Sweet Nightfall

by Kathryn Vegas

  Sara walked back into the living room on a cloud. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her expectantly. She pranced to the nearest overstuffed chair and pretended to faint into it dramatically, with the back of her hand touching her forehead to add to her pretense.

  “GIRL!” Shawn exclaimed. “I’m shook.”

  Sara smiled and sat up quickly, her faint over. She was bubbling over with a new energy. Her face felt warm and she could still feel his kiss on her lips.

  “I know!” She replied.

  “He is sex on a stick.” Pam stated.

  Everyone nodded agreement.

  “Merry Christmas to you, Queen.” Ben added.

  “Am I crazy for even getting involved at all with a twenty-four-year-old? Even if it is merely sexual in nature. I mean I’m not going to stop now. No way, but I just want to know if you think I’m crazy?” Sara excitedly rambled.

  “You’re trying to tell us it’s “merely sexual?” Please!” Shawn, always the straight shooter.

  “Mmmhmm.” Pam quipped.

  “Shit. Okay I’m crushing.” Sara admitted.

  “Not just you, honey,” Ben added.

  Shawn shot him a questioning look.

  “Not me, baby. I’m saying him to her. A handmade gift…”

  Another “Mmmhmm,” came from Pam.

  Sara touched the bracelet on her arm and her eyes drifted up into a daydream.

  “You got it bad, Mom.” Hazel said shaking her head.

  Sara sighed. “You guys… What in the world is going on?”

  “A Christmas miracle?” Pam offered with a nonchalant shrug.

  “Yes!” Hazel agreed.

  “You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Pam paused for dramatic affect, “You ride him.”

  The room cracked up at Granny’s bawdy joke.

  “Mom! You dirty old bird!” Sara smiled. “I mean that’s the plan and everything.”

  “I’ve never been more proud.” Pam replied with her hand over her heart. “The boy was very likeable. I don’t really know any twenty something men that are worth talking to, but he was charismatic. I did like him for more than that face and boy oh boy that body.”

  “Mmmm those shoulders,” Ben sighed.

  “Those eyes…” Shawn added.

  “That ass.” Pam finished.

  They giggled.

  “You guys! Seriously! Let’s keep this Christmas going. Hazel go put on Gremlins. I need a fresh drink.”

  Sara got up in a flourish and went toward the kitchen.

  Chapter Twent y- Three

  Rebecca’s stilettoes clacked angrily with every step. The sound echoed off the ornately painted ceramic tile floor, punctuating her ire. She stalked toward the open French doors. The frigid night air did nothing to cool her boiling blood.

  The generous balcony overlooked Lake Garda. When she reached its edge, she looked down on picturesque villas topped with terracotta roofs. The full moon’s beauty reflected across the calm lake.

  Explaining Adam’s absence to their friends was an ego drain she was not accustomed to. They all really liked him. He was a genuine friend. They all enjoyed his wit. There was a freshness about him even after 15 years. He was still the youngest of all of them. She could feel the undercurrent of disappointment. If they were to choose between the two of them, she wasn’t sure it would go her way.

  Rebecca’s breathing was erratic. Her thoughts just as frantic.

  She had known many of these vampires for hundreds of years. Over those centuries, they had evolved together. Lifelong friends, and that meant something to vampires. They were family.

  Almost all distinguished Elders now lived to the standards of the current culture. They lived in stealth, no longer killing to satisfy their hunger. Well, if they did, they did a better job of covering it up. Old habits did die hard.

  Rebecca would know. Her penchant for violent satisfaction was what had started the rift between her and Adam in the first place. She rolled her eyes just thinking about his reaction to finding out she still hunted fresh. What a disappointment twenty-first century men could be. So sensitive.

  She could feel a spark of rage deep in her chest. Familiar and comforting, she welcomed it. Adam was not the first man she’d turned and brought into her inner circle. She had hoped he was finally The One. No more failed relationships. He was her match. She had never seen a more beautiful man. She wanted him with an intensity she had never felt before.

  The two men before him had been prizes to be sure, but Adam, he was magnificent. She’d known he was the one the moment she saw him. He had to be her lifemate. He belonged to her. He was all she’d ever wanted. He equaled her in beauty and together they would have it all. They would be envied.

  Everyone knew he had left her. Embarrassment stoked the fire until her chest felt like a furnace. Shame was not an emotion Rebecca dealt with well. An embarrassed child might lash out and hurt someone but an embarrassed vampire… someone might die tonight.

  How could he do this to me? After everything I’ve given him!

  Rebecca’s hands gripped the railing. Her fingers sunk into the thick wrought iron. There was only one thing that would get her through the rest of this night and that was pulsing in veins inside all the surrounding villas.

  She tapped into her instincts letting everything fall away but the need to hunt. The hot, thick pulses in the homes below began to thrum in her ears. Five different hearts beat in the house next door. Two of those were fast like little birds. She knew those were young. She honed into the rhythm. Less than four years old, both of them. Her mouth watered.

  Think! You cannot hunt this close to the villa.

  Rebecca hopped over the railing and landed 30 feet below onto a soft manicured lawn. She began to run. The anticipation of what was to come filled her with euphoria. She ran like a gazelle, her long legs gliding over the earth. Her heels barely tapping the ground as she bounded faster and faster across the city. Most families were inside for the night. She hadn’t come across anyone out alone. She kept going. The further out she went, the less likely anyone at the villa would suspect she had hunted tonight.

  She finally pulled back on her pace and surveyed her surroundings. She focused on what she could smell and hear. She heard stirrings around her. Doors being opened. Happy families began to leave their homes. Families that were boisterous from hours of wine and celebrating Christmas Eve. It was time to go to midnight mass. The neighborhoods had begun to come alive.

  “Perfecto,” Rebecca muttered as she moved toward the sounds.

  The home to her right caught her attention. Inside she heard the pounding of four healthy hearts; a man, a woman, and two small children. She could tell their position close to the front door. She heard them telling their children it was time to go.

  Rebecca continued up the walkway. She scanned her surrounding with night vision and hearing so precise she knew no one had seen her. They were almost ready to open their front door. She quickly used a small blade she kept hidden and made several small cuts, one on her temple and two on her arms that bled before closing up leaving behind evidence of foul play. She raised her hand to pretend to knock at the same time the door was opened.

  The man, dapper in a hat and scarf, his wife and two daughters in matching skirts and black wool coats stood in their doorway. The husband, startled by her standing so closely in the doorway with her hand raised, automatically smiled. Everyone always smiled at Rebecca. Her face was beautiful and people usually stared. They were never frightened of her. Why would you fear an exquisitely dressed woman with a face like hers?

  “Buon Natale” Rebecca said in a perfect Italian accent.

  They all replied in kind. The man quickly noticed the blood running down the side of her face. She rubbed her arms feigning she was frozen. She wasn’t wearing her coat. The family grew concerned now seeing her injuries. She was an excellent actress.

  In Italian she begged, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happ
ened...” She whimpered pitifully and let the scene play out like she knew it would.

  “Oh no! Come inside, Miss.”

  The man put his arm around her and led her inside to his wife. He shut the door not knowing his family’s fate was sealed.

  Lipstick glided over her full lips leaving them blood red. Rebecca checked her reflection in the gilded mirror in her bedroom to find no evidence of the past hour. Her disposition much improved, she was ready to rejoin the party.

  A light tap on her door took her attention. Muffled by the door she heard, “Rebecca, are you alright?”

  She recognized the lilting French accent of her dearest friend, Collette.

  Rebecca walked toward the door and opened it to reveal her friend’s concerned face, framed by black hair loosely piled atop her head in a stylish bun. Her diminutive stature was in stark comparison to Rebecca. Rebecca’s stilettoes provided an even larger gap in height between them. Collette was more of a ballet flats as dress shoes type of woman. She resembled a wood nymph in a green ethereal looking short strapless dress and gold shimmering flats.

  Collette reached out her arms and Rebecca immediately accepted her embrace.

  “I know it’s hard,” Collette consoled.

  “It is much harder than I expected.” Rebecca conceded.

  “I’m so sorry, ma choupette . It’s going to work out. You know as well as I do, we have all the time in the world.” Collette pulled back but did not release her. “Fucking men,” she shook her head and pretended to spit.

  Rebecca appreciated Collette’s undying loyalty. She looked down at her friend’s pert little face, expressing the attitude of a much larger woman.

  “That’s what I love about you, you’re always on my side.”

  “Of course I am. Fuck him. He wants to play human. It’s ridiculous. He’ll learn they age and he won’t. We have a couple centuries on the boy. I think, if we think back we probably had the same growing pains. It’s not you’re fault, but after a few years he’ll understand the only home one of us can make is with our own. If he expects you to be waiting for him in a decade…”Collette scoffs disgusted.

  There’s nothing better than having a girlfriend side with you, and Rebecca was more than appreciative. She wrapped her arm around her and squeezed.

  “Let’s go toast a Grappa to another year well lived. Flavio’s brought a case for each of us from his estate in Veneto,” Collette said and led Rebecca down the corridor toward the sounds of merriment.

  Before they could make it to the end of the hallway, Collette made a frustrated sound and stopped. With a grimace on her face she said, “I was also coming to tell you something that you need to be aware of before you come back to the party…”

  “What is it?” Rebecca asked, dread lacing her tone.

  “Adam’s not at home alone for Christmas.”

  The statement hung in the air.

  “What are you talking about? Tell me!” Rebecca demanded.

  “He was tagged in a picture on IG. Several people inside the party have already seen it.” Collette explained. “I didn’t want you to go in there and be blindsided.”

  “Let me see it.” Rebecca crushed her words through clenched teeth.

  Collette reluctantly pulled out her phone and clicked to her last text exchange with a mutual friend. A screenshot that included a picture with a caption was above the text message, “ Who is Adam with? He was just tagged in this! Does Rebecca know?! ”

  Rebecca snatched the phone and studied the picture. Her eyes glinted in the reflection of the phone light as her eyes moved swiftly around the screen. Her mind raced with the possibilities.

  The caption read, “Merry Christmas! Hope everyone is having a great night. My house is full. We’re making merry and drinking mules!”

  The picture was of a kitchen filled with people enjoying themselves where everyone was holding up a glass. It was taken as a selfie of a woman but included everyone behind her in the room. Rebecca’s eyes zeroed in on Adam’s face. The happy look in his eyes seared through her like a branding iron. Her heart pumped a painful beat and her breathing shallowed.

  What the hell is this? How could he be smiling that smile in a room full of strangers? Rebecca’s thoughts cascaded.

  What she noticed next made her suck in her breath through her teeth in a hiss. Adam was scrunched down beside the woman to be able to be in the picture at her height, one hand holding up an icy glass in cheers and the other hand resting on the woman’s shoulder. His fingers seemed to be caressing her. The room was full of other people in the background with various stages of smiles or laughter, with two toddlers running out of frame.

  “What the fuck?” Rebecca whispered.

  “I know. It’s weird. I hate to show you, but letting you go out there would have made me an awful friend. I love you and I’m so sorry.” Collette gushed out. Her face cringed.

  “I just saw him a couple weeks ago. He said nothing. I was in his house. There was no evidence of anyone else being there. The only scent in the house was his. How the fuck is he part of some family’s Christmas?”

  “I don’t know,” Collette said. “Do you think he’s with that woman?”

  Rebecca knew in her gut that hand on her shoulder was not an accident or just a gesture. Adam wasn’t a man to have his hands on a woman just out of nowhere. He didn’t touch any of their friends in any unsolicited way. He wasn’t a man to hug too long or brush against a woman untowardly. That hand on her shoulder was there because he felt comfortable with her. Rebecca’s stomach tightened at the thought. The fresh blood in her stomach rolled, threatening to paint the walls. Her eyes piqued.

  “No. I will not cry in front of anyone.” She said and breathed out hard.

  “We can deal with this when we get back to The States. I’m there for you, whatever you need of me.” Collette promised.

  Rebecca straightened her spine and tossed back her shoulders. Her facial features returned to a neutral position with the expertise of an Oscar award winner.

  “I’m ready. Let’s join the party.” Rebecca smiled, but her brain was boiling with thoughts of Adam’s betrayal. Her embarrassment in front of her peers would eat her from the inside out but she would never let a soul see it.

  “We can deal with this tomorrow.”

  “Yes we can.” Collette smiled devilishly.

  They walked toward the sounds of revelry.

  Chapter Twent y- four

  Sweat trickled into Sara’s left eye, blurring her vision. She took her hand off the heart-monitoring sensor on the stationary bike to wipe it. That made the stinging worse and she squinted against the uncomfortable feeling. Even through blurry squinting eyes she could still make out the figure walking up to her left. She huffed a breath and pursed her lips, not missing a beat, her legs still pumping at the same pace.

  “We really have nothing to talk about.” Sara said to Steve before he could even speak.

  She had been dreading the day they would run into each other, but she refused to quit. It was the only gym in her neighborhood. She was on a fitness roll. He was the scumbag and she wasn’t going to hand over the place to him.

  “I’m so sorry. I’m not a cheater, I swear. Like I said in my texts my wife and I—”

  Sara raised her hand, “It’s cool, Steve. Well not actually cool, but no need to explain. It’s none of my business.”

  “If I could take you out again, I could explain. My wife and I are separating. Her parents didn’t know.” Steve smoothly explained like a professional politician, his hands palm up in a gesture of innocence.

  “No need man. Seriously, I read the texts. I’m just not interested anymore.”

  Sara pumped her legs harder. She hoped he’d get moving and leave her to her work out.

  No such luck.

  “We could be really good together. If you know what I mean? I know you haven’t gotten to really get your feet wet out there dating. I could help you navigate new territory. A fun practice…” Stev
e trailed off suggestively. He ran his hand through his full head of hair, disheveling it slightly in now what seemed to Sara as a calculated vain gesture to look sexy.

  Yuck. Sara shook her head, this guy is so full of himself .

  She smirked and decided to shock him. “You know that built Uber driver? I practiced ‘dating’ on him that night, if you know what I mean? I was thoroughly satisfied. So, I’m good.”

  His face was priceless. She couldn’t wait to tell Adam.

  While Steve sputtered, Sara continued. “I’m not going to stop coming to this gym, but I would like to never have to talk to you again. Can you just walk past me in the future? Completely ignore me because I will be ignoring you.” Sara looked forward, dismissing him.

  “I’ll be waiting if you change you mind,” Steve stated and walked away.

  Rebecca’s teeth came together with an audible clank when she heard Sara mention the built Uber driver. She’d watched Sara for over 30 minutes before Steve had walked up to her.

  Rebecca was across the gym from Sara, jogging on a treadmill looking like a Nike commercial. Her loose bun, perfectly messy the way only models know the secret to achieving. Every male in the gym was aware of her presence. Rebecca’s eyes stayed focused on Sara.

  She snarled the name in her head.

  Sara. Who the fuck is this Sara?

  So far, Rebecca had gathered nothing particularly noteworthy about her. She was pretty but aging, while Rebecca remained permanently twenty-seven years old and stunningly beautiful. Rebecca ran down the inventory of how she was better in every possible way. Every possible way that mattered to someone like Rebecca.

  Rebecca sneered, disgusted when Sara’s face reddened from the effort of working out and sweat began to drip off her face. Wet spots had formed on the fabric of the t-shirt she had on, down her chest and armpits. It made Rebecca sick inside that this was what had replaced her.

  When the fit older man walked up to Sara, it boggled her mind .