"Promise me you'll eat a big meal tomorrow," Amanda said.
"I'll try."
"We still on for the Black Friday sales?" she asked, begging me with her eyes.
"Standing in long lines at midnight—what could be better?" I asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. I wanted nothing more than to climb into bed and stay there until Monday morning.
"That's the spirit. Where do you want to go? Should we stick around Delphic Cove or hit the freeway?"
"Why don't we go to Seattle? I'll bet they have some great sales."
Her eyes widened. "Are you kidding? That's like a whole day trip."
I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't care where we go."
Two
"It's time to get up, Alexis."
I rolled over and pulled the pillow over my face. It was promptly removed and I glared at my adoptive, human mom. She opened my blinds, casting sunlight onto my face. I closed my eyes, ever grateful to have the sun blessing, allowing me to walk around freely during the day.
"We need to get everything ready before everyone gets here. You know it's our year for hosting Thanksgiving, and that means we all have to work together to get everything ready."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes! I don't know what we were thinking, letting you go on that foreign exchange trip. It was too close after your kidnapping. Now look at you—you're a depressed wreck."
"You can't blame that on the trip. I was the same way before my abduction. Worse, in fact. You couldn't even pull me out of bed, right? This time I've been going to school and keeping my grades up."
"I'm glad for that much. Really, I am. But it's not good enough and you know it. You need to eat more, you need to get together with your friends and have fun, you—"
"Today's Thanksgiving. I'm sure I'll eat plenty. Then tonight Amanda and I are going shopping. How's that for fun?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You're going shopping at the late night sales? I thought they were too—"
"Yeah, well, I changed my mind. If you'll move aside, I'll get a shower now so I can help get the house ready for the relatives."
"Really? Okay," she said, backing up.
In the shower, I held my daily pity party. Ever since I had woken up at home that one day the week before school started, my whole life had been turned upside down. Not only was I mysteriously away from my birth parents, but I had no memories beyond the horrible day when Cliff, the love of my life, had essentially declared his hate for me.
Well, that was actually a stretch. He hadn't said that he hated me, but the look on his face said it all when he told me that I'd signed his death warrant. I couldn't even blame him if he did loathe my very existence. In trying to protect him, I'd lied to him about some serious stuff. I had hated lying to him, but that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that I had lied to him after we had promised each other no more secrets.
It didn't matter how hard I tried. I couldn't remember anything that happened after that, not for nine months until I woke up back at home with my human family. If it hadn't been strange enough to have such a long gap in my memory, everything had changed too. All of the vampires were out of my life—not only Cliff. They were all gone without a trace. When I had been going through my transformation, none of them would leave me alone. Now they were so far away that I had no way of reaching them.
Between my memory lapses, not knowing if Cliff hated me, and the other vampires being gone, I was a mess. At first, I thought it was some kind of test, so I went out of my way to have fun without my vampire friends. I went to several parties before school started, living it up and having a blast.
The memory lapses were especially difficult because my parents were so worried about them. I hid many from them, whenever I could. What I could remember from each lapse varied. Sometimes I only forgot a few hours, while other times I forgot days. The longest was the nine months before I woke up at home. I couldn't figure out why that was, but I had a strong feeling that if I knew what was causing them, I would have my answer.
After I returned, my mom wanted to take me school clothes shopping with my sister Natalie and I knew that my memory and lack of vampires weren't the only things that had changed. After finding out that I'd been adopted, my parents had always denied the adoption because their minds had been controlled to think that I was their daughter. But now, they talked about it openly, as though it had been something we had always talked about before. Aside from that, they didn't favor Natalie anymore. They treated us equally well and bought me all kinds of nice things.
My parents seemed to think that should be enough to keep me happy. I couldn't explain that I was upset about my vampire friends and family being out of my life. Believe me. I tried talking about vampires with them, just to test the waters and see how open they were to the idea, and that didn't go over well on any level. I nearly found myself facing the local mental hospital.
I had barely been holding it together, spending as much time as possible in bed, sleeping. When I was awake, I kept myself distracted with studying even though most of the time I really didn't care. I should have been at the castle. I was, after all, the long-awaited vampire Sonnast. What a mess that was: having been told all my vampire life that I was meant to marry Cliff. But one minor detail was left out. I was actually destined to marry Alrekur, the first vampire ever born—3,000 years before me. Even though I had gone through an unbreakable engagement ceremony with Cliff when I was three, it didn't matter.
Not after I was forced to awaken Alrekur from his thousand year death, anyway. That was the big secret that I had been keeping from Cliff which angered him so much. I had wanted to tell him about it, but how do you bring that up in conversation? Then there was the matter of Alrekur using mind control on me, which wasn't supposed to be possible. It was all such a mess, and it all happened when I was spending time with my vampire parents for the first time since I was three, and I was trying to learn everything I could about the vampire culture.
I hadn't even been given the chance to talk to Cliff and explain everything. Not that I could remember anyway. He had told me that I'd signed his death warrant, because I'd gone to him out of anger after Alrekur killed my friend Tanner, and then I had slept with Cliff. I'd really made a mess of everything. Tears threatened, and since I was in the shower, I let them flow, as I did in every shower. Every time I got in, I went over everything in my mind again and again not only to torture myself, but to see if I could figure out a missing piece of the puzzle.
As the tears flowed, I tried to remember what happened in those nine months that I couldn't remember, but just like every other time, I came up blank. My supposedly untouchable mind had been messed with again. First when Alrekur controlled it, and then again with the missing time. Had it been him that had done this to me? My other guess was my parents since I had made it clear that I was in love with Cliff and not Alrekur.
There was a knock on the door. I sighed. I must have gone too long with my shower once again.
"Use the other bathroom!"
"You need to save some water for Natalie," said my mom through the door. "Hurry up."
I turned the water off and grabbed a towel. I continued to cry, but silently now. I missed Cliff so much and my chest felt like it had been ripped apart. I'd been back home with my human family for nearly three months. Why hadn't he come to find me? He had only lived a block away before, it wasn't as though he couldn't find his way back. Unless he hated me or Alrekur had killed him. Alrekur hadn't had any qualms about killing Tanner right in front of me, and I didn't even have any romantic feelings toward Tanner anymore. Alrekur would kill Cliff without a second thought.
When I got to my room, I sat down at my vanity and looked at myself. My eyes were red as I continued to sob, thinking about Cliff. Crying silently had become a skill as I quickly tired of my parents worrying and lecturing me, as though that could solve my problems. I was carrying around a huge burden—where was the love of my life? If he'd been killed,
then it was my fault. If he hated me, then that too was my fault. But I had no way of knowing either way.
As I continued to think about it and feel guilty about whatever was going on, I lost track of time. There was a knock on my door and I looked up at the clock. More than a half an hour had passed! I jumped up from my seat to get dressed. "I'll be down in a minute!"
My mom walked in anyway. "You're still in your towel?" she exclaimed. "What's been going on with you lately? Can I do something to help you pull yourself together?"
I shook my head. "I know you need my help downstairs. Just give me a minute."
She wiped a tear from my cheek and gave me a sad look. "Have you been crying this whole time? Your eyes are all red."
"I miss Cliff, Brooke and Clara. It hasn't been the same since I came back here."
"I'm sorry they moved away, Lexy. I wish I could do something about that for you. Just remember how much your family loves you, okay? We're here for you and now the holidays are beginning. It's such a fun time and we have a lot to look forward to. We're going to pick out a Christmas tree this weekend—you know how much you've always loved that."
Blinking back more tears, I nodded. "That'll be fun. Just like always."
"And then after that, we'll start shopping! I know how much you enjoy that."
I forced a smile. "I can't wait."
She pulled a strand of hair behind my ear and kissed the top of my head. "I'm glad to hear it." But I could see in her eyes that she didn't believe me. She left the room, closing the door behind her and I found some clothes from my closet and then sat down to fix my hair. I was drawn to my face before I touched my hair. The dark circles under my eyes were worse than the day before and I looked horrible overall.
It was a good thing that I'd learned to use makeup because I really needed it. I had never worn it before the vampires showed up in my life, re-shown up, after I began my transformation. I'd learned a lot more than just how to survive the human world as a vampire from them. Which led me to wonder for the thousandth time: where were Brooke and Clara? Why hadn't either of them tried to find me either? Had they been threatened or had everyone just stopped caring about me?
Being the Sonnast, my presence was supposed to be really strong, making it easier for vampires to find me. There was no excuse for everyone having abandoned me like they had.
There was yet another knock on my door and I groaned. "I'll be out in a minute!"
"You better be," Natalie's called. "You know how much I hate cleaning."
Despite my mood, a smile escaped. I put on enough makeup to cover up how bad I looked and then pulled my hair back into a messy ponytail. I didn't really care how I looked. I wanted to climb into bed and stay there all day, but I knew that wouldn't be fair to my family.
Before leaving my room, I took a quick look in the mirror and stopped in my tracks. With my hair up, the Sonnast mark on my neck stuck out like a sore thumb. It wasn't glowing, but it looked like a tattoo. It was a mark that I had been born with, indicating that I was the vampire Sonnast, destined to be one of the strongest vampires to ever live. It was also the reason that my life was endangered and why I had been placed with my human family when I was only three.
My birth parents had had a spell placed on me, making it so that no one could see the mark, but word still spread and vampires hungry for power wanted me out of the way. There were many ancient prophecies about all of the great things I was supposed to do as a leader.
The prophecies also held a secret that very few knew about. I was supposed to marry and rule with Alrekur. After he had been found, I was the only one who could go near the body, and when I removed the stake from him, my mark reappeared for all to see. He had never been able to fall in love in the two thousand years that he had been alive, but as soon as he saw me, all that changed.
I sighed, not wanting to think about that. Instead, I pulled the ponytail out and ran a brush through my hair. It still looked horrible, my hair was dry and in bad shape since I wasn't taking care of myself. I pulled back the hair by my face with some clips, making sure that my mark was well hidden.
Satisfied, I turned to open the door. Just as I did, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. The way my hair moved, the mark still showed. I readjusted my clips, but every time I moved my head, the mark showed itself. Frustrated, I threw the clips down and headed for the stairs.
When I got downstairs, Natalie gave me a double take.
"What? Is something hanging from my nose?"
"Go put some makeup on, girl! Don't stop caring about how you look. Please, please don't go back to the way you were before you met Cliff. When I said hurry up, I didn't mean to ignore how you look."
"I'll put some on after I help you guys clean," I said. I must have looked worse than I thought if putting on all that makeup made me look like I hadn't put any on at all. I grabbed a rag and some spray, and started dusting. As I cleaned, my hair kept falling in my face. Annoyed, I pulled it behind my ears. Every few minutes, it slipped out again.
Finally deciding that I didn't care about the mark anymore, I went back upstairs and pulled my hair into ponytail again. I looked at the mark, and shrugged. On the way downstairs, I prepared for the overreactions. I was going to tell them I had gotten a tattoo.
My dad looked at me from across the room. "You look great with your hair up, dear. I haven't seen you wear it up in a long time." He walked to me and gave me a hug. He looked at my neck. "What's that?"
"You mean my tattoo?" I asked with as much innocence as I could muster.
His eyes widened, and the color drained from his face. "When did you get that?"
"When I was in Europe. They're cool about stuff like that."
I noticed Natalie inching closer. Her hands were covering her mouth.
"You never thought to tell us about a tattoo?"
"Not much I can do about it now. It's there, and it isn't going anywhere."
"I…I, well I suppose you're right." He looked closer. "That's really pretty, actually. It's so intricate, those designs within the swirl. It must have cost a small fortune."
"I guess. Why aren't you freaking out?"
"It won't do any good. Aside from that, there isn't much time before people start arriving."
Natalie walked up and looked at the mark. "It really is gorgeous. But Mom's gonna flip."
"That she is," Dad said. "Another reason for me not to."
Mom came into the living room. "What are you three doing? There's so much cleaning to do."
"We're looking at Lexi's tattoo," Natalie said.
"Her what?"
"It's so pretty." Natalie smiled.
My mom walked over and looked at my neck. "When did you do this? More importantly, why did you do this?"
"In Europe. It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Her face turned red. "You didn't stop to ask us first? You weren't even eighteen at the time!"
I shrugged. "You don't have to be eighteen there."
She shook her head. "Since, you're eighteen now, you could get all the tattoos you wanted. It's not worth getting worked up over, especially with the house being so messy and dirty. Let's get this place cleaned up. We'll talk about this later."
I thought that the house looked fine—the cleaning lady had been by a week ago—but she always felt that she had to impress the relatives when it was our turn to host a gathering. She was so ridiculous, even having us clean the top of the refrigerator and underneath the washing machine—as though our relatives were going to check for dust in any of those places.
Natalie and I bustled around the house, cleaning corners that no one would see, giving each other knowing looks. She was looking forward to a month full of shopping. That was how she was always able to get through it with a smile on her face. I wasn't quite smiling, but I was at least distracted for a little bit.
"Mmmm," said our dad, walking into the living room where we were. "Smell that meal, girls. Your mom must be the world's best cook."
"What?" he asked, in mock surprise. "Certainly not I."
I laughed despite myself. They had the same conversation every year. Maybe, just maybe, being surrounded with familiar traditions would help me feel better. "We need to play some Christmas music."
"That's right! Good thinking, Alexis. I'll bet that's been added to the streaming list."
Three
The doorbell rang about twenty minutes early. My mom looked irritated. "No one dusted the top of the fridge, did they?"
"That's a shame," I said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, "because that's always the first place everyone looks."
She glared at me. "Just get the door."
"I got it!" Natalie said as she raced past me.
"Sorry we're early." It was one of my uncles. "Traffic was a lot better than we thought it'd be."
"No problem, Tom," said my dad, walking to the door. "Great to see you guys. Come on in and take a load off."
I made my way to the living room where everyone was settling in. I smiled and waved, not really in the mood to chat. I noticed my aunt holding a platter of food and I took it from her and made my way back to the kitchen.
"Dust the fridge," my mom hissed at me.
"Really?"
"Hurry up," she said and then looked at the contents of the platter and put it in the fridge.
I grabbed a rag and pulled a chair up to the fridge, mumbling about how pointless it was to worry about the top of the fridge. If my mom heard me, she ignored me as she checked the turkey in the oven.
The doorbell rang again a couple more times before I finished dusting, and each time the conversation got louder. The music was turned off and a football game was turned on loud enough for all to hear. After I put the chair back where it belonged, I grabbed a sparkling water and sat down in the living room. All the guys were discussing the game and my aunts were making their way to the kitchen.
When Natalie and our cousins headed to the rec room, I followed and joined them in a board game. I started to relax and actually even felt like nothing had changed from before I had ever met a vampire. After the game was over, someone turned on music videos and everyone played pool.
The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5 Page 98