by K. A. Poe
“So, she might still be out there...” he whispered thoughtfully, “or, it may just be that her grave was never discovered.”
“But it does give us some hope, right? She could still be alive, somewhere. The odds of no one finding and reporting her body or grave in over a hundred years seems pretty slim to me. Doesn’t it to you? If she is still out there though, I have no idea how in the world we could find her,” I scowled. Even though I had used the word ‘hope’ for Salem’s sake, I had truly wished I would have solved the problem by discovering she was indeed dead – as terrible as that sounds, it would have at least put Salem’s mind back at ease. That is what he had always believed until recently anyway. Instead I opened up a whole new can of worms. I half expected Salem to jump up, ready to go on a hunt to find her at any moment.
Salem smiled at me, which was not the demeanor I had expected at all. “Knowing that she might still be out there is enough for me.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, bewildered. Did he really not intend to search for her after all this worrying?
“Of course. I know that there is little chance that I will ever see her again, but knowing that she might still exist...that at least makes me feel somewhat at peace.”
“Wait,” I mumbled as a thought popped into my head. “If he turned her, would that make her a blood-thirsty three year old for all eternity?”
Salem arched a brow and laughed. “No. Humans that young are physically incapable of being turned, which means he would have to have kept her alive somewhere until she was at least pubescent.”
“Does that make you upset?” I asked cautiously.
“No...It is relieving that the vision he shared with me about Hannah’s death could have been false. Only created and shown to make me suffer. It means that he did not want me to know the truth, for some reason. It makes me more curious than anything else.”
My mouth opened to ask him what he thought about the possibility of her having turned out like Raziel. What if he had kept her around much longer than Salem had even imagined? What if he had raised her to be as he was? But I stopped myself. “I’m just glad to know you are fine with all this now and we can put it behind us again.”
“Right,” he said. Something in his voice made me feel as if that was far from the whole truth.
“You have a voice mail, by the way,” he said, thankfully changing the subject. “It's from Karen.”
6. A NORMAL LIFE
After listening to the message from Karen I gave her a call back and unintentionally made arrangements to meet her the following afternoon for lunch with her and her cousin. I was seriously dreading it. Thinking about it, I couldn't even recall the last time I spent time around someone that didn't know my secret. It wasn't going to be easy to be around them, but once Karen brought up the idea of going out for lunch the words were out of my mouth before I had the chance to think it through, “I’d love to.”
“Do you want me to join you?” Salem asked after I hung up the phone.
“Karen wants it to just be us girls,” I sighed, “I think I’d rather be out fighting vampires than being a ‘normal girl’.”
Salem laughed and hugged me comfortingly. “It will be just like before all of this happened. You will ease back into the routine.”
“I doubt it. What will I even talk about now? I spend all of my time either with a vampire or hunting one!”
“Make something up,” he suggested.
“Sure,” I grumbled. “I'll tell her I’ve been on vacation or something.” I hated having to lie to my friend once again, but I didn’t know what else to do.
“They will probably believe it,” he smiled reassuringly, “just try not to think of me suffering. I wouldn't want for you to spontaneously turn into a bird during your meal.”
My eyes widened in horror. I hadn't even thought about that possibility. Salem had said it in jest, but the reality of it was that it could happen.
Salem saw the look on my face and knew what I was thinking before I even spoke. “As I said, avoid those thoughts and you will be fine,” he kissed my forehead and hugged me tightly. “Everything will be great. You will have fun.”
“I hope so...” I said, still shocked at the prospect of accidentally transforming before my human friend. “I think I’m going to go ahead and go to bed.”
“I will be there shortly,” Salem smiled as I released myself from his embrace and wandered upstairs.
Sleep wasn't coming easily. Even now that Salem was beside me, I simply couldn't fall asleep. I pretended to be unconscious, however, because I didn't want him to be concerned. I tried to count sheep, to count backwards from one hundred to one, but the main thing that dwelt in the back of my mind was the possibility of phasing in front of Karen and her cousin. Why had he had to bring that up? Living a “normal life” again seemed impossible. Maybe it was a mistake to have told Karen I would go. Then again, maybe the mistake had been choosing to live this secret life. I was thrust into it, but I still made the final decision.
Before I knew it, the sun was up, barely visible behind the black curtains framing the wide window across the room. I grumbled and rubbed my eyes. At some point I had finally dozed off, but my body felt as though it had never slept. Salem was still beside me, his eyes shut although he wasn't asleep. Slowly, quietly I raised my head over his and stared at his peaceful face. Strands of ebony hair fell across his pale forehead. I brushed them away gently with my fingertip before kissing him delicately on the lips. I gasped as he opened his eyes and a smirk played across his face. He pulled me tight against his body and pressed his lips hard against mine. When our mouths parted, all I could manage to do was smile.
“Good morning,” he mused and kissed me once more.
“It's off to a good start,” I commented, taking his cold hand in mine. “I’m not so sure the rest of the day will be as great. Ugh. Promise me everything will be all right at lunch with Karen?”
“I promise, but it's not something that I have control over,” he replied and tightened his grip on my hand. “You will be fine, Alex.”
“Thanks…” I half-smiled and reluctantly climbed out of bed. I retreated into the shower, hoping to wash away the feeling of exhaustion. It helped somewhat, but I knew the relief wouldn't last. I dressed in a loose-fitting light blue blouse and a black knee-high skirt.
Salem stared at me as I came downstairs. “I take it you like my outfit,” I laughed when I entered the living room, sashaying about mockingly.
“You look lovely,” he replied. “You will fit in perfectly amongst a group of regular girls.”
“That's the plan.” I smiled and was distracted immediately by the small bowl of strawberry yogurt sprinkled with granola on the dining room table. “Is that breakfast?”
“I figured something light would be best, so you have plenty of room for lunch.”
“How thoughtful,” I replied genuinely and began eating. The sweet, creamy texture of the yogurt went perfectly with the crunch of the granola. “I don’t know why but this is so good!”
“I'm glad,” he said from across the table. “If you don't mind, while you are away, I think I would like to test out your laptop.”
“Of course I don't mind.” It was somehow odd picturing Salem using a computer. He wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of technology, for whatever reason. “What did you want to do on it?”
He shrugged. “I haven't quite decided yet. There are so many things that device can do, it is amazing.”
“I guess you’re right,” I replied, took my bowl to the sink and rinsed it out. I suspected it had more to do with Hannah, but I didn’t want to stir anything up for now.
My thoughts were preoccupied with the view laid out before me. I was resting with my head against my crossed arms as I leaned over the back of the sofa. My eyes were admiring the landscape outside Salem's house – something I had never quite taken the time to fully enjoy. With how the white paned windows framed the magnificent view, it was almost a surprise
that I wasn't staring at a painting.
Tall, dark mountains arched upward in the distance, clouds casting shadows upon the rocky surfaces. Trees surrounded the area from every direction. Most of them were covered in lush, brilliant green leaves. Where there weren't trees, there were berry-speckled bushes, boulders ranging in various sizes, and a wide field of green grass that danced in the breeze. Although I had nearly drowned in its depths twice now, the most captivating piece of this scene was the vast lake.
I could barely make out the trail that led through the dense forest and toward the clearing. I mostly focused on the rippling of the dark blue waters as my eyes slowly fell shut and sleep washed over me.
“Alexis?” Salem said, nudging my shoulder gently, “you're going to be late.”
The temptation to ignore him was difficult to resist, but I raised my head and rubbed my eyes. “Thanks,” I replied groggily, “I guess I didn’t sleep too well. I should probably finish getting ready…”
I ran upstairs, brushed my hair, put on some light make up and tugged on some socks and shoes. As I was leaving, I hugged Salem close and kissed him gently. “I'll miss you.”
“Not nearly as much as I will miss you,” he replied with a simple smile, “call me if anything happens.”
“I will,” I replied and headed out the door.
Karen called me not two minutes after I got into the car and refreshed me on the directions to the place we were meeting at.
7. COUSINS
I pulled into the parking lot of what appeared to be a typical, small cafe. The building's exterior was all brick, painted in a deep espresso color – very fitting for what the business was. Coffee was just what I needed to wake myself up after the restless night before. When I came to the front of the building, I discovered an arched beige door with a sign dangling from a bronze hook above. The sign was in the shape of a coffee cup and it read in elegant script: 'Kaplan Kafé '. The café appeared to be newly built, which was somewhat surprising for such a small town. Even more surprising was the crowd I discovered upon glancing through the windows. Amidst the many people I spotted Karen sitting in a booth beside a strawberry-blonde haired girl who I’d never seen before.
A gentle chiming bell sounded when I pushed the door open, alerting the lady behind the counter that she had a new customer. It also caught Karen's attention, who immediately waved me over when she saw me. I smiled as I walked over to the booth and sat across from the two girls.
“Hey, Alex!” Karen grinned, “I hope you don't mind, but I went ahead and ordered for you. White chocolate cappuccino, right?”
“Yep, you know me too well,” I grinned in return, inhaling the strong scent of coffee lingering in the air. It was only partially true – there was no way for her to know me very well these days.
“Well, I’d hope so by now,” she laughed, and then glanced at the girl sitting beside her, “this is my cousin, Claire.”
I finally set my eyes on the strawberry blonde girl that sat beside my friend. Her hair was in short, dangling curls that perfectly framed her rounded face. From her overall appearance, I would have guessed that she was around sixteen. She had wide, vibrant topaz eyes. Something about her felt familiar, but I couldn't quite place what it was. “Hey Claire. I'm Alex.”
“Hello,” she replied. Her voice was sweet, almost musical. “Karen has told me a lot about you.”
“Oh, really?” I said curiously as Karen got up to retrieve our beverages.
“Yep. She told me that you guys have been friends since before she can remember.”
“That’s right, and we even used to
be neighbors, that’s how it all started,” I replied thoughtfully. It was bizarre thinking how much time I had spent with Karen throughout my childhood, and now I seldom spoke to or saw her. I had to admit, I was enjoying being among a “normal” crowd again already.
Karen returned and sat down a tray with three 24oz styrofoam coffee cups on it. Each cup had a name written across it in thick black ink – Alexis, Karen, and Claire. I grasped the one with my name on it, took a sip and gagged.
“Way too hot!” I gasped, “I can’t believe I just did that.”
“Well, it does say ‘Caution: Beverage is hot’ on the lid y’know,” Karen laughed and shook her head as she slid back onto the booth.
“I guess I just haven’t had coffee in a while.” I laughed and my cheeks grew warm.
“It's been a long time since you did a lot of things,” she mumbled in response.
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“Just that you’ve missed out on a lot. I was really shocked when I heard that you dropped out of school. Jason was the one that told me, it would’ve been nice if you had maybe told me before hand,” she said sadly.
Claire sat idly beside her, gazing out the window. “I'm so sorry, Karen,” I sighed. “Things haven't been very normal for me lately.”
“I understand. I was just surprised, that's all,” she smiled reassuringly. “Are you still living at Paul's house?”
I went to correct her by saying I had never stayed with Paul, but then remembered that was the story I had given Jason when I told him he could live at my house for free. “Oh, no. I'm not.”
“You’re not living with Jason and Mitch, are you?” I could hear the jealousy in her voice. It still felt strange that she was interested in Jason.
“No! I can't imagine what that would even be like...all of the parties he would have going on,” I shook my head. “I'm staying with another friend.”
“Another friend, huh? Who?” she asked, finally taking a sip of her latte. I could sense that she was somewhat annoyed that I had not asked to stay with her, although she tried to hide it.
I didn't reply right away, as I sipped my cappuccino and pondered if I should even tell her about my living situation. “Do you remember that boy I met in music class last year?”
Her eyes changed dramatically and she grinned, “You're living with him?!”
I felt my cheeks grow warm again as I fought the urge to smile. “Yes.”
“Oh my god! Did he drop out of school, too?”
“No. He wasn't even enrolled in school, actually. Janet,” I paused after saying her name, it still hurt to think of her, “I mean mom, had him find me to tell me something important.”
“Oh. What's his name?” I was already beginning to regret mentioning it; I knew she would never stop asking questions now.
“Salem.” This time I couldn't hold back from smiling.
Claire glanced at me, she almost appeared alarmed. “Did you say Salem?” she asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“That's a very weird name,” she replied, “What's his last name?”
“Young,” I replied, somewhat cautiously. “Do you know of him?”
I couldn't quite read her expression – it was a mixture of shock, hurt and satisfaction. “No...I don’t,” she mumbled. “Karen, I think I have to go.”
“But you have barely touched your drink!” Karen objected.
I hadn't noticed Claire touch her beverage at all. “Take it with you,” I suggested, trying my best not to think too deeply into the matter.
“Yeah, sure…” she said with an attempted smile as she grabbed her cup. “It was nice meeting you. Really.”
Karen and I stared in awe as she walked out the door. This didn't distract my friend for very long, her eyes were once again on me. “So, tell me more about him!”
I laughed and began telling her about Salem – how pleasant he was, about his interests in music and history, how he wanted to travel the world, that he was born in Wales and that we were practically inseparable. She grinned the whole time, taking in every word.
“He sounds amazing, Alex!” she said once I finished droning on about him. “When do I get to meet him?”
I blinked, not expecting that response. “Wow. I don't know. Maybe we can make plans to do something together.”
“I'd love that,” she was back to grinn
ing, “you’re… you know... together, right??”
“Right,” I said, mimicking her grin. A rush of butterflies fluttered through my stomach. “What have you been doing?”
“I just got a part time job at Howard's, thanks to Jason recommending me to the owner,” her pride was obvious in her tone, but I couldn't blame her. “We work pretty much the same shifts, so we get to see each other all the time now, just like school.”
“Is there anything going on between the two of you?” I said with a sly smirk.
She frowned. “No. I think he has his eye on somebody else.”
“Oh,” I groaned, worrying that he was still stuck on me, “that sucks.”
Karen shrugged and sucked down the rest of her latte. “I'm glad we’re still friends at least, though. My car broke down about a month ago; he offered to drive me to work and back until I can afford to have it fixed.”
“That's good. About him driving you, not about the car breaking down,” I laughed, “who knows, maybe all that time you two are spending together may spark something!”
“Maybe,” she said hopefully. “It was nice seeing you, Alex. We should really get together more often…like we used to. And I am especially anxious to meet this boyfriend of yours!”
I blushed again, “Right. We’ll have to set something up on one of your days off, maybe.”
“Well, I’m off this coming Friday, so just let me know,” she said with a wink as she left to dump her cup in the garbage.
“I'll have to ask Salem what works for him first, too, can’t make plans without letting him know,” I said, secretly hoping he would say no.