I felt energized and excited. All I wanted to do was run around, jump over things, and dance like a fool. Getting a silly idea, I walked up to Sebastian and smiled sweetly at him. Before I could say anything, he gave me a look and asked, “What do you want?”
“What makes you think I want anything?” I laughed and answered sweetly.
“Because you have been running circles around me, and then you walked, walked at a human pace toward me and smiled. How could I not think you wanted something?” he smirked at me.
“Well, since you twisted my arm . . . ” I trailed off. “Can we go on a run through the woods?” I asked excitedly.
“AubrieAnna . . . ” His smile fell and he looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“We can’t,” he answered me sadly.
“Well, how come?” I demanded like a child.
“Because, if there is anyone out there they could see us, and no one is supposed to know about us. And if the u da yv la dv catch us . . . ” Sebastian trailed off again.
“Okay,” I answered and walked over to the other side of the room. All of my excitement and energy was gone.
“I’m sorry, love.”
I just nodded and looked down at the ground. It was stupid. The u da yv la dv were stupid. If they didn’t exist I would be able to go outside and run like the wind with Sebastian. Even though he didn’t outright say it, I knew they were the reason he was saying no. I wanted to cry, which made me feel ridiculous. I didn’t cry because I couldn’t do something. Sighing, I sat down on the cold floor and picked imaginary lint off my shirt. Sebastian sat down beside me and stayed silent. He knew how I felt.
“Hey, since we are here, do you want to teach me how to talk to you telepathically?” Sebastian asked me—I think to get my mind off running outside.
“I’m not sure how to. I’ve never taught anyone anything like this, or much of anything really,” I answered him.
“Well, tell me how you did it, explain it to me. Show me if you have to,” he pleaded with me.
I caved in and started to think about how I did it with him. Wrinkling my face in concentration, I figured out how to explain it to him. “Okay. I think I’ve got it.” When he nodded, I continued. “You have to focus really hard. But when you focus, you have to focus on me, focus on what I may be thinking, focus on my mind.” He shook his head at my attempt so I took another approach. “It’s like walking up to a screen door that you can’t see but you know is there. You can run into it, but there is a barrier, so you have to push on that, open the screen door to get where you want to go. And when you have the screen door open, say what you want to say. But don’t say it out loud. Think it. I will hear it,” I finished. He didn’t say anything or make any gestures that told me it wasn’t working.
Did it work? Sebastian did it!
Yes! You did it! Good job, Sebastian. I smiled at him.
I had a great teacher. Great analogy, by the way. I like the screen door concept.
I smiled. I liked being able to hear his voice in my head, but I wanted to talk to him out loud. “How come we can do this? Is it because we did the bonding ceremony?” I asked him.
“I have no idea. But I think we should work on using it every day. It doesn’t have to be for long amounts of time either, just long enough so we can get stronger at doing it,” he answered.
Nodding in agreement, I stood up and stretched. My body ached. I knew I was going to have bruises from bumping into walls and falling in my attempts to jump over tall objects. Somehow Sebastian got the hint that I wanted to go home and we left the warehouse. The car ride was short and silent. When he pulled up in front of my house, he cut the engine and walked inside with me. My mom was busy putting dishes from dinner into the dishwasher and leftovers into the fridge. Sebastian stopped in the kitchen to talk to her for a bit while I went upstairs and got in a hot bath.
My bathroom was filled with the scent of lavender and orange blossoms. Bubbles stacked higher and higher as my tub filled up. I turned the lights off, letting the candles cast a soft and relaxing glow around the room. Once my claw-foot tub was filled to where I wanted it, I stepped out of my towel and climbed in. The hot water calmed my aching muscles and soothed the tender areas where bruises were about to appear. Sighing, I sank deeper into the water. I folded a dry washcloth, slipped it under my neck, and closed my eyes. All the stress of the past few days slipped away into the recesses of my mind. I wanted nothing but happy thoughts for the rest of the evening.
After an hour and a half of soaking in my tub, I climbed out. My fingers and toes looked like prunes and my bubbles had disappeared. I wrapped my towel around my body tightly and drained the water. Suddenly freezing, I hurried to my closet to throw on a sweater and some underwear. Once I was dressed, I jumped under my covers and rolled into Sebastian’s chest. He pulled me closer and kissed my forehead. I smiled deeply and felt Helios curl into my legs. With a smile on my face, I drifted into a deep slumber.
His big eyes smiled at me as I lay in bed. Even though I was on my deathbed, I still tried to ease his pain, just like I tried to do with Lillyiah and my parents. He had once told me of the plans he was making for our future. We would have dozens of little ones running wild. Of course, the girls would look like me and the boys like him. There was no discussing the possibility of death. We were supposed to live forever. But those were just plans, ideas, and dreams. They would not be happening. The doctor had made another house visit today; he said there was nothing he could do for me. This was it.
I placed my hand upon his sweet cheek, a cheek I had kissed oh so many times. He held my hand to his face, kept it there, then pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it gently. Something wet hit my hand, and I looked up at him. His once-happy eyes were now filled with tears. No, no tears. Please stop. Oh dear, please. I hated that I was the one who had caused him pain. Trying to get him to smile again, I wiped away his tears and sat up, even though it made me want to cough. I pulled my heavy blankets away, swung my now-brittle legs over the edge, and pulled him into my chest. In moments like this, when he showed me his emotions, the hard ones to show anyone, he made me feel strong. They made him so much more beautiful to me. Sebastian hugged me tightly, squeezing me closer to him. His tears washed over my nightdress. I ran my fingers through his hair and let him cry against me. I let the one I loved more than anyone else in the world mourn me before I was truly gone.
I woke up just as the sun began to rise, and I turned to look at Sebastian. His sleeping form was so incredibly peaceful. It didn’t matter who I had been in the past, or that he had loved me so deeply, we were together now and I loved him more than I had ever loved him before. He had told me that he loved me more now than he ever had too. I smiled softly and bent over to kiss his forehead. Soft groans escaped his lips, and he stirred sleepily. Not able to help myself, I kissed his lips softly. Sebastian’s strong arms yanked me down on top of him and he kissed me deeply. Once he pulled away, I smiled at him and snuggled in. “I love you more than the world,” I whispered to him before drifting back to sleep.
At seven in the morning, I woke up fully and felt refreshed. No more visions of the future or past plagued my dreams. I stretched slowly. My muscles ached from training, but it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. Careful not to wake Sebastian or Helios, I stood up and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. Homecoming was tonight; at least I thought it was. What day was it? I counted the days from when I had the encounter at the high school and on 99E. That was Monday, Tuesday we went to the hospital, Wednesday I went to find a dress, Thursday we did the ceremony, Friday . . . we slept through Friday, but that night I met my twin sister, Saturday was yesterday, which meant I had missed homecoming. Disappointment flooded me. Willow and Fiora probably had the time of their lives last night, and I was busy learning how to sprint and jump with my vampire strength and abilities.
Still upset that I had missed homecoming with Sebastian, I stalked downstairs to the kitchen to
get breakfast after I had finished getting dressed. My hair was still wet when I pulled it into a bun as I hunted for the ingredients to make myself a bowl of cereal. Gurgling sounds vibrated through my belly and I hurried to scavenge food. I grabbed a bowl and spoon, Cheerios, and milk. Once the milk and cereal were mixed, I took a bite and immediately spit it out. My Cheerios tasted stale, and the milk tasted old. Worried that I may have used expired milk and old cereal, I checked the expiration dates, and they were both good for a while longer. After I thought about it for a moment, I realized what was going on. Irritated, I mumbled, “Stupid vampire genes.”
“What?” Sebastian said from behind me as he stretched his arms over his head and yawned.
“I am more like you than I thought I would be.” I pushed my bowl of cereal away as if to prove my point.
“Ah, does it taste funny?” he asked, pointing at my cereal.
“Yeah, it does,” I pouted.
He pulled me in for a hug and apologized with kisses to my cheek.
“Thank you.” I smiled up at him.
“You are very welcome, my sweet one. Oh, I have something to tell you.” Sebastian’s eyes twinkled slyly.
“What’s that?” I asked suspiciously.
“I have been looking online and found a few places that I want to go look at with you sometime this week.”
“Okay, that should be fine.”
“Well, all right then. Are you ready to go?” More sly twinkles in his eyes told me what he meant was we were going to go look at them today.
I sighed and nodded.
Before we headed off, we stopped at the warehouse. He thought it was a good idea to sate my hunger, which was not for human food. Upstairs behind the small cupboard across from Clamora’s office was a small hidden compartment in the wall. Sebastian pushed it open after tapping around the small door. Inside was a small fridge that contained donated blood in various blood types. My stomach growled loudly at the sight. Even though it was important for me to drink the stuff, it still grossed me out and made me feel disgusting and dirty. He pulled out a bag of AB positive, poured a small amount into a coffee mug, and took it to the kitchen. Curious about what he was doing, I followed him, only to hear the whirring of a microwave. When it beeped to signal it was done, he stirred the contents then handed me the cup. Embarrassingly enough, my stomach growled again. Sighing, I took a small sip.
It was warm and absolutely delicious. Naturally, I would have shied away from scarfing it down in front of Sebastian, but I couldn’t help myself. The AB positive blood type was sure to be my favorite, especially if Sebastian continued to heat it up for me for the rest of our immortal lives. I chuckled to myself while I rinsed the mug out before placing it in the dishwasher. Once we were both fed, we hurried off to check out the places Sebastian had found for us.
We didn’t see one apartment. The places Sebastian had in mind were large houses out in the middle of nowhere. Two out of the five were on roads that I hadn’t even known existed. All of them were beautiful, and they each had their own history and character. Our realtor was very surprised at how much Sebastian could afford for a house, and in all honesty, I was pretty surprised too. As we wandered through each house, I found things that were amazing about each of them. It was going to be extremely difficult for me to pick one that I loved. Well, I thought it was going to be difficult until we saw the last one.
Brick and stone made the outside of the house look wonderfully rustic. Large vines of ivy climbed the stones, reaching around the windows and fringing the roof. Tall trees dotted the property, and birds chirped in their nests throughout the land. In awe of the outside, I was ready to look inside. The inside of the house was just as beautiful. Cherry hardwood floors were laid throughout the house. Giant floor-to-ceiling windows on the east side of the house showed off nature’s beauty. The kitchen was huge, with an island and more cabinet space than I would have thought. Each room had its own special features and character that showed in every corner. There was a large fireplace on the west wall of the living room, a crystal chandelier hung delicately from the ceiling in the dining room. A deep brown banister flowed up the stairs that led to the bedrooms. There were five bedrooms in the house, each just as amazing as the next, until the master. It was grand. One large walk-in closet was big enough to house a studio apartment and a balcony extended beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, which continued to the upstairs. Although the walls had been painted an off-white color, I could imagine them a soft red with deep highlights. However, the best part of the master bedroom was the master bath. Two large windows sat directly above the stone bathtub, while a walk-in shower stood in the opposite corner with pebbles laid in concrete. Every aspect of the house was beautiful, and I fell completely in love with it.
Images flooded my brain as to what the future would look like in this home. In that instant, I knew this was the house I wanted. I wanted to build a life with Sebastian here, a sanctuary not only for ourselves but for our friends and family as well. Once the realtor had finished showing us the rooms, she wandered off and waited for us to discuss the house. We both knew it was the one, and we ended up making an offer. The only thing we had to wait for now was an approval. Since we knew we were going to be buying a house, whether it was the one we made an offer on or a different one, we made plans to go to IKEA.
We took a few different trips to the giant furniture store, since I didn’t want to miss out on anymore school. Sebastian still yelled at me for going because he thought it would be better if I dropped out. If there was one thing we absolutely did not agree on, it was school. My parents were nervous about the house. They didn’t want me to disappear on them, and they wanted to see me for dinner every night as if I was still living at home. After about a week of waiting impatiently to see if we had the house, the realtor finally called Sebastian with good news. The owners of the home had accepted our offer and were handing the keys over.
Our grand furniture purchases were sitting in the warehouse, still wrapped and ready to go whenever we finally closed on a home. When we had our keys, we did a quick walk-through of the house to see where we wanted to put stuff. Sebastian had an idea to add a secret room in one corner of the house. It was a little alcove that didn’t really fit in with the living room itself, like a closet that had been left without a door. All we would need to do was create a wall with a hinge that would pop open with a certain maneuver or code. The room would be a decent size as well, with a total of one hundred square feet. We quickly sectioned it off with a dark pale sheet that we found in the corner of the room. I combed through each nook and cranny in the house to see if there was anything else, but all that was left to find were some old belongings from the previous owners. Once we had finished, we left to retrieve our furniture.
After many long hours of lifting, sliding, shifting, repositioning, bending over, climbing up and down stairs, and very few breaks, I was happy to say that we had finished moving all of our stuff in. Boxes still littered the floors of each room, but at least the furniture was where it needed to be. I sat down heavily on our new couch and sighed deeply. Exhaustion attacked my muscles and bones, making my body feel heavier. My eyes slowly started to close when my cell phone went off in the kitchen. Grunting, groaning, and cursing, I got up and stiffly made my way to the irritating sound. A number I had never seen before flashed up on my screen. Normally I would have just ended the call, but something nagged at me to answer. I was glad that I did.
Luke, Clamora’s son, had called me in a panic. He wouldn’t explain too much, just that we needed to meet someplace safe, somewhere that u da yv la dv couldn’t enter. When I brought up the fact that he was one, he told me the gods had given him permission to enter sacred grounds. I was wary, even more so when he asked that I not bring Sebastian, which meant I had to go alone. For reasons unknown to me, I felt like I was able to trust him. That’s when Aphrodite’s words rang in my head. He was going to betray the woman who created him, his second mother. I offered to meet him a
t my parents’ house. Since he was the only u da yv la dv that could cross Clamora’s magic, he agreed. We set the meeting for after school in two days.
My nerves felt fried and shot, but any exhaustion I had was now long gone. Sebastian walked in when I was saying goodbye to Luke, and I had to tell him it was a wrong number. Guilt washed over me; I didn’t want to lie to him. It made me feel terrible. As if on cue, my parents and little brother and sister walked in the house. They gasped at each adorable feature of the property and gave us flowers to brighten our already bright kitchen. The longer they stayed, the faster my exhaustion came back. Sebastian seemed to see it and went upstairs to get a bath started for me. I said my goodbyes and told Melly and Mickey that they could come over whenever they wanted to. From the porch, we watched them get in the car and drive off. Once they were gone, Sebastian led me up the stairs, through our bedroom, and into our bathroom.
Small tealight candles littered every flat surface. Bubbles cascaded down the edges of the tub, and rose petals floated where the bubbles were sparse. A smile played across my lips as my eyes watered. Sebastian kissed my head softly before disappearing from the room. Still smiling, I slowly got undressed and stepped into the tub. Warm water kissed my skin as roses and bubbles tickled my toes. Nothing but relaxing feelings washed over me, and I sank deeper into the water. After about an hour of soaking, I got out and headed for bed. Lying on the bed were an oversized shirt and some underwear. Of course Sebastian had laid out my pajamas as well as created the best bath I had ever had. I dried off and put my clothes on, then crawled into our big soft bed and fell asleep.
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