Blood-Red Tear

by Donna Flynn

  “I was wondering…I mean, I wanted to know if you would go to the Valentine’s dance with me.”

  He looked so uncertain of my answer that I felt badly. “Of course, I would be honored to go with you.”

  He kissed me quickly, helped me into the car, then got in the driver’s seat and turned to me, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry it took me so long to ask. I was assuming we would go together, but yesterday reminded me that there is someone else you might want to go with.”

  I didn’t comment because I knew I would much rather go with Aidan if that was an option. But it wasn’t, so I didn’t see why I couldn’t go with Orin and have fun.

  *****

  By the time Valentine’s Day came, the entire school was a frenzy of activity. The gym had been converted into a romantic setting for all of those wishing to celebrate. Hearts and balloons hung from every available space and tables had been laid with red and pink tablecloths. It was a day for lovers, and I should have been excited that I had someone to celebrate with, but instead I found myself longing for Aidan. It seemed only fitting to spend the holiday meant for those in love with the man who possessed my heart, but it wasn’t to be and it hurt more than I could put into words.

  Although I was having trouble mustering up any enthusiasm for the evening ahead, my mother was having no such trouble. She was waiting to get me ready for the dance when I came through the door after school and ushered me up the stairs to my room immediately to get started. I got a quick shower, and she went to work on my hair and makeup before allowing me to don the dress I had picked for the dance.

  The dress I wore was a vibrant red silk number that cut over one shoulder and had a form-fitting bodice that pinched at the waist then flowed loosely to hang just above my knees. My only accessories were the bracelet Aidan had given me and the diamond pendant that I never took off. Both offered me comfort and made me feel closer to him, even though we couldn’t be together on such a special day.

  “You’re beautiful,” my mother said, handing me the small clutch that matched my dress. “Now let’s go show your father.” She opened the door and went downstairs where my father waited.

  “You look beautiful, honey,” he said, kissing my cheek as I stopped before him.

  “You’re my father, you have to say that,” I told him.

  “Yes, but I really mean it,” he told me, hugging me close. “I’m not sure when you grew up, but I know that I’m lucky to have you for a daughter.”

  Tears pricked my eyes as I hugged him close, thankful he had taken me in when I had no one else to love me.

  The doorbell rang and Mom rushed to open it, allowing Orin inside.

  He walked into the foyer, his eyes falling instantly on me, a smile blooming on his face as I walked toward him. “You are beautiful,” he told me.

  “You look great, too,” I told him, looking over his grey suit and fitted black shirt with approval. He looked good in jeans and a T-shirt, but dressed like he was presently he could have gotten any girl at school to go out with him, and I felt guilty he was wasting his time with me.

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked.

  I nodded. He took the wrap my mother handed him and placed it over my shoulders, and we said goodbye.

  *****

  “Jess, you look great,” I yelled over the loud music as we joined my friends at the table they had gotten for us at the dance.

  “You too! I love the dress,” she yelled back.

  At that moment, a slow dance came over the speakers and Orin pulled me to the dance floor. He held me close as we moved across the floor, closer than was comfortable, his eyes darting around the room nervously.

  I pulled back looking up at him worriedly. “Is everything alright?” I asked.

  “What?” he said looking down on me with a frown.

  “You seem distracted?” I told him.

  He smiled, but I could tell it was forced. “I’m here with you, what could possibly be wrong?” he said pressing a kiss to my lips. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, his hand moving down my back and over my backside, pulling me against him.

  “Orin, don’t,” I whispered, agitated by his sudden aggressiveness.

  “Don’t what?” he asked innocently.

  “Just…”

  “Excuse me,” Josh said appearing next to us. “Do you mind if I cut in?”

  Orin looked as if he minded a lot, but he let me go and stepped back, allowing Josh to take me into his arms.

  “Thank you,” I said watching Orin stalk back to the table and take a seat, scowling at us as we danced.

  “Jess thought you looked a little uncomfortable,” he said. “Is there a problem?”

  What could I say? I didn’t know what was going on with Orin. He was acting weird and possessive. “Uh…I think he’s just jealous. You know how it is.”

  “Yeah,” he said looking at Jess who was staring at Orin worriedly. “Just let me know if you need me to have a talk with him.”

  I smiled, thankful my best friend had such a caring guy to love. “I will.”

  The song ended and he took a step back. “I’ll be close by if you need me,” he said.

  “Thank you, Josh.”

  He escorted me back to the table, giving Orin a warning look before taking a seat next to Jess.

  “I’m sorry,” Orin said, taking my hand. “I just got jealous and a little carried away.”

  “It’s okay,” I murmured.

  He shook his head. “No, it is not. I have no excuse for my behavior, and I don’t want it to ruin the night.”

  He looked so sincere that I couldn’t help but forgive him. “Then don’t.” A fast song that was popular began to play, and I jumped to my feet. “Let’s dance.”

  He nodded, and we spent the rest of the night dancing and laughing, trying to forget the incident and just have a good time together.

  After the dance, we drove home in a comfortable silence, him holding my hand while focusing on the dark and wet roadways.

  I didn’t bother to ask him inside since it was very late by the time we got to my house, but he did walk me to the front door.

  “Goodnight,” he said, kissing me longer and more aggressively than usual. A sudden chill swept through me and a stabbing pain slashed my chest, causing me to tremble in his arms. He pulled back and smiled, unaware of my discomfort. “It is cold out here, go inside. I will call you tomorrow.”

  I went inside immediately, shaking uncontrollably. My mother stood in the hall, her eyes filled with fear as she rushed to me. The chills I felt on the porch turned to a feeling of dread and, instinctively, I knew something was wrong with Aidan. I shook my head and backed away, unable to face it, unable to bear the idea of anything happening to him, but Paul grabbed me from behind, refusing to let me run. “You need to be strong,” he said, his own voice trembling. I wilted against him and he lifted me in his arms.

  “Bring her to your father’s office,” my mother said, leading the way.

  My father was speaking in hushed tones on his cell phone as we entered. Paul sat me on the sofa, and my mother took my shaking hand in hers. Beth stood across the room looking at me with sympathy, and Paul stood next to me, his hand on my shoulder, as if expecting me to try and run again.

  My body shook, and my chest was so tight it literally hurt to breathe. I felt as if a hundred needles were piercing my flesh, and my head was pounding uncontrollably. “Aidan,” I murmured, recognizing the pain I felt as his own.

  “Katie…no,” his voice echoed in my head before I felt him close himself off to me.

  As suddenly as it all started it ended, and I was left lying back against the sofa cushions gasping for air, completely numb.

  My father got off the phone immediately and knelt in front of me, holding my chin in his hand. “Breathe,” he commanded, his eyes meeting mine, compelling me to do as he asked, something he had never done to me before. “Listen to me, Aidan is going to be okay. He was attacked, but he was being guarded c
losely since the night you came to our room and told us what you had seen in your dream. His guards were able to intervene and save him.”

  I stared at him, recalling the pain I felt, imagining the worst but afraid to ask.

  “Did you hear me?” he demanded.

  I blinked, staring blankly at him, unsure what I was supposed to say. The man I loved was hurt, in great pain, and I wasn’t with him.

  “Give her a minute, she is obviously in shock,” my mother said.

  Someone pressed a glass of water into my hands but instead of drinking, I just watched the liquid slosh around the rim of the glass.

  “Katie,” my mother tried again, her voice desperate.

  “Young lady, you look at me right now!” My father’s voice was hard, but it forced me to respond.

  I blinked and sat the glass on the table before me, ignoring the water that spilled over the rim and sloshed on the table.

  “Aidan will be alright, thanks to you. Do you understand that?” he said, his face stretched with concern.

  I nodded.

  “This had been a shock. Let me help you to bed, honey.” My mother stood and reached for my hand.

  “No, I’m fine, I can do it myself.” I got up and walked from the room, across the foyer, up the stairs, and to my room in a daze. There on my dresser was one perfect blood-red rose with a note lying under it. Slowly I opened the envelope and read “Happy Valentine’s Day, Amado Uno. Aidan.” I clutched the rose tightly in my other hand, ignoring the pain of the thorns as they tore into my flesh. I lifted it to my nose and took a long sniff of its heady fragrance, and a drop of blood splashed onto the top of the dresser. I stared down at the blood, feeling my world tilt out of control. The last thing I heard was the sound of my mother’s screams before everything faded to black.

  *****

  I opened my eyes sometime later, lying upon my bed to the sound of my parents talking softly by the window.

  “This can’t be happening: they haven’t exchanged blood. They should have no connection to each other,” my father said heatedly.

  Blood, I thought recalling the night of our first kiss. The night everything had changed between us. He had cut his hand and I had kissed it before he had kissed me. Could that little bit of blood caused this? Is that what started everything?

  “I don’t understand it either, but you can’t deny what we saw. She felt his pain and she can mentally communicate him,” my mother said.

  “I figured it was just when he was near, I had no idea their connection could span distance like this. It takes a massive amount of blood exchanges and hundreds of years of being together for this to happen,” my father argued.

  “Well, apparently not for them. Give this up, it is clear they are meant to be together and it is only a matter of time before it happens,” my mother admonished.

  “She’s too young,” he whispered.

  “She’s not a child any longer,” my mother told him. “You can’t keep them apart forever.”

  The room became silent, and I took a few minutes to contemplate what I had heard before calling out, letting them know I was awake. “Mom,” I whispered. She was at my side immediately, smoothing my hair back from my face. “What happened?”

  “We heard you screaming. I found you on the floor, your hands were covered in blood.” She wrung her hands anxiously as she spoke, and I knew she had been scared.

  “It was the rose thorns,” I mumbled, looking to my dresser where someone had taken time to clean up the blood and put the rose in a vase on my dresser. “He was here,” I cried. “If I would have stayed home, none of this would have happened.”

  My father rushed to console me. “You don’t know that. He did not stay long: he just wanted to leave you something.”

  “Is he really alright?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

  “He is going to be fine,” my mother answered, not meeting my eyes.

  “When can I see him?”

  They looked to me with horror.

  “You cannot go to him, honey. He is with our people,” my father said.

  “I need to see him for myself! I need to know he is okay,” I argued.

  “We cannot take you there!” he said incredulously. “You’re human, please be reasonable. We would never risk your life that way. I won’t have it, and Aidan wouldn’t want it.”

  My mother clenched my hand. “Sweetheart, Zoë is there; she will aid him. Now try and get some rest and we will keep you updated.”

  “If it were Dad who were hurt, could you sleep?”

  She shook her head and looked at my father. “No,” she murmured.

  “Katie, please understand. Aidan needs to rest so he can heal properly. If he knows you are distressed, he will feel it and he won’t get that rest. You need to think of him now,” my father explained.

  “I’m always thinking about him, Dad. You just don’t seem to understand that!” I curled into a ball and turned away from them. It was clear they were not going to help me get to Aidan, and without being able to physically see him alive and well, or feel him in my mind, I couldn’t help but worry about his condition.

  *****

  I spent the rest of the weekend in my room, ignoring my cell phone, refusing visitors, and not bothering to eat. Worry for Aidan consumed me, and a deep depression overtook me.

  Monday morning I got dressed for school pulling on a pair of old faded jeans and a T-shirt that matched my state of mind. I pulled up my hair in a ponytail and didn’t bother with makeup, figuring nothing was going to hide my puffy eyes and wan complexion. I went to the garage without bothering to eat and sat in the truck, waiting for Paul and Beth to join me. We drove to school in silence, Paul and Beth both casting worried looks my way, which I pretended to ignore.

  Orin was waiting when we pulled into the lot, and he swore when he saw me. “Your Mom told me you were sick, but I didn’t think it was this bad. Why are you here? You should be home,” he asked as he took my bag.

  “Don’t fuss. I am fine,” I told him, trying to keep the annoyance I felt from my voice.

  “If you say so,” he said, taking my book bag and reaching for my hand, which I kept at my side, much to his unhappiness.

  I struggled through the morning, but by the time lunch came around, even I knew I was done. I looked at my uneaten lunch, and shoved the tray away, then laid my head on the table waiting for the bell to ring.

  “Katie, what can I do to help? I can see this is more than a virus. It must have something to do with him. Did he hurt you in some way?” Orin asked. I shook my head, but he wouldn’t give up. “Does this concern him?” I nodded and he became agitated. “I should have known. What hold does he have on you that you would do this to yourself?” he demanded.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I can’t explain.”

  Paul came to my side, glaring at Orin. “I’m taking you home now.”

  For once, I did not argue with him. I stood but as soon as I did, dizziness washed over me and I stumbled. Paul lifted me into his strong arms, and I was immediately thankful he was always there to take care of me. With great gentleness, he carried me to his truck and drove me home. Once at our house, he carried me to my room and settled me on the bed, turning away as Beth helped me into my pajamas.

  I curled into a ball and stared out of the window, ignoring everyone who came and went, wanting nothing more that to be left alone.

  My mother came with food, pleading with me to eat, but food held no appeal for me. I pushed it around the tray but couldn’t bring myself to eat it.

  I spent the rest of the night alternating between sleep and staring at the ceiling, consumed with fear for Aidan. I tried repeatedly to get him to answer me mentally, but he was completely closed off to me.

  The next morning, when the alarm went off, I pulled the plug from the wall and went back to sleep.

  By that night, my father had had enough and came to confront me. “We need to talk.” I stared blankly at him but he persiste
d. “You have not eaten in days, you’re pale as a ghost, and I don’t think you even have the energy to even get up from that bed. Aidan would be devastated if he knew how this was affecting you.” I didn’t answer, and he walked away with his head down and shut the door behind him as he left.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I woke to cool fingers caressing my cheek and a feeling of calm that flooded me with hope. My eyes snapped open and I found Aidan sitting next to me, concern for me etched upon his face.

  “What am I going to do with you?” he asked wearily, pulling me into his arms.

  “Just love me,” I whispered.

  He sighed. “I need you to take better care of yourself, how am I supposed to live my life if you aren’t well? I cannot do the things I need to if I am worried about you all of the time.” He looked down on me sadly. “How long has it been since you ate?”

  Paul answered for me. “She has not eaten anything since Friday night. I called you because Dad was talking about calling a doctor in.” He looked at me pleadingly. “Please, stop this now. Aidan is here, you can see he is alright, so you can stop mourning for him.”

  Beth appeared behind him with a food tray in her hands, which she put on the nightstand beside me. “Katie, do you want me to help you shower and change before you eat?”

  I nodded, hating that Aidan was seeing me looking like such a mess.

  “She should eat first,” Paul argued.

  “No, I want a shower,” I protested. My legs were shaky as I rose from the bed, but I was determined to get a shower.

  Aidan swore and scooped me up in his arms, walking me to the bathroom door where Beth waited.

  Beth helped me into the shower but told me she would wait by the door in case I needed her help.

  I showered and dressed in clean pajamas, walking on unsteady legs to the door, where Aidan was waiting to carry me back to bed. He scooped me into his arms with a grunt and carried me back to the freshly made bed, settled me in, put the food tray over my legs, and glared at me.