My Rock Forever

by Carmalisa Ford

  Chapter 3- Touch Down

  After nearly 12 hours in the air, we finally landed in Ireland. Standing up out of my seat, I stretch and feel my back crack with a sigh of relief. We walked out of the airport terminal to see a man waiting beside a white limo. Nick walked up to me, wrapping his arm around me while he screamed at the top of his lungs, “hot damn, we're riding in style now.”

  “Jay, when we get into the car, disable the liquor button if you know what's good for all of us.” We all load into the back of the limo; I dozed off, feeling comfortable for a change. Nick, of course, goes for the Liquor cabinet and takes the vodka out. Taking his first drink with a radiant smile on his face.

  “Enjoying yourself there, Nick?” I overheard Jay ask. A funny sensation hit me out of nowhere the longer we rode in the limo. I wonder what it means? Ever since Luther told me the story, I have been feeling weird pressure in my head. Nick pulled out his snack stash with a wicked grin. Jay reached for one of Nick's snacks. As I sat next to Jay and leaned over, “you may not want to eat them.” There goes my peace of mind. Pretty soon, they're feeling the side effects of their little snack fest.

  Luther and I sit there watching Jay and Nick goofing around. "Awe, pretty baby," while petting the Vodka bottle with a goofy ass look on his face.

  “Nick, what the hell are you doing dumb- ass?”

  “Shana, hush, can't you see Belinda is trying to talk to me?” I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. This is going to be a nightmare, when my brother gets to drinking, he becomes really ignorant and crazy.

  “Nick, who is Belinda?”

  “Shana, don't you see her right here with her head on my shoulder?”

  “Nick shut up, there, isn't anyone there.”

  Before Nick could make out with the damn Vodka bottle, I took everything and threw it out the window while trying to shove a clamoring monkey off me, “Shana, no, don't do that, it's going to hurt my baby.”

  “Nick will you please just drop dead somewhere and shut up?” Jay doesn't seem affected much which is a good thing, I know two drunk and High morons are too much for one person to deal with. Although he mentioned, Zara told him to lay his head on my lap. Next thing I know, Jay sat straight up, leaping out the window in the limo's roof, he flapped his arms, and he sang: I believe I can fly. My brother joins him, and together, they sing, I got locked up. Who doesn't love to listen to Akon? These two idiots had me laughing as I rolled my eyes at the boys. You could say their silliness is keeping my nerves at bay. Nick hasn't been this carefree in years if he talks about how he wants to ride; Big rainbow-colored unicorns holding chrome-plated sushi. I'm going to bury him at the next rest stop.

  Looking out the window as the lush scenery goes by, my jaw drops when I see an all-black stallion. I've always wanted one as a child, I'd sneak over to the stables belonging to our neighbor and pet their horses.

  I think I am going to love it here. “Luther, how much further until we get to my grandparent's house?”

  "Shana, we will get there in the next couple of minutes." As we pulled up into the long driveway, there stood a white marble castle trimmed in gold with Stain glass windows as a tribute to those souls that have passed away so long ago. The Gone but never forgotten Royalty. The palace sat at the top of a hill surrounded by dense green forest on one side, and behind it was an enormous drop-off that led into the Ocean.

  “Well, here goes nothing,” I mumbled under my breath as we exited the cars and walked up to the front of a massive gate. A bunch of men dressed in black and gray cameos and built as giant gods appeared. Coming around the back of the building, the men looked intimidating as they stood in a straight line leading up to the door.

  I smiled at them as we walked by. You know, to show them we are not there to cause trouble. We stop at the bottom step leading to the main door just as we take a step. It opens wide, revealing two very well-dressed people in all white. The woman took one look at me and cried. You could tell she was just as nervous as me; to be grandparents, they sure don't look that old. They could pass for early to mid-30-year-olds. No one should look that good to be grandparents.

  They led us inside the castle into the first-floor living room. Everything in this place looked vintage but elegant at the same time. A welcoming fire was already lit in the fireplace. After leaving Nick and me with my grandparents, Luther took off somewhere in the castle and went about his business, leaving us to talk and catch up.

  I heard the man clear his voice, so I turned to face him. He invited us to have a seat. “I'm Dean, and this is my wife, Charlotte. Shana, I know this may seem like complete and utter nonsense. You being our granddaughter and everything but what we told you is the truth. When your mom was little, she met a man. Whom we didn't approve of, and we forbade her to see him. We felt he wasn't a good person to be around her. He had always had a short temper and would fly off the handle at the drop of a dime. And we feared for her life, but she refused to listen to anything we had to say.”

  “She fed on his every word, almost like he had the girl brainwashed. One night during a party we had hosted for her birthday, she had snuck out and run away with this man.”

  As Dean paused, I asked him, “Was the man my father?” They had told me no he was not. That the man who is my father met my mother some years later, whatever happened for them to split up no one knows.

  “We found out about you when one member was in the states and brought back a newspaper. We saw a picture of you in this paper about a track meet. In this picture, you were the image of our daughter. We never knew she was pregnant with you. Not even after she had come back some years later.”

  “Believe our shock when we saw this picture and saw how much you favored all of us. We asked her who the girl was and if she had a baby? Your mother couldn't even tell us where you were, let alone a name as she had given you up the day, she had you and never looked back. After finding out what she did to you, we stripped her of her title and exiled her to some remote land. I know you may sit here thinking, why would we do that to our child? But you have to look at it from our standpoint if we had let her get away with it.”

  “Let her continue to think it was OK to just get rid of her daughter. Instead of giving her to us, then what good are we as parents? She has to accept her responsibilities in time.”

  I can see that they were mad at my mother for she did, but why wait so long to come and get me. If they had wanted to get to know me and be a family like they keep hinting at, then someone should have come caught me sooner. “What did that have to do with you guys looking for me suddenly? I mean, here I am at 17? Why did it take a long time to find me?” I asked.

  Call me strange but I have always been drawn to a person’s eyes. That might explain why I noticed his eyes change to a deep red, the more we talked. At first, I thought they were contacts, but after he closed his eyes breathing heavily, calming himself down and reopened them, revealing his original pale blue eye color. Now everybody knows that stuff is not natural. Nobody's eyes can flash between two different colors in under 6 minutes unless there is hazel color. I thought no more about it and just let it go for the time being. At first, I thought it was a trick of my mind: with everything going on, it could be stress-related, and I'm seeing things.

  After our conversation, they show Nick and me to our rooms on separate ends of the wing. Why place us so far apart? It's not like anything would ever happen between the two of us. We are siblings, for god's sake. That would just be nasty.

  Chapter 4- Choke That Bitch

  Seated at the table were more people than just my grandparents. Clearing my throat, everybody turned to face me. Making my way over to my grandfather’s side. I was about to sit down when someone removed the chair out from under me. If I hadn’t grasped hold of the table in front of me, I would have fallen on my busted pride for sure.

  About to smack the hell out of my brother, I turned around; this is something that’s right up his damn alley. This time, though, he’s sitting by my gra
ndma in the clear and safe from my wrath. It turns out it’s the human viper with a hateful attitude, looking at me with a fake grin on her face.

  “What is your problem? I haven’t been here a day, and you are already rubbing me the wrong way. If I was you, I’d keep your two-faced nasty self out of my way. Before I make it to where you become a permanent fixture beneath the frozen lakes, so your friends have no clue who you are.” I got the perfect spot to already lined up. This place is so big, her body would not be found for years.

  She just rolled her eyes at me, tosses her hair over her shoulder, and precedes to talk to my grandfather as if I’m not even there. The bitch didn’t even have the balls to say sorry.

  “I got you,” I told her, “just watch.” Nick must have realized what I was going to do because before I could even wrap my hand around her neck. He had his arms wrapped tight around me and had pushed me against the wall while the entire time I was kicking my feet.

  “Nick, let me go before I hurt you.”

  “Shana, you need to calm down. You know what happened last time, now stop it. She is not worth it.” My grandparents watched the scene with amusement in their eyes. I try to trick Nick into thinking that I’m fine. I want to get my hands on that bitch and her fake ass hair.

  I tried to slow my breathing a bit, and I looked down at the floor. Nick let go of me, giving me the time that I needed to walk up behind her and slam her head into the table. Guess I might have busted her nose from the force of impact.

  Oh well, it sucks for her. She groaned and yelled about her face. People I am assuming are her parents who were farther down the table ran up to check on her. The man raised his hand to strike me. For some reason I do not show any sign of fear, it seems like everything wants to set me off. But my mind will not bow down to anybody. Ever since stepped foot into this place. I felt a power I never felt before. More anger and readiness to attack at the slightest issue that might enrage me. Usually, nothing can set me off that quickly.

  Dean stands up and walks over to stop anything else from happening. “Do you two care to explain what’s going on here?”

  “You didn’t see her pulling the chair out from under me? And laughing about it, but don’t have the balls to say sorry. I’ll put her down on her ass every time regardless of who she is or thinks she is.”

  “Calm down, Shana. I am sure she didn’t mean it. Right, Raina?”

  “I have no reason to lie to the girl. Yes, I meant everything I did and said to her. That girl needs to be put in her place and understand she can’t show up here and take over.”

  Dean and Nick look at her like she has grown two heads on her shoulder. “What makes you think you have a higher say in what happens around here? Or what she does? You’re not the ruler here and never will be.”

  “You’re only here because your father is my nephew, so don’t get ignorant. Or your entire family will be out of here really quick. That girl, as you call her, is my granddaughter. My flesh and blood, it’s my DNA that runs through her veins, you’re nothing to me. She is the next ruler in this room and the surrounding kingdoms. What she says goes not you.”

  “My wife lost her mind all those years ago, when she brought you into this castle and supported you like our granddaughter. We gave you everything, and this is how you repay our trust? By mistreating Shana, the minute she comes here? Raise a hand to her again and see what happens to you, I’ll let her finish the job next time, and no one will stop it.”

  “Hell, she will bury you!” Nick mumbled under his breath. I shot him an evil look and smiled at him. He looked around the room, “who said that?”

  My Grandmother stood up now that the entertainment is over. “Dean, you remember we have guests coming in?” as she says that. I got hit with the most fascinating and refreshing smell of Black Cherry Merlot and Sandalwood. Searching out where the smell was coming from, I take a deep breath and look around.

  I heard voices at the door, so I turned around and casually lifted my head as my eyes traveled at their own leisure. While I examined the tall Blonde hair Blue-eyed man who wore a tight white wife beater on his chest. Man, he’s built too fine for his own good.

  Next thing I know, Nick’s shouting across the room from me. I turned to look at him, “What the hell are you laughing at dumb- ass?” I asked him.

  “Shana, close your mouth. Before a bug flies in and chokes your stupid ass with all the drooling you keep doing.” Sometimes having a brother sucks when he likes to embarrass me so much.

  I stomped over to Nick and mistakenly bumped into the man that had taken my breath away from me. Sparks of electricity sizzled between the two of us as our skin touched. We paused and stared into each other’s eyes until everything around us stopped. Not a soul was heard. It was like we’re the only two in the universe. I don’t know when it happened, but our bodies were so close if we raised our heads any higher. Our lips would touch. He wraps his arms around my waist, tenderly pulling me tighter against him, dropping his head into the side of my neck.

  My grandparents and Nick look on with smiles on their faces. While Raina and her parents seemed shocked, looking like she could spit nails, Raina rushed over to us and ripped us apart. Damon pulls me back into his arms and pushes me behind him.

  “Never, lay your hand on her again. In fact, don’t even breathe in the same room as her,” he said.

  With tears streaming down her face, “why?” she asked.

  He looks at me as his eyes soften when he turns back to her, “she’s my mate Raina, you know what that means? It’s an ever-present connection of minds, mutual respect, unconditional love, and a total understanding.”

  “Something I will only share with her and no one else. You knew I was always looking for my mate, my other half that will complete me.” I heard these words come out of his mouth and had no understanding of what he meant.

  Chapter 5- Kiss Me Under the Moon.

  I hear these words come out of his mouth and don’t understand what he means. What is a mate exactly, and why hasn’t anyone explained this to me yet? My grandmother called Damon’s name.

  “Damon, to be honest, Shana doesn’t know our world or our ways yet and as her mate. You should be the one to sit down and talk to her, so she understands and doesn’t think she is losing her mind,” my grandmother said.

  Damon grabbed my hand and led me outside to the rose garden. Gazing out into the garden as the moonlight touches down on the white roses, I listened to the surrounding sounds consumed by the night air. The soft swirl of the wind, and the gentle neighing of the animals running around beyond the fence.

  Damon clears his throat, licking his lips and biting on the bottom of his lip. As he stared at me, it was only minutes but felt like hours. Damn, this man turns me on in a way I’ve never felt before. My heart races as goosebumps swell up on my arm while little butterflies flutter in my stomach.

  I can feel a connection, one I’ve never felt with anyone before, almost like I knew him all my life to a point I have known him all my childhood. The entire time he was staring at me, he smirked at me as if to say he’s enjoying how he made me feel.

  Damon told me when we were children, we had gone to the same school and were inseparable. The more our parents and teachers tried to keep us apart, the worse it got for them. That is right around the time I started mischievous acts against everyone who would step in between us.

  According to him, I had put laxatives in a pot of coffee in the teacher’s lounge. We all know how that turned out. I got detention. All because they switched homerooms on us. He had me rolling.

  After I told Shana how we met and how she used to be. She was on the ground laughing so hard. I thought she may end up wetting herself. She told me I made it seem like she was this mean and sneaky little girl. I just looked at her and smiled in all honesty.

  “Shana, you were, but that was what I liked about you. You didn’t take crap from anyone and knew how to handle yourself. Heck, even my older brother came against you once, a
nd while he was sleeping, you shaved his hair and his eyebrows.”

  She asked me what happened to me since I had disappeared in the 7th grade. “My dad had gotten transferred to a base over here in Ireland, and we have been here ever since.”

  I was the one to let her grandparents know where she was, and we were best friends back then. We all know at 14 you can’t date any way. You were more like friends. At least that is what you tell the girl’s parents. So, they don’t bury you alive.

  After my father moved us to Ireland and I could no longer see Shana. My mind took a turn for the worst as I shut myself off from my family. When it came time to start a new school and make some new friends. I pushed them away because I knew no one could ever replace her. I always wondered if I would see her again.

  Now, years later, it’s a tremendous surprise to me to see my childhood friend standing right in front of me to realize that we’re as close as ever. And this time, I won’t let her go.

  Sitting on the bench with her under the moonlight. I can’t help but gaze at her. She has changed so much over the years. No longer is she wearing her hair in braids and pigtails. Now it cascades down her back like waves in the ocean. I just want to run my hands through it. She has her lip pierced, eyebrow done, with a tongue piercing. Makes me wonder if she has a tattoo to go with those as well.

  Under the light of the moon, Damon filled me in on what happened once he moved away, and it kind of broke me inside because that’s, precisely how I felt. The only difference for me was I started getting in more trouble. You could say I became excellent friends with the principal and the detention room. At one point, the principal had put me through track training. This way, he said, I would always be busy and couldn’t make my daily trips to his office. It didn’t work out the way he hoped because his office somehow ended up outside in the school’s front yard.