by Donna Flynn
“That’s all I ask.” He leaned over and kissed me again, wearing a look of relief when he pulled away.
It was too cold to walk in the park so we went to Kelly’s and played pool. We talked and carried on with friends until it grew late, and everyone began to leave. Orin asked if I was ready to go and I nodded, taking his offered hand shyly and allowing him to lead me to his car.
When he pulled up to my house, neither one of us rushed to get out in the cold and he took my hand in his, letting his finger slide against my palm. “I missed you,” he said, breaking the silence.
“Yeah, right,” I teased. “You probably had beautiful girls hanging all over you.”
“None that compare to the angel I left behind.” I blushed and he chuckled softly.
Awkward silence reigned until the light on the front porch turned on, signaling it was time to go inside.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be friends?” I asked again.
“What I feel for you is not friendship,” he said, getting out of the car.
I was at a loss for words as he helped me from the car and walked me to the front door. Before I could think of any response, he gave me one long searing kiss then got in the car and drove away.
*****
That night I dreamed of Aidan. We were together in the gazebo wrapped in each other’s arms, enjoying the beautiful star filled night, content just to be together when out of the blue Orin appeared on the steps before us, his face flushed with anger.
“Let her go, Vampire!” he yelled to Aidan.
Aidan hissed, rising to his feet to stand before me.
“You can’t give her the life she deserves. She’s human, for you to be together you will have to change her and make her like you. Do you want her living the way you do. Hiding what she is, moving around all of the time, and having to drink others’ blood for the rest of her existence? If you loved her at all you would want what’s best for her! You would let her go,” Orin spat out.
Aidan turned and looked down on me with sorrow-filled eyes. “He’s right, Katie. You deserve the life you would have had if you had never met me.”
I shook my head, unable to believe he was willing to walk away from what we had, but before I could argue, I found myself in Orin’s arms as Aidan walked away, his head hung low and his shoulders slumped in defeat. I screamed for him to come back, made to follow him, but Orin held me in his iron grip, laughing at my desperate attempts to get free, refusing to let me go until Aidan was gone. When he finally released me I sank to the ground in utter disbelief, while Orin stood over me, a triumphant gleam in his eye, a wicked grin upon his lips.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The next day I found it difficult to be around Orin. The nightmare I had the night before kept replaying in my head, and when I looked at him I was reminded of the callous way he had manipulated Aidan into leaving me in that dream. I realized of course it had been just a dream, but something inside of me warned not to brush it off so casually, that there was something real to what I had experienced.
If Orin noticed he didn’t comment, and when he walked me to the front door after school, he pulled me to him, wrapping one arm around my waist and lifting my chin with his free hand so our eyes met. “Relax,” he said softly, and I felt all of the tension and hesitance I felt throughout the day fade instantly as he smiled down upon me. “I really did miss you while I was away,” he murmured, bending his head and kissing me.
When he was done he took a step back and grinned. “I’ll call you later,” he said before turning away and walking to his car, leaving me standing there staring after him uncertainly.
Once his car was out of view I opened the door and walked inside, dazed and confused by how easily he had made forget everything when I looked at him.
“Hi honey, how was your day?” my mother asked as I entered.
“It was good,” I said, placing my coat in the closet.
“I noticed Orin drove you home today. It would be nice if he came inside once in awhile.”
What could I say? I, too, noticed that Orin seemed to want to keep his distance from my family. We had spoken about him coming over many times, but he always came up with an excuse why he couldn’t come. Of course, given the way my brother treated him I wasn’t surprised. “I don’t think he is comfortable around Paul.”
She didn’t seem to like my answer and frowned. “Well, I can handle Paul. Do try to get him to visit, okay? It is odd that he has been around for so long and we still don’t really know anything about him.”
And I’d bet anything that it was killing them. My family prided themselves on knowing everything about anybody I came in contact with. If they wanted to meet him I assumed their search of his background turned up nothing, and now they wanted to meet him personally and see what they could find out. “I’ll try.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. A package came for you today.” She handed me a small box and I sat on the steps excitedly to open it. When I pulled off the lid there was a brand new iPod nestled in brightly colored tissue paper with a note tucked under it. I could see Aidan’s neat script and eagerly picked up the note and read, desperate for any word from him.
“So you have something to remind you that I, too, am waiting for the day we can be together. You are, as always, my Amado Uno. Aidan.”
I bit my lip and tears welled in my eyes as I stared down at his beautiful script, my heart aching for him.
“What is it, Katie?” I handed her the note and brushed the tears from my eyes. “Maybe you should put it away for now, if it upsets you so badly.” I shook my head and grabbed the box, went to my room, threw my bag on the floor, and lay on my bed, placing the ear buds into my ears. I started the playlist he had left on the iPod for me. Immediately the soft haunting melody of the music we danced to the night of my sixteenth birthday party began to play, making me smile fondly. As the songs changed from one to another I realized he had filled it with songs we had listened to together on so many different occasions throughout my life. Each song filled me with differing memories and emotions. Some made me cry, others made me laugh. But they all reminded me of Aidan, which made me long for him with all of my heart.
There was a pink rose on my pillow when I walked into my room that night, and I held it for a long time, turning it in my hands, sniffing its sweet scent and wondering what Aidan was doing at that very moment.
*****
My dreams that night were of Aidan: good dreams of us together, dancing in the gazebo, lost in each other. The garden was in full bloom, the flowers and bushes dancing with us, swaying when we did to a familiar melody. He held me close and looked down on me with such tenderness that I felt like my heart would burst. I wanted that dream to go on forever, but I woke up to Paul’s incessant pounding on my door.
“Katie, we are going to be late, get moving,” he bellowed.
“I’m coming,” I yelled, jumping from the bed, dressing hurriedly, and grabbing my book bag, stopping briefly to sniff the rose on my way out of the door.
As I ran through the kitchen my mother handed me a plate of food, which I devoured quickly, much to my mother’s unhappiness, before hurrying to meet Paul and Beth in the garage where they waited.
“You’re late,” Paul snapped angrily.
“Sorry,” I apologized, climbing into the truck with his assistance.
Beth offered a warm smile. She was used to hearing us arguing, and I think was now somewhat amused by it.
We drove into the parking lot at school, and I could see Orin waiting by his car for me. Paul muttered under his breath as Orin helped me from the truck, kissing me long and hard before placing me on my feet and taking my hand to lead me into building. We headed for my locker, and to my surprise Jess was waiting alone.
“Hey, is something wrong?” I asked, looking around for Josh, who as far as I knew never missed a day of school.
“Josh wasn’t feeling well,” she explained.
I opened my locker and heard her ta
ke a deep breath behind me when she saw the vase of pink roses with a large matching bow before me. A slow smile spread across my face as I stared at the gorgeous bouquet, forgetting about everything but the guy who left them for me.
“Orin, that is so romantic,” Jess gushed next to me.
Immediately I turned to see a dark scowl upon Orin’s face, and the joy I felt moments before fled.
“They’re not from me,” he grated out through clenched teeth.
“Oh, gosh, sorry,” she mumbled, her cheeks red with embarrassment.
I grabbed my books and slammed the door, not wanting to upset Orin any more than he already was. “Let’s get going or we are going to be late,” I said.
“Uh, yeah,” Jess said, looking nervously between us.
We walked to class in silence and when he stopped to speak to the teacher on the way in, I asked Beth to remove the roses and take them home for me after school.
*****
Orin was aggravated and distracted for the rest of the day. I hated the silence between us, and when he was driving me home I took the opportunity to apologize again. “Orin, I’m sorry. I didn’t know the flowers were there.”
He clenched the steering wheel tightly in his hands. “It’s not your fault. Your other suitor is letting me know he’s fighting for you too.”
“I’m sure that wasn’t his intent,” I assured him.
“Sure it was,” he said. “But I’m here with you now and he isn’t, so I have the advantage.”
I knew, though, that he was not as easygoing about it as he pretended by the tightness of his face. “Maybe it would be better if we didn’t see each other anymore. I don’t want to hurt you.”
His face tightened and his expression grew dark. “You promised to give me a chance. I’m up for healthy competition, and I have no intention of losing you to him, of all people,” he said, as we pulled up to the house.
His words were cold and sent a chill down my spine, but the moment he took my hand and met my gaze none of that mattered.
“Would you like to come in?” I asked, remembering my mother’s words the day before.
“I have some things to do,” he said using the same answer he always gave.
This time, though, I didn’t just accept it. I pushed for more of a reason. “Does Paul upset you that much?”
“No, not really,” he said anxiously. “Look, I just have something I need to do today. I’ll come in another time.” He walked me to the door and kissed me abruptly, giving my hand a squeeze. “I’ll call you later.”
“Yeah,” I said, opening the door and walking inside, going directly to my room. The vase of roses sat on my dresser, their sweet fragrance filling the air, reminding me of the garden and the way it had smelled the first night Aidan saved me from Scott’s drunken rage. That night had set me on the course I now traveled. The kiss we had shared then had changed my feelings from those of an infatuated child into more intense ones of love.
My cell phone rang, pulling me from my thoughts. Seeing Jess’s name on the caller ID, I answered.
“Hey,” she said. “Do you want to go shopping for a dress for the Valentine’s Day dance this weekend?”
“I’m not sure I’m going. Orin hasn’t asked me.”
“I’m sure he will. He’s totally infatuated with you. I mean, did you see how mad he was this morning when you found those flowers? I thought he was going to explode. By the way, who were they from?”
“I do not know,” I lied. I knew she wanted a better explanation but I could not give her one. My love for Aidan was a secret I couldn’t share even with her. “I need to go, I have something to do,” I lied, hanging up before she could ask more questions. I loved her dearly, but I also knew she wasn’t going to let it go if we kept talking, and I just wasn’t in the mood for a game of twenty questions. Especially when I couldn’t supply the correct answers.
*****
That night there were no dreams of romantic gardens or time spent with Aidan. Instead, I saw Aidan, alone in a forest, lost in thought, his face filled with sorrow. His beautiful eyes were dull and lifeless, and he was staring intently at something in his hand. I focused on what he held and saw a picture of me my mother had taken the year before. I was sitting in the gazebo wearing a sherbet-colored dress, my hair falling in soft waves around my face as I held a pink rose to my nose. I had just come home from Jess’s birthday party and had not been able to resist stopping in the garden where all of the roses had just opened. As he stared at the picture, I stared at him, unable to look away from his perfection. Something moving behind him caught my eye and I screamed, praying he would hear me and recognize the danger he was in, but he did not move. The air began to shimmer as dark shapes began to form around him. I grabbed Aidan’s arm screaming at him to snap out of it, but got no response. A twig snapped, and his gaze moved from the picture to the two vampires closing in on him. I screamed as they both attacked at once and the dream faded.
I woke with a start. A feeling of dread was weighing heavily upon me, my skin was wet with perspiration, my heart was pounding, and tears were flowing down my cheeks. I knew without a doubt my dream was not just another nightmare. That Aidan was really in danger. I jumped from my bed and ran for my parents’ room, confident I had seen Aidan’s death. I pounded on the door until my mother appeared, folding me into her arms as I gasped for air, trying to tell her what I had seen.
“Katie, what’s wrong?” She pulled me inside and sat me down. “Duncan,” she cried out worriedly.
My father appeared beside her instantly, concern for my distressed state evident on his face. “What is it, honey?”
“Aidan…” I cried. “You need to call Aidan,” I pleaded, my voice as shaky as my body.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, looking at me as if I had lost my mind. “Why should I call Aidan?”
“Vampires,” I gasped. “I saw two vampires attack him.”
“It was probably just a bad dream, honey,” my mother said, but I could tell by the startled look on her face that my words struck a chord of fear in her.
“It wasn’t! I feel it! I know something bad is going to happen to him. I was there, I saw it. Please, Dad?” I looked up, ready to argue more, but he already had his cell phone out, dialing as he paced, speaking quickly into the receiver and snarling when he didn’t like what he heard.
“Can you tell me what you saw?” he asked walking to my side.
I bit my lip, thinking about what I had seen. “He was in the woods…I don’t know where, it was covered in snow and he wasn’t paying attention.”
My father spoke again to the person on the other end, relating what I had seen, as my mother rubbed my back.
“What could have distracted him enough that he wouldn’t hear two vampires approach? You know we have excellent hearing,” she asked.
“Me,” I explained tears flooding my eyes. “He had a picture of me and was staring at it.”
My father became more demanding, yelling at the person on the other end of the phone, insisting they look for Aidan. I sat in the chair shaking so badly my mother put a blanket over my shoulders then wrapped her arms around me, pulling me against her.
My father slammed his phone down on the dresser and came to stand before us. “Kale and Cedric are going to look for him. Apparently Aidan is not answering his cell and has closed himself off, so they cannot communicate with him mentally.” I could see he was worried, and that worried me more. His phone rang and instantly he had it to his ear, listening intently, before offering me a wan smile. “He is fine,” he mouthed to me.
“Are you sure?” I murmured, still unconvinced.
“Yes, she’s here.” He held his phone out to me and I took it from him, putting it to my ear.
“Katie,” Aidan said softly, his voice filling me with joy.
Once I heard his voice, it was as if the world had righted itself, and I took a deep breath of relief. “Yes.”
“I’m alright, don’t wor
ry.”
“You are sure?” I asked, fearing he was trying to deceive me.
“I’m okay, I promise. I was just taking a break for few moments. Now stop worrying.”
“Okay,” I said numbly.
“Did you enjoy the roses?”
I could have cared less about flowers in that moment, but I answered anyway to keep him on the line. “Yes, they are beautiful.”
“Good. I wanted to make you happy, but I’ll bet your friend Orin didn’t like them.” He chuckled softly, and I knew Orin had been right.
“You sent them to aggravate him, didn’t you?” I accused.
“I wanted to do something nice for you; aggravating him was a bonus. Go back to sleep now, you need your rest.”
“I’m glad you are okay. Sorry for causing such a fuss. Goodnight.”
“It’s fine. Do not stress yourself over it, besides my Council needs a little shaking up now and again. Good night, Amado Uno,” he said softly, and then the line went dead.
I handed my father his phone back, my hand still shaking.
“There, now. See, he was fine,” he whispered, hugging me close, sounding as relived as I felt.
“Come on, honey. I will walk back to your room with you,” my mother said, placing her arm around my shoulders and walking me out of the room.
“I’m sorry, Mom. It just felt so real,” I said as she walked me to my room.
“It’s not a problem, sweetheart. Your father and I are always here for you, she told me, as she tucked me in as she had done when I was a child. “Now get some sleep,” she said, kissing my forehead and switching off the light next to my bed.
“Goodnight,” I called out as she walked out of the door.
“Goodnight, sleep tight,” she called back to me, but sleep never came.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
As Orin walked me to his car the next afternoon after school, I was once again reminded of the Valentine’s Day dance that Jess had called about the day before, when Orin asked me to go with him.