by Rue Volley
It frightened me.
“Because I want to,” I said as I opened my eyes and she let out a slow breath.
She removed her hand and looked back at the picture of the two of them. Then she turned the page, and my eyes ran over another picture of them laughing, then another of them holding hands, then one of them kissing. Eyota’s hand lay gently on her cheek just as Thorn does with me. It sent a cold chill through me like I was looking at the future, yet it was the past.
Then she took a deep breath and turned the page.
More pictures, one of them staring at each other, another one of them by the ocean with my aunt’s hair flying in the wind, and then she turned the page, and all I could see was a gravestone. I leaned in and read the inscription.
Love.
I shook my head and stared at her. “What is this?” I whispered.
She wiped a tear from her cheek. “The end of us.” She said with so much hurt and regret.
“You mean…you and Mr. Vega had a child?” I asked, choking on my words.
She stared at the book. “I buried love in the cemetery. That’s what I named her. Look at me, a living metaphor, when I claimed that I wasn’t.”
My heart was breaking for her. It made my stomach sour.
She closed the book as she took a slow and steady breath then turned to face me, taking my hands in hers and rubbing her thumbs across the tops of my hands. My body trembled from her loss. I had no idea that she had lost a child, let alone a daughter with him.
“I only carried her for five months, but I had her and held her in my arms. She was so small
and helpless. No one knew about her but Eyota and my parents. Even your dad doesn’t know, and I want to keep it that way.”
I stumbled over my words as my mind tried to absorb this horrible truth. “Did he, I mean, was Eyota there when she was born?”
She licked her lip and bit into it, reminding me more of myself than I wanted to admit. “No, he didn’t want me to have her. In fact, he offered to get rid of the problem, or so he called it.”
“Why would he say that?” I asked in disgust.
She shook her head and visibly tried to collect her thoughts. I could tell this was painful for her, just as painful as it had been so many years ago. I’m sure it would haunt her the rest of her life. “He was frightened, so was I, but that doesn’t mean you abandon something such as this. He promised me.” She stopped talking, and my heart sank.
Promises.
She blinked a couple of times. “I, well, I loved him, and he claimed that he loved me, and that dress, it was a gift that I returned to him, and now I think it’s meant to be a warning for you, my love. He wanted me to see this, to tell you so that maybe you wouldn’t make the same mistake that I did.”
“Thorn isn’t like that, Aunt Luna. He would never...”
She interrupted me. “Don’t you think that a man knows his son better than a little girl could?”
She let my hands go and then closed the book; I could feel her packing away the memories much like I do when they hurt too much for me to handle.
I shook my head, and my bangs fell into my eyes. My heart ached for her, and I understood her concern more than I wanted to, but Thorn, Thorn wasn’t like his dad; he couldn’t be.
“I won’t tell you what you can and cannot do, Echo. That isn’t my place especially when I can see how much you care for that boy, but his conquests are as extensive as his father’s. His reputation precedes him.”
I cleared my throat. “People change.”
She laughed. “Do they? Or do they adjust to whatever situation they happen to be in to serve their own needs?”
“Are you saying he doesn’t care about me?” I asked, taking another defensive stance with her.
She reached out and touched my hand; I immediately let the anger go. I know where this comes from with her and I couldn’t blame her for her natural reaction. I’m sure seeing Thorn and I together had brought back memories that she would have preferred to keep buried, like the daughter she would never know.
“Be careful, that’s all.”
I watched her as she stood up, taking the book with her and placing it back in the chest. She shut the lid and stood there with her hands on it for a few moments longer. I stood up and walked to her just as she turned to face me.
“I love you, like my own. I always have. I felt the same for your sister, and it broke my heart when she died, but having you here fills a void for me that was hollowed out years ago. A void I never thought could be filled. Even James doesn’t do this for me, but you, you do. I just couldn’t stand seeing anything happen to you.”
“Aunt Luna,” I said as I rushed in and hugged her. My head rested on her shoulder as she pulled me in tight. I closed my eyes and whispered to her.
“I love him.”
She sighed. “Oh, honey, I was afraid of that.”
32
I fingered at the embroidery on the dress. I stared up and out the window into the thick pine.
I love Thorn.
I can’t help how I felt about him.
My heart ached for my aunt, but she isn’t me, and my relationship isn’t the one my aunt had with his father.
It couldn’t be doomed like theirs was.
Could it?
I wanted to hate Eyota Vega. I knew that I should. The funny thing is, even when she speaks about him, she doesn’t look like she hates him, she looks like she’s in pain.
At least with hate, you could move on.
I flinched when my phone rang on the small table that sat next to my bed. I swallowed hard, setting the dress aside and picked it up, placing it to my ear and hoping for the best.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Echo, it’s mom.”
I let out a huge sigh, and my frown suddenly turned into a grin. I hadn’t heard her voice in weeks, and I needed it more than I realized.
“Mom…hi. How are you?”
“Good, and you?”
I paused. “Great, I mean as great as I can be. How’s dad?” I asked, wishing that small talk would make way for what I really wanted to say. I love my mom, but we never had that kind of relationship where we talked about anything private. Especially things that should be discussed, like boys, or even the death of my sister. We had effectively buried all of that when we buried that empty coffin.
“I wanted to let you know that we haven’t been able to make much progress.”
I gripped the phone firmly in my hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Well, you know how it goes, and your father, he’s fine.”
I knew this was a lie. My dad was never fine during a dig; he was only fine when the discovery was made. Until then nothing else mattered.
“I wanted to let you know that we will be coming home for Christmas, but your birthday, well, we just can’t.”
My eyes dulled, and I felt the tears, but I choked down the emotion. “Great, no Christmas is great, dad said you may not be here,” I said after clearing my throat.
“Are you okay? You sound like you may be coming down with a cold.”
I shook my head like she was there and closed my eyes. “No, well, maybe a little. This weather sucks. It rains most of the time and the rest it’s cloudy and gray.”
She exhaled. “Perfect reading weather for you.”
I opened my eyes. “Yes, it is.”
“How’s school?” She asked, and I blinked. She had never dug this deeply into anything with me. “Um, it’s okay, I guess.”
“What happened?”
I parted my lips. What hadn’t happened? Then I found myself sugar coating everything like she couldn’t handle the truth. “Oh, it’s just weird. It’s not like being tutored, and they have a dress code.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You knew, didn’t you?”
&nbs
p; “Yes, of course I did.”
“Thanks,” I said letting out a small chuckle. She laughed into the phone; it was awkward to be talking to her this way.
I cleared my throat. “Is dad there?”
“No, he’s on site. He refuses to leave. He thinks we’re close, but I haven’t seen anything to give me that impression, but you know how stubborn he is. He’s been chasing a folklore, one about the veil.”
“Vampires,” I scoffed.
“Yes, it’s absurd. If anything, I would believe that there are people who believe they extend their lives by drinking blood, and have convinced themselves that without it, they will die. It’s a condition referred to as Renfield’s Syndrome, which ties into the greatest lie of them all, the existence of Dracula.”
“Dracula,” I said sarcastically.
“I know, it’s ridiculous, but your father, well, he’ll be okay. We all have to deal with things in our own way.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the pine and The God of Death?”
She paused, and I could hear her sigh. “Did Luna tell you about that?”
“I read about it here in the library.”
“Some books should be burned.”
“Mom.”
She laughed. “Honestly, The God of Death. I haven’t thought about that ridiculous folklore since I was a child. We used to scare each other with stories about the pine and how he rode through the forest on a black buck sounding his horn.”
I broke in. “With hellhounds at his side, collecting souls.”
She didn’t hesitate to explain it away. “It’s the wind.”
“What?” I asked.
“The wind. It sounds like a horn blowing when it rushes through the forest.”
“You know, mom. Midnight mentioned something about the veil the night we, well…”
She cleared her throat. “I’m well aware of your sister’s obsession with vampires.”
I perked up. “You were?”
“They were, well, in her things. I found notes that she had hoarded away. I like to think that she was writing a book.”
I bit my lip and thought about her last text to me. I closed my eyes and shook off the memory of it and how it made me feel. “Yeah, no, of course she was. She didn’t believe in stuff like that. It was all for research. You know how obsessive she was about uncovering everything.”
“I wouldn’t have expected her too. She knew better than to believe in such foolish things.”
I nodded, offering no resistance at all. “No. It’s laughable, right?”
“Extremely.”
I adjusted on the edge of my bed and studied the dark forest.
“So, Christmas, huh?”
“The week of.”
“I, I’m really glad.”
“Me, too.”
I grinned. She was never this chatty or compassionate.
“Okay then, I have to go. We’ll talk soon, and Echo?”
“Happy early birthday.”
“Thank you, mom,” I spoke quietly into the phone.
I heard the click, and she was gone.
33
I must have changed ten times. Some pieces of clothing made it into the nervous rotation at least twice. I pressed my lips together and then stepped out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes closed.
“Oh!” Mattie yelled, and I let out a huge sigh of relief. Nothing had pleased her until now. I looked down and did a twirl. I had settled on dark skinny jeans, a long blue and gray plaid shirt and my boots.
She rushed up to me and undid the top two buttons of my shirt as I quickly did them back up. She winked at me, tapping at my hands.
“Stop,” I said while I quelled my laughter.
Bri sat on the bed staring at a magazine. She flipped through the pages, and her ponytails shifted from the right to the left. She lifted up the page and turned it sideways. Mattie snapped her fingers, and Bri grinned. “You better not be ogling girls.”
“Who uses the word ogling?”
She pointed at herself. “Spelling bee champion circa 2005.”
Bri’s bright eyes skirted over to me, and she lowered the magazine. “You look hot.”
Mattie gave her a nod and turned back to face me. “Yes, she does.”
I adjusted my feet and lowered my head, she reached out and lifted my chin. “You do, you look awesome.”
“You think this works?” I asked.
Her eyebrow shot up. “Yes, yes, yes.”
Bri yelled out from behind her. “Yes.”
“I just want to be sure, ya know?” I asked with concern.
She placed her hands on my upper arms and leaned in. “Listen, Thorn Vega is coo coo for coco puffs here.”
I giggled. “You’re making me hungry.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, don’t eat.”
“What?” I asked.
“No, no eating. You don’t’ want to worry about chewing and having things in your teeth, right? I mean how awful would that be to have him coming in for a landing on those lips with a big old piece of lettuce sticking out of your adorable gap?”
I closed my mouth. I do have a small gap between my front teeth that I always hated right up until Thorn didn’t seem to mind. In fact, I had forgotten all about it.
Bri chimed in. “That gap is the bomb.”
“That’s right, this is the total package, right here.” She turned like she was presenting me to the royal family. I shoved my hands in my pockets, and she winked at me.
“So, where is he taking you?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.”
“What?” Her voice went up an octave.
Bri adjusted on the bed and Mattie walked back over to her. She sat down and leaned back as Bri wrapped her arms around her from behind. They looked so comfortable together. I wanted that for us, for Thorn and me.
“I didn’t ask.”
“Oh my God.”
Bri smiled. “Mattie isn’t good at surprises. She wants to know the entire itinerary.”
Mattie rolled her eyes. “I need to know what to wear, and if I need backup shoes.”
“Backup shoes?” I asked.
“Yes! I mean you may go to a nice restaurant, which means heels would be appropriate, and then maybe a walk by the ocean, which means you need flat shoes, or maybe no shoes at all.”
“The beach is pretty private.”
Bri winked at me, and Mattie looked back at her. I didn’t want to know.
“I think we’re just going to play it by ear.”
She laughed. “No, trust me. Thorn Vega is not playing it by ear.” Bri said, and I narrowed my eyes. “He’s very strategic.” She added with a slight nod.
“You mean he does everything for a reason,” I asked.
She shrugged her shoulder. “Well, yeah. It is Thorn that we’re talking about here, right?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her. “So how many?” I asked.
Mattie sat up and nervously looked everywhere but me. Bri didn’t flinch. “How many what?”
“Girls,” I added with a huff.
“Just Tailor and Mattie.”
I laughed. “No, Thorn. How many girls has he dated?”
She bit her lip and held her hand up. “I don’t know.” Now she was refusing to look at me, too.
“Come on,” I added, hoping that it would entice someone to fess up. It worked with Mattie because she blurted it out. “I heard like fifty.”
My arms relaxed. “Fifty? Are you kidding me?”
Bri sighed. “No, no, not that many.”
My glare shifted to her. “So?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “More like, I don’t know, thirty?”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, is that all?”
&n
bsp; I walked to the bed and dropped down on the edge of it.
Mattie leaned forward. “Listen, it doesn’t matter how many girls he’s dated; he asked you out, you, Echo.”
I sighed and stared down at my hands as they rested in my lap. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know why I’m even asking.”
Mattie leaned into my side. “Because you love him.”
“Do not,” I said with a laugh. She rolled her eyes and leaned back into Bri. “Okay, you don’t.”
“Yeah. I don’t.”
Both Bri and Mattie had left about thirty minutes before he was supposed to show up. I sat down on the steps and shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my short black faux leather jacket. I was just about ready to go back in and rethink the lip gloss and the braids in my hair when a white Aston Martin rolled up in front of the black gates. The engine hummed, and Thorn exited his side of the car and walked up to the gate, pushing it open, and holding it still with his back.
He wore dark jeans, a white shirt and a dark gray jacket that hugged his sides. It rested right above his beltline. I took a deep breath and then I noticed his black and white chucks. It made me smile.
I walked toward him, and the muscles in his jaw tightened then relaxed.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” I said.
He held his hand out, and I eyed his car.
“That’s beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you.”
I looked down and accepted his compliment as I made my way to the car. He reached in and held the door open for me as I slid inside. The interior was impeccable. White leather with black stitching. Pristine. This car looked like no one had ever driven it. The new car smell engulfed me.
Surely he hadn’t purchased a car just for this.
He got in and gripped the wheel. It was wrapped in the same leather that the seats were made out of. He paused and then looked over at me.
