The Keeper's Vow

by B. F. Simone

  She thought he’d be as excited to see her as she was him, but she was wrong. He was back to treating her like a friend. He wasted no time getting back to their normal routine.

  Every other day he had something insulting to say: “Reflexes like that are why you got kidnapped.” Or, “Yeah, eat more pie. Maybe next time they won’t be able to pick you up.” And her personal favorite, “Stop sucking.”

  “I don’t suck,” she said for the third time. They had been practicing all night. She still ached from the car crash, and Tristan constantly added pains on top of her existing ones.

  “You wouldn’t hurt if you drank,” he spat. Whenever Lucinda was out of ear shot, he’d say that to her. She wouldn’t do it. She’d never touch blood again.

  “Fine. Quit letting me beat the crap out of you. Stop taking hits and fight back.”

  “What if I can’t fight back. That guy took my hit like it was nothing. Everyone who’s attacked me has been stronger than me. I won’t win.”

  “If they’re stronger, you just have to be faster.”

  “How?”

  He threw a punch straight for her face. She threw her hands up and braced herself. Instead, he pushed her hard on the ground. “One, stop being afraid. You’re being pathetic. You were better than this two weeks ago. Two. Drink.”

  “That’s unrealistic.” She stood up and felt another bruise forming on her hip.

  “What are you afraid of? Pain? I’ve landed so many punches tonight I’m surprised you’re still standing.”

  “No, I don’t care about the pain.”

  “Is it dying? Because it’s not if you die, it’s when. Everyone dies. That phenomenon is called life.”

  “No—I don’t know!” Katie looked for Lucinda and lowered her voice. “Why are people targeting me. I can’t sleep at night.” How could she live life when people were always out to get her.

  “You’re in control of whether you let someone kill you or not. If I let my opponents scare me we’d both be dead right now.”

  “I’m not like you!”

  “Not like me how? I fight to survive.”

  “I’m not strong. I can’t kill someone like it doesn’t matter. I’m not a—" She didn’t have to say it. The word was already in her mind. Monster.

  “Surviving isn’t what made me a monster.”

  “What’s that suppose to mean?”

  Tristan stared at her.

  She changed the subject to something he’d really been avoiding. “Where have you been going? You don’t even come everyday.”

  He turned his back on her.

  She knew. He’d been going back to Gray City. He was being shady again. He’d made a promise and he broke that. For how long? Did it have something to do with why she was nearly kidnapped? “At the pub, hanging out with your friends then?” Mercedes was a werewolf, what a coincidence. She’d been saving it for the right moment.

  He turned on her.

  “Yeah, I know about your werewolf friend. She stopped by the coffee shop that day. Apparently she didn’t know you’ve been playing us both.” Katie’s voice shook a little.

  Tristan’s face turned from annoyance to confusion. “Mercedes talked to you the day you got kidnapped?” It came out like a whisper.

  “Yeah, I can see why you were hiding her,” Katie said, getting her confidence back. He was caught. The ever allusive Tristan was caught.

  Katie scowled, remember exactly what Mercedes had said, “Tell him I have an answer for him.”

  “Katalina.” He stared at her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  It was her turn to be silent and walk away.

  “Katalina!” His voice sliced through her.

  “Don’t shout at me. I don’t care if you missed your chance to—”

  “You’re so goddamn annoying! There is nothing going on between me and her. She’s a friend.”

  “Like I’m your friend. Yeah, I get that.”

  He shook his fist and yelled. The way he jerked his body put her on edge. He was pissed. “She’d been helping me find out about the man who killed my parents—you idiot—there is nothing going on with me and her.” He was red in the face and pulling on his hair.

  She felt stupid, but she didn’t want to lose, no matter how wrong she was. She wanted to be angry because he kept yanking her around like a rag-doll. Tossing her here and there like what she felt didn’t matter. “How was I supposed to know. You don’t tell me anything.”

  “Just shut-up.”

  “What about the other girl then? At the movies?”

  He stared her down. “It doesn’t matter if I tell you I’ve never seen that girl in my life or if I told you I sleep with her every Tuesday night. So I’ll let you guess that one.”

  She reached to slap him but he grabbed her hand before she touched him.

  “Hey? What’s all this yelling about. I swear I turn my back and you two are either goofing around or gearing up for a fight,” Lucinda said, appearing from the back door with bottles of water and a few sandwiches.

  Katie pulled her hand away and went inside.

  He never came back.

  At first she thought he was going to ignore her for the week, but one week turned into a week-and-a-half—then two… She threw herself into the homework Traci had given her. It was the only way to distract her. If she let herself think too hard about him she could easily imagine him with that girl, kissing that tall pretty girl the way he’d kissed her. Rubbing on her body the way he’d rubbed on hers. In between her legs—but with no clothes separating them.

  “Katie?” Traci said when Katie broke her pencil. She’d been thinking about it again.

  “Sorry,”

  “Katie this is important. This will definitely be on the final exam next month,” Traci said.

  What did it matter? She hadn’t been to school in three weeks and it was starting to feel like she would never go back.

  Traci sighed and flipped the page in her book. “You’re not even on the right page.” Traci had been less co-operative with her lately. Always sighing, always taking deep breaths. “Read from pages three-hundred-forty-seven to three-hundred-fifty-eight. Then we’ll talk about it. I’ll grade—this.” She said, looking disappointed at Katie’s math work.

  Katie looked down at the book. It was about Royal Vampire Families. How exiting. Katie flipped through the pages but stopped when something caught her eye. A small paragraph entitled: The Keepers Vow. Her heart sped up as she read it.

  “The royal families were divided into two groups. The ruling family and the sister family. In order to protect the status of the current ruling family from siblings and cousins in the sister family, a blood oath was created that could only be done between those with vampire blood in their veins. The sister family was forced to protect the ruling family with their lives. In the event of the death of the ruling family, the sister family would be eliminated. Some documents spectate the bond created a close kinship between siblings at a young age. They were bound telepathically and all inner family assassinations ceased. This vow was often used to tie servants to noble families and even slaves to their buyers. Later known as the keepers vow, died in practice with the death of vampire fertility and the royal kings during the Dark Ages.”

  Katie flipped the pages looking for more. Nothing. That was what Tristan had kept from her that night she’d asked him. He was tied to her. His life was tied to her. He hadn’t just been protecting her. He’d been protecting both of their lives. Katie didn’t bother pretending she was reading the rest of the book.

  He’d been protecting himself.

  She wished he’d come back to her house so she could confront him. This was why he’d protect her with his life. She fought back every ugly tear that welted up inside of her.

  Later that night Lucinda and Allison came to her house. It was Friday, so she wasn’t expecting them and she really didn’t want to talk to anyone. It aggravated her even more when she found out they hadn’t come to talk.

&
nbsp; “I don’t know what has happened between you and Tristan but I’m fed up. He hasn’t showed up for a practice in three days. Three days, Katie,” Lucinda said in her stiff, ‘you’ve done it now’ voice. “Did you two forget that I’m your mentor and that I expect you to continue doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”

  “It’s not my fault he stopped coming,” Katie said. Why was she being attacked? She was here—against her will, but still here—and Lucinda wasn’t exactly all present either. Ever since Will left, she’d barely even put together their training schedules.

  “No, it’s both your faults. You do not solve problems by avoiding—I see I’m going in one ear and out the other.” Lucinda rolled her eyes, “Anyway, that’s not the point. Go change into something and meet me in the backyard.”

  Katie sucked in air between her teeth.

  Allison followed her up the stairs. “The drama around here is unrelenting.”

  “Don’t want to talk about it,” Katie said before she realized how harsh it came out.

  “Okay, then.” Allison stopped following her, “I’ll just meet you outside.”

  When she went out to the backyard the first thing she did was apologize to Allison. Allison shrugged it off but Katie knew she wasn’t really over it. Everything in her life with turning into one big ball of fiery anger and she didn’t know how to control it.

  Lucinda laid an air soft gun on the table and loaded the clip with little white pellets.

  “What exactly is that for?” Katie asked, not looking forward to the answer.

  “I can’t push you physically like Tristan can. No one can honestly, so we’re going to be a little creative today. You’re going to fight me and Allison. I have a gun and she doesn’t. Between the two of us we will make up for Tristan’s speed and some.”

  “You’re going to shoot me with tha—OUCH.”

  Lucinda answered her with a pellet in the arm. She could feel the welt rising. Lucinda was sicker than Tristan. What was wrong with these people?

  It wasn’t fair, the entire hour that they trained, it wasn’t fair. Allison was taking her revenge for Katie’s aloofness and Lucinda was being sadistic. By the end Katie was covered in dirt and welts.

  Katie could see her dad watching from the window. He was no help, he shrugged as if saying, “You asked for it.” Maybe they were all taking out their frustrations on her.

  “Stop. I’m done.” Katie said, getting up after Allison dropped her to the ground.

  “No you’re not,” Lucinda said sternly.

  “Yes. I am.” Katie didn’t have to take any of this anymore.

  “Allison. Go inside. Get some water.” Lucinda’s eyes never left Katie.

  “I’m done, Lucy,” Katie said. She stood her ground. She was sick of people bullying her.

  As soon as Allison closed the door Lucinda move in close to Katie. Katie dared her to say something. She couldn’t wait to take her anger out on someone. Especially since that someone just spent and hour lighting her up with plastic bb’s.

  “What are you going to do?” Lucinda said. “Go cry in your room? So, I’m hard on you. Tough shit, Katie.”

  Katie seethed. Words were piling up in her throat.

  “Allison is running circles around you. I watched you and Tristan everyday and you’ve gotten better than her. You’re faster than this crap you’re doing today. You’ve been slacking off.”

  Katie grinded her teeth. Lucinda didn’t know the half of what she’d been through. When was the last time she’d gotten thrown into the back of a van? “I’m done,” she said for the final time.

  “Then let’s call and omitter because that’s what happens when you want to be done. That’s what happens when you slack off.”

  Lucinda was a hypocrite. Katie had heard her Christmas Eve begging Will not to send Brian away, to give him another chance. She’d heard Will tell her she was going to get her own son killed. “Is that what you said to Brian? Wait no. You begged—”

  Lucinda slapped her. Pain seared across her face like no other, but Katie was used to pain. “You’re not my mother. You don’t get to—”

  Lucinda slapped her again and left Katie standing in the backyard holding her face.

  Lucinda came back the next day, and everyday for a week after that. They never talked about what happened. They pretended it never happened. Her dad, who she knew saw it, didn’t say anything and she suspected Allison had seen it because she ignored the tension that surrounded Katie and Lucinda too well.

  There was space between her and Lucinda now. She shouldn’t have said what she said. Katie couldn’t look Lucinda in the eyes now.

  “Katie,” Lucinda called one day after practice. Allison wasn’t there. Lucinda had Katie do target practice with the air-soft gun and targets set up around the yard.

  They didn’t talk during practice anymore, so when Katie said, “yes?” it barely came out.

  “You’re doing better,” she said, taking down the targets one at a time. Katie nodded even though Lucinda’s back was to her.

  Katie noticed it too. She was getting back to her normal self. She was a match for Allison now.

  To think, over six months ago, she couldn’t even get an honest score in the Preliminaries. She could probably make it to the top now. It felt like a long time ago, the Preliminaries. She was so different now. Everything was different.

  “You still aren’t where you should be. You should start drinking,” Lucinda said. She was staring directly at her now.

  “No.” Katie had made up her mind a long time ago after Tristan force fed her. The thought still made her want to vomit. Plus, she wasn’t a vampire, or a half-vampire, or whatever. She was Katie Watts. A girl. A human girl.

  “I don’t think you have much of a choice. You’re getting better, but you’re still too slow.”

  What was Lucinda saying? Wasn’t she the one fighting for Tristan to get away from her when he was pouring it down her throat?

  “Allison doesn’t drink—and no one thinks she needs to,” Katie couldn’t even say blood. What was the difference between her and Allison. Genetically they were different that was it. What if Katie didn’t have that option?

  “Allison pushes herself everyday and makes strides to reach her maximum potential. She knows her limits and she works through them. You don’t. You can’t. You don’t even know your full potential. You’re hitting a ceiling that isn’t supposed to be there.” Lucinda waved her into the house.

  They walked into the kitchen. Her dad was sitting at the table reading the newspaper with his glasses on. Lucinda pulled out a lunch box from the refrigerator. She sat it on the table and opened it. Three packets of blood were stacked in a row.

  Her dad looked over his newspaper and went red in the face. “Get that crap out of my house. You’re going too far, Lucy.”

  “Drew, you admitted it yourself. She’s hitting a wall.”

  When had they talked about her? Hadn’t they barely become friends again?

  Her dad gripped the paper and looked at her. Katie pleaded for him to talk sense into Lucinda, but the more she talked the more she saw his face change from rightful anger to sympathy.

  “Dad?—Dad?” she said.

  “You know it’s inevitable, Drew. Tristan said she moves her body like she’s drunk and he’s right. She’s off. Even at her fastest there’s a sluggishness about her.”

  When had Tristan talked about her with Lucinda? She felt betrayed. Why had he been allowed to talk about her?

  “No,” Katie said. Trying to put her foot down. As soon as she saw her dad’s face she knew it was pointless. They were going to make her do it.

  “Katie, it will make you better. You’re not meant to be like you are. Your body isn’t meant to survive on food. You’re starving it everyday,” Lucinda said.

  Katie didn’t care. She was scared. The last time—

  The last time she drank it burned her throat. Last time felt like someone holding her face first in it.


  “Come on, Katie Bug.” Her dad stood up and wiped away her tear. He walked her over to the sink and pulled down a glass. She wanted to sob like a baby and throw a tantrum. Maybe he wouldn’t make her do it. He didn’t know what it was like.

  He poured a packet into the glass. It filled a tall glass with a little left over.

  “She only has to drink one pack every two weeks,” Lucinda said, holding her own arms like she was the one who might fall apart.

  Her dad picked up the blood and sniffed it. “It’s not so bad. It’s probably better than my cooking,” he laughed, but that didn’t comfort her. She took the glass when he handed it to her.

  She held her nose.

  “Don’t sip it, Katie Bug. Just try to gulp it down. That works best,” her dad said, rubbing her back.

  She didn’t even get so much of a mouthful down before she was throwing it up in the sink. Her dad held her hair and Lucinda took the glass. Her stomach spasmed until she was throwing up nothing.

  The sink looked like a murder scene. Her dad rinsed out the sink and gave her a glass of water. She washed out her mouth. Nothing could rinse out the taste of blood. It didn’t taste like it smelled. It was thick, pungent rot.

  Lucinda gave her the glass again.

  Katie steadied herself and swallowed down her urge to gag. After a moment she tried again. She drank and swallowed. Drank and swallowed. Drank and swallowed. Her body shook as she concentrated. She hated throwing up. She could never breathe and it made her panic. She cried, drank, and swallowed until it was gone.

  It never got easier. She sat the glass in the sink and the sound echoed in her head. She turned around, too fast, she nearly fell. The lights were getting brighter and she was taking in too much air.

  “How do you feel? Do you need to lay down?” Lucinda asked.

  It was the exact opposite. Every second that past, she felt more and more like she needed to run. So much energy, so much—

  Silence. This house is just like the other. Silent…

  Katie stopped. That wasn’t her thought.

  I hate this…

  It was Tristan. She just knew it. Who else could it be in her mind. And he didn’t know she was there…