Bloods Gem

by Gloria Conway

“I LOVE YOU!” I blurted out. He smiled. “I love you too…” he said softly. “But what brought that on?” He asked looking at me like I said something amusing.

  I shook my head, “I don’t know. I just….” I didn’t know what to say, I didn't know what came over me. I guess it was everything. Or feeling the need to put it out there that second. I felt embarrassed for myself.

  He took my hand into his and finished what he was going to say. “And two…. He paused looking at me smiling. “You must accept my devotion to you for the pain it caused me to make this present. Special I'll call it,” he smirked. I looked at him wondering what was so funny. Hoping something dead wasn‘t in the box. He put it in my hand. Opening it my eyes lit up And my mouth dropped. A beautiful heart-shaped locket with diamonds surrounding it. “Oh my. This is too much,” I said looking at him. He shook his head. “If this is too much, what I really wanted to get you would have made you sick,” he said laughing. I closed my mouth and opened the locket. “You promised,” he reminded me. I smiled.

  There were no words that could describe the picture of him inside the locket, except, hilarious. I tried not to laugh, but instead I sounded like I was choking. People behind us were staring and he slapped my leg under the table. I looked at him trying to hold in my laugh. “I’m sorry but this is way too funny. You’re going to have to pay me back for laughing at this one.” I couldn’t hold it anymore. The picture of his face looking as though someone shocked him with a taser gun. His mouth flung open wide and his eyes stretched open. I laughed so hard he had to put his hand around my mouth to keep people from staring at us.

  “What were you--” Before I could finish he interrupted. “I was trying to figure out where the button was on the machine to stop it from taking pictures, and the flash kept blinding me while I was reaching for something to stop it. I think I broke it. I walked away as soon as I got the picture.”

  I laughed harder now. I had to put a napkin over my nose thinking snot was going to fly out.

  Driving home, he pulled over into an abandoned parking lot. Turning the engine off, he turned towards me taking my hand into his. He looked a little nervous. “Faith, I would like to ask you something and please be open-minded about my question.”

  I stared at him wondering what he was about to ask. “I'll try,” I said.

  “We love each other right?” I nodded. “Then why wait any longer to be together all the time? Faith, will you please move in with me?” He looked into my eyes waiting for an answer. Speechless, I wanted to say yes right away, but didn’t know how to tell my mom. How she would take the news, since she just met him. I stared out the window thinking.

  He cleared his throat, interrupting my thoughts.

  “I’m going to have to figure out what to say to Mom,” I said, looking back at him. “So… is that a yes?”

  I took a deep breath and nodded. He smiled really big, took my face into his hands, and kissed me. “Thank you,” he said.

  Chapter Twenty

  Daniel

  I dropped Faith at home, hoping she came up with something good to tell her mother about us moving in together. I hoped her mother liked me enough to not object. Then again we just met and didn’t have much time to talk.

  I had an idea in my head but scratched it. I couldn’t do that, not unless it was necessary. I didn’t like having to use my abilities for this, I don’t like making people see everything my way. I despised not having an option myself when it came to certain things. That’s another reason why it was hard for me to unold on Faith. I wanted her to choose me for her reasons not for mine.

  I could always explain the process and the effects, and if she does choose to be with me forever then I wouldn’t mind unolding on her. I was going to give this a year before telling her anything more. I would ask her to take a big step with me after the year was up.

  I wanted to know that she would with this. Who I was and our life together. Everything was happening fast and I didn’t want to rush her. I wanted to have a normal relationship with her at a normal pace. If she was to change her mind about us, I don’t think I had it in my power to force her to stay with me. It would be the hardest thing I had to do, but I would let her go if she decided she didn’t want this.

  I wanted was her to be happy with or without me. These thoughts seemed strange. I was used to being selfish and getting everything I wanted. Almost everything. But this was different, I only wanted what she wanted.

  I promised her I’d meet her in her dreams that night. She loved my ability to create illusions and being able to jump into her dreams. Us in a world where we could do whatever we wanted with no consequences. A dream world in which we could be together all night, sharing our dreams and desires.

  She wanted me to take her back to London in our dream. I asked her where she wanted to go and she told me she wanted to see my family. It was a simple request and made me feel happy that she wanted to meet the people closest to me.

  I reminded her they could also become part of our dream, especially if they sensed my spirit was there. I told her not to worry or be scared, they would be happy to meet her in spirit or human form.

  I met her at our waterfall. She was underneath it this time, enjoying the water fall over her body. I sat and watched her for awhile. She didn’t notice I was there. I flew to her and held her close. She opened her eyes and smiled.

  “Are you ready my love?” I asked. Looking into my eyes, she told me she wanted to try something first. I stood wondering what she wanted. She let her nightgown slip and fall into the water. I didn’t know why she did this.

  Pressing her lips to mine, I wanted to follow her lead but stopped her. “Love, it’s not time for this yet,” I said softly, putting the nightgown in her hands.

  “You said we could do anything here and it wouldn’t count as doing it in real life.” She had a good point, but I’d never done this before and I was probably more nervous then her. I wasn’t sure if making love to her our spirits would be as one, as it would with the unolding process. I thought too much about it and what it might do. I told her there would be no repercussions in reality. Making love to her spirit wouldn’t be the same as making love to her in reality.

  Glancing down at into her pleading eyes, “Why do you want this?” I asked. “I want to be with you in every way I can and I desire you,” she responded. I felt my body wanting to respond to her words. I wanted to take here right there, feel her body against mine, but my mind took over.

  “Can we please wait? I want to do this the right way with you and it’s too soon.” She put her head down and I felt her sadness. I touched her face and whispered in her ear, “When the time is right Love.” Slipping her nightgown over her head, I placed my hand on her back, giving her a new emotion. I didn’t want this dream to be sad for her.

  We went to my family’s castle. She laughed, believing I was joking. When I told her I wasn't, she looked at me in disbelief.

  “This is where I’ve lived all my life Faith. I know it’s a little much, but we have a large family. We have seventy-five Ill-suen living here and about two-hundred and fifty vampires.” She shook her head, frightened. I pulled her close. “They’re all animal eaters. We don’t hunt humans, plus no one can hurt you in dreams,” I reminded her.

  We headed towards the door and walked in, her close by my side, holding my hand. Everyone was up and about it seemed. Some in the library reading and some practicing sparring in the gym. Others were scattered here and there. I tried picking up my sister’s scent and led faith to her. She was close to mother and they were talking about my brother. I knocked something off a shelf to get their attention. They froze for a minute, then started laughing. Their bodies dropped and they leaped into spirit form. They stood looking at the girl next to me. Mother came and hugged me.

  “Mother, Celeste, this is Faith,” I introduced them. Faith stepped out front and shook their hands, smiling.

  “It’s nice to meet you Faith,” my sister said excited.

&nbs
p; I shot her a look.

  “It was Faith's idea to come meet you,” I said, looking down at Faith's reaction.

  “I wanted to meet the family he talked about all the time,” she said, looking back at me.

  “Mother, where’s father?” I asked.

  Glancing at me she spoke through her mind. I continued the conversation in return not wanting Faith to hear our family affairs. “So did he go look for Adrian?”

  “Yes, he’s trying to get him back to us. Worried he might go back to the old clan and do something stupid.”

  “Something stupid like come after me?” I asked.

  She looked sad. “He’s confused, and he’s very jealous of you. Before he left he said he went to see you in spirit and saw how happy you were with your gem and thought it was unfair since he doesn’t feel the same about his. He blames your father for a lot, because he says your father didn’t train him well enough about the process for it to work, and he spent more time training you.”

  “He trained him the exact way he trained me mother. I was there for his sessions.”

  “We all came to the conclusion that she probably wasn’t a gem after all. We think he had been misguided by an evil spirit along the way,” she said. “But wouldn’t he be different around us if that was so? When he came back from his journey he was just the same as before he left.”

  “Son, these evil things work in many ways, that’s why your father is going to find him so he can take him to the healers to see if he has an evil spirit inside of him.”

  “There’s no way we wouldn’t sense the evil Mother. That’s part of the training, to sense these sort of things when they are close to us.”

  “There’s no way to know son. Like I told you before, magic works in strange ways and there’s always ways around this sort of thing. We just have to address this situation and hope for the best.” I nodded, agreeing with her.

  “Have you went through the process yet my son?”

  I shook my head, “I am going to wait a year Mother. I want her to understand us first and feel the emotion for me naturally before I change her. I don’t want there to be a doubt in her mind about what she feels for me.” “Good choice son, but I must warn you, if another Ill-suen got to her and unold on her, she would be lost forever. So think about this decision wisely. If you choose this path there can be devastating consequences.”

  What she said hit me hard. If that was to happen I couldn’t bear it. Imagining her controlled by another Ill-suen, maybe my brother and knowing her feelings for me. She could always reject him, but he could also use mind control to make her love him.

  I wouldn’t let him get close enough to have a chance. I would kill him myself if he tried. I looked around and didn’t see Faith or Celeste. Mother squeezed my arm, “She’s showing Faith around. She knew we had to talk.” Mother urged me to complete the process soon after I asked her how likely it was Adrian would try to take Faith away from me.

  “I can’t talk about this anymore Mother. I can’t think about this. I have to get my head right again to figure out what to do.” She hugged me and let me go.

  After finding Faith, she told my Mother and sister goodbye and we left. I dropped her back at the waterfall and told her I needed to wake up. She looked concerned and I told her my mother had told me some news I needed to think about and I’d tell her more later.

  I thought about it all night and came up with a plan. I would help find my father in his search for Adrian. I would leave Faith with my family back at the castle. I would tell Faith everything and hope for her understanding. She had been good so far about things I have told her.

  I figured I would set our new house up and furnish it. Then I would cook her and her mother dinner. It would help her mother get to know me better and might help my chances of gaining her trust with her daughter.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Faith

  I looked up at the clock. It was six in the morning. I was still tired but a little worried about Daniel. He seemed concerned about what his Mother told him. I wondered if it concerned me. Did she like me? He told me he’d tell me more later so I know I shouldn’t worry. I laid my head back down on the pillow, wondering why he didn’t want me like I wanted him. I threw myself at him when we were dreaming and he seemed uninterested. Perhaps he lied to me and is not attracted to humans. Hell if I know. And what did he mean 'not the right time'? We proclaimed our love for one another and we’re going to be living together. We’ve had heavy make out sessions where he led me to believe that’s what he wanted. Maybe he was raised differently. Or, maybe he’s waiting for marriage.

  I should probably just trust his decision and wait for him to come around. I didn't want to dwell on it too much. There were still unanswered questions though. Why was I seeing things? He didn’t offer an explanation. I couldn’t wait much longer and decided to just call him. The phone rang for awhile before he answered.

  “Faith, everything okay?”

  “Yes, everything’s fine. I needed to hear your voice.”

  “I love hearing yours too love.” We were silent for a minute.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Just thinking…” he said.

  “What about?”

  “Everything. You, me, our life together. My family. What are you thinking about love?”

  “You. I wish you were here holding me. Feeling your breath on my ear as you speak.” I heard static in the back ground. So I paused.

  “Finish what you were saying love,” he said.

  “Well I was just imagining you--” He opened my window and hopped in. I sat up. My mouth fell open.

  “You said you wanted me here,” he said smiling.

  “That was like what, five seconds?” I said shaking my head. His eyes rolled up like he was thinking, “No, not five. Closer to ten. maybe twelve,” he answered, half smiling. I pulled him down onto me, “So, you think you can just dash here anytime I say I wish you were here?”

  He smirked, “Your wish is my command Baby.”

  “Yeah right!” I said laughing.

  “What? Anything you want is yours. You just have to ask.”

  I shook my head. “That’s a lie. Not anything,” I said.

  He looked at me wondering. “Okay, how about this read my thoughts right now please. It concerns you.”

  He smiled listening. Sat silent for a minute. His mouth opened a little. “Ah… Well… Uh… I…”

  “Speechless?” I asked, pushing him to the side of me.

  He folded his arms on his stomach, then scratched his head thinking about what to say. “Don’t you want our… Relationship to be at a normal pace?” He asked.

  “You’re kidding me right? I mean, you just asked me to move in with you and a few weeks ago you were all over me. That’s not a normal pace! It's not fair Daniel.”

  He sat up. “You're right, it's not fair but it’s just different,” he said.

  “No! It's not. If you want a normal pace, okay, that’s what you’ll get. When you decide you want me in every way, then I'll move in!” I folded my arms across my chest. He rubbed my arm but I shrugged him off. “No if you don’t want me then why are you touching me?”

  He smiled. “I thought you didn’t want to have sex with a corpse?” He smirked. That set me off. “Get the hell out now! Just leave.”

  He didn’t move. He stood there looking at the wall emotionless. “You're right, it’s unfair for me to ask you to move in with me, if I can’t give you everything you want,” he said softly. Walking toward the window to leave, I stood in his way, putting my hands on his shoulders.

  “Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on? Trust me. You tell me to trust you all the time, why can’t you do the same?” I asked, looking into his teary eyes.

  “Faith… I…” he shook his head.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “You want me to answer your questions?” I nodded.

  “There’s are a few different reasons I don�
��t want to make love to you Faith. One, it’s too soon. We have just started getting to know each other, and I would like to have a deeper understanding with you before we cave into our desires. Another is, I’m still trying to get used to being around you without wanting to…. Drink from you. Being this close to you right now is still hard for me. Kissing you is difficult too. I mean, you seen how hard it was a few months ago… When I pushed you off of me. You make me feel so many emotions and urges. Ranging from wanting to taste your blood to wanting to make passionate love to you. I hate myself for still thinking about you in the way I do. I try not to let the animal inside me get the best of me. Also if we were to make love… my strength is a thousand times that of a normal human. If I were to harm you again like I did your hand it would kill me.

  “Another reason well, I’m nervous around you, like you are around me and I don’t know much about making love except what I’ve seen on television and that doesn’t look like the most romantic way to go about doing things in my book. I want it to be special. Meaningful and safe for you.”

  I sat back down thinking of what he just said. He had valid points and he was right, it was too soon. There was just something about him that drew me into that frame of mind. I cleared my throat, “Is there someway you can tone down… Your… appeal then? Like to help me not throw myself at you every second?”

  He laughed and sighed. “I wish there was someway. And, I wish there was someway for you to be less appealing to me as well. The only thing I can do is control your mind into thinking something else. But I doubt you’d want that.” He looked at me waiting for a response. I shook my head, “I’d rather suffer then have someone control my mind. So I guess we can suffer together.” I said.

  “There’s something else I need to talk to you about Faith. The reason for asking you to move in so quickly. One of the reasons is, My brother has disappeared, and my family believes he could come looking for and to harm me in someway. Possibly through you. They said he’s jealous of what we have because his gem didn’t work out the same way. There are other reasons but I wont get into them now. But to keep you safe, I need to be with you as much as possible.”