Eternal Changes (Mikah)

by Tiffany Berry

  Jayde was a free spirit. She was elegant, funny, and she gave beautiful a whole new meaning. She had broken away from the Haemon when Talmadge did and she was one of the oldest vampires of the Dragomir clan. It sometimes seemed like Jayde was still stuck in the century she was born by the way she dressed. She wore long, flowing skirts and never, ever wore pants.

  “In all seriousness, how was your day with the humans?” Jayde asked as she followed Ashton down that cave’s path. “I’m sure it had to be entertaining.”

  “Some of it was amusing and some of it was irritating.” Ashton thought about Alexis and shuddered. “I had to compel one girl in order for her to leave me alone.”

  “Oooh, she thought you were handsome. You could’ve been her Prince Charming with fangs!” Jayde said as she bent forward, holding her sides as she laughed. “Now that’s classic. A Prince Charming who’d say, ‘I vant to suck your blood’ instead of, ‘I love you’.”

  Ashton stopped in his tracks and looked over at Jayde. She had red tears rolling down her face as she laughed hysterically at her own joke. “I swear, you’re the corniest vampire I’ve ever met,” he said as he gently nudged her.

  Jayde wiped the last of the tears from her eyes and straightened up. “I can’t help it, Ash. I’d just watched Dracula and I a picture flitted through my mind of you saying, ‘I vant to suck your blood’ when you said that.” An exaggerated sigh left Jayde’s lips. “God, I love vampire movies. They’re classic. I think I’m going to watch Underworld tonight.” She looked over at Ashton. “You up for watching it?”

  Ashton glanced over at Jayde as he opened the door to one of the large entertainment rooms. “I can watch one movie. Then I need to get some sleep since I have to be up during the day tomorrow.”

  “That’s right. You can’t be late for school,” Jayde said as she followed him into the room. A pensive look crossed her face. “I wonder when they’ll have school pictures. We can have some fun with that.”

  Inside the room, Chloe was beating Landyn at a game of pool. Black leather pants clung to Landyn like a wet suit and his blonde hair was sticking in every direction in a bunch of little spikes. Landyn was leaning against the wall, a frown contorting his facial features, as Chloe took the next shot. His frown deepened and his grey eyes narrowed to tiny slits as Chloe sunk another ball into the side pocket.

  “I swear you’re using your powers, which would be called something…” Landyn told Chloe as he moved away from the wall. “Oh, yeah, I remember now. Let me spell it out for you. It’s called, C-H-E-A-T-I-N-G.”

  “Puh-lease. If I was using my powers, you’d be able to sense it,” Chloe retorted as she brushed a piece of her red hair out of the way and bent forward to take her next shot. “You just don’t want to admit that this little Vampette’s slaughtering you at a game of pool.”

  Landyn rolled his eyes. “You need to get off of the whole Vampette thing. I can understand why the human women had feminist movements, but the whole Vampette thing is uncalled for,” Landyn said as he studied the balls on the pool table. Chloe had finally missed a shot, giving him a chance to play catch up.

  “I just think it’s a cute nickname for women vampires. It sounds empowering and it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it, Jayde.” Chloe said as she leaned against the wall to watch Landyn.

  Jayde sat down on one of the red barstool chairs near the pool table. “It definitely has a pretty sweet ring to it,” Jayde agreed. “I can almost hear a crowd chanting, “Vampettes! Vampettes!”

  Landyn rolled his eyes and leaned over the pool table to take his next shot. The white cue ball hit the solid red number three billiard ball causing it to glide across the green table, towards the corner pocket. The ball came to a stop mere inches from its intended target. “You’ve got to be KIDDING me!” Landyn uttered in disbelief as he tossed his pool stick down. “This whole game is ridiculous.”

  Chloe sashayed her way back to the table to finish the game. She walked around the table, looking at every angle. She leaned across the table, with her pool stick in position to hit the cue ball. A loud clack echoed in the room as the cue ball struck the black eight ball. Chloe’s happy scream pierced the air as the eight ball clunked into the corner pocket. “And that’s how it’s done, my boy,” Chloe purred as she moved towards Landyn. “I can give you some lessons, if you want.”

  Landyn glared at Chloe as he whizzed by her and headed out of the room.

  “I’ll catch you all later,” Chloe said as she turned and followed Landyn with a twinkle in her chocolate brown eyes. Ashton and Jayde could hear Chloe tormenting Landyn as the two headed down the corridor. Their voices slowly faded away.

  Ashton walked over to the plush sectional in front of the big screen TV and plopped down. Jayde climbed down off the cherry oak barstool. Her high heels clicked on the cavern floor with every step as she headed towards the couch. She took the seat next to Ashton and used her telekinesis powers to levitate the TV remote to her.

  “So, you haven’t said too much about the Halfling we’re protecting. What’s she like?” Jayde asked as she turned the TV on. She turned the volume down as she flipped through the channels.

  “I don’t really know how to explain what Lucy’s like,” Ashton said as he thought about Lucy. “She knows that she’s different, but she doesn’t know why. She just thinks she’s a freak and there’s no one else like her in the world.”

  “Well, we’ve all been in her shoes, haven’t we?” Jayde murmured.

  “Yeah, but she doesn’t know that,” Ashton said as he leaned his head back onto the couch and stared at the ceiling. “Do you have any idea why the Daroch would be interested in protecting Lucy?”

  Jayde look at Ashton stunned. “How do you know the Daroch have her under their protection?”

  Ashton turned his head to look at Jayde. “The first day I started protecting her, she went for a walk through the woods. She kept looking back as if she knew someone was following her, but she never saw anything. I’d originally assumed it was me that was causing her to look back, but then I saw a flash of a golden tail from the brush beneath me.”

  Jayde’s eyebrows knitted together. “Which one of the Daroch was it?”

  “It was Malachi,” Ashton said as he rubbed his forehead. “I had asked him why he was following her and he pretty much told me it was none of my business. He didn’t hesitate to tell me that she’s under their protection. It just makes absolutely no sense to me why the Daroch would have one of their own leave Euphranor to protect one of our Halflings.”

  “Have you told Talmadge about them?” she asked.

  “Yeah. He kind of brushed it off. I feel like he knows what’s going on, but is holding it from us,” Ashton replied.

  “If he’s withholding anything from us, it’s for a good reason, Ash,” Jayde said as she turned the TV to Teen Mom 2. “Let’s watch some mind numbing TV. My brain is starting to hurt from thinking too much.”

  Ashton stared at the TV. “Seriously? Teen Mom 2? That’s the best mind numbing show you could pick?” He shook his head in disgust. “What happened to watching Underworld?”

  “Underworld is now out. It’ll have to wait for another night. Plus, I think it’s amusing watching these young human girls.” Jayde shrugged her shoulders as she propped her feet up on the footstool. “When I was a fledgling, I’d picked my share of idiots.”

  Jayde stared up at the big screen TV as the young couple blew up at each other. The girl was crying as the boy stormed out of the house. A little boy with chubby cheeks and dark brown hair waddled around, clutching onto his bottle for dear life. His face was red and splotchy as he screamed. Jayde shook her head in disgust.

  “Do you think that they really believe that love’s supposed to be like that?” Ashton asked Jayde as they watched the show.

  Jayde thought about it for a minute before replying. “I don’t think they know any better. When all you’ve known is a bad relationship, you think that’s how every relationship is. Yo
u don’t realize that there’s something better out there. You don’t realize how love should be. You cling on to the one you supposedly “love” and the vicious cycle continues.”

  Jayde glanced over at Ashton, wondering what was going through that wonderful mind of his. One would think that after walking the Earth for so long that she’d be able to put her feelings out there, but Jayde’s heart had been stomped on one too many times.

  Jayde’s thoughts shifted to all of the relationships throughout her entire existence. Vampires were supposed to have one mate for all eternity, but finding them was near impossible. She wasn’t human, but she still longed to be loved. She wanted someone to share an eternity with. Hundreds of years had passed of walking the world with the constant ache of loneliness. Jayde always put on a smile and joked with her clan, but inside she was aching.

  “What are you thinking about?” Ashton asked as he touched Jayde’s leg. “You almost look sad.”

  Jayde brushed off the thoughts that were bringing her down and looked at the vampire she was in love with. “It’s nothing. You should probably get a bite to eat and hit the sack. You only have a couple of hours to get some shut eye.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Ashton said as he got up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Jayde pretended to watch the television as Ashton left the room. She leaned her head against the couch. Would she ever have the courage to let Ashton know how she felt?

  Jayde was pulled from her revelry as she heard footsteps coming towards the entertainment room. She hoped it was someone who could get her mind off of these depressing thoughts. A smile lit up her face as she heard McKaylin’s voice float through the air.

  “If it isn’t one of my favorite vampires of all time,” McKaylin said as she entered the room.

  Jayde turned around and looked at McKaylin. McKaylin’s leopard print leggings clung to her legs and her black shirt was fringed with gold. Her black high heels clicked across the hard floor as she walked towards Jayde.

  “Do you love the new hair?” McKaylin asked.

  Jayde smiled as she looked at McKaylin. McKaylin’s long black hair had a strip of red running through it on one side and a red and black feather hung from her hair on the other side. “Did you kill a bird to get one of those?” Jayde asked as she pointed to the feather.

  McKaylin’s eyes widened and her mouth popped open. “You didn’t just say that to me.”

  A giggle left Jayde’s lips. “I couldn’t help it.”

  “I’ll show you…” McKaylin said as she flew up and over the couch.

  Jayde laughed as McKaylin crashed into her. A loud thump echoed in the room as the fell to the floor. Their arms and legs flailed in the air.

  Jayde gently pushed at McKaylin. “Do you always have to be so wild?”

  McKaylin’s blue eyes twinkled with amusement. “Yep,” she said as she sat up. “It’s one of the reasons I’m your best friend.”

  Jayde rolled her eyes. “If you say so.”

  “So, what are our plans for tonight?” McKaylin asked as she slid her hair behind her ears.

  “Well, I was going to have an Underworld movie night marathon until Ashton killed the mood.”

  Understanding dawned in McKaylin’s eyes. “You still haven’t told him.”

  Jayde had a guilty look on her face as she looked into her friends brown eyes.

  “You’ve been in love with him for the past ten years!” McKaylin exclaimed throwing up her hands.

  “Shhh! You’re the only one who knows,” Jayde said as she tried to hush her friend.

  “Well, anyone who has a set of eyes can see it except for Captain Oblivious,” McKaylin disagreed before dropping the subject. “So, how about we forget about dumb male vampires and we take a stroll down the streets of a small German town tonight?”

  Jayde looked over at McKaylin. “What town do you’ve in mind?”

  McKaylin smiled. “I was thinking Speicher. There’s a festival going on tonight. We can find a couple of drunken hot guys.”

  Jayde didn’t need to think about it long. Anything was better than sitting on the couch dwelling on her feelings over a vampire who didn’t even realize she existed. She’d a soft spot for Germany and McKaylin knew it.

  “Let’s roll,” Jayde told her friend as she closed her eyes and dissipated.

  Jayde opened her eyes a few seconds later as she solidified in a dark alley. McKaylin arrived shortly after she did. Red, green, yellow, and orange lights blinked not too far away from where they were.

  “Maybe I can find me a hot military man,” McKaylin joked. “There’s just something about a man in uniform.”

  Jayde and McKaylin walked out onto the cobblestone of the main street. Laughter rung through the streets as people enjoyed the festivities. A whirling sound captured Jayde’s attention. There were two lines of seats that people were strapped into as it moved in a circular motion. Screams pierced the air as the ride plummeted to the ground.

  Jayde walked past the ride as it rose back up into the air. She took in a deep breath as she caught the sweet scent of schwenkbraten. There was a small line coming from the vendor’s booth. Jayde sighed as she walked past it. The spices used on the pork smelled heavenly, but it wouldn’t fulfill her.

  “What about those two guys over there?” McKaylin asked as she pointed to two men sitting by the bumper cars. The lights outlining the ride flickered to the rhythm to the music.

  “Aww…a double date,” Jayde cooed. “It’ll be perfect.”

  Jayde and McKaylin sauntered over to their intended targets. They stood a few feet from them and waited. McKaylin twirled her black hair in-between her fingers. Jayde glanced over at the man with sandy brown hair. His hazel eyes widened as he nudged his blonde friend. A look of irritation flashed across the blonde’s face. The brunette leaned over, whispered in his ear, and pointed to where McKaylin and Jayde were standing. A smile lit up the blonde’s face as he looked at the two women.

  McKaylin crooked her finger and beckoned the men to come to her with a mere flick of her hand.

  Jayde laughed as the men jumped up and scrambled towards them. The sound of their footsteps running across the pavement mixed with the techno music.

  “How are you two fine young men doing this evening?” McKaylin asked in German.

  The blonde’s brown eyes skimmed over McKaylin. “We’re doing better now.”

  Jayde stepped into the brunette man and gently tugged on his blue shirt. “What’s your name?”

  His eyes widened. “It’s Christoph.” He jerked his head at the blonde. “His name’s Sasha.”

  McKaylin smiled up at the blonde. “Sasha, huh?”

  Sasha nodded. “Yes.”

  “I looove your name,” McKaylin purred as she rubbed her hand down Sasha’s sculpted chest. “How about you boys follow us? We’re gonna show you a good time.”

  McKaylin and Jayde spun around and walked towards a nearby alley.

  McKaylin and Jayde entered the shadows of the alley and waited for Sasha and Christoph. McKaylin pushed Sasha up against the building as he walked up to her. She leaned in against him and skimmed her nose against his neck.

  Jayde smiled at Sasha as he stepped into her. She shook her head in amusement as she looked at his outfit. His blue shirt had a black outline of a dragon on it and his turquoise pants didn’t match his shirt. Sasha smiled down at her as he pressed his body against her.

  Jayde looked deep into his eyes. “You’re going to think you had the best make out session of your life,” Jayde whispered. “Do you understand me?”

  Sasha nodded his head as Jayde pulled him in even closer. She gently bent his head exposing the soft flesh of his neck. Her fangs elongated as she delved in. The warm blood gushed into her mouth. Her veins sung as Sasha’s sweet blood rejuvenated her parched cells. She could feel the power build within her as she pulled more into her mouth. Jayde pulled away from him and waved her hand over the small pinpricks. The pinpricks closed and she
sent him on his way.

  Sasha stumbled over to Christoph and threw an arm over his shoulder. They swerved in and out as they walked out of the alley. Christoph shoved Sasha lightly and their laughter rung through the air as they left the alley.

  “Well, I’m sated,” McKaylin purred as she threw her arm around Jayde’s shoulders. “How about we kill the last couple of hours watching vampires fight werewolves?”

  “Underworld it is,” Jayde confirmed.

  Jayde looked over at her friend and smiled. McKaylin always knew how to put her back in a good mood. The night was turning out better than she’d thought it would.

  Chapter 7

  Deep in the belly of the Alabaster Caverns, Jaymes stirred to life as the sun set.

  “Do you think the Dragomir have already located what’s causing the power surges?” Ophelia asked as they left the caverns.