Astoria: Secrets, Lies and Vampires

by Theiler, Donna

  After dinner Levi and Marie didn’t stay long and I was grateful. I needed to finish homework and get my clothes pack for my week at Evan’s. Gran seemed to have bought the story of me being at Sami’s for the week. She came upstairs and sat with me in my room while I packed my clothes.

  “Now you know if you need to or want to, you come home anytime.” Gran said as she watched me pack my clothes in my suitcase.

  “I know Gran.” I said as I looked at her with a smile. “But we have to study for our test that’s coming up.” I looked away as I said my last sentence. I didn’t want her to see the deceit in my eyes. I hated lying to her, but Evan felt this was the only way he could protect me until they could find Destiny and erase her memory.

  “I sure will miss you not being here.” She said. I could hear the hurt in her voice. And I felt horrible that I was lying to her. But this was for the best. If I wasn’t here, at least Gran was safe from Destiny also. Destiny wouldn’t find me here, which means she wouldn’t find Gran either. After I finished packing Gran helped me pick up the rest of my clothes I chose not to take with me and put them back away in my dresser drawers. After we were finished Gran was getting ready to walk out when she turned and said. “Since you won’t be here all week, how about you get up a little early in the morning and I will fix you your favorite breakfast?”

  “That sounds good.” I said as tears welled up in my eyes. This could be the last time I see my Grandmother. The Blake’s may never find Destiny in time before she kills me. So I wanted to spend as much time with Gran as I could. “Gran.” I said as she went to walk away. “I love you.”

  “I love you too dear.” Gran said as she walked back into my room and hugged me tight. “Night” she said as she walked out and closed my door. As my door shut I sat on my bed and I broke down in tears. Gran was the only family I had left and she meant everything to me. I would do whatever I needed to do to keep her safe, even if I had to pack up and leave Astoria with Evan and his family until they could find Destiny and erase her memory or even worst case scenario, kill her.

  Chapter 18

  The next day after school the same routine followed as we made our way to The Blake house. Once we were there Evan took my suitcase and took it and placed it in the guest bedroom. He looked at me and then began to speak “I still don’t like the fact that you will be in here alone.” He said as he shut the bedroom door so we could have some privacy.

  “But I am still safe here with you, and your family.” I said trying to be convincing. I still had my reservations about this whole situation and I didn’t feel safe anywhere.

  “I am going to talk to my mother, change her mind about me staying with you.” He said as he went to look out the window. He was making me nervous as he kept pacing the floors. “My father and Cameron are going out looking in a bit and won’t be coming back until they find her.”

  “Doesn’t your father have to work?” I asked as I sat on the bed.

  “He took time off from work.” now the guilt really hit me, Evan’s family was turning their life upside down to protect me. I looked down at my hands and started twisting them and I started to frown. “Emma, this was their choice. They love you also.”

  “How, they don’t even know me. You barely know me.” I said as I lay back on the bed and covered my face with my hands. I felt guilty as soon as I said the words. All The Blake’s were out risking their lives for me in one way or another and I was complaining about how they barely knew me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like it sounded.” I said as I uncovered my face with my hands. Evan came over and lay down on the bed bedside me.

  “Emma. I know I just met you. But I know you are the one. I don’t know how I know, but I just know. Us Vampire’s, just know.” He was now smiling as he was leaning over me. “Emma you are my life now. I know you are my purpose. My meaning.” Now the tears were flowing from my eyes. But they weren’t unhappy tears, they were happy tears. Evan leaned over and kissed me tenderly. I reached up and ran my hands in his hair and I kissed his lips. His body was next to mine as he was kissing me, and it caused my heart to beat faster as he slowly moved closer. My fingers ran freely through his hair as his hands ran down my arms tenderly, sending goose bumps through my body. His tender kiss and his cool touch made me long to have his body on top of mine, and I completely forgot about anyone else in the house. As Evan’s kisses got longer I pulled him on top of me, his body was strangely heavy. Almost like having a big boulder on top of you, but it wasn’t painful. Before I knew it I was trying to take off his shirt, I could feel the outline of his muscles under his shirt. I kept running my hands along his chest and arms as I kissed his lips, then his chest. Evan would groan and I would repeat the same process. Finally I got Evan’s shirt off and our make-out session was becoming more intense. Evan’s kisses were becoming more passionate and I matched his stride. I lost all sense where I was before a knock on the door brought me back to reality. “Evan, Emma.” It was Grace. Evan jumped up, and before I could even sit up Evan was standing and had his shirt on. I guess being a Vampire had its advantages. Evan looked over at me to make sure I hadn’t taken any of my clothes off before he answered.

  “Yes mom?” His voice squeaked when he spoke. Grace opened the door, and I was sure she knew what was going on prior to her knocking.

  “I just wanted to ask what you wanted for dinner?” she asked as she looked at Evan suspiciously. My face turned scarlet red and I walked towards the window so I could hide my beet red face. I pretended as though I was looking for Destiny. Anything to hide from Grace what Evan and I had had almost done.

  “Emma, anything special you want?” Evan asked. I just shook my head as I kept my gaze towards the forest outside. “Whatever you want to fix mom.” Evan said. I didn’t know how he could face her. I was dying from embarrassment and he was as calm as could be. After Grace walked out Evan walked over to me and put his arms around my waist as I stood looking out at the forest before me. “Are you okay?” he asked as we both looked out over at the green mossy forest. I nodded my head and kept staring ahead. “You know my mom likes you?” he said as I felt his face turn in to a smile. I could tell the thought made him happy. “She knows eventually we may have sex Emma. Payton and Everett have sex. They even share a bedroom” His words caused me to turn towards him, looking at him confusingly. I wasn’t disagreeing with him. I knew eventually we would have sex. What confused me was, Grace allowed Payton and Everett to have sex, but yet she wouldn’t even let Evan and I sleep in the same room this week. “She just doesn’t want to break her promise to your Grandmother.” He said.

  “Oh.” I said, relieved that that was the reasoning behind Grace’s demand that we not share a room.

  “Come on. Let’s go see what everyone else is up too.” He said as he reached for my hand and led me out of the room I would be calling home for the next week.

  The large family room held two large bookcases that held hundreds of books that I hadn’t noticed before. The large flat screen was hanging from the wall just above the fireplace, that I am sure they never used since Vampire never got cold. The over sized sectional couch was large enough that the whole family could sit and watch movies comfortably. Which I’m not even sure they even did. I’d have to ask Evan later when we were alone. None of the Blake siblings were in the family room so Evan and I went towards the kitchen, were we could hear noise coming from. As we walked through the entrance Payton and Grace was busy cooking dinner.

  “Hey guys.” Payton said with a grin as if she knew what we had been up to earlier. “How about we watch movies all night?” she asked. There was my answer for the movies question I thought. I nodded my head as Evan looked at me.

  “I guess that’s a yes then.” Evan replied. “Mom. Has dad and Cameron already left?” he asked with concern in his eyes.

  “Yes. They left a bit ago. While you were in Emma’s room.” she responded, looking at us with a strange look. I knew the response was a jab at what Evan and I had been a
lmost caught doing. Payton let out a small chuckle and went about cooking dinner. So Payton must have known what we were up to too. Or was I just being paranoid?

  “Can I help you with anything?” I asked. Trying to get the focus off of Evan and I and what almost happen in that guest room.

  “It’s okay, we got this. You should spend some time with Evan.” Payton said. I wonder if she meant it as if this could be my last time with him after Destiny was finished with me. The thought caused a chill to run down my spine. Looking up at Evan as if to ask what he wanted to do, Evan quickly ushered out of the room.

  “C’mon we need time alone.” He said as he led me back to my room. As we walked in he shut the door behind us, this time making sure he locked it behind him. I sat in the edge of the bed to scared to lay back incase Grace was creeping about outside the doorway again. “Things got a little out of control a bit ago huh?” he asked.

  “Just a little.” I said as I twisted my hands in knots. I was nervous but I also wanted to repeat what had previously happened in here a short time ago.

  “I’m sorry, I will never let things go that far again.” Before he could continue I stopped him.

  “No!” I yelled, not meaning to be as loud as I was. Evan looked surprised as I moved towards him. “I wanted it to happen. Well, I didn’t want your mom to catch us.” I said with a small smile. “But everything else, I wanted to happen. Maybe not right now, but eventually I want to make love to you, when the time is right.” I said as Evan’s face lit up.

  “Emma I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

  “I don’t.” I said as I looked at him to reassure him. Evan smiled and leaned in to kiss me. “I love you.” He said as he kissed my lips lightly. “As soon as this is over I am going to make it my life’s mission to prove to you how much you mean to me.” All I could do was smile, because I couldn’t believe that I was going to make it out of this mess alive.

  Dinner was homemade lasagna and salad with Grace’s homemade salad dressing. Even though I didn’t have much of an appetite I tried to eat a little bit. I didn’t want to hurt Grace’s feelings since she worked hard on dinner. The dinner conversation was kept small. I only spoke when I was spoken too, and that was hardly at all. I guess everyone knew I was on edge with a crazy Vampire out to kill me and all. After dinner we all gathered in the family room to watch a movie. Payton seemed to be the leader of the group and I assumed she was the one who led the family on the nights they watched movies previously. “So, since Emma is our guest she gets to pick the movie.” She said as she opened up the large cabinet underneath the book shelve that look to have held hundreds of movies. My eyes opened wide.

  “Um, it doesn’t matter. You can pick.” I said, Payton clapped her hands excitedly at the thought she got to pick the family night movie. I picked my seat on the over sized sectional and Evan sat next to me taking my hand in his. Payton looked up after picking her movie and gave us a smile. “Aw you guys are so cute together.” She said as she stood up to put the movie in the dvd player. I couldn’t believe I was actually sitting here going to watch a movie while my life hung in the balance. But I guess there wasn’t anything else we could do, Destiny was nowhere to be found at the moment and at least I was safe and with Evan. And right now that was fine by me. Payton picked a movie I had never even heard of, and I wasn’t really paying much attention to it. My mind kept racing with the thoughts of Destiny and my future demise. The thought occurred to me, if I became a Vampire, I could protect not only myself, but Evan too. I wondered if Evan ever considered that idea. As the evening wore on, half way through the movie I continued to look over at Evan until he finally grabbed my hand and led me out of the room to my guest room I was occupying for the week. He sat me on the bed, sitting next to me as he spoke. “Are you okay baby?” he asked as he took my hand to his mouth and kissed my hand. I wanted to run my idea by him but I was scared. “Emma, you can tell me.” I was shaking my head not wanting him to know what I was thinking. “What is it?” he asked looking at me with his eyes glaring into mine.

  “Have you considered, maybe, changing me?” I winced at the words as they came out. Evan jumped to his feet as he began to yell.

  “AB-SO-LUT-LY NOT” his words were clear. “No way!” he was running his hands through his hair as he paced the floors.

  “I could help protect you Evan.” I proclaimed.

  “Forget it Emma, that’s not going to happen.” He was still yelling and pacing the floor as he had his hands in his hair.

  “Okay.” I said, my voice only a whisper now. As I dropped my head, Evan noticed and walked over to the bed and sat back down.

  “I’m sorry I yelled. That just isn’t an option.” He said as he took his hand and cupped my chin to tilt my head to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry, okay?” he said now trying to get me to accept his apology.

  “Okay.” I said as I put my arms around his neck and hugged him. “I just wanted to help.” I said as I squeezed tighter.

  “I know baby. Just let my family and me take care of this okay?” I nodded and Evan squeezed me tighter. “Try to get some sleep baby.” Evan said as we lay down on the bed. We lay there the rest of the night in each other’s arms. Grace never came in my room to protest Evan’s present in my room that night. For that I was truly grateful. Without Evan there I didn’t think I would have even slept at all. When I woke the next morning I felt as though I had slept a full eight hours.

  “Sleep well?” Evan asked as he looked out the large window towards the open forest.

  “Yeah I did.” I said as he turned to look at me. I realized I must look a mess this morning so I quickly tried to comb out my hair with my fingers. Evan came to sit by my side. “You look beautiful.” He said with a smile. I didn’t want to talk too much since I hadn’t brushed my teeth this morning, and I guess Evan noticed. “I will let you get cleaned up. I’ll meet you downstairs.” he said as he leaned in and kissed my forehead. After Evan left I went into the guest bathroom that was in my room. I showered and got dressed for the day. Before I went downstairs I stood in front of the large mirror and wondered to myself what did Evan see in me? I wasn’t sure. And I wasn’t sure how things would go from this point on, but I was going to make sure that Evan and I would somehow make it through this, together. Nothing was going to separate us if I had anything to do with it.

  Chapter 19

  The weekend was pretty uneventful, besides the occasional wrestling match between Evan and Everett. Grace would come racing in the room like any concerned mother would do, but to my surprise it was to bet Payton who would win the current match. As Evan and Everett tumbled to the sofa, tossing the throw pillows on the ground as they rough house about, Payton running over to pull the coffee table out of the way, and I was sure it was so it did not get broken, not because she was afraid her brother or boyfriend would be hurt if they accidently fell upon it. As Everett would pin Evan to the ground, Evan would let a low growl out through his teeth. Everett would let him up and the round would start all over again. Evan would rush at Everett knocking Everett to the ground, both boys crashing hard on the floor. I would winch each time at the pain I assumed they were feeling, forgetting both boys were part Vampire and that they didn’t feel pain like humans do. Evan would grab Everett by the throat tossing him in the air and then across the room. Everett would bounce up right away with grace as if Evan’s attempt of assault was un-effective and laugh as he moved towards Evan again in attempt to win the next round. But it always seemed to end the same way, Everett always winning the match with Evan underneath of him, and Evan getting up with the same look of defeat on his face. After an hour of the two boys wrestling about on the family room floor Grace finally put an end to the two’s rough housing and told them to clean their mess up. Evan and Everett stopped mid stride and began to put everything in its place just as Grace had told them. After the family room was back in order Payton went over to Everett and kissed him softly on the lips, and turned to Evan and stuck her tongue out
at him, as if to rub it in his face that Everett was stronger than he was. Evan didn’t acknowledge her as he turned to me and kissed my forehead. Payton let out a giggle and then took Everett’s hand and led him off to their bedroom. We wouldn’t see them again until it was time to eat.

  Grace kept herself busy in the kitchen all weekend cooking and cleaning up after her large meals she fed her overly hungry family. Everett and Evan could really put away the food. I was shocked to see them both eat as much as they did. Grace made enough food at breakfast, lunch and dinner to feed a small army. And the snacks in between made my dinners I normally ate look like small potatoes. Evan said they were eating a lot more human food to keep their strength up since they were unable to go out and hunt animals. Payton didn’t eat nearly as much as Everett or Evan, she said she was watching her weight and giggled as she put her plate in the sink. I looked at Evan and asked did Vampires get fat, with a look of seriousness on my face. Everett laughed and called me a dork. Evan punched him in the arm and then they were off to the family room for another round of wrestling, I was hoping Evan was defending my honor for the comment Everett made to me. But I wasn’t sure. I always made sure to offer to help with the dishes and any other chore, but Grace wouldn’t hear of it and always guided me back to the family room or where ever Evan was and told me to enjoy my time with him.

  Evan spent the night in my room the entire weekend, I would sleep under the blankets and he would sleep on top. But he would always sleep right next to me with his arms around me. And was always a perfect gentleman, I waited for Grace to protest on the subject, barge into my room, dragging him out by the hair of his head, but she never did. On Monday morning when I awoke, I woke to find that Evan wasn’t next to me. I sat upright in bed in a panic. “Evan?” I called out. My heart started to race. I don’t know why I was so nervous. This was the safest I had felt since the first day I learned Destiny was after me.