by Lana Melyan
“It’s all right. You’re overwhelmed, you’re angry, I understand that.”
“I’m not angry. I’m just trying to explain . . . Eleanor, I can give you many things, I can give you anything you want, but your pregnancy—it is something what you would never have with me. You are going to have a child—how can I be angry about that?”
“Is that true?” Tears started dropping from her eyes again. “I mean, could you really give me anything I want?”
“Anything. Eleanor, what do you want?”
She looked at him with eyes full of pain.
“Eleanor, just tell me what do you want.”
“I want you.”
“Eleanor.” The wave of emotions swept over Craig.
He kissed her wet eyes, his lips slipped down to her smooth cheek, and then he felt the tender push of her lips to his.
10
TODAY
None of the six locations Craig checked had matched the description, and he was driving back. He wondered what excuse Hanna and Ruben had come up with in order to keep Amanda and Kimberly close by.
He drove into the garage. Amanda’s car was parked on the driveway. Craig looked at the kitchen window, but low sun reflected in it so brightly that he barely saw the frames.
“Craig, you’re back,” said Hanna the moment he showed up in the kitchen doorway.
“Hi,” said Craig.
“Hi,” chorused the others.
Ruben, who was bent over staring into the laptop screen with Kimberly, straightened and looked at Craig with an unspoken question in his eyes. Craig shook his head slightly and Ruben nodded, pressing his lips together.
“What are you up to, guys?” asked Craig.
“We’re making dinner,” said Hanna.
Craig looked at Amanda, who tortured a tomato, trying to cut it for salad.
“Do you want to help us?” asked Hanna. “I’m putting the fish in the oven, Kimberly and Ruben are looking for a sauce recipe, and you can help Amanda cut the vegetables. Then maybe we’ll be able to use them today.”
“Hey, I’m doing my best.” Amanda looked up at Craig, smiling, and he smiled, too.
“I’ll be back in a minute, I’m just going to take a quick shower,” he said. As he turned around, he knew Amanda was watching him. Those brown eyes were always watching him when he wasn’t looking. And he wanted to look back so badly.
He had waited all this time, but he couldn’t and he didn’t have to stay away from her any longer. She wasn’t a child anymore, she was eighteen. He wanted her to know who she was first, and there weren’t many days left until she would find out. But he couldn’t let, in that short time, somebody like Alec Stafford win her heart because he was there for her, because he didn’t ignore her, or because she didn’t want to be alone. Craig wouldn’t avoid her anymore. He would start with small steps.
After the shower, he pulled on a fresh shirt and hurried downstairs. Ruben and Kimberly had found a recipe and stood beside the oven, looking into a small saucepan, talking and giggling. Hanna was taking out plates and glasses, and Amanda had advanced to cutting a cucumber.
“Let me help you,” said Craig, taking the knife out of her hand.
“Thank you, you’re a savior,” said Amanda with relief.
Craig felt her eyes on him. He looked at her and their eyes met.
“Guys.” Hanna turned to them. “Are you done with—” But she didn’t finish. She looked at Ruben, who was staring at Amanda and Craig, too. “It’s okay,” she said, grinning, “The sauce isn’t ready yet.”
Amanda looked away.
“Yes, it is,” said Kimberly, trying the sauce from the tip of the spoon. “And it’s even edible.”
Craig quickly sliced the cucumber.
“We’re done, too,” he said, shifting the vegetables into a bowl.
“It was nice, we should do it more often,” said Hanna as the girls were leaving after dinner.
“Thanks guys.” Kimberly turned to Ruben. “I had a really nice time.”
“I’ll drive you home,” said Ruben, already holding Craig’s car keys.
“Come back soon.” Hanna gave him a look. “Don’t make your girlfriend jealous.”
“You have a girlfriend?” asked Kimberly.
“I have a girlfriend?” Ruben asked, raising his eyebrows. “I did, but she got old and died.” He looked at Hanna with a teasing smile. “Like the rest of them.”
“Your cousin is so funny,” Kimberly laughed.
To Craig, it sounded like a splash of relief. He chuckled along, looking as Hanna gazed back angrily.
“Hanna, can I have my car keys?” asked Amanda.
Hanna dug them up from her bag and glanced at Craig. He took them.
“I’ll drive you.” He put his hand around Amanda’s waist and led her outside.
She shivered slightly at his touch.
“Craig, it’s my car, I know how to drive it,” she said.
Craig didn’t react to her statement. “Ruben, pick me up on your way back,” he said to Ruben, who already stood beside the jeep.
“He doesn’t know where I live,” said Amanda.
“Ask Kimberly,” he added to Ruben without looking at him, then opened the passenger door and said, “You can’t go home alone, it’s too late.”
“Even by car?”
“Even by car. What is it, Amanda? You don’t want me to drive you? Then Hanna can.”
“No. You know that’s not it.” Her eyes looked deep into his.
“I know,” said Craig softly.
“It’s just . . . you’re too worried.”
“I am,” he sighed.
They got in the car and took off.
It was almost midnight, and the streets were dark and empty. Craig’s eyes were fixed on the road. He wondered how he could tell Amanda that she was in danger without scaring her.
“You didn’t have to ask Ruben to come after you. You could go back in my car,” said Amanda.
“No, your car has to stay in front of your house. Don’t drive it. Don’t go anywhere alone.”
If those vampires had orders to abduct her, even those few steps from the car to the door were too risky.
“What is it, Craig? Is this because of those two guys?”
“Yes. Tomorrow Hanna will pick you up.”
“Is her car fixed already?”
“It wasn’t broken.”
“She lied to me?” Amanda shook her head. “Why?”
“Because I told her to, and because she’s trying to protect you,” said Craig calmly.
“How can Hanna protect me from two guys?”
“She can, she knows how.”
“What about Kimberly?”
“As you can see,” Craig could not help but smile, “Ruben is watching after her.”
“Is that what he’s doing?” Amanda smiled, too. “Wait. Hanna said her car was broken before we went to the lake, before she saw those guys.”
“That was extra precaution. We know who those guys are and we knew that they would come.”
“What do they want?”
“Sorry, I can’t tell you more. But I’ll tell you again—don’t go anywhere alone. Stick with Hanna and Ruben and listen to them, please, they know what they’re doing.” Craig couldn’t resist; he took her hand. “I don’t want to scare you,” he said after a short silence, “I just want you to be careful.”
“I am not scared, Craig. I just don’t understand what’s going on.”
Craig parked the car in front of the porch and turned to her.
“Everything’s going to be all right. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Their eyes met, but Amanda didn’t blush and look down like last time; this time she held his gaze.
“I know,” she whispered. “Though I don’t know why. All this time, you haven’t even noticed I exist.”
“That’s not true.” Craig looked away. He didn’t know what to say. He did avoid her, and if now he said she was the
most important thing in his life, it would sound like empty words.
“That means I must be in real danger,” said Amanda, and in the light of the streetlamp, Craig could see her pupils dilate. “But I’m not afraid,” she continued. “Somehow I know you'll do anything to keep me safe. It’s important.”
Those words made Craig’s heart jerk. He leaned forward, and took her by her arms.
“We will.”
Amanda’s eyes froze.
“Craig, I feel weird. It’s like I know something, but I don’t know what it is.”
He hugged her and kissed her temple. He knew he was the one that brought up those feelings by getting closer to her.
“Kimberly has nothing to do with this. They’re after me, aren’t they?” she whispered into his ear. “They need something from me.” She pulled back. “What do they want, Craig?”
But Craig didn’t say anything. His heart trembled, and only one thought pulsed in his head: it’s her, it’s really her.
Ruben stopped the car in front of Kimberly’s house. They had chatted the whole way, but suddenly an uncomfortable silence fell between them. Just to break it, he said, “Your parents are probably waiting for you,” and glanced at the windows.
A lonely dim light shone from the entrance hall.
“No. They’re not home,” Kimberly said. “They left today with my little brother to visit my stepfather’s parents.”
“And you didn’t go with them?”
“No. I never do.”
She smiled, but Ruben heard sad notes in her voice.
“You’re alone, and you’re not having a party?”
“This is my stepfather’s house. He would never allow it.”
“I’m sorry,” said Ruben.
“I’m not. I had a very nice evening with my friends, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
“I had a nice time, too,” said Ruben, looking into her dark glittering eyes. And it wasn’t difficult to understand what they were telling him, what she expected him to do next, what any other guy would do.
But it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Ruben wasn’t an ordinary guy, and Kimberly was Hanna’s friend. Ruben looked down at her lips and then his eyes moved up again. He pushed back her smooth ginger hair with his fingertips and kissed her cheek.
“Good night, Kimberly,” he said.
The gleam in her eyes extinguished.
“Good night, Ruben,” she said quietly and got out of the car. But then she turned around. “We’re going to this party tomorrow. Would you like to come . . . with me?”
“With pleasure.” Ruben was glad that she still wanted to see him.
She walked to the house, and he watched her until her long ginger hair disappeared behind the door. Then he sighed and drove away.
When Ruben arrived at Amanda’s place, he saw Craig and Amanda standing beside the car. He turned off the engine, not wanting to rush them.
“Ruben is here.” He heard Amanda’s voice through his open car window. “Go, don’t worry, I feel better now.”
But Craig didn’t move.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t . . .”
“No, it’s not your fault. I had those dreams and I always knew they had a meaning, that they were trying to tell me something, and the things I said… It came to me when I looked into your eyes. You just made it clear that you’re a part of them.”
“I’ll keep my distance if you want.”
“No. I think I know why you’ve been avoiding me all this time. It’s because of your secret. I still don’t know what it is, but at least I know you had a reason. It makes me feel better.”
Craig nodded and bowed his head. They stood in silence for a few seconds, and then Amanda said, “Good night, Craig,” and went inside.
Ruben hadn’t meant to listen, but it was so quiet outside that he heard every word. She knew something, and now he was curious how much.
“What happened?” he asked the moment Craig sat in the car.
“She knows,” muttered Craig, still immersed in his thoughts.
“Knows what?”
“She doesn’t know who she is or what her mission is, but she knows that they’re after her, that what they want from her is important. She also knows we’ll protect her.”
“But how? What did you say?”
“Nothing. She just looked into my eyes and started talking.”
“Then you were right; it is her.” Ruben swallowed. If he had doubts before, now the comprehension that everything was going to change hit him.
“Yes,” said Craig, “it is her.”
Ruben saw the bliss in his eyes.
The light in her father’s study was on.
“Hi, Dad,” Amanda said, leaning on the doorway.
“Hi,” he said, taking off his glasses.
“You shouldn’t have waited up,” said Amanda, looking at her dad’s tired face. “I sent you a message. You knew I’d be late.”
“It’s all right. I needed to get some work done, anyway,” he said, closing the laptop. “How did it go? Was the dinner nice?”
“Yes.” Amanda smiled. “Thanks to Melinda. I don’t even know how to cut vegetables properly. But I got help from Hanna’s brother.”
“Hanna’s brother? The guy who just drove you home again?”
“Dad,” Amanda raised her brow. “Were you. . . ?”
“No, of course not. I heard the car, and when I saw that you were not alone . . .” he said haltingly. “He seems attentive to you. Does he like you?”
“You don’t have to worry, nothing is going on. He’s a very noble guy.”
“Okay, then,” said her father, turning off the table lamp. “It’s time to sleep.” He put his hand around Amanda’s shoulders, and they left the room.
“Dad, did we have psychics in our family?” Amanda asked, making it sound like an innocent curiosity.
“Psychics? I don’t think so. Why?”
“What about dreams? Did you ever have predicting dreams?”
“I had one before your mom died. And your dream, when you told it, sounded familiar, and then I remembered I had a dream like it when I was about your age. I remember the house, and the fountain outside.”
“Yes, that’s right,” said Amanda, getting excited.
“And there were books in the house.”
“Books?”
“Yes. There was a room, a library, and one of the books was very interesting. It had an iron cover and a lock on the side. I tried to open it, but I couldn’t.”
“Book,” said Amanda, trying to remember.
“I don’t know if it was a predicting dream, but if you had the same one, then maybe it means something.”
“It definitely does. I just don’t know what,” she said, opening her bedroom door. “Good night, Dad.”
“Good night, honey,” he said.
Amanda walked to her dresser and took a picture of her with her young mother out of a drawer. She was nine years old when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Everything happened quickly, and two months later, she died. Nine years had passed, but Amanda’s memories about her were still vivid; her soft touch, her beautiful smile, her tender voice, and cookies. Amanda still remembered that delicious smell of baking coming from the house when her mother made those oblong, straw-colored cookies that melted in your mouth.
Amanda also remembered the day when she saw a woman she didn’t recognize sitting beside her mother’s bed at the hospital, telling her something quietly. When the woman left, her mother told her father that after her death, she wanted him to hire the woman until Amanda turned eighteen.
He did as his wife had asked, and they had never been sorry. Melinda took good care of both of them and the house. She was always there when they needed her, and after nine years, she had become part of the family. Only one question bothered Amanda: why did her mother want Melinda to stay until she’d turned eighteen? Was it Melinda’s condition or hers? And what would happen now? Was Melinda going to leave them?
Amanda hoped that Melinda would stay. After she got into college she would have to move. It would give her peace of mind knowing that her father was not alone.
She put the picture back and sat on the bed.
Something had happened tonight, something important, and Craig and Hanna were part of it. All this time, Hanna had known about these guys from the lake, she knew that they would come, and she didn’t tell Amanda anything. Why? And what was that important thing they wanted her to do? Who the hell were they?
She subconsciously ran her index finger around the coin on her bracelet. She couldn’t think of anything in her life that could bring about this mysterious stir around her. She wasn’t even a member of any school club or any organization which could’ve attracted to her such unwanted attention.
She looked at the bracelet, and her finger stopped moving. The same warm feeling which she’d experienced when she looked at Craig’s eyes washed over her. Craig. It had something to do with Craig. She didn’t know what. It was as if somebody wiped her memory but left behind this brewing mixture of feelings, making her whole body groan.
She lay down on the bed, closed her eyes, and touched the spot on her head where Craig had kissed her. They had been so close today. She even felt his heartbeat when he hugged her. Did he really like her, or was his behavior the result of his concern for her? Or maybe it had something to do with his secret? She always thought he was special, different. To her, Craig himself was some kind of secret. Was she about to uncover it, to find out what made him avoid her all this time?
Amanda was tired, and all these questions made her dizzy. She pulled the blanket over herself and, recalling the pleasant feeling of Craig’s arms around her, fell asleep.
11
YEAR 1833-1834
Craig and Eleanor tried to be together as often as was possible. They left notes for each other inside a hollow tree on a forest path where Eleanor usually went for a walk. Eleanor wrote to him about the day and time when she would be able to come to the lodge, and Craig let her know when he needed to leave with the others to hunt.
