond.
“I know it sounds completely out of left field, but please try to understand. I’ve warned you before about the family and you didn’t listen. Now you’re getting sick and almost being hit by cars, and I can’t just sit by and watch them destroy you.” His eyes pleaded with mine. “I can keep you safe.”
My mouth still hung open as his word sunk in one by one. What in God’s name was this boy thinking? My lips tried to form words, floundering like a fish out of water, no sound emanating from them. “Are you crazy?” I finally managed in a husky voice. I scraped my chair on the pavement, pushing myself further away from the table.
“No, I’m not crazy,” he said, clearly offended. “I told you, I just don’t want to see you hurt, and this family is dangerous.”
“Artem, this is insane. I’ll admit that Dermot has some serious control issues, but I would hardly call him dangerous. As for the boys, they are all really nice and harmless,” I said shaking my head.
“Harmless,” he mocked. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about. There is no way you can understand just how dangerous these people are.”
I rolled my eyes. “How dangerous are they then – please, enlighten me.” I sat back, crossing my arms over my chest. “What, are they mafia or something?”
“Vivian, would you please open your eyes! Mafia? Is that really the worst thing you can think of? Do you remember nothing of what I told you at the library that night?” He leaned in toward me. Anxiety was written all over his face, his eyes wide and wild looking.
“What, your tale about demons and monsters?” I asked, slightly laughing. I looked at him disbelievingly while his face remained stoic. “You can’t be serious? You think the Banks family is what? A family of demons?”
He sat back as I chuckled at the idea. “I realize something like this is hard to believe, but that doesn’t make it untrue. Haven’t you ever wondered why you never see their mother?”
“She lives in Ireland,” I pointed out.
“Ask him about it, Vivian, ask him to see a picture of his mother and you’ll see that they’re not normal.”
“Oh, come on! I think you’ve been hanging around with your brothers of the light, or whatever they were called, a little too much. It is all superstitious nonsense.”
“I am telling you Caleb is dangerous. He is not capable of being good, and having true feelings for you. You will end up getting hurt in the end. I’m just trying to save you from that.”
His words stung. My face started to heat up in anger, but I told myself to stay calm. I didn’t want to yell in front of the other people here, knowing it would most likely get back to my parents. “Caleb loves me,” I said quietly. “He would never hurt me.”
“I know you think –” he started. I interrupted him before he could continue.
“I don’t know who you think you are to just show up in my town and start telling me who does and does not really love me. You don’t know me, you don’t know Caleb. I want you to leave me alone,” I said standing up.
Artem stood up too, grabbing my arm. “Vivian, I don’t want to upset you, but you must listen to me. Please just be rational about this.”
I yanked my arm away. “Don’t touch me. Don’t talk to me. Don’t come around to see me.” I turned and walked away, not looking back. My heart was racing a mile a minute. When I got in the car, I slammed the door and sat there, wanting to scream.
The guy was clearly insane. There was no other reasonable explanation.
So why did his warnings ignite a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach?
Growling into the quiet of my car, I shook my head, shoving the keys into the ignition. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of letting any of this bother me. It was completely ridiculous. Turning up the music, I headed home, singing along loudly as I erased Artem from my mind.
Artem watched as Vivian marched off towards her car. He sat down, burying his head in his hands. This was completely hopeless. He contemplated running after her, but knew that would only make matters worse.
She didn’t believe a word he had said to her, understandably. The elders were not going to be happy, he groaned to himself. If there were only a way to prove to her he was right – to make her see how truly dangerous they could all be, even her precious Caleb.
The scraping of the chair across from him had his head snapping up in surprise. His heart leapt out of his chest when he saw who was now sitting with him.
“You don’t mind if I join you, do you?” he asked smiling. His smile was the kind that sent chills down Artem’s spine, leaving him momentarily speechless.
“I’ll take that as a no. Excuse me, waitress?” he said, snapping his fingers above his head. “Can you get me a cappuccino? Thanks, love.” He smiled again, turning back to Artem. “So, how did that go?” he asked, nodding his head in the direction Vivian had just taken.
“What are you doing, Dermot?” Artem asked, now that he was finally able to calm his heart rate.
“We’re having a conversation, Artem. I’m sure even you can figure that out.” He shook his head mockingly. “You look like hell, my boy. Trust me, I would know.” He laughed then.
“You’re not funny,” Artem replied coldly.
“Oh, lighten up. I just happened to be in the neighbourhood,” he explained, “when I noticed you and Vivian sitting here. I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation, and thought maybe I would offer you some assistance.”
“Assistance? In what way?”
“Well, as a concerned father, I also believe the two should be separated – for their own good, of course – and thought maybe if we teamed up we could make that happen.” He leaned in closer.
Artem felt sick just looking at the man he had dedicated his life to destroying. H
e wanted nothing to do with this creature, and started to get up. His body rocketed back into his seat, as an invisible force pushed him down.
“Sit, and hear me out before you so rudely get up and walk away,” Dermot said in a cautioning voice.
“I would never team up with you,” Artem spat out.
“Tut, tut, my boy, never say never. I’m sure your elders would like to hear me out.”
They stared at one another in a tense silence.
“Now let me see, you want the two apart for your reasons, and I want them apart for my own reasons, so we have a mutual goal that we can work together to achieve. Your problem is that she doesn’t believe a word you say about me and my family, and rightly so. It’s crazy. Fortunately for me, many people are like her nowadays, which makes my existence that much easier. When people don’t believe there is such thing as a boogeyman, he’s virtually invincible,” he said with a smug grin.
“What are your reasons?” Artem asked, watching the man before him through narrowed eyes.
“Why can’t a father just be concerned for his son’s wellbeing?” he asked, splaying his hands out.
“What are your reasons?”
Dermot chuckled. “As hard as it is for you to believe, it really is just my concern for him that drives me. My youngest son is my most gifted child in all the years I’ve been around. He is naturally quick, deadly, detached, everything a father like myself would want in a son. This girl,” he said with a look of disgust, “has developed a new emotion in him…love.” His face twisted as he said it.
“Why is that a problem?” Artem asked, although he could guess why this would upset someone like Dermot.
“Well besides the fact that it is a meaningless and stupid emotion to have, it will undoubtedly confuse him in the end. It is not natural for our kind to feel this emotion, which is why it is so strong in him. Realistically though, it cannot last. A bird cannot love a worm for long before it ends up eating it. It’s nature. If he destroys the girl, which he will, it will kill him. I don’t want to see that happen to him.”
Balance (The Balance Series Book 1) Page 20
