by Jen Pretty
The floors were an earthy bamboo wood that glowed with warmth. The walls had been painted in the soft blues and muted greens I had chosen to accent and enhance the feeling of calm and peace. One entire wall was mirrored, giving the space an open feel and the mirrors would help beginners find their body space.
I spun around, and the inside of the front wall was awash with the sunset painted by the artist I had hired. The colours made me feel like I was looking at a real sunset.
I walked into the middle of the room and sat down. It was finished. It was perfect.
“You aren’t going to meditate, are you?” Vincent asked, concern lacing his voice. I still hadn’t explained to him about seeing the Hindu God when I meditated. It felt too personal to share with anyone.
“No, I’m just feeling the space. It’s so calm and peaceful. Thank you, Vincent.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” he said, sitting down beside me on the floor. I laughed as he ran his hand over the floor and checked to see if it was clean. He was already sitting on it. If it had been dirty, his pants would already be ruined.
“When do you want to book your open house? We should give the newspapers a week to run some advertising and write a story.
“Why would the newspaper write a story about my yoga studio?”
“I will ask them to. I own both daily newspapers that run in this city.”
“Why am I not surprised? I guess a week is fine.”
He just smiled, and we sat in silence for a little while.
Eventually, I grew tired, and we stood up to go home.
I hugged Randy again. “Thank you for all your help with this.”
“You got it, Lark. Would it be ok if I stayed on to run the front desk and do the books and things?”
“Absolutely,” I replied. Randy was perfect for a yoga studio. He was so sweet and calm. “I don’t know how I will pay you though. I might not have income for a while.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Vincent replied. “Randy is in my employ. I can loan him to you until your business is making money and you can afford to hire him.”
“Alright, as long as that’s ok with you.” I turned towards Vincent, but he just nodded. I remembered what Randy had said about Vincent not having work for anyone but warriors.
At least I was able to give Randy a job he seemed to enjoy. It was time for me to get back to something I enjoyed, too. Yoga was a big part of me, and maybe I had forgotten that in these last few weeks. No more. I needed to make sure I took care of myself to keep balance in my life.
At the mansion, I slipped into my yoga pants and hit the gym. Not many people were around the house, and no one was in the gym, so I plugged my old iPod into the speaker system and let the music fill the room.
I started going through some basic poses and let my breathing drop off into a steady rhythm as I moved through some more difficult positions until I had a light sheen of sweat covering my body and my lungs and heartfelt in sync. My body moved smoothly with a strength I hadn’t had before. My arms didn’t shake on certain poses that I had struggled with, and my feet were firmly rooted to the ground.
When I finally sat cross-legged on the floor and let my mind drift, not caring if I meditated the day away, I was comfortable in my skin and felt like I finally had the wings I hadn’t known I was longing for. I felt whole, complete.
Joy had been such a foreign concept, but I got it now. This was it. My new life was taking flight.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The next week was quiet. We went out every night but didn’t find any vampires. Vincent was getting concerned and voiced his frustration in unhealthy ways. Mainly yelling.
The small vampire I had saved, Trevor, was starting to come around. He was still painfully thin but was coming down to the dining room for meals and always sat with us. He had run away from foster care after his foster father beat him. He didn’t know who turned him into a vampire, but he had been struggling for months not to hurt anyone and had slipped up, on the edge of death, killing a homeless girl the week before we found him. He was still beating himself up about it, but Durga forgave him, and I hoped someday he would forgive himself. I liked having him around. He was more like me than a vampire.
The night before the grand opening of Sun Down Yoga, we returned unsuccessful again, but this time I spotted a motorcycle in the driveway. Frankie was in the house. I hadn’t seen him since he stopped by to declare he would ‘always be there for me.’ I mean, it was kind of stupid to say that and then disappear for a couple of weeks. I had sent him some text messages, and he had always replied, but it was short one-word answers, so I took the hint and left him alone.
In the foyer the sound of the men yelling was undeniable. I had heard them from the driveway, but it echoed through the halls like low rumbles of thunder.
I scurried down the hall towards Vincent’s office. My team dispersed in every other direction. Chickens.
“You lost the right to care about her when you acted like an asshole and let her slip away,” Vincent growled.
“That doesn’t mean you have the right to make decisions for her. She is too important to risk like this,” Frankie replied harshly.
Super, so they were fighting about me. Ugh. I thought about turning around and going back to my room to let them fight it out, but it could damage the house, and I liked this house.
“Shut up, you Neanderthals,” I yelled as I walked into the office.
They both spun and looked at me. Their faces morphed from anger to guilt.
“What is going on?” I asked.
“Vincent is ignoring the danger he has put you in by advertising your studio opening. He painted an arrow to your back.”
I snorted. “You think I don’t know they might hit me there? We haven’t seen a vampire in a week, Frankie. They haven’t just decided to leave the city.”
His mouth opened, and he gaped at me for a minute. “You want to risk all those people? You want to risk yourself?”
“Frankie,” Durga took my voice turning my vision red, pushing me to him and put my hand on his arm. “I appreciate you are looking out for me, but that studio is going to be full of Vincent’s vampires. If they are planning something, we got it.”
“You can’t be sure of that. They might have enough vampires to overwhelm you. There could be hundreds,” he said, more calmly now, but still agitated.
“I can’t hide away anymore Frankie. This is what I’m meant to do,” Durga let me go, but I wasn’t sure if I was grateful for her help diffusing the situation, or afraid of how easily she took the wheel.
He stared at me for a long minute and nodded his head, looking like he wanted to argue with me, but held himself back.
“I’ll be there, Lark. I don’t like this at all, but I’ll be there in case you need me.” He stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind him. I looked at Vincent and raised my eyebrows.
“Why do you have to rile each other up?” I asked. He gave me this innocent look, but I knew he liked getting Frankie going.
Stupid vampires and warlocks.
Later, I collapsed in my bed for another day, excited for the grand opening of Sun Down Yoga.
✽✽✽
“You guys, we have to go!” I yelled in the door of the dining room. The team was eating, slowly. Very slowly. So slowly we were going to be late.
Trevor waved at me from his place beside Cedric, and I smiled at him and waved even though I was freaking out. Cedric had taken a shine to the young vampire too. I couldn’t blame him, Trevor was very personable and funny.
“Lark, calm down, it doesn’t take an hour to get there,” Cedric, the slowpoke, said.
“It does if you guys move at the speed of glaciers!” I replied as I walked away hoping they would follow me. Vincent had set a procedure in place so that I was never alone today. All that meant was that I was being dragged down by a bunch of bloodsuckers with all the enthusiasm of a rock.
I passed Drake on the porch,
climbed in the van and waited. A year later they finally filed out of the house and into the van. Cedric slid into the driver’s seat. He looked at me in the rearview mirror, and I raised my eyebrows at him. He snickered and put the van in gear.
At the studio, Randy had gone all out. There were balloons and streamers everywhere and tables set up in the reception area with cheese and crackers and tasty baked goods. There was a punch bowl with glasses, and everything was clean and flawless.
There was still an hour until the doors opened but there was nothing left for me to do. My team and a few other vampire teams were milling about, but I told them not to touch the snacks till the doors opened.
Randy was beaming and hugged me tightly before hustling off with a dust cloth to polish something that was most likely already clean.
Frankie walked in with about a dozen warlocks and witches in tow, including everyone’s favourite witch, Cindy.
I narrowed my eyes at him, as he walked towards me. “I’m sorry, I just wanted the strongest here with me.” I wasn’t happy, but as long as the witch didn’t ruin my great day, I wouldn’t have to slice her up.
Frankie laughed and squeezed my hand. “I already warned her I would make her hair fall out if she ruined this for you.” Mollified at least a bit, I gave him a weak smile.
“So, what do you think of my studio?” I asked him, turning us around to look at the open area beyond the reception.
“This is amazing, Lark. It’s exactly how you pictured it.”
“You saw it in my mind? When?” I asked. I couldn’t remember thinking about it when he was around.
“It was about eight months ago.” He pulled me into the middle of the room and wrapped his arms around my waist, standing behind me and looking over my shoulder at our reflection in the mirror.
“You were drunk, and some idiot was bothering you at the bar. I was about to tell him to fuck off when your mind drifted away. It was like you were standing right here, looking around. I had no idea if it was a real place or imagined. Now I know.”
I was stunned. I had never thought too hard about how much Frankie could see in my thoughts, but to see this place long before I even thought it could be a possibility was amazing. Also, heartbreaking. He lived this dream with me, and now we were standing right where I imagined I might be someday. A tear fell from my eye. The distance that had grown between Frankie and me over the last few weeks snapped up like it was never there. I was already emotional about the studio dream coming true, but to know that I had shared it with Frankie all that time ago, pushed me over the edge.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “For being gone; For letting go when I should have held on. For not being there when I said I would.”
I wiped my eyes with my hand, and he spun me around to face him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and holding me close. I saw Vincent over Frankie’s shoulder. His scowl made me feel guilty. Super, no avoiding boy drama. Frankie let me go and turned to the vampire. I needed to get better control of my thoughts.
“Truce time, vampire,” Frankie said, shocking the hell out of me. He walked over with his hand extended and stopped in front of Vincent. They both just looked at each other for a moment before shaking hands and walking back out into the reception area. Leaving me alone in the studio.
When the doors opened, I was surprised to see some of my old students. A few of the elderly couples came, and one of the sweet little old ladies patted my cheek and told me how proud she was of me. The coach of one of the junior hockey teams had sent his whole team down to sign up. Randy was kept busy putting out more snack trays after the horde of teenagers left.
Several stylish looking PTA moms with kids came in and signed up, and some new moms with babies joined my mom and tot program.
It had been more successful than I could have hoped for. I was just about the shut the front door when my old yoga instructor, Shanti, walked in. I hugged her, and she had a look around.
“This is amazing, Lark!” she said as I showed her around.
“Thanks, I’m looking forward to starting classes in two weeks.”
“I’m so happy for you.” She hugged me, and we walked towards the door. “Why don’t we meet for coffee next week? I’d love to keep in touch with you.”
“Thank sounds great,” I replied and gave her my new cell number before she left.
I flicked the lock on the door and went to help clean up. I had lots of people signed up for classes so I would have to start scheduling my time better; No more staying out till daybreak.
When everything was put away, and the balloons and streamers were taken down, I said goodbye and thanked Frankie for setting everything up. We all piled back into our vehicles and headed for home.
As our van approached the gate, I could see Vincent’s car, and the SUV that was travelling ahead of us pull over, blocking the driveway where the gate used to stand. The gate had been destroyed. Peeled back from the posts like they had been made of paper. Everyone in the first two cars got out and started running for the house.
I reached for the door handle, but Vlad stopped me.
“We wait,” he said.
I waited for a few moments and then dove for the door and slid out before Vlad could stop me. The smell of blood lingered on the air. Human blood. I raced towards the mansion. Up the long driveway, praying I wasn’t going to see what I feared.
At the bottom of the steps, at the front of the mansion, in a crumpled heap, lay Drake. Vincent was crouched beside him, sorrow splashed across his face, betraying his heartbreak before it was replaced by something much more worrying. Anger. Vincent’s anger could be seen from outer space. It was so intense. We all knew who had been here and done this. While all the rest of the vamps had been out protecting me, none had been left behind. Except for one.
I flew through the house, shouldered the door open and was greeted by the smell of vampire blood. Trevor lay on the floor in a pool of it, and his chest was shredded like someone had dragged him over a cheese grater exposing the bone beneath. His body was twisted, his limbs at odd angles but his torso still rose and fell lightly.
“Vlad!” I yelled down the hall. “Somebody, come quick!”
I fell beside his small form and saw his lips moving silently. I felt Durga shift inside me and slowly began to hear the harsh whisper.
“They said you are next,” he rasped, then closed his eyes. I held my breath a moment, but his chest continued to rise and fall slowly. He was still alive, for now.
Cedric came through the doors and stopped dead. He must have noticed Trevor’s chest still moving too because he scooped him up and I trailed them down to the medical room.
Vlad entered the house as we passed the foyer. He followed us in and set to work hooking up a new IV for Trevor, but his silence betrayed his pain at the loss of Drake.
In the confusion, Durga finally got the foothold she wanted and pushed forward.
“He was ours! Innocent!” she yelled. She and I were on the same page this time. Killing Drake was low and so was hurting Trevor. They were weak and helpless. There must be justice.
Back in the foyer, Vincent caught me as I was heading back out the door.
“No, Lark. Wait. They want you to go out and look for them alone.” I kicked and shoved to get him to let me go. “This wasn’t the worst of their plan, and you know it.” I clawed at his arms and pounded my heels into his knees. “This was to try and make us act irrationally.”
“Well, it worked,” I screamed before going limp in his arms. Durga was backing down instead of rising up to fight him off.
“Drake was a good person, and Trevor was still too weak to put up a fight,” I sobbed. “I shouldn’t have left them here unprotected. This was the biggest mistake. It’s all my fault!”
“No, it’s most certainly not your fault, Lark. We all thought they would be safer here. We will get them, be patient.” Vincent scooped me up in his arms and carried me into his office, setting me down on the small couch and crouching
in front of me. He brushed the hair back from my face and looked me in the eye. “I’m going to make a phone call, Lark. Just stay here.”
I didn’t even want to go anymore. I was shaking and feeling sick now that the adrenaline was washing out of my blood. I just wanted to sleep or puke or something.
If only I had insisted on bringing Trevor and Drake. Trevor was too thin to travel. He had been gaining slowly, but it was a long road to recovery after the neglect he had suffered, and we all agreed his skeletal frame wouldn't support him for the whole open house. Drake didn't want to leave him alone.
Cedric walked into the office and informed Vincent that the rest of the house was clear. He took one look at me and pulled a small garbage can out from beside Vincent’s desk and set it on the floor in front of me without a word. Stupid vampire thinks he knows me so well. Ok, fine, I was feeling nauseated and all clammy.
Vincent made a quick phone call and when he hung up, looked at me. “I have back up on the way. We will get them, Lark. Give me two days
“Fine, you have two days, then Durga and I are going hunting.” My blade flashed into my hand.
We were ready.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
That night the house mourned. Drake had been in the house for three decades, and everyone loved him. He wasn’t a warrior or a vampire, but he was a valued part of the house family. His devotion to the vampires was unquestioned.
“He helped me when I became a vampire,” Tommy said, standing at the front of the room. “He made sure I knew that I was still the same person; had the same morals. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke everyone listened. We are all going to miss him.”
Every vampire in the room nodded and whispered their agreement.
The mood of the house was the lowest I had ever seen it. Vincent had been in his office on the phone most of the night, but he had come down to the conference room for Drakes eulogy. I was told they don’t usually have a funeral for their dead. We hadn’t had one for Eric when he died, but since Drake was a human who dedicated his life to serving vampires, they were going to honour him the way humans did.