by Kylie Price
I thought of Nikkee and wondered if she was okay. I was not feeling anything unusual or anything that felt like it wasn’t me so that must have been a good thing. I also wanted to know how Sky was, we hadn’t spoken since I got to Nikkee. I wanted to know how she was handling everything and whether she was alright. It sucked that I couldn’t have my phone to send them a text message.
“Are we going to stop soon?” I asked.
“What’s wrong?” Lachlan asked.
“Can’t you feel it?”
“No,” he said flatly.
“I’m starving,” I said with a sheepish grin.
“We can stop up here and have something to eat,” Vex replied pointing ahead.
He flashed the lights to Jason’s car in front and then they put their blinkers on.
The cars came to a stop at the 24 hour BP service station. I looked up at the sky and saw that the moon was nearing the horizon, so it would be sunlight in a few hours.
I opened the car door and hopped out, walked over to Jason’s car to meet Sky and Nikkee.
“Ladies room first,” Nikkee asked.
“Definitely,” Sky and I said at the same time.
I stood at the side of the servo looking out at the open land that spread out around it. It was a remote area with not many lights in the distance to see. Sky and Nikkee went inside to get us some food. They asked if I wanted to come; I just wanted to stay outside in the fresh air and darkness.
As I looked out I wondered if I could ever have a normal life, or at least one as normal as they come. Could I have a house like Lachlan and Jason? At the thought of his name, my heart ached. There had still been no time to talk, no time for questions.
Warm hands touched my hips and then slid around my stomach, then I was pressed along his chest.
I hadn’t heard him approach. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I blocked everything else out from around me.
My body responded to him in that abnormal way I was starting to get used to. I liked it. It was a burning desire to be everything he wanted me to be. Every hair felt like tiny soldiers standing to attention with just one touch. I wondered if it was the same for him. Did he feel the same way as I did? Was his mind screaming at him to do things that his rational side told him he should not do.
“Yes,” he whispered in my ear.
Oh my gawd, the things that one word did to my mind was not human.
His hands gently turned my hips until my chest was touching his. Before I could think, his lips were on mine. It felt different than before. Every inch of his lips felt like overbearing electric shocks. As his tongue touched mine, I felt my body sag in his arms, and I reached around him to help catch myself even though I knew he would not let me fall. His hold on me was tight. I felt safe, as if he would never let me go. What had I been worried about? Girls can be extremely stupid sometimes.
He broke our kiss with a chuckle and grinned at me.
“Shut up,” I said playfully.
“I can’t help it. Sorry,” he replied.
“About that. Were you ever going to tell me?” I asked, not as angry about it as I was.
“I thought you would have guessed since Lachlan could,” he said.
“Yeah, well thinking back now, I should have.”
“Hey Jason, I have your food,” I heard Chelsi say from behind him.
He lifted my chin up and gave me a quick kiss on the lips, turned and walked over to where she waited on the bench.
I locked eyes with her. She didn’t look pissed off. If anything, she looked presumptuous, like she had won something. I frowned and looked to Jason who gave me one of his sexy grins.
Nikkee and Sky walked around the corner and over to the table next to Jason. I felt conflicted. No, I actually felt like knocking Chelsi off the bench, away from my… well just away!
“Come on, Trin, before it gets cold,” Nikkee called out to me.
I let my conflicted jealous hormones float to the back of my mind for another time because my stomach had just reminded me that it comes first and should be tended to ASAP. I was going to have to remind it who was actually in charge here. Right after I eat something.
We had finished eating and were ready to go back to the car when I heard Nikkee ask Jason, “Why?”
“Because she is safer with Vex,” he said.
“She is safe with you, me, and Sky,” Nikkee pointed out.
“Chelsi needs to be in the car with me,” Jason said.
I frowned. I was looking away from them so they wouldn’t have seen it.
“Why are you carrying around your EX anyways? It’s a bit rude. No, it’s flat out rude,” she told him.
“She won’t go in the car with them,” he said in a flat tone.
“Why, because they are vampires?” Nikkee asked.
“Yes,” was all Jason could say.
“I’m a vampire,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but you're my sister and Sky is a wolf,” he stated flatly.
“And Trinity is your girlfriend. You shouldn’t be choosing your EX over her,” Nikkee said getting angry.
“Trinity is no… Look, you don’t understand, this is all new to you,” he tried to explain.
“Make her walk,” Nikkee demanded.
“Nikkee, you know I can’t do that.”
The pain in my chest came back to the surface. I pushed and pushed hard to hide that I was hurt. I was not sure what we were, but he basically said we were nothing and yet we had a moment until Chelsi turned up with his food. All that kept swimming around my mind was that he still had feelings for her. Why else would he choose her over me? I felt so confused. Again!
“Whatever Jason,” Nikkee said and stormed off towards the car. As she walked past Chelsi, she bared her fangs and hissed. Chelsi rebuked back and looked terrified.
I turned my back on Jason just as he looked over to me. I looked out at the open fields again and just thought of the peace and quiet that I would feel if I just went and laid out there for a while. Just looking up at the new morning sky and think of nothing at all.
He grabbed my hand, “Trinity?”
I pulled my hand out of his. “It’s fine Jason. You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” I said and started walking toward the cars leaving him behind. As I approached Chelsi, she cringed and looked like she was trying to either make herself shrink or disappear. I raised one eyebrow at her and kept on walking past her, over to Vex’s car. I looked to Nikkee, she was really pissed off. She caught my eye and gave a small smile
. An overwhelming sensation swept over me. It made me sway and I reached my hand out and placed it on the car to steady myself. I hung my head down as if I was trying to get air. I felt so angry, so much rage was swarming its way around my body. I wanted to punch, smash, bite…! I snapped my head up again and forced myself to push her feelings aside.
“Nikkee,” I called out.
My way of letting her know I was ok and that she didn’t need to go all-homicidal on her brother’s ex-girlfriend who he happened to want in his car rather than me. Even though he only kissed me a short while ago. She had been staring at Chelsi. Her eyes flicked to me and I gave her a smile. She smiled back. It was as if she said ‘yes’ to feeling the same way. No, no I was all good. Sunshine, butterflies and daisy. Oh, don’t forget the rainbow, I wouldn’t want to leave it out and have it all offended on these grand happy feelings that I definitely was not having.
“Trinity?” I heard Lachlan call out.
I mentally shook myself. I didn’t like this. I didn’t like it at all. I was going to have to do something about it. Get to the bottom of the situation so I knew where I stood with Jason.
“Trinity. Get in the car,” Lachlan yelled out again.
I blinked. I had been staring at the acres and acres of long grass again. I turned, looked and saw everyone else were in the cars already waiting for me. I opened the door and hopped in. Vex was reversing out before I had even shut the door.
“What
were you thinking about?” Lachlan asked.
I looked at him and he looked genuinely interested.
“What? You don’t know?” I asked.
“I sensed you were really hurt and then it just all went blank. I couldn’t even find any feelings other than my own, not a hint. You have been able to block me out before, but not like that. I have always been able to sense something small. But just then, it was like nothing. What were you thinking about?” he asked again.
I frowned and looked down at my hands, then out the car window and saw more fields of long grass just swaying lazily in the soft breeze as our car drove by.
“I’m surprised you couldn’t sense anything. I didn’t know I was stopping anyone. If anything I was yelling so loud in my head I’m surprised I didn’t yell out for real,” I said in a dead tone.
“You are getting too good at doing that. Be careful not to get too good,” he stated seriously.
“Why should I be careful? I don’t want any of you in my head.”
“If we can’t sense you we can’t help you or save you if you need it.”
“Lachlan, I don’t remember ever telling ANYONE I needed saving,” snapping and going back to looking out the window.
Chapter Six
I must have nodded off because I was woken up by Lachlan shaking me. We were driving down what seemed like a road. It was all dirt, surrounded by more dirt and then up ahead, lots of grass. As we drove closer, a barn house came into view. The sun beamed down and I started to feel a bit light headed and woozy.
“We will be under cover soon,” Lachlan said in a way of reassurance.
“Why do I feel like this?” I asked, breathless, like I was starting to cook.
“It’s the Vampire side of you,” he said.
“But you seem to be fine, so does Vex,” I pointed out.
“We are used to it,” he replied.
“I thought Vamps could handle the sun?”
“We can, but ultimately the bat was a night creature. You won’t burn to ash, you just won’t feel like yourself until you get used to it,” Vex easily replied.
“Why now?” I asked since I had been in the sun, plenty of times after Lachlan bit me.
“Because you have had your first feed. It activated your vampire side to 100 percent,” Lachlan told me.
“Oh Nikkee. So she will not feel like this?”” I asked more worried about her than myself.
“She will because she was human, you were not,” he said.
“Was I ever?” I asked, quickly adding, “Don’t answer that, I want to at least have some sort of fantasy that won’t be destroyed.”
The car started to slow, as we got closer to the barn house. The place looked run down the closer we got. All the painted timber was pealing and flaking away. The windows at the front had boards nailed into it and the roof looked like it had more rust than a ship sitting at the bottom of the ocean.
Jason’s car turned behind the barn and as we followed behind, we started going down as if driving into a garage that was underground. I looked behind me as the car dropped into the darkness and saw the opening close up.
“That’s pretty cool,” I said, then added, “A barn house, huh. Well the place has charm, I will give it that.”
“Wait till you see the rest of the place before you dismiss it,” Vex said.
“I wasn’t dismissing it. I like it,” I said honestly.
The car stopped and the place lit up as the lights came on.
I opened the car door and hopped out. There were seven other cars in the garage already.
I looked around in awe.
“Who built this place?” I asked.
Jason’s hand grabbed a hold of mine and held it tight. “We have all done some sort of thing to help, but it was mainly Vex and Garth.”
With Jason’s warm hand in mine, I decided to not stay mad for the moment and just enjoy it even if it wasn’t going to last.
“Come, let me give you guys a tour,” came Garth’s deep voice from the doorway on the far side.
My hand tightened around Jason’s as butterflies started to swarm inside me.
“I see you have decided to join our side. Found any humans that will let you bite them?” a familiar voice said.
I looked over to Nikkee and saw Steven the bar guy. He had a huge smile on his face as he walked up to Nikkee.
“Oh, you know, I got tired of being the only human in the bunch,” Nikkee replied matching his smile.
“Human made you appealing, this…” he said, waving his hand up and down signifying all of her, “makes you breathtaking.”
Jason’s hand clenched mine harder. I laughed a little, which got Steven’s attention.
“Hey, how’s it going with all the saving the world stuff?” he asked me.
“Yeah, great,” I replied pulling an unsure face.
“Let’s go,” Jason said and pulled me slightly after him.
“See you later,” I called out.
“Oh, that you will,” he called back.
For a moment, I thought I heard Jason grind his teeth. I decided to ignore it. If he could have his EX ride in his car, then I could have someone say hello to me.
“Where is Chelsi?” I asked, thinking he would be with her.
“She is waiting in the car,” Jason said.
“Waiting for what, an open invitation,” I said with a laugh.
“For us to leave.”
I stopped where I was which made him also. The rest kept walking ahead of us, but Nikkee and Sky both looked back and gave me a small smile.
“What do you mean, leave? We just got here,” I said. I felt small and weak that he would be leaving.
He grabbed both of my hands in his, put them up to his lips, and kissed them.
“I can’t stay,” he said in a sad voice.
“But... I…” I looked away and stared at the wall next to me. I screamed at myself silently in my own head.
I pulled my hands out of his and let them drop to my side.
“Don’t block yourself from me,” he said as he reached out and took my left hand in his again.
“I’m not,” I said in a kind of dead voice.
He gave a small chuckle, “Yeah, you are. Since the servo. I miss it. It feels unusual.”
“Well, now you know how I feel,” I said plainly.
He put his hand under my chin and tilted it up so I would look at him, “Trinity, is this our first fight?” he said with a sexy smirk.
“I didn’t know we were anything to even have any first,” I said flatly. I know, I know, it felt childish as I said it, but come on. After everything I have had to go through, could just one thing be straightforward? No games, no questions with no answers?
His head tilted and his smirk grew bigger, “It’s a wolf thing. Maybe ask her what we are. Some things don’t need to be spoken,” he said.
“Yup, more riddles. What else is new? You have been hanging around Lachlan too long,” I said.
“Trinity.”
I looked away.
“Trinity, look at me,” he demanded.
I did, not because he told me to, but because he was so cute, I just had to.
He laughed.
“Stop that,” I said.
“But you’re really sexy when you’re angry,” he said. Then he turned me around and slowly pushed me backwards. I was going slowly but I looked up to his face and saw his eyes turn a bright green with a hint of blue.
“Your eyes have gone all freaky,” I pointed out still stepping back until my back was against the wall. His chest pushed into mine.
“You should see your own,” he retorted, moving his hand down from my hips to my butt, and lifting me. My legs went around his waist automatically. His lips crushed into mine with a hunger that seemed more animal than human.
Mine.
I kissed him with a passion I never knew I had. My hand went to his neck to hold him with me. He was mine until death tore us apart. I knew deep down that he
was going to be faithful forever, because everyone else seemed plain and boring in comparison and I felt the same for him. I always had, I just never let myself know. That was why I had no boyfriends and that was why I flirted only with Mark, because I knew it would go nowhere. It was all because of him. The beast in me had already chosen its lifelong mate.
I broke the kiss this time and just looked into his eyes.
“Still freaky,” I said.
“No wonder Chelsi is terrified of you. I kind of think I am too,” Jason said playfully.
“Oh yeah, do I have you shaking in your boots?”
His body started to shake and then he grinned, “I’m terrified.”
He placed me down. My feet were back on the floor, but I felt like I was floating.
“Do you see now? Do you need to hear it in words?” he asked.
“Maybe,” I replied.
“I will hold on to them for when I get back,” he said. He bent his head back down and kissed me, and then he walked back out through the door.
I sagged a little on the wall and watched where he had just gone. I didn’t want him to go. Not because he was going to be with Chelsi, but rather because I felt empty inside that he would not be close by.
Chapter Seven
Nikkee and Sky were waiting around the corner at the end of the hallway. I felt over the moon, but scared and unsure.
“That was a bit, WOW!” Nikkee said with a huge grin.
I couldn’t help but grin back.
“Yeah.” What else was I going to say?
“Great match, Trin. I always thought you and Jason would go good together,” Sky said giving me a half hug with her arm around my shoulder.
We started walking to catch up with the others.
“Jason had gone to mums and she told him that the police had already been there looking for us all. She said she would not ring in case they were tracing the calls,” Nikkee told me.
“I wondered why she hadn’t called my phone either,” I admitted.
“It was actually my fault again,” Sky said.
“How?” I asked.
“Mark had called my phone. I answered it to give him a peace of my mind,” she said and hung her head slightly feeling bad.