by Tish Thawer
"Yeah. Actually I am." The look she gave me dared me to say anything else.
We rode the rest of the way home in silence.
* * * * *
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Surprise
(Christian)
After we had all fed and finished closing the club for the night, we started to make our way down to the pit. Dax and I told everyone what had happened with Justin and Jillian. Their laughter and jokes weren't helping my mood.
All my vampire brothers and sisters thought it was hilarious that after 602 years I went and fell in love with a human. So, anything that made my situation with Rose more difficult was like the punch line of a joke to them: totally hysterical.
They continued to tease me and laugh as we made our way to the bottom of the stairs. The circular enclosure that acted as the top of our pit and the dance floor to the club settled in place with its customary boom. And that's when we all heard Terrance scream.
Dax glanced in my direction with a panicked look on his face. He took off in the direction of the scream and we all rushed to follow.
With our preternatural vampire speed, we all filled the opening outside the cell within seconds. Once there, we shared a collective sigh.
Evie wasn't delivering the true death to Terrance, but was instead looming over him with both of her hands clasped on either side of his face. He screamed again, just as Evie whipped back her head of jet black hair.
I'd never seen anything like this. I had thought she was "making him sing," but he wasn't "singing." No words broke his lips. Only screams.
Right as I saw Dax move forward, preparing to enter the cell, Evie let Terrance go. He hit the ground like a drunk who'd finally reached his limit. Dax caught Evie just as she started to do the same.
Her hair immediately drifted back to its medium brown. She held his eyes for a moment and whispered, "There's a woman." Then she collapsed in his arms.
Dominique was the first to move. She helped Dax gather Evie then followed him to their room. Bobby, Tori, and I slowly made our way forward and could do nothing more than stare at Terrance lying on the floor, still in chains.
"So–who the fuck is this woman?" Tori's question broke the silence. It was laced with a bit of venom, as she and Terrance had been known to mess around occasionally.
"I don't know," I said.
"Well, I guess we're gonna have to wait until tomorrow to find out. The sun's almost up and I'm barely going to make it to my room as it is." Bobby waved us off as he headed down the hall.
We were your typical vampires. When the sun rose, we'd fall. Literally.
Even though the sun didn't burn us, once it rose we were rendered comatose and wouldn't rise again until it set.
Imagine if we got caught in a park or were walking along a road when the sun started to rise...you'd find tons of dead people lying all over the place until they magically got up once the sun went down. How would someone explain that?
So, for the protection of our species, all clans had secured lairs like our pit. And, like good little boys and girls, we all made sure that we were tucked in our beds before the sun came up. No one liked waking up on a hard floor or in a ditch somewhere.
The moment I hit the bed, I shut my eyes and thought of Rose. This was my ritual every night. She was always the last thing I thought about.
We didn't dream in our comatose state, but whatever we thought of last would also be what we thought of first. I loved that. Waking up to an image of Rose was pure heaven. Especially the image I thought of as I settled down into bed.
* * * * *
(Rose)
When I woke up and didn't see my twinkling stars, I panicked for a second. I always did that when I stayed over at Jill's. It took me a few moments to realize where I was.
After our awkward ride home last night where Jillian was mad at me for questioning her choice of boyfriend material, we had gotten over it as we shared our customary bowl of ice cream before going to bed.
Today was Saturday, so we didn't have school and I didn't think that my dad would be home before 4 p.m. So once I prodded Jill awake, I asked her if she wanted to go look at apartments with me. This was me trying to say I was sorry.
I still had no intention of rooming with her, but I would drop that bomb later. Right now, I just really wanted her with me while I scoped out my prospects. I was a little nervous.
The first neighborhood we drove to was only about ten minutes away from my house, and honestly, I wasn't sure I wanted to be that close to home. But it was a nice complex and was within walking distance of some really great shops and restaurants. That added some bonus points to my checklist.
As we drove up, I couldn't help but giggle. The complex was named "Tranquil Acres." It sounded like a retirement home.
This was supposed to be one of the nicer apartment complexes in the area, and the business district would be a relatively short commute from here. Even though I didn't need money, as my mom's settlement would sustain me for most of my life, I was still planning on getting a job after college. So being close to where I planned to work just earned this place another bonus point.
As Jillian and I headed towards the main office, I noticed a swimming pool off to my left. It was oversized and had wonderful landscaping. I had to pause momentarily, because I was having a severe case of déjà vu.
Suddenly, I found myself on the ground and Jillian was hovering over me. My breath was coming in rapid succession, causing me to hyperventilate. I was seriously close to a full-blown panic attack.
"Rose, my God, what's wrong?"
The complex manager was headed towards us and I tried to calm myself, but I wasn't sure I could. This pool reminded me of the one that my mom used to give swimming lessons in.
I didn't know why this was happening to me. My mom had been a swim instructor, and it wasn't like I hadn't been around pools since her death, but for some reason seeing this pool had me reliving more than I wanted to face.
"I'm so sorry." I repeatedly apologized to the complex manager as I raced back to Jill's car. I hated that I had made such a scene, but I really needed to get the hell out of there.
"What was that about?" Jill asked.
"I'm sorry I freaked out. That pool must have reminded me of where my mom used to give swim lessons." My voice was shaky as my eyes filled with tears.
Jill leaned over and gave me an awkward hug in the car, "Oh, Rose. I'm sorry. Why'd you even put this one on your list then? Maybe we should mark off any complexes that have pools."
My voice caught on a sob. "I didn't realize something that simple could get to me so badly. Let's just get out of here."
I looked back and watched the pool fade into the distance as we drove off. I couldn't believe that I had just had a panic attack because of a fucking swimming pool. But with everything that I had experienced with Mom during her lessons, I guess it shouldn't have come as that big of a surprise. Finding Mom being fed on by a vampire after one of her lessons was how I had come to learn that vampires existed.
* * * * *
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dread
(Christian)
I woke up and thought of Rose, just as planned. The image in my head was enough to start anyone's night out with a smile. But as I got dressed, a sense of dread slowly settled in my chest. I listened but couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary.
Maybe I was one of the first to rise. I hoped so, I couldn't wait to meet with Evie and see what all that craziness last night had been about. After showering and dressing for my night, I headed out to locate Evie and Dax to see what was on the agenda for the evening.
I rounded the corner at the end of the hall to find Dominique and Tori standing outside Evie and Dax's room with concerned looks on their faces.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Evie hasn't woken up," Dom replied.
Dax was sitting on the side of the bed, but as he got up and walked towards me, Evie's prone form was revealed. It looked lik
e she was still comatose.
"Something's wrong," Dax stated. "She hasn't actually woken up, but I can hear her thinking in my head when I scan her. It's like she is aware, but she can't wake up. I keep getting glimpses of Terrance feeding from some woman in the dark, and for some reason, this really has Evie upset."
I wasn't sure why this would be so upsetting to Evie. Feeding in the dark wasn't exactly unusual behavior for any of us. None of us had ever killed anyone or been discovered, so the fact that this particular scene of Terrance feeding was so upsetting to her was definitely strange.
"Anyone have any ideas of who this woman could be?" Dax asked. "Has Terrance mentioned that he's been seeing anyone new lately?"
We all supplied a round of "No's" as our individual answers. Just then Bobby joined us. "Why don't we just ask Terrance?" he suggested.
"I already have," Dax replied. "After I couldn't wake Evie, I went straight to his cell and questioned him about what happened last night. Needless to say, he wasn't very forthcoming. As I scanned him, all I got were images of Evie and him locked in the same embrace we all saw them in. It was like he was trying to only relive that moment. It just kept repeating in my head like a record."
Dominique shook her head, Tori started to bite her nails, and Bobby just swore "Well, shit."
I hated leaving things unsettled, but we had a club to open. "Well, this is going to have to wait until tomorrow. We all need to head out to feed and get back in time to open the club."
Dax looked at me with a worried look on his face. Who could blame him? "I'm not leaving Evie. Christian, you're in charge of the club tonight, but come get me if there are any problems."
With our marching orders, we all scattered in different directions. As I walked past Terrance's cell, I glanced inside to find him with his back to the opening. Whatever. It wasn't like I wanted to talk to him anyway.
"I know it was her. What the hell did she do to me?" I heard Terrance say. His voice was like a whisper on the wind.
"Who the fuck are you talking about?" I turned around to confront him.
As he slowly spun around, I registered the strange look on his face. He just stood there...staring at me.
I asked him again, "Seriously, what are you talking about? And, who did what to you?"
This time, he took a couple of steps in my direction. "Can you hear what I'm thinking Christian?"
Frustrated, as it was obvious that he was fucking with me, I tightened my fists, wanting nothing more than to enter his cell to beat his ass for some answers. But, since Evie had commanded us not to go near him, I literally couldn't touch him. So instead I flipped him off and continued towards the stairs. What an asshole. I'd never really liked Terrance. Especially with the crap he'd been pulling lately: killing that girl in the woods, plus it was looking more and more like he'd done something to Evie while their minds were connected. I was really over this guy.
* * * * *
(Evie)
Dammit, what the hell had Terrance done to me? I was laying here trapped like a prisoner inside my own body. The last thing I remembered was leaning in and, pretending that I was about to deliver the true death, feeling his mental shields give way, and that's when I struck. I was trying to "make him sing" about the root of what had caused him to drift permanently dark, but the second I found the image, his shields clamped back in place, and damn had that hurt.
No one had ever been strong enough to do that to me before, but then again, it's not like I had to scan my people very often anyway. Maybe my gifts were starting to fade since it looked like Christian was close to becoming the new Sire–who the fuck knew. But I had to wake up soon so we could figure out who that woman was, and why in the world Terrance was afraid of her.
* * * * *
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hiding
(Rose)
After my melt down at the apartment complex, Jillian drove me back to her house and I cancelled all my other appointments for the day.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
And I was, it was just a little startling to realize how much I had blocked out about Mom. Apparently I had gotten very good at hiding things...even from myself.
Once we got back to Jill's, I realized that I needed to do some serious thinking. "Do you mind if I take a bath? I just need to be alone right now."
"Sure thing. Let me get you a towel." Jill headed towards the linen closet, glancing back repeatedly with a concerned look on her face. There was no way I would be able to explain to her why I was so freaked so she was just going to have to continue to think I was missing my mom. Which was true, but honestly what I really needed to contemplate was how the hell Jillian had gotten mixed up with a vampire, and if I could use him to complete my original plan.
* * * * *
(Christian)
The club ran smooth, even though we were all on edge. After closing, as we headed back to the pit, we heard Dax's raised voice. "Tell me what you did to her!"
That didn't sound good. I guess Evie hadn't woken up. We all stopped and continued to listen from around the corner.
"I didn't do anything to her, I swear." Terrance's low voice sounded tired and oddly enough, sincere. "I honestly thought she was going to deliver the true death, but instead she scanned me, trying to force me to "sing." It hurt and all I could do was scream. I wish she had just killed me instead." He sounded so sad.
"What happened to you, Terrance?" Dax was practically pleading. "Why can't you just tell me? We've been best friends for centuries. I've always known your darker appearance stems from the pain and sorrow you carry with you due to the loss of your family, but you never killed anyone and you've always drifted back...what changed? And how the hell are you hiding it from us?"
"I'm not hiding anything. I don't know why you and Evie can't scan my thoughts. Honestly, I don't know what has happened to me."
What was weird about this was that I actually believed him. As silence spanned the next few seconds, I motioned to everyone and we moved around the corner.
"Everything okay?" Bobby asked.
"No. It's not okay. Evie is still comatose, but I can still scan her thoughts and keep getting the image of Terrance feeding off a woman. It should be no big deal, but it's really upsetting Evie. And Terrance won't tell me who the woman is or why Evie can't wake up." Dax sank to the floor with his back resting against the wall and placed his head in his hands.
I'd never seen him this distraught, but who could blame him? I knew he felt helpless–we all did.
"I told Dax I don't know why they can't scan my thoughts. I'm not purposely trying to hold anything back. I can remember a woman, but I don't know anything about her. Whenever I think of her, things just get fuzzy," Terrance said, sounding defeated.
I'd never heard of anything like this before and I wondered if Evie had. Unless you'd gone through the ritual of being triggered and becoming a new Sire, no one else really knew a lot about the process or what went along with it. I was starting to wonder if her scanning ability had been weakened by the fact that she could no longer inflict the change. If Evie didn't wake up soon, I'd have no idea what we were going to do next.
Dax didn't seem to have a clue as to what was happening either. And from the looks of it, he was getting pissed. Suddenly, he pushed himself up off the floor in a burst of speed and had Terrance by the throat a second later. "I may not have the poison of true death, but I can still make you suffer."
I grabbed Dax's arms and tried to ease his grip on Terrance. "Hey, hey, hey...I think we should all just clear our minds and calm down. Wait...maybe that's it!
"Dax, you said that you can scan Evie's thoughts and see what's she's thinking, right?"
"Yeah? So?"
"Well, what I'm thinking, is that we need to try to use your scanning abilities to communicate with Evie. Since you're her consort, the bond you two share should not only allow you to scan her thoughts, but it should also let her scan yours."
Dax looked at me for a moment and I couldn't tell if he thought I was crazy or if he could see the brilliance of my plan. "Okay, so you're saying I should just think about how I want her to clear her mind and that should work?"
"Yes. Terrance said that when he thinks of this woman, his thoughts get all fuzzy. What if that's what's happening to Evie? Because she's so focused on her, maybe that's why she can't wake up."
Everyone stared at me like I suddenly had three heads. I couldn't explain it, but I just knew that this was the right thing to do and there wasn't a moment to waste. "Come on. We at least have to try."
