by K. C. Blake
Another fight broke out below him in the bar. The voices grew louder, excited. The sound of breaking glass, splintering wood, and traded blows made Tobias wish even harder that he was somewhere else. Facing hunters would be preferable to listening to the bikers downstairs.
The door opened, and Isobel flicked the light on. Of course on this side of reality she was Izzy. Tobias groaned, shielding his eyes. “Turn it off!”
Izzy immediately flipped the switch, and the room was once again bathed in darkness. She stood in the doorway, wearing what looked like a schoolgirl uniform complete with a short-short skirt and knee-high socks. The light behind her made the skirt almost transparent.
He groaned and looked away, too tired, too hot, and too uncomfortable to play her games.
“Bad mood?” she asked with a wry smile on her face. “What can I do to make you feel better?”
Jack wanted to tell her to drop dead but found he couldn’t get the words out. Although he was inside of Tobias, the other young man had full control. He couldn’t change anything. This was the past, just a memory. It was Tobias who answered her in an exasperated tone. “You can fetch me a bucket of ice. I’m dying here.”
She approached the bed, stood at the end, and smiled down at him. “I know what will cheer you up. We haven’t killed anything in a long time.”
“It’s too blazing hot to hunt.”
“Who said anything about hunting? We can go downstairs and kill everyone in the bar. It’s a lot cooler down there, baby. They have an air-conditioner, and it might be fun.”
A matching smile spread across his face. “I was tired of living in this dump anyway.”
******
There was a flash of Tobias tearing into a body with sharp claws. His eyes glowed, and maniacal laughter grew in a place deep within his black soul. Blood splattered his face, and Izzy laughed in the background. They were surrounded by the dead. One man crawled across the floor, desperately trying to reach the door, but there would be no escape.
******
No!
Jack staggered backwards, away from Isobel, and almost fell. It took all his strength to rip himself away from the past. The rock she’d been holding dropped to the floor. He tried to wipe the horrible images from his mind, but they were seared into his brain forever. His hands shook. He looked down at them, expecting to see blood, but they were surprisingly clean.
Too bad he couldn’t say the same thing about his soul. He had murdered people, probably a lot of people. When he’d first returned home, Billy had accused him of being a monster, and Billy had been right. Jack didn’t know how he could bear the weight of such a horrible past. If Silver ever found out, he wouldn’t be able to look her in the eyes again.
“Are you ill?” Isobel asked. “Maybe you should sit down.”
He shook his head, and his voice quivered. “I d-don’t understand. What am I? What are you?”
She lifted her chin with pride. “I am the second werewolf ever created.”
“Second?”
“I am the first human Jersey Clifford infected after Lovely cursed him. Therefore, I am the second werewolf, and I’m almost as powerful as he is. Now aren’t you glad we’re on the same side?”
Were they?
Jack silently went over everything Silver and her family had told him about werewolves. He squinted at Isobel in disbelief. What he’d read in the diary came sliding out of his mouth. “Women turn into wraiths when Jersey infects them. He can’t make female werewolves. It isn’t possible.”
“I was the exception.”
Jack’s stomach rolled as he circled the sofa and plunked down on the middle cushion. He leaned forward, head between his knees. A couple breaths and the nausea subsided. The girl sat next to him and laid a hand on the back of his head. She stroked her fingers through his hair in a disturbing manner.
It made his skin crawl. He nearly jumped off the sofa to get away from her, but then he remembered what his mom used to say about honey attracting flies easier than vinegar. Maybe he could get her to divulge more information if he pretended to find her charming. He sat up straight, and she wiggled closer.
“Am I reincarnated?” he asked.
“Smart boy. Go to the head of the class.”
It all made sense now, the reason Jersey had given him the book with the long, strange name to read. The story was about destiny, yes, but it was also about reincarnation. In-particular it was about two friends sharing more than one lifetime. Jersey had been trying to tell him the truth without actually telling him anything.
“How did we meet?” he asked. “Last time, I mean?”
Relaxed now, she put her boots on the coffee table and wiggled around until she was comfortable. “I’m not exactly sure about the date. It was sometime in the 1950’s. You were attacked by a werewolf. The venom changed you, made you mortal again.” She smirked at him. “Sound familiar?”
It had happened before, all of it.
Well not everything. Something had gone terribly wrong, and he’d become a full-fledged werewolf instead of reverting to mortal. How had that come about? Before he could ask the question, Isobel answered it.
“In your past life you welcomed the werewolf side of you and made it stronger until you lost your mortality status once again. We didn’t meet until after you were attacked by the werewolf. I helped make you stronger and taught you how to hunt. I was playing high school student back then. Sound familiar? We literally ran into each other in the hallway. You fell at my feet. Our eyes locked in the most magical of ways.”
She shrugged and made a face. “I tried to recreate that moment with you at Jefferson Memorial, but you weren’t interested in getting to know me. Maybe it’s because you met Silver first this time.”
This time? “Are you saying Silver has been reincarnated too?”
Isobel nodded. “Only her name wasn’t Silver back then. Her parents refused to give her the name and refused to train her. Even though they’d read Lovely’s diary, they wanted nothing to do with the prophecy. It was their fault she died. She wasn’t ready to take on... I think I’ve said too much. You need to figure the rest out for yourself.”
But he was on the verge of getting the answers he desperately craved. Jack turned sideways and leaned close. He stroked hair back from her face. His eyes purposely dropped to her mouth, hoping to get her to talk. If she believed she was seducing him, maybe she would spill everything.
“I want to know more about our past, Izzy.”
Her fingertips brushed over his lower lip. “We were young and in love.”
“There’s more to it, and you know it. Tell me.”
“What do you want to know?”
He drew closer until their mouths were almost touching. He spoke slow, purposely enunciating each word, caressing each syllable for her benefit. “Everything. I want to know everything you can tell me.”
“You haven’t changed a bit, Tobias.” A throaty laugh punctuated the statement. “You were always too curious for your own good. You mentioned something about dreaming I killed you. Did you really? What exactly did you see?”
“You cut my head off with a sword.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “I would never…”
“…cut my head off? But you did kill me, right?”
He saw the answer in her eyes. She had killed him, just not with a sword. Semantics. It didn’t matter to him what weapon she’d used. He wasn’t going to let her kill him again. His hand moved to her cheek, stroking her soft skin. If she didn’t tell him everything, he was going to try something new. He was going to strangle the information out of her. His hands lowered, almost to her neck now.
A soft gasp broke the silence like a gunshot. Jack’s head jerked up and around to find Silver in the foyer. She stood there like a statue, white-faced, her mouth hanging open. Isobel slowly pulled away from him. Silver turned and ran out. Jack jumped over the back of the sofa and used vampire-speed to beat her to the car.
He couldn’t
let her leave without an explanation as to why he was stroking her friend’s face. If she went home believing he was interested in Isobel, he would lose her forever. It wasn’t a risk he was willing to take.
******
Chapter Seven:
SURPRISE!
Head down, Silver walked to her car with determined steps, not hesitating for a second, not even when Jack shouted her name. She obviously wasn’t in the mood to listen. But if he let her go, he’d lose her forever. With that fear close to his heart, Jack raced after her.
He blocked her way.
She went around him.
Silver jumped into the car and started the engine, but it remained stationary. Jack experienced a brief glimpse of hope. Maybe she’d decided to give him a chance to tell her what was actually going on. He climbed into the passenger seat and said, “I can explain.”
Her hand sliced into the air, effectively cutting him off. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“It’s not what it looked like.”
A short burst of laughter stopped his explanation cold. She grabbed her seatbelt and buckled herself in before putting the car into reverse. In a matter of fact tone, she said, “My dad sent me to get you. He has something important to talk to you about.” She eyed his living room window with distaste. A dark shadow waited on the other side of the curtain. “Do you want to go back inside and tell your new girlfriend you have to leave?”
“No.” He sighed. “I wish you would let me explain.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” she repeated in a louder voice this time. “I really don’t care what you do with your free time. We aren’t dating. You can suck face with the whole cheerleading squad for all I care.”
Surprised at her vehemence, he was stunned into silence. He’d never heard Silver talk like that before. She was seriously pissed off at him. He pressed his lips together. The more he tried to convince her there was nothing going on, the worse he made things appear. Better to just shut up and wait for her to cool off.
They traveled in silence, the tension so thick it was impossible to breathe normally. Jack stole an occasional glance at her. Silver’s jaw was set, and her mouth compressed into a tight line. More than anything in the world he wanted to tell her that Isobel meant nothing to him. If only she would listen.
The second they reached her house, she was out of the car. The girl didn’t have vampire-speed, but somehow she managed to switch off the engine, undo her seatbelt, and get out before he could utter a single word. She was gone, inside the house, leaving him to follow—or not.
Jack sat alone in the car for a few minutes. He took deep breaths to steady his nerves. Silver had left the front door open for him. Any second now her father’s big frame would fill out the doorway. His disapproving eyes would pin Jack like a bug to the wall. Jack was not looking forward to this meeting even though he was curious as to what it was about.
No point in putting off the inevitable. He got out of the car but took his time walking to the door. One more deep breath and he stepped inside.
“Surprise!” they yelled, startling him.
There were multicolored balloons, streamers flying through the air, and a huge rectangular cake covered with candles and blue icing on top of white that spelled out his name. Andrew and Vanessa Reign clapped their hands, laughing at his stunned expression. Billy rushed forward with a huge smile on his face. He grabbed Jack by the arm, dragged him closer to the cake, and asked, “Are you surprised?”
That wasn’t the word for it. Confused was more like it. He didn’t understand what was going on. He nodded and played along. “Sure.”
“It’s after midnight.” Billy lifted his arm and tapped his watch as if Jack wouldn’t take his word on the time. “It’s your birthday. You’re eighteen.”
Eighteen? Jack mentally calculated the date and concluded his brother was right. Over the years he had let the day slip by without notice because vampires didn’t age, and the mere mention of birthdays or any other expression of humanity had put Cowboy on the warpath.
Billy said, “I would have invited some of your friends from school, but I knew they wouldn’t get what a major event this is for you.” He handed Jack a small wrapped package. Then his hands slipped into his pockets, and he shrugged his broad shoulders. “I wanted to do something special for your big day. Open it.”
Jack tore the paper, his heart pounding. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d received a present. No matter what the gift turned out to be, he was thrilled that Billy had bothered.
“Well, what is it?” Andrew asked.
Jack lifted a gold key and frowned. “Is this a house key, because you gave me one a couple of months ago? Remember?”
“It’s not to the house.” Billy seemed to be fighting the huge grin trying to spread across his face. It was a losing battle. He finally gave up holding it back and said, “That’s the key to your new car, man.”
“Car? Seriously? You got me a car?”
“I dipped into mom and dad’s secret bank account.” Billy shrugged again. “I’ve been using the money for years now, and it belongs to both of us. They always told us to share. The car’s out back. Go take a look.”
Jack didn’t know what to say. He stared at the key for a long time before his eyes moved to his brother’s face. It was an incredible gift, probably the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him, and the fact that it came from Billy blew his mind. It was more than a present; it was Billy’s way of welcoming him home. At last Billy was glad he’d returned.
“Go on,” Billy repeated. “Go have a look.”
Jack hurried through the house and out the back door. An emotional lump lodged in his throat at the sight of the car. Somehow Billy had found an exact replica of the car Jack had been rebuilding with his father before the werewolf attack: a baby blue ‘65 Mustang. They’d worked on it for almost a year. Jack remembered the day they’d tried the engine to see if it would start.
In the garage his dad had bent under the hood. He stuck a hand out, signaled for Jack to turn the key, and the engine purred to life. The oldest Creed came to the open window, a huge smile on his face. He rested a hand on Jack’s arm. Jack was shocked to realize his father was conveying a silent message. His dad was proud of him. It would be the last time.
It was one of his favorite memories.
Now he stared at the car and wondered what the engine would sound like. Would it purr like the other car had? He walked to the vehicle, got inside, but he was only alone for a moment. The passenger door opened. Billy climbed in, still grinning from ear to ear.
“What do you think?” Billy asked.
“It’s just like the one dad and I rebuilt before he died. How did you find it?”
“No. You don’t get it. This is the car you and dad rebuilt.” Billy slid his hand over the dashboard in a near caress. “I found the phone number of the guy I sold it to and paid him a king’s ransom to get it returned. I was so jealous of you back then, of the time you spent with dad in the garage each night. You have no idea.”
“That’s… wow, thanks.”
If he hadn’t been raised to believe men shouldn’t hug each other unless one of them was on fire, he would have embraced Billy right then and there.
Billy turned sideways in his seat. “It’s not a big deal. You only turn eighteen once, and I didn’t want to keep loaning you my car every time you want to go somewhere. It helps me out too for you to have a car.”
Jack smiled, knowing Billy was trying to downplay his role in getting him the most awesome gift ever. Changing the subject, Jack asked, “Did you set up a time for me to meet your girlfriend yet?”
“Uh…no. Mary is real busy at work right now. They’re doing some kind of inventory, and she’s in charge of it. You’ll have to wait.”
“Maybe you should stay away from her until we see her in the sunlight.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“It’s not stupid to be cautious.” Jack didn’t know why he was ruini
ng the moment by bringing his suspicions up again, but he couldn’t stop himself. He wanted to grab Billy by the shoulders and shake him until his brain kicked in. The kid should understand more than anyone what was out there.
Jack slid the key into the ignition.
“If I start making myself unavailable to her, she’ll think something is wrong,” Billy said. “She might dump me and find someone else. Mary is the only girl I’ve ever felt this way about. I can’t take the chance of losing her. I won’t.”
“Tell her you’re sick then.”
“No.” Billy reached over and turned the key for Jack. The engine coughed a few times before starting. “Give it some gas.”
Jack pressed lightly on the pedal. Once the engine warmed up, it began to sound like it should. He smiled at his brother and asked, “You want to go for a drive?”
“There are people waiting inside for you.”
“We won’t be long. I want to see what this baby can do on the open road.”
“Maybe you should take Silver with you.” Billy’s eyes turned toward the house as if he could see through the walls. “Did something happen when she went to pick you up? She was acting kind of funny when she got back.”
Jack’s smile turned sheepish. “We had a fight.”
“Another one? You really need to learn how to handle women before you wind up old and alone.”
Right, like Billy was a master when it came to the opposite sex. Jack shut the engine down and pocketed the key. “It was just a simple misunderstanding. We can work it out… as soon as she let’s me talk to her again.”
“Don’t look now, but here’s your chance.” Billy got out of the car. He ducked his head in through the open window and warned, “Don’t blow it.”
Billy walked away, and that was when Jack got a glimpse of Silver. She was standing on the porch, looking as miserable as he felt. Billy said something as he walked past her. She nodded. The door closed behind Billy, leaving them alone to work things out… or not. Once Silver decided to move, she moved fast. She was inside the car and sitting next to him in a flash.
