Bitter Sweet

by Lennell Davis

  “You mean it... Thank you.”

  My mother was right, I thought. Damn it, she would be smug

  later. The rest of the date went well, Vanessa mostly asked about me,

  but when I told her where I had gone, she always wanted descriptions of the places and things I had seen. I enjoyed the looks on her face most. She lit up like a child when she talked about buildings and homes. When I dropped her off, I managed to get another kiss on the doorstep, a more private moment without her mother and Sam watching.

  “I enjoyed myself,” she whispered.

  “So did I. Can I see you tomorrow?”

  “We will see.” She smiled and went inside.

  It was still early, so as soon as I got into the car and drove off, I pulled out my phone and dialed Sam’s number, which I stole off of Vanessa’s phone.

  “Hello?” she answered, looking at the strange number.

  “Sam, it’s Alik.”

  “Oh, hi, what’s up?”

  “I need your help.”

  I had found my noble quest.

  Vanessa Stanton

  Chapter 19.0

  I spent the next two weeks mostly with Alik and I nearly forgot that he was a vampire. It might seem strange to say it, but there was just so much human in him. If he wouldn’t look into my eyes and ask me what question I had on my mind, I would have forgotten completely. That bothered me a lot because I would never get to know just who Alik was. Was he a sophisticated and well-traveled man, or that dark brooding vampire all the female leads love in the books. It was all so damn confusing especially because while he opened a new Masteria, which brought back an old vampiric practice. He shunned the old vampiric practices of Masteria, and still he would not stop the humans practicing these practices.

  Also, it felt like he was trying to keep me away from anything vampiric and wouldn’t go in depth with anything on that subject. However, if I asked him if he had seen this or if he had gone there, he would launch into vivid and detailed explanations and descriptions. To his credit, Alik could get me to smile or laugh or just hold my attention more deeply than anyone else. Spending time with him for a few days had become like spending time with Sam, which I had done all my life.

  The night before I was supposed to move into my dorm with

  Sam at Cornell I heard a tap at my window. I went to find out what it was and found Alik outside in my backyard, waving for me to come down. I tiptoed past my parent’s room, down the stairs, into the kitchen, and out into the back.

  "To what do I owe this pleasure?" I asked, confused. “Wouldn’t a call work?”

  "I wanted to talk to you, in person."

  "It couldn’t wait until the ride to Cornell tomorrow?"

  "Sam will be with us. It’s really important, actually," he said, moving over to the hammock that sat in a corner of the yard between two orange trees. He motioned for me to join him. I lay next to his cool body and he placed his arms around me and was silent for a while. It should have felt awkward, considering what I had just been thinking, but as always, when I’m in his grasp, I just can’t help myself. I felt safe, like nothing could harm me no matter the situation. "Have you been thinking about becoming vampire at all?" he finally asked.

  "Yeah, I have."

  "What did you have in mind, like a time frame?"

  “You make it sound like I will want to do it.” I couldn’t figure out what he was searching for, but it felt like he was looking for an answer.

  “I didn’t mean…”

  "Maybe after college; Lilith could..." I interrupted.

  "No," he cut me off.

  "No?"

  "I don’t want her to do it, if you ever truly decide to become one of us."

  "Why?"

  "I would rather do it myself. If that’s okay with you, that is.

  "I thought you didn’t want me to be associated with death the way you are."

  "That’s why it has to be me, if my mother is too deeply involved with your new life, she will force you down that path. You aren’t just anyone to me now. A lot has happened since Sam brought you to Masteria that night."

  "Alik, you know I…" I started awkwardly, trying to get free from his arms, which were like steel bars now.

  "I know you are confused right now and don’t feel for me the way I have come to feel for you.”

  “It’s not like that, but I can’t guarantee my feelings for you.”

  “Can you tell me why?”

  “Can you tell me there are no reasons for my doubts?” He was silent and didn’t move and I took that as a confirmation. “I don’t want to start this if it’s just…”

  “Your attraction to a predator bred and raised to attract women?” Self-hatred filled his voice when he said that.

  “No, if it’s just going to hurt us in the end.”

  “Is there no hope?”

  “I don’t know; I don’t want to give you an answer to that. So please don’t make me.”

  “For the last 1100 years of my existence, I’ve been alone..." he started.

  "You’ve had Lilith and June, haven’t you?"

  "My mother and June have been around, but they have never stuck with me. We are a ‘family’ apart. I’ve never been able to just talk with either of them. You saw how I get around my mother; we disagree on so much, but it doesn’t mean I love her as a mother any less. It’s

  just that we can’t help but be mean to each other. I couldn’t tell her what I’ve told you without feeling like I will be getting a smart remark back or a cold calculated response that I didn’t need in a moment of weakness. June is so serious at most times around me that I can’t really relax around her; I’m her brother and she looks up to me. With you, I’m alive again, no longer a monster. I’ve told you what a life around my mother is like and I want to keep any obligation you feel to serve her to a minimum. It will keep you safe.” I lay there against him silent for a while and he didn’t seem like he was in a hurry to break the silence. “Can I just stay close to you if nothing else?”

  “I do like you close. Your touch is comforting, your voice soothing, but I can’t do anything but hurt you this way.”

  “What if I didn’t care?”

  “I’d care.”

  “I can’t leave you of my own free will, Vanessa. You will have to tell me to go before I will.”

  “Please don’t say that, I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to.”

  “I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.”

  “Stay with me like this for however long you can.”

  We sat there as the wind blew and I snuggled closer to him.

  “It’s cold, you should go inside.”

  "Vampire blood, remember? It feels rather warm. This is probably the last chance I will have to fall asleep in your arms for a while."

  "Isn’t this the only time?" he asked.

  "No, the second time I saw you, I might have been dying but

  your touch and your face were the last things I saw before I drifted off

  that night. It made everything easier."

  We just lay there until I fell asleep somehow. I didn’t know if keeping Alik like this was the right choice, but I didn’t have to hurt him this way, at least I told myself that.

  I woke up in my room with my mom calling my name from down the stairs to ‘Hurry up’. After all, Alik was supposed to be here soon to take me to pick up Sam. I got dressed quickly and went down to the waffles my mom had made stacked high on a plate. I grabbed a fork from the drawer and rewashed it; stupid enhanced taste buds had made eating horrible at times. I had gotten through two waffles and a little bacon before I heard a car stopping outside, but it wasn’t the normal sound of his car that I had grown accustomed to. Had he bought a new one? I put my food down and went to the door and opened it; Alik was sitting in a shiny white convertible car, then he was next to me.

  "Do you like it?" he asked behind me, taking my hand and slipping the key into it.

  "You’re not giving me that, are you?"r />
  "No, of course not. I’ve spent a while tuning that car; no other like it exists in the world. You can drive to Sam's, although if you want a car, we can talk. Maybe something British?"

  "No, I don’t need some expensive car. Is that a vampire thing: wanting expensive and fast cars?"

  "You know, now that you mention it, maybe because my mother has a collection of classic super cars."

  "Am I supposed to know what those are?" I asked like he had just spoken another language.

  "You’re right, I forgot who I was talking to, sorry." he said mockingly.

  "Oh, shut up," I said as I hit his arm.

  I walked back into the kitchen with the key dangling from my finge as Alik followed behind me . My mom’s face always lit up when she saw me with him, and today was no different.

  "Good morning, Mrs. Stanton."

  "Good morning, Alik dear; would you like some breakfast?" she offered with a warm smile. She was always trying to feed him, although she didn’t know that he didn’t consider waffles breakfast.

  "No thank you; I ate just before I came." I wondered if that was a lie.

  "Mom, I’m going to go pick Sam up now."

  "Okay, do you need my keys?" she asked, reaching for a set of keys on the wall.

  "No, I’m going to take Alik's car." She gave him a worried look.

  "I hope your insurance premium is paid up, dear."

  "I double-checked it this morning," he replied with a smirk and they both laughed.

  "Okay, enough humor at my expense," I said, pushing Alik out of the kitchen. He walked me to the car and opened the door for me. "Behave yourself, and don’t be alone with my mom for too long; it’s for your own good."

  "I think I can handle two humans."

  "Behave," I said as I glared at him.

  "I promise. Like I said, I’ve eaten already," he said, flashing his teeth in a wider smile. I started the car and it roared to life. "Oh, a quick word of warning, this car is a bit powerful so it requires a light touch," he informed me as he stood back. I placed my foot on the gas pedal and the car leapt forward, spinning its tires as I flew down the street. I could hear him laughing a block away. Amazingly, I made it to Sam's house in this monster car without crashing it and when she came out, she screamed.

  "Hey!" I shouted, waving from the driver’s seat.

  "This is Alik's, isn’t it?" she asked, nearly jumping up and down.

  "What are you so excited about? Your brother has a convertible and you’ve been in one before."

  "He has an ugly old Celica, but this is a Aston Martian DB9 Convertible!"

  "Seriously?!" I was shocked, all I knew about cars came from Sam's constant babbling about them, and she mentioned this one once or twice.

  "He didn’t tell you?"

  "No wonder it took me ten minutes to stop the tires from spinning." She laughed. "Are your parents ready?"

  "Yeah, they are in the garage now; everything is packed away," she told me as she hopped over the door and into the passenger seat. We sat there for about 10 minutes as Sam ranted about the figures and numbers on the car until the garage door opened. Her parents followed us back to my house where Alik and my dad were pulling a rope tight on the back hatch to my dad’s car.

  "You let her drive that?" he asked Alik while I was still half a block away.

  "Yeah, I thought she would look good in it."

  "Brave man," he said, clapping Alik on the shoulder with a grin as he went to get mom.

  Alik walked over as we pulled up to the curb and Sam got out and hugged him. Her parents pulled in behind me, getting out of the car.

  "So you’re the elusive Alik," Sam's father Hector stated, walking over to shake his hand.

  He was a short, but strong man. He had given Sam her bright brown eyes. His shirt sleeves were rolled up around his thick arms covered in what he called “manly hair”. Sam was glad she didn’t get that as well. Sam’s mother was basically an older Sam; she was beautiful and walked with elegance that nearly rivaled Lilith.

  "You must be Mr. Castillo; nice to meet you."

  "Call me Hector, It’s good to finally meet you as well. This yours?" he asked, pointing at the car.

  "Yeah."

  "Nice choice; you must do well."

  “Dear, you shouldn’t ask that,” Sam’s mother rebuked.

  "It’s okay, Mrs. Castillo,” Alik said, lightly shaking the hand she held out. “You could say that I do fairly well."

  "Oh dear, please call me Elen," said Sam's mother.

  “Little Ness over there got lucky finding you,” laughed Hector.

  “Oh, we aren’t…” Alik started.

  “Yeah, sure you aren’t,” said Hector with a wink, cutting him off. “She will come around,” he whispered. “She may not be with you, but seeing how you look at her, you are with her.”

  Elen came over to stand with Sam and me while Alik and Sam’s father talked about cars with Sam slowly drifting over to them. What is with that family and cars, I thought.

  “Give either of them something shiny with four wheels and they have to discuss it,” Elen pointed out, next to me.

  “I don’t know how you stand it.”

  “Years of practice blocking it out. Looks like I might need to give you a few tips.”

  “Yeah, a few years of car talk and I will lose it.”

  “So you’re thinking about a future with this boy?” she asked slyly.

  “Oh, I didn’t mean it that way,” I didn't know why I was getting embarassed.

  “Dear, I can see he has thought way ahead; you shouldn’t pass up on someone like him. He’s gorgeous, too. If only I was a few years younger…” she trailed off with a smile.

  “You have a way like my mother to ruin the thoughtfulness in your statements at times,” I said.

  “I’m just saying, dear. Sam may not go after him, but I hold no such loyalties.” She smiled

  “You’re married!”

  “I can’t want a nice pool boy on the side? Just be careful no one else takes him from you.”

  She walked over to her husband as my father came down the walkway.

  "Everyone ready?" asked my dad as my mom locked the front door.

  "Yeah Joe; we’re all set," Hector said, clapping Alik’s shoulder.

  I held out the key to Alik when he hopped into the back seat of the car. "To Ithaca, driver," he said, looking at me with the picture of ease as he was stretched over the two seats. I glared back at him.

  "I’m not driving this thing all the way to Ithaca."

  "I'll do it then,” Sam offered, holding out her hand while I gave her the key.

  "Well, at least we will make it there before the parents now," he teased.

  My dad had now backed out of the driveway and we followed him first to the gas station, then onto the freeway. It was right after rush hour and the freeway was clear, but my dad refused to go over 55.

  "You know, if you hit that little button there on the Sat Nav, I programmed the route to Cornell into it," Alik said.

  Sam pushed the little button and a woman’s voice spoke: "Keep southwest on the highway for the next 70 miles." Sam smiled, signaled, and shot off past my dad with the wind rushing through our hair.

  We got to Cornell well ahead of our parents and everyone turned to watch us as we parked the car in the dorm parking lot and got out. Sam and I went to check in with the RA's outside the dorm and got our keys, but our parents still hadn’t gotten here. We walked around and had lunch in a Burger King that was on campus. Our order number had been called and Sam went to get the food.

  "Has it changed since you were last here?"

  "I never told you I went to this college," he said, looking shocked.

  "I could tell you were remembering something here when you were walking."

  "I forget that you can read me like a book. It does look the same; I even considered coming back."

  "You could have done that?"

  "Would you have liked that?"
/>   "No, you sticking around would ruin any dating opportunities," I joked.

  "Yeah, you around all the time would ruin the dining opportunities."

  "Oh ha ha."

  Sam got back with the food and just as we were finishing, my phone rang. Somehow Alik got away with not sipping the soda and still making it disappear. My dad told me they had just arrived outside of the dorms and were waiting for us, so we finished up and got back to the dorms and in a relatively short time, everything was moved in and set up. Tomorrow was the opening ceremony and our parents were going to spend the night in a nearby hotel to watch, but Alik would be heading back to the city. He managed to get me alone for a moment even when surrounded by five other people.