Chapter 27
Predicament
The roads are pretty icy, but they are no match for my quick reflexes. I make it to Nathanial’s house in less than twenty minutes. I made myself presentable before leaving and took my time not to raise any questions regarding how fast I’d arrived. It has been a few days since Nathanial got home from the hospital. I miss him and can’t stop thinking about him, but I kept busy. I’m excited to see him and don’t even have the chance to ring the doorbell, before he comes flying out the door to greet me. He gives me a big hug and then leans down to kiss me. One small peck, and then his soft lips began to move passionately with mine. It is amazing how every time we kiss, it sends electric shocks through my entire body.
I hear a man clear his throat near the doorway.
“Sorry to interrupt, little brother.” Luke taps Nathanial’s shoulder.
“Oh, sorry, man. Allow me to introduce you to the most beautiful woman in the world. This is Sophia. Sophia, this is my big brother Luke,” Nathanial introduces us while holding his arm around the small of my back.
“It’s nice to finally meet you.” Luke greets me by extending his right hand out to shake mine.
“And you as well.” I shake his hand and smile.
He tries to pull me in to him and lift me to spin me around in excitement. For a short moment, I’m surprised and resist, but then I realize what I am doing and release myself into his arms. I can see the puzzled looks on the brothers’ faces.
“You’re a tough one, aren’t you? My God! You are freezing. Nate, let’s get this poor girl in the house to warm up,” Luke insists.
“Sophia, we’ve missed you. It is wonderful to see you again. Please make yourself at home,” Mrs. McCord welcomes me with open arms.
“It is lovely to see you again. Thank you for having me over,” I reply.
“You’ll join us for dinner, won’t you?” With her striking wide eyes, she looks at me as she invites.
“Thank you. That would be nice.”
I’m glad to have my day crystal so I can eat human food without getting those awful stomach cramps and indigestion, a normal and very painful reaction for a vampire. I begin to realize just how thirsty I am, because I haven’t eaten much since Friday after Nathanial’s attack. I am going to have to watch myself and be very careful. I am sure Florence will have a nice blood meal ready when I return home. I got too caught up in training with the witches. I have only snacked a little. “May I help you with anything?” I offer, as Florence has always made sure we keep our manners.
“No thank you. Please enjoy your time with the boys. I think Nate has missed you a little and I’m sure Luke would like to get to know you,” Mrs. McCord informs.
I am excited to get to know him as well. Luke means so much to Nathanial, and I can’t wait to get to know the man he idolizes so much. I’m actually kinda nervous. I normally don’t care much for what others think of me, but tonight I care more than I could ever expect to.
Nathanial holds my hand and leads me to the family room, with Luke in tow. “Are you feeling okay?” Nathanial asks with concern.
“I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“You just seem a little pale, and your eyes are darker. Are you getting sick?”
“Probably just a lack of sleep and too much shopping.” I know that is not the real reason, but I can’t tell him the truth.
He gives me a little kiss on my cheek. “Promise me you will take care of yourself.”
“I promise.” I give him a little smile.
Luke begins telling us all about his classes at Harvard. “I’m majoring in history.” He starts explaining about the section on the Salem witch trials. He is particularly enjoying it because of how close to home it all happened. He decided to do a report on Sara Good, the woman from Wenham that was hanged in 1692 for being a witch and how she was wrongly convicted. We continue to discuss the topic for a while. Luke looks impressed by my knowledge of history.
“I did a little research when my family decided to move here,” I explain.
“Did you know the civilians of Salem tried to persecute even more women in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s?” Luke adds.
“I read a little about that.” I don’t admit I was there.
He pulls out some of his textbooks. “You may enjoy this then.” Luke offers the book to me.
Nathanial quickly grabs one of the texts for a closer look. “What the…?” Nathanial gasps.
“What’s wrong?” Luke questions, and I await a response.
“This picture! The woman looks just like you!” He stares at the book in shock.
Luke takes the book for a better look. “Holy crap! She sure does.”
When I look at the picture, I am shocked. It is me, along with my family. I try to cover my surprise. “Wow, it sort of does. That’s so cool and a little creepy.” I say casually, trying to brush it off.
“How is it possible? I know this picture was taken after the witch trials, but it is still from the nineteenth century. Do you have ancestors who lived in Salem?” Luke questions.
“Uh...um...well, I’m really not sure. I don’t think so. The Pierce family adopted me years ago in Italy, which is where I was born,” I try to explain.
“Adopted you and your twin brother Alexander?” Nathanial asks with surprise.
“Yeah, that’s right. They came to Italy and found us, which is when Alexander and I became part of the Pierce family,” I confirm stiffly. I start to panic, knowing everything can come crashing down any minute now.
“That’s cool. Maybe I can help you find out about your birth relatives,” Luke offers.
“I don’t know. The Pierce family is the only one that matters to me now.” I try to detour him. I never expected this. Who would have expected when we saved Matilda all those years ago that the picture of us, claiming her body would end up in a history book. I can only hope I explained it well enough. I need to change the subject. Maybe I should ask Luke about basketball or about Nathanial as a child. I need something to distract everyone. I pretend to flip through the remainder of the book.
Just then, a scream comes from the kitchen. I can already smell the blood. Mrs. McCord cut herself, and Luke and Nathanial rush to her aide.
With my hand covering my mouth, I announce, “Sorry, but please excuse me. I can’t handle the blood after everything that happened on Friday night.”
I hurry outside to get some air. I feel the hunger taking over, burning inside of me, and I sense my eyes turning black. My head begins to spin and then pounds and I become dizzy. My throat and chest burn with hunger, and I know I need to calm myself. My jaw is aching, I can feel the teeth in my mouth enlarging and sharpening as my fangs start to protrude.
I look up and see Alexander there, ready to talk me down. I can still smell the blood. It is the only thing I can smell. I am sometimes grateful Alexander likes to spy on me so much. He’s just what I need, and he calms my insecurities easily. He holds my head, forcing me to stare him straight in his eyes as he connects our minds and slowly calms me.
Luke and Nathanial finish bandaging their mother, and Nathanial comes out to check on me. Alexander hurries off into the bushes so he won’t be seen. It’s a close call, but because of his gift and our super hearing and speed, he is able to leave just as Nathanial reaches the door, assuring me he will stay close and connected.
As Nathanial steps outside, I glance up at him and become even calmer. He has such a powerful influence over me. I keep my head slightly lowered, as I do not want him to see my eyes, but through my peripheral vision I watch him walking over to me, his head slightly bent downwards, trying to see my face.
“Are you alright, sweetie?” Nathanial wraps a jacket over my shoulders and sits on the porch swing next to me.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” I refuse to look him in the face, for I don’t want him to see my eyes. “I guess I’m more upset over your attack than I let on,�
� I try to explain. “You mean so much to me. I never want any harm to come to you,” I continue, waiting for him to stop me.
“I understand. I was so worried that the man would hurt you, and I wanted to keep you safe, but I got hurt, and that hurt you. I want to protect you forever,” he confesses.
“Nathanial, that is so sweet, but really I am okay. There is nothing to protect me from,” I insist.
“Even if it is just protecting you from pain, I feel things for you that I have never felt before, and I never want to see you hurt or sad. If there is anything at all I can do to make things easier or happier for you, I will.”
“I understand. I want to protect you as well, and that is something I have already failed at. You were hurt because I wanted to go for a walk.”
“Our attack was not your fault. We should be grateful. If it was anyone else, they would probably be dead. Alexander is very protective of you, and his spying on us is what saved us.”
I can’t disagree with him, because as he knows the story, that is all true. If any other student had gone out, they would probably be dead, killed by the rogue vampire. I may not have protected Nathanial, but some other poor soul was saved that night, and I can be grateful for that. Nathanial is only okay because of me and my family.
“Sophia, you have brought out feelings in me that I never thought existed. Some of the things you told my brother tonight were new to me. I knew you were adopted from when Danika explained your family dynamics, but never knew you were born in Italy. My point is I want you to feel comfortable enough to tell me anything. I want to know everything about you, every inch of your being.”
“I never think about being adopted or from Italy. I have been in North America for what seems like forever. It is just a part of the past and is not important to me any longer. I want to tell you everything, but some things are just so difficult to explain,” I begin to confide a little.
“You can tell me anything. Nothing you say will ever change how I feel about you, and I will never leave you. I don’t know if I could live without you now that I found you.” He sighs and holds my hand gently. He lifts my chin with his finger to look into my eyes and continues. “I know we have so much more to learn about each other, and I want to know it all. I hope we can have a lifetime together to learn it, but why not start now?”
“I want to learn everything about you too.” I smile ever so softly, slightly turning up the corners of my mouth.
“Sophia, I know it has only been fourteen weeks since we first met, but I knew from that first moment that you were the one.” He takes a deep breath. “Sophia Pierce, I love you, and I always will. You’ve shown me what it means to live. Now I want you to share your life with me, and I want to share mine with you.” He looks so incredibly nervous and, the way his hair is blowing in the light breeze pulls at my heart, he is so vulnerable and doesn’t even know it.
Even though Matilda, Alexander, and Constance have all told me Nathanial and I belong together, this surprises me. I know how I feel, but I just never expected him to love me. I stand up, turn in front of him, and drop to my knees. He is completely still, not sure of what I’m doing. I lean in toward him, resting my head on his chest over his heart. I listen to the rapid beating of it, a beautiful sound. All the hunger I felt has now left me and the only thing I feel now is love. “Nate...” I look up at him, running my fingers through his beautiful hair. “I am completely and utterly head-over-heels in love with you. I too, have loved you from the moment we met. You’ve shown me what love is and what it means to live with love. I’ve never met anyone like you, and I never thought I would. I didn’t believe I could ever deserve anyone like you, but now that I found you, I don’t want to let you go.”
He places his hands on either side of my face. “We were made for each other, sweetie.” he says softly as he pulls me closer to him until our lips meet. They fit perfectly together, like two missing puzzle pieces.
Luke peaks his head out the door. “Hey there, lovebirds, Mom’s okay, but we are going to go out for dinner instead.”
Nathanial gets up and helps me up. He leads me inside. “Mom, Dad, I was wondering if the two of you would mind if Sophia and I just stay here? We can order some pizza and talk.”
“Not at all, son, just mind your manners and be the gentleman we raised you to be,” Mr. McCord answers. He then helps his wife with her coat and prepares to leave.
“Mrs. McCord?” I squeak.
“Yes dear?”
“I hope you’re okay. I’m extremely sorry about my reaction to your injury,” I say, ashamed.
“No need to worry yourself. I’m fine. Nothing a Band-aid couldn’t fix. I understand. I hope you are doing okay, and please know we are always here for you if you need to talk...or anything. You and Nate have both been through a lot this past week, and I am sure it will take a while to heal emotionally. I just want you to know we understand what you have gone through and that we are here for you.” The woman who–in any other life–might have been my future mother-in-law hugs me before leaving for dinner.
Immortal Embrace Page 27