Astoria: Secrets, Lies and Vampires

by Theiler, Donna

  “Why do you love me?” I asked as I turned back away from him, wiping away a lone tear from my cheek. That’s when he began to tell his story, of her.

  “There was this girl, Destiny.” I turned back around as he said her name. He had a small smile on his face. As though he was reliving a good memory, I frowned at the thought. I didn’t want to think of him with anyone else. “I meet her a few years ago-”

  “Was she human?” I asked cutting him off.

  “No. She is a Vampire. Neville found her a few years ago before we moved here to Astoria. She was barely alive. She had been raped and severally beaten by three men. Neville ran them off, but didn’t think she would survive. The only choice he had to save her life was to change her.” He paused for a long moment before he began to speak again. “She lived with us for awhile. Neville thought she would be my perfect mate. I thought she would be too.” I could tell he was remembering his time with her by the small smile on his face. “She didn’t move to Astoria when we did. Our way of life wasn’t the way she wanted to live. She wanted to know what it felt like to hunt humans.” I shivered at the thought that there was monsters out there somewhere that could do harm to helpless humans like me. “So she went her own way.” He looked down with those last words as though they still hurt him. I wanted to know more about her, like did he miss her, but mostly, did he still love her. I tried to find the courage to ask him if he still loved her, but every time I tried to speak, I froze. I tried to compose myself before I tried to speak again. I took a deep breath and let it out and then asked “Do you still love her?” his eyes immediately dropped away from mine. I could tell from his body language that the answer must be yes.

  Chapter 12

  He hadn’t spoken for a long time since I asked him if he was still in love with Destiny. I cried silently, knowing the answer deep down. Evan walked towards me slowly filling in the gap that separated us, as he reached for me I quickly pulled away, not wanting him to touch me. This shouldn’t bother me, him loving another woman since she was before he even met me, but it did. It hurt me, to know he still loved someone else even though I just meet him. I turned away from him to look back out the large window of the lantern room. The sun was starting to set now. The sun sinking against the sky, turning it red, the tide was rising higher now. I could feel Evan even closer behind me now, occasionally reaching out for me before he would pull back his hand.

  Finally he spoke. “Emma, I do not still love her. I never did.” I turned around to face him as he continued to speak. “When my father brought her home to join our family, yes at first I thought maybe I had found my mate. But something just never felt right with her. I thought I loved her. But I didn’t. The day I told her I didn’t feel the same for her as she did for me… she left. And then my family moved here to Astoria. I didn’t, nor do I still love her, you have to believe me, Emma.” he said as he grabbed me softly by my arms. “You walking into that classroom that first day Emma, you are my dream come true.” I cried as he kissed my lips.

  He held me in his arms for what seemed to be only a few minutes, but the darkness in the Lighthouse told me otherwise. “Come on, we better get you back to your car. I don’t want to make you late getting home again tonight.” He said as he took my hand and walked me towards the door to lead me down the stairs from the lantern room.

  Once we reached the first floor in the stairwell he told me to get on his back. The tide had completely flooded the lower levels and the rock that the Lighthouse was built on. I clung on to Evan’s back so I didn’t get wet. Evan waded in waist deep water while carrying me on his back, once we reached the edge of the rock, he took off at high speed, but this time I didn’t bury my face in his back. What little I could see in the dark, he was running on top of the water. The water was spraying me in the face, stinging me with pain. The wind was strong, but the run didn’t last long, we were on the beach in no time. When I climbed off his back I lost my balance, stumbling forward, Evan grabbed me in time before I fell into the sand face first. I could hear a little giggle as he help me walk until I gained my balance back.

  Our ride back to the school were my car was parked was filled with Evan asking me a lot of questions. This time he wanted to about my parents. “What about you mother, what was she like?” he asked as he reached over and tucked a single strand of hair behind my ear.

  “She was really pretty, and really funny. She always knew when I had a bad day, because she would start doing whatever she could to make me laugh.” Evan looked over at me with a smile.

  “What was her name?” he asked.

  “Leeann.” I said softly as I turned my head looked out the window. I hadn’t spoken her name since the accident. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

  “What about your father? What was he like?” Evan asked, this time almost cautiously.

  “He was a lot like me, quiet. He was a very hard worker.” The last part came out almost in a whisper. “His name was Raymond.” Evan never spoke the rest of our car ride to the school. I think he knew the subject of my parents was a touchy one for me still. As we pulled into the school he reminded me of my dinner plans at his house tomorrow night. “Don’t forget, you have dinner plans at my house tomorrow night.” He said as he gave me a look that told me everything will be okay. “What will you tell your Grandmother?” he asked.

  “Maybe I will tell her I am going to Sami’s house after school or something.” I wasn’t sure what I was going to tell her. I hated to lie. I wasn’t very good at it. My mother always saw right through me whenever I tried to tell her anything other than the truth, so I didn’t try to lie to her. But I couldn’t tell Gran I was going to Evan’s house either, she would flip out.

  “Okay, I will see you tomorrow. And Emma…” I turned to see his beautiful blue eyes staring back at me. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” The words just flew out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying. Evan smiled his brilliant smile at me and my heart melted. If I wasn’t sure how I felt about Evan before today, I do now. Thinking Evan was in love with someone else forced me to open up and admit my feelings for him. I’ve only been with him a few days, but from the moment I saw him something inside me told me he was the one I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. The only problem was…my Grandmother couldn’t stand the man I was in love with, over some stupid legend.

  Chapter 13

  The sun shone brightly through my bedroom window. I rubbed my eyes as I crawled out of bed and walked over to the window. I smiled at the thought of a sunny warm day, and then a pang of guilt suddenly hit me. Evan in the sun could cause him to grow weak. And possibly even kill him. And suddenly I felt guilty of even being happy about seeing the sun. I dressed in a hurry and ran out the door without seeing Gran. She must still be asleep. She stayed up late with Marie talking. Marie and Levi was over for dinner last night and by the time Levi walked home and I went to bed, Gran and Marie was still busy gossiping about the latest news going on in the Reservation. Levi and I cleaned up the kitchen after dinner and then spent the rest of the time talking between ourselves. I hadn’t gotten to spend much time with him since the bon fire. I really enjoyed spending time with Levi. He was very funny, and very laid back. He isn’t like most of my other friends, where I had to try to fit in. Even with my few friends back in Los Angeles, I never felt like I fit in anywhere. With Levi, I just do. “We need to hang out more.” Levi said with a smile. I hadn’t noticed before how perfectly straight and white his teeth were against his olive tone skin. “Yeah, we do.” I said as I put the dishes in the cupboard. “What about tomorrow? Maybe we could go see a movie?” I paused for a long moment trying to making up a story. I hadn’t figured out what I was going to tell Gran yet about where I was going tomorrow and Levi caught me off guard. So I blurted out the first thing that came to me. “I already got a date tomorrow.” I wanted to smack myself as soon as I said it. I tried to cover it up quickly. “I mean I already have plans, with my friend Sami.” I gave
him an apologetic smile. “We are going to study and I am having dinner at her house.” I turned around so he couldn’t see my face, just in case he could tell I was lying. He never called me out on it if he did. “Maybe another time then?” He said as he turned from me to put the rest of the dishes in the cupboard. “Sure.” I replied back, not really meaning what I had just said. I didn’t want Levi to keep thinking there was something more between us, other than being friends.

  After we finished cleaning the kitchen Levi and I went to my room to hang out. As Levi walked in my room he looked around, not saying anything as he sat on my bed. It felt strange to have a boy in my room. M mother wouldn’t have allowed this back home. Even though Levi is a long time family friend, she still would have freaked out at the thought of me alone in my room with a boy. After a few minutes I finally decided to ask Levi about his parents, but I didn’t know how to bring up the subject. “So the bon fire, it was for your parents?” I asked, since I already knew the answer to the question I kept talking. “What happened to them?” Levi looked at me with a look of sadness. I started to change the subject when he began talking.

  “They were killed in a fire.” he said as he got up off the bed and went over to the window to look out. “There was a home invasion, some people came in and beat them and then set their house on fire.” I could hear the shakiness in his voice as he continued. “My sister and I were home that night. I could hear the noises coming from the living room. I hide under the covers and then Tiffany came running into my room and got me out of the house just in time as the house went up in flames.” He said.

  “I’m sorry. Do they know who did it?” I asked, unsure what to say.

  “No. They never caught them. Gary, Tiffany’s boyfriend happened to be passing by when it happened and he chased the two intruders into the woods but lost them. Others from the Reservation came to help, but it was too late for my parents, the house was already engulfed flames.” He hung his head as he relived the memory. I could tell he still remembered the events of that night all too well, and I didn’t want to see him hurt, so I didn’t say anything more. But then Levi said something that made my skin crawl. “People here on the Reservation say it was The Blake’s.” I turned towards Levi. I wanted to scream at him that they are lying. Evan or his family wouldn’t hurt anyone. But I was afraid if I did Levi may question why I am defending Evan or his family.

  “Levi, that is a silly legend that people here are telling. The Blake’s just moved here last year-” I stopped myself from finishing the sentence, realizing I may have already said too much. I tried my best to cover up my mistake. “Or that’s what I am told by my friends.” Levi just shrugged his shoulders as though he was saying he wasn’t sure what to believe, and then sat back down on my bed and changed the subject. “So would you like to do something this weekend?” he asked. I was sure he was trying to just change the subject, just as I try to do whenever my parents are brought up in conversation. I smiled at him and said the only thing I thought he wanted to hear. “Sure.” I wanted to kick myself the moment I said it. But I didn’t want to hurt Levi and I wanted to change the subject off of his parents too. “Is Sunday okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, that’s good with me.” Levi said. Now a huge smile was spread across his face. Levi stayed a few more minutes before he decided he was ready to go home. And since Marie wasn’t ready to leave Levi decided to walk home, I offered him a ride but he declined. Something told me he just wanted to be alone awhile with his thoughts after telling me the story of how his parents had died. I didn’t stay up long after Levi left, I excused myself from Marie and Gran and told them goodnight and then went off to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day for me, I was going to meet Evan’s family officially and I wasn’t sure if I was nervous meeting a house full of Vampires or the next step in mine and Evan’s relationship.

  The next morning I woke early, wanting to get to school in enough time so I could spend every second possible with Evan. I was dressed, out the door and on my way to school in a matter of thirty minutes of waking up. Once I got to school Evan was waiting by his car for me as usual. But this time his sister Payton was there with him along with Everett at her side. Cameron seemed to be keeping his distance from me still, as though I have the plague or something. Evan met me by my car once I got parked into my parking space. Opening the door for me he took my hand and helped me out. We walked over to where his siblings stood. Payton now looked at me with more of a friendly look, not like she had been, like I was the enemy.

  Evan walked hand in hand with me as usual in the hallway. Of course everyone stared. But no one said anything to us. During English class I tried to focus on the assignment given to us, but all I could do was stare at Evan. The teacher called my name out loudly and told me to keep my eyes on my own paper. Causing me to turn beet red, I sank down in my seat and kept my eyes down the rest of the period. Evan let out a small chuckle that only I could hear, which made me even more embarrassed. At lunch Evan told Sami and the rest of my friends that I was going to his house for dinner tonight. Everyone seemed to be excited for me. Evan was trying to be friendly with Brady and Collin, the guys in our little group of friends so they didn’t feel left out. So after lunch dismissed he walked a little ways in front with them, that’s when Sami took the opportunity to walk up beside me and whispered I had to call her as soon as I got home to give her details on how it went. I knew Evan heard every word she said with his sensitive Vampire ears no matter how far ahead of us he was. He turned his head around at me and smiled at me and I turned crimson again for the second time today, and I hadn’t even made it past noon time yet. After school let out for the day Evan meet me at the girls locker room doors and walked me to my locker so I could get my books I would need for later tonight after my dinner at Evan’s house. Then we walked to the front doors and out into the sunny outdoors. I tried to walk as fast as I could so Evan wasn’t in the sun any longer than necessary. “Slow down baby-doll.” as he grabbed my hand slowing me down to a normal pace. “Don’t we need to hurry to your car?” I asked with anxiety in my voice. “I may not be as strong as a full bred vampire, but I am not that weak.” He said with a sheepish grin. I tried to smile and relax some. But I still couldn’t relax. I was nervous for two reason, one, I was meeting the rest of Evan’s family today. And two, the sun was shining bright on the man I was in love with, and it could kill him. And living without Evan Blake was not an option for me anymore.

  Evan opened the car door for me and I climbed in and smiled at him as he shut the door. I could see Payton, Everett and Cameron getting into the car next to us. Payton smiling at me waving in excitement, I waved back at her as I buckled my seatbelt. I noticed Cameron looking at me with a look of distaste on his face. I quickly looked away and looked to the floorboard. Evan shut his door and looked at me “Ready?” he asked in a calm tone. I looked back over towards the car with the other Blake’s, mainly at Cameron and his hostility towards me and took a deep breath before I answered “Yeah.”

  We headed north from the school, driving down a one lane dirt road. The first two miles it was open fields. Nothing but high weeds, then trees starting coming into view. The next three miles was a winding and twisting road that lead deeper into the wooded grounds. The trees were moss covered as most of the trees in Astoria were. Then a clearing started to come into view, I could see lights ahead. As we got closer I could see the house. I had never seen a house like this before in my life, at least not this close, even back in Los Angeles were the house there were amazing. This house was unique in its own. The design was something that was different even from the house in L.A from all the millionaire homes. It was made of all glass and wood. It triangular design was exquisite, but yet it had a “modern” look to it. The steps alone leading to the front door were enough to make you want to take a break and relax. The grounds were carefully maintained. Perfectly manicured lawn, carefully placed trees and plants. This is something you would see in a magazine. One might think they h
ad a crew that put in lots of hours, but with Vampire speed and strength I am sure they tend to the landscape themselves. Light shine from the huge windows, all the better to view the natural surroundings. To the left was what appeared to be the garage, which was the length of the entire house, I can only imagine what other vehicles the Blake’s drive, and the few I’ve seen so far were amazing. Above it, a wide patio which no doubt would have hosted dozens at a time if the guest weren’t the ones that would have been on the menu. And to think, I haven’t even made it inside yet.

  *****

  Inside, it was just as beautiful. It was decked out in modern décor. As we entered the foyer Evan took my jacket. I stood looking around at the beautiful surroundings and to the art on the walls to the square marble incased “B” on the floor as you entered the doorway. I’m sure it stood for BLAKE. The inside furnishings were bright and stylish. “This is amazing.” I said as I looked in astonishment. Evan grabbed my hand and pulled my up towards the stairs “C’mon, there is more to see.” I could hear music playing from somewhere in the house. But I couldn’t tell from where. As we walked up the stairs I looked at the pictures on the walls. Pictures of Evan and Payton as babies, I looked questionably at him pointing at the pictures, since I remembered the story of him growing very fast. “My parents took pictures as often as they could to try to make it as though we had a normal childhood.” I looked at one with Evan and Payton that looked to be about two years old, Evan with his brownish blond hair around his beautiful blue eyes and Payton with her long blond hair already down to her waist, both were sitting beside each other posing for the camera. Another was with the whole family, minus Cameron, and Mr. and Mrs. Blake, all were sitting on a blanket in front of a lake somewhere. Payton, Evan and Everett looked to be about five years of age. I wondered how they added Cameron in the family, when they made his so called “adoption” final. I finally found a picture with Cameron in with the family. It looked to be somewhat recent that I could tell because it looked to be taken here at this house. Out in front of the old Cypress tree I saw as we pulled onto the grounds out front of the house. “You look like a normal family.” I said in a low whisper. Evan let out a laugh “Come on, everyone is waiting for you.” We walked up the stairs as I continued to stare at the pictures that lined the wall up the staircase, once we reached the top I could hear the music was getting louder. I could tell now it was classical music. I wasn’t sure what the song was or by whom since I didn’t listen to that genre of music. The second floor of the house held the family room which is where Payton and Everett were sitting on the couch. “Hi Emma” Payton squealed. Evan shook his head slightly in embarrassment and Payton got up and took my hand to have me sit beside her. “Would you like to hang out with us until dinner is done?” she asked in a hopeful tone. Evan took my hand and helped me off the couch “No, I am going to show her around some more.” Evan said as he led me out of the room quickly before she could protest. “Sorry about that. My sister can be somewhat annoying.” He said. I just smiled. I was still a little nervous being here. A house full of Vampires that could kill me at any moment, but Evan would be worth any death that awaited me.