Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance

by Tara Shuler

  “Don’t go,” I implored him.

  “I have to.”

  “Is there still a chance to run away?” I asked,

  only half-jokingly.

  He chuckled and put his arm around me,

  kissing my forehead.

  “Sweet Alice,” he whispered, his lips still

  pressed against my forehead. “I would run away

  with you in a heartbeat… if it were possible.”

  I sighed. I wanted desperately for it to be

  possible. The thought of him leaving now… it

  was unthinkable.

  But the next day, he was leaving.

  *****

  Chapter Three – Alone

  Kai was locked in his room when I got home

  that day. He refused to answer, even when I

  begged and pleaded. Only the sound of his

  paintbrush angrily swishing against the canvas let

  me know he was still alive.

  Max was leaving, and Kai wasn’t speaking to

  me. I tried to call Jamie, but I only got her

  voicemail. My mother and Will had gone to a

  movie. I felt truly alone. Then I remembered

  Max’s birthday gift. I went downstairs and found

  the keys to Kai’s car in his coat, which hung on

  the hook by the door. I knew Kai would be

  furious with me for taking his car to see Max,

  but he wasn’t speaking to me, anyway.

  With Max’s gift in my hand, I got into Kai’s

  car and drove to Max’s house. I guess Max saw

  the car through the window, because he met me

  outside the front door.

  “Are you crazy?” he whispered. “What if my

  dad sees you? You know he could track you if he

  ever met you!”

  “I had to see you one last time,” I said. “I

  brought your birthday present.”

  “Please, Alice,” he begged. “You have to go

  before he sees you!”

  “Fine, meet me down the street,” I agreed.

  “Fine, fine,” he urged. “Just go!”

  I got into Kai’s car and took off. Max’s eyes

  followed the direction in which I was headed,

  and I knew he would follow me soon. I pulled

  into the parking lot of a gas station that appeared

  to have been closed for some time. The windows

  were covered with plywood.

  A few minutes later, Max pulled up.

  “Do you have any idea how dangerous that

  was?” Max admonished.

  “I had to see you,” I said, tears filling my eyes.

  “Your gift…”

  I pulled the package from behind my back and

  thrust it toward him, looking up at him with

  puppy dog eyes.

  He took it gently and sighed.

  “I can’t be mad at you,” he admitted.

  He placed the box on the hood of Kai’s car

  and unwrapped it. Inside the box was a small

  golden trophy. A figure atop the trophy held a

  bowling ball as though he were about to release

  it down the lane. The engraving on the plaque

  underneath the figure read: To My #1 Bowler,

  Love, Alice.

  He was apparently stricken speechless. He

  stood there motionless, staring at the inscription.

  “Our first date,” he finally said solemnly.

  “It wasn’t really a date,” I reminded him.

  “Jamie was there.”

  “It was a date to me,” he corrected me,

  stepping closer.

  “I have to get back,” I said. “Kai’s going to

  freak out when he realizes I stole his car to come

  see you.”

  “You stole Kai’s car?” he asked, raising one

  eyebrow at me.

  “I had to give you your birthday gift,” I

  explained. “I won’t see you tomorrow.”

  “I wish I didn’t have to go,” he moaned.

  “Me, too,” I agreed.

  “I’ll think of you every moment of every day,”

  he promised me. “Say it one last time.”

  I stepped up until I was right in front of him,

  and I stood on my tiptoes. He leaned down, and I

  put my arms around his neck. My lips kissed his

  ear gently, and I breathed, “I love you.”

  He shuddered and closed his eyes, his arms

  pulling me tightly to him. His cheek brushed

  against my face, and his lips searched for mine. I

  turned toward him, and he kissed me.

  “I love you for every moment of forever,” he

  said.

  And in a moment, he was gone.

  I stood there in the parking lot for several

  minutes, almost hoping he would come back and

  sweep me off my feet – taking me away into the

  sunset. But he never came back. I listened

  intently for the roar of his car, but I was met with

  nothing but deafening silence.

  I drove home, expecting Kai to meet me

  outside, but he wasn’t there. I placed his car keys

  back into his pocket and slowly trudged upstairs.

  My feet felt like they weighed 200 pounds each.

  I paused outside Kai’s door, and I heard the

  telltale swish of his paintbrush flicking across

  the canvas moodily. I didn’t bother to knock. I

  went into my bedroom and collapsed onto my

  bed in utter exhaustion. I fought sleep, knowing

  that the next morning, Max would be gone. I

  wanted to stay awake and at least savor every last

  moment of his being in town, but my eyelids

  finally became too heavy, and I fell asleep.

  The next morning, I awoke with a feeling of

  dread. Max was gone, and I might never see him

  again. A lump rose in my throat and threatened to

  turn into tears, and I swallowed it back. The last

  thing Kai needed to see was me blubbering over

  Max’s departure.

  I took a deep breath and tried once more to

  choke back the overwhelming emotions that

  were assaulting me. Somehow, the sunlight

  streaming through the crack between my curtains

  seemed dull and lifeless, and the air in my room

  seemed devoid of life. I couldn’t let Kai see me

  like this.

  I decided to get up and send Max an email.

  Maybe if I could communicate with him now and

  then, things wouldn’t seem so hopeless.

  Max,

  I’m assuming you’re already gone, and my

  world seems empty without you. I miss your

  friendship already. I miss you.

  I know you had to leave, and I understand

  why, but I hope we can keep in touch by email,

  at least. Write soon.

  Alice

  I felt a little better after emailing Max, so I

  went to see if Kai was awake. I knocked lightly

  on his door, but I got no response. I sighed. I

  heard no activity downstairs, so I went back to

  my room to call Jamie. Voicemail again.

  It felt like the whole world was conspiring

  against me to ensure I was truly alone. I crawled

  back into bed and tried desperately to fight back

  the tears, but it was impossible. I’d never in my

  life felt so truly alone.

  I heard a gentle tap on my door.

  “Come in,” I said, quickly trying to dry my

  tears with my hands.

  Kai peeked in. “Alice?”

&
nbsp; “Kai! Come in!”

  He came into the room and sat on the bed

  beside me. Despite my best efforts, a tear welled

  over and spilled down my cheek. He gently

  brushed it away.

  “I’m sorry about yesterday,” he said.

  “Please don’t apologize, Kai. You had every

  right to be upset with me.”

  “I know, but I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  “I’m sorry I hurt you, too. I didn’t mean to.

  The only reason I didn’t tell you I was ditching

  school with Max was because I knew it would

  hurt you, and there was no reason to hurt you

  since he was leaving town anyway.”

  “I know,” he said gently. “I just wish you

  didn’t… well, I wish…”

  “I know, Kai. You don’t have to say it.”

  He leaned over and wrapped his arms around

  me, and I put my head on his shoulder. I felt his

  jaw clench against my head, and I knew he was

  upset. He must have been trying not to cry.

  “I love you,” he said quietly, his voice

  threatening to break.

  “Oh, Kai,” I breathed. “I love you, too. I hope

  you know that.”

  “I do.”

  “Please don’t ever forget.”

  He pulled the blankets back and got into bed

  beside me. Wrapping his arms around me, he fell

  asleep. It felt so good to lie there with him that I

  actually went back to sleep, too.

  I woke up around noon, and Kai was gone. I

  felt a twinge of loneliness again, and I went

  downstairs. Kai was in the kitchen, and his back

  was facing me. I couldn’t tell what he was doing.

  He turned around and smiled when he heard me

  shuffling across the floor.

  “I was making you something to eat,” he said,

  beaming proudly.

  “Oh, my gosh, thank you,” I said, suppressing

  a yawn. “I’m starving.”

  He turned around with a tray in his hands. He

  had a bud vase holding a single rose on the tray,

  along with a can of Diet Coke, a glass of ice, and

  a roast beef sandwich with carrot sticks and

  ranch dressing – my favorite lunch.

  “I was going to serve you in bed,” he

  mentioned, placing the tray in front of me on the

  bar.

  I hopped up on a stool. “Are you going to join

  me?”

  “I’m not hungry,” he said. “But I will sit with

  you while you eat.”

  It was hard to choke down the food. It was my

  favorite, but all of the emotions I’d felt the past

  few days were still raw. Max was gone, and Kai

  was too good for me. I felt like the world’s most

  evil person. I’d betrayed Kai yesterday, and I was

  sure he knew the extent, yet he was going to

  serve me lunch in bed. I was truly, truly evil.

  “Let’s do something together,” I suggested.

  “Anything you want,” Kai agreed.

  “Maybe we could go out to dinner tonight,” I

  suggested.

  “We could do that.”

  “A movie maybe?”

  “Sure.”

  “Could we go to Tybee tonight?” I asked

  quietly, nibbling a carrot.

  Kai was quiet. I peeked at him, and he was

  staring at me with a slight smile on his face.

  “You really want to go to Tybee?”

  “I think it would be good for us to be there

  together again.”

  “I agree,” he said.

  “So let’s have dinner and a movie tonight,” I

  said. “And after we’ll go to Tybee.”

  “Sounds good,” he said, planting a kiss on my

  forehead.

  I’d been afraid he wouldn’t want to go to

  Tybee – like maybe our relationship was so

  damaged he wouldn’t want to go there with me

  anymore, because it would taint the place. But

  instead, my asking to go seemed to give him

  hope that things would be okay. I guess he

  thought I must really still love him if I wanted to

  go there with him.

  It was settled.

  *****

  Chapter Four – Renewal

  Kai chose the movie and I chose the dinner

  location. We watched an action movie, which I

  was happy about. I wasn’t one for watching

  sappy chick flicks, anyway. I preferred science

  fiction and action movies.

  For dinner, I chose Italian food. That would

  have been an ironic choice if people had known

  we

  were

  vampires,

  given

  the

  popular

  misconception that vampires are somehow afraid

  of garlic. The irony had Kai and me snickering

  through the whole meal.

  We got to Tybee around ten o’clock that

  night. It was a chilly February evening, and the

  beach was completely deserted. Kai spread out a

  blanket, and the two of us relaxed together. It

  was an especially breezy night, and I could taste

  the briny seawater in the air. I leaned against him

  and sighed happily. He put his arm around me

  and squeezed. I wasn’t alone, anymore.

  I couldn’t believe I’d never been to the beach

  before I met Kai. It was such an incredible place

  at night. I could never get over the way the

  moonlight sparkled like millions of glittering

  diamonds across the water. I could have looked

  at it forever.

  When it was nearly midnight, Kai and I heard

  a commotion further down the beach. It sounded

  like a woman crying and a man shouting. We

  went to investigate, and we discovered a couple

  arguing. As we neared them, we could see the

  woman had a black eye and was crying while the

  man was shaking her violently.

  “We should do something,” I commented.

  “What can we do without calling attention to

  ourselves?” Kai asked.

  I looked around. There was no one else

  nearby. It was just the arguing couple and us.

  “I haven’t fed in several days,” I said slyly.

  He grinned at me wickedly. “How can we get

  the woman somewhere safe?”

  “Leave it to me,” I winked.

  With that, I sauntered over to the couple.

  “Is there a problem?” I asked sweetly.

  “None of your concern, little lady,” the guy

  bellowed.

  I was blasted with the stench of alcohol and

  cigarettes

  emanating

  from

  him.

  It

  was

  nauseating.

  I looked directly at the woman. She looked

  terrified. “Are you okay?”

  “I… I’m fine,” she stammered anxiously.

  “You don’t look fine,” I commented,

  scrutinizing her injuries.

  “I said it’s none of your damned concern!” the

  man shouted.

  “Please don’t talk to my girlfriend that way,”

  Kai said suddenly from behind the man. “It

  makes me very angry.”

  “What are you going to do about it, punk?”

  the guy spat at him.

  “Honey, can you take
this lovely lady

  somewhere safe while I deal with this… man?”

  Kai asked me.

  I put my arm around the woman and gently

  said, “Let’s go.”

  She looked at Kai and the man glaring each

  other and I could tell she was afraid of what the

  guy might do to Kai. I knew there was nothing to

  worry about in that department. This human

  male, tall and bulky though he was, would never

  stand a chance against Kai.

  I led the woman away from the beach, and I

  asked her where she was staying. “We’re staying

  at the Sea Breeze,” she told me.

  I took her safely back to her hotel room, and I

  gave her my cell phone number and told her to

  call me if he tried to hurt her again. She insisted

  she would be fine, though I wasn’t so sure.

  I met Kai on the beach, and he already had the

  guy paralyzed with his venom. “I saved him for

  you,” he said with a grin.

  “Thanks,” I winked, sinking my fangs into the

  flesh of his neck.

  I was thinking it was a shame he couldn’t feel

  this and wouldn’t remember it the next day. I had

  no patience for abusive people, especially after

  seeing the way Kai had been treated.

  Suddenly, I heard a deep gasp behind us.

  “You!” a man’s voice shouted.

  I turned to face the voice, and there stood a

  very tall, muscular guy who appeared to be in his

  twenties. He had intense green eyes that seemed

  to reflect the moonlight, and spiky black hair.

  For some reason unknown to me at that time, I

  shivered.

  Kai’s instinct to protect me kicked in. He

  moved toward the man, intending to bite him so

  his venom would erase all memory of me.

  However, as he neared the man, he jumped back

  in shock. The man was holding the sharp silver

  blade of a hunter. It glinted menacingly in the

  moonlight.

  “Run!” I hissed, but Kai would not budge. He

  stood between the guy and me, holding his arms

  out in an attempt to shield me.

  “Go!” he hissed.

  I realized the hunter had only seen me bite the

  human, so I sprang into action.

  “Get out of here! This is too dangerous for a

  human!” I yelled at Kai. “You don’t know what

  you’re getting into!”

  “You’re human?” the guy quizzed Kai, eyeing

  him suspiciously.

  “Go!” I shouted again.

  Kai hesitated, and I whispered as quietly as I

  could, “Please.”

  With that, Kai took off running, careful to

  keep his speed slow and even like a human.

  “I have no beef with you,” I told the hunter.