by Tara Chau
“I dare,” he says.
Gabe’s mouth closes on mine, using his tongue to separate my lips. I groan as he explores my mouth, letting him hold me tightly for a few more moments before jabbing him hard in the side. Gabe breaks away, his eyes gleaming with happiness and annoyance.
“Race you back,” I call, beginning to run.
The night air is refreshing. The houses and trees race by with impossible speed yet are clear to my eyes. I feel Gabe behind me, close, but not to the point of overtaking. He's going easy on me. I let an ecstatic whoop rip from my throat. It's joined by Gabe's within seconds. We run through the night, crying with joy through the neighbourhood. Flying through my balcony door, I crash onto the bed, causing pillows to fall and my quilt to slide halfway to the floor. I try breathing, concentrating on taking deep breathes as I wait for Gabe to enter.
Thirty seconds later, I get up, my laughing cut short as I walk back out, searching for him. My heart hammers against my ribs, breathing unsteady, but this time not from joy, but fear. Eyesight dulled in the night time, I depend on my hearing, trying to sense anything out of place or moving. The bushes rustle, which I mistake for an animal, only to then be tackled to the ground moments later. A rough hand is slapped over my mouth as I try to scream, squirming under its weight.
A soft chuckle rings in my ears before that familiar smooth voice cuts against my struggles.
“You really don’t do well with surprises, do you?” Gabe whispers obnoxiously in my ear.
He rises, dragging me up from the dew-covered grass, his grin bright against the night.
“You’re an asshole,” I snapped, shoving him to the side as I stride back into my room.
I hear the door close behind me and a chuckle accompanied by light footsteps as Gabe removes his shoes before walking over to take a seat on my desk chair as I go around picking up the fallen pillows. Suddenly my door swings open, revealing a very tired father. I watch in horror as he takes us both in, me preparing the bed and Gabe sitting, watching me closely. His eyes widen on assumption as he looks me over my flushed cheeks and ruffled clothes. Cheeks flushed from wind and laughing way too much. Ruffled clothes from running around, but most of it from trying to fight off Gabe when he was attempting to make me laugh further.
Dad’s gaze shifts to Gabe, who has now jumped up to a standing position, his eyes darting between looking at Dad and at the floor unsurely.
“Dad,” I begin, attempting to explain before he becomes worse than a bloody demon.
"It's twelve am, Dianna. Where have you been?” he demands.
Well, I can’t really tell him that I was out on a patrol, tasked with gathering information about a secret killing organisation made of bloodthirsty fictional characters. So, I say the first thing that can come to mind that won’t get both me and Gabe in trouble. Unfortunately, that causes a gap in the question and the answer that Dad mistakes for hesitation.
"I went for a walk to clear my head. Doing math is really frustrating, so I needed air. Then I thought I would go see Anne. She gave me a talk, calmed me down." Improvising, "I had dinner with her before I started walking home. These guys saw me and tried getting me to come with them. Gabe lives in that neighbourhood, and he saw me, help me out, and insisted on walking me the rest of the way home."
“I don’t believe you,” Dad says angrily, walking into my room to stand in front of me. “You’re lying to me.”
"I'm sorry, Sir," Gabe interrupts, "I was having some trouble, personal things, and she came out to help me. It took a bit longer than I thought, so I wanted to walk her back. The only reason we look like… this is because we raced back here,” he says, adding a little bit of truth. “She just lied so I wouldn’t get in any trouble. This is on me.”
I blink a few times, unable to believe that he can lie so easily. Not only can he wipe his face of emotion, but he can also fill it with false feelings. Dad seems to be taken back by this truth and Gabe's apologetic expression. It seems to make him relax a bit, but he takes steps towards Gabe. Even when Dad's standing tall, Gabe hunched into himself in fake regret. They're both equal in height.
"You make sure she's home before nine-thirty, every night, even on weekends,” Dad warns, seeming satisfied when Gabe shrinks into himself a little further. Not enough to seem cowardly, but enough to give Dad the sense of control. I almost want to laugh. He has no idea that acting is all part of my and Gabe's profession. Dad turns back to me, looking me up and down one more time before walking back to the door.
“Dianna, you’re grounded,” he says coolly, like it will make it hurt any less.
“What?” I protest, “For how long?”
“Three weeks,” he nods, "A week for each hour past curfew. That's how it's going to be from now on."
“Fine,” I grumble, chucking the last pillow back onto the bed aggressively.
"And you," Dad says, looking to Gabe, who is still skilfully standing there regretfully. I hold my breath, "go home, now."
Gabe nods slowly, again not too slow like he isn't going to, but not fast enough to let Dad know he couldn't wait. "Yes, Sir."
“I told you to call me Henry,” Dad reminds.
“Sorry, Henry,” Gabe says hesitantly. “Thank you for being so understanding about this.”
“No problem, kid,” Dad replies, emphasising the word kid.
After looking at us both again, he turns and walks away, leaving my door wide open. The both of us wait until even we can’t hear Dad before relaxing ourselves. I break into a huge grin, looking to Gabe to share my amusement. Gabe simply stares back at me, his face a mask of relief.
“Drop the act Gabe, he’s gone,” I assure, sighing.
“No act, you’re grounded, Di,” he says, sitting back down.
“Well, I can’t help that. We were doing actual good work,” I state.
“We were, then we started messing around,” Gabe says, standing up to gather his shoes.
“Are you really leaving?” I ask.
“Yeah…” he says, eyebrow raised in question.
“Fine,” I mumble.
“You’re grounded,” he says, slipping on his boots. "And you're not allowed visitors over when you are. Have you never done this before?"
“Yes, but I thought my really awesome boyfriend could use certain gifts to still stay over,” I whine.
Gabe smiles sweetly, walking over to me and dipping down to kiss me firmly on the forehead. He brushes his thumb over my lips but doesn’t allow himself to come near. Drawing back, he takes a deep breath, removing his hand from my cheek.
“See you tomorrow, beautiful,” he says, smiling at the reminder it brings.
“As always, Chip,” I reply.
I watch as he closes the door after him, locking it tightly before walking out into the hall. “He’s gone,” I say as I pass Dad on the way to the kitchen.
“What?” Dad asks in shock.
“He left the way we came in,” I say with a shrug.
“Over that fence that is a whole two metres tall?” Dad clarifies.
“Yeah, he likes doing stuff like that,” I say dryly, pulling out a box of crackers.
“You understand why your grounded, right?”
“Of course, I know why, doesn’t mean I can be cool about it,” I grumble.
Dad takes the box from me as I pull out a big handful, “Go to sleep.”
“Fine,” I nod, admitting that I am really tired, “goodnight, Dad.”
“I love you,” he calls.
“Yeah, I love you too,” I say back, allowing him that.
Closing my door, I fall into bed. As my head hits my pillow, my eyes drift shut, and I fall asleep instantly, surrendering to its brief peace.
* * *
“We should act now,” Hayden says for the third time.
This has been the fourth meeting we've had in the past week and a half, everyone having a different opinion on what we should do and when.
<
br /> “If Lucien has a charm on the book, then there is no use waiting,” he continues, “Plus, one of their vampires now has a big hole in his heart with no explanation. Pretty sure that that’s not going to die down any time soon.”
“Hayden is right,” Anne says to everyone’s surprise, “The time is now, guys. They won’t expect us to attack them on their own territory.”
“That’s because no one would be that stupid,” Jess says, shaking her head.
“We’ve watched them, we know their schedules, we know everything there is to know. What’s keeping us back?” Hayden pushes.
“Nothing,” I admit.
Hayden looks around the table, searching for any protests or hesitations. Finding none, he continues, "Then we'll go in two days, Saturday night while the moon wanes."
“We don’t want any of the Xavia to have an advantage,” Anne agrees.
The both of them look at me, waiting for my approval. Taking a breath in, I snap back into control, taking a minute to adjust from being the spectator of this instead of the manager.
“It’s a solid plan, and I don’t see any other reason why not. The timing seems perfect, and I can’t find a fault in anything you’ve said,” I say with a shrug as if it is some minor decision.
It feels good just sitting back for once, watching as everyone else pitches and calls out imperfections in the plan, bringing them to focus. Getting this over with is something I will be willing to do whenever.
“What do you think, Di?” Ty asks.
Turning slowly to face him, I realise that I must have just missed an important question. Taking in all their expectant faces, I feel myself blush with embarrassment.
“Sorry?” I ask.
"We were wondering if your guy would be ready in two days. What do you think?" Ty repeats.
I smile and nod confidently. Even though Vain will be angry, I didn't give her ample warning before springing the date on her.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Anne decides.
Worried that I have again missed something, I sit up straight, clearing my throat for their attention.
“Could you please repeat… everything?” I ask, trying not to look completely clueless.
Hayden huffs a laugh but nods, "We'll gather here at seven. That way, it will already be dark. Get ready, weapons, coats, do everything you need to do, then we'll go out in groups. Group one, Anne, Ty, and I, will go first, crouching at the top of the stairs as usual though we might switch positions if we find a better one, watching. Dianna, Jess, and Gabe will follow five minutes later unless we contact you and say otherwise. Then it's just the original plan from there."
“I have to hand it to you Hayden, you’re good at what you do,” I say approvingly.
“Been doing stuff like this for years, we all have,” he answers, gesturing to everyone, “You’re not that bad either,” he says, including me in the gesture.
Hayden smiles and nods at me once before addressing the whole group again. It was decided that he is going to run the mission since he's the one who specialises in quick attacks, in and out.
“Does everyone understand?” he clarifies.
“Yes,” We all assure.
“Then that’s it,” he confirms, “Disband.”
Hayden spreads his arms out like he's shooing away birds or showing off his new bike. Again, I rise from my chair, feeling drained for the fourth time, joining Gabe on his way to his room.
“Wish time?” he asks, grinning at his pun.
“Yeah,” I drawl.
“Why so down?” he asks, his eyebrow raised at my lack of response to his petty joke.
"I'm so tired; I just want this all to be done. Put it to rest,” I respond.
“It’s going to be harder than Hayden makes it sound,” Gabe promises.
"Of course, and I'll have a big role to play if this goes wrong,” I say, letting out a big breath.
Gabe slips his key into the door as he comes to terms with this truth. I walk right past him and straight to his desk, opening the drawer which I know he keeps the stamp in now. Five minutes of silence, the only sound is the scratch and whine of pen against paper, the ruffle of an envelope, and the thump of the stamp. Gabe allows me to send the note myself, giving me much-needed space and air.
Flinging the message into the sky, I sit down, watching as the sky slowly shifts from a blue to pale pink, orange, and misty white, as the clouds swirl and create patterns. The soft whistle of a rapidly approaching object wakes me from my mesmerised state. Catching the letter between my middle and pointer finger, I bring it around to the front of me, breaking the wax seal.
Next time you respect my wishes, girl,
and give me more notice. I will help you
with this, but no more assistance will
be given until you have paid back my
four favours. Understood?
I'll be there, V.
Folding the sheet, I stuff it into my pocket. Taking one more glance at the dimming sky, I make my way slowly back into the Sanctuary. Ignoring Dante completely, I walk back to my room, grab my bag, and begin to make my way home. I intend to spend as much time with Dad as possible, just in case. I walk back home at a normal leisurely pace, appreciating the beauty in the streets and the neat houses.
Passing a familiar ally, I walk through, emerging into a small forest surrounding a dirt track. Realisation hits me, and I begin to run, running past the sound of flowing water, the cries of birds, and the small meadows of green grass. Turning off, I let out a laugh of delight, walking slowly up to the huge willow tree. I sit down silently, looking around at the familiar grassy pasture, at the warmth this place makes me feel, the magic that seems to flow through the trunk up to the leaves. I watch as the sun sets, gradually slipping below the horizon. The image captures a memory, something I had long forgotten.
“Tw’s written in the stars it’s tragic,
but only then she shall find her magic.
to lose whom she very well loves
that shall send her, to us above
and at that time, she shall save us all
or she shall bring us to our fall."
I murmur the lines, over and over, trying to match it to recent events—the ancient power squirms inside of me like it's reacting to my words.
“to lose whom she very well loves,”
Ronnie. That ancient thing stirred the day Ronnie died and before that. But only once she was gone has it started to fight.
“or she shall bring us to our fall.”
That's the red. That is what creates this risk. The ancient power fights against the red, like a battle inside of me. Dark starts to fall as I come to a difficult conclusion. It's starting. Everything that people expect me to do, I have to do. Every prophecy that has been written, I'll need to for-fill. Jumping up, I look up into the tree's leaves, the full moon's glow shining down on me. Beginning to walk back home, each step becomes easier, each with less weight. By the time I walk through the front door, it's six-thirty, and Dad is home.
“Hey,” I call, “what’s for dinner?”
Dad turns around to face me, smiling happily before pointing to a steaming pot on the stove. “I did a little bit of experimenting,” he admits, “Was watching some cooking shows, and I have created for you, green curry fish soup!”
I look at him expectantly, “Aha, now what’s for dinner?”
Dad laughs, shoving me forward lightly to look into the pot. Indeed, there is a green, spicy-smelling, thick liquid, with pieces of fish broken up into it.
“We’re eating this? It looks like ogre bugger,” I comment, spreading a cheeky grin on my lips, something that makes Dad laugh like the old times.
"Yes, you ready? Get bowls." Typical Dad, not waiting for an answer before demanding something else, such as a parent move.
Taking the steaming bowls of soup to the table, we sit down to taste.
* * *
After three cups of milk, a whole cucumber, and swearing up a storm, my tongue finally calms down enough for me to talk. Although my eyes are full of tears, Dad is literally crying big fat tears of laughter. He's been watching me run around the kitchen like a headless chicken for the past fifteen minutes, trying to cut the spice from my tongue to wash the taste of burning flames from my mouth.
“Okay, maybe I put too much chilli in,” he debates.
“Maybe?" I scream though it comes out weird since my tongue is currently numb.
The rest of the night is spent trying to down my dinner, I would say it tasted nice, but I couldn’t tell. A whole litre of milk was sacrificed tonight, and my dignity.
Stumbling into my room blindly, I try wiping away the tears of laughter. I chuckle as I start to regain feeling in my tongue, start to be able to feel the difference when I breathe in air through my mouth - the coolness of the relief as it hits the top of my mouth. Closing the door, I turn around to find, unsurprisingly, that Gabe is sleeping, hands tucked under his head. His soft breathing fills my room as I decide to lock the door. Making sure that he's truly asleep, I strip down before rapidly dressing into my PJs. Shower tomorrow. Slipping into bed, I curl up next to Gabe's side, breathing in his alluring scent. He stirs beside me; I can tell by the slightest change in his breathing that he's awake.
“Have a nice dinner with your dad?” he whispers drowsily.
“It was hot,” I chuckle.
Gabe laughs along with me, “I heard.”
“Goodnight,” I whisper, tucking my head into the little space between his shoulder and neck.
“Hmm,” he answers, drifting back into his sleep, head bent against mine.
Waking in the morning, I feel the empty spot next to me and sit up immediately. Gabe looks over at me from the desk, smiling at my panicked expression. I wipe the sleep from my eyes, stretching out my limbs to shake out the stiffness.
“Why were you here last night?” I ask, ignoring the time on the clock that will assure me we are going to be late for school.
“Good morning to you too,” he greets.