by Elle A. Rose
*
On the way home Christopher and I discussed when and where he would propose. It was extremely sweet and exciting to see how anxious he was. He decided that he would not be able to wait. He had to do it tonight and he would need my help. It was hard for him to explain what he wanted. I have never seen him so giddy. There were times he was unable to speak, to form complete sentences to say what he wanted. I told him to leave it up to me. I am happy for my brother, and I only want the best for him. After thinking about him and Lisa and doing some mind reading, I am ready for her to come home from school.
Hearing her car pull in to the driveway, Christopher heads quickly outdoors to the backyard. When we moved into the Colonial farmhouse, Isaac installed a bench swing that hangs from a three hundred year old white oak tree. Before sitting, Christopher brushes the light layer of snow from the bench. Now seated, he turns and flashes me a huge smile. I nod to Isaac and he goes to open the door for Lisa. As she walks in, she gives the three of us a puzzled look. Olivia is brimming with excitement as she lunges forward and pulls Lisa into a tight hug. I can hear the air being squeezed from Lisa’s lungs. Isaac and I look at each other and shake our heads. He and I move at the same time, him pulling Olivia from Lisa and me grabbing Lisa’s hand and walking her towards the back patio doors.
“Amber, what's going on?”
I smile and say, “You’ll see. Christopher is waiting out in the back for you,” as I pull her to the ten foot French doors that lead to her beau. Nearing the backyard, I prepare my mind for what could be one of the most special moments of my brother’s and sister’s soon to be shared life. Lisa’s and my eyes are fixed on Christopher—well the back of Christopher. He is sitting on the swing, lightly moving back and forth. I sense Lisa wants to ask more questions, but I glide a few steps ahead of her to open the door. Olivia was supposed to be waiting at this door for us but Isaac is still holding her. It is probably for the best. If he had not pulled my loving mother from Lisa, they would still be embracing at the front door. Still holding Liss’ hand, I usher her out into the backyard the way my mother would when she was kindly sending me outside to play as a child. As her foot passes the threshold, I release Lisa’s hand and bring her and Christopher into their own piece of heaven.
Transporting Olivia and Isaac into the vision as well, they can also witness what Christopher and Lisa are seeing. Olivia gasps. The moment Lisa’s foot steps outside, she and Christopher are transferred from the backyard. In their minds, Lisa's foot does not hit the lightly snow covered grass, instead, it lands on light fluffy blue with a shade of pink clouds. The sky around them is crystal blue. The only thing that remains of the backyard is the white oak tree and the swing—which Christopher has now left and is standing next to, awaiting Liss. Taking in the scenery, Lisa notices her attire has changed. Instead of her black wedged boots, skinny legged blue jeans and black and gold long sleeve tee-shirt. She now has a long flowing green satin dress with a gold ribbon tide neatly at her waist. The green and gold are the same color of Christopher’s eyes. Her shoes and jewelry are gold and her long blonde hair is pulled to the left side, hanging over her shoulder gathered with a matching green satin ribbon. I have done away with Christopher’s jeans and polo shirt as well. Standing next to the swing, he is in a simple but dashing black suit with a white shirt and green silk tie to match Lisa’s dress. There is a single red rose in his outer-breast pocket that intensifies his fiery red hair.
Coming around the swing, Christopher reaches for Lisa’s hand and helps her sit. There is a light breeze that makes her dress move ever so slightly. Behind me, in the family room Olivia has begun to play her harp. Neither of them have spoken. They are gazing into each other’s eyes, as if they were having a silent conversation. Still holding her hand, Christopher gets down on bended knee and pulls the small jewelry box from his pocket. Lifting it up to Lisa, her free hand moves to cover her mouth before reaching up to take the box from him.
“Christopher,” She speaks it so softly I almost miss it. As she opens the box a soft cry of joy slips from her lips.
Pulling the ring from the box, Christopher gives Lisa a cultivated smile and says, “Lisa, I love you. I’m not sure if those words can truly express how deeply I feel for you, but I only hope you will allow me to be your husband so I can show you how much I do care about you for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me?”
With a high pitch squeal, Liss launches herself off of the bench and onto Christopher. None of us were expecting that. Trying to maintain their scenery, I attempt to control myself and cover my mouth to keep from laughing. Isaac and Olivia are chuckling behind me.
It is a sight to see. Christopher is lying on the ground, well, clouds, with Lisa on top of him. His arms have circled around her as they begin to kiss. The ring, well it is kind of floating in midair. It slipped out of Christopher’s hand as he and Lisa landed. It would not take long to find it in the white grass with our eyesight, but I do not want anything to come in the way of their moment. Finally, ending their kiss, Lisa stands—only a vampire could move as gracefully as she did to right herself. Christopher too is on his feet. Reaching out, he plucks the ring from midair. I release it at the same time his hand touches it. I do not want him to feel any resistance removing it from it suspended position. Sliding the ring that was on my finger a few hours ago onto Lisa’s finger, it fits perfectly. Just on time, Olivia's music becomes a little louder and after kissing Lisa's hand, Christopher pulls Lisa into a slow waltz.
Coming to stand next to me, Isaac puts his arm around my waist and I lean my head against him.
“You did a wonderful job with this. I don't think I could have come up with a more peaceful and beautiful place. Fairytales are written from scenes like this.”
“Yes, don't they make the most exquisite prince and princess? I'm happy for them. I'm happy Christopher has someone who will love him forever.”
“You may never admit it, but I know how hard some of this must be for you, Amber, and I'm proud of you. I'm glad you’re able to do what's best for him and you.”
I cannot respond to that. I am not sure how. Instead, I continue to watch the happy couple dance in bliss. Their sky has begun to fade from a brilliant light blue to a hazy orange and pink. Right now, they are the only two that matter.
10
Wind Tunnel
The felicitous couple dance for another two and a half hours before they were finally ready to come back to the real world. I will need to step out sometime tonight to feed. I used a lot of energy and will not be able to go to class tomorrow or the rest of the week with an empty stomach. Today is only Tuesday, but, for right now, I am content with looking at wedding dresses online with Lisa. She wasted no time with starting the plans for the wedding. I caught a hint of sadness in her mood. I did not want to invade her privacy but I had to make sure it was nothing that I or the family did to upset her on what should be one of the happiest days of her life. Besides the wedding, what else will she have to look forward too? There will never be children and grandchildren. Browsing through her thoughts, I discovered rather quickly what upset her. She was thrilled about getting engaged and happy to share it with us, still she yearns for her sister and mother to be here to share the joy. She wishes her sister could be her Matron of Honor as she was her sister's Maid of Honor for her wedding.
Like with me, the family had to convince Lisa it was best not to speak to her family ever again. They actually wanted to move from Rochester sooner than we did, but they were already in fear of me coming home to find Lisa as a vampire, so they did not want to move out of my house without me. It was hard for Lisa to leave her family. I do not want to say it was any harder for her than it was for me, but until now, she has seemed to embrace becoming a vampire. That includes her ability, which I have to say I am happy I did not end up with that one. Lisa's ability in some ways relates to Christopher’s. They are both able to extract information. Although, Christopher's only works on people by
making eye contact, Lisa's works on anything, it is only a matter of her touching the item or person. Over the years, she has become used to it and is able to block or tune out most information being inputted into her brain. I can only imagine how it must feel for her to touch something and to suddenly have this surge of knowledge injected into her thoughts. To know in an instant the origin of anything your hand touches, like: who created it, where it was made, and what year it was fashioned in.
“Amber?”
My head turns to look at Lisa, I must have drifted off.
“You know I have no idea how you do that. When I was a human, I figured you had really bad hearing and just never heard me talking to you. Now that I know you are a vampire and what kind of hearing you have, I have no idea how you are able to tune people out when you are seated a few inches away from them.”
I smile. My family is always picking on me about my short attention span and lack of hearing. “I'm sorry, Liss. What did you say?” Lisa points at the computer screen, I believe she has found a wedding dress. Examining the dress, I think...
“Is that your cell phone vibrating?”
We both look at my pocket. A few years back I had my personal cell number and the “special” phone number sent to the same phone. Only one person could be calling me. The family is all home for the evening, and if they needed to talk to me, they would just call out. My hand begins to reach for the opening of my pocket, but I stop. I have not talked to Maddie since earlier that day before I left. After leaving, I expected a phone call from her, but as the days rolled on, I received nothing. “Aren't you going to answer it?”
I glance at Lisa, my hand is still frozen in place.
Dropping my hand I say, “No, now show me what you were talking about before we were interrupted.” Lisa's mouth hangs wide open as if she is in shock. Smiling, I reach over and push her mouth shut. She hesitates but shifts her eyes back to the screen. Olivia is on the move. Everyone in the house heard our interaction and they are wondering what is going on. Stepping into the doorway of the office, Olivia stops when my phone goes off again, I have stopped moving, too. What could be going on for there to be back to back calls?
Two firm hands come to rest on my shoulders.
“I think you should answer that. I understand you don't want to, but it may be something important.”
I regard my mother’s face with wary eyes and reluctantly put my hand in my pocket to pull out my phone. The caller ID reads Madeline Grayson, and there is a wonderful picture of Maddie and Dominick sitting side by side on the hospital bed. Glancing away from the phone, I find Lisa eyeing the cell phone. I wonder if I do not answer it soon, will she take it and answer it herself. My loving mother’s hands are still resting on my shoulders. Her eyes have not left my face since she took her stance. She projects so much warmth and love from her eyes. I only wish I could offer a quarter of the love she gives. Pulling in a deep breath, I slide my finger over the screen and the device comes to life.
“Hello.” There is no voice on the other end, just raspy breathing. “Hello, Madeline?”
“Ah, Amber, hi. I wasn't sure if you would pick up.”
“Maddie?” I am positive it is Maddie on the other line, but there is something different about her voice, it sounds sad like she was crying. The phone move, and what sounds like a wind tunnel has replaced Maddie’s raspy breathing. “Maddie, what's that noise, is everything okay?” The wind tunnel seems to have moved away from the mouth piece. I can still hear it though, so it has not moved far.
“Sorry, I’m a little short of breath. You probably hear my oxygen tank, I have to take a few breaths in the mask every so often.”
The wind tunnel comes back. “Why do you need assistance with breathing?”
“Oh, don't worry about me. I'm not calling to talk about that.”
She stops talking, she must be using the tank again.
“I'm calling because, and I'm sorry to say this, but I need your help again.”
Taking another few breaths, I use this as my time to stop whatever she wants before it goes too far. “I'm sorry you're ill, Maddie, but I won't be coming to help. It’s best if we, if I keep my distance from you and your family.”
“It’s Dominick.”
Those two words do something strange to my body. Every muscle in my body has tightened. Olivia’s hands that are still on my shoulders, try to work the tension away.
“I understand how you feel about us. Dominick told me what happened between the two of you.” She stops to take another few breaths. “I can’t say I blame him, but I also understand your resistances in the matter.”Another few breaths. “Like I said, I wouldn't be calling but, I need you, Amber. Dominick, well, after you left, he changed. He hasn't been my sweet caring grandson.” Her voice has started to shake. I believe she’s crying again. She is trying to breathe in the oxygen through wet sobs. “He's being detained. Thankfully, I’m good friends with the local sheriff. He pulled Dominick over for drinking and driving. Since he’s under the age limit…”
Knowing she is about to take a few puffs of air, I step in.
“I'm sorry to hear that, Maddie, but there isn't anything I can do.”
“Please, Amber. Instead of bringing him to the county lock-up, he is doing me a favor and has dropped Dominick off in the next town’s drug and alcohol rehab center.” The phone goes quiet again while she breathes. I have nothing to say. “I would go pick him up, but I've been bedridden for the last month.” My temper begins to rise. How could Dominick be so reckless and leave his grandmother home to fend for herself while he is out…Oh, can I really judge him? Have I not left Maddie and him as well? Olivia is still gently massaging my shoulders, the tension is oozing from them as she tries to release some of my burden.
“Sheriff Braxton said Dominick can only be released to me or an adult family member. Amber, you’re all we have left.”
Her words prick me like the thorns of a rosebush. I did the one thing I never wanted to do. I have hurt Maddie. She does not need to say the words for me to understand the ramifications of my last trip.
“Amber, are you still there?”
My silence must have gone on too long for her.
“Yes, I’m here. Maddie, I don't know what to say.”
“Just say you’ll come, even if it’s one last time, even if you stay for just a day or a few hours.”Another pause. “I’m calling on behalf of Dominick, but it would be nice to see you one last time, Amber. I have fluid in my lungs. I came down with pneumonia after leaving the hospital.” My heart aches to hear my friend tell me she’s dying. How could I let this happen? How could I have let Lance down? I have failed. As I lower my head to rest in my free hand, Maddie takes another breath. “The doctors are giving me four to seven months. I know what you’re thinking, and Amber, sweetie, there was nothing you could have done. Besides, I'm ready to see Lance again.”
The last part came out in a slurred whisper. She’s taking another breath of oxygen. I need to go back. I have to visit with Maddie one more time, save I do not know if I can face Dominick again. I do not know if I can continue to act like I do not have some sort of feelings for him. Of course while I stood in front of him and told him to find someone close to his age, I thought I meant it. I thought it was what I wanted. In the last few weeks, there has been a ‘what if’ bubble over my head. Nonetheless, just as quick as I think of the possibility, I shake it off. I mean I am thinking about Lance's grandson, the boy I have watched grow up. The human boy—the human boy that will remain human, and if I have anything to do with it, he will have the same blissful life his grandparents shared. The type of life his parents shared before their lives where cut short. As I made it possible for Lance, I will do so for Dominick.
“Amber?”
“Yes, Maddie, I will be there. I’ll need the address of Dominick’s location.”