Shelter

by Tara Shuler

  A few people were standing around talking, and I noticed Jamie sitting by herself in a wingback chair in the corner. She glanced up, and I waved at her. She stopped gnawing her fingernails long enough to manage a faint smile and she waved back.

  “Enjoy the party,” Max said. “I ordered some pizzas. They’ll be here, soon.”

  “Thanks, Max,” I said. I tugged Kai’s hand. “Come here, I want you to meet Jamie.”

  When we were standing in front of Jamie, I said, “Hey, Jamie. This is my boyfriend, Kai.”

  Jamie stood up and politely stuck out her hand to shake Kai’s, but he reached out and took her hand and kissed the back of it like a gentleman and she blushed beet red.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, and she giggled.

  She leaned very close to my ear and with huge eyes whispered, “He’s really cute!”

  I smiled. “I know, right?” I said, winking at her, and she giggled again.

  A slower song came on the stereo, and my brain was instantly relieved. I couldn’t deal with loud, pulsing music.

  “Do you want to dance?” Kai asked me.

  “Sure,” I said, and he pulled me close to him.

  Jamie sat down and looked depressed. As much as I was enjoying dancing with Kai, I felt terrible for her. Kai noticed me eyeing her.

  “Do you think I should ask her to dance?” he asked.

  “Oh, would you?”

  “Of course,” he said. “I feel bad for her sitting there looking all lonely like that. I know how that feels.”

  “You’re wonderful,” I gushed.

  “I know,” he grinned, kissing me on the nose.

  He walked over to Jamie and bowed deeply like a real southern gentleman. “Would you like to dance, ma’am?”

  Jamie’s face turned so red I thought she might have a stroke or something. She smiled shyly and nodded, standing up. Kai took her hand and held it in the air like an old-fashioned gentleman escorting a lady to the ballroom dance floor and he led her over where I was standing.

  “I’m going to go find something to drink,” I said to Kai. “Do you want anything?”

  “No, I’m fine,” he said. “Jamie?”

  “No, thank you,” she said.

  I left the two of them alone to dance while I went through the wooden doors to search for the kitchen. I didn’t see Max anywhere, so I wandered down the hallway and managed to find the kitchen. It was dark inside, but I could see perfectly. I noticed a stack of plastic cups on the counter, so I took one. When I turned around to go to the refrigerator, Max was standing behind me. He put his arms on the counter on either side of me, trapping me.

  “Max,” I breathed. “What are you doing?”

  “I wanted to see you alone,” he said. “Your boyfriend’s dancing with Jamie, so that should give us a minute.”

  “Max…” I started to say.

  “Stop,” he interrupted. “Please, let me say this.”

  I closed my mouth and tried to look away from his gaze, but he took my chin with one hand and brought my eyes back toward his.

  “Alice,” he said, staring deep into my eyes. “I think I love you.”

  “What?” I gasped. “You barely know me!”

  “That’s not true,” he corrected me. “We’ve gone bowling together, we’ve talked on the phone and emailed for several months, and we hang out at school every day.”

  “I have a boyfriend,” I reminded him.

  “And if you didn’t?” he asked.

  “I do,” I said.

  “But if you didn’t?” he demanded.

  “I…” I stammered. “I… don’t know. I do, though, so the point is moot.”

  “How do you feel about me?” he quizzed.

  “Max, this is highly inappropriate.”

  “Just answer me, please,” he begged.

  “I can’t!” I spat at him, trying to push him away. He was strong for a human.

  “The fact that you refuse to answer speaks volumes, you know,” he said.

  “Max…”

  He leaned forward, and I felt his hot breath on my face. His lips were inches away from mine. I started to wriggle past him, but he wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips to mine.

  With all the strength I could muster, I pushed him away and I slapped him with enough force that a human male would have flown across the room.

  “Keep your hands off her!” I heard a voice growl behind Max.

  I saw a snarling smile curl up on Max’s lips, and he turned to face Kai, who was now standing just inches away.

  “Do you mind?” Max said mockingly. “Alice and I were having a moment.”

  “Fuck you!” Kai shouted, his fists trembling at his sides. He flew at Max.

  “Stop!” I shrieked, pushing them apart. “Kai, let’s go.”

  I took Kai’s wrist and tugged, but he would not move.

  “If you touch her again, I’ll fucking kill you,” Kai growled through clenched teeth.

  “Doesn’t she have any say in who touches her?” Max asked, grinning.

  “No,” Kai snarled. “She’s mine.”

  “Oh, so you own her now?” Max mused.

  “As a matter of fact, I do,” Kai spat back.

  “Excuse me?” I hissed, now livid. “You own me?”

  “You’re my girlfriend, not his!” Kai shouted, glaring directly at me.

  “That doesn’t mean you own me!” I yelled back.

  “We’re going home,” Kai demanded, grabbing my wrist the way I’d grabbed his a moment earlier.

  “Oh, no we are not!” I shouted, twisting away from him.

  “Yes, we are!” he yelled louder, trying to grab me again.

  I recoiled, and in a moment of rage, my palm sliced across his face. Instantly I was filled with regret. I’d never imagined I would strike another person without provocation, much less Kai – gentle Kai whose own mother had done such things to him. Max had violated me physically, but Kai had not.

  “I’m sorry…” I said, reaching toward his cheek, which burned red where my slap had stung him.

  His mouth gaped open, and he jerked away from my hand. He shook his head slowly, and a moment later, he fled through the kitchen door. I moved to run after him, but Max grabbed my arm.

  “Let me go!” I snapped.

  “Alice, stop,” he begged. “Stay with me.”

  I jerked with all my might and freed myself of Max’s grasp. “I said let me go!”

  I ran after Kai, who was just disappearing through the glass doors in the living room. I shot a worried glance at Jamie, who was now sitting back in the wingback chair in the corner. Instantly, she got up and followed me.

  I found Kai outside, pacing frantically by the pool.

  “Kai, I’m so sorry,” I said, reaching for him.

  Again, he jerked away.

  “Not you,” he muttered. “Anyone but you.”

  He continued to pace, his eyes wild like a wolf.

  “Please,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.”

  “All my life,” Kai snarled. “All my life, people have been doing that to me. My mother, my grandfather, my cousins. Everyone. But not you, Alice. I never expected it from you!”

  His crystal blue eyes were filled with tears, and my heart felt like it was cracking. The fissures grew and grew, until I was sure my heart would crumble into thousands of tiny pieces. My own eyes stung with tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. Again, I reached toward him. I wanted to hold him, to comfort him. I wanted so desperately to take it back.

  “Please, Kai,” I begged. “I’ll do anything.”

  “You’ve done enough,” he said, now standing still and looking off into the distance.

  I placed my hand on his shoulder, and he shrugged it off. I turned around and looked pleadingly at Jamie.

  “Kai,” Jamie said gently. “Whatever happened, she’s truly sorry.”

  “I am, Kai,” I breathed, my voice breaking. “I am so sorry.” Kai sighed deepl
y.

  I tried one more time to touch him. I gently placed one hand on his back, and he stood motionless. Very slowly, I slid both hands around him and rested my cheek on his back, squeezing him tightly. I felt his hands close over mine, but they were trembling.

  “Please forgive me,” I pleaded.

  “I do,” he said.

  “Really?” I asked, shocked.

  “I love you, Alice,” he explained. “I can’t stay mad at you no matter what you do to me.”

  He turned to face me, and he put his hands firmly on my shoulders, looking deep into my eyes.

  “No matter what you do,” he said. “I will always be yours. Nothing could hurt me more than being without you.”

  My cheeks burned with remorse. “I love you,” I said.

  He wrapped his arms around me in response, and I pulled him as close to me as I could. In the cold night air, I shivered.

  “Let’s go back in,” Jamie suggested.

  Kai and I followed Jamie back into the house. As soon as we walked through the glass doors, Max walked through the wooden double doors carrying several boxes of pizza. He placed the boxes on a table.

  “Pizza’s here!” he shouted, as if nothing had happened.

  All of the party guests, more than a dozen people, crowded around the pizzas and started piling slices onto Styrofoam plates.

  “Do you want to go?” I asked Kai.

  “No, it’s fine,” he answered, putting his arm around my shoulders possessively.

  “I don’t mind leaving if you want to go,” I promised.

  “I want to stay,” he insisted, and I didn’t press the issue.

  The rest of the evening was uneventful until midnight. Max had deliberately avoided us, and we spent most of the night talking to Jamie. Kai genuinely seemed to like her, and she opened up and talked to Kai. She seemed surprisingly comfortable around him.

  However, at eleven fifty-nine, Max announced that the midnight hour was close at hand. He flicked the large television over the fireplace on, and we saw the glittering ball beginning to drop in Times Square. Max lowered the lights, and all of the couples in the room moved close together, prepared to count down to the kiss that would welcome the New Year.

  “Ten, nine, eight,” the crowd chanted, “seven, six, five.”

  Kai smiled at me, and he took me into his arms.

  “Four, three, two,” the crowd said.

  Suddenly, I felt myself being whirled around.

  Everything was a blur as I heard Max whisper, “One.”

  With that, he planted a kiss on my lips that froze me in place. He’d just stolen Kai’s New Year kiss. I panicked. Frantically, I shoved Max away and I lashed out, striking him across the face as hard as I could.

  All of the sound in the room dulled, and everything began to spin. I saw a streak fly by as Kai punched Max, and Max went flying through the glass doors. The sound of shattering glass, the tinkling of glass shards falling to the floor and the gasps and shrieks from the party guests flooded my ears. As the first words of “Auld Lang Syne” rang out from the television, I saw a brief flash of a hazy red film covering my eyes, and then blackness enveloped me.

  “Is she dead?” I heard someone say.

  “Shut up!” Jamie’s familiar voice shouted. “Alice? Alice, can you hear me?”

  I shook my head back and forth, trying to piece together what had happened. I struggled to open my eyes, and I saw Jamie’s face through a hazy blur. She looked concerned.

  “What…” I stammered. “What happened?”

  “You fainted,” Jamie said. “Are you alright?”

  I suddenly remembered what had happened right before the blackness overtook me.

  “Kai!” I gasped. “Max!”

  I sat up quickly, and looked around. I didn’t see Kai or Max anywhere. All I saw was a crowd of party guests staring at me in horror.

  “Where are they?” I gasped at Jamie.

  “I don’t know. They were fighting outside, and then they both kind of disappeared,” she said, confused.

  “Disappeared?” I questioned.

  “Yeah,” she answered. “One minute, we could see them fighting out there in the darkness; the next minute we couldn’t see them anymore.”

  “Oh, my God,” I gasped, struggling to my feet. “Kai will kill him!”

  I was still incredibly dizzy, and I wobbled as my legs threatened to give out. I grabbed Jamie’s arm and she gripped me firmly to steady me.

  I ignored all of the guests’ horrified stares, and I ran through the shattered glass door and into the yard. Frantically, I looked all around, but I couldn’t see or hear any sign of them.

  “Where could they be?” I wailed to Jamie, who had followed me outside.

  “I don’t know,” she said quietly, shaking her head.

  “I have to find them,” I told her. “Kai will kill Max!”

  “Where do you think they went?” Jamie asked.

  I looked all around the yard. It was mostly surrounded by a short brick wall, but a small wrought iron gate was partially open in the back. A small pathway twisted through the trees just outside the gate. I looked at Jamie.

  “They must have gone this way,” I told her, and she nodded.

  I ran as fast as I could without leaving Jamie behind entirely. She wheezed and panted as she struggled to keep up. She was in no shape to be running like this, but I couldn’t go as fast as my own legs would carry me, because she would know something was wrong. I was panicked. Max, though exceptionally strong for a human, was still feeble in comparison to a vampire. He wouldn’t stand a chance. I had to find them, and I prayed I wasn’t too late.

  A few moments later, I heard voices. I rushed toward the sound, and I came upon a clearing in the woods. The night was clear, and the clearing was bathed in silvery moonlight.

  Max was holding a huge silver dagger, and he and Kai were crouched in battle stances, slowly pacing around each other. Max slashed at Kai with the dagger, and it ripped through his skin. He winced in pain and gasped aloud, but the wound began to close almost as quickly as it had opened. It stopped bleeding very quickly, and a scab started to form in just seconds.

  Max stared at Kai in horror. I was frozen. Max would now realize something was different about Kai. Surely, Kai would kill him now.

  “Vampire!” Max hissed loudly.

  “Hunter,” Kai acknowledged, glaring at the gleaming silver dagger – a hunter’s dagger that I could now see plainly in the moonlight.

  Could it be? Was Max a vampire hunter? My mind reeled. Was that why he was so strong that I couldn’t push him away? He wasn’t human! It explained so much.

  Max lunged at Kai, trying to stab him through the heart with the dagger, and I screamed in terror. Max whirled around and saw me standing there with a look of genuine horror on my face.

  “Alice!” Max and Kai gasped in unison.

  I heard Jamie run up behind me, panting desperately. She hadn’t been there for their exchange.

  “What’s… going… on…?” Jamie breathed, struggling to draw in enough air.

  “Did you know your boyfriend is a vampire?” Max spat at me.

  My mouth fell open.

  “What?” Max snarled. “Didn’t you know?”

  “What… is he… talking about…?” Jamie panted.

  “Max, stop this,” I muttered.

  “Stop what?” he leered. “You can see for yourself. He’s a fucking vampire!”

  In a flash, Kai disappeared into the trees.

  “Damn it!” Max yelled, throwing his dagger to the ground, the point sinking deep into the earth.

  “Is it true?” I asked, no longer caring that Jamie would hear.

  “Yes!” Max shouted. “Your boyfriend is a blood sucking vampire!”

  “No,” I said softly. “Are you a hunter?”

  A strange look slowly crept onto Max’s face.

  “You know about hunters? Does that mean… you knew he was a vampire?”

 
; I said nothing, but my face was dripping with acknowledgement.

  Jamie had finally managed to catch her breath, and she pleaded, “What is going on? What is he talking about? Vampires? Hunters?”

  “Jamie, you should go,” I told her.

  “But…” she started to object.

  “Please,” I begged. “Go back to the house. See if Kai went back there.”

  She paused as if she might object, but she reluctantly turned and headed back through the trees. I turned to face Max.

  “You knew,” he said to me.

  “Of course I knew,” I said. He moved closer to me.

  “And you don’t care? You’re dating a vampire and it didn’t occur to you that maybe you should be afraid?”

  “No,” I said. “I’m not afraid.”

  “Are you crazy? He could kill you!” Max shouted.

  “He won’t,” I said.

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because I am a vampire, too,” I said, my face and voice void of emotion.

  Max froze. He stood there motionless and quiet for several seconds, letting my big revelation sink in.

  “Are you going to try to kill me now?” I asked him, seething with rage.

  “Alice…” he whispered, reaching toward me, but I jerked away.

  “That’s what your kind do, isn’t it?” I snapped, my eyes blazing. “You kill indiscriminately!”

  “I kill indiscriminately?” he snapped, now livid. “You’re one to talk!”

  “You know nothing about me!” I screamed. “You don’t know anything about me at all!”

  “You’re right!” Max yelled. “Obviously I don’t know you like I thought I did!”

  I glared at him. Suddenly, all traces of my friend were gone. Now, he was nothing but a hunter. I suddenly remembered our moment in the elevator, and for one fleeting second I wished I had just killed him then. Then I snapped back to reality, and I turned to run back to Max’s house.

  “Alice, wait!” I heard Max shout behind me, but I did not stop.

  I ran all the way back to his house. When I got there, I noticed two police cars parked outside Max’s house. This was too much. Now my whole family was in danger of discovery. I was panicking.