“I’m not refuting that.” Ben raised his hands in surrender. “But this place holds a good memory for me, because this is where I first realized that you had a crush on me.”
“And how exactly did you come upon that revelation?”
“Weren’t you there because you were stalking Jenna and me?”
I covered my face with both palms. “That’s so embarrassing. You knew?!”
“Of course I knew…”
“So all this time, you knew I had a thing for you? How would you even…”
“It doesn’t matter how. I just knew.” He leaned back on his car seat, his eyes set forward.
“But you were never interested in me… Not in that way at least…”
He gave me a wry laugh. “Never interested in you? Sofia, I had a crush on you from the first time I met you. Do you have any idea how cute you looked when I first shot you in the face with that water gun? I’ve had a thing for you since then…”
“Then why didn’t you ever say anything? I had to watch you have all those flings and date all those girls… I don’t understand.”
“I always thought of you as the girl I would eventually become serious with. The only explanation I can really give you is that I wasn’t ready to settle yet … I was being a jackass.”
Then Derek came along and you got a taste of your own medicine? Is that why you’re so interested in me all of a sudden? It’s definitely not because you want to settle down.
“Anyway,” Ben drummed his fingers over the steering wheel “we’re here because I thought this would be a great place for you to look for a prom dress.”
“Prom dress?”
“Yeah. Come on…”
I stared at him incredulously. “Do I have to?” I whined.
“You can’t go to the prom with me if you don’t have a prom dress, Sofia.” He took my hand and coaxed me out of the truck. “Besides, it’s about time this place gave you a good memory or two.”
As we walked toward the boutique’s front door, I quipped. “Who ever said I was going to prom with you?”
He was clearly amused considering the way chuckles began escaping his lips. “Of course you’re going. That’s going to be date number three.”
It was decidedly the best date I’d ever been on. After we picked out my prom dress and his suit, he brought me to our favorite ice cream shop. He knew what to order me without needing to ask: mint chocolate chip. He hated that flavor… kept telling me that it tasted like toothpaste. His favorite was actually strawberry, something he never admitted until high school, because as a boy, he always ordered rocky road. He thought strawberry was too girly because it was pink.
Every venue we visited contained a memory of the eight years we spent being best friends. It was a reminder of how well we knew each other, of how well-acquainted we were with each other’s quirks and idiosyncrasies. It was as if he was reminding me why he still mattered, why we mattered.
It was interesting to sneak into our middle school and fool around on the swings. We reminisced over the first fight he’d ever gotten into. We would’ve stayed longer, but the old security guard – Enrique – chased us out.
We then had lunch at the restaurant where we both worked one summer. The manager who looked over us was still working there. We got free dessert. Finally, we took a winding stroll through the park near the hospital where Ben stayed after he contracted appendicitis.
“You were with me every single day until I got out,” Ben recalled. We were seated on a park bench and he was holding my hands, playfully tugging at my fingers. “I just want you to know that I noticed all that, Sofia. I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me.”
No words could explain the way this made me feel. There were still so many questions, so many doubts running through my mind, but beyond all the disagreements we’d been having because of The Shade, I had to accept that Ben was the one constant in my life for the past eight years. He was there for me when no one else was. Not even The Shade or whatever feelings I held for Derek could take that away.
When Ben leaned over for a kiss, it was the first I shared with him where he had me completely. As our mouths explored each other’s, not a single fiber of my being was paying attention to Derek Novak. On that particular day, I was Ben’s and I was his alone.
Chapter 25: Derek
If my ultimate goal was to forget Sofia Claremont, it seemed I succeeded in doing so the moment Ashley’s blood began streaming through my veins. There wasn’t a day that passed after I fed on her that she wasn’t on my mind.
I tried to distract myself at the training grounds or lose myself in my music. Nothing worked. Nothing could distract me from the animalistic hunger I had for the lovely blonde. My want for her was beginning to overtake me. I was thankful that I had enough sense to have Kyle and Sam take the girls away from me. I knew that I had to steer clear of them – of her – or I wouldn’t be able to control myself. I wouldn’t hesitate to once again taste her sweet delicacies.
It was this dilemma over the feisty teenager that brought me to Vivienne’s penthouse. Of course, there was also the matter that Vivienne hadn’t been showing up at the council meetings since our confrontation at the now non-existent Sun Room.
With an important discussion about to go underway regarding the swelling human population at The Shade, I couldn’t afford not to have Vivienne around at the council meetings, so I decided to pay her a visit and talk some sense into her.
When I reached her penthouse, I found her inside her greenhouse, lovingly caring for her precious roses, lilies, tulips and orchids.
“It’s amazing how life has managed to thrive at The Shade even without the sun…” She spoke up the moment she sensed my presence. I leaned against the doorpost, watching her. “Cora’s powers will never cease to amaze me.”
“Matters of great importance to The Shade are being discussed and you’re here growing plants?”
“What have you come here for, brother?” Her response was void of emotion, almost as if she were heavily burdened by the idea of talking to me.
“I came to fetch you. Your duty is at the Great Dome, taking part in deciding the fate of the kingdom’s human population. That’s where you’re supposed to be, not in this greenhouse of yours.”
“Is that all you came to say?”
I studied her, wondering if she knew what was going on in my mind even before I spoke. I never really fully grasped the extent of what my sister was capable of. I wondered if I ever would.
“You are bothered by your desire for Ashley?”
The question was rhetoric so I glared at her, hoping that she would sense my impatience. Nothing. The minutes were ticking by and she remained silent. Her focus remained on the plant she was pruning. Her disregard for me was beginning to vex me.
“I still rule over you, sister. I want your full attention when I am speaking with you.”
She dropped her tools and looked straight at me. The moment those violet irises settled on me, I wished I hadn’t asked to have her full attention. Her gaze was a story of despair – one I wanted to unravel and make right, but felt powerless to do so.
“The one question that comes to mind, my prince, is why you’re having such a dilemma over this matter.” She took a step forward, closer to me. A challenge. “Why not just take her from the custody of the guard and do with her as you please? She is nothing but a slave. You have every right to bend her… break her… use her any way you see fit. She’s just another human girl... I remember a time when you wouldn’t have hesitated to take the life of one such as her. Why do you hesitate now?”
Tension coursed through me as I searched myself for an answer to her question. I had none but one. A bitter taste caught my tongue even as the name came out of my mouth.
“Sofia.”
Ashley mattered to Sofia. That’s why I don’t want to touch or harm her. I resented my sister for her cunning. I forbade her to speak of Sofia and yet, without defying me, she still managed to
get me to ponder the mysterious hold the exquisite redhead had on me. I expected to see triumph in Vivienne’s eyes. I didn’t see it. Where it was supposed to be, a defeated resignation remained.
Her challenge stayed with me as we sat through the council meeting at the Great Dome. She left me with a choice – continue to find turmoil in deciding Ashley’s plight or completely abandon the man I became when Sofia was around and just give in to my predatory nature. Somehow, though the latter seemed inviting, a part of me was still fighting against it. The part that was aware I had a choice, and therefore, a responsibility for the consequences of my decisions.
“Derek!” Vivienne snapped me out of my self-introspective bout. “Everyone’s here. We’re all waiting for you to begin.”
As usual, Eli was at the stand, presiding over the session. Apparently, he was already done with the introductions and all eyes were on me to begin speaking.
I straightened in my seat, attempting to focus my mind on the meeting that I had called. “The human population of The Shade is far too great. How did it get this way?”
“With all due respect,” Xavier spoke up from his seat “I don’t see why this is a problem. They are not trained to fight. They don’t have any weapons or any means to procure them. We can easily quell any attempt they make to defy us. The last human uprising was over four hundred years ago and that was a massacre.”
“And you would willingly have another massacre? Do we not have enough blood on our hands?” It was Liana, Cameron’s wife, who spoke up.
“We’re vampires, Liana.” Xavier smirked. “Human blood is shed on this island every single day. It is how our kind survives. Let’s not pretend to have righteous indignation over such things, simply because we can’t afford to have it.”
“We cannot have another uprising.” My voice was enough to silence everyone. “We are already threatened by external forces – other vampire covens wanting what we have here at The Shade, the hunters still in relentless pursuit of us. Considering how many human abductions we’ve been doing, it won’t take long until the hunters find us out. We cannot risk a rebellion from inside our own walls.”
“What does the prince suggest we do then?” Eli leaned over the metal banisters lining the stand.
“For now, the abductions must stop. All scouts are going to be recalled and trained as guards. All human blood we require will come from the humans already on the island. We cannot risk the hunters finding us out.” Even as the words came out, I was reminded of the risk I took when I let Sofia and her friend escape. Has she blinded me so much that I’d forgotten my duty to protect The Shade at all cost?
The noise that erupted across the round hall drowned out my thoughts as objections and defenses were thrown by practically every member of the Elite present at the dome.
“How do we survive then?!” A voice cried out. “We must feed.”
An image of Ashley flashed through my mind and my gut clenched. Yes. We must, mustn’t we? I shook the thought away. “Where do the glasses of blood come from?”
Ever since I woke up, I’d been given a daily ration of blood. It wasn’t as succulent as fresh blood pumped straight from a beating heart, but it served well to satisfy a vampire’s wanton cravings. I never thought to ask where they came from until then.
Again, like clockwork, they closed their mouths to hear me speak. It was something that’d always baffled me before – how I, younger than most of them in both natural and vampire years, was able to command such respect from the Elite.
This time, however, it was different. It wasn’t just me who caused their silence. It was my question. “Well? How do we have such a supply of blood?”
I noticed how Eli’s knuckles grew paler from the way he was clutching the metal banister. The way Vivienne’s fingers more tightly gripped the armrests of her recliner caught my attention too.
“Vivienne?”
She twisted the recliner my way, the round platform her seat stood on allowing her to look upon my face. “The human population now is a lot less than it was about half a century ago. There were rumors of rebellion and the humans were growing restless and dissatisfied by their living conditions.”
I waved a hand at her, a motion for her to continue speaking.
“Father called for a culling.”
It was easy to see from the expression on Vivienne’s face that the incident didn’t bring forth any pleasant memories. I wondered what was going through her mind. My twin sister… forever an enigma…
“A culling?”
Eli came to her rescue when he, in his usual expressionless manner, laid down the rest of the facts for me. “All humans who proved to be of no worth – the weak ones, the sick ones, the ones who could not serve – were slaughtered, their blood drained and preserved in chilling chambers for future consumption.”
“Were so many killed that the blood lasts even to this day?”
“A great number were lost, yes,” Xavier chuckled. “But we never had much use for the preserved blood when we were always brought a fresh supply from the abductions.”
“Well, we have use of it now, don’t we?” I challenged him. “My decision stands. There shall be no more abductions. If you must feed, feed on the blood of the dead.”
“And when that runs out?” Xavier was never intimidated by me and was not afraid to show it. He was making it clear through the expression on his face and the tone of his voice that he wasn’t pleased with what I was doing.
Vivienne’s jaw twitched when my eyes met hers. She looked at me like she would a dying man, like she was about to lose me. I hardened myself under her disapproving glare.
“Should the blood run out, perhaps we should see to another culling.”
Chapter 26: Ben
I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
Sofia had me spellbound the moment she walked down the stairs, looking absolutely stunning in the dress we picked out during our date. She appeared timid and reserved as my mother and father began taking pictures of us.
My mother wasn’t exactly thrilled to hear that Sofia and I were going to prom together, but we explained that neither of us had been dating anyone lately and since we were best friends, it seemed like going together would take a lot less effort than scrambling for a date. My mom’s shoulders sagged in surrender before she kissed me on the cheek and whispered, “If that’s what makes you happy, Ben.”
And it did make me happy. Sofia made me happy.
Ever since our first date, things got a lot more fun and casual. In order to avoid arguments and just enjoy each other’s company, we took great lengths to avoid discussing the future – with me still mulling over joining the hunters and her still greatly opposed to ruining The Shade, something I still couldn’t bring myself to understand.
We spent practically every waking moment together. Due largely to the fact that Sofia and I held hands in the hallway and made out whenever we got the chance, it wasn’t long before everyone at school got wind of the new “it” couple. Sofia and I were no longer just best friends. In Connor’s words, we were “finally together”. It felt real, or at least I hoped it did.
There were still times when we were together that I would catch Sofia staring into space, lost in thought. It often started with her having this dark, broken, pensive expression and then something would lift inside her, like a light coming from within spreading through her and threatening to break out. Her cheeks would take on a rosy pink glow and her lips would form into a soft, longing smile at some distant memory I wasn’t privy to.
Sometimes, I would be tempted to ask what exactly went through her mind during those moments, but I was afraid to hear the answer to that question. Something told me that those memories had something to do with a certain vampire who still robbed me of completely having her to myself.
The few days I got to spend with them at his penthouse were enough to tell me how she viewed Derek Novak. She never looked at me the way she looked at him. She never responded to my touch the way she
responded to his.
That night of our escape from The Shade… in the woods… it still haunted me. Seeing his lips on hers, his arms around her… I knew Sofia well enough to know – just by the look in her eyes – that she wanted to stay. No words could explain how grateful and relieved I was to find her on the shore with me the next morning. I was fully expecting to find myself alone.
As we rode in the limousine to the venue of our prom, I was momentarily distracted from Connor’s crazy antics – the reason for all the loud laughter, cheers and guffaws going on inside the vehicle – to find Sofia, who was sitting by my side, staring out the window. She had that distant gaze, that rosy pink glow, that smile … I caught sight of the fingers on her left hand moving over her knees as if they were playing a tune on a piano.
She had never played an instrument her whole life. But Derek did.
I laid my hand over hers. “Hey… You alright?”
She snapped to attention and turned to face me. A flicker of guilt showed in her green eyes before she squeezed my hand and smiled. “Yes. I’m great.”
“Be here with me, Sofia.” Not back at The Shade. With him.
She responded to my statement with bewilderment. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
Her fingers caressed the line of my jaw. I hated how I barely felt her touch. No other girl had ever made me ache with so much longing as she did. When her soft lips rested on the corner of my lips, I took advantage and twisted my neck toward her for a full kiss. If there was one thing I shared with her that I could completely feel and fully enjoy, it was the kisses.
I could sense her surprise. She meant only to give me a quick peck, but she must’ve already noticed over the past few days that casual smacks rarely ever satisfied me. I wanted more, demanded more, and it pleased me when she responded, just like she was doing then.
Unlike the kisses I had shared with Tanya, Sofia’s kiss didn’t bring about visions of Claudia and her appetite for breaking and humiliating me.
“Rose Red and Prince Charming are at it again!” Connor announced with a soft chuckle. He was the first person I had confided in about how I felt for Sofia. That was way back in our freshman year of high school.
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