Paranormal After Dark: 20 Paranormal Tales of Demons, Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Witches, Magics, Ghosts and More

by Rebecca Hamilton

  Natalie's mouth gaped open. She stared at Clara. "For real?"

  "Yeah. One night when Alexis and I went out for dinner, William and his family were sitting near us. I couldn't keep my eyes off him because he looked exactly like my first love. He noticed and came over, introducing himself to me. Even though I choked on my drink when he said his name, he still wanted to go out with me. I had my doubts, but figured that one date wouldn't kill me."

  "Obviously not. I've seen you two together. You're so adorable. But what happened tonight?"

  "I saw a picture of Liam and his wife."

  "Well, you're over him, aren't you? I mean, it's been a couple hundred years. I got over my last boyfriend in, like, a month."

  Clara smiled, despite being distracted. "It's not like that. Liam and I really wanted to get married. But when I told him what I really am, he couldn't live with it. He wanted someone who he could have a family with, someone to grow old with. Obviously I couldn't grow old with him. I don't look a day older than I did back then."

  Natalie frowned.

  "Liam promised not to tell anyone what I was, so people wouldn't come after me. It broke his heart as much as mine for him to let me go. But he did move on, and as far as I could tell, he lived a happy life. I never did move on until I met William. I actually love him more than I loved Liam, and I never thought would be possible. After all this time, I had never been able to move on." She turned to look at Natalie. "That scares me more than anything. What if William won't have anything to do with me when he finds out? I don't think I could handle it."

  "Are you going to tell him?"

  Clara took a deep breath. "If we're going to marry, then there's no getting around it. I can't not tell him."

  "Will you tell him before or after he asks?"

  "I don't know. There is no plan. He probably thinks I'm crazy after the way I took off. Everything was going so well, and then I suddenly had to go."

  "He's probably more open than the other guy. I mean, people are open-minded these days."

  "Not that much. Tell me: Would you—?"

  "That's not really a fair question. After what I've been through, there's no way I would. I don't want anything to do with it. Not after what Francine did to me." She shook her head. "There's just no way."

  "But you're still my friend. You haven't outed me to your parents."

  "That's because you're you, Clara. You're also not trying to marry me. It's not a lifestyle I want for myself. If things were different, and Alexis was back here, I would still treat her as my sister. I wouldn't try to tell anyone what she is either. Not that anyone would believe me. They would think I had gone crazy."

  "See? That's what I'm talking about. If I tell William, he's going to think I'm crazy."

  "You know what I think?"

  "What?" Clara looked at her. "Tell me."

  "If you want to have the best chance of him staying with you, you have to tell him sooner rather than later. Don't put it off any longer. Use your running off as a springboard. Open up the conversation."

  "How am I supposed to do that? Just come out and say that I'm a—"

  Janet came into the room. "Hi girls. Do you want dessert?"

  "We need this girl time, Mom," Natalie said. "Thanks, though."

  "When girl time is needed, dessert will be brought to you." Janet smiled. "Just remember, this isn't permission to start eating in the bedrooms. It's just this one time."

  "Thanks, Mom."

  Janet left the room, and Clara turned back to Natalie. "Where were we? Oh, right. You were saying I should risk my entire relationship."

  "Is there really any other option?"

  "Yes. Keeping it to myself as I have this whole time."

  Natalie gave her a questioning look.

  "Fine. I know that's a bad idea. Everything has just been going perfectly up to this point."

  "Can you find another way to gauge his reaction first?"

  "Like what?"

  "Ask him how feels about—"

  "Banana splits for everyone!" Janet handed them both a bowl and then left without a word.

  Clara dug in, not wanting to talk anymore. The thought of telling William made her sick to her stomach. Not so much the telling, but the possibility of him leaving her. Even if he was as kind as his ancestor, it would still crush her. She had told Natalie the truth. She loved him more than her first love.

  When they were done eating, Natalie looked at her. "Did that help?"

  "The banana split?"

  Natalie smiled. "Yeah."

  "Maybe a little, but it didn't solve anything."

  "Well, sleep on it. Or whatever you do at night."

  "I don't sleep much. The older I get, the less necessary it is. But I wouldn't mind trying tonight. My mind still works things out in my dreams. I'll have to try."

  Natalie took Clara's plate. "I'm sure you'll know what to do in the morning."

  "What if Braydon had this secret from you? How would you want him to handle it?"

  She sighed. "I would want him to be honest with me. Now that we're engaged, I'd be pretty upset if he came to me with something like that."

  Clara frowned. "That's what I thought."

  Natalie gave her a hug. "William hasn't been through what I have. He has a better chance of being open to everything. I've seen his eyes when you two are together. He's not going to give up on you easily."

  Clara nodded. "Neither did the first one. But it was a deal-breaker."

  "Doesn't mean it will be this time."

  "Thanks, Natalie."

  After Natalie left the room, Clara found her pajamas, and climbed into bed. Her body ached from the stress. She closed her eyes, waiting impatiently for sleep. She tossed and turned, trying to force herself to sleep. It wasn't doing any good. Her mind was running. She went over the events of the evening over and over again.

  The picture of Liam with his wife and grown kids seemed to taunt her. Anna's face was a reminder of her past pain. She didn't want to relive it. Could she just not tell William? She could always pretend to be one of those people addicted to plastic surgery. There were ways to explain away the fact that she didn't age. Options that hadn't been available before. Oh, who was she trying to kid? She would need to come up with something better than that. No surgeon was that good.

  She didn't want to lie to him, and getting married without telling him was crossing the line. She couldn't do that to him. Besides, what if he was actually open to everything? What if he wanted in on her lifestyle, as Natalie had called it?

  It wasn't as though humans never made the choice to stay with others like her. It just didn't happen very often.

  Clara rolled over again, this time pulling the covers completely over her head. She forced herself to stop thinking, focusing on the black behind her eyelids. Finally, she did fall asleep. It was a fitful sleep, full of dreams about William and Liam, and of Anna laughing at her, calling her horrible names.

  She sat up, in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. She didn't feel anymore resolved than she had before falling asleep. She grabbed her phone and saw that she'd had three hours of sleep. There was no way she was going back to sleep. That was considered a full night's sleep for her body, and it would last her weeks, if not longer.

  She rubbed her arms, feeling achy all over. Then she rubbed her sore legs. It had been a long time since she had been so anxiety-ridden. Her mouth burned, and she realized that she was hungry for something other than food. She had meant to fill up before they got on the plane, but she had been distracted with thoughts of not seeing William as much.

  Sighing, she got up and got dressed. She brushed her hair and fixed her makeup in the dark, seeing just fine without turning on the light. Her eyes ached. Soon they would change color, and she couldn't let anyone, especially William, see her like that.

  Her mouth watered as she thought about getting some real nourishment. Once she was outside, she could hear crickets and frogs not too far away. It was one of the benefits of livi
ng so close to the lake. It helped to relax her a little, but she knew what she really needed. The thing that kept her alive, and could possibly send another William running for the hills.

  She had once promised Alexis that she would leave the residents of Delphic Cove alone, and even though she wasn't speaking to Alexis, she would keep her word. Maybe someday, many decades away, they would be able to recover their friendship. Maybe not even that long if she found herself desperate for friends. But even if William did kick her to the curb, Clara had plenty of other friends she could turn to before her traitorous cousin.

  Chapter 9

  CLARA HAD GONE about two towns away from Delphic Cove, and she could hear sounds of a late night party not too far away. She made her way to a house with windows open and music blaring. People were everywhere, inside and out.

  She walked up the walkway as though she owned the place, not wanting to give anyone reason to question her being there. Nobody appeared to care. It must have been one of those parties. She went inside, found a flavored drink, and looked around. In the dining room, there was a rowdy game of cards and plenty of spilled alcohol.

  Down a hall, she could see a dark room where the music was coming from, and she could see people dancing in there. On the other side of the dining room sat some guys playing a video game. They were all smoking, and the house definitely smelled of weed. It was legal in Washington, and they appeared happy to take advantage of that.

  It sounded like there was a lot going on upstairs as well, but Clara was happy downstairs. She went down the hall to check out the dancing. Everyone was having a good time, and she slipped in, unnoticed. She busted out some of her best moves, watching everyone. Some guy with a backwards baseball cap caught her attention. He waved her over.

  She made her way to him, dancing, and still holding her drink.

  "You new around here?" he asked.

  Clara nodded. "I don't know anyone, but this looked like the place to be."

  He nodded. "You've got that right. This is my house, and let me be the first to welcome you to my party. How do you like it?"

  "I'm here, aren't I? What's your name?"

  "How rude of me. My name is Scott."

  "I'm Clara." She took a sip of her drink. "Want to dance?"

  "Sure. Where are you from?"

  She moved closer to him, but not too close, still dancing. Between the drink and the dancing, she already felt better. But soon, she would feel exceptional. "Oh, here and there. I've traveled a lot."

  "You have an accent."

  "I get that a lot. I spent some time in Europe recently."

  Scott nodded, moving closer. "That's what it is."

  Clara smiled and took another drink. That wasn't it, but she never took the time to explain that her accent was actually due to being born in a different time. Traveling around just gave her a good excuse. When she was in England, her accent made sense because she was from the states.

  Scott moved closer again, dancing uncomfortably close.

  "Do you have someplace a little more private?" Clara asked.

  He smiled. "But of course. My room is always off limits for everyone else. Follow me."

  They made their way through another hall and up some stairs. She could smell his excitement—it tickled her nose and made her mouth water again. When they got into the room, he closed and locked the door behind them.

  Clara looked around. The room was a shrine to the Seahawks. "Like the Seahawks much?"

  "They won the Super Bowl, don't you know?"

  "I don't keep up on sports. Sorry."

  "None?" He looked like he didn't believe her.

  Her mouth was watering, and she didn't want to talk, but she had to keep him engaged. "I used to follow cricket years ago."

  "That's a sport?"

  She grabbed his shoulders, bringing him close. The smell of his desire surrounded her, making her mouth water even more. She put her mouth up to his neck, listening to his rapid heartbeat. Her fangs sprang out and she bit down.

  He let out a gasp. "What are you…? Oh, that feels good."

  The venom always worked to calm them down. She drank his warm blood, feeling energized as it went down. Clara drank until the flow slowed down, indicating the point where she needed to stop if she was going to keep him alive. That was the plan, so she sealed up the wound with her tongue.

  When she stood back, he gave her a bewildered expression. "I don't know what that was, but you can do that anytime you want."

  She stopped. What if she drank William's blood, showing him how wonderful it can be? If he experienced it first, before knowing that she was a vampire, then maybe she would stand a chance.

  Scott looked at her. "Can you do that again?"

  "Not if you want to live." She shook her head, and then stared directly into his eyes until his pupils shrunk. "After I walk out the door, you're going to forget you ever met me."

  He nodded.

  "Say it."

  "After you leave the room, I'll forget about you."

  "Good." She left the room, and just as she was out of sight, she heard him ask how he got in there. As she was walking down the hall, she passed a guy who looked her over, smiling. Clara raised an eyebrow. "Want to go somewhere a little more private?"

  He turned around, and then back to her after not seeing anyone else. "You want to go somewhere with me?"

  "That's what I said, isn't it?"

  "Where do you want to go?"

  "Do you know of anywhere secluded?"

  Clara could hear his heart rate pick up as the scents of both nervousness and excitement drifted toward her. "Well, I'm sure we can find something."

  Scott passed them, not paying any attention to Clara. She turned around. "I know someplace we can try." She went back to the football room, and found it empty, as expected.

  "Scott's not going to be happy about us being in here."

  She closed the door. "He just went the other way. It's not like we're going to destroy anything."

  He shrugged his shoulders. "Okay." He went right up to her and kissed her neck.

  For a moment, Clara expected him to bite down, but he didn't. She moved for his neck, biting down immediately.

  "What the hell?"

  Her venom was taking too long to release. She forced some out, careful not to let out too much, and cause him to pass out. She had to keep him awake so she could make him forget about her.

  He relaxed in her arms, and she drank until the flow slowed. The she sealed up the wound and stood back.

  "What was that?"

  "Nothing you're going to remember." She stared into his eyes, waiting for his pupils to shrink. Waiting. Usually, it happened almost immediately. She narrowed her eyes, focusing more intently. What was going on? Why weren't they shrinking?

  "What do you mean? Of course I'm going to remember that. I've never felt anything like it."

  She shook her head. Why wasn't she able to control his mind? In all of her years, she had never had a problem making a human forget about her drinking their blood.

  "Why did you stop? Do it again."

  The room felt like it was spinning. Clara looked at him in the eyes again, focusing more intently on controlling his mind. It was for his own good. If she couldn't make him forget about her, she would have no choice except to kill him.

  "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

  "Are you a supernatural?"

  "A what? You mean that show my sister watches? She's in love with those two losers who star in it."

  Clara sighed. "Would you just stop talking and look into my eyes?"

  "Bossy, huh? I like that in a woman." He looked into her eyes.

  She ignored his comments. "Now just try to relax." She stared into his eyes again, focusing with everything in her. His pupils remained the same.

  "Can you do that thing again? It felt awesome."

  Pursing her lips, she focused all the more, but his pupils wouldn't budge. "It looks like I'm going to have to."
<
br />   He smiled. "Can I sit on the bed this time?"

  "Whatever."

  Sitting, he smiled at her, and then turned his head, giving her easy access to his neck.

  Clara sat next to him. She had already drunk enough to slow his flow, anything after this would be dangerous. If he passed out, she couldn't leave him, because he would remember what happened and what she looked like. She didn't like killing humans, and avoided it whenever possible.

  Usually, she only killed them when they were trying to kill her. She didn't want to have to kill this guy.

  "I'm waiting."

  She bit down, allowing the delicious blood to fill her mouth again, albeit not as fast as usual. He would be weaker after this round, so hopefully she would be able to control his mind easy enough. As she drank the blood, Clara tried to figure out what could be going wrong.

  It wasn't the pot. She could smell and taste it on Scott, and he had been easy enough to control. What was it? Or was Scott's weed the problem? Was it affecting her ability to control this guy's mind? She didn't feel any different. If it was affecting her, she should feel different.

  Clara sealed up the wound, and looked him over. He sat in a dazed stupor, smiling. She moved so she could look into his eyes. He didn't appear to even notice her. She stared into his eyes again, focused on controlling his mind. Again, his pupils remained unchanged.

  "Come on. Focus." She didn't want to kill him, and she knew she couldn't take any more of his blood without that happening. She had already taken more than she should have.

  He looked at her, but at the same time, he was somewhere else.

  She stared him down, pulling all of her resources together. Finally, his pupils moved a little. They didn't shrink, but she had to try controlling his mind. If this didn't work, she would be forced to drink him dry.

  "You're going to forget you ever met me."

  His eyes wandered off to the side.

  She slapped his cheek. He turned back to her. She took a deep breath and stared into his eyes one last time. His pupils shrank, though not as far as she would have liked. She slapped him again and stared into his eyes. They shrunk slowly down as far as possible. Finally. "You're going to lie down on the bed, and when you open your eyes, you're going to forget all about me. Understand?"