by Bell Stoires
“I’m pretty sure I know my own feelings,” Ryder said coolly.
“That’s not what I… I mean how do you know that Patrick hasn’t commanded you into thinking this?” Ari asked.
Ryder looked down and shook his head.
“I thought of all people, you would understand this,” he said, standing up and dumping his half eaten plate of food onto the kitchen counter, before storming off.
“Wait,” Ari yelled after him, but he did not turn back.
Ari sat with her head in her hands for a long time. She didn’t finish her curry either, but took her half eaten plate up to the sink and began cleaning up. She had gone too far and she knew it. She’d basically just accused Ryder of meaning nothing to Patrick, nothing except a blood bag. Ryder was her friend and when; he was trying to help her gain control of her powers, not to mention keeping an eye out for anyone Kiara might have thought to send during the day. The least she could do was listen to him, and help him with this decision.
These thoughts swirled pointlessly around her mind, trapping her in despair. Suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck sprang upwards; then she felt someone creep up on her, causing her to scream out in surprise.
“Ah!” she screamed, looking around wildly until her eyes fell on Ragon. She smiled weakly at him and said, “Maybe we need to get you a bell?”
Ragon raised his eyebrow, but did not challenge her. Instead he kissed her shoulder and slowly ran his lips along her collar bone. When he reached her lips, he kissed her hungrily, and Ari threw her whole body into his open arms. At the same time the conversation she had just had with Ryder was swept from her, but then, when the kiss ended, she looked at Ragon, concern screwing up her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, reaching out a hand to trace her pouting lips.
“Maybe you’re just a bad kisser?” said Clyde, as he blurred into the living room and jumped on the couch. “I’d be happy to act as a comparison if you like Ari.”
Ari scoffed, just as Crystal moved into the room, apparently finished with her curry. At the same time Ragon had moved over to Clyde angrily. In one fast motion he reached down and punched him, hitting him hard in the jaw. Ari, who was still in the kitchen, watched the scene unfold in shock.
“Well I guess I deserve that,” said Clyde, now standing from the sofa and rubbing his jaw.
For a moment neither of them moved, and then Ragon let out a low growl and Clyde smiled. Before Ari knew what was happening the two were brawling, while Crystal barked loudly, occasionally nipping at Clyde’s heels. Avoiding Crystal, Clyde moved over to Ragon and shoved him in the chest. Ragon fell hard, hitting the coffee table in the living room, whose wooden frame broke under his weight instantly. Recovering quickly, Ragon jumped to his feet and charged at Clyde, forcing him out onto the veranda.
“Stop this,” screamed Ari, following the pair out onto the balcony and grabbing Crystal.
For a few moments they continued to wrestle, each throwing fast hits at the other, blurring so quickly that Ari couldn’t tell whose fists was whose.
“My moneys on Clyde,” said Cambridge, walking out towards Ari, a large smile on his face.
He was followed by Thomas and Sameth.
“Can’t you stop them?” Ari pleaded, her face stuck halfway between a pained and exasperated expression.
Cambridge frowned, but gestured to Sameth and Thomas, then moved quickly over to Ragon and Clyde, who were now grappling on the veranda floor.
“Aren’t you boys a little old to be fighting?” said Sandra, when she had joined them on the veranda also.
Ragon was growling, but one look at Ari had him gaining control of himself, and he stopped struggling with Sameth, who was fighting hard to restrain him. A moment later and Thomas and Cambridge released Clyde also.
“What in god’s name are you fighting about this time?” asked Larissa.
Neither responded, but Ragon looked once at Ari.
“Maybe it’s time that you left?” Ragon said to Clyde.
Instantly Clyde’s eyes widened.
“I came for you,” he said to Ragon, brushing the creases out of his shirt, “but I’m staying for Ari.” At these words Ari’s eyes widened. Slowly Clyde reached down to Crystal, holding out his hand for her to sniff as he looked up at Ari and added, “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I killed Crystal’s owners because they saw us.”
Crystal barked loudly and Ari patted her consolingly while Ragon growled, slowly advancing, until Sameth’s hands pulled him back.
“Maybe Ragon is right,” said Sameth.
“You’ve been hell bent on getting me to leave since I got here,” said Clyde, snarling at Sameth.
At that point Sameth released Ragon, and both vampires glared at Clyde.
“Wait,” said Ari, moving to stand between them. “You’re being stupid- all of you.”
“Ari’s right,” said Larissa, moving to stand next to Ari, “the more of us protecting Ari, the better. Besides, Ragon knew what he was getting when he asked Clyde here. Clyde had never pretended to care for humans.”
For a moment it looked as if Sameth was going to retaliate, but before he could speak, Ragon’s face had softened and he nodded slowly.
“Ok,” Ragon said slowly.
Clyde shrugged and moved inside, pouring two large glasses of bourbon and handing one to Ragon, in obvious acceptance of peace, while purposefully ignoring Sameth. Ari watched the change in mood in disbelief, and moved back into the house.
“Boys,” Sandra muttered.
Clyde had been flirtatious with Ari since the moment he’d arrived, but when it mattered most, he had told her what Ragon had done after she had been attacked by Matthew. Had it not been for Clyde’s words, Ari might never have understood exactly how much it hurt Ragon not to be there when she needed him. She thought of what Sandra had said, and then remembered Ragon saying something similar. What was it that made Clyde act the way he did? Ari looked across the room at Clyde, and watched him pour another drink for himself. Not for the first time, she wondered if anyone really knew Clyde.
“What’s all the commotion about?” asked Patrick, walking down the hallway, flanked by Ryder.
As soon as Ryder entered the living room, their previous conversation flashed back to Ari.
“Looks’ like I’ll be the only human here soon,” she said, before she could stop herself.
Ragon stared at Ari in confusion, but then Patrick asked, “Do you disapprove?”
Ryder was glaring at Ari and she wished that she could not only stop time, but reverse it. For a moment she tried hard to, hoping that somehow her powers would have advanced, but they did not. She had no idea how to respond, but mercifully was spared having to when Ragon spoke.
“Disapprove of what?” he asked curiously.
“Of my making Ryder a fledgling,” said Patrick.
“What?” said Sandra, her eyes now fixed on Ryder, who had stopped glaring at Ari to look down at his feet.
“This isn’t really the best time to have a fledgling to worry about,” said Sameth.
“He will be my responsibility,” said Patrick.
Though Ari wanted to say more, she did not. She felt guilty enough about bringing Ryder’s and Patrick’s personal life into the spotlight, and did not wish to add insult to injury. A few times she tried catching Ryder’s eyes, hoping to convey that she was sorry, but he did not look up at her. Instead Patrick moved over to Ryder protectively and the pair moved out onto the balcony together.
“Well that’s just about enough excitement for one day,” Clyde said dramatically.
Ari couldn’t help but nod her head in agreement. She didn’t want Ryder to become a vampire; at the end of the day, she just didn’t! From what Ryder had told her, it wasn’t just about being with Patrick; Ryder wanted to be a vampire. She considered this for a moment. Sure there were things about being a vampire that were appealing, like not aging, being impervious to most injuries and getting to live forever. But all of
that came at a price. Had Ryder considered that he would have to watch his parents die, along with everyone else he had ever cared about? Not only that, he would have to drink blood. Maybe he would be able to control himself like the others in the coven, but Ari knew that not all vampires had that luxury. Instantly her mind flashed back to Paige, the young girl who had been in the cell opposite hers when she had been taken by Kiara. Matthew had killed Paige in a heartbeat and without remorse. Becoming a vampire didn’t just mean you had fangs; after a while humanity faded, making it easier and easier to take not just blood, but life.
“How long have you known about this?” Ragon asked Ari in a whisper, his eyes glancing out to the veranda where Patrick and Ryder were sitting together.
“About half an hour before you,” she replied.
Ragon’s eyes remained glued to the veranda, and he continued to stare off into space, apparently deep in thought.
For most of the night there was tension between Ari and Ryder. Almost all of the other vampires had left to go hunting. Only Ryder, Ari, Patrick and Thomas remained.
A few times she approached Ryder to apologise, but it was only on her third attempt that he spoke to her.
“Look Ari, I know what you’re going to say, but it won’t change anything,” he said gruffly.
Ari blinked.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Her apology had caught Ryder off guard and he opened his mouth dumbly to speak, but no words came out.
“It’s your decision to make, and even though I don’t necessarily think it needs to be made so quickly, I respect whatever you decide to do,” she said.
“Well, err… thanks,” said Ryder, scratching his head, slightly confused.
Ari thought that he wanted to say more, but just then Thomas appeared, looking irritated as he began to pace around the room.
“God I’m starving,” he said.
Ari watched him blur around the house, and instantly felt motion sick.
“Why don’t you go out; I can watch the kids,” Patrick said teasingly, looking up from his book and dog tagging the page of ‘Withering heights’ that he was reading.
Ryder threw Patrick a dirty stare, but he smiled sweetly back at him.
“Are you kidding me? Ragon told me that I was not to let Ari out of my sight… for even a second,” Thomas replied.
“Um, I think I can handle babysitting two mortals,” said Patrick. “Go eat!”
Thomas seemed to consider his words for a second, his hunger overtaking his better judgement, but shook his head firmly, saying, “No, I can’t!”
The guilt from having reprimanded Ryder earlier seemed to weigh on Ari’s conscious. When Thomas looked out the window hopefully, she suddenly realised what a burden she was.
“I could go with you,” suggested Ari, and at this Thomas shook his head even harder. “I will wait in the car and lock the doors; you won’t even know I am there.”
“She has a point,” said Patrick. “If you leave now you could get back before the others return. Besides, if you take her with you, then you won’t be letting her out of your sight… exactly. Better a fed vampire watching mortals, than a hungry one.”
At these words Thomas stopped shaking his head. He took one long look at Ari and the moved over to the front door.
Retrieving a pair of keys, he said, “Ok, but you don’t leave the car.”
It was ten minutes into their drive when Ari realised that she had just left Ryder and Patrick alone in the house together. Her heart quickened at the thought of her previous conversation with Ryder, and she prayed silently that he would not do anything rash while she was gone.
“Ok,” said Thomas, pulling the car over to the curb, and bringing Ari back to her surroundings.
“Wh… What?” she asked in confusion.
Looking around, Ari realised that Thomas had taken them to the Valley- the west side of the Valley. Thomas was pointing to a man standing near the side of a deserted alleyway. It was raining now; large thick drops of water splattered against the windshield, distorting Ari’s view. Looking past the fogged car window, she saw a burnt building, relic of the orphanage that she had grown up in. Now as she beheld the derelict building which had once been her home, she couldn’t help but feel a little sad. What had happened to all the children who had been in the Grace Valley Orphanage, waiting to find a new home?
“Wait here,” said Thomas, flicking the headlights off while leaving the keys in the ignition. “Make sure you lock the doors after I leave.”
Ari nodded and as soon as Thomas slammed the door shut, moved over to the central locking button and hit it. A small clicking noise followed this, as all the doors locked. Looking through the foggy window again, Ari watched Thomas flick his coat collar up to shield him from the rain, and move over to the man, who was smoking a rollie. Large thick puffs of smoke came out of the man’s mouth; the tobacco mingled smog curled around his face and disintegrated into the air with each new puff. The car was not close enough for Ari to hear what Thomas said to the stranger, and the rain continued to pound on the car, making it more and more difficult to see anything.
After a moment Thomas followed his prey further down the alley. Ari watched as Thomas turned quickly to glance at her and then suddenly grabbed the man, holding him up by his jacket. Unable to supress a shiver, Ari duck down low in her seat and watched as the pair began to struggle. She saw the stranger retrieve his hand from his spare coat and produce a small switch blade. Thomas, who was drinking hungrily from the man’s wrist, had not noticed the blade that was now being pointed at him from behind. Ari screamed in response, fumbling for the door before she realised it was still locked. Quickly she flicked the central locking and raced from the car. When she was in the street, she saw that both men were gone. Without thinking, she sprinted towards the alleyway, slipping slightly on the wet shiny foot path.
“What the hell happened?” she asked, seeing Thomas standing over the man he had been drinking from.
Thomas was looking down at the corpse below him and to Ari’s surprise, began crossing himself. She watched as he touched two fingers to his forehead, then sternum, and finally to either side of his shoulders.
The man was sprawled on the wet brick, lying quite still; his arms and legs were stuck out at strange angles. The rain was soaking his clothes, so that a trickle of blood was washed from his neck, joining a large puddle beside him. Thomas had not responded, but with a sombre look on his face, reached down to the man he had killed and retrieved something from his victim’s pocket. Moving quickly now, he put the small black wallet he had taken into his own pocket and grabbed Ari by the elbow and ran.
“I told you to lock the doors,” Thomas said angrily, when they were back inside the car, sopping wet and speeding away.
Ari was shaking a little; the rain had soaked through her clothes and this combined with the smell of burnt wood from the Grace Valley Orphanage, made her feel miserable.
She was breathing very fast when she said “But he had a knife, I thought-”
“I’m a vampire Ari; he might as well have been wielding a rubber chicken for all the good it would have done him,” said Thomas. When Ari didn’t reply right away, he looked up at her from behind the steering wheel and growled, saying, “I didn’t mean to kill him. He was a drug dealer; I was pretending to buy some stuff off him, and then he jumped me...”
Ari let Thomas’s sentence trail off, deciding it would be best not to ask any more questions.
It was only when the pair was pulling into the driveway that Thomas spoke again.
“Ragon is going to kill me when he finds out,” he said.
As soon as they walked inside, it was apparent that the other vampires had not yet returned; even Patrick and Ryder were nowhere to be seen.
Ari was just about to ask where the hell they had gone, when Thomas looked at her and said, “Ryder is upstairs.”
“But… how do you know?” she asked curiously.
“I can hea
r him.”
“What… how?”
“I can hear Ryder’s heart; Crystal is on the veranda and you, well… you’re next to me,” he said.
Ari nodded slowly, rolling her eyes at the obvious answer. After a moment Thomas moved over to the veranda door, opened it and walked out onto the balcony. Unable to think of what else to do, Ari followed, watching him peer up at the moon. It was early in the morning, and judging by the lighting of the sky at the horizon, the sun would be rising in a few hours. Thomas grasped tightly on the railings, his fingers locking around the metal rim so that it indenting slightly.
“So are we going to talk about what happened tonight?” asked Ari, as the pair continued to look out over the veranda and into the valley below.
Thomas did not turn around, but hung his head and said, “I killed a man; what more is there to say?”
Ari was surprised by his statement and said, “No, I meant are we going to tell Ragon and the others about what happened?”
At this Thomas turned to face her. There was a mingled look of shock and disbelief on his face.
“All life, even that of a drug dealer is sacred,” he said.
“I didn’t mean…” Ari began, but Thomas moved inside.
In the few minutes that the pair had stood outside, the sky had lightened considerably. Deep blue light now shone through the forest in the distance, and from their nesting spots in the trees, birds had begun to chirp. Ari knew that it wouldn’t be long until the new day was upon them. Ari and Crystal followed Thomas inside; then six loud thumps sounded on the veranda.
As Ari turned, she felt cool hands on her shoulder, just Ragon said, “I’m sorry we took so long.”
Ari smiled up at him, letting him slide his hand into hers and pulled the curtains closed, blocking out the dawn.
“Sorry we cut it so short,” said Sandra, sweeping over to Thomas who was dragging a chair over to the window. “Someone couldn’t make up their mind on what to have,” she added, taking a long incredulous look at Sameth.