by E. J. King
“You’re in an exceptional mood,” I observed as he climbed into the car, whistling.
“What’s not to enjoy? Driving this sweet 1982 Chevy, on my way to run errands for my dysfunctional pretend family, and a pretty girl in my passenger’s seat.” He turned over the engine and the radio blasted through the speakers. “Oh, and angry country music on the radio.”
“It’s your best day ever,” I agreed. “Play your cards right, and it might get even better tonight.”
Rafe let out a surprised laugh and my heart jumped. Making him laugh always made me feel good. We hadn’t done much laughing lately and it felt really good. Just being with him felt good. Apparently he agreed because we didn’t head directly to the grocery store. Instead, he suggested we take a stroll through town. Carthage wasn’t a big city, but it was more entertaining than most towns we ended up in. We happened to be walking right into the twelfth annual Winter Carnival.
“Why would anyone have a carnival in the middle of winter?” I wondered, taking in the strange scene as we started to walk past. “Shouldn’t people want to minimalize the time they spend standing outside?”
“It wouldn’t be so bad if we had one of those freakish heat waves today.” Rafe gave me a boyish grin. “Come on. Let’s check it out.”
“Check it out?” I stopped dead in my tracks. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I never kid about carnivals,” he said, quite seriously. “Besides, who knows when we’ll have an opportunity like this again?”
He had a point. This was a perfect trifecta of alone time, suitable “date” entertainment, and a lack of an immediately pending apocalypse. I shrugged. “Alright. I guess I’m in.”
“Of course you are.” His cocky swagger had returned. “No woman can resist me.”
It was possible he was right about that. “What do we do first?” I asked, looking around. “I’ve never been on an official date.”
“Untrue! I took you to that dance thing at your school.” Rafe feigned disappointment. “I can’t believe you don’t remember.”
“Of course I remember it. I just don’t count it as a date.” I started strolling slowly toward the carnival. “I think we stayed for about one song and then we ended up in your bed.”
Rafe smirked. “I’d call that a damn successful date.”
“Yes, you would,” I said pointedly. “You know, a lot of people try dinner and a movie on a first date.”
“A lot of people are lame.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Come on… you know you enjoyed it.”
“That’s not the point,” I said, blushing. My skin tingled beneath his touch. “You are supposed to woo me.”
He appeared to give that serious consideration. “Woo, huh? I think I can handle that.”
“Is that your attempt at a stuffy accent?” I asked skeptically.
“I’m channeling my inner Mr. Darcy,” he said smugly.
“How do you know who Mr. Darcy is?” I asked with a laugh.
I wasn’t going to get an answer. Rafe had already become distracted. “Aha! A Ferris wheel.”
“Yes, that is correct.” I eyed the giant contraption. “You don’t like heights, remember?”
“I don’t,” he confirmed. “But I like you. And these things are supposed to be romantic, right? We ride it to the top and it stops and then you kiss me, finally. And maybe swoon or something.”
“Swoon?” I groaned. “I’ve created a monster.”
“Let’s go.” He still had ahold of my hand so all he had to do was yank me forward.
We ended up fifth in line, waiting behind a group of preteen friends that couldn’t stop giggling. Their pitch went up even more when one of them noticed Rafe and pointed him out to the others.
“Aww. You have a fan club,” I teased.
“Ladies love me,” he said confidently.
“It’s going to be short lived once you start crying as we ascend,” I said.
He mocked offense. “Aren’t you supposed to be wooing me as well? Whatever happened to laughing at my jokes and complimenting me?”
“Sorry. I’ll start channeling my inner bimbo.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him and twirled a strand of hair around my finger.
“Please don’t,” he said very seriously. “I like my women smart and witty.” A pause and then he added with a leer, “And insanely hot.”
“Well then, you hit the jackpot when you got me.”
“Do I?” he asked urgently. When I looked at him in confusion, he clarified, “Do I really have you?”
I ignored the young kid telling us to step up on the platform. “All of me. Always and forever.”
“Good.” He nodded, pleased. “If we die on this crazy ride, at least I’ll go out knowing that I can die happy.”
“Step up!” the kid barked again.
Rafe spun and glared at him. “We’re having a moment here.”
“People are waiting,” the kid said, pointing to the line behind us.
“We’re coming.” I took the lead, pulling Rafe behind me. A few seconds later, we were seated with the lap bar firmly in place.
As the wheel started turning, Rafe’s hand clenched the bar so tightly that his knuckles turned white. I held back a laugh as I said, “You kill monsters for a living and this is what scares you?”
“I’m not saying it’s a logical fear,” he said, jaw tight. “I’m just saying that falling from this height would definitely kill me.”
“Yeah, but look at that view,” I said.
It was mostly a joke. All we could see was the rooftops of the surrounding businesses, plus a few parks and homes further away. But there was also something very peaceful about it.
“We should move here someday,” I said suddenly.
“We should what?” Rafe was so surprised that he actually dropped his hands from the bar to turn and look at me.
“Once we’re done saving the world, we should move here. We could buy that house right there,” I said, pointing into the distance. “It has a lot of open land around it so we would have plenty of space. We could get a dog.”
“A dog?” Rafe grinned. “I like that plan. You could start taking classes again.”
I nodded. “And you could take over that old repair shop on the corner there. You love working on cars anyway, so you might as well make money doing it.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me.” Rafe’s arm went around my shoulders, causing our cart to rock gently. He didn’t seem to notice. “Now we just have to take care of saving the world and then we can start our future together.”
“Actually,” I looked hard at him. “I think I’m okay living in the present for a while.”
We had reached the very top of the Ferris wheel. Up here, it felt like the world below us was a hundred miles away. It felt like time had stopped.
“Yeah,” he said slowly, tucking a finger beneath my chin as he leaned close. “Now is pretty perfect.”
We finally had our kiss- that first-date kiss that most other couples have at the beginning of their relationship. It was tender and sweet, but it was also wonderfully familiar.
“I’d say you nailed this date thing,” I said when we finally pulled apart. “I had no idea you were such a romantic.”
“Ethan’s bet wasn’t so ridiculous after all,” he said wistfully.
“Bet?” I asked.
Rafe chuckled softly. “After he found out about us, Ethan bet me that I was falling in love with you. He said I would do things I never would’ve done before, just to make you happy.”
“And you lost the bet?” I asked, entranced by his beautiful eyes.
“No.” He leaned in to kiss me again and added, “We both won.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
We spent another hour roaming around the carnival, hoping to remain distracted from our real lives. Rafe insisted on playing a game to win me a prize. It only took him a few seconds to knock down the milk bottles with just one throw, something that impressed even the old man working
the booth.
I walked away with a tiny stuffed penguin tucked under my arm. Rafe had jokingly tried to pick the giant snowman, but after one glare from me he changed his mind.
“This has been fun,” I said, wishing it didn’t have to end. “We should get back to the house soon. Mark is probably starting to worry.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” Rafe said with just a hint of bitterness.
I’m not sure what made me notice the old lady sitting at a small table covered in a purple velvet cloth. She was so small and still that it would’ve been easy to miss her. Our eyes connected for a brief second and she gasped.
“You!” she sputtered, pointing directly at me. “You have evil inside you.”
I shrugged. “So I’ve been told.”
“Come on, Kaylie.” Rafe tugged my hand. “Let’s go.”
“He is waiting for you. He won’t stop killing until he has you.” The old lady spoke as if possessed.
“What do you know about me?” I asked, alarmed at how accurate her prediction sounded. It was then that I noticed the small Fortune Teller sign on the table.
“The End is coming.” Her eyes were wide and fearful. “You can stop it.”
“How?” I flopped into the seat across from her and leaned over the table. “How can I stop it?”
She shuddered. “You must sacrifice yourself. It won’t be over until you are dead.”
“Kaylie, come on. She’s just some crazy old lady.” Rafe grabbed my arm and I shrugged him away.
“How do you know all this?” I asked.
“She doesn’t know anything, Kaylie. She’s just rambling nonsense.” Rafe tried again to pull me away from the table.
The old lady still hadn’t acknowledged his presence. “Your father is afraid of you. He knows that you can destroy him. You are stronger than him, even with his dark blood.”
“Still think she’s crazy?” I said to Rafe. “She knows about Benton.”
“If you don’t stop him, everyone on this Earth will suffer.” She reached over and grabbed my hand between her two wrinkled ones. “The evil within you is because of him. He has the power to set it free. You must stop him.”
Rafe had heard enough. This time he grabbed me by both arms and dragged me away.
“Rafe, stop. I need to ask her more questions.” I tried to extricate myself, but his grip was strong.
“She didn’t know anything.” He kept a tight arm around me as we moved further away from her table. “We aren’t going to find a way to defeat Benton by talking to an old fortune teller.”
“You don’t know that,” I argued. “Benton might have sent her to find me.”
“Exactly.” He started walking even faster. “He could be using her to set a trap.”
I stopped struggling. “Fine.”
“Huh.” Rafe sounded stupefied. “I didn’t expect you to stop fighting so easily. You’re usually much more stubborn than that.”
“This is just the first time you may be right about something,” I explained. “Besides, we really do need to get back soon. We’ve been gone too long already.”
“Alright. Let’s grab supplies and get back.” Rafe finally dropped his arm. “You’re going to get me in trouble.”
I knew that Rafe wanted me to forget about the old woman and her doomsday predictions. I didn’t blame him. We’d had a really nice day up until that moment. But I couldn’t shake it away that easily. She had hit a nerve that I hadn’t realized was exposed. This fear deep within me that I had the same evil blood inside me as my father. The fear that maybe I was a monster, too.
“Kaylie. Have you heard anything I just said?”
I blinked hard, surprised to find that I we were already back at the house. The trunk was filled with supplies and Rafe had parked the car. How had all of that happened without me noticing?
“Sorry. I got lost inside my head.” There was no use pretending otherwise. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing important.” Rafe patted my knee. “This is officially the end of our date. Are you planning to invite me in?”
“Nope.” I pushed open the car door and started toward the house.
Rafe called after me, “You’re kidding, right? I mean, I rode on a Ferris wheel for you. I won you a penguin!”
“Sorry,” I said, hands on hips. “I’m just not that kind of girl. It takes more than a penguin to get invited into my bed.”
He was standing less than a foot in front of me now. “Alright. I’m willing to work a little harder.”
Whispering directly into his ear, I said, “I’m going to make you work very hard tonight.”
A glimmer sparkled in Rafe’s eyes and we both smiled.
The front door banged open just then, causing us to jump. Without turning around, I knew that it would be Mark.
“Took you long enough,” he said in his usual annoyed tone. “Thought we’d have to send out a search party.”
“Sorry, Mark,” Rafe said. “Kaylie got distracted.”
‘Hey!” I elbowed him hard in the ribs.
Mark just grunted. “Get the supplies and get inside. A storm is headed this way.”
He wasn’t lying. Twenty minutes after we got the car unloaded, it started to rain. Then the weather dropped twenty degrees and it turned to snow. The blizzard was expected to last all night.
While the others kept their heads down researching clues to Benton’s whereabouts, Ethan and I took over cooking duties.
“I’m thinking steak?” Ethan said hopefully.
“Yeah… that’s not going to happen.” I opened the fridge and started reaching for ingredients. “Would you settle for fried chicken?”
“Absolutely.” Ethan reached past me for a beer.
His duties in the kitchen were less of the helpful variety and more of the watch me do the work variety. I didn’t really mind, it was just nice to have the company. Ethan and I always gotten along well.
“So, friend. Fill me in. What’s new with you?” I asked as I got the pans to put on the stove.
“Well, considering you’ve seen me every day for the last few weeks, I’m pretty sure you already know everything about me.” He looked down at the vegetables I place in front of him. “What do I do with these?”
“You chop them.” I handed him a knife. “How are things with you and Hope? You guys seem a little distant.”
He studied a carrot for several seconds before answering. “We’re working through some stuff. The whole Hunter dating a vamp thing isn’t as easy as one might think.”
“I wouldn’t think it’s easy at all.” With the oil heating up, I started working on the chicken, setting up a spot directly across from Ethan at the kitchen island. “Do you still have feelings for her?”
“Yeah, of course.” He started chopping. “I mean, I’ll always love Hope. She’s a great girl. But ever since we found her at Haven, things have been really complicated. She’s been drinking a little bit of my blood every few days to help her control the hunger. I don’t mind, it’s not like I even miss it. But it seems to really bother her.”
“That’s understandable.” I was pretty sure I would have the same issue if I found myself needing to drink Rafe’s blood. “Maybe she can work past that.”
He shrugged. “I’m not so sure.”
We grew quiet after that. One of the nice things about being with Ethan was that he didn’t feel the need to fill every moment with talking. I was the one that spoke first.
“Ethan, do you ever worry that there might be something wrong with me?” I asked.
“Now that you mention it…” He laughed until he saw the serious look on my face. “Wrong with you? No way. Why would you ask me that?”
“Because I think about it all of the time.” I picked up a large potato and started peeling it in long strips. “My blood does all these crazy things to monsters. Doesn’t that mean that I’m a monster, too?”
Ethan dropped his knife and put his hands on the island, leaning over it. “
You’re not a monster, Kaylie. Evil isn’t genetic, it can’t be inherited.”
“I feel it sometimes,” I said quietly. “Deep inside, I can feel that I’m different.”
He looked at me with concern. “Have you told Rafe about this?”
“Did I just hear my name?” Rafe asked, entering the room wearing his usual smirk.
“Get over yourself,” I replied.
He hip-bumped me out of the way and opened the fridge. “It smells good in here, woman. We’ll have to put you in charge of cooking from now on.”
“If you call me woman again, I’m going to spit in your food.” I turned back to my potatoes.
Rafe came up behind me, his hand moving over my hip. “A woman that can cook is such a turn on.”
“Hey. Innocent bystander right here.” Ethan made a disgusted face. “Get a room.”
“I would love to, but the owner of this establishment isn’t very accommodating.” Rafe frowned and reached around me for the bottle opener.
“Poor you.” Ethan resumed his chopping and I set the giant pot of potatoes on the stove to boil.
“If you aren’t going to help, you need to get out of the way,” I scolded.
Rafe flipped the bottle cap into the trash can and stepped back. “Fine. I can take a hint.”
“You two seem to be doing better,” Ethan observed when Rafe was gone.
“It was that obvious?” I hadn’t realized that anyone else had noticed how strained things had been for the last week. “The time alone today helped.”
“Well, with the storm coming in, you probably won’t be getting more of that for a while.” He looked up from the pile of vegetables he had chopped. “Is this enough?”
“More than enough.” I hadn’t been paying attention. There were enough chopped vegetables for a small army, which I guess was what we technically were. I got busy steaming them and put Ethan in charge of mashing the potatoes.
In the end, we managed to put together a decent hot meal to help us ride out the blizzard. Even Mark had to admit that it was better than eating chili again.
“I may have found a lead,” Mark said after finishing off one chicken breast and reaching for another. “I contacted an old Hunter buddy of your dad’s. He knew Benton back in the day, and he may have information on how we can find him.”