***
A hard cramp in my stomach made me jump upright, startling me out of my sleep. Pulling my knees to my chest, I took deep breaths and looked outside. Rain pattered down on the roof and windows while the sun was beginning its ascent into the sky. Gray clouds were slowing their release of water and moving at a caterpillar’s pace to make way for the beautiful sunrise. For a brief moment as I watched the sky lighten, my stomach relaxed, but it didn’t last long. My abdomen was bloated and cramped down so hard that I jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom to release stomach acid into the sink. I choked and slumped down on the floor when my body thought I was out of juice. When I felt safe enough to move off the floor, I stumbled my way back into bed and fell back to sleep.
Soft lips on my forehead disturbed my relaxed body and rustled me out of my sleep. My eyelids fluttered opened, and Sebastian’s deep-set green eyes stared back at me. Shaking my head, I rolled over and my abdomen started bloating and cramping again. I almost didn’t make it to the toilet, where I emptied out more stomach acid. The acid burned my throat. I felt completely empty and dry. Sebastian stood in the doorway, watching me. He was unsure what to do. I rinsed my mouth out with water and mouthwash. With a minty mouth and sure there was nothing left in my stomach, I hobbled back into bed.
At vampire speed Sebastian ran downstairs, shuffled stuff around, and hurried back up to me. A large glass of ice water was in one hand and the other carefully balanced Pepto-Bismol, antacids, and crackers. He gave me the appropriate amount of each type of medicine and opened the crackers for me. I smiled at him and his sweet gestures. A little too aggressively, I took the pills and drank down the rest of the water before I even thought about eating the crackers. The ice from the water cooled my stomach and released the cramps. With a happy sigh, I kissed his cheek, curled back down into bed, and fell asleep.
The rest of the day and evening continued on much like the morning. Sebastian dutifully took care of me and refilled my water whenever I gulped it down. He brought me ice and popsicles when I turned down anything solid. My stomach made a sloshing sound whenever I moved, and I tried to sleep through the day, hoping I wouldn’t throw up anymore. When night finally fell, he pulled me into his side and I happily snuggled into him, then slept soundlessly for another twelve hours.
I wasn’t surprised to see raindrops falling from the sky when I woke up the next morning; after all, I did live in the Pacific Northwest. Part of me feared moving too much or too quickly in case I wasn’t over the nausea. Slowly, I sat up in bed and there were no stomach cramps. Taking a deep breath, I got out of bed and paused—still no nausea. With a soft sigh, I made my way downstairs. Sebastian was still sleeping while I silently creeped into the kitchen. The second my feet hit the kitchen floor, my stomach growled hungrily.
Since I was still worried that I wasn’t fully well, I made myself some dry toast. As I nibbled on the golden bread, I thought about making Sebastian breakfast to thank him for taking care of me. I quietly rustled through the cabinets and the fridge, and decided to make him some oatmeal with blood to sweeten and add some flavor to it, with a warm cup of B positive on the side. When I finished my toast, I made his breakfast, placed everything on a tray, and carefully headed upstairs. He was still sleeping soundly, and I silently placed the food on the bedside table and kissed his forehead to wake him. Soft groans that were quiet pleas for more sleep escaped his throat. I smiled at him as he opened his sleep-filled eyes and looked up at me. The corners of his lips pulled up into his amazing smile that I never got tired of, and he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position so he could kiss me.
It took him a few moments after he pulled his lips away from mine to realize I had made him breakfast. I grabbed the tray and placed it beside him. The steam from the oatmeal had died down just enough to let him know that it wasn’t scorching hot nor was it cold. His green eyes took in his breakfast before he hungrily started in. Once he had finished, he leaned back against the headboard and sighed happily. Just as I was getting ready to grab the tray, he placed it on the table again and pulled me into bed and against his side. He kissed my head softly and thanked me. Content with the moment, I sighed and wrapped my arms around him, snuggling in as close as possible.
“Do you want to go and do something today?” Sebastian’s voice startled me out of the fuzzy pictures that were slowly starting to form behind my eyelids.
The only response I could muster was a sound of confusion mixed with disappointment.
“Are you falling asleep?” He chuckled in a soft tone.
I nodded my head sleepily.
“Well, I guess I could let you sleep . . . ” His voice trailed off, and I instantly knew what he was thinking.
Without any thought, I sprang out of bed so fast that it took me a second to realize what had happened.
His boisterous laugh filled the air, and he slowly stood up on the bed. “Why did you jump up so fast?” Green eyes twinkled with mischief.
“Away from you!” I laughed back.
“That’s not very nice.” A pained look filled his face before he sprang on me.
Sebastian tickled my sides until they hurt and I could no longer breathe. After much pleading and laugh-filled begging, he stopped and I took a moment to catch my breath. Tears had started coming out of my eyes from laughing so hard, and I wiped at them as my heart rate slowly calmed itself.
“So what do you want to do today?” Sebastian asked me with a smile on his face.
“I’m not sure. What are you thinking?” I raised an eyebrow as I answered him.
“Well, I was thinking maybe we could go on a hike.”
I thought about it for a minute and nodded. “I like that idea.”
“Okay, I guess we should get ready and go, then.” He hopped up and went to get some clothes.
Before I got dressed, I peeked outside and noticed gray clouds and a light mist in the air. “Sebastian, you might want to grab clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty. We may end up hiking in the rain.” I offered this small bit of advice before entering the closet and grabbing old leggings, an old T-shirt, along with a sweatshirt that had a few holes in it and some old tennis shoes from gym class. I dressed quickly and threw my hair into a messy bun on top of my head, with a thick headband to keep my bangs from getting in my eyes. Sebastian was still rumbling around in the bathroom, so I sat on the bed and waited patiently for him to finish up.
Five minutes passed before he finally came out of the bathroom. He had a windbreaker on over a gray sweater, black spandex running tights that reached his ankles, and some tennis shoes. I smiled at him and his cute hiking outfit. With a soft chuckle, he came over to the bed and helped me to my feet. As we started for the door, he dashed back into the room and came out grinning. My eyebrows shot up in shock, and I laughed at him. Sebastian had grabbed one of my thick headbands and put it on. I was sure that if he could have, he would have thrown his hair into a ponytail. We laughed as we made our way outside and into the car.
The clouds stayed dark as we drove over the winding roads toward Silver Falls. Trees created a dark atmosphere and easiness settled around me. With the way the weather was, Sebastian and I would be able to use our speed as well as talk freely without having to pause when groups of other hikers passed by. Excitement pulsed through my muscles and it took extreme effort to keep myself from bouncing around in my seat. Sebastian’s green eyes stared at me as he watched me try to contain myself. His lips twitched when I turned my head toward him and glared playfully at him. We laughed as he pulled the car easily into the parking lot. I didn’t have to work to contain my excitement anymore; I jumped out of the car and hopped up and down while I waited for Sebastian to put the parking pass in the window.
A light mist created a fog-like haze among the trees and along the river. We started out walking slowly, watching out for any other hikers even though the parking lot was entirely empty. The dirt beneath our feet, which had been packed firmly from years of people trudging on
the winding paths, was slick with the moisture from heavy rains and misty days. Even with my vampire grace, I still managed to slip and slide around on the rocks and trip over my feet. My cheeks flushed heavily every time my feet tripped over themselves or slipped on a dampened rock. Sebastian didn’t seem to mind, though, always reaching a hand out to catch me in a moment of failed grace.
It had been years since I had seen the beauty of the waterfalls. My eyesight had sharpened even more since then, and I could see every single drop of water as it fell freely from overhead and crashed heavily below into the rushing waters. Refracted light glinted through each droplet and brought out the most beautiful combination of colors. As Sebastian and I stood under the north fall, I noticed its true beauty. I was lucky enough to see just how incredible nature was, even if it was owing to enhanced vision, courtesy of my DNA. Sebastian had stopped for a brief moment and continued to walk farther down the path until he noticed I was still gawking in utter amazement at the water free-falling before me. He quietly walked toward me and lightly placed his hand on my shoulder. A soft smile played on my lips when I turned to look up at him. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in all my life.” The words came off my lips in a soft whisper.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” He stared down into my eyes with pure adoration.
My heart stopped for a second, and my breath caught. In all the times Sebastian had looked into my eyes, looked at me, or watched me from across the way, I had never seen a look quite like this cross his face. There was something deep and dark written in his eyes that reached into the deepest parts of my soul and gave me a shiver. I cleared my throat and looked away. “In all the times I’ve been here before, I’ve never seen it as I see it now. It’s incredible and absolutely beautiful.” I had to stare straight ahead at the water in order to talk.
“Yes, it is.” His voice came out deep and had a rough edge to it.
I turned to look at him. His cheeks had flushed and he was staring at me with an emotion very raw and new to me planted on his face. My heart raced, my mind went blank, my tongue felt thick and heavy, and my breath was short and deep. His green eyes were wide with something I couldn’t place, and I swallowed hard. “Sebastian, why on earth are you looking at me like that?”
He chuckled and my heart flipped around at the sound. His smile was slightly crooked. “Because you’ve no idea just how true your words are.” A small accent came through, and it gave me delicious chills down my spine.
“Wh-what do you mean?” I stuttered, trying to get the words out.
“You, everything that you’ve said about the beauty of this waterfall is true. But for me the object you are talking about isn’t what I’m seeing in this incredible natural beauty right now.” He cupped my face gently with his warm and golden hands.
Shivers ran through me, even though I wasn’t feeling cold. These shivers came from something else. They came from the realization that Sebastian was talking about me; he was talking about seeing me as I was seeing the waterfall. I stopped breathing and just stared up at him with newfound awe and love. His eyes searched mine for a moment, looking for the words that were written in my eyes, searching for the desire for a kiss that was plain on my face. Without a second thought, his lips came crashing down on mine, hard and fast.
Our lips met in a sudden impact of desire, love, and passion. His lips were soft but urgent against mine, and my heartbeat raced against his chest. My hands reached up and clutched at his chest then moved toward his hair. Want filled me, and my mind clouded with thoughts of him and his touch. I released him and took a small step away from him. A devious smile splayed out on my reddened lips. My eyes felt heavy and cloudy, but I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. With no time to spare, I took off toward the cover of the trees, away from the path and into the wilderness beyond us.
I didn’t stop or look back to see if he was following me. My vampire speed took me far away from the paths and out to a beautiful spot in the woods. A tree had been snapped down the middle by lightning; the center was scarred with blackened and jagged burns. The scars had twisted and made beautiful patterns along the inside of the trunk. It was still able to grow, and moss had started to make a home along the half that had become too heavy to stand up straight. Branches rained down and made a green curtain of pine needles, hiding whatever was under the fallen half. My hands reached out and touched nature’s curtain when two strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me into a hard and warm embrace.
Hot breath fanned my cheek and neck, sending pleasurable shivers throughout my body. Soft kisses brushed against my neck as a hand moved from my waist to cradle my head. I reached up to hold onto the hand that cupped my head gently, and I felt the strong fingers that I was so used to holding onto at night. The kisses had trailed down to my covered shoulder and collarbone. Turning in his arms, I faced Sebastian and yanked his lips down to mine. We kissed with so much passion that my toes tingled and my ears rang. My fingers gripped at fabric, tore away the layers that were between us, and searched his skin once it was finally bare. He had picked me up and set me down on the fallen tree, and I had wrapped my legs around his waist, holding him tight against me. Our fingers gripped and clawed at each other, trying to get as close as possible to keep from falling apart.
Clouds opened up and a heavy onslaught of rain dumped on us. We didn’t let go of each other, though. With rain pouring from the sky overhead, we stayed locked in our embrace, getting soaked together. Our laughter filled the air when our passion had finally subsided. We wrung out our clothes and quickly got dressed in our soaked attire. Hand in hand, we ran at full speed back to the trails. With one last stop at the waterfall that had started our glorious moment, we kissed deeply one more time and hurried to the car.
The ride home was quiet. Our hands were clasped together in a clammy pile of wrinkled fingers and palms. Heat blasted away the cold from my soaked clothes but left me feeling chafed and itchy. When we finally arrived at our house, I hurried to get inside. We left our muddy shoes on the porch and raced up the stairs and into the bathroom. Sebastian drew a warm bath, and I added bubbles for some extra relaxation. I peeled the still-damp clothes off my body and shucked them off to the side. Sebastian had climbed into the tub already and was waiting for me to jump in and join him. My toes burned against the warmth of the water, letting me know that I was colder than I had thought.
Sharp heat burned away the chill quickly, and I settled in more comfortably against Sebastian. My head rested easily against his shoulder. Exhaustion seeped into my bones at that moment and I sighed heavily. Even though lying there snuggled up against Sebastian’s chest and shoulders was amazing, I didn’t want to fall asleep in the bathtub. I slowly got up and wrapped myself in a thick white towel. Sebastian protested but fell silent when he saw how tired my eyes had grown.
I didn’t bother sifting through the closet to find clothes; instead I grabbed a shirt Sebastian had left on the floor and pulled it on. It smelled like him, masculine and of something unknown to me, even still. The sheets were still tossed aside, just like they had been in the morning. Feeling even more exhausted, I crawled into bed, pulled the sheets up, and dozed off quickly.
A soft bounce at the foot of the bed startled me out of a dreamless sleep. I looked around the room. Night had fallen, and the clock said it was a little after seven in the evening. Groaning, I looked down at my feet to see Helios kneading the space between my legs. His ears perked up and he spun to stare at me. It was eerie how he always knew when I woke up, but I understood how he knew because I knew when people woke up too.
He climbed up to greet me, and I scratched his ears while crooning at him. His weight bore down on my chest, and I gasped for breath. No matter how many times he sat on me, I never got used to how heavy he had gotten since Sebastian had left him with me as a kitten. Helios was easily thirty pounds, and he wasn’t even at his full size yet. That thought in it itself made me groan inwardly. “Helios,” I said with my voice s
tern and a frown creasing my face, “if you keep growing, I’m not going to be able to handle you lying on my chest anymore.” He chirped at me as if to say, “Sure, Mom, I’ll stop growing for you.” I smiled at my cat and continued to give him love.
Footsteps made Helios’s ears perk up and twitch, and startled me into jumping. Sebastian chuckled. I snatched one of the pillows next to me and launched it at his head. It sailed through the air and missed him by an inch. He had sidestepped my ammo and charged at the bed. A squeal escaped my throat as I watched him fly over my head and land roughly next to me. Helios growled in pure frustration, hopped down, and ran out of the room. We laughed in unison. As we sobered up, I sat there and thought about everything that we were fighting against the u da yv la dv for, moments like this, and future moments bursting with joy and love. My eyes started to blur as I thought of a world without those moments and future memories. I sighed heavily and wiped at my eyes quickly.
Soft buzzes from my phone made me pull my attention away from my thoughts. There was a text from my mom asking me if I would be able to babysit while she and my father went out. I reread the text a few times before an idea formed. The night in question was the next full moon, and I needed a full moon in order to do the ritual to save Clamora, but I still needed an alibi so that Sebastian wouldn’t try to stop me. Pushing the brilliant plan back in my mind, I replied to my mom.
We went downstairs shortly after our play fight. Black-and-white movies played endlessly on the TV as we munched on popcorn, half buttered with a delectable blood sauce and half coated with plain butter. Helios had found himself a spot on the area rug and was snoozing away. The thick afghan that had been draped over the back of the couch was now pulled on my lap as I lay against Sebastian’s side. We stayed like that for hours, unmoving, laughing at how cheesy some of the movies were, and clinging to each other when they were so romantic that it somehow hurt. I wasn’t sure how many movies we watched before we passed out, entwined on the couch, or how long we had been asleep when I woke up from a bad dream.
Chasing Shadows Page 30