by Donna Flynn
“I know you don’t understand, but I am giving you this time for your own good. You should have the time to be with your friends, to date boys your own age, and find out what you really want. I promise: if it is me, I will be back for you.”
“When?” I asked softly.
“When what?” he asked, looking confused.
“When do you think I will have lived enough? How many boys do I have to date? How long must I live without you before it is enough to convince everyone we belong together?”
“It’s not something you can put a timetable on,” he answered, running his hand through his thick black hair in frustration. “I will come back, I promise, but for now I must go. Do you understand?”
His eyes drilled into mine and I nodded, feeling suddenly tired, and fighting to keep my eyes open.
“Sleep now,” he whispered, compelling me to do as he asked. He kissed my forehead then brushed my lips softly with his own. “Goodbye for now, Amado Uno,” he murmured.
“Aidan,” I mumbled, my eyes closing before I could say anything more.
*****
The next morning upon waking I felt an emptiness in my heart that assured me Aidan had indeed departed. With a heavy sigh I got up and dressed for school, doing what I had vowed to Aidan I would do…live.
I heard Paul yelling from the dining room as I descended the stairs. “Why would he do this now?”
I stopped instantly, knowing in the pit of my stomach he was talking about Aidan.
“Paul, your temper isn’t going to help today. Katie is going to be crushed that Aidan is gone.”
“He did what he feels is best,” my father stated calmly. “Look at what happened yesterday. He lost focus for one moment while thinking about Katie and wrecked his car.”
I took a deep breath and stifled my shocked gasp with my fist so they would not hear me.
“But why would he leave now before her birthday? We all agreed he would wait until after to make things easier for her,” Paul argued.
“The feelings between the two of them are too strong, too soon. After yesterday, we felt it best for him to go immediately,” my mother explained.
My stomach rolled with anxiety and I felt as if I was going to throw up. I was to blame for Aidan’s accident. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have wrecked his car at all.
My mother walked out into the hall, startled to see me standing on the stairs, gripping the rail for support. “Katie?” she said, her face stretched with worry as she rushed to my side. “Sweetheart, are you alright?” she asked reaching out to me.
“No, Mom, I don’t think I am,” I ran back up the stairs to my room, tears filling my eyes and collapsed on the bed.
“I know it hurts right now but it will get better,” my mother told me, sitting on the edge of the bed where I lay sobbing.
“Why does it hurt so much? Why do I have these feelings for him?” I curled into a ball, unable to cope with the loss I was feeling, and remained that way for the rest of the day and well into the evening before I finally fell into an exhausted sleep.
As if in response to my upset, the dreams that plagued me that night were very different from all of those that had come before. This time, as the vampire was about to finish me off in the cave, Aidan did not come. With no one to stop him, the vampire tore into my neck with his gnarled fangs. Horrible, searing pain ran down my arms and legs, immobilizing me as he drank my life away. I could feel death creeping over my body as the vampire devoured every bit of the life-giving liquid my body had to offer. With my last strangled breath I called for Aidan, but he never came.
Chapter Eleven
I woke the next morning, choking on my own screams, gasping for air, my limbs on fire as if I had really suffered the vampire’s attack. After a few minutes of deep calming breaths, the pain began to fade and my breathing returned to a normal pattern. “It’s just a dream,” I reminded myself, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and walking to the bathroom to shower and get ready for school. There was nothing more I wanted than to crawl back in bed and mourn Aidan’s absence as I had the day before, but I knew at some point I would have to face the fact he was gone and move on with my life. It was better to do it now then later, when it would be even harder.
I had no appetite but I walked down the stairs, going dutifully to the dining room and sitting down where my mother had placed my breakfast on the table. After a few minutes of shoveling food around my plate, I gave up pretending to eat and grabbed my bag, walking to the front door where Paul and Beth stood talking. Paul took one look at me and swore, then slammed out of the front door leaving Beth to escort me to his truck. Paul lifted me up to get in, hugging me tightly before allowing me to take my seat. It was his way of saying sorry, and I appreciated the sentiment even if it didn’t make me feel any better.
The ride to school was quiet. Beth keeping a watchful eye out for danger and Paul shifted his focus between me and the road. His jaw was clenched as tightly as his fists on the wheel.
As she did every morning, Jess was waiting as I walked to my locker, her eyes filled with concern as she watched me approach. “Still not feeling well, huh?” she asked as she grabbed her things from her locker.
I sighed, wishing I could just tell her the truth, as hard it was to believe. But I could never risk exposing my family and Aidan, not even to her. “No, not really.”
She eyed me curiously and I feared she was going to call me out for lying, but true to her trusting nature she shrugged off her concerns. “I really hope you are better for your party tomorrow night. I know how hard your mom worked to make it perfect for you.”
“I hope so too,” I mumbled as I gathered my books from my locker, thinking the last thing I wanted was to be surrounded by people at a party, but I had promised Aidan I would live and I would honor that promise. I placed my hand over my heart, feeling an ache there that I knew had nothing to do with my health and everything to do with his absences. It was unexplainable, irrational, and completely crazy, but it was how I felt.
The rest of the day, I walked through school, not really caring or paying attention to anything around me, just going through the motions of my daily life. Many of my friends expressed concern for my “illness,” hoping I would feel better for the party. I told them I was sure I would be fine, but really I did not know if I would ever feel better, at least not while I was parted from Aidan.
*****
That evening as I was walking through the foyer on my way to the kitchen I heard my parents talking in hushed tones in the library. Unable to stop myself I moved closer to eavesdrop, a nasty habit I seemed to be resorting to far too often.
“Duncan, maybe we should just cancel the party. It is clear she is not in the mood to celebrate.”
“Anna, you worked for a year on this Sweet Sixteen party. It is too late to cancel and who knows, maybe it will lift her spirits.”
“You and I know that the only thing that will make her happy is Aidan. Don’t you remember what it was like when we first met?”
“This is not the same thing!” my father snapped.
“It is, but you refuse to see it because she’s always been your little girl,” she sighed. “Have you heard from him?”
“No. However, I did not expect to. He was so torn about leaving, especially now when the threats against her are so prevalent, but he was honorable enough to do the right thing.”
“Aidan has always tried to be fair where Katie is concerned. Maybe we are the ones who are not being fair?” she reasoned.
“No, I will not hear of it. Katie is far too young for any of this,” he argued.
“She is no longer the little girl you want to believe she is, Duncan. When will you see that? In our day she would have been married and had children by now.”
“Anna, please stop. I can’t even imagine…” He choked on his words and I ran back up the stairs, leaving them to argue, saddened that I was the cause of their unhappiness.
I had been so lost
in my own pity that I had not considered how they were feeling about everything. I was everything to my parents. They had rebuilt their lives to make a home for me, sacrificed so much to protect me and give me a good life, and now the man they loved and trusted most in the world was poised to take me away from them.
*****
In my dream that night I was walking out to the garden and the vampire of my nightmares was waiting for me, his arms outstretched in welcome.
“Come, Katie. Now that you are one of us, it is time to join me.” I had no idea what he was talking about but instead of running away as I should have, I kept moving closer until I was standing before him. “So pretty, so sweet, but now you are perfection itself.” He ran his hand down the side of my face admiringly. “Even now the blood that nourishes your new body makes you stronger, more powerful than ever before,” he whispered as he moved behind me pulling back against him. “Look at it, feel it.” He lifted my hand before me and I gasped, at the streaks of crimson splashed across my white creamy skin. “Can you taste the life you have taken pulsing within you, making you one of us?”
I touched the tips of my fingers to my sticky lips and pulled them away, horrified to find them covered in crimson. “Oh my God,” I cried out, looking down to find blood spatters all over the pink party dress my mother had made for my Sweet Sixteen party.
The vampire laughed wickedly and pointed to the gazebo where lying on the steps like a broken doll was Chad, his lifeless eyes wide open in death, the pale skin at his neck torn to shreds, and his blood sprayed all over the white painted steps where his body rested.
“No!” I screamed, running to his side and trying desperately to rouse him.
“He’s dead, my dear. An unfortunate victim of your lust for the blood you now need to sustain your life.” He laughed shrilly and I looked back down to my hands, wanting nothing more than to lick the blood from my fingers. I should have felt horror or sadness for what I had done, but all I felt was the need for more blood, more victims, and my mind raced as it thought of all the defenseless victims within the walls of my home enjoying my party. All I could think of was how easy it would be to lure them out one by one and drain them of the blood I now craved more than anything in the world.
“No?” I screamed, falling to my knees upon the ground and wiping my hands desperately in the grass, trying unsuccessfully to cleanse myself of my victim’s blood as the vampire chuckled behind me. “Why did you do this?” I yelled, jumping to my feet and pounding him with my fists.
“Because you are the one thing that will ensure my victory,” he sneered, shoving me roughly to the ground and straddling me so I was at his mercy. “With you by my side I will control the entire vampire nation.”
“No,” I screeched. “It’s just a dream…it’s just a dream!” I screamed repeatedly, praying it would end.
“For now,” he sneered. “But you cannot avoid your fate forever. I will be back for you!” he warned as the scene around me began to fade. “I will make you mine…”
I woke with sweat beading my forehead. My heart pounded uncontrollably inside my chest as I shivered uncontrollably. The sun shone brightly outside of my window and the knock on my door let me know I was not alone, but it didn’t erase my fear that the vampire I saw was not as dreamlike as I wanted to believe.
“Katie, are you awake?” my mother called through the door.
“Yes, Mom, I’ll be there in a few minutes,” I assured her, forcing myself to calm down. My calm, though, was short lived. As I climbed from the bed, I noticed smears of red dirt staining my hands and knees as if I had indeed been in the garden, kneeling on the earth. Had I been sleepwalking? I thought. Surely one of the many guards who monitored our home now would have seen me and alerted my family, if that were the case. There was no other explanation. At least not a sane one I could think of that made sense, and that terrified me. I ran for the bathroom, needing a shower to wash away all evidence of the nightmare before I freaked out completely.
*****
I paused at the top of the staircase a short time later to stare down at the scene before me in amazement. Overnight the foyer of our home had been transformed into an enchanted garden. The wood rails of the staircase I was about to descend had been twined in flowering vines; potted trees and flowering shrubs were placed between benches and fountains around the foyer; and pink ribbons dangled from hundreds of boughs of greenery that hung from the ceiling. The fragrance of the many flowers used in the decorations wafted around me as I walked down the steps and into the entrance of the ballroom, where my mother had been just as busy. There thousands of lights had been strung along with garlands of greenery and flowers throughout the massive space, all twinkling merrily and making it appear like a fairy tale come to life. Tables of all sizes and shapes were draped in light pink tablecloths, with dark pink ribbons dangling from massive flowering tree like centerpieces. Flashing lights pulsated to the music the DJ played as he finished setting up in an alcove of trees and vines.
“Do you like it?” my mother asked behind me.
“It’s beautiful!” I pushed all of my negative emotions of the past few days to the back of my mind, vowing to try and be happy that night. My mother had worked very hard, and I owed it to her for all she had done to make me happy.
“Thank you, Mom.”
“Happy birthday, darling,” she whispered, hugging me close before walking me toward the dining room where my father and brother were waiting for us, both grinning like fools.
“Happy birthday!” they yelled in unison, taking turns hugging me and swinging me around until I was dizzy, and more than a little sick to my stomach.
“Stop, you two,” my mother chastised. “Let Katie eat; the caterers are on their way and I want everyone out of the way so they can get to work,” she told them before turning to me. “Jess is coming soon, darling, so you need to get moving.”
I sat down and took a few bites of the breakfast she had made to make her happy, but I wasn’t really hungry, and when she left I shoved the plate away.
“Are you okay, honey?” my father asked, looking down on the barely touched plate of food with concern.
“Yeah, I’m just excited,” I told him, rising to my feet. “Will you tell Jess I’m in my room when she gets here?”
“Sure, honey.” He exchanged a worried glance with Paul, but I pretended not to notice.
I went back to my room and waited until Jess showed up a little while later, so excited about the party that she did not seem to notice my melancholy, for which I was grateful. She was a ball of energy and I let her do all the talking, adding a nod or one-word answers when necessary, and that seemed to satisfy her.
My mother came to my room a short time later to get us both ready for the big party. After fussing with my hair and makeup until she was satisfied, she helped me into the dress she had specially made for the party, then led me to the mirror.
“Ta-dah!” she said, stepping out of the way so I could see myself in the full-length mirror.
I stared my reflection trying to reconcile myself with the striking, unfamiliar female who now stared back at me. My blonde hair flowed freely, its curls cascading down over my shoulders. Her expert use of makeup had brought out my usually dull eyes and hid the dark circles from my lack of sleep the night before. Somehow she had even managed to enhance my lips making them look fuller and more supple than usual. My gaze fell on the dress she had designed. It was a strapless, soft pink, a tight-fitting style unlike anything I had ever worn before, and it showed off my newly curved body to perfection. My legs encased in silk stockings, shimmered with every movement I made, and my tiny feet were encased in dark-pink satin, high-heeled shoes, with thin rhinestone straps that crossed at the ankles and were tied in a neat little bow at the back.
“Wow” Jess exclaimed behind me. “You look amazing.”
I stared at her reflection in the mirror behind me and couldn’t help but smile. She wore a lilac-colored knee-length dress that was
gorgeous against her tanned skin. Her long hair was pulled up at the sides and hung down her back in an elegant ponytail, and her makeup was flawless, thanks to my mother’s fussing over her the same way she had done with me.
“Wow yourself,” I said, moving out of the way so she could see herself fully in the mirror.
She gasped in astonishment, staring at the mirror with the same reaction I had when I saw my own reflection, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “If this doesn’t attract Josh, I don’t know what will,” I told her.
She touched her hair absently, a blush forming on her cheeks. “Do you really think so?”
I nodded and looped my arm with hers. “He’d be crazy not to want you.”
“Let’s go, girls,” my mother said, swooshing us toward the door.
My father was pacing nervously back and forth across the foyer as we reached the top of the staircase. I couldn’t help but think how handsome he was in his dark-grey suit with royal blue tie that matched my mother’s dress. He stopped abruptly and looked up, his eyes never leaving my mother as she glided down the stairs, across the floor, and into his arms. They seemed to fit perfectly together and were so beautiful as a couple that one couldn’t help but envy what they had. My mother often told me that the fates had designed them explicitly for one another and I didn’t doubt it. No two could have been more suited for one another. My father kissed her full red lips tenderly and whispered something into her ear that made her laugh softly and I shook my head, amazed that after centuries of being together, they still had such a deep, genuine affection for each other. It was something I prayed that I, too, would find that one day.
As if hearing my thoughts, my father turned to me. A wealth of emotion ran across his face as he looked at me, realizing that I was no longer his little girl but a grown young woman. “You look beautiful,” he said, coming to my side and kissing my cheek before folding me in his arms for a warm hug.