The Next Generation

by S. C. Stephens

Ben nodded. Halina went with us on our family trips, so she could blur Tracey’s memory. She was only needed when we got there, so she could ease the shock of my family’s youth, and when we left, so she could blur the memory of my family’s features. It wasn’t the ideal way Halina liked to do things—she’d much rather wipe a person clean—but it worked for now. She did the same sort of mental cleansing with Aunt Ashley’s husband, Christian. When Halina wasn’t needed on those trips, she left us and did her own thing. Since arrivals and departures always happened at night, Olivia had never been told about Halina’s condition.

  While Ben was explaining Halina’s allergy to Olivia in greater detail, Gabriel popped back into the room. Face grim, the aged vampire stepped up to Ben. “I’m glad you’re here. We might have a problem.”

  Ben turned away from his daughter and looked up at the emerald eyes regarding him. His face instantly shifted from devoted father to fierce warrior. It was an expression I’d seen on him before, when he’d been called away for work while we’d been visiting in California. Understanding Gabriel’s vague statement, he asked, “The same problem as L.A.?”

  Gabriel nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “So it seems. I’m not sure yet, but…there was another incident.”

  “What do you mean by incident?” I immediately asked.

  Julian’s voice overlapped mine. “What problem in L.A.?”

  We were both ignored.

  Ben hung his head, then ran a hand through his hair. My father broke apart from his conversation with Grandpa and Alanna. As he walked toward the pair, Ben looked up at Gabriel again. “Damn…I guess I’m staying a while.”

  Olivia’s eyes grew about ten sizes larger as she locked her sights on my brother. “We’re staying!” She latched her arms around her father. “How long, Daddy? Are we staying here or at Julian’s? Can I go to school here? Will Mom be coming up? Are we going to move here?”

  Ben sighed and looked down at her. He seemed lost as to what question to answer first. Seeing a need for a distraction, Imogen, Alanna, and Grandma Linda bustled Liv out of the room with promises of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. It was a tactic that had always worked on Julian and me when we were younger. Not anymore though. A steel resolve built up in Julian and mixed with his curiosity. My mood was similar.

  My father was just as confused and curious as we were. He held that curiosity until Olivia was safely preoccupied, then he flicked his gaze between Ben and Gabriel. “What’s going on?” he asked, then he settled his gaze on Gabriel. “I thought you said the thing in Los Angles was taken care of. I thought you said it was no big deal?”

  Gabriel coolly returned his gaze. “I believed it was. Now, I think otherwise.” He said it completely flat, void of emotion. Gabriel could be that way at times. Mom said it was his age. Things just didn’t rile him up anymore. Not very often anyway. It made me wonder if we’d all be that aloof…eventually.

  Dad wasn’t so aloof. Face hard, he looked back at Ben. “I think I need to be filled in now.”

  Standing, Ben nodded. “We should go somewhere private.”

  I immediately stood up, irritated. “We should know, too. We’re almost adults.” Lifting my chin, I straightened my back. “We can handle it.”

  Julian came over to stand beside me. “Yeah, if something is going on, we should be informed.”

  Frowning, Mom walked over to our expanding circle. She didn’t say a word, just placed her hand on Dad’s arm. He glanced at her, then back to us. “No, you’re not adults yet. Some things you just don’t need to be burdened with.”

  Floored, I blurted out, “That’s bullshit!”

  “Nika!” Mom reprimanded, her matching brown eyes fiery.

  Embarrassed, and a little livid, I sputtered, “If there’s some danger in the city, shouldn’t we know what it is?”

  Twisting to me, Dad put his hands on my shoulders. “No, you should trust that your family will protect you. The only thing a sixteen-year-old should have to worry about…is school. And please…don’t swear.”

  He patted my shoulder while I burned holes into him with my eyes. Ignoring my stare, he turned to Gabriel. “Maybe we could discuss this in your lab?”

  Gabriel looked over at me then Julian. As he nodded to my father, he studied our reactions. I could tell that he was analyzing us, probably wondering if we were both angry, or if it was only me, and Julian was feeling my anger. I wanted to snap at him, tell him that we were mutually upset, but I didn’t. I might snap at my father from time to time, but Gabriel…well, no one really talked back to him.

  As the group disappeared into the hallway that led downstairs, Grandpa Jack stepped between Julian and me. Putting a hand on each of our shoulders, he sagely told us, “I know it can be hard, but sometimes it’s best to stay away from the vampire drama. For as long as you can anyway.” Grandpa’s face was lined and worn, but his eyes were peaceful and full of love for his family. Chuckling a little, he added, “Besides, all that stress will turn you gray.”

  I glanced up at his silver hair. Feeling some of the tension in my body easing, I allowed a short laugh to escape. Julian’s mood leveled as well, as Grandpa led us into the kitchen to help with the cookie-making. By the banging and laughing emanating from that room, it was clear that my grandmothers had decided to turn a relatively small event into a full-on production.

  Coated in a light dusting of flour, Olivia was over the moon. Chuckling at her, Julian took a seat at the table with Grandpa. The two of them drifted into a conversation about fishing. It was a pastime all the men in my family enjoyed. As I walked over to help Grandma Linda “sort” the chocolate chips, I tried to ignore the quietness in the rest of the house. Gabriel’s lab was soundproof, and whatever problems were being discussed were beyond my ears.

  It was quite a while later before they all reappeared again. I looked at my parents expectantly as they joined us in the kitchen, but all they said was, “How are the cookies?” I discretely watched them all afternoon, but there was no hint of worry or stress in their mannerisms. Gabriel didn’t rejoin our party, but that wasn’t too unusual. He preferred to sleep during the day so he could stay up with Halina all night.

  It was early evening when I got a surprise that I should have been expecting. The last rays of the sun were bathing the sky in a fiery display of color, with burnt orange swirled with light yellow and deep crimson. Julian and I had been playing croquet with Olivia, and even though it was my turn, I paused to absorb the sun’s beauty. I knew that sunsets were based in science, but it was hard to witness such an extraordinary sight and not see something completely beyond science—something magical and unexplainable…much like my family and me.

  Julian and Olivia were taking in the sight as well when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Tearing my eyes away from the horizon, I glanced at the screen. Hunter. My heartbeat started to thud as I stared at his name. Julian snapped his head to me, and I muttered, “I gotta go,” as I casually walked behind the building that housed the pool. Once I was away from Olivia’s watchful eye, I blurred out to a field that was beyond my family’s hearing.

  Taking a deep, calming breath, I answered the phone. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Nika…it’s Hunter.”

  The grin on my face was so large I was glad Hunter—and my family—weren’t there to witness it. Trying to hide the adrenaline rushing through me, I told him, “Oh, hey, what’s up?”

  Mentally cursing myself for sounding like a carrot-munching rabbit, I shut my eyes and waited for his answer. “I was just…thinking about you. What are you up to?”

  Leaning against a fence nearby, my eyes roved over the piles of presents the cattle had left behind. “Just trying to avoid stepping in anything nasty.”

  “Huh?”

  Laughing, I added, “I’m at my family’s cattle ranch…in one of the pastures.”

  There was a long pause on Hunter’s end, then, “There were a dozen possible answers that I thought you might give me. That was not one of the
m.” He chuckled, then asked, “A ranch? I’ve never been to a ranch. Sounds like fun.”

  I glanced around at the peaceful acres around me, the dark shapes of cows winding down for the evening. “It is. It’s one of the best places on Earth.”

  “That’s nice that you have that…anchor. My life is a little more chaotic.”

  Grabbing a lock of my hair, I twirled it around my finger while I pictured Hunter’s dark eyes. “Because you move around so much?”

  A tired sigh escaped him. “Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, all the new places and people are exciting, but…a part of me would like to feel…”

  “Home?” I whispered.

  I could hear his smile through the phone. “Yeah, exactly. I’d like to feel like I have a home.” He inhaled, then added, “But Dad’s job requires him to move around, and we only have each other, so, I go where he goes.”

  My heart sank as I thought of Hunter packing up and leaving one day. I understood the importance of family though. I was bound to mine for eternity. “Oh…what does your dad do?”

  “Ah…” He thought for a moment, then said, “He’s an independent contractor…so he goes where the work is.”

  Knowing how volatile the economy could be, I cringed as I asked, “Are you guys going to be staying here long?” A spike of nerves rushed up my spine as I wondered if it was forward of me to ask him that question.

  Again, I could hear his happiness through his words. “I hope so, Nika. I really hope so.” I bit my lip to contain my squeal, but I couldn’t contain my smile. While I resisted doing a little happy dance by the cow patties, Hunter added, “I know we’ve just met, but I already really like you…and I’d like to keep getting to know you.”

  “I like you, too,” I gushed. Clearing my throat, I tried to sound more adult. “I’d like that, too.”

  Hunter sighed. “I don’t want to have to sneak around to see you, though. Maybe I should come over and talk to your mom?”

  My back went ramrod straight as I looked back at the ranch house. I could feel my family stirring, but so far, they were giving me my privacy. I tried to picture my dad meeting his baby girl’s “date.” It was hard to envision that meeting going well. “I don’t think so, Hunter. Not yet anyway,” I quickly added, so he wouldn’t be discouraged.

  He still sounded disheartened though. “Well, maybe you could have dinner at my house some night? Meet my dad? I don’t like hiding anything from him. In fact…he already knows about you.”

  I blinked as I turned to look back at the horizon. “Oh…” A little guilt seeped into me. Hunter was being open and honest while I was being sneaky. I hated it, I really did, but I knew my family would put an end to this blossoming romance if they knew about it. They’d all say I was too young, and Hunter was too old. Wondering what his dad thought, I timidly asked, “What did he say?”

  “He told me you were young, and I needed to be careful with you.” Embarrassment flashed through me at all the many things that sentence hinted at. It was quickly replaced by…curiosity, and maybe a little bit of…longing. In my silence, Hunter added, “He’d also like to meet you, which is why I think dinner at my place sounds like a great idea. What do you think?”

  I wanted to instantly say yes, of course, but I had to consider the homing device that was an inbred part of me. I not only had to fib to get out of the house, I had to fib about where my location would be pinging me all night long. That complicated matters. And it added more lies to the lies I already hated telling. But…to be invited into Hunter’s home, to meet his family, to see how he lived everyday…it was an irresistible draw. “I think it sounds great…someday.”

  “Well, I hope it’s someday soon.”

  A presence from the house started zooming toward me. Tensing, I quickly told Hunter, “I have to go. Talk to you later?”

  “Yeah, okay, sure.” He said that reluctantly, like he didn’t want to hang up yet, but I had to, since a conversation with him was not something I wanted a family member overhearing.

  As I slid the phone back into my pocket, Halina phased to a stop right in front of me. It was only then that I noticed that the sun had sunken completely, and the ranch was bathed in blackness. The whites of her eyes glowed with a phosphorescence that lit her face in a terrifying and awesome way. “Who’s the boy?” she asked.

  Surprise and worry flashed through me. She had heard my private conversation. Some of it at least. Enough to hear Hunter’s voice on the other line. But how much had she heard? As casually as I could muster, I told her, “My lab partner at school.” I actually did have a male lab partner in chemistry, so it wasn’t a complete and total lie.

  Halina regarded my face with her haunting eyes, and I felt the hypnotic peace of her gaze slowing my heartbeat, calming me down. That was the purpose of a vampire’s blazing eyes—to help subdue their prey into submission. While it was a neat trick, I was grateful I didn’t have to worry about that particular vampiric trait. My eyes were as lackluster in the darkness as any human’s.

  Finally, Halina gave me a secretive smile. “He cute?”

  I wanted to gush and tell her that he was insanely hot, but I didn’t want to pique her already peaked curiosity. I was just happy she’d bought my answer. “He’s all right, I guess.”

  Shaking her head at my lukewarm reply, she pointed to the house with her thumb. “Dinner’s ready.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief that this wasn’t going to become an inquisition, then I blurred back to the house with Halina.

  IT WAS A hard weekend for me. I spent the bulk of it avoiding Olivia while Nika ducked out of the house every so often to take phone calls from her sort-of boyfriend. But that wasn’t what made it difficult. It was my mind replaying my romantic moment with Raquel, and then instantly remembering her heated moment with Russell in the theater. It stung. I stung.

  It wasn’t as if I’d never seen them together before. I had. But I’d only witnessed light pecks and hand holding. What had been happening in that movie theater was a full-on precursor to sex. I was positive that if they hadn’t been doing it already, they were now. It killed me. Especially when I thought about her lips on mine…the way she’d looked at me, begged me with her eyes to save her, confessed she might have feelings for me…

  I knew I had to let her go, had to move on, I just didn’t know how. I’d liked her for so long that everyone else paled in comparison now. Somehow, I’d turned her into my ideal woman. Nika wanted me to move on with Arianna. I’d even briefly considered it while she’d stayed with me at a diner on that fateful night, eating my fries and trying to make me smile. She was very…sweet, and easy to talk to. But while Arianna was cute and nice, she didn’t make my chest ache; she wasn’t the one I fantasized about.

  Late Sunday night, after Ben shepherded his exhausted daughter to sleep, and Mom and Dad closed their soundproof door, Nika stepped into my room. I looked up at her approach. My sister was beautiful, with thick, wavy brown hair and eyes that were a warm, welcoming shade of brown. Even though she was frowning at me, I saw happiness in the curves of her features. She was falling for this Hunter guy, and while I wasn’t sure about him, I was at least thankful that he’d brightened Nika’s outlook on life, and love. Now, if only mine could be lifted.

  She sat next to me on the bed, her gaze drifting over my face. I slapped on a smile and her frown deepened. I couldn’t fake out my sister. “So much has been going on, we haven’t had a chance to talk about what happened at school yet. Do you want to?”

  I averted my eyes. “There isn’t much to say, Nick.”

  She put her hand over my folded ones. “You were frozen in that closet, Julian. You haven’t completely frozen up like that in…a long time.”

  I tried to look at her, but I couldn’t, and my gaze drifted to our fingers instead. “I don’t know what happened. I was fine…then I wasn’t. It was just a closet. It’s so stupid that I was scared of a freaking closet.”

  Nika squeezed my hands under hers. “It wasn’t
stupid, Julian, and it wasn’t just a closet…you know that. You were back there again, weren’t you?”

  Shame swelled in me as I finally met her eyes. “I was three years old, Nika. Why can’t I let it go?” My face darkened, along with my mood. “I’m a vampire. Vampires aren’t scared of anything. I should be stronger.”

  Her gaze softened as she studied me. “You’re sixteen. You’re a kid.”

  I couldn’t stop my smirk. “So are you.”

  She started to smile, then her face fell. “I get scared, too, Julian. It terrifies me that I could lose you again.” She tossed her head back and forth. “I can’t lose you again.”

  I looked away, no longer able to handle seeing the emotion as well as feeling it. “You won’t,” I whispered.

  Nika sighed, then changed the topic. “Do you want to talk about Raquel?”

  While Nika’s spirits evened, mine plummeted. “Nothing much to say there either. She’s with Russell. She loves…” my voice hitched, “…Russell.”

  Nika was silent as her hand shifted to my back. Her emotions expressed it for her, but she said it anyway. “I’m sorry, Julie.”

  I nodded at her. “I know, Nick.”

  Her face turned impish. “You know, you could always date—”

  I shoved her shoulder away from me, knowing exactly what she was going to say. “Stop trying to play matchmaker.” I laughed as I shook my head. “I’m not going to date your best friend.”

  Giggling, Nika indicated the guest room. “Actually, I was going to say Olivia.”

  I made a move to grab her, to put her in a headlock and give her a wet willy or something, but she blurred away from me. “Bitch,” I joked.

  Retreating to our mutual bathroom, she tossed out, “Just saying,” before disappearing into her room.

  I was smiling and rolling my eyes at her as I laid down on my bed. I felt lighter though. “Thanks, Nick.”

  “Anytime, Julie.”

  ONCE WE GOT back to school, I avoided Raquel. She’d made her choice, obviously, and trying to have a heartfelt conversation with her again wasn’t going to do me any good. Sure, in her confusion, she might kiss me again, but that was all it would be—a stolen kiss in a closet—and I wanted more. Why set myself up for pain like that?