“Who are you?” I asked as strongly as I could.
“Selena,” she said with a smile but the word came out like a hiss before she leapt towards me.
Then everything went black.
Chapter Nineteen: Safe
I woke up to a throbbing in my head. I glanced around wildly at my surroundings. I was still in my room although I was on the floor. Selena was nowhere to be seen. I put my hand to the back of my head. There was a large lump there. I managed to get myself in a sitting position even though the throbbing in my head made it difficult.
I let out a deep breath. I was safe.
When Selena had leapt out the window I had passed out. I wondered how long I was down?
Panic began to set in and a startling realization that could wreck my world.
I didn’t want to be a vampire. In no way did I want to be a part of that world. I didn’t mean that I didn’t want Jonathon because I did I just didn’t want to become a vampire. I wondered if that might make our relationship complicated and realized it most definitely would. I didn’t want to become like Selena. I didn’t want the blood drinking. I didn’t want the special powers. I didn’t want the extreme beauty. I didn’t want the grace or the speed or the flying. I just wanted to be me. Just Kylie. Human Kylie. Not vampire Kylie.
I wondered briefly what Jonathon would think.
Panic began to edge my realization. What if Selena came back to kill me? What could I do to protect myself? I began searching wildly through the house for some sort of weapon. I opened and slammed drawers that turned up empty. Crap, crap, crap!
Finally I settled on a large knife. I tested it on a tomato. It sliced through in one quick motion, no struggling to get it through.
I was trying so hard not to cry out of fear. I knew the knife would do no damage to her vampire skin if she decided to return but it made me feel safer. I closed the window to my room but left the blinds and curtains open. I sat on the end of my bed my head twitching from side to side, from the door that I had closed, to the window.
I sat there for hours. Never moving. My legs aching and then going numb with stiffness. I held the knife tightly in my hand. My hand turning purple. I sat there and watched day break over the horizon.
When the sun was fully up I began to relax. I was fairly sure she wouldn’t attack me during the day. My grip on the knife lessened with every minute.
I became hysterical. I was gripped with a stomach clenching laughter. I imagined I must look like a mess if someone could see me now. They would see a girl dressed in disheveled clothes. Her curly hair fanning in every direction. Her green eyes darting wildly back and forth. A knife gripped tightly in her hand. This image of myself made me laugh that much harder.
Abruptly I stopped laughing. I was not going crazy. But I sure as hell looked like it.
I stumbled out of my room and put the knife back away in the kitchen and looked at the clock. It was seven-thirty. Jonathon was supposed to be getting back at twelve o’ clock. I had a while yet. I took a shower and straightened my hair. I took an extra long time putting my make up on. I wanted to look decent and well not crazy.
I should have tried to get some sleep since I didn’t get any but I was still too scared to close my eyes.
Instead I sat on a bar stool in the kitchen beside the knives reading a book. I got lost in the fantasy world and jumped when there was a knock on the door. I looked at the clock. It was only ten o’ clock.
I ventured quietly to the door. I peered through the window. It was Isaac. I wondered what he was doing here. I opened the door.
“Hey Isaac,” I said.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He smiled. “I thought you might be lonely.”
I smiled. “I’m okay,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders. His smile wavered.
“Okay. Just wanted to make sure you made it through the night,” He said turning away, “I’ll be leaving now.”
I ran after him to keep up with his long legged stride. “You’re already here. We could hang out,” I said quietly. He gave me a guarded expression. “Please,” I whispered as I realized I really didn’t want to be alone. I didn’t think she would come back but she still could. True, Isaac probably couldn’t protect me from a vampire and I probably shouldn’t risk his life but I would feel better with him here.
“Whatever,” said Isaac as he turned back around and headed back towards me. I let him brush past me. I didn’t miss the look on his face however. It was a mixture of worry and longing. I closed the door behind him and joined him in the living room where he was sitting his long legs stretched out.
I sat down in the chair across from him. I didn’t want to give him the wrong idea by sitting beside him.
Isaac threw his arms up in the air. “So, what do you want to do?” He asked letting out a long breath as if he’d been holding it in.
“I don’t know. I was just reading a book. I’m not big on other stuff.”
He let out another sigh. “Obviously, you don’t want to do anything but you want me here for company,” he saw me about to protest so he held his hands up to ward me, “and that’s fine. I can sit here and write lyrics while you read your book. I don’t mind honestly. You inspire me,” He said. He looked sincere but deep down I could see the hurt in his eyes. Instantly I felt awful.
It was so horrible and selfish of me to ask him to stay here. He had more important things to do than guard me. Especially when he didn’t know what he was protecting me from.
“I inspire you?” I asked, trying not to laugh. Jonathon had told me the same thing.
“Yeah, you do. You’d think there’d be tons of inspiration around this ancient city but nothing gets my creative juices flowing.”
“But I do?”
“You do,” he said with a point of his index finger in my direction.
He got up leaving the room. I thought he was leaving to going home. But a moment later he was back in with a worn notebook and pencil in hand. I gave him a questioning look.
“I don’t go anywhere without my notebook,” He said to clear my expression. I nodded and went to kitchen to grab my book.
I sat back down in the chair curling my legs under me.
I felt so much better with Isaac there. Even though we didn’t speak the silence wasn’t awkward.
Soon though I found myself checking my watch. Jonathon would be back soon to pick me up before the others got back. Isaac noticed.
“You must be expecting your mom home?” He asked but it sounded more like a statement. I nodded.
“Yeah, she should be getting home soon,” I said. True Jonathon would be getting here first but he didn’t need to know that so I wasn’t exactly lying.
He began to pack up his stuff. “I’ll get going then,” he said. I stood up and put my book on the coffee table. I helped him gather up his lyrics and pens.
I walked him to the door. I was already starting to think of Isaac as a good friend, maybe we could even be best friends one day. “Bye Isaac, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said opening the door. The afternoon sun shone brightly threw the open door.
“Bye Kylie can’t wait for science,” he said with a boyish grin, dimples appearing in his cheeks. I watched him walk to his smart car and drive away. “Our project should be the best.”
I bolted the door shut behind me. Now, I decided, was the time to pack up my things. It didn’t take long to put away my meager supply of things I had brought. I moved everything to the door and sat down in the chair to start reading again.
No more than I had sat down there was a knock at the door. I nearly jumped out of my skin from fright. Looking out the window in the living room that faced the driveway I saw Jonathon’s black Ford Mustang. I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.
Excitement took over and I went running to the door. I swung it open and jumped into Jonathon’s waiting arms. He stumbled back surprised.
“You must have really missed me,” he said burying his face into my
hair.
“You have no idea,” I said as I wrapped my arms tighter around his wide, strong, shoulders. I navigated my lips to his. I pressed them firmly against his, as of yet, non responsive ones.
As soon as my lips met his I could feel his surprise. Then they parted beneath mine. Our kisses always seemed like stars breaking out across a night sky.
I started the kiss and he ended it. When he undid my arms that were around his neck and set me back on the ground I avoided eye contact. I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t believe I had just done that. I felt a blush creeping up my neck and onto my face. Jonathon seemed to notice.
“Don’t be embarrassed love. We have to get out of here quickly. I ran into a . . . um . . . detour,” He said. I wondered what the pauses were about. He lifted my bag and pillow into his arms. I went back inside grabbing my book from the coffee table hugging it to my chest. Jonathon was waiting at the door.
When I bent down to lock the door he said, “Don’t worry about locking it. They’ll be here in a couple of minutes.”
“Oh, okay,” I said letting the key thump back down against my chest instead of hiding it in my shirt.
Jonathon held the door to his car open for me. I loved his gentlemanly ways. He sped out of the driveway and up the curving hill and right into his driveway. It felt nice to be home.
As we reached the steps I heard a noise like several cars going by. I looked down from the top of the stairs to the road. It was the Pulmer’s and my mom. I choked on the word mom even thinking it. Patrick was in the middle with my mom in his Mercedes. Danny was in front, leading the brigade, in what I assumed was his black H3. Mason behind him in his BMW Z4 Roadster. Then Joseph was behind Patrick in his dark blue corvette. Behind Joseph was Diana in her Lexus and Amelia bringing up the rear in her Mercedes. It was depressing seeing the lineup. I knew they were keeping Patrick and my mom in the middle to sort of barricade her in. Her face was pressed against the glass.
Her eyes were dark and sunken in. Her face was severely beautiful but hollow. Her cheeks were sunken in. She looked like the predator she had become. She seemed to notice my gaze and looked up to meet my eyes. Her lips drew back from her teeth and she appeared to be snarling. I saw Patrick give some sort of signal and they all sped up.
Jonathon turned around. I realized I had frozen to the steps. He looked up from my face to the line of cars. He growled and suddenly his arms were around my waist and rushing me into the house. As soon as the door closed behind us he grabbed me by my arms.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
“No.” I said but it sounded more like a question.
“Are you sure? I know it must be hard for you to see her,” he said.
“Yes,” I said strongly.
“Good,” He said. He pulled me to the couch and we both sat down.
“What’s going on?” I asked my face puzzled.
“Your mom has developed a power.”
“Really?” I asked.
“It’s a power that can be good and bad,” I nodded my head urging him to continue. “She has the power to shift. She can shift into almost any animal she wants to.”
“Okay,” I said dead pan.
“I thought she was going to try and kill you. The way she was looking at you it frightened me,” He said his voice catching.
“You don’t need to worry. She may be a vampire now but I still think that somewhere deep down a part of my mom is still there. I don’t think she’ll hurt me.”
He laughed almost all stress gone from his perfect shoulders. I wondered briefly what else was bothering him. “Well as long as you’re safe,” He said jumping on top of me and pinning me to the couch. His lips were on mine. Our lips moved in perfect unison our bodies melded together. We were made for each other. Every contour of our bodies matched perfectly.
In the back of my mind I heard the door open. Then I heard a laugh. “Ooh a Kylie sandwich,” said Seph laughing. With one more last kiss Jonathon pulled away grinning. He pulled me up with him his arm around my waist. How it had gotten there I had no idea. Jonathon acted like we only had so much time left together.
I could see the joking banter in his face but something was wrong with his eyes. They didn’t look joking. His eyes looked serious. I had never seen Joseph look serious about anything. It wasn’t a look I wanted to get used to.
Jonathon and I stood up his arm around my shoulders. Seph and Jonathon seemed to be conferring with each other in their heads. They were both stiff and looked ready for battle.
“Kylie, why don’t you go on upstairs and unpack? I’ll be up shortly,” He said nudging me in the small of my back towards the stair case. Even though he said it like a question it sounded more like a demand. I wanted to protest but I heard something in his voice and saw something in his eyes that stopped me from saying anything. In that moment he looked like a vampire. All trace of humanity was gone from him. This was yet another example of why I didn’t want to be a vampire.
So instead I nodded my head in agreement and gathered up my stuff heading for the stairs.
I was just starting to open my door when I heard the others come in. First, came Patrick’s commanding voice.
What he said made me stand in the hallway and listen my hand still on the door knob.
“She’s back there’s no doubt about that anymore. But how could you have been so stupid Jonathon? As soon as you suspected she was back you should have told us instead of hiding it! Do you have any, any idea, what kind of danger you’ve put Kylie in! She could’ve been killed! And what were you going to do? Just standby and let it happen!” I could viduslize Jonathon in my head flinching from the verbal slap.
“I put Ettore in charge of watching the house and protecting Kylie! It’s not like I left her unprotected!”
“You might as well have! She killed Ettore! She killed him to get to Kylie. It’s a miracle Kylie is not dead! Selena is sadistic Jonathon…” Patrick began in a quieter tone. “She is not the same person she was then. You have to accept that.”
“But I can’t,” said Jonathon. He sounded pained. Patrick’s voice began rising again.
“JONATHON! Either except that Selena is a sadistic killer or have Kylie die! It’s amazing she is in one piece after having a visit from Selena. Selena threatened to kill your soul mate! Not mine or any of the rest of ours only yours. She blames you; you have to except that Jonathon. She will do whatever it takes to get to Kylie. We will help you protect Kylie, help you kill Selena if that is what you choose to do, which is what you should do. But Jonathon in order for us to kill her you have to accept what she has become. A killer.”
“How can we kill her?” Jonathon whispered.
Patrick laughed, it was a mean laugh and coming from him it shook me to the bones, “Oh, dear boy. There are seven of us and only one of her I believe the odds are in our favor.”
“She will be hard to kill,” said Jonathon.
“So, you agree then? She has to be killed?” Patrick asked.
Jonathon let out a sigh. “She has to be killed. I don’t completely agree with this but if it means choosing a friendship that no longer exists and the love of my life I choose Kylie, always. But you must understand Selena is a fighter. She will take down as many of us as she can before she perishes. Her power after all is armor, shields, it’s sort of like a force field that repels powers. She can block my power most definitely. Mason, Danny, and Joseph have the most power over her.”
“We will use any advantage we have. But Jonathon I cannot understand why you are being so passive about this. Especially after she killed your parents.”
“I hate her. I really do. But Patrick you know as well as anyone that I’m soft at heart. She was my best friend it hurts to think of her as a killer even though I know that is what she has become,” Jonathon said.
Patrick sighed. “I know she was your friend but when she lost Andrew she lost all of her soul. All that was remaining of her humanity. You know that. It’s what happens to us when
we lose our soul mates. That’s just the way it is.”
“So, we fight.” I heard Mason say.
“We fight.” Jonathon said.
I went rushing into my room throwing my bag onto the bed. I hastily unzipped it and dumped the contents onto my bed. I threw open a dresser drawer and started putting stuff away. I didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping.
But all the information I had learned. Selena killed Jonathon’s parents! Jonathon and Selena were friends! It explained so much.
Jonathon came into my room. I was putting the last thing away.
“All done,” I said with a flourish trying to act natural. It was difficult. Jonathon kissed me on the cheek obviously he saw nothing in my face or voice to suggest I had overheard the conversation.
I was weighing whether or not now would be a good time to tell Jonathon I didn’t want to be a vampire. But no time seemed good.
“I have some things I need to tell you,” He said.
I gulped. “Me too.”
“You go first,” he said with a swish of his hand.
“No, that’s okay. You can go first,” I said trying to talk myself out of having said anything.
“Ladies first, I insist,” He said being polite. I bit the inside of my cheek. This had to be the only time I cursed Jonathon for his good manners.
I took a breath of air. I stalled trying to get my thoughts together.
“Jonathon I have to tell you something that is very difficult to say,” I gulped. His eyes seemed to become a shade darker. “I want you to know that I love you. I love you with every inch of my being,” I said putting all my love into my words. “But…” I took another deep breath preparing myself for what I was about to say. Preparing myself to hurt him. “But Jonathon I don’t want to be a vampire,” I saw him about to say something but I barreled on. “I don’t want you to mistake what I am saying. I love you and only you and I want to spend all my life with you but I don’t want to spend it as a vampire. I want to stay human. You and your family are so normal; so human. But I’ve seen a true vampire and I don’t want to be like that. I don’t want immortality or the flying or the special powers I just want to be me.” I said whispering the last word.
Fallen (Fallen Series Book 1) Page 19
