by Kasi Blake
Alec Gallos took refuge in his office between classes. Most teachers didn’t enjoy rubbing elbows with students during their breaks, but Alec took it to the next level. He actually seemed to hate the students. So Nick knew exactly where to find his brother when he needed to talk. Not wanting to worry Mike with his ghost sighting, he went to Alec with the bad news. Instead of going straight to the post office like he was supposed to, he stopped at his brother’s office. Tessa’s packages could wait.
“Van is checking birthdays,” Alec was saying. He sounded weary as if he’d been living in a war zone and was resigned to the fact the battle would continue for years to come. “He thinks something is killing people on the day they were born.”
This was it, his opening. Nick took a deep breath before making a huge confession. “I saw our cousin Peter yesterday.”
Alec blinked a few times. “But... Peter is dead.”
“Yeah. I kind of got that when I went to his funeral twelve years ago.”
“What did Van say when you told him?” Nick didn’t answer straight away so Alec arrived at the obvious conclusion. “You did tell Van about this, didn’t you? No, of course you didn’t, because that would be—”
“I’m telling you.” Nick raised his voice. “Van has enough to deal with without hearing about my impending death.”
“You aren’t going to die,” Alec said with a slight tremor. “I won’t let you.”
“Maybe you should.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I can’t destroy the world if I’m already gone.”
Alec paled, looking like he’d been struck by a fist, a sucker punch. “Please do not bring up that stupid prophecy again. I am sick to death of hearing it. You are not going to die, and you aren’t going to single-handedly destroy the world either.”
“The only way to stop it for sure is to kill it before it kills me. I did an Internet search and got nothing, and Van has no idea what’s going on. How are we supposed to stop it when we have no idea what we’re dealing with?”
Alec abandoned his desk to inspect a wall calendar, hobbling over on his cane. It was one of those calendar posters that had all twelve months in little boxes so a person could see the whole year in a single glance. He placed a finger on today’s date and slowly made a trail across the days to land on December 7th, Nick’s birthday. While Alec checked the calendar, Nick’s curious gaze settled on his brother’s desk. He remembered the list of dates he’d seen in Alec’s possession. Maybe he should ask him about it.
This time his gaze settled on a bowl of ashes. Strange. Nick stood and crossed over to take a better look at it.
“We’ll have to work fast,” Alec said. “I’ll do an online search for obscure lore while you go through Van’s private library. If there’s information to be found, you will find it there.”
“What’s this?” Nick pointed to the bowl.
Alec flushed guiltily. “Uh… I smoke.”
“Since when?”
Cane in hand, Alec limped across the room, ignoring the question. His computer was on a smaller corner desk. Sitting in the wooden chair, he placed fingers on the keyboard and began clicking on them. In seconds he’d pulled up several windows. Information flashed across the screen. If there was something out there in cyberspace, Alec would find it.
Nick was going to leave the office, but another thought halted his progress. “Have you ever been in love?”
Alec’s hands froze on the keys. “What? Uh... no. I’ve never been that lucky.”
“Do you believe in soul mates?” Nick chose his words carefully. “I mean, do you think there’s just one perfect person out there, someone you’ll love forever and won’t be able to let go of? Or do you think we all get several chances at finding love?”
Alec shook his head slowly. “I think everyone has several people, maybe over a hundred they could be happy with. If there was only one, just a handful of people would ever find happiness.”
“What about fate? Destiny? There could be something supernatural at work to make sure you meet the person you belong with.”
He’d gone too far. A knowing look darkened Alec’s gaze as he struggled to stand. “You’re talking about the prophecy again, aren’t you?”
“According to the fortune teller I’m fated to fall in love with Van Helsing’s daughter.”
Alec’s eyes narrowed. “But you aren’t going to fall in love with her, are you? You’ve been avoiding her from what I hear. It’s a good start.”
His brother obviously didn’t know the whole story. “Van decided I need to mentor her because destiny has a way of working out even if you try to stop it. He put the whole thing on me. There’s nothing I can do but let nature take its course.”
“Has Van finally lost his mind?” Alec’s face reddened. “I’ll have a talk with him. He can’t throw you to the wolves and walk away.”
“Won’t do any good. He’s made up his mind to sit back and watch.” Nick paused for a moment before saying, “I’m not going to hook up with her. I just... I don’t know. She’s not what I expected. At first I hated her guts and wanted to strangle her in her sleep...”
“Go with your first instinct. It’s usually the correct one.”
Nick began to back out the doorway. “Don’t worry. I am not falling for her. I just wondered... I’d hate to think she’s my one and only shot at happiness.”
“It would be too brief for you to enjoy and it would mean the death of everyone you know. Keep that in mind while you’re gazing into her lovely brown eyes.”
“They are lovely, aren’t they?”
Alec looked ready to explode.
“You just told me you don’t think I’m going to lose my marbles and destroy the world. So why do you care if I hang with her?”
“You forget the other part of the prophecy.” A muscle throbbed in Alec’s cheek. “She might kill you.”