by Unknown
“I don’t know how Dan got pulled into the book, too,” Ben said, interrupting Gabe’s thoughts. “My best guess is that he might have been trying to pull her out himself and ended up getting sucked in. I don’t know much about how it works because I’ve never time traveled myself. Anyway, the problem is . . . I tried to time travel. Since I’m a Hunter, I’m the only one in this room who would be able to get into the book. But it didn’t work. The book is sealed shut right now.”
“What does that mean?” Austin asked, running a hand through his strawberry blonde hair.
“I think it means that two Hunters have already time traveled,” Ben said. “It’s the only reason I can think of that would explain why it wouldn’t work.”
Gabe felt his own jaw drop. How could that be?
Chapter 24
****
Once they reached town, Lexi and Dan found what looked like a little flea market. There were vendors selling their goods, which mostly consisted of fresh farm-grown fruits and vegetables, jams and butters, breads, and cheeses. Lexi thought about how weird it was to be at a flea market that didn’t sell graphic print t-shirts, those little toy dogs that walked and barked when you clapped at them, and funnel cakes or hot dogs.
“This is kind of cool,” Dan told her.
Lexi raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know if I would call it cool,” she said quietly. “I guess it’s something to do for now, though.”
As they walked down the rows of vendors, Lexi got the strange feeling that someone was watching them. It gave her goose bumps and made her hair stand on end, but Lexi knew that she was probably just being paranoid. Who could be watching her, anyway? It’s not like she knew anybody during this time period, and she now had not just one, but two, bat pendants that would mask her scent from any vampires who would try to cross her path.
“Boy, what are you doing just staring at my produce?” a man shouted. It took Lexi a minute, but she quickly realized that he was talking to Dan, who just stood there, like he was frozen in place. “Don’t think you’ll be stealing any of my crops!”
“I – we’re moving along,” Dan stuttered.
Lexi grabbed his hand and led him to the next row of vendors before they both burst into laughter.
“Oh, my God, that was hilarious,” Dan said, keeled over, bracing himself on his knees. Lexi knew that he was thinking the same thing as she was; this guy was yelling at him for stealing fruits and vegetables when he didn’t even eat fruits and vegetables. Once they had finished laughing, Lexi realized just how peaceful things were here. She hadn’t laughed at something that dull in a long time, and it felt good for once – maybe Dan was bringing out the best in her.
When Lexi looked up, that was when she saw him. She would have spotted his mess of blonde hair from a mile away; it was the same shade of golden blonde as her own hair. He stood next to a strawberry stand, having a conversation with one of the vendors. When he laughed, his sky blue eyes twinkled the same way they had when she’d last seen him.
He glanced over in her direction, and Lexi was positive that the look in his eyes was one of recognition. Forgetting about Dan, Lexi ran to her father, wrapping her arms around him in a bear hug. She didn’t care that she hadn’t seen him since she was a child. None of that mattered right now. The only thing that she knew was that she didn’t want to let him go again.
“Dad!” Lexi trilled. “I’m so excited to see you.”
Her father pulled away from her, staring into her face the same way you would stare at a stranger. “I must apologize, but . . . I do not know you. I am not a father, to the best of my knowledge.”
“But, Dad . . . It’s me! Alexandria!” Lexi insisted. She hoped that using her full name would make him more likely to remember that he did, in fact, have a daughter. She knew that it had been years since he’d last seen her, but how could he have forgotten her?
“Alexandria? Such a pretty name. It reminds me of a name that would be given to a princess,” her dad murmured. He quickly shook his head, his longish blonde hair moving with it. “However, I still cannot say that you are familiar to me.”
Lexi’s eyes filled up with tears. Was her dad trying to tease her, or did he remember how they used to pretend she was a princess when she was little? “How – how could you forget about me?” she asked shakily. “I don’t understand.”
“Lexi,” Dan said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I need to speak to you. Over here.” His eyes told her that he just wanted to talk to her away from Ben.
Lexi took a step towards him. “My dad doesn’t even remember me,” she said through her tears. She put her head on Dan’s shoulder. She didn’t know if she had feelings for him right now or not, but he was the only person who could offer her comfort right now.
“But that’s not it, Lexi,” Dan said softly, running his fingers through her hair. “It’s not that he doesn’t remember you. He can’t remember you because he doesn’t know you yet. He hasn’t even met your mother yet – and he won’t for centuries to come. It’s the past. He’s not your father yet.”
Lexi looked into Dan’s blue eyes, which shimmered in the sunlight, realizing that he was right. Her father didn’t know her. But she knew him . . . and there was something that she had to do. She wasn’t sure how she knew that she had to do it, but somehow, she just knew – and her mom had told her that she should trust her gut instincts.
Pulling the bat pendant out of her pocket, she chased after her father, who was now heading in the opposite direction. “Benjamin! Wait!” Lexi called.
Her dad turned around, staring at her. He opened his mouth to say something – probably that she was acting like a raging lunatic and that he really didn’t know her – but Lexi held her hand up to halt what he was about to say. “This is going to sound crazy, and you might not even believe it, but you must listen to me,” Lexi began. “I am your daughter, but I was born in the 21st century. I traveled back through time, and it’s . . . it’s a really long story, but you have to believe me. I know you’re a vampire.”
Her father nodded, as though he believed everything that she was telling him so far. Taking a deep breath, Lexi continued. “There’s a witch who’s going to place a curse on all vampires because her lover has been turned into one. Her lover, Albert Hunter, is going to turn crazy. . . . And, anyway, you have to keep this safe for me.” Lexi handed him the pendant. “It’s designed to mask the Hunter bloodline from vampires, and it’s going to be very important for me to have one day, once I am your daughter. So, please, keep it safe until then.”
Her father, if she could even call him that right now since he technically wasn’t her father yet, nodded his head. “I don’t know if what you are telling me is true, but I will assume that it is. Do not worry about this pendant. I shall keep it until and if we ever meet again.”
He grabbed her hand and gave it a tiny kiss before turning on his heel and walking away from her.
Chapter 25
****
Rhonda walked down the hallway of Huntington High, trying to find her friends. If she could call them that, since she didn’t even know them that well yet. Even so, they had accepted her, taking her under their wing and allowing her to come to this school with them. For that, she was grateful. It was more kindness than most people she’d ever encountered in her past life had ever shown her.
She glanced into a large room, where there were places to sit and coffee machines. Rhonda spotted his dark hair; Gabe was sitting on one of the couches. As she approached, she listened in on the conversation that he was having with the guy who Austin had said was named Ben.
“So, what are we supposed to do?” Gabe asked. His voice had taken on a tone of frustration or possibly even anger. “How are we supposed to save Lexi?”
“We just wait, Gabe,” Ben said. “That’s the most we can do.” He closed eyes before he said, “I think she’s going to make it back. She’s a smart girl, she’ll figure out how on her own. It’s just going to take her some t
ime.”
“Time? Time?” Gabe roared. “Every minute she’s there, she’s at risk. We don’t know where she is or what she’s doing. She might be in great danger.”
“I saw her,” Ben said, looking up at him. “When she time traveled . . . I saw her. It was at the local market, and she gave me her bat pendant. She told me that I had to keep it safe for her. And I did. I kept it until she was born – until she was a child. I gave it to her then, knowing that it was going to be of great significance for her. When I saw her, she was fine, Gabe. She seemed safe.”
Rhonda watched as Gabe’s face softened a little before sitting down on the floor in front of him, leaning against his knees. “What’s going on, guys?”
Gabe let out a deep sigh. “My girlfriend time traveled. It’s a long story, but it was an accident, and we don’t actually know how to get her back.”
You don’t want to get her back, Rhonda thought, closing her eyes to concentrate. You don’t want Lexi. You want me.
Rhonda felt Gabe’s knees stiffen from behind her. At the same time, Ben stood up. “There’s not much we can really do right now but wait,” Ben told Gabe. “Let’s just see what happens, okay?”
Gabe shrugged. “Yeah. See ya later.”
Rhonda felt a gust of wind blow past her bare legs as Ben walked past them and out of the room. She turned to look at Gabe. “Where’s Austin and Anna?”
“I think they went back to Anna’s room,” Gabe replied. When he looked into Rhonda’s face, he smiled and his voice softened. “How do you like it here so far?”
Rhonda shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess. I met Veronica. She seemed . . . interesting.”
Gabe laughed. “You can say that again. Just a word of advice. Stay out of her way as much as you can. She probably won’t like you too much.”
“Yeah, I already got that impression,” Rhonda agreed. “Hey, Gabe? Why didn’t you tell me that you had a girlfriend before now?”
Gabe sighed. “I don’t know. We were sort of fighting right before she time traveled. She caught me and Veronica in a situation that made it look like we were . . . involved with each other,” he said, obviously choosing his words carefully. “It’s more than that, though. I do feel bad . . . for what I did to you.”
Then want me the way you want Lexi, Rhonda thought. Want to be with me.
Gabe reached over and ran a hand through Rhonda’s strawberry blonde hair, and Rhonda smiled. Was her mind control working on him? It definitely seemed like it was. “Let’s not worry about Lexi right now,” Gabe said. “Let’s just get to know each other a little better.”
Rhonda smiled. “I think that’s a good idea. Why don’t we go back to my dorm room?” She didn’t even have to focus on trying to make him want to go to her room before he was already getting up and pulling her up off the floor with him. Rhonda led him down the hall and into her room, which she had to admit was really nice. The walls were painted a dark pink, and the bed was covered in a soft pink satin comforter. It already was beginning to feel like home.
“So,” Gabe said, sitting down on the bed. “Tell me about your family.”
Rhonda hadn’t expected him to ask that question. She didn’t like talking about her family, but she already felt like she could talk to Gabe about anything. “My mom and her partner are nice enough,” Rhonda said, shrugging. “I doubt we’ll be keeping in touch now, though.”
Gabe nodded, as though he understood. Rhonda wondered how he could understand, when she knew that he kept in touch with his own mom, even though she was M.I.A. right now. “And your dad?” Gabe pressed.
“My dad is a loser,” Rhonda said, looking down at the ground. “He was an alcoholic . . . and a womanizer. My mom’s much better off without him – and so I am.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Gabe said quietly.
Rhonda could feel his eyes on her. It felt like he was studying her, but she didn’t know what for. When he didn’t look away, she asked, “Why are you staring at me?”
“You’re just so beautiful,” Gabe said, looking down at the floor. “It feels wrong for me to say that because of Lexi, but . . . you are.”
Forget about Lexi, Rhonda thought, commanding him in her mind. Just kiss me.
Her mind control worked like magic. Gabe leaned into her. His strong body was masculine next to hers. He placed his hand on her bare thigh, his fingers caressing her skin, making the place he touched tingle. Rhonda tilted her chin as his soft lips came down on hers.
Rhonda felt a feeling of warmth wash over her body, and her stomach felt like it was doing cartwheels. It didn’t seem like she would have to worry about Gabe and this Lexi girl even half as much as she thought she did.
Chapter 26
****
“Here is the decision I have come to. I am going to prohibit you to become a vampire,” Belinda told Lexi. As Lexi began to protest, the woman continued. “The reason is because I do not believe that being a vampire is what you really desire.”
Lexi thought about what Belinda was saying. Was there any truth to it? Did she really want to become a vampire? Not really. What she wanted was for this awful mess that she had found herself intertwined in to just cease to exist, but Belinda had made it crystal clear that wasn’t possible. Living – and being able to live without fear – was the next best thing. Becoming a vampire was the only option Lexi had found that would allow this to happen.
That didn’t mean that she looked forward to everything that would come with being a vampire, though. She didn’t want to have to worry about being able to find the blood that she would need to survive, especially if it meant that she would be putting other people’s lives in danger. That wouldn’t make her any better than the people of Briar Creek who wanted to kill her.
“So, what are you going to do instead?” Dan asked from his place across the table from Lexi. “You are going to do something . . . aren’t you?”
Belinda nodded her head. “Yes, there is something that I’m going to do instead.” She turned to Lexi. “You say that you are in love with a vampire. Is this correct?”
“I – umm – I guess so,” Lexi stumbled. She didn’t know if she was in love with Gabe. Of course she had feelings for him, but did they even mean anything anymore? Did he even want to be with her . . . or was there a chance that he was actually with Veronica Hart right now? Lexi realized that she probably wouldn’t know what was going on between her and Gabe until she saw him.
“It seems to me that he is in love with you,” Belinda said, chuckling.
It took Lexi a moment to realize that the witch was talking about her and Dan. What would have given Belinda that impression? Lexi shifted in her seat, feeling uncomfortable with the entire discussion. “What does who I love have to do with anything?”
“If you are in love with a vampire, as you say, I would imagine that part of this romance involves him drinking your blood,” Belinda said, looking back at Lexi for an answer. Lexi nodded her head. Belinda continued. “If you choose to become a vampire, your lover will no longer be able to drink from you without becoming diseased. Do you realize this?”
“Umm, no, I didn’t,” Lexi replied, shaking her head. In fact, it hadn’t even crossed her mind at all. Did it really matter, though? Maybe she should just live with the fact that Gabe – and no other vampire, for that matter – would be able to drink from her again. That would solve everything.
Lexi immediately shook the thought away when she remembered how good it felt and how sensual the experience had been. She wouldn’t be able to be in a relationship with any vampire knowing that they would feel that way with another girl or woman when they drank from her. It would feel like he was cheating, which would just set their relationship up for failure.
“Ah, you see, you have not considered everything,” Belinda went on. “So, here is what I have come up with for you instead.”
Lexi bit her tongue. She remembered that her mom had told her that she was supposed to listen to whatever Belinda told her to
do. Lexi was pretty sure that the decision that Belinda was about to reveal to her right now was what her mom had been talking about. She just hoped that it was a decision which would be right for her in the long run.
“You are to become an immortal,” Belinda told her. When Lexi stared back at her with wide eyes, the woman continued. “This will allow you to live forever, similarly to a vampire. The only difference is that vampires can be killed with stakes and fire. The only thing that will be able to kill your immortal self is another immortal.”
Belinda poured the contents of the cauldron into a tiny jar. “I have put a charm on this potion. As soon as you have transitioned into your new life as an immortal, your blood will no longer be that of a Hunter. It also will not be like the blood of a vampire, which due to the curse that you have told me about, seems to be tainted. Vampires will be able to drink from you, but they will not be cured from their disease. Your blood will not have the same powerful scent that it does right now, and it will not provide vampires with the same level of energy as Hunter blood typically does.”
Belinda turned away from them and covered the jar with a lid. “There is but one exception to all of this. Your soul mate, who is a vampire, will still find that your blood is potent for him. It will smell strong to him, and it will rejuvenate him more than the blood of any other human has or will.”
“How do you know my soul mate is a vampire?” Lexi asked. She never really thought about it that much, but wasn’t there a chance that she could end up with a human instead of a vampire?
“I just know things,” Belinda said, waving her hands in the air. “I know, for certain, that your soul mate is a creature of the night. A vampire.”