by Kailin Gow
“Thank you for the book recommendation,” the young man said in a lilting Irish brogue. He smiled, wanting to carry on a conversation, any conversation with the pretty blonde girl standing behind the register. With hair the color of flaxen silk, bright blue aquamarine eyes and naturally pink rose petal lips, Sadie Stoker was the type of girl that had no problem attracting men. She never had difficulties in this area, not when she was a girl of seventeen in Dorset, England. Especially not since she became a vampire nearly three hundred years ago.
The young man leaned in close to the register. “Do you think…” he began, “that you’d like to have a cup of coffee with me…when you have a break? If you take breaks,” he added quickly.
Sadie smiled. The young man was cute in a scruffy Harry Potter way, but she wasn’t interested. “Sorry,” she said. “I don’t drink coffee.”
“Tea then?” Harry Potter asked again.
The door flew opened and a current of wind and alluring power swept into the small bookstore. Loose paper shuffled around, and books fell off the shelf with the strength of the entrance.
“Gahhh, for goodness sakes, Harry Potter,” cried a familiar feminine throaty voice, “get a hint. She doesn’t want to go out with you!” Appearing from a corner, Alexis Stoker walked seductively up to the young man, grabbed his face and pulled it close to her face as though she wanted to kiss him. “How about going for a real woman?” As the young man closed his eyes, ready for a kiss, Alexis bared her fangs pulling back his hair and was about to sink them into the customer’s throat when Sadie, pushed Alexis away from him. “
“You stay away from him,” Sadie said, while the stunned Harry Potter look-alike stood still.
“Boo!” Alexis jumped, ready to sink her teeth into him again. This time the young man had the sense to run. Alexis struggled against Sadie, fury transforming her beautiful flawless face into an unrecognizable beast. Finally she stopped struggling and turned to Sadie. “You know what you’ve just done? Three days! Three days without feeding on someone. I’m starving!” She walked back and forth on the creaking wooden floor like a panther. “Those darn hunters kept me on the run for three days. They’re going after us. Every single vampire in Dublin.”
“Your brazen display just now sure doesn’t help. Harry Potter’s probably running out there yelling ‘vampire’ and alerting everyone, including the hunters, where we are. Have you always been this reckless? In broad daylight, right here in the open?”
“No,” Alexis sidled over. “And yes, dear sister. Unlike you, I’ve embraced my vampire nature. Oh, I have had more discretion where I feed, but sometimes a girl just can’t help indulging, you know, especially with a cute prey. You have to strike when it’s good.”
Sadie sighed. Same old Alexis. The last hundred years when they parted after one embarrassing incidence after another, Alexis was just as reckless a vampire as always.
“We don’t have much time,” Alexis grew serious. “The hunters are really here, and they’ve followed me throughout Dublin.” Alexis looked slightly guilty. “Ah, let’s just say, I left a real mess earlier, and didn’t bother to clean up.” She tossed her long black wavy hair, flowing in the latest fashion. “They’re not too happy to say the least, and they’re tracing down, destroying any vampire in sight.”
With that warning, Alexis had returned to Sadie’s life and in her typical dramatic fashion, managed to destroy the calm and peace Sadie had tried so hard to maintain as a vampire.
“Good to see you, too,” Sadie said bitterly, unable to contain her sarcasm. “After a hundred years or so. What have you been up to? I haven’t received a single letter, a single note, not even a single email from you. And now you show up here with a vicious group of hunters following you? You always seem to attract trouble, don’t you, dear sister? What did you do to attract the hunters’ attention? Kill a bunch of people?”
“I did what every vampire do, feed from people. No one is as good as you, Sadie. Even being turned into a vampire didn’t affect Miss Goody-Two-Shoes! You are so self-righteous, little sister. So very pure. A hundred years didn’t change that.” Alexis glanced at Sadie’s long black cardigan, plain white t-shirt, jeans, and black boots. “At least you’re dressed for this decade.”
“I wouldn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to myself,” Sadie said. “Blending into the human world has kept my existence free of hunters.”
“Free of other vampires even,” Alexis said. “You are like a monk amongst vampires, Sadie…cloistered in your own vampire existence.”
“Just because I’m a vampire doesn’t mean I have to associate with them,” Sadie said. “I’m not interested in joining a coven or being part of a vampire gang.”
“There’s one vampire who you wouldn’t mind ‘associating’ with,” Alexis purred.
Sadie looked down. Alexis’ sudden return brought back vivid and pain-filled memories of Lord Ashwin, who had turned both sisters but left them, abandoned them, staked before the sisters knew they had turned. She’d been drawn in by his deep blue eyes and gentle manner, while Alexis had been enamored with his dark hair and dangerous streak. Lord Ashwin had been staked by a hunter.
Just the thought of hunters sent chills down Sadie’s spine. Her initiation into the vampire world had been marred by the death of her maker by a hunter creating an early fear of hunters.
Sadie’s current life in Ireland had been stable and calm for quite a while. She loved her work at the local bookstore and had all but forgotten the dark past she shared with her elder sister. She felt almost human, working in this bookstore, assimilating into human society, not drawing attention to herself so she wouldn’t be found out by the hunters.
If there was one thing they’d come to share over the years it was their hatred for these hunters. The means they used made many vampires look docile and peaceful in comparison. They were not above using innocents to lure them, killing them in the process.
As if the mere thought of hunters would conjure them, the door to the bookstore crashed open, and humans wearing dusters, carrying crossbows fitted with wooden stakes piled into the room.
Sadie and Alexis had escaped with vampire speed through the window on the second floor of the bookstore, shifting into birds – Sadie a hawk and Alexis a raven.
They had no choice but to leave. Though Ireland had become their beloved home, Alexis and Sadie needed to elude these hunters and start life anew. So they chose a place as far away as they thought from Dublin - Summerlin, California, a place vampires wouldn’t care for because of its constant sunny climate and beach environment. Vampires were supposedly afraid of the sun and running water, but somehow Alexis and Sadie had never been affected by either.
They figured that was only a myth, like Dracula was a myth.
Summerlin, California - Present Day
Sadie was filled with nervous energy that only heightened as she approached the registration office of Summerlin High School. She had never attended public school before, and thought it would be a good guise to blend into the community. Quick glances at the other students left her wondering where she’d fit in. Although she had been around nearly three-hundred years, she looked very much like a seventeen-year-old.
Putting on a fidgeting smile, it was finally her turn to register.
“Name,” the clerk asked.
“Sadie Stoker.”
“Address.”
“312a Brine Crescent.”
“Parent’s name.”
“They’re deceased.”
The clerk glanced up at her. “Guardian?”
Sadie flustered, wondering if this would be a problem. “My sister, Alexis.”
A few more standard questions and Sadie was registered and would be starting classes in a few days. Excited, she grabbed her backpack off the counter and turned to rush out. Her progress was quickly halted and her breath snatched from her lungs as she ran into a young man rushing to get out.
The blow shook her, causing her to lose her bag. He
r instant reaction had her reaching to catch it before it struck the ground, but the young man was equally quick. Sadie felt a quick rush of heat envelope her as her fingers brushed against his.
His movements had been so fast, almost inhuman and she instinctively became wary. Her suspicious glance took in his piercing blue eyes, smiling and filled with mischief. His full lips were set in a lopsided grin, adding to mischief his eyes betrayed. Sadie had seen many handsome young men through the years, but this one, this human young man made her vampire heart jumped. He was tall wearing a light blue t-shirt that outlined his broad shoulders, a chest built like a gladiator’s, and a trim waist that tapered down into baggy black jeans. He was dressed like a laid-back surfer boy, but Sadie sensed an intensity beyond the normal high school student. What was it about him that made her suddenly think about Dorset, her home back in England? She found herself staring at him. He was masculine, manly – he even had a silver stud in his ear, tiny and not ostentatious, which suited Sadie just fine. His smile was the most beautiful thing about him, though. It was slow, sweet, and angelic.
“Looks like football practice comes in handy,” he said with a wink. He ran his fingers though his dark hair, pushing it off his handsome face. “I’ve been putting in a lot of time catching the ball.”
Still shaken by the blow, Sadie tittered and was quickly steadied by his strong hand on her shoulder.
“I’m really sorry about running into you like that. Are you okay?”
Sadie nodded and tried to tear her eyes away from his, but was captivated by the striking features that touched a chord deep inside her. Realizing she’d been gaping, she pressed her lips together and swallowed. Though he’d released his hold of her shoulder, his hand was still holding her backpack, the heat of his fingers burning against her skin.
“I’m the one who should apologize.” Having finally found her voice, she tried to gain control of her frazzled emotions. Unwilling to believe his football practices were responsible for his quick reaction, she wondered if he might be a vampire.
He smiled and she could have sworn he heard her question. Was she that obvious? Think of something else, she thought, anything.
“I’m so unbelievably clumsy.” She took a firmer grip of her bag, but he still clung to it.
“That makes two of us.” He extended his hand. “Hi, I’m Keegan…Keegan Knowles.”
Sadie shook his hand. “Sadie…” An exquisite frisson traveled over her skin when her hand touched his while the slightest hint of a smile made its way to her lips. He was like nothing she’d seen since arriving to California. Tall and lean, she could sense the power he carried in his muscular frame. There was something in the gleam of his eye that captured her and while she wanted to get much closer, she knew she had to get away from his touch.
As she shifted to shrug the backpack on, he took a step closer to help her.
“Quite a heavy bag for such a delicate girl.”
The scent of his breath brushed under her nostrils. The scent of vampire was not on him, but she still found it hard to believe he could be completely human.
“I have to go.” Walking out of the registration office, she glanced back at him and saw the dismay that mingled with the confident smile. Anticipation for her first day of school grew and she knew not a day would pass without envisioning his handsome face.
Out in the corridor and even as she emerged from the school and walked to meet Alexis, the scent of him followed her. She tilted her nose down to sniff at the shoulder straps of her backpack and was instantly intoxicated by the intense fragrance.
Yes, she thought. Going to a public school is going to be far more interesting than being tutored at home.
In the distance she spotted Alexis and wondered if she would notice her flushed excitement.
“Is the school that captivating, Sadie?”
She’d always been far too perceptive.
“As a matter of fact, it is. I regret that Mother and Father paid out such outrageous sums of money to have us tutored.”
**********
Sadie might try to show such enthusiasm for the public school system, but Alexis instinctively knew it was much more than that that caused her sister to be so agitated and flushed. Yards away, she had picked up the scent; the scent of a male, young, strong and virile.
Now standing at her sister’s side, the scent nearly overwhelmed her. Her body tingled and she fought to control her breathing that sought only to take in every ounce of the manly fragrance that clung to her sister.
“If school is to be of such interest, perhaps I should join you.”
Sadie halted and turned to face her, the horror of such a thought plainly written on her face.
Alexis bit down on a smile. Riling her sister was always so amusing. “But then again, I never have been very academic.”
Sadie resumed her stride and Alexis stayed close to her side, eager to keep the scent of this mysterious male in her nostrils. While she couldn’t quite discern the specifics of that heavenly fragrance, she knew she wanted to know more.
It was too similar to that of Lord Ashwin; painfully so.
Chapter 6
“Today, popular books are bringing a new wave of interest to the great romance of vampires,” Mr. Cutler said. “There is an appeal to them that has people not only wanting to become romantically involved with vampires, but they want to become a vampire themselves.”
Sadie sat listening attentively to her English Lit teacher. The thought of openly talking about vampires was oddly fascinating. Part of her feared her own status would be exposed if she was too closely scrutinized. It seemed her teacher’s every mention of vampire deeds was aimed directly at her and she had difficulty making eye contact with him. But she was also intrigued by the reactions of the students around her, especially the girls.
“Twilight has brought about a whole new rage of passion for the topic.” Mr. Cutler wandered through the rows of students, his hands clasped behind his back. “How many here have read one or more of these books?”
Reluctant to raise her hand, Sadie waited until almost half the girls in the class had put their hands in the air before joining them. The series had become a phenomenon and she’d been instantly fascinated by young girls’ obsession with the characters.
“Can anybody tell me why these vampires are so attractive?” Mr. Cutler asked.
A group sigh filled the air. Dreamy gazes took over the features of virtually every girl. Sadie bit down on a chuckle. Even fictional vampires held a compelling hold on these young girls.
“Robert Pattinson is so hot,” one girl offered.
“I’d willingly let him bite my neck,” another threw in.
“Those eyes; they just make me melt.”
“Can we concentrate on the character and not the actor who portrays him?” Mr. Cutler pointed out.
“It’s more than just his looks.”
It was the first time a guy had spoken up on the subject. Sadie turned to face Keegan.
“It’s his immortality,” he added. “He promises Bella the very thing she’s afraid of. She’s seduced by the danger of it all.”
“That’s an interesting point,” Mr. Cutler said as he made his way to Keegan’s desk.
“Vampires are very seductive creatures,” Keegan said. “Everything about them is meant to attract their victims – their beauty, their voice, and even their bite. Their bite can be intoxicating, pleasurable even, filling their victim with a sense of euphoria…before they die.”
A few students snickered at the sexual insinuation, but Sadie just stared at him, intrigued by his take on vampires.
He fixed his gaze on her and a warm smile spread across his lips.
Bashfully aware she’d been staring and feeling the sudden heat wave caused by his smile, Sadie looked away. She’d never felt such a response, at least not from a human. She was baffled by the effect he had on her and didn’t know what to make of it.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been so
flustered by him. Every time she crossed his path and every class she shared with him had her painfully aware of his proximity. She glanced back at him again and his gaze was still steadily on her, his smile inviting, yet slightly mocking.
Though she hardly considered herself to be naïve in the ways of love between a man and a woman, the sensations she now felt left her seeking some sort of understanding. Over the years she’d met her fair share of men, had witnessed romances and had learned of the ways men seduce women.
But never had she felt such a strong desire to be seduced by a man. Keegan had latched onto something deep within her from their very first meeting. She’d tried to ignore it. It was most likely the move to California, the return to school, the start of a new life. But these rationalizations didn’t explain why it was only in the presence of Keegan that she felt such overwhelming excitement and anxiety.
As Mr. Cutler continued with the lesson, Sadie found it difficult to concentrate on what he had to say. Though she’d turned away from Keegan, she could feel him. She knew his gaze was on her and she fought to keep it from disturbing her.
He was getting under her skin, something she couldn’t allow, something she had never allowed before.
When the class finally let out, she rushed down the hall towards her locker, eager to get away from the heat of the class. She sensed him, trailing her. He was close, too close and while she enjoyed the sensual sensations she felt emanating from him, she needed to keep him from getting any closer.
In a flash, she spun around to face him, grabbed him by the collar and pinned him to the lockers. Inches from his face, her eyes were hard and determined as they met his. “Why are you following me?”
Though his eyes widened momentarily, they quickly narrowed with humor and amusement. “Hey, cool it.” His chuckle was light, reminding her of the exaggerated force she’d used to back him into the lockers. “I just wanted to know why you were looking at me that way.”
“What way?” She sounded more annoyed than she actually was and knew she was being far too harsh with him. But it was the only way she could control all the other emotions she felt.