by G. K. DeRosa
Narrowing her eyes at her sulky daughter, Mrs. Wilder gave Brian a hug goodbye. “Watch over my girl, okay?”
“I always do.”
Dani Lynn cheerfully greeted Brian and Celeste as they walked into the party, which was already well under way. Natalie and Jessica were talking and laughing flirtatiously, surrounded by a group of freshman boys from Oak Bluffs Community College.
“Come on Celeste, it looks like you could use a drink,” said Brian.
“You read my mind—lead the way.”
At the keg, Nico was chatting up one of Natalie’s friends from the cheerleading squad. When he saw Celeste approach, he ran up to her with a big smile, abandoning the conversation with one clearly disappointed girl.
“Can I steal you away for a second, Celeste?” Nico asked, pouring her a cup.
“Sure.” She glanced over at Brian. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Nico led Celeste out to the courtyard of the apartment, away from the noise so they could hear themselves speak.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” His dark eyes regarded her nervously.
“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be? I just graduated high school; I’m at a party with all my friends. I should be ecstatic, right?” For a moment, she considered telling Nico about her odd daydream, but she pushed it aside as he continued talking.
“Look, I know you’ve been through a lot lately. Roman told me what Stellan said about keeping away from us, but I don’t think he’s right. I wanted you to know that you can’t get rid of me that easily. Unless you want to of course… I don’t want to get on a Guardian’s bad side.” He gave her a lopsided grin.
She giggled. “You always know what to say to make me smile.”
“It’s a natural talent.” He pinched her cheek teasingly.
“Of course I don’t want to stay away from you or Roman. This whole Guardian thing is just so new to me, and I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong anymore.”
“You’ll figure it out. I have no doubts about you. But do me a favor, don’t give up on Roman, okay?”
“Me? He’s the one who is giving up on us. Every time I think we’re making progress, he pulls back. He thinks he should stay away from me.”
“That may be what he says, but I know that’s not how he feels. Trust me, I’ve known my brother for a long time, and I’ve never seen him like this before. What you two have is worth fighting for.”
“I just feel like that is all my life is ever going to be—fighting for Roman, fighting with my mom about being a Guardian, fighting for the good of all mankind against the forces of evil. It’s all so overwhelming.”
“It won’t always be. When I was first turned, I felt the same way. I was constantly fighting my bloodlust, my darkest urges, but our mother helped us through all the bad. With time, we learned to control it. You will too. Stellan might be wrong about not wanting you around us, but he has your best interest at heart, and he will make an excellent Guardian out of you yet.”
“I hope so.” She hoped she sounded more convinced than she felt.
“Come on, let’s get back to the party. It looks like you could use a refill on that beer.” He put his arm around her and gave her a reassuring squeeze and led her back up to join their friends.
“Have you guys seen Dani Lynn?” asked Jessica, popping up next to Brian and Celeste who hovered around the keg on the balcony.
“No, not since we first got here,” said Brian.
“That’s so weird, I can’t find her anywhere.” She hurried away to continue the search.
Brian turned to Celeste. “So, how are you doing Cel?”
“I’m good. Why?”
“I don’t know. I mean we kissed again the other day, and now you’re acting like nothing ever happened.”
Celeste cheeks heated up, and she paused to take a sip from her cup hoping it would help. “I’m sorry, Brian. I’ve just had so many things on my mind lately.”
“Things that you can’t tell me, right?”
“I wish I could, I really do.” Brian turned away, but Celeste held onto his arm insistently. “Wait –”
“I don’t know if I can do this, Cel. You’ve always told me everything, and now you’re keeping secrets from me and acting all distant. Is this just because I kissed you?”
“You guys kissed?” asked Natalie, appearing out of nowhere and barging in on the conversation.
“Shhhh!” Celeste winced.
“Oh nice, Cel. Wow, now I get it. Are you embarrassed about this? That kiss obviously meant way more to me than it did to you.” Brian stalked away.
“Brian, don’t go!” she shouted after him, but he didn’t even turn around.
“Whoa, what was that about?” Natalie inched closer to Celeste.
“Ugh! I don’t know. I guess you were right about how Brian felt about me, and now I don’t know what to do.”
“Well how do you feel about him? Was he a good kisser?” Her eyes filled with mischief.
“That’s the problem, I don’t know how I feel. Obviously I care about Brian a lot. He’s my best friend. I could even say I love him, but I don’t think I’m in love with him. And I refuse to answer the kissing part.”
“Well then you need to tell him that, Celeste.” She leaned against the balcony. “He’s never going to move on if he thinks he has a chance with you.”
“I know, I just don’t want to lose him. I need him in my life.”
“I don’t think you’d ever lose him, but you should probably set him free.”
“That was a pretty wise thing to say, Natalie.”
“Thanks! Every once in a while I come up with a good one.”
Celeste reached out for her arm. “And Natalie, I’m sorry. I know you kind of like Brian.”
“Nah, no worries, do you see how many cute guys are at this party? There’s no point in being tied to just one!”
Celeste threw her a grateful smile. She knew there was a reason she loved Natalie.
Celeste weaved through the crowd of inebriated students looking for Brian. Natalie was right. As much as she wished she felt the same way about Brian as he did for her, in her heart she knew she didn’t. She had searched the entire apartment, and Brian was nowhere to be found. She headed outside, taking the emergency stairwell to avoid the rowdy crowd waiting for the elevator.
As she rounded the corner of the second floor, a muffled cry came from the trash room. Celeste’s senses turned on overdrive, and the intense ominous feeling took hold of her like a tidal wave, swallowing her whole. A sharp, metallic odor permeated the air and made her gag. She walked into the trash room, treading lightly trying not to make a sound. In the corner, a dark figure huddled over a girl’s motionless body. A sharp gasp escaped from Celeste’s mouth, and the figure spun around looking straight at her.
“Magnus!” she screamed.
“Oh sorry. I hope you don’t mind, but I was so hungry and your friend here was just too delicious.” He stood up and took a step toward her.
Roman dashed into the room, appearing out of nowhere, and firmly planted himself between her and Magnus.
“Well, I think that’s my cue to leave,” said Magnus. “And don’t worry about your attractive friend, you’ll be seeing her again soon enough.” He shot out the door before Roman could make a move to stop him.
Roman spun around to Celeste. “Are you all right?”
Celeste ran over to Dani Lynn to assess the gaping hole in her neck from where Magnus had bitten her. “Yes, I’m fine, but I don’t think she is. Can you give her your blood? Won’t that heal her?”
Roman knelt on the floor and carefully examined her. “I’m sorry Celeste. I don’t think there is anything I can do for her now.”
“Please try, Roman. Give her your blood!”
“Celeste, look at her mouth. It’s covered in blood. That’s not hers; it’s vampire blood. Magnus was trying to turn her. I don’t hear a hear
tbeat.”
“No, no! This can’t be happening!” she cried as she clapped her hand over her mouth to stop the sounds of her own screams.
Roman put a comforting arm around Celeste as she crouched down beside Dani. Her heart pounded in her chest, ice slithering through her veins. “What are we going to tell Jessica? We have to call the police.”
“We can’t call the police. They won’t be able to help her. And what’s going to happen when the coroner collects her body and a couple of hours later she gets up and walks away?”
Celeste’s rational mind tried to piece together what was happening. She flashed back to the conversation with Roman about turning a human into a vampire, but she still couldn’t believe it. Dani Lynn’s mangled body was splayed out in front of her, and bile was rising in her throat. “So Dani Lynn is really going to become a vampire?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
“Uh oh, what happened in here?” asked Nico, suddenly appearing in the stairwell.
“Magnus happened,” said Roman.
Nico took in the gruesome scene and turned away, glancing back at Roman. “By the way, what are you doing here?”
“I came to keep an eye on things, and by the look of it, it’s a good thing I did.” He stood up, glaring at Nico.
“And by things, you mean Celeste, right?” Nico squared off against his older brother. “Because you don’t trust that I can protect her?”
“Obviously I was right.”
“That’s enough, both of you.” Celeste squeezed herself between them. “As you can see, I wasn’t the one that needed protecting.”
Roman and Nico guiltily glanced at Dani Lynn’s crumpled body lying in the corner.
Suddenly, a rush of anger engulfed Celeste, and she whirled at Roman. “So you’ve been here the whole time? Following me?” Oh please tell me he didn’t hear my conversation with Brian.
“I haven’t been following you, just keeping an eye on you from a distance.”
“Like at graduation?”
“Yes.”
“And during the whole party?”
“Yes.” Roman’s eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms against his chest.
“And when I was talking to Brian?”
“Yes. Celeste. I wish I could say that I hadn’t heard your little discussion with him, but I did.”
Celeste’s face flushed at the thought of Roman discovering that she and Brian had kissed, listening into their private conversation.
“Unbelievable!” She spun away and stormed off.
Nico and Roman carefully wrapped Dani Lynn’s body in a crimson bed sheet they found in her apartment, then lifted her into the trunk of the car. Celeste wanted to be there for Dani Lynn when she woke up, no matter what Roman and Nico said. They had told her it wouldn’t be safe, and that she wouldn’t be the same. And that above all things she would be hungry. Celeste had ignored them and refused to go home.
The three of them piled into Nico’s car, Dani Lynn’s lifeless body in the trunk, and drove to the brothers’ apartment to wait for the inevitable.
“I’m sorry,” said Roman as he walked into the guest room. He watched Celeste as she sat on the bed wiping the blood from Dani Lynn’s neck and matted dirty blonde hair. “But you let Brian kiss you?”
“I kissed him back too,” she spat. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. She saw the hurt written all over his face, and a stabbing pain pierced her heart. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.” She sighed.
“No, you’re right. You have every right to kiss anyone you want to. It’s none of my business. I can’t give you what you deserve, and maybe he can,” he answered icily.
“So that’s it?” She stood and threw her hands up. “You’re just giving up? You’re not even going to try and fight for this?”
“Celeste, I’ve already told you, I am no good for you.”
“And I’ve already told you that you’re wrong. This is my life Roman, and no matter how crazy it has become, you are the one thing in it that has made it bearable.”
“Then why did you kiss him?” Roman moved closer.
“I don’t know. But it was before you and I…” She paused, fidgeting with the beautiful ring Roman had given her for her birthday, not knowing how to continue. “It was a couple days ago, after I had found out everything about my dad. I’d just discovered that a vampire had killed him and that my mom knew all along. It seemed like everything in my life that I thought were true came crashing down on me. I took off in a panic—my emotions raging, and Brian found me. And that’s when it happened.”
Roman nodded, his eyes clouded with sadness.
“It was just comfortable, nice. It was nothing like when you and I kissed.” She searched his eyes, hoping he’d somehow understand.
“He’s better for you than I am.” The warmth was back in his tone.
“But I don’t want him the way that I want you.” Celeste inched closer.
Faster than her eyes could follow, Roman’s lips were on hers, kissing her desperately. His strong hand gripped the back of her neck, pulling her toward him. A surge of heat swelled through her body as the kiss intensified. It was as if their bodies were electrically charged, feeding off of one another. She gasped, struggling to get a breath in between the relentless onslaught of emotions.
“Whoa, whoa, I would say get a room, but I guess technically you are in one.” Nico walked into the guest room finding Roman and Celeste in a compromising position.
Celeste’s face flushed with embarrassment as she untangled herself from Roman’s arms.
“So our sleeping beauty hasn’t awoken yet, I see.”
“It shouldn’t be long now,” said Roman visibly flustered, “so we should keep watch over her until she does.”
“Ah right, so that’s what you were doing.” Nico shot them a wicked grin.
“Oh! With all the vampire craziness, I totally forgot to tell you about my vision,” Celeste interrupted.
“What vision?” asked Roman.
“During the graduation ceremony, I got a blinding headache. I saw images of Magnus and Dani Lynn, and it was pretty much an extended preview of what happened a few hours later.” Celeste suddenly realized her mistake at not telling anyone what she had seen.
“So it was a premonition?” asked Nico.
“Yeah, I guess it was. I couldn’t make out all the details, but looking back on it, it was definitely a warning. I totally missed it.” She felt horrible all of a sudden. What kind of a Guardian am I if I couldn’t even save my friend?
“That could be an extremely useful gift,” said Roman.
“That must be one of your new Guardian powers,” added Nico.
“Next time I will have to pay closer attention to what I see. It was just so hard with the searing pain in my head. I should have done something to save Dani Lynn.”
“It’s not your fault Celeste. You didn’t know what it was.” Roman squeezed her shoulder.
“And at least you found her; if you hadn’t who knows what Magnus would have done to her,” said Nico.
“You mean besides kill her and turn her into a vampire?” Guilt crept into Celeste’s gut, taking a firm hold.
“He could have taken her with him. At least she’s here with us, and we can help her,” said Nico.
Celeste pointed at her friend. “Speaking of Dani Lynn – look I think she’s waking up.”
Dani Lynn’s eyes were red and bloodshot as she painfully scanned the room trying to recognize her surroundings. Celeste tried to walk over to her, but Roman held her back protectively.
“Dani Lynn, it’s me Celeste. How do you feel?”
“I’m so thirsty, my throat feels like it’s on fire.” She sat up, clutching her neck. “Where am I and what happened?”
“You’re at my place,” said Nico. “You had a bit of an accident, and we brought you here to recover.”
She straightened, still scanning the room and squinting from the morning light. �
��Can you close the blinds? My eyes are killing me, and my head is throbbing.”
Celeste scooted past her to get to the window. As she did, Dani Lynn’s vacant eyes shot up toward her. Like a wild animal pouncing on its prey, she lunged at Celeste, her new fangs in full view. Roman, who was much faster, attacked her in mid-air. He pinned her to the bed in an instant before Celeste even realized what was happening.
“Celeste get out of here, it’s not safe for you,” Roman growled as Dani Lynn wriggled underneath him trying to get free.
“No, Roman, I need to be here for her. Just hold her down, let me try to talk to her.” Celeste walked to the opposite end of the room so that her scent would be less appealing to the struggling Dani Lynn.
“What is wrong with me?” Dani asked desperately. “Why do you smell so good?”
“I’m so sorry, there’s no easy way to say this. You were killed and now you’re a vampire,” Celeste explained, knowing full well how ludicrous it sounded.
“I’m a what?”
“A vampire. And that overpowering feeling that you have is the thirst for blood. You must fight it.” Nico cautiously approached the bed.
“This can’t be happening. This must be a really bad dream. There’s no such thing as vampires.” She closed her eyes, rubbing her temples.
“I’m sorry Dani Lynn, but this is real. You’re a vampire just like Roman and Nico.” Celeste took a careful step forward.
Dani Lynn’s nose twitched at the subtle movement, and her incisors sprang out through her gums. She quickly clapped her hand over her mouth.
“Celeste is your friend, and you don’t want to eat her, right?” asked Nico.
“No, of course I don’t…but I need her blood!” she said jerking savagely. Roman used all his strength to keep her down.
“Geez, I had forgotten how strong new vampires were,” said Nico.
“I could use some help here little brother, if you’re not too busy of course.” Roman grimaced, straining to hold her down.
“Calm down, Dani Lynn.” Nico sat on the bed beside her. “Take deep breaths and try not to focus on the hunger.”