The Sapphire Talisman

by Brenda Pandos

  “It’s okay, Julia,” he said and grabbed onto my hand. “It’s just my arms’ dealer. I need more stuff anyway; plus, this tank-top is getting a little ripe.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  All the time we’d spent together and he’d never mentioned an ‘arms’ dealer’ or a tank-top. Nicholas dropped my hand and undid the top buttons of his shirt. Underneath was a thin, yellowish undershirt.

  “This,” Nicholas said, “protects me from getting staked.”

  I furrowed my brow.

  “It’s soaked in vampire venom. We’ve found you have to fight immortals with immortal properties. Without the talisman I needed extra protection.”

  My mouth fell open. “That’s nasty!”

  “Better than blood. Venom doesn’t reek as quickly.”

  Blood? I wrinkled up my face in disgust. “Wait, so you wear—” I full-body-shivered “—a venom-drenched undershirt because it protects you from being staked?”

  “I do.”

  I remembered back when Nicholas told me he was protected and not to worry. He never elaborated on the details, though I’m sure it was because it was gross.

  “Who’s venom?”

  “My dad’s.”

  I processed the information quickly, seeing my moment of opportunity. If I could tag along, maybe I’d get a better handle on Nicholas’ relationship with his father. And I’d be able to keep an eye on him as well. The problem was leaving without my dad’s knowledge.

  “Hold on.”

  I jumped up and crawled through my window towards my beloved ocean scenes calendar on the wall. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Dad was supposed to be leaving Friday for a weekend technology conference in Tulsa. I could go and tell Luke I was spending the night with Sam.

  “What are you doing?” Nicholas called softly from the window.

  I whirled around with a smug smile. “I’m going with you.”

  “What?” Nicholas whispered emphatically, “No. I forbid it.”

  “Why?”

  “First, your father would never let you go. And the people I’m visiting are . . . dangerous.”

  I put a hand on my hip. “Any more dangerous that what I’ve encountered already?” I tapped my finger lightly against the talisman.

  “Yeah, well . . .” Nicholas turned and leaned against the siding of the house. His aura brimmed with anxiety.

  I ran over to the window and poked my head out.

  “My dad will be out of town this weekend, so I don’t even need to tell him. And I’m wearing the talisman. Your vampire dealer dude won’t be able to hurt me.”

  “It’s not him.”

  “Your father?”

  Nicholas ran his hand through his hair.

  “I’ll wait in the car,” I said quickly “They don’t even have to know I’m with you.”

  “They’ll know,” he said and closed his eyes.

  I leaned against the window frame. I’d already felt the decision before he spoke it. There was no convincing him. The sigh slipped through my lips.

  “Julia, I’d love to take you, but it’s not a good idea. Besides, I don’t want to cause any issues between you and your dad. After everything, he trusts you again.”

  “Well,” I said while pushing back the cuticles of my thumb with my fingernail, “not completely.”

  Darn it!

  “And, you need your rest. It’s very late now.”

  I looked at the clock. If I happened to fall asleep right at that moment, I’d get three hours of sleep before I needed to wake up for school.

  “Come here,” he said, arms outstretched.

  I climbed back onto the eve and wrapped my arms around his torso. His sorrow enveloped my soul and left me guilty for secretly plotting against him. Maybe his absence was what I needed so I could find Alora first.

  The nagging foreboding made me think differently.

  Chapter Three

  “You need me to cover for you? Why?” Sam asked while we stood closer to each other than left and center fields during P.E., hoping we wouldn’t get in trouble for abandoning our positions.

  “I’m going away this weekend with Nicholas,” I said casually.

  “Holy crap. No way,” Sam said with big eyes. “How?”

  “Oh, come on. It’s no big deal.” I cocked my head to the side. “He’s visiting his dad and I want to go with him—totally innocent. My dad won’t be home anyway, but I need you to keep my phone.”

  “Your phone? Why?”

  I sighed. This proved to be more difficult than I wanted it to be.

  “My dad activated that GPS tracking thing, so I need you to keep it and answer it if he calls. Tell him I’m in the shower or something.”

  “Oh . . . wow . . . um. A tracking thing?”

  Her hesitation surfaced. Sam didn’t lie well, which wasn’t a bad thing, but her reaction made me suddenly wonder if I should have come up with another alternative.

  After my friend Phil, a recent transfer to our high school, died in a fire downtown, my dad’s been overprotective of me. Little did he know that Phil was actually a recently immortalized vampire and part of Alora’s coven. Phil happened to be staked by Nicholas when he tried to turn me into a vampire too. All that remained was his teeth, so we staged a fire.

  “I guess with everything that happened with Phil, he’s just being a concerned dad,” I said quickly. “I mean, I’m not going to do anything. I just know he won’t let me go if I ask. I doubt he’ll call. Seriously.”

  My aggravation flared as the night I’d figured out he’d added the service replayed through my mind. I’d lied, saying I was at work when really I was on a date with Nicholas at the Boardwalk. Right as I stepped into the house, he called and grounded me for three weeks—all from Chicago. Baffled by his new psychic abilities, I hammered Luke to tell me how he knew, but he didn’t have a clue, so I tried—unsuccessfully—to figure it out myself, until I saw the GPS advertisement on TV. Once I checked online, I realized he’d clamped on the electronic leash.

  “So you’re not going to . . . you know,” Sam said sheepishly, full of curiosity.

  My cheeks flushed in response. I loved Nicholas with all my heart, but I wasn’t ready for anything like sex just yet. There were too many girls I’d known who’d rushed into it. Their disappointment and pain, especially if the guy dumped them right after, was immense and long lasting. Plus, I wanted my first time to be really special and when I was married. And not everyone was having sex like they bragged they did anyway.

  “No,” I said defensively. “Not even thinking about it.”

  “Really?” she asked and kicked a dandelion puff, knocking loose its wispy seeds.

  Sam was a virgin too, but Todd had been putting pressure on her. She’d alluded to maybe going all the way, but I affirmed our pact to wait. If he cared, he’d accept her decision. She worried if she didn’t, she’d lose him. I worried he’d break her heart.

  I stuck my pinkie out. She looked at it and laughed.

  “We haven’t done that since the 6th grade,” she said and reached out her pinkie to meet mine.

  “Pinkie swear, double dare,” we said together while doing our secret handshake. “Best friends we’ll be, for eternity.”

  At the end, we bumped fists and did what we called “The Explode,” where our fingers shot open and drifted apart from each other. Our act bolstered her resolve. For the moment, Sam was going to keep her ground.

  “Heads up!” Mandy called from first base.

  I ducked with my mitt over my head and Sam moved forward to catch the ball, missing it. We both watched as it landed right between us with a thud, which sent some of the fallen dandelion seeds floating back up into the air.

  “Ahh!” Alexis, the third baseman called out. “What the heck are you twits doing? Throw the freaking ball!”

  I picked up the ball and, with my best effort, threw it forward. It sailed straight up and lobbed over, only to fall a few feet in front of Al
exis. With ease, she scooped up the ball and chucked it to the second baseman for the third out.

  Our team cheered and ran into the dugout. Sam and I exchanged relieved glances, thankful for Alexis’ recovery—she was on the Varsity team after all. But I dreaded the next part of the inning. My batting skills made my catching look brilliant.

  Later, in the locker room, Alexis’ homerun made her forget all about my error in the outfield and my strike-out, but I still avoided her while we changed out of our gym clothes.

  “I wanted to tell you,” Sam said under breath. “I’m worried about Katie.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked while pulling my shirt over my head.

  “Have you noticed her whole schedule changed this quarter?”

  Katie mentioned something about how she’d been transferred into some Senior classes this term, but she’d been tight-lipped about how.

  “Yeah, so?”

  Sam leaned in. “Well, she’s been taking college courses at night and I think it’s because she’s trying to graduate early.”

  “That’s ambitious of her,” I said.

  “But she’s doing it to be in the same classes as Tyler.”

  At Sam’s suggestion, the correlation clicked. All her classes were now conveniently with Tyler, but it didn’t change the fact that Tyler was still unavailable and deeply in love with Mandy.

  “Hmmm, interesting,” I said as we walked out of the locker room. “Did she tell you that?”

  “Not in so many words. Lauren, the office TA, told Megan about her college credits, who told Emily, who told me—all in confidence of course.”

  This meant the whole school knew. Katie did seem to be keeping to herself lately and, come to think of it, I hadn’t heard her mention Tyler at all. Even though I felt she still had a thing for him.

  Before turning the corner of the hall, a sudden burst of anxiety bowled me over and I scanned the area to find the source. Off to the side, Tyler and Mandy stood close together. It didn’t take an emotion-reader to know they were fighting. My eyes locked with Sam’s in surprise while we wordlessly took our books out of our lockers for History.

  “What do you mean you don’t know who this text is from?” Tyler said quietly with a scowl and handed Mandy back her cell phone firmly.

  “I don’t know anybody named James,” Mandy said, face flushed, fear flooding out around her. “It has to be a mistake.”

  “Mistake? He seems to know you pretty well. Where were you last night anyway?”

  “I was home like I told you,” Mandy said emphatically as her eyes began to water. “You can even ask my mom.”

  Katie slid in between us. I felt satisfaction play across her aura though her face looked concerned.

  “What’s going on?” she whispered.

  “Stop gawking,” I said quickly. I closed my locker door and motioned for her to move out of my way. “Apparently a mis-understanding.”

  “Oh?” Katie stated, still watching from the corner of her eye.

  “But you obviously gave James your cell number,” Tyler said behind us.

  “I promise, Tyler, I don’t know who this person is or how he got my number,” she said in truth. “I’m your girlfriend.”

  We watched as Mandy reached out to touch Tyler’s arm, but Tyler pushed her hand away.

  “I don’t believe you,” he said quietly, his eyes angry but glistening, expressing the hurt he obviously tried to hide.

  “I promise. I do not know who this person is.”

  “Yeah, right,” Tyler said, glancing away, putting on his sunglasses. “Don’t pretend you don’t flirt when I’m not around. I’ve seen you with other guys, with Cody.”

  “Cody? You’re jealous of Cody?” she said, her voice astounded.

  Tyler must have been pretty desperate to assassinate her with a flirty accusation tied to Cody, of all people, the widely known school flirt and class clown.

  After taking a moment to process the rejection, Mandy took a step back from him, as if she’d been slapped. The tears streamed down her cheeks as she gave him one final look, which he ignored. Then she turned around and ran down the hall towards the bathroom. Tyler slammed his locker shut and headed in the opposite direction as the warning bell rang.

  “Oops, late for Calculus,” Katie said and quickly darted off in Tyler’s direction. “Catch ya later.”

  Sam mouthed “wow” while pulling open the door to Mr. Marshall’s room. I walked past her with a look, feeling the same shock. If it weren’t for my gift, I might have been on Tyler’s side. But Mandy’s innocence was clear and I couldn’t ignore Katie’s smug enjoyment of the altercation.

  I took my seat and watched the news spread from person to person—the curiosity heightened with each retelling while Mr. Marshall lectured with his back to the class, oblivious to the fact he’d lost control of his classroom, again.

  Sam passed me a note.

  “I can’t believe that just happened.”

  I hid the paper under my textbook and wrote back.

  “I know, totally weird. Do you think K might be involved?”

  Shock registered across Sam’s face as she read my words. She glanced at me, pupils dilated. Her pencil scrawled something quickly back.

  “You don’t think she would, do you?”

  “After what you said, I wouldn’t put it past her.”

  Mr. Marshall turned from the whiteboard and suddenly noticed no one was paying attention to his lecture. His fury ignited.

  “I believe it’s time for a pop quiz,” he said gruffly. “Books away. Take out a sheet of paper.”

  Everyone collectively groaned as papers shuffled throughout the classroom. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam stuff the note in her bag to keep from getting caught. Completely deflated, I took out my own sheet. I’d almost recovered my grade to a B, after my huge distraction with Nicholas last quarter, and this zero would quickly undo all that hard work.

  By the end of fourth period, there wasn’t anyone in the school who didn’t know about the break-up. Mandy, unable to deal with the pressure, left school with a sudden illness. My heart went out to her and I wished we were better friends—most people took Tyler’s side and she needed someone who implicitly believed her side of the story.

  “She’s obviously up to something,” Dena said while picking apart her sandwich, only eating microscopic bites.

  “And finally got caught,” Morgan said, finishing Dena’s statement.

  “Maybe, but I was there when it happened and it didn’t look like that to me. Right, Sam?”

  “Yeah, it seemed like the text was a mistake,” Sam said. “Tyler should at least give her a chance to explain.”

  I glanced over at the table where Tyler sat. He was doing the macho thing with his buddies, pretending not to be upset while a greedy group of cheerleaders flittered in the wake, looking to give consolation. Any one of them could have sent the text to sabotage the relationship.

  “I just never thought they’d break up,” Dena said. “They were like the perfect couple. Well, almost . . .”

  Dena interlaced her fingers with Morgan’s while looking adoringly into his eyes. The gesture made me miss Nicholas until the heart-rocking reminder Alora was back overshadowed everything. I internally steadied myself by realizing I’d let the drama cloud my plans of finding her. After school I’d need to start scouring the city and look for her unique bloodlust. There couldn’t be too many places she’d be able to hide uninvited.

  “Hey guys, what’s up?” Katie said, out of breath, a smile plastered across her face.

  I gave her a puzzled look while she sat down.

  “You didn’t hear?” Cameron questioned.

  “About?” Katie said, feigning innocence. “Oh, yeah that. I was there actually. Too bad. They were such a nice couple. Are you going to eat that?”

  Katie pointed towards Cameron’s apple on his tray.

  “Help yourself,” he said in bewilderment while Katie took a bite.

&
nbsp; “I have news,” Katie said with a mouthful. “I’ve been accepted to Texas A&M.”

  “You have? So soon?” I asked.

  Katie’s pride swelled. She’d successfully managed to keep this juicy secret from everyone until now.

  “I’ve been taking college courses to graduate early,” Katie said. “And with Mrs. Peet’s recommendation I applied in January and was accepted.”

  “You’ve been taking college courses?” Dena said in amazement. “When?”

  “At night and during the summer.”

  “But you’ve always wanted to go to UC Santa Cruz,” I said in confusion.

  “Yeah, well . . .” Katie’s nostalgia flickered. She’d wanted to be a Marine Biologist since our fieldtrip to Marine World in the fourth grade. “Texas A&M is a really good school and I need to get out of here anyway.”

  “But do they have a Marine Biology program?” I asked.

  “I’ve changed my major,” Katie said quickly. “I’m going to study Business instead.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since I’ve found out there are no jobs in that field and I wanted to check out Texas.”

  Something triggered in my mind when she mentioned Texas again. I felt the recognition from Sam at the same time.

  “Didn’t Tyler get a full ride to Texas A&M for football?” Sam said in wonder.

  The corner of Katie’s lip curled for a brief second before she covered it up. Her plan had been unveiled.

  “He is?” she said, bluffing her ignorance. “Oh cool. At least I’ll know someone.”

  I coughed and exchanged glances with Sam. She could fool Dena, Morgan, and Cameron, but not us.

  “Actually, I need to talk to Mrs. Peet so she can add me to the college acceptance board,” Katie said before she darted out of the cafeteria with a “Toodle-loo!”

  Confusion still lingered from the others as we watched her leave.

  “See, I told you,” Sam said under her breath.

  “Yeah, I see what you mean. I’ll talk to her later.”

  When I said later, I meant after my weekend with Nicholas. I had bigger problems to deal with than a conversation about the coincidence of Mandy’s text from “James” and being accepted to the same college as Tyler. It would still be there on Monday.