"Sure," I said. "Honestly, it's not like I need a new outfit every day."
"Okay then. I'll let you repeat an outfit on Sundays."
I laughed but then stopped when I saw that she was serious. "I seriously don't need a new outfit every day, do I?"
"Of course you do. You're royalty."
"Why is it that I had a favorite dress as a child?" I asked.
"It was a play outfit for one thing," she said. "Also your seamstress used that pattern a lot since you loved it so much. I'm told that you didn't often notice you were wearing a different dress if it had that pattern in it."
She pulled out her measuring tape and started measuring. "Your skin is really starting to look good. Just wait until you complete the transformation. It will be soft and perfect like a child's skin, and it will heal almost immediately."
"Every teenager's dream."
***
Amanda was over to spend the night and we were in my room talking about everything under the sun. Of course I couldn't talk about anything vampire related, but there was enough on her mind that we were able to discuss while eating a full pint of ice cream, a bag of chips, a liter of root beer and some candy too.
"I still can't believe Emma," she said. "She is so focused on becoming popular, and she thinks that Hailey is her golden ticket. She tried to get me to ditch you and join them. I told her that she made her choice and I'm done with her."
"I don't know why she would choose Hailey over us, but it's her loss," I said.
"We've got Brooke now and she's so nice," Amanda said. "She didn't really know me before, but because I'm your friend, she's been a friend to me since the other night at the game."
"See? We don't need Emma."
We decided to watch a movie, and shortly after starting it I heard a strange noise. I paused and closed my eyes trying to focus on it. It was a kind of thumping noise that I couldn't place.
I pretended to adjust my position but was really trying to figure out what the barely audible noise was. I couldn't tell, and it wouldn't let up. It was beginning to drive me crazy.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
It seemed to be coming from the direction of Amanda, and I leaned in closer to her. Apparently, the movie was at a scary part and she thought I was leaning close because of that. She wrapped her arms around me.
Then suddenly I heard the noise very loudly. I instantly knew what I was hearing, but didn't know how it was possible that I hadn't heard it before. It was the sound of her beating heart.
As I sat there in her arms, the rhythm began to sound like a song. It reminded me of one of those romantic songs that causes your own heart to long for romance.
Only it wasn't romance that I desired.
An aroma entered my nose that smelled so heavenly that I thought it was the most delicious dessert ever created. I breathed in deeply, taking in the smell and the sounds.
It was as if she was romancing me into to giving her blood a taste.
A tight, burning sensation developed in the pit of my stomach and radiated up to my chest and throat and finally to my mouth. My mouth began to water and I could feel my teeth growing bigger in my mouth.
I jumped up and declared, "I need to go to the bathroom." I ran to the bathroom at normal human running speed and locked myself in there and sat on the toilet breathing heavily.
I forced myself to think about anything except blood. I pictured dog feces, dead bugs, and any other gross thing that I could come up with to kill my hunger.
Eventually, I felt my teeth return to normal and the burning sensation dissipate. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and texted Tanner to be ready later. He returned the text saying that would be no problem.
Once I felt that I was under control again, I went to watch the rest of the movie with Amanda. It was very difficult to not think about how succulent her blood smelled. It seemed to be calling out to me.
I will not eat my friend. I will not eat my friend. I repeated to myself in my mind.
As soon as the movie was over, I pretended to be exhausted so we went to bed pretty quickly after. I listened intently to her breathing until I was convinced that she had fallen asleep. It was pretty easy, as it seemed that my hearing was able to pick up on the even the quietest noises of the human body.
I texted Tanner to meet me at the field went through my wall and ran as fast as I could to the field. I was getting even faster, and bolder too. I ran near people that I saw along the way and they didn't even see me.
Once I was there, I climbed up the tree and waited impatiently for him to arrive. I needed to find out where he lived and just meet him there next time. It would mean a lot less waiting for me.
When he finally showed up, I moved right in front of him in the blink of an eye.
He jumped a mile and grumbled, "You vampires really get a kick out of that, don't you?"
"I don't care about scaring you," I told him. "I need some blood before my best friend becomes my next meal."
"Let's go sit by that tree," he said. "I would rather sit down than stand."
"Fine by me," I said, and was next to the tree before he could say anything else.
He shook his head and took his sweet time walking to the tree before finally sitting down.
"Are you comfortable?" I asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my tone.
I didn't wait for a response. I just sat down and instead of going in for the bite I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I listened for his heartbeat and allowed the burning sensation to build to the point that I didn't think that I could take it much longer. I could feel my teeth growing again.
"What are you waiting for? You were so impatient a minute ago."
I ignored him, found the spot and bit down. The warm, delicious blood flowed into my mouth and I couldn't get enough. I was feeling very greedy.
"Stop. You promised you'd stop when it—"
"Quiet," I whispered and took in a little more before stopping. I licked the wound and it healed completely.
Desire continued to flow through me.
"Why didn't you stop?" he asked, rubbing the place the wound should have been.
"Shut up," I said and grabbed his face. I looked into his eyes and forced my lips on his.
He tried speaking and even pushing me away, but I was too strong for him.
I shoved him against the tree and said, "I told you to shut up." I began kissing him again. He quit fighting and we continued to kiss until my feelings of desire went down to a manageable level. I pulled away and fixed my hair.
"What was that all about?" he asked, breathlessly. Then quickly added, "Not that I'm complaining."
I sighed. "It must have something to do with the blood. It seems to create an intense desire in me."
"Maybe you should start taking some of your boyfriend's blood too, if mine isn't enough."
Suddenly my heart sank to my stomach.
Cliff.
What had I just done?
FOURTEEN
I was pacing frantically at the park, waiting for Brooke to arrive because I had to talk with her. I was completely riddled with guilt over what I had done the night before. I knew that the blood lust was strong and made transforming vampires act crazy, but I couldn't believe that I had kissed Tanner.
Cliff was such a gentleman that he had only kissed my hand and head a few times. I had thrown myself at Tanner, when in my heart I loved Cliff. When I looked into Cliff's eyes, I knew every time that he was my destiny.
What if I had just ruined everything? What if I had broken the blessing? What was going to happen now? What if he decided that I wasn't worthy of him anymore?
I sat down on the bench, trying to compose myself. I thought for sure that I was going to start crying right there.
Where was Brooke? I told her that I needed to talk to her and she was taking so long to get here. I told her that it was serious and that I needed to talk to her privately.
I could feel the agitation building, so I got up
and started pacing again. I passed under some large lamps and they exploded as I passed under each one.
"What's going on?"
I turned around and saw Brooke. "What took you so long?"
"I was in the middle of something and came as quickly as I could," she replied. "I am guessing that you are not happy, since I followed a trail of broken lights to find you."
"I was irritated that you were taking so long," I said. "But I'm only irritated because I really need to talk to you. Right now."
"Do you want to talk here or somewhere else?"
"Let's just find somewhere secluded here at the park. I really don't feel like having to wait any longer."
She looked at the broken glass along the path and said, "I can see that. Let's go over there by the woods. It looks nice and quiet."
"Let's go," I said and ran as fast as I could.
"You really need to be careful not to do that around people," she said when she sat down. "Remember that we want to blend in."
"Look, you'll have plenty to lecture me about after I'm done talking. Can you lay off me for now?"
"Uh oh, this doesn't sound good."
"You know that this desire for blood is severely overwhelming for me. I didn't have the luxury of being introduced one drop at a time so I could acclimate myself to it, like you did."
She nodded, looking worried.
"Well I couldn't take it that first night, and that's how I figured out how to go through the wall. I ran and ran, hoping that would help but it didn't." I went on to tell her about the murderous farmer, Tanner offering me his blood, how I wanted Amanda's blood, and finally what happened when I drank from Tanner instead.
"Lecture me, yell at me, or whatever you want. I deserve it all but I doubt you could make me feel worse than I already do," I buried my face into my hands.
She didn't say anything. Nothing at all. That was worse than yelling at me.
"Please say something," I begged.
She turned to me her eyes ablaze. "Do you really want to know what I'm thinking?"
I felt about two inches tall. "I can probably guess."
"I'm trying to find the right thing to say because what I feel like saying isn't the right thing. I could tell you that I told you so or I could yell at you for not telling me about all of this yesterday when I thought that we were having a heart to heart. I could yell at you for how much it's going to hurt Cliff when he finds out. Where do you want me to start?"
I sighed. "What am I supposed to do? Is there anything that I can do to make this right?"
"I certainly hope so," she said. "You're going to have to tell Cliff pretty soon though, because I can't hide it from him."
"You would tell him before I could?" I squealed.
"I wouldn't have to tell him. You guys can read my mind, remember?"
"You can't block certain information?"
"I can with you because you're inexperienced with mind reading. I can't with him because he's experienced and so powerful. Anyone descended from the Fyrsturae has much stronger gifts than any other vampire."
"Does it help that I have never felt worse about anything in all of my life?"
"It doesn't matter what I think," she replied. "Cliff loves you with a love like no other. He will undoubtedly be crushed."
"That's the worst part of this whole thing." I burst into tears. "As soon as I realized what I did, I felt completely horrible. I can't stand it and that's why I called you."
"Since you want my opinion, here it is. I think that you should tell Cliff as soon as possible. The worst thing you can do is to hide it from him. Show him that you want to do the honorable thing and let him know that you will do anything to make it right."
"That's probably the best thing to do," I admitted.
"I'm going to go purchase some fabric for my next round of clothes for the rebellious princess. Why don't you use that time to go talk to Cliff?"
I nodded, as more tears ran down my face.
***
Heart pounding, I knocked on the door and Cliff answered it. His face lit up when he saw me. "I didn't know that you were coming over. What an excellent surprise."
I looked into his eyes for a second, hoping that I would be allowed to look into them again.
"Can we talk?" I asked.
His eyes filled with concern. "Is something the matter?"
I bit my lip, took a deep breath and nodded.
"Come on in. We can talk in the back yard where it's quiet."
We walked to the back yard in silence and sat down under a shady tree.
"What's the matter, my princess?" he asked. The sweeter he was, the worse I felt.
"I've been having more blood cravings," I began. "I made a bad decision about how to resolve those unbearable cravings."
He nodded for me to continue.
"Tanner told me about how Samantha used to use him as a human volunteer and he said that it helped him with his football game somehow." I was so nervous that as I kept talking, my voice became more and more quiet. I looked at him to see a reaction but he had on a poker face. "I was so desperate for blood, and I didn't want to kill anyone…" I sighed.
"So you used him as a human volunteer?"
I gulped. "Yes and it did help. I was able to focus and live my life normally without the horrible desire for blood screaming at me from every cell of my body."
His face showed jealousy, and then softened. "Okay, well, I guess I can't blame you for that. I haven't done anything yet to provide for your blood needs. Next time just tell me and we'll figure something out, okay?"
"I need to tell you more," I whispered.
He stopped. "More?"
My lower lip started to quiver and I nodded my head.
"Go ahead."
"I don't know what overcame me," I started slowly. "It must have had something to do with the blood because I definitely wasn't thinking. It wasn't me at all."
"What. Happened?"
"Please don't hate me. Please," I begged. "We kissed."
He jumped up from where he was sitting. "He kissed you? I'll kill him. I've never killed a human, but I will make an exception this once."
I stood up and grabbed his hand. "No, Cliff. I kissed him."
The look of hurt in his eyes was enough to kill me inside. Tears streamed down my face. "I'm so, so sorry. I hate myself for it."
"You kissed him?" His eyes were ablaze. "You? How could you do this to me?"
His teeth had grown larger and sharp, his eyes were red.
My heart pounded faster than I'd ever felt before. "I don't know. I didn't know what I was doing. It just happened. I'm so sorry. I'll do anything to make it right. Anything."
"I have spent all of these years waiting for you, never taking my thoughts off you once. I didn't even allow my thoughts to be unfaithful to you. Trust me when I say the opportunities were there. They were plentiful, Alexis." He stared into my eyes.
"I don't know what overcame me," I said, still crying. "I wasn't even thinking. It happened before I knew what was going on."
"I would have understood you kissing someone else when you had no memories of me. I expected that, actually. I thought that I would find that you had already fallen in love with some human. But now? Now. After we've reunited and you remembered all that we had before and know everything that lies in front of us."
"I hate myself for what I did. I really do. But I had to come clean with you as soon as possible. If I didn't care, I would have hidden it from you. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
"Do you have any idea how much I love you? The burning passion that lives within me. It consumes me, but I have been raised properly, so I have barely touched you since we reunited. Then you go and do this."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Leave this house."
"What? I—"
"I said leave! I will call you when I have calmed down. I don't want to do or say anything that I will later regret. I am going to use some self-cont
rol, even though you don't know anything about that."
I gasped.
"Leave my sight now."
I got up with tears streaming down my face. I ran out of the yard and through the house, slamming the front door on my way out.
***
I had been in my room crying for a while, when there was a knock on my door.
"Go away," I called, between sobs.
As was customary in my house, my request was ignored and the door opened. Natalie walked in and said, "I could hear you in my room over my music. What's going on?"
"Didn't you hear me say go away?" I asked. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Too bad," she said, sitting down. "I care about you and I want to help."
I sighed and knew that she wouldn't leave until I told her something. I said, "Cliff and I had a fight."
"You two?" she asked. "I can't imagine that. What happened?"
"That is exactly what I don't want to talk about."
"I won't tell anyone," she promised.
"Why would I tell you when you don't tell me about your love life?" I asked.
"Who said that I have a love life?" she asked.
"You're trying to tell me that as one of the most popular girls in the school, you don't have a love life? You expect me to believe that?"
"What does this have to do with anything?"
"I know that you're keeping your boyfriend a secret," I told her. "I don't want to share my secrets with you if you don't trust me with yours."
She looked at me in surprise. "What makes you think that I have a boyfriend?"
"What's Braydon then?" I asked.
There was no masking the surprise that was all over her face. "How did you know about Braydon? Did you read my mind again?"
"That's definitely not how I found out about Braydon."
"Nobody knows about him. I haven't even told Sydney. How did you know?"
I was relieved that the subject had changed to her. I didn't want to think about Cliff or the possibility that I had ruined the best thing that had happened to me.
"We're sisters, right?" I asked. "You agreed that we have a special connection."
"Don't give me that. If that was the case, you would figure out that I have a secret boyfriend but you wouldn't know his name."
The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5 Page 14