‘Jay told me that he loved me today, it was wonderful, he says that he always wants to be with me.’
And there was more.
‘Jay never stops telling me how beautiful I am, he really wants everyone to know that we are together. We have kept our relationship a secret for so long now because all the other girls at college will be so jealous.’
Jay was starting to feel the bile build up in his throat now, but he continued to read what she had written about him ten days ago.
“Today Jay totally pretended to beg me to be his date for the dance, it was just for his friend Kevin’s benefit. I love how he wants everyone to know how much he wants to be with me. We intend to tell everyone that we are together on that night. I just can’t wait to see the look on everybody’s faces!”
Then, the last entry of the diary had been written on the day that the dance was being held.
‘Jay and I are going to get married. He got down on one knee and proposed to me last night, I said yes of course, it was so totally romantic. We know that our Moms’ will say that we’re too young, and if and when they do we are going to run away and elope.’
The rest of the diary was filled with loose pictures of wedding dresses and white roses, that she had cut out of one of her mother’s magazines. Amberlee had also been practising her signature. The one that she would use after her up and coming wedding.
Jay’s face had turned very pale while reading her diary, and he was speechless. His mouth felt suddenly very dry, and he readily accepted the glass of water that was offered to him. He emphatically told the two police offers that he knew nothing about this diary, and that Amberlee’s relationship with him was a figment of her own imagination. He explained what had happened at the dance, this time mentioning that he had met someone else, and had stayed with her throughout the whole evening. The police finally let him go, but before his departure they did say that if Miss Robinson didn’t turn up, they would probably bring him in for further questioning. Jay was well aware that they didn’t really buy his story, and that they thought that he was somehow connected to Amberlee’s disappearance.
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At one thirty in the morning Valentin, Arabella and Kathrin returned home. Lia forgot herself for a moment and greeted them with great warmth and enthusiasm.
“We’ve only been gone less than a couple of hours darling” said Arabella, but she beamed with pleasure at such an affectionate welcome from her usually self contained daughter.
“I know Mommy but I’ve missed you.”
Valentin kissed her tenderly on the cheek, and she could smell human blood on his breath. Kathrin told her sister about their fantastic hunt, and how between them they had snared two women and a man. As Lia listened to Kathrin’s excited chatter, she started to feel her resolve wearing a little bit thin. So it didn’t really surprise her when she suddenly felt temptation strike like a flash of lightening.
“Kat you’ve given me an appetite now, with all your talk of the hunt!” she said good naturedly, and made her way to the door.
Then Lia left the house and she did not return until dawn had broken.......
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“Dude that sucks, that's total bullshit, the cops don’t really think that you had anything to do with it?”
Kevin had picked Jay up from his house to take him for a ride and give him some moral support .
“Well they sure we’re acting like they thought I was guilty” said Jay feeling very disillusioned.
“And you should have seen what was in that diary, that girl is nuts.”
“Do the cops think that you’re some kind of serial killer now? I mean you, in the slammer sharing a cell with some big guy, man it doesn’t bear thinking about” said Kevin insensitively.
“Dude you’re not helping.”
Kevin apologised, the last thing that he wanted to do was make his buddy feel worse. Now was the optimum time to remind Jay about some of Amberlee Robinson’s past antics.
“ You did remember to tell the cops about the thing with Tom Harrison didn’t you?”
Tom Harrison had attended Claremont college last year. He had been new in town, his parents had relocated from New York for work reasons. Amberlee Robinson had developed romantic notions about him too, but he would never pay her any attention, and had rejected all her advances. However this didn’t stop her, because Amberlee believed that you could wear anyone down with persistence. Tom started to date a really nice girl from Richmond called Amy. She didn’t attend Claremont college, but she would come into Portland every weekend to see her boyfriend. Amy and Amberlee were as different as fire and water, and it was obvious to everyone that Amberlee wanted to break them up. She did everything that she could to distract Tom from his relationship with the other girl, but it was all to no avail. Amy was from a very wealthy family, who could afford anything that they wanted. She herself had a passion for the designer clothes of the Ralph Lauren collections, and she would wear her outfits with pride, on her weekend dates with Tom. Amberlee decided to try another tactic to get his attention. She stole her mother’s credit card and bought herself a complete wardrobe of clothes, which were identical to the ones that Amy wore. She had her hair styled in exactly the same way as her rival, and she would turn up whenever she could to the places where they had arranged to meet. Everyone knew what was going on, and Amy finally broke up with Tom because the whole single white female thing disturbed her. Amberlee continued to sport her copied state of dress, when she saw that half the battle had been won. Tom had finally had enough of Amberlee’s stalking, he had come to the end of the road. Amberlee had become like a noose around his neck, which had been getting tighter and tighter. So he told his parents, who immediately contacted Alexis Robinson. She discovered that Amberlee had spent thousands of dollars on her credit card, but went into a pathological state of denial and turned it all around on poor, harassed Tom Harrison, accusing him of being a bad influence on her sweet, young impressionable daughter. When Amberlee saw her mother’s reaction, she endorsed it by saying that Tom had made her do all the things that she had done. She even produced a diary of the false dates and times of when they had allegedly met in secret, and how he had told her that he felt nothing for Amy, and he wanted to be with her. Tom and his family moved back to New York soon after, and have never returned to Maine. This had all happened six months ago and had been the main topic of hot gossip, but had been quickly forgotten when Elena Hudson had disappeared.
****************************************
“I’d forgotten all about that” said Jay felling a little bit lighter. “I remember that Amy chick being really freaked out.”
They continued to drive along in silence, listening to the soft purring of the engine, each alone in their thoughts. Kevin had told Jay that the Dean of Claremont college had decided to close it for the next few days, in view of Amberlee’s disappearance. The police department were also going to interview all the kids who had attended the dance.
“Hey, I almost forgot, you dog, how did it go with that hot new chick?” Kevin hadn’t really forgotten about Lia, he had just been waiting for a chance to mention her.
Jay had not forgotten about her either. He wished that he was still in Westport with her now, holding her in his arms, their lips locked in a passionate kiss.
“She’s really something” he replied and fell silent again.
“Yeah Jay, she is really something, I could see that, but I’m gonna need more than that” said Kevin, he had been waiting to hear about her for almost two days now!
“I’ve never met anyone like her before.”
‘Come on baby give it’ thought Kevin but instead he said:
“Well what’s her name man, where’s she from?” Jay had never been much of a talker, and he knew that he would have to force him to give him all the details.
“Her name is Lia, Lia Beauchamp-Malenkov, she didn’t actually say where she was
from but she’s living in a house in Westport, nice place.”
“And?” Kevin wanted Jay to stop talking like a girl and get to the interesting part. So he did a little probing.
“So you took her back to her place right? And then what, did you....?”
“No we didn’t” said Jay smiling and shaking his head at Kevin’s usual one track mind. “But we are definitely going to see each other again.”
Kevin marvelled at his buddy’s self control as he told him how he and Lia had just sat and talked, like they had known each other forever. Jay described how they had gone for walks, and how they had explored the area near to her home. He forgot all about Amberlee for a while, as he remembered in detail the time he had spent with Lia. Kevin was a little disappointed, in fact he felt cheated. He had expected a much steamier account, that girl had looked so hungry for Jay, and he for her. Well at least he had some information to relay to Libby, and it was the sort of mushy stuff that only a girl would want to hear.
“How did it go with Libby?” asked Jay, when he had finished describing his weekend of heavenly bliss with Lia. He asked the question with genuine interest though, and thought that Libby and Kevin had looked very good together at the dance. They were very comfortable with each other, and seemed to have a lot of interests in common.
“Yeah great, she’s great” replied Kevin happily, and Jay noticed that he had blushed bright red! Jay pounced on the opportunity to tease him.
“Dude you’ve still got lipstick on your mouth, it’s not really your colour!”
“What?” Kevin, forgetting that the dance had been on Friday evening and he had washed his face since then, started rubbing his mouth vigorously, then stopped and laughed when he saw the smirk on Jay face.
“I take it you two kids are going to see each other again?” he asked already knowing the answer to that question!
“You got that right buddy” said Kevin regaining his cool, and he pulled the car up outside Jay’s house.
Both boys could hear some sort of commotion going on. It was shouting and the raised voices were coming from the direction of Jay’s house. They jumped out of the car and saw Alexis Robinson arguing with Jay’s mother.
“He must have something to do with it” screeched Alexis. “He was with that poor Hudson girl when she disappeared, a bit of a coincidence don’t you think?”
“Don’t be ridiculous Alexis” said Cora in her son’s defence. “Jay has always been a very gentle boy, he wouldn’t harm a fly, I’m sorry that Amberlee has gone missing I....”
But Alexis was looking for a fight, and she would not let Cora continue. She didn’t want to hear any platitudes, she wanted to know where her daughter was, and what had happened to her. The real truth was that she thought that she herself, may have been the cause of Amberlee’s disappearance. However, she wanted to blame someone else rather than face self confrontation.
“Cora I have spoken to the police and your son, who you say wouldn’t harm a fly, dumped my Amberlee in front of the whole of Claremont college for some other girl.” Alexis’ tendency to be melodramatic was by far one of her strong points.
Cora Patterson momentarily faltered. She did not think much of Amberlee Robinson, and had felt that like her Mother, she needed to be taken down a peg or two. However she did not approve of her son’s treatment of her. She still wasn’t aware of all the facts. Jay had not been very forthcoming about the events of that night, but Cora had gathered that it had been very humiliating for Amberlee.
“Well Alexis I do understand how you feel and I can only apologise on Jay’s behalf. But I will tell you what I do know. Jay thought that he was just there to make up a foursome so that his friend Kevin could get to know the other girl. It’s clear to me that it was Amberlee’s own stupid fault for thinking that she and Jay were on a real date.”
“How dare you, how dare you blame Amberlee for what he did. Your son humiliated my daughter in public and now God only knows what has happened to her.”
Cora Patterson was a very nice woman, she had a very kind heart and was generally sorry that this woman’s child had gone missing. However, her patience did have its limits, and she was not going to stand there being berated on her own doorstep by Alexis Robinson.
“Dare I? You’ve got some nerve lady, why don’t you cast your mind back to that young man Tom Harrison. Your precious Amberlee tried to get her claws into him too, don’t you remember, no, and why is that Alexis? Is it because you’ve got your head stuck so far up your own ass that you can’t see what your brat of a daughter is really capable of?”
Alexis reeled backwards as though she had been struck hard in the face. Her lips started to tremble as she turned away from Cora and ran back to her car, without even noticing that she had passed by the two boys. When she drove off the tyres screeched in protest, as they burned dark marks onto the road.
****************************************
Lia had waited until everyone was in bed this time. She had made sure that when she slipped out of the house, that she was still carrying Elena’s handkerchief between her breasts. The vampire wanted to see Jay, her human object of desire as soon as she could. It had been a struggle not to tell her Mother and Kathrin about him. She had, more than once, caught them looking in her direction, with puzzled expressions on their beautiful faces. It was as if they had been trying to read her mind, but had found it too difficult. Lia knew that she was arousing suspicion within her family. She knew that she had to be more careful in her manner, if she wanted to keep her secret. Vampires were notoriously inquisitive, especially her father.
Her time spent with her family was brief, but she had really enjoyed being with them. When she had returned from her lone hunt, she had joined them in the music room. Her father had recently purchased a beautiful piano, it had been a surprise gift for her mother. It was of unspeakable beauty, the craftsmanship was stunning, and Arabella had willingly entertained them all, by playing the beautiful music that she had learned as a child back in Surrey.
Lia didn’t bother taking anything from the house that could be sold to Abe and Dalia Jackson. She still had plenty of money, but she had made a mental note that she would return to the little antique shop. She hadn’t forgotten that Abe Jackson had said that there would probably be some extra funds to collect. He had seemed very excited and enthusiastic about the prospect of selling her English grandmother’s, artist signed, portrait oil painting through a prestigious auction house.
The moon was complete in its fullness, as she walked purposely towards the thick cluster of trees that obscured her secret portal. Lia did not look back at the house, so she was totally unaware of her father, watching her leave from his bedroom window. He made no attempt to follow her but slipped back into his bed, next to the now sleeping Arabella, and as he closed his eyes in slumber Lia walked through the portal and once again froze the time space reality of the nineteenth century.
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It took exactly forty three minutes to fly from Portland to Philadelphia. Amberlee had booked herself into an inoffensive, airport motel, before she had taken the plane in the morning. The young girl had felt really deflated by the evening’s turn of events. She felt like a total loser. Amberlee had convinced herself that Jay Patterson had wanted her, and only her. She just couldn’t understand how some other girl could just turn up and steal him away like that, right from under her nose. Amberlee had turned to go in the direction of the restroom but had changed her mind and decided to leave the dance. As she had walked to the exit she had seen Jay and her, that girl. They had been kissing passionately, in the way that he should have been kissing her. She had waited for that moment for so long, she had fantasized about it, willed it to happen with all her might. She had admitted to herself with much reluctance, that the girl was hot. ‘Smoking’ was the word used by a group of boys to describe her, as Amberlee had hurried passed them with her head held down. The pain that had weighed down heavily in her heart ha
d helped her make the decision, to go away and start a new life elsewhere. Amberlee had stolen money from her stepfather’s wallet, before she had left to go to the dance. She had stolen from her parents before, the last time was to buy some designer clothes that her mother had made her return to the store. She had not predicted however, that she would be using some of her stepfather’s money to fly to Pennsylvania. The money had been for something very different. Amberlee had intended to book herself and Jay into a hotel for the night, after the dance. She had decided on a luxury riverside hotel, and had imagined them being there, all night, alone, and together. She had imagined their naked bodies, entwined under the cotton crisp sheets of the luxurious hotel bed. The heat of their passion had grown and expanded in her mind, but she had sadly spent the night alone in a cheap motel room, while the boy who held all the strings to her heart, had been basking in the arms of another girl.
After a cup of strong coffee, Amberlee Robinson had taken the first flight out to Philadelphia.
Chapter Six
Lia decided to buy some more food and have her kitchen fully stocked, for when Jay visited. She went to the same row of shops, that he had taken her to before. After looking around a supermarket she bought a selection of things, that looked very strange to a vampire girl from the nineteen hundreds. Nevertheless Lia had fallen easily into her new role, as a teenage girl of the 21st century, and she was enjoying her double life.
“That’s seventy five dollars please honey” said the cashier after she had scanned Lia shopping, and placed them into the store’s own plastic carrier bags. Lia was glad that there had been no queue, there was only a few people in the supermarket that day and Lia had been able to look around at her leisure. She gave the plump and pleasant looking cashier eight ten dollar bills, and waited for her change. Lia’s eyes suddenly fell onto a poster, displayed on the cream coloured wall opposite. She looked around and saw that there was quite a few of them in the supermarket. Lia had been so engrossed in her shopping that she had not noticed that they were there. The friendly cashier followed Lia’s gaze and shook her head saying:
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