Diary of a Vampeen: Vamp Yourself for War

by Unknown

  “Oh, thank you,” I half smiled taking the gift from him.

  “It seems that unfortunately we cannot stay. We have business to tend to. Please enjoy your evening Alexa. We will station guards outside the door for you,” Felipe added. Auggy cuffed Rico officially removing him from Kalel and Al’s hands. They turned to start to leave.

  “Oh! Wait!” I called. They stopped abruptly and looked back.

  “Yes?” Laurence asked.

  I held up a finger motioning for one second please. I grabbed a Tupperware container from the cupboard and filled it with cookies and cupcakes as fast as possible. I raced over to them and gave the treats to Laurence.

  “Thanks for coming and for taking care of him. And, Merry Christmas,” I smiled.

  “You are delightful Alexa. Truly one of a kind,” he chuckled softly.

  “Have a good night all. Bancroft, report for duty at 1200 hours,” Auggy ordered.

  “Yes sir,” he nodded.

  “Good night everyone,” Felipe stated. Within seconds they were gone.

  Chapter 28

  “Lovely bunch of brick crackers. Now what do you say we get back to this swyndig?” Craig was the first to speak. Everyone else I believe was still in awe as to what happened.

  “Thanks Craig,” I broke into laughter. I could always count on him to break the ice.

  “Can I just say that you thoroughly scared the dickens out of me Lexi? Don’t get me wrong, you were amazing, your mother all the way, but dear Lord I thought I was going to die any second,” Aunt Claire sighed placing her hand over her heart for theatrics.

  “Sorry,” I smiled sheepishly. She nodded her head and pulled me into her, squeezing tight. “Ouch. Just a little sore. Not all the way healed yet.”

  “Oh goodness. Dr. H, please look her over,” she urged me towards him.

  “Unfortunately there isn’t anything you can do for a broken rib. It just needs time,” he offered with a pat on my back.

  “Well, I believe it’s time for us to go,” Kalel said.

  “Wait. What time is it?” I rushed into the kitchen to the microwave clock. “It’s after midnight. Present time!” I grabbed his hand and motioned for everyone to take a seat. I always got excited about giving gifts, not so much about receiving them though.

  “Lexi, why don’t you go change real quick. We’ll wait,” Beth offered.

  “Oh,” I peered down at my tattered dress. Another one ruined by a vamp. I didn’t think I could ever get used to that. “I’ll be just a minute.” I started towards the stairs but stopped. “Would any of you mind if I wore pajamas?” I asked remembering that’s what we wore every Christmas Eve. We baked, ate, and opened gifts in our pajamas.

  “Of course not,” Beth smiled.

  I nodded and took off. I changed at the speed of light into my red checkered flannel pj pants and a white tank top officially coordinating with my color scheme.

  I returned to everyone settled in various spots around the room. I sat on the floor beside the tree in the official distributor’s position that my dad usually held. A deep feeling cut into me at the quick flash of him. I immediately tucked it away and one by one passed out the gifts.

  They began to open them. Gabi nearly knocked me out when she saw the cocktail ring I got her. Rafi equally loved the antique Swiss army knife I got him. Dr. H got a chuckle out of the leather medical briefcase I got him to replace his 50’s style medicine bag. You always have to have a gag gift in the batch; naturally that one went to Craig. Beth and Al were appreciative of my thoughtfulness and Aunt Claire broke down when she opened the locket I gave her with a picture of my mom inside. The two I was most nervous about though were the ones I waited til the end to give.

  “I have one gift for the both of you. I hope you don’t mind,” I said passing the large square bunch of wrapping paper to Kai and Kalel.

  “Of course not,” Kalel said.

  “As long as it’s a good gift,” Kai grinned.

  I was on pins and needles watching them. I had spent a total twelve hours on their gift. I hadn’t used this talent of mine in forever. I almost forgot I had it. But once the Prismacolor colored pencils were in my hand pressed to the large sketch pad paper, it all came rushing back. And thanks to my vamp vision, I saw and remembered more details than ever.

  I looked up in time to catch their reactions. It was just the one I was hoping for. I touched some deeply rooted emotion that I now knew all too well.

  “This is… Words cannot describe,” Kalel choked staring at the hand drawn colored portrait of their father. Kai stood silently beside Kalel. He stared in awe at the photo for a long while before speaking.

  “You captured him perfectly.” A flicker of emotion hit his face but he quickly controlled it. “Thank you. It’s perfect Leka,” he said still engrossed in the gift before him.

  “Thank you Leka.” Kalel added.

  “Thank you for everything that you guys have done for me. Thanks to all of you. You all have contributed to me being here in some way,” I looked at every person in the room with me individually acknowledging them as someone I valued. I really wouldn’t be where I was without these people. They were an amazing support system these past couple months.

  Kellan came and sat beside me. He pulled me into him and kissed my forehead. I pulled one of the last few gifts from under the tree and handed it to him. “I really hope you like it.”

  “I’m sure I will,” he smiled giving me a kiss on the lips this time. He ripped off the paper and opened the box revealing the black tungsten watch I had custom made for him. “Wow babe. This is really nice.”

  “You haven’t gotten to the best part. I had it made with a special feature. May I?” I asked extending my hand for the box. He passed it to me and watched me curiously.

  I removed the pillow the watch was wrapped around from the box and slid it off. I flipped it over to reveal the inscription: To My Forever

  “I love it,” he whispered.

  “I haven’t shown you the special feature yet,” I laughed.

  “I still love what I’ve already seen,” he replied.

  “That’s a fancy tinker mate,” Craig commented on his way to the island to grab more cookies. I rotated the large wheel to the correct time and pressed it inwards to officially set it the clock.

  “Here. Press this dial in a bit. If you want to stop it you pull out. I did this just in case you didn’t like it…” I pointed to the smallest button along the side of the watch. Kellan reached over and pushed delicately. Suddenly we heard the sound of a heart beating. “It’s to say regardless of whether or not my heart beats, you’ll always be my forever,” I whispered.

  He looked straight at me as water welled in the corners of his eyes. I saw everyone couple up in the moment. Al cradled Beth, Rafi took Gabi into his arms, even Kalel extended his arm around Kai with our intimate exchange.

  “It’s perfect,” he voice was full of sentiment.

  “I believe our beast has been tamed,” Al whispered to Beth. I looked up to see her crying.

  “Oh gosh. I didn’t mean to get everyone into a mush,” I blushed. Perhaps I should have waited until we were alone given their reactions.

  “No honey, I’m happy. I’m happy that my son has you. If you had seen how he was before,” she stopped overwhelmed by the thought. I rushed to her side and hugged her. “I never have to worry about him as long as he has you,” she said against my ear. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say to that. I felt lucky to have him.

  I gently eased back. She was wiping away the final tears when her breath caught. “Are you ok?” I asked suddenly panicked. She incessantly shook her head looking past me. I turned around and froze. My breath caught at the sight in front of me.

  “Lexi, I know we’re young and we have forever to go but I want to make sure that my forever is with you. It doesn’t have to be right away or any time soon, but would you please do me the honor of promising to someday be my wife?”

  I t
ook a few unsteady breaths and just gazed at him in wonder. His dark hair fell perfectly against skin complimenting his beautiful green eyes; eyes that I could look into forever. His button up white shirt was tucked seamlessly into his black dress slacks, both of which hugged his physique in all the right places. This man, this gorgeous specimen before me wants me forever? It doesn’t seem possible. It doesn’t seem right. What did I do to deserve him? He was everything I could want and more. Of course he’s the one. As the Dr. Zhan predicted, we will do great things together even if it’s just to get married and spend every day of forever with each other.

  “Yes. Of course,” I choked. Let the faucet run. Every woman in the room crooned as they burst into tears. Even the men gave a slight awe.

  Kellan slid the ring onto my finger. For the first time I looked down at it. I had been so engulfed in him that I didn’t even think to look at the ring. The ring! I looked between the ring and him a dozen times trying to process everything.

  Appropriately placed on my left ring finger was a spectacular 4-carat round green diamond set on a simple white gold band. I was in awe over the stone; had never seen one this color before. One look at it and I instantly thought of him and his emerald green eyes.

  In one move he was on his feet and in my arms. I firmly placed my hands on his cheeks and kissed him passionately. I kissed him like I’d never kissed him before. The others faded away and all that existed was me and Kellan, my heart beat and his eyes.

  I slept safely and happily in his arms that night; I drifted away to the steady beat of his watch and awoke to it still thumping beside my ear. But it was the bright light streaming in from the sun on a cold December day that caught my attention. I kissed his cheek before going to pull open the curtains and blinds, to take in the calm of the morning.

  “You completely surprised me,” I said lost in the brilliant shine of the sun on my beautiful ring. I held my arm straight out, turned and tilted my hand every which way observing the gorgeous striations of the stone glittering in the light. “It reminds me of your eyes,” I commented absently.

  “I’m glad you like it. I was worried you wouldn’t,” Kellan offered snuggling around me as I stood at my window absorbing the morning rays.

  “I’m not a diamond girl, but I love this.” I abruptly took a serious tone. I hesitated but curiosity got the best of me. “I didn’t want to ruin the moment so I blocked my thoughts. I have to know though, why now?”

  “Aside from the fact that you have four other male vampires coursing through your veins?” he smiled lightly. I bit my lower lip anxiously unsure of what he would say. He turned me to face him. “I’ve almost lost you more times than I care to recall right now. That sort of thing really makes you think about what’s important in life but mostly who you can’t live without in that life. I can’t live without you babe. And what’s scary is I can picture my life without my parents, even Craig, but not you. I meant it when I said you’re my forever girl.”

  He never ceased to amaze me, only continued to affirm my choice in him as the best one for me. A smile crept at my lips. He said what every girl dreams of hearing, but it meant so much more because it was heartfelt honesty pouring from him to me.

  I slipped onto the tips of my toes, leaned upwards and kissed him.

  “I love it and I love you. You do realize that you’re spoiling me though, right?” He gently pulled back. He took my hand and lifted it to look at the ring on my left ring finger.

  “This is nothing compared to what I want to do.” A devilish grin caused his dimple to appear. He ran his fingers through my hair and lowered his head to kiss me again just as my phone rang. He sighed but backed away so I could race to answer it.

  “Hello?”

  “Merry Christmas to my one and only bestie,” Mel cheerfully greeted me.

  “Merry Christmas,” I chuckled.

  “No fluff, no bushwhacking. Is it true?” she insisted, excitement filling her tone.

  “Is what true?” I played coy. I was pretty sure she somehow heard through the grapevine about last night, but not knowing for sure which aspect of the evening, I pressed for more.

  “Dear sugarplums. The ring, the bling, the bada bada bing!” she exclaimed. Even Kellan let out a muffled laugh at that expression. “Tell me every single detail,” she ordered.

  I relived each second of the momentous event with Mel. She squealed like a pig, gasped and cooed in all the right places in my story. She forced me to retell it two more times before I heard a familiar accent around her.

  “Gotta give proppers to my mate. He’s a brilliant burler. Romanced the echo out of even the chaps,” Craig chimed in. “And the ring. You need a heli dark shade or you’ll be blinded by the beaut.”

  “Ooh! You have to send me a pic of it Lex! Ugh! I can’t believe I missed it!”

  “Ok, but when did Craig get there? He was just here hours ago.”

  “O.M.G. It was the cutest thing ever! Kyle came and woke me up. I go out into the living room and there under the tree is Craig and the most adorable puppy. They both had a bow on their heads and a bone in their mouths,” she giggled like a school girl.

  “Aw!”

  “And that’s not all. Around the pup’s neck was the most gorgeous diamond tear drop necklace! I was totally surprised. It was so… so… perfect,” she finished sounding exasperated.

  “He did a good job. What are you going to name the puppy? What kind is it?”

  “It’s a girl. She’s a border collie and she’s a caramel color with a small patch of white around her face. And I’m already in love with her. I have no idea what I’m going to name her though. I keep thinking of designers, candy and jewelry. I don’t like Pearl, Coco is too common, and somehow Lolly doesn’t fit her.”

  “Hmm. I don’t know. I’ve never had a pet before…”

  “She needs a regal name but Diamond is too long; Lexus reminds me of you and I definitely can’t compare you to a dog. I like Princess Di but everyone would call her Princess and that’s again too common,” she sighed.

  “What about Ruby? It’s a gemstone that was worn by royalty a few centuries ago,” I offered.

  “Ruby? Ruby. Ruby… I love it! It’s perfect. Ruby!” she called. I heard the faint trail of nails trampling wood floors getting closer and closer to Mel. “Look at that! She even comes when you call her! Thanks Lex.”

  “Glad I could help,” I smiled through the phone.

  “Is Kellan there?” I cut my attention from the phone allowing my eyes to scan the room and lock in on him. He was spread out on my bed flipping through movie selections on the muted TV.

  “Yea, he’s here,” I replied absently.

  “Oh, well go spend some time with your future hubby and we’ll catch up later.”

  “Okay. Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas,” she repeated before hanging up.

  I looked over at Kellan again. I got lost in him. From the exposed definition of his muscles through his ribbed long sleeve grey shirt to the sharp yet soft edge of his jaw and messy hair that’s bedhead but oh-so-sexy on him, I soaked it all in. But my favorites feature was a tie between his smile and his eyes. I glanced down at the ring on my finger, a reminder that this gorgeous man vamp wanted me forever. A smile crept upon my lips as I leapt onto the bed from where I was by the window. I was too slow though.

  “Nope. You didn’t block your thoughts when you woke up,” he projected the thought which explained his actions. He caught me mid-air, floating, dangling me at arm’s length over him on the bed.

  I waited, taking advantage of the new viewpoint. He grinned a devilish grin but maintained his bench press. I quickly blocked my thoughts.

  “How long are you planning to keep me like this?”

  “I’m planning to keep you forever. Like this though… Egh, I haven’t decided yet,” he winked.

  “You know, you can’t kiss me when I’m up here,” I offered as a mellow enticement to put me down.

  “Good poin
t.” And like that I was beside him embraced by his arms and being caressed by his lips. And it was in this moment that I felt like everything would be ok. They would never be the same but nothing ever is. My parents are never coming back, that piece of my life is forever gone, but the memories will always linger.

  Bit by bit as time passes and my journey unfolds before me, my views are changing with experience. Marcel Proust said, “The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” These last three months had changed me; they’d molded my opinions and opened my mind up to a greater expanse. My interpretation of life and purpose had been skewed. I was different now than I was three months ago and I was sure I’d be further developed three months from now.

  Being vampeen didn’t exclude me from tragedy, heartbreak or any other human devastation; contrary, its pain was felt for a thousand lifetimes instead of one. Given this, I could only try to push past it all. I couldn’t wallow in sorrow and pity; we all have a purpose in being here. Should we fall into self-doubt and depression after each obstacle or loss, we may lose our chance in fulfilling our destiny. Whatever your dream, goal or mission is, you must arm yourself for the failures, successes and missteps along the way.

  What I’ve found is determination amongst a crumpled, inhumane world will provide you with limited encouragement but limitless possibilities. While God maps out my fate, it is me separately that sets my pace. So the longer I stay down, the longer I sit dormant in a cellar of induced sadness, the longer it will take me to accomplish all I am fortuned to. And should I wait too long, should I never have found the will to lift myself up to start again, then life would simply pass me by as time faded away. Death doesn’t wait for you to fulfill a prophecy so should you settle where you are, you will have wasted a lifetime on an emotion; you will have sacrificed what many deem precious for what we label a pity party of self-deceit, laziness and selfish failure for purpose always carries impact.

  If one member of the team fails to do their assigned task, it’s not that theirs was unimportant in completing the mission; it’s that others must do more to pick up their slack so nothing falls. Now picture that on a global scale: the bums versus the mission workers, the criminals versus the soldiers, the slackers versus the over-achievers. Balance is created not imagined.