Forgotten Specters

by C. R. Jane

  Would this be the moment, the moment that carried us beyond the best friends we had been for years? The moment that fulfilled the fate's promise that we were a soul match… Beckham slowly leaned towards me, his supple lips softly caressing mine. That seemed to be enough to spark a fire in him however, as he suddenly crashed his lips into mine with a fervor I hadn't seen from him before. I melted into the kiss, feverishly tasting him back. His hands softly caressed me, holding my head in place as he kissed me deeply. This was surely love…

  "Eva," Beckham said sharply, slightly shaking me at the same time.

  I just stared at him, my mind whirling over what I had just seen. What was happening to me?

  "Eva are you all right? You've been out of it for a full minute!" he said.

  At least I hadn't fainted this time as we appeared to be in the same position we were in a moment before.

  "Yes, yes. I'm fine," I assured him. "I don't know where my head's been at lately," I lamented.

  He looked at me suspiciously.

  "Are you sure you alright?" he asked.

  I suddenly wondered if he had seen the same thing as me.

  "Have you noticed anything strange since we met?" I asked him cautiously.

  "You mean besides the fact that you seem to have trouble not fainting around me?" he asked, finally relaxing and letting out a laugh. His laugh was belied by a nervous twitch at the corner of his eye. I frowned, frustrated at all the mysteries in my life at the moment, and the fact that neither he nor Mason seemed to want to volunteer what they knew. Although I couldn't really talk since I hadn't mentioned Damon to either of them…

  Beckham turned and began leading me towards where he had dropped the picnic basket and the blanket, his arm draped around my waist. He pulled his arm back to spread out the blanket and I immediately felt the loss of it. I sat down and pulled my knees up to my chest, going over what I had seen.

  Was I dreaming about another life? Was this one of those things I had read about where people were reincarnated or something and I was seeing one of my former lives? It was either something like that or I was going crazy because the feeling that I had known Beckham for perhaps forever was growing stronger.

  I idly watched Beckham begin to pull out strawberries, fancy looking cheese, and some cut up French bread, wondering when he had time to put such a nice basket together. We picked at the food in silence, not necessarily an uncomfortable one, just a distracted one. I played with the sand next to the blanket, going over everything I had seen in the last few days. First things first though…I needed to ask Beckham about the conversation I had heard this morning between him and Mason. But how did you go about asking about vampires and succubi... with a straight face?

  "I heard you this morning," I blurted out.

  Beckham's eyes bugged out, and he choked on the strawberry he had just put in his mouth.

  "What exactly did you hear?" he asked, seeming to be trying to choose his words carefully.

  "This sounds crazy coming out of my mouth…but I heard you talking about how I wasn't exactly human…and that you weren't either."

  Beckham stared at me for a moment.

  "You're taking this awfully calm considering most people would think you were in the presence of a lunatic after hearing something like that," he finally answered in a measured tone, the slight shake in his hands the only way to tell he was caught off guard by my statement.

  "There's always been something off about me," I said reluctantly.

  I really didn't want to get in to what had happened to me at the Anderson's, but I at least had to explain some of it for him to understand what I meant.

  "Where I lived before," I began. "They weren't exactly kind to me. The woman, Mrs. Anderson, she actually seemed to hate me. She learned early on in my stay there that I seemed to recover very quickly, actually much more quickly than anyone else I have heard of."

  Beckham's face had turned a pale ashy color and he looked sick at what I was telling him. I hurried on before I lost my courage.

  "It started small, with just basic bruises disappearing quickly after she gripped me too tightly. Then I think she started to experiment. In the end she liked to burn me more than other things."

  He opened his mouth, but I continued on, wanting to finally get it all out.

  "It wasn't just healing though. It was things like my hair too. She hated it for some reason and one of my first nights there she hacked at it, practically tearing it off rather than cutting it."

  I stared off into the water now, remembering the feeling of dread I had looking in the bathroom mirror after she had cut all of my hair off.

  "I remember running my hands through my hair. It was cut so short that I just knew it would take years to grow back. I went to bed that night distraught, but when I awoke in the morning, it was all back."

  I took a deep breath.

  "Strange things like that have happened throughout my life. I suppose it's a relief to have something to attribute it to, rather than just thinking I am some kind of freak."

  I finally glanced away from the water and dared to look at Beckham. His face was one of rapt attention.

  "You said that she…that she burned you. I assume then that she also made you bleed?" he said inquiringly.

  I wondered why he would ask that specific question, but answered anyway.

  "Well actually, no. I have a condition. I think its fairly mild, but it must have scared them enough the first time they cut me that they were careful to never make me bleed again."

  "A condition? What kind of condition?" Beckham asked me quickly.

  "My file says that it's some kind of hemophilia. But I apparently eventually stop bleeding since I'm still here," I answered, laughing a bit self deprecatingly.

  "You don't have hemophilia, Eva," he stated emphatically.

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "For a supernatural, our blood holds a great deal of power. Did you see anything strange when they cut you? Can you not think of any other time when you have bled?"

  I wracked my brain and realized I really couldn't think of any other time where I had bled. I couldn't even think of a time when I had fallen and scraped my knee.

  "I passed out when they cut me after the blood started falling," I said slowly. "And no, I can't remember ever bleeding before. That can't be normal," I said, starting to feel a bit hysterical.

  Beckham pushed the food aside and moved closer to me, stroking my arm reassuringly.

  "Everything is okay, Eva," he said sweetly. "Supernaturals are not exactly known for being clumsy, so it would make sense that you couldn't remember having any sort of accident that would make you bleed. If that woman…" he paused, seeming to need to get ahold of his emotions for a moment. "If that woman cutting you was truly the first time that you had been cut, then the rush of power released from your blood could very easily have caused you to faint. I'm sure it scared those monsters to death."

  He paused, seemed to be lost in thought.

  "I do wonder why your file would have said you had hemophilia though."

  He shook his head and tipped up my chin so that I was looking at him.

  "I know this is a lot to take in, but I will try to answer whatever you want to know," he told me, seeming so earnest that I felt like I could trust him with anything in that moment.

  "So obviously you and Mason are also…supernatural," I said, the word supernatural feeling awkward in my mouth.

  "Yes, we both are," he answered, looking concerned that I was going to bolt at this.

  "But you don't know exactly what you are?" I asked hesitantly.

  "You were listening to quite a bit this morning weren't you, angel?" Beckham said with a smirk.

  I blushed and looked down, a little bit ashamed for having eavesdropped so much.

  "But yes, my background is a little bit of a mystery. I see
m to remember back for at least a thousand or so years it seems, but I have no idea where I came from, or what I am."

  "And Mason thinks that we could be the same?" I asked hesitantly.

  "Yes. Mason has the ability to read energies to a certain extent. Every living thing emits some kind of energy, but those of supernatural origin emit energy on a different frequency. Mason can tell the difference between all of us."

  "What is Mason?" I asked. "Does he know?"

  At my question Beckham tensed up a bit.

  "That's not really my story to tell," he said, looking decidedly uncomfortable.

  I wondered what Mason could be that would be a big enough deal that Beckham didn't feel comfortable telling me himself. I decided to let the matter drop since I had about a million other awkward questions I wanted to ask.

  "Do you have any special skills?" I asked, wondering if I had something similar since I could be the same thing as him. Beckham again looked uncomfortable.

  "My gift seems to be that I can be…persuasive," he answered, looking away from my gaze.

  "Persuasive. What exactly do you mean by that?" I asked uncertainly.

  "I mean that I haven't met a single person…or supernatural, who doesn't do exactly what I tell them," he answered, with a very serious face.

  I thought about what that meant for a moment. I couldn't imagine that kind of power. If I had something like that I could have avoided so much of what had happened in my life. I pulled my knees up closer to me and wrapped my arms around them. So far it seemed the only "superpower" I had was the ability to heal from extreme abuse. A rush of jealousy flooded me.

  "I don't have anything like that," I said, a little bit of pain leaking through my voice. Beckham again stroked my face and leaned in close.

  "You haven't turned 18 yet have you?" he asked.

  "No," I said, confused at the question. "I turn 18 in three weeks."

  "For most supernaturals, their powers don't truly come in until they turn 18," he explained.

  Immediately a rush of hope flowed through me. Not that I had ever dreamed of having superpowers or anything like that, but the idea that I could have something to make me not so vulnerable and weak was infinitely appealing to me after everything that had happened in my life.

  Beckham's phone went off suddenly, causing me to jump a little bit. He picked it up and read whatever text had come in.

  "I'm sorry to end this conversation, but Mason is back at the house waiting for us. Your flight is going to leave soon."

  I looked around at the beautiful place Beckham had brought us to and felt a rush of sadness at the thought of leaving it…and Beckham.

  Beckham helped me stand up, and we picked up the food and blanket and started to walk towards the stairs that led up to the car.

  "We need to actually go swimming next time," he said, grasping my hand as he led me up the stairs.

  "Next time?" I asked.

  I couldn't help but feel a little hope at his words. Beckham didn't say anything until we finished climbing the stairs. He turned to me.

  "Eva, I feel like you are everything I've ever been looking for in my life and didn't know that I needed. It wouldn't be possible for me to let you go."

  I felt tears glistening in my eyes at his statement. I felt the same way. That he was somehow my "home." My thoughts turned to Mason and Damon. Although my feelings for Beckham felt more familiar for some reason, what I felt for them was just as strong. Beckham must have read the indecision in my face.

  "I'm not asking you to make a choice now, I'm just telling you that if there's a race for your heart, I'm all in and I'll never not be all in."

  He took one last step towards me, and softly grazed my lips with his. It didn't feel like a first kiss I realized. It felt like he had been doing that for all my life. Beckham's phone went off again with a text from Mason asking if we were on our way yet. Beckham finally led me to the car. We were both silent on the way back to his house.

  Chapter 9

  (Mason)

  I watched Eva's face as we walked onto the plane to head back to New York. We were on my smaller jet this time as a few members of the crew had needed to leave for New York this morning to start getting ready for the next concert. Her eyes lit up with the same awe and delight as they had with the larger one. I loved seeing her reaction to everything I introduced her to. Thankfully, we had a different flight attendant working this jet, and not Eliza again. I needed to remember to move Eliza to somewhere else so I could avoid more awkward run-ins with her. I had never minded having my former fuck buddies around, but now that Eva was in my life, I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. She had definitely suspected something had gone on with Eliza, but had been sweet enough not to give me a hard time about it on the way to California yesterday.

  Beckham had pulled me aside when she was grabbing things from the room she stayed in, to tell me that she knew what we were. I had known that she had heard us this morning, and the fact that she hadn't run screaming from the house had made me confident enough to be more open with some of my abilities in front of her. It was still a relief however that Beckham was the one who had the conversation with her. Beckham had a way of making everything seem better and nicer than it actually was. I would have fucked it all up. I was also grateful that he hadn't told her what I was. I felt like once she knew, she would want nothing to do with me.

  It didn't inspire much confidence in my ability to be a stellar boyfriend when a girl found out that I was an incubus. It was partly why I had never been able to be a totally faithful boyfriend in the past, not that I had ever tried to be one. I hadn't found a female supe that I could tolerate for more than a one-night stand, and a human girl couldn't have survived how much energy I needed if she was with me all the time. It was one of the reasons why Courtney had been perfect. I could get what I needed while on the road, and could see her just enough to be able to feed on her without hurting her.

  Eva was different though. I had told Beckham that her energy level was similar to his, just on a higher frequency, but I hadn't told him just how high her energy level actually was. I hadn't encountered anyone with the kind of energy levels she was giving off. I could actually feed off her energy quite easily just being around her, I didn't even have to touch her. I hadn't come across someone with that kind of energy before. Those kind of energy levels seemed to suggest that she was going to be very powerful when she came into more of her powers.

  I wanted her to be able to trust me while I played the Europe leg of my tour. One of the reasons that I always chose to be a musician in whatever era I was living in was that I could feed on the crowd with the emotions that my music stirred in them. It would be a little rough not also getting energy from sexual sources, but it was possible. I would just be weakened. Eva would be worth it though. And hopefully I wouldn't have to go the whole tour without seeing her.

  There wouldn't be time for me to come back in between shows, but I didn't know if I could make it three months without seeing her. Not because I needed to feed, but because my soul felt like it had withered just being without her this afternoon. Ugh, I sounded like a fucking sap… Maybe I could surprise her and fly her to my Paris show, and she could stay for a few days. I knew Rothmore had some kind of fall break, I would have to find out from Damon what it was.

  I groaned inwardly. Maybe I wouldn't find out from Damon. I knew there was something going on between him and Eva even though she had tried not to mention it. I had known it as soon as she mentioned that Leslie's was her favorite place to have coffee. You didn't find a place like that in New York by accident. It had to have been Damon who introduced it to her, and Damon had never brought a girl there before. It was bad enough that Beckham seemed to be ready to marry her, but it made my stomach sick to think about Damon and I falling in love with the same girl. I had called him my brother for what seemed like a mil
lennium and I never would have dreamed that anything could get between us, let alone a girl. I thought about how lost Damon had been when I had met him. He had never been truly happy since I met him, always pining away for the paradise that he had lost. Of the three of us, Damon was the one who needed Eva the most. But with the way I felt about her…I just couldn't bring myself to let her go.

  I looked over at Eva. She had been quiet since her afternoon with Beckham. She was staring out the window as we took off, seemingly lost in thought. I decided I needed to talk to her about the tour and see where she stood with things. She had been kissing me back, but she hadn't instigated anything, and I knew I was competing against Beckham now and probably Damon as well. I just hoped she would let me have a chance to win her heart. I took a deep breath.

  "Eva, we need to talk about my tour."

  She looked up at me alarmed.

  "Okay, what do you want to talk about?" she asked hesitantly.

  "I have the European leg of the tour still to go. I'll be gone for at least three months," I said nervously.

  Eva's face had gone blank.

  "So we probably won't see each other again you mean," she said stiffly. "I didn't expect for you to even talk to me past the after-party the other night. I understand how it is."

  "Wow…no, shit...that's not what I meant," I said, stunned at how little she seemed to care. "I want to talk to you as much as you will let me. I would bring you with me if I didn't know how much starting school meant to you," I said meaningfully.

  Eva's eyes had filled with tears, and her face had softened.

  "Oh," she said. "I didn't expect that."

  "Eva, I'm crazy about you. Surely you had some clue of that? You've turned my whole life around," I told her.

  She shuddered a little bit and I stood up and scooped her up in my arms, walking us over to one of the many couches situated on the plane. I sat down and she cuddled against me. I smoothed her hair back, she still hadn't said anything about how she felt.