by Madi, Skyla
“Mila!” I screamed until my voice broke. “Mila!”
I tore off after her, the gooey hands following closely behind. But then he zipped in front of me, blocking her from sight.
“Ruby,” he said fiercely.
My lips parted with a sharp gasp. “Eli?” He was the one chanting my name.
He stared down at me, his skin as pale as snow. He leaned closer to me, and the moon brightened on us like the sudden high beam of a car. I saw everything, I saw what he was—what he’d become. A vampire.
In the blinding light, I focused on his eyes. They weren’t green—they weren’t any color—only the darkest shade of black. They held the soulless, malicious gleam that all vampires did. That I once did.
“No,” I whispered.
“Yes,” he replied. A wry-vampiric smile contorted his otherwise handsome face. “And guess what I want?”
“What?”
“You.” He bared his fangs and launched at me, but I dodged him. I couldn’t fight Eli, not now. I needed to stop Mila before—my thoughts ended as a gunshot rang in my ears. I dropped to my knees and watched as someone approached me.
“Ruby, it’s okay,” Aaron stated calmly, walking towards me with his arms out in front of him like I was some kind of feral animal. “Come back into the house, it will be okay.”
Eli was gone. The high beam moon shut off, leaving me in total darkness—hearing only Aaron’s voice.
“Mila is dead,” I whispered, tears spilling over my eyes. “Eli is a vampire.”
“No, none of that is true. Mila is safe, she’s in the house. I’ll show you.” I felt his fingertips brush my forearm and I recoiled away from him.
“You’re lying!” I screamed. “Why are you lying?”
“Ruby, it will be easier on the both of us if you just do as I say.”
“Mila!” I yelled in between body shaking sobs. “I’m sorry!”
And then darkness claimed me.
Hangover
My eyes jerked open and I sat up, gasping for air. It was daylight, the bright sun seeped in through the sheer curtains, filling the room with light. My head pounded so relentlessly into the back of my skull I swore it was trying to escape. I pressed my tongue against the roof of my mouth and tried to swallow. My mouth was so dry and sore. Two long, thin arms wrapped around me. I was confused. Last night, it was so real. Mila was dead, Eli, a vampire—I swear it happened.
“Oh Ruby!” Mila cried. “I’m so glad you’re okay. We’ve been so worried about you.”
I took in my surroundings. Aaron leaned against the wall opposite the bed and watched me curiously. Sera leaned against the doorway and a random guardian perched on Mila’s desk.
“How are you feeling?” Aaron asked.
I dropped my gaze to the bed I was lying on—Mila’s bed.
“Oh.” I gasped, yanking the green bed quilt up, covering my light pink sports bra. I flushed and glanced around my room. The guardians appeared unfazed by my indecent exposure. Eager to take the awkward tension off me, I answered him. “I’m fine… I think.”
“So, you totally flipped out last night,” Mila said, handing me a glass of water. She climbed onto the bed and crossed her legs. I greedily drank the cold water and gave her back the cup.
“I don’t know what happened… I was fine one minute and then… totally messed up the next. I can’t explain it.”
“I can,” Mr. Aleksandrov interjected as he entered the room.
He walked over to me and handed me an empty vial. I took it and examined it, careful not to drop my quilt. I frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s empty.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“Do you know why it’s empty?”
I shook my head. Mr. Aleksandrov raised his right hand and tapped his palm with his index finger. I lifted my right hand and in the middle of my palm was a small, circular band aid. I groaned in embarrassment. “I stabbed myself?”
“Bingo,” Mr. Aleksandrov replied. “I guess it worked as some kind of hallucinogen.”
“You must have injected yourself when I attacked you last night.” Aaron narrowed his eyes. “I apologize.”
“It’s okay, it was my fault.”
“We weren’t sure what would happen to you, but once your fever died down, you appeared normal. Now, here we are and you’re as good as new.” Mila smiled.
I stared at the green bed quilt, absorbing all the information. “This is real?” I asked, glancing around the room.
Everyone nodded. “Mila is alive, and that means Eli isn’t a vampire.” I placed my hand on my forehead and exhaled. “Oh, thank god.”
“Luckily for you,” Mr. Aleksandrov began, “Lucian was a no show last night.”
Yes, that was lucky. I laid back down. I was afraid that if I sat up any longer I’d fall out of bed or vomit.
“We’ll let you rest, but I’ll be back later to check on you.”
Mr. Aleksandrov signalled the rest of the guardians to leave as well, and soon it was only Mila and I in the room. She laid down next to me, her long blonde hair whipping me in the face.
“Ow!” I half groaned and half giggled in pain.
“Oops.” She laughed. “Sorry.”
Mila flicked her hair over her shoulder and propped her head up on her elbow.
“Sorry if I scared you last night,” I muttered turning to face her.
“By the sound of it, I scared you more than you scared me.”
I remembered how lost I felt when I thought she had died.
“I can’t believe I stabbed myself.”
“It isn’t your fault, Uncle should have made little caps for the needles. What if you had to defend yourself against Hunter before you could inject him? It would end horribly if you pricked yourself in that situation.”
I nodded in agreement. “How’s your tattoo?”
“Still fresh and tinted.” She smiled, presenting her wrist to me.
Mila loved being the only one that could ease my stress. I covered my face with the blanket. The light in the room was unbearable. It made my headache beat harder and faster.
“I still can’t believe I stabbed myself,” I groaned.
Mila chuckled. “It isn’t the end of the world.”
I yanked the blanket off my head in protest. “It could have been. If vampires attacked last night… who knows what could’ve happened?”
“But they didn’t. Don’t worry yourself with what ifs and buts. It isn’t worth it.”
I sighed. “I thought it was real… it felt so real.”
“It wasn’t.”
I sat up and crossed my legs. There was so much I wanted to know about last night, but I didn’t know where to start.
“When… when I came back into the room, were you here?”
She nodded. “I was sitting on the bed in plain sight, but you couldn’t see me. I called out to you over and over… you didn’t respond. I thought you were trying to play some kind of prank on me. It wasn’t until you got angry and threw my book that I knew something was wrong.”
As she spoke, the events came to my mind, hazy like a bad dream.
“You tore from the room, and stopped on the stairs, cautious of something—I couldn’t work out what it was. As you walked into the sitting room, a few guardians showed up and then you screamed my name loudly and desperately.”
She told me how the guardians tried to stop me from leaving the house, like the gooey hands, but I managed to break free. She informed me that I had a conversation with Eli and then broke down. Aaron had ordered the other guardians to leave me alone. He was afraid they were overwhelming me.
“He tried to calm you down, but you wouldn’t listen. He tried to convince you I w
as okay, that I was standing right in front of you, but you couldn’t see me.” She took a deep breath. “And then he had no choice but to knock you out.”
Subconsciously, I rubbed the aching area on the back of my head. It was swollen to the size of an egg. I winced. It explained the headache, at least. How freaking embarrassing.
My phone vibrated, making the whole bedside table shake. I jumped. The thought of the vibrating staircase last night made me ill. I took a deep breath and grabbed my phone. It was a text message from—Eli! I opened it.
Tonight.
I launched out of bed and sprinted down the hall—ignoring the fact that I was A, in my underwear, and B, cursed with the biggest hangover I’d ever had in my life. I barged into Mr. Aleksandrov’s office. Everyone in the room stared at me awkwardly as stood there practically naked, but I wasn’t embarrassed. I had an amazing body. My eyes fell on Xavier, whose arms were folded across his chest as he gawked at me, wide-eyed. I turned my attention back to Mr. Aleksandrov.
“Lucian is coming tonight.” I marched across the room and slid my phone across Aleksandrov’s desk.
Mr. Aleksandrov read my text and handed my phone back. “Ruby, I need a moment alone with the guardians.”
I became confused. “Am I not a head guardian?”
No one said anything. I glanced at Xavier and then back at Aleksandrov. “So now I’m the one on the need-to-know basis?”
He looked at me sympathetically. “Please.”
I turned on my heel and stormed from the office. From the ground floor, guardians stared up at me. You’d think no one had seen a girl in her underwear before.
“Good morning,” I grumbled at them before slamming Mila’s door behind me.
“What is it?” she asked, sitting up eagerly for some kind of news.
“Lucian is coming tonight. Eli texted me.”
Her mouth opened. “He texted you?”
I nodded and climbed back into bed.
“Now?”
“Yes…”
“Are you going to text him back?”
“No, it’s too risky.”
“Ruby, it’s daytime.”
“What if he’s kept in some underground cell? And is being watched?”
She shrugged. “I don’t think that’s possible. Lucian and the vampires are close by. I don’t think they have a set up like that.”
I chewed my bottom lip in thought and opened the text message. My fingers bounced around the screen as I typed the text message, but I paused before I hit send.
We WILL get you back. See you tonight.
I hit send and shut my eyes. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him and missed him…but I couldn’t. If someone read it, then he’d be in serious trouble. Despite how much we loved each other, we weren’t allowed to be together. My phone vibrated immediately and Mila squeed in excitement.
Don’t do anything stupid. You promised me. <3
I smiled. Even in text his authoritative tone came through loud and clear. The heart wasn’t much, but it was still evidence that could be used against us. So I deleted it. I didn’t reply. I didn’t want to risk it and I was content with sending just the one text.
“Hopefully one day the law will be changed and you two can be together,” Mila said.
“Hopefully. I don’t want anyone else.”
“When you save Hunter and it works… what happens then?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but I didn’t have anything to say. On one hand, I had Eli—the guardian angel and love of my life, the guy who had saved my life countless times and who’d I’d literally given everything to. On the other, I had Hunter—I liked Hunter, more than I probably should. I was the reason he became a vampire, so in a way I owed him…
“I don’t know. Hunter is who I’m supposed to be with, but Eli is who I want to be with. If I was allowed to be with Eli, there’d be no competition.”
“What’s stopping you from being together, really?”
“It’s the law. Goddesses only marry Gods.”
She nodded vigorously. “I know, but what’s stopping you from escaping and living with some kind of renegade angel tribe or something?”
I ran my fingers through my hair, combing out the knots with my fingers. “Because running away isn’t the answer… If we’re meant to be together, it’ll all work out.”
Preparations
I stayed in Mila’s room until late afternoon. Having slept most of the day, I was energized and ready to take on vampires, but of course that wasn’t going to happen.
“We go with the same plan as last night,” Mr. Aleksandrov ordered.
I paced his office impatiently.
“And look how last night turned out,” Mila muttered.
Aleksandrov ignored her. Funny, ignoring people is what he seemed to do best lately.
“We’ll get our taken guardians back, but with you involved, I’m worried it won’t go smoothly.”
“How so?”
He rolled his eyes at me like I was oblivious. “I know how you feel about Eli and I know how he feels about you. Lucian is going to want to bargain with me to get the guardians back and you’re the only leverage I have. I need to be able to call his bluff without you running in and sacrificing yourself like a lovesick puppy.”
I leaned on his desk, palms spread. I chose to ignore the part about how Eli and I felt about each other. Sure Mr. Aleksandrov knew, but that didn’t mean I was going to confess my love for Eli to him.
“I won’t do anything to jeopardize your plans, just let me be there.”
He stroked his beard. “I can trust you?”
“Yes…”
“You won’t do anything stupid?”
“No, sir.” I had promised Eli I wouldn’t.
He nodded. “Very well.”
I exhaled and stood straight.
“Are you serious?” Mila protested, storming toward us from the window. I turned towards her. She pulled her hair over the left side of her shoulder, exposing more of her frustration. Mila wanted to be in on the action. She was tired of being treated like a precious little girl. I noticed she was wearing jeans and a black tank top, something I had never seen her in before.
“I’m just as capable as Ruby.” With a flick of her hand, she sent Mr. Aleksandrov’s glass of water flying into the wall. It smashed into tiny little pieces. I grabbed her wrist, but she shook me off. Mr. Aleksandrov pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Mila, darling, smashing a glass of water is nothing compared to facing a vampire. You’d be killed. Instantly.”
Her eyes narrowed. I stepped closer to her, unsure of what she was planning. Behind me, the window shattered and tree branches and vines crept rapidly into the room. Within seconds, guardian angels kicked the door down and barged in. Mr. Aleksandrov raised his hand, signalling them to stop. They were confused.
“Mila,” I warned her, my voice low.
“I’m strong. I know I am,” She growled.
I was shocked and had no idea how to handle the situation. I’d never seen goddess magic used to such a degree nor had I witnessed Mila so forceful and scary, but I knew Mila. If it came down to it, her fear would immobilize her and her powers. She’d be killed before she had a chance to react.
“I will not be bullied into this,” Mr. Aleksandrov replied.
The branches and vines curled upwards, tearing big holes in the roof, leaving only the area by the door and his desk intact. Mr. Aleksandrov rose to his feet.
“Go ahead, destroy this entire house. I can replace it. If you die, I can’t replace you.”
The branches stopped growing and retracted slowly. Mila’s hands were clenched into balls by her sides. She ran, pushing through the guards, and sped off down the hall. I ran aft
er her. Her door slammed in my face before I could enter.
I knocked. “Mila? Can I come in?”
She didn’t answer.
Slowly, I opened the door. Mila was on her bed, crying into her pillow.
“It’s not fair!” she said between sobs.
I closed the door behind me and joined her on the bed. I didn’t touch her—I was afraid she’d lash out and damage more of the house.
“He’s just looking out for you. You’re the only family he’s got left.”
“So that gives him the right to baby me? I’m nineteen years old!” she cried.
A pang of guilt coursed through me, I’d missed Mila’s birthday.
“And I’m capable of handling myself. No, I can’t take a vampire in a brawl, but I can guarantee I’ll kill one before it gets within six feet of me,” Mila continued.
I didn’t respond, mostly because I didn’t want to upset her even more. I agreed with Ivan, Mila is a goddess, she shouldn’t be fighting vampires—that’s what guardians are for, and if they’re good at their job, she should never have to see one. Ever. And of course with everything there is an exception to the rule—I am that exception. I’m half Heelian, I can harness the power of the sun—or at least I could, and if a vampire ever ends up in close quarters with me, I’m pretty sure I could take them.
“I hate it here. It’s boring. Nobody besides you likes me, and I can’t make my own decisions. I wish I did run away the night of Uncle’s party.”
“You don’t mean that.”
She lifted her face from the pillow. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her irises were no longer a clear blue, but clouded with tears. “Oh, I do!”
I felt sorry for her because I knew where she was coming from. I get pissed off when nobody includes me in plans because they don’t want me to get hurt—the feeling sucks and it isn’t until you’re on the other side, wanting to keep a certain person safe, that you realize how necessary it is.
