The Seventh Sister, A Paranormal Romance

by Z. L. Arkadie

  We walk the rest of the way in silence, both trying to figure out what just happened between us.

  For the first time ever homeroom goes by in a flash. I read the rest of The Great Gatsby. In second period, I’m really trying to be attentive when something makes me glance over at the square cut of frosted plexiglass at the top of the door. I see a boy staring at me. And not just any boy. “Vayle?” I whisper.

  The kid in front of me, whose name I’ve never been able to remember turns around to glance at me.

  My hand shoots up.

  Mr. Carr stops explaining scarcity, which he just told us is one of the ten major principles of economics.

  “Yes, Zillael?” He always uses this strange emphasis when he says my name.

  “Can I go to the restroom?”

  He lifts his beaked nose to say, “Class, this is not kindergarten. If you have to go, then by all means, go,” and then continues with the lecture.

  I take that as a yes and when he turns his back to write something on the whiteboard, I snatch up my book bag and dash out of the room. The entire class watches me leave. It’s clear I’m not planning on coming back since I’ve taken everything with me.

  When I get out into the hall, Vayle is standing there grinning at me.

  “I knew you had the guts to cut out of there when you did,” he says.

  I shush him.

  “What are you doing here?” I whisper.

  Mr. Lux’s classroom is just down the way, and Derek can appear at any moment, standing here in the open is not safe for him.

  “Are we whispering?” he dips his face down close to mine to say.

  I take him by the arm and drag him along. I keep checking in front of me for Derek and behind me for Mr. Lux.

  I still don’t feel safe when we’re outside. I would use my speed to get us away from campus as fast as possible, but there are a few students lingering on the sidewalks. Of course they see us. They’re always watching. Small towns.

  We make it to the field that separates the student and faculty parking lots. I survey the area to make sure Derek, or even worse Mr. Lux, hasn’t spotted us. The school buildings in the distance look peaceful, and there’s not a soul in either parking lot.

  “I was thinking,” Vayle starts.

  I finally stop surveying our surroundings and put my eyes on him.

  “What?” I sound impatient.

  “You want to come with me?”

  “What? Where?”

  “Back to Orono. I want to check something out in the day time.”

  At first the expression on my face drops because I’m wondering if he’s lost his mind.

  “I can’t just pick up and go to Orono in the middle of the day.” Then my expression widens because I haven’t convinced myself of this conviction of mine.

  He’s grinning at me. “But you want to go, don’t you?”

  I chew nervously on the side of my mouth. contemplating and then I narrow my eyes at him.

  Chapter 6

  Riding the Wind

  “You want to walk?”

  We’ve started up Main Street. It was my full intention to drive us there in my jeep.

  “It’s faster,” he says.

  “But you’re a vampire. I’m not.” I’m stomping ahead, stating the obvious.

  “You chased me last night. I only stopped because you caught me.”

  I frown dubiously. “Really?”

  “Well, no. But come on,” he urges me. “Try at least.”

  He stops walking so I stop too.

  “All the way to Orono?” Extreme doubt colors my tone.

  “That’s just the beginning.” He’s giving me that grin, which I’ve already determined is naughty.

  I’m staring up the road, contemplating. He takes off.

  “Keep up,” he shouts.

  I have no time to hesitate so I take off after him. In a flash we’ve made it to end of Main Street and are shooting through the woods.

  “Told you,” he shouts.

  What’s surprising to me is how keen my senses are. I’m not going so fast that I can’t perceive that there’s a tree in my path and I have to cut right a little to avoid it. We’re also following the natural Indian trails that cut through the forest. I can smell the wet leaves, soggy ground and clean snow too.

  It’s cold though because all the ice is setting the temperature. My teeth start to chatter as my skin freezes and Vayle glances back at me.

  “Are you cold?” he asks.

  “A little,” I say past my tight jaw as I’m trying to fight against my chattering teeth.

  He reaches an arm back. “Take my hand.”

  As soon as I grab hold of it, my entire body warms up.

  “Better?”

  My jaw loosens up finally, and I’m able to say, “Yeah.”

  He gives me that grin again.

  What’s strange is we’re moving really fast. The air is swiftly passing, but we don’t have to shout to hear each other. I’m not winded either. It doesn’t feel like I’m expending much energy at all.

  There are some very beautiful areas we’re passing along the way. There are a number of shallow snow-covered gullies surrounded by tall evergreens and lots of natural lakes cutting through the forests. Every now and then, we’ll pass a cute little cabin or a deer chewing in the snow covered surface. It’s funny because the deer appear to be confused once they sense us, at first, they stutter-step to run for their lives, but then they stop and lower their heads in a docile fashion. I guess it’s the mysterious behavior of animals, but it’s quite humorous.

  We arrive in Orono in a number of minutes not hours. The town doesn’t look that much different from Moonridge. We pass a red brick building with a white steeple roof, and then another one, and then another one. We’re moving until we end up in a parking lot facing a big blue “M.”

  “Maybe you are a vampire,” he says to me with a wink.

  I’m still shocked we actually ended up here the way we did.

  “Well I am something. I just wish someone would tell me what that is.”

  “Your date who walked you to school earlier can’t tell you?”

  “My date?” I’m trying to recall what in the world he’s talking about.

  “Wasn’t he there that night? He wanted to kill me, didn’t he?”

  “Oh, Derek.”

  “Is that his name?”

  I look around. He’s managed to make me feel uncomfortable. I don’t want to talk about Derek right now, especially when I just remembered we’re supposed to meet each other for lunch, and I totally blew him off. It would’ve been nice to sit on the bench in town square and share a candy apple with him again.

  That’s just the problem, and probably the reason I accepted the invitation to ditch the rest of the school day and follow Vayle here. I’m not sure it’s wise to get all wrapped up in a Wek.

  “Why are we here anyway?” I finally ask with a bite.

  He’s reading my body language, as I am questioning whether it was sensible to make this trip with him as well.

  “Sorry, if I upset you. We won’t talk about, Derek, again.”

  “Agreed,” I quickly say. “Now, why are we here?”

  “I think I want to see what happens when the dead comes back to life?”

  I frown, confused by that.

  “Come on, I’ll show you.”

  This is a full on school day and the campus is alive. It looks like students are hoofing it to their next class. I’m checking out what the college looks like. It’s quaint with lots of blocked buildings stacked close together which gives the place a real toasty feel on an extra nippy day. It’s so funny because simply put, the campus looks like a photograph of every college I’ve seen in America. There’s a subliminal message to the design of them that says the act of retaining knowledge is a historical feat.

  We end up in a wide, grassy area lined by trees. There’s about a three-inch layer of snow frosting the grass. But students still manage
to track across it.

  Vayle is still holding my hand for warmth. We look like a couple in the eyes of everyone and a very interesting looking one at that because each person we pass takes a second glance at us. This is not high school though, they don’t ogle, just a couple of quick looks and that’s it.

  “Do you have any friends here?” I ask Vayle as he pulls me behind a tree where we stop and gaze out over the quad.

  “Had friends here? Yeah, I did.”

  “Do you think anybody recognizes you?” Finally, the right time has come for me to find out something about him I’ve been longing to know. I’m eager to hear the answer to this question.

  “They won’t recognize me.”

  “Why?”

  “Come on, Zillael, you already figured out.”

  “Because you don’t look the same.”

  He shakes his head while pressing his lips tightly together. After a long silence he says, “You can tell I’m the same person if you look hard enough, but there are some differences.”

  “Like what?” I almost feel like I’m pressing him too hard, but I really want to know the answer to the question more.

  “My eyes are black. They used to be blue. And I’m whiter than I used to be. I’m taller and thicker too. I used to be pretty scrawny.”

  “Gosh, I wonder what’s up with the changes,” I say, but I didn’t mean to say that out loud.

  “Me too,” he whispers.

  Then he squeezes my hand tighter. “There she is?”

  There are too many people crossing the quad for me to zero in on who he’s referring to.

  “Who?” I finally ask, eager for him to point her out.

  “The girl in the gray trench coat, black cap, long blonde hair,” he says.

  I’m searching for a female figure wearing that attire, but I can’t pick her out. It’s starting to frustrate me.

  “She just stopped walking,” he says.

  That’s when I see her. She’s digging into her book bag and takes out a little cellphone. She puts the device to her ear and she’s talking into it.

  “Is that your girlfriend?”

  “Used to be.”

  “Wow,” is all I can say while watching her. “Is this the first time you’ve seen her since you were…”

  “No.”

  He answered before I could finish. I turn to study him.

  “So you’ve been here since?”

  “Many times, but at night while she’s asleep.”

  “So you just what? Watch her?”

  “Yeah, that’s it.”

  “That’s kind of creepy.”

  He doesn’t respond. I think he knows that’s true.

  Right now, he’s beaming in on her. His eyes reflect the loss and heartache he’s suffering from.

  “She’s talking to Danny,” he mutters.

  “You can hear her?” I’m stunned by that.

  “Yeah.”

  “Sounds like you know Danny.”

  “Used to be a friend of mine, and he moved in on her about a week after I went missing.”

  “Gosh, such a cliché.”

  He sniffs a chuckle. “Yeah.”

  As the students trudge across the mall they seem so oblivious. Right now there’s an actual vampire and a strange girl who can walk seventy-nine miles in twenty minutes or less to get here, staring at them.

  They’re all cold, but it doesn’t stop two groups of boys from tossing a football back and forth in the quad area. A couple have just brushed the snow off of a bench, laid something across the seat and sat down, gussying up next to each other to generate heat. Students also stand, facing each other with packs on their backs or slung over their shoulders, smoking or sipping a cup of coffee, chatting away.

  “You should go talk to her,” I finally whisper after a long moment of silence between us.

  “Should I?” He’s apprehensive.

  “You should.” He takes a quick glance at me. “I mean, what do you have to lose?” I say.

  I can feel him pondering that. “I could scare her,” he suggests.

  “You can put her at ease too,” I quickly retort.

  “Maybe…”

  “Just go before it’s too late.”

  We look at each other; the questioning is still in his eyes. Then he nods at me and starts off across the snow.

  His posture is straight and his physique is superior. I’m finding myself admiring the way he moves, and then this grave feeling hits me. What if after they speak I never see him again? This pinch of loss, I’m feeling is crazy for sure. I mean, his absence will make my life that much easier.

  He’s standing in front of her now. She’s frozen in place with the phone still pressed to her ear. He says something to her. Without thinking the hand she’s holding the phone in drops to her side and then the device falls into the snow.

  Vayle kneels down, picks it up and hands it to her. She’s still immobilized, too shocked to take it I guess, so he keeps it. Then he says something to her. After a long moment of saying nothing, she says something back to him.

  “What are you doing here?” I hear from a person who just stepped up beside me. I practically jump out of my skin and turn to see Derek. Those green eyes of his are demanding an answer.

  “How did you find me here?” I ask unthinkingly. The fact that I’m being secretive is revealed in my tone.

  “I can find you anywhere, but I never thought I’d find you here. So what’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” I say too quickly. Then I try to relax and not be so uptight.

  “You’re lying to me?”

  I don’t say anything. He looks so upset by the fact that I am lying to him. Then he looks out over the mall. He sort of zeroes in on Vayle but then looks away.

  “I just thought I’d get away to come see what next year’s going to look like,” I finally say, deciding to tell a boldface lie.

  He stares straight ahead, watching the students move across the quad.

  “We were supposed to hang out.”

  “I know,” I say and then look up at him with repentance in my expression and then back out across the quad.

  Vayle is now walking up the walkway with his girlfriend. They’re side by side and take glances at each other as they move forward.

  “Who’s that?” He finally asks me, pointing at Vayle.

  “Just a guy,” I guess.

  Derek is scowling at him. He gazes up at the sky. I know he’s considering the sun, questioning whether Vayle is a vampire or not. The trick is he’s walking in the sunlight. That’s what’s throwing Derek off and I know it.

  “Is he someone you know?”

  I’m going to try to sound as earnest as I possibly can. “No,” I sincerely say.

  When I look over at Derek, he’s already staring at me. His face is unreadable, but I can see the brightness that’s there when he usually looks at me is gone.

  “Do you still want to get that candy apple?” he finally asks.

  “Sure,” I say working really hard to relax, but I’m still wondering where Vayle and his girlfriend have gone off to.

  “Did you drive here?” Derek asks, breaking my concentration.

  “Um, no.”

  “Then how did you get here?”

  I hesitate. I can’t lie about this one. I’ve done enough lying for the day. “I walked.”

  He nods consecutively. I wish I knew what he’s thinking.

  “I drove. Let’s go.”

  I follow him to a black truck in the parking lot with black tinted windows. He opens the passenger side door for me and I get in. I’m still wondering what he’s thinking because he hasn’t looked at me or said anything more even on our cold walk over.

  As he navigates out of the parking lot, I hug myself tightly to get warm and he turns on the heater.

  “Thanks,” I say with a quick glance at him.

  He keeps his eyes straight ahead as he says, “You’re welcome.”

  We’ve been driving for quite
some time now. I’m staring out the window, seeing nothing at all but so aware of how close Derek is to me. Has everything changed between us so fast?

  I’m not sure if I want to go back to the days where he would stare at me from afar off and I would ignore him. I guess he’s always been pretty cute, but so are babies, and I don’t go all willy-nilly over them either. He had to actually show me himself before my heart connected to him in the way that it has now. Truth be told, I really like Derek Firth—a lot.

  I slowly turn to look at him and my heart is tight. “Are you mad at me?” Gosh, I sound so pathetic, so fragile. I’ve actually shown vulnerability a lot lately, and I don’t think well of it.

  “No, I’m not,” he answers, but there’s no delight in his tone.

  “Then what are you?”

  He finally glances at me. “Disappointed, I guess.”

  “About what?”

  “That you can’t trust me.”

  I just stare at the side profile of his beautiful face. I guess he has the right to be disappointed about the fact that I just lied to him. All I remember is begging him not to kill Vayle that night, and if Vayle hadn’t found the strength to get away, he and Mr. Lux would’ve killed him.

  I know Derek thinks he does what he does for my own good, but killing Vayle will not be for my own good. It’s bizarre, but I’m attached to him. Not in a romantic way, I don’t think, although it did sort of sting a little to see him with his girlfriend. However, it for sure feels like I’ve known him forever and a part of me lives within him.

  Finally, he glances at me staring at him. “What are you thinking?” he asks.

  I shake my head. “Nothing.”

  He mashes his lips together. It’s obvious he knows I’m thinking something.

  I let him remain quiet for the rest of the trip.

  The total drive time was about an hour and a half from Orono to Moonridge. It’s amazing how it only took Vayle and I about twenty minutes by foot. What sort of strange creature am I anyway? I’ve tried to push this question out of my mind for days. Each time the question creeps back to the forefront of my thoughts, I get a little frightened again and push it back, trying to banish it for good.

  Derek parks in one of the slanted spots along Main Street and then gets out and opens my door for me.