Vampiric: Chapter Twelve, Part 4

Months passed like hours. The first couple were spent between sleeping and drinking. Against my personal desires, Drei helped me build up a resistance to my thirst, ensuring it would become easier over time. When I was awake, he brought news as I still wasn’t strong enough to leave the room.

I was shocked to hear Caroline’s revolution faltered and failed, withering away until only the bloggers vaguely remembered it had ever existed. Drei had said after she believed me dead, she began to lose heart in her project, blaming herself. Not even Ian could pull her from her guilt long enough to finish a broadcast. Slowly, she lost supporters as the call to action failed to be delivered and the news played it down as a joke. I was somewhat disappointed not even that insult could pull her from her depression.

With that came the truth regarding the shooting. In short, it was an anti-C group led by Martin—bitter at having not been given leadership over the camp—and Conan—sore about being found out as a snake. The long version: they had convinced a group of people that what Caroline was fighting for was far more sinister and would result in the extermination of “the pure.” Those poor dopes were talked into setting up a hit, but not for Caroline. With both of their leaders having a score to settle, and Martin too stupid to realize the revolution wasn’t remotely air-related, they set the hit for me. Martin had convinced Conan I had never been apprehended or killed and thus was the leader, with Caroline simply playing the front woman.

As much as that should have angered me, I felt sorry for them. Drei didn’t say anything explicitly, but I knew he was plotting something. It was against my better half to let him plan, but I overlooked it. They had, after all, shot me three times, even if they hadn’t been the ones to pull the trigger.

Drei also brought me magazines and papers so I could keep up with the rest of current events. At first I ignored them, not wanting to know what was happening, but was soon drawn into the tragedies of the world. It helped to re-motivate me. I had more time, but I wasn’t utilizing it, and I felt somewhat guilty about sleeping it away.

He was ecstatic I still had my element; he had been worried I would have lost it in my turning. To be honest, I had wondered the same thing until I began experimenting. If anything, I felt stronger and more in control. It seemed my turning had worn away any fears I had blocking my full potential. Either that, or it was having death nearly inhabit my body.

Even after I was physically strong enough to leave the room, Drei wouldn’t allow me to leave the apartment. He insisted I couldn’t for a while longer; not until it had all blown over. So to keep me entertained, he would encourage my experiments and shower me with gifts, occasionally kisses—but that was only rarely as he feared my new condition might cloud my judgment. Though often disappointed, I was grateful. It felt like a new entity lived inside me alongside my element. But this one came forward at his touch and terrified me. Drei promised I would adjust to that as well, learning to eventually control it.

One evening, after nine months of healing and adjusting, I sat watching the news; Drei was in the kitchen. They were covering a protest over a newly endangered rainforest and a recent natural disaster in a Pacific Island nation. Somewhere between the stories and everything else they reported, something clicked in my mind. Something rather unexpected.

“Drei?” I called, trying to determine how I felt. My mind raced between excited, frightened, serious, and calm.

“Yes?” he replied, handing me a mug of blood. I could feel his eyes taking in my mind’s dilemma before finally deciding on serious excitement.

“I think I know what I’m supposed to do,” I whispered, saying it aloud causing a bubble of excitement in my chest. I could barely contain myself. After so long, it seemed ridiculously easy to not have discovered forever ago.

“Truly?” he asked, measuring my response and not wanting to be taken in by a false alarm.

Staring at him, almost unable to see him for watching my idea bloom before me—taking definite shape and seeming to smile back at me—I knew it was too right to be wrong. I couldn’t be wrong; not this time. Not about this.

“I’m certain.”

End Book Two

Vampiric: Chapter Twelve, Part 3

It felt almost like the air had been sucked from my lungs. None of this was making the least bit of sense and it was starting to unnerve me. Why couldn’t he just come out and say whatever it was he was avoiding? He wasn’t making anything better or easier. It only seemed to be messier and more puzzling.

“I don’t understand,” I conceded slowly, hoping against odds the answer would come before he said it. His hesitancy was making me fear it, whatever it was.

“I lost my sisters, and it nearly ruined me,” he whispered. “I could not imagine what losing you would be like, and I never wanted to know.”

“Drei…what did you do?”

He stood, my slipping from his as though he had forgotten it was there, and started pacing along the foot of the bed. “What I did is unforgivable and I understand if you loathe me,” he said, refusing to look at me. “I never wished my fate on anyone—least of all you…but I cannot undo what has been done.”

“What did—” It clicked. I had changed, but I hadn’t died. Not entirely. “You turned me,” I whispered, not sure how I felt about it. On one hand, it meant I could be with Drei and it was considerably more difficult for me to die. It also meant I hadn’t failed yet. But on the other, it meant facing the Council, for they would know eventually. It meant never growing old or living a full life. Would I be able to have children if I wanted them?

“I could not imagine living without you longer than I had already,” he murmured, his pacing stopped but his gaze hidden in shame.

I stood—or tried to, I should say—to go to him, instead bringing him to me as my legs crumpled under my weight. “You are still suffering side effects,” he explained, helping me into bed again. “You will be weak for a while, until your body adjusts. It doesn’t help you were injured when I—” The sentence completed itself, despite my fogginess. “Your wounds are healed, however,” he offered hopefully.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I said, “I love you, Drei. Nothing, not even this, can change that.”

“Not even the way I treated you?”

“I never stopped loving you.”

“Neither I you.” He held me in his arms, the embrace familiar but strange. If anything, it was more powerful, strengthened by his relief and our former separation.

Then the moment was ruined by me and my newly acquired thirst. He laughed uneasily, though he tried to feign lightheartedness. He left briefly and returned with a mug of warm, dark liquid. “Animal blood,” he offered.

“Do I have to?” My stomach felt sickened by the thought as my mouth watered for it.

“You will grow accustomed to it.”

“I don’t believe you.” I held out against drinking it a while longer before thirst won out. Surprisingly, I wasn’t tempted to gag at the coppery liquid. If anything, I wanted more. But Drei said I needed to learn to curb my thirst early on before I began experiencing blood lust. I wasn’t strong enough to press the issue.

“You need more sleep,” he insisted, setting the empty mug on the bedside table. “That is the only way to regain your strength.”

“You’re always telling me to sleep,” I teased, lying down again, exhaustion washing over me.

“Because you seldom tell yourself,” he replied, grinning, his fingertips gliding down my scar-less arm. I closed my eyes, enjoying his touch, soaking it up after having longed for it.

“Thank you,” I whispered, feeling myself drift off.

“Do not thank me for my selfishness,” he murmured softly into my ear as he lay beside me.

I thought about telling him how unselfish he had been. His motive was selfish, but in retrospect, he had done so much. He had given me the deepest secret he had as well as bought me more time to figure things out. He had saved me from failing, and no one else could have given me that. No one.

Vampiric: Chapter Twelve, Part 2

“The property was engulfed in flame by the time I returned. At first I was stunned, not understanding what was happening. Then I rushed inside, searching for my sisters. Ashlyn and Avery were already…they were so still when I found them. From what I could tell, they had been restless and playing a game in the parlor. The door had been left barely open and my sisters had been pressed against it as if that is where they had fallen. I carried their asphyxiated corpses outside, unable to stand the thought of them burning. I ran back inside for my parents, finding them dead and bloodied, their skin already beginning to burn. The rancid smell was embedding itself into my skin and burning my nostrils, so I left, unable to do anything more.

“When I returned to where I had left my sisters, she sat there, waiting; my sisters were nowhere to be seen. She taunted me, saying I had brought this upon them. No one refused her, and that was why they had to be taken from me. Then she wrapped her arms around me, beginning her seductions anew. I tried to kill her, not fully understanding what or who she was, but knowing I wanted her dead;” his anger seeped into his words, his voice shaking again but from emotions far more sinister than pain. “Knowing she deserved to be dead.

“I was seized from behind by two of her boys, several more circling us. She traced a finger along my face, explaining how she loved my energy and was glad I had made it difficult for her. Then she bit me.

“When I woke a few days later, I found she had changed me, one of her boys explaining what that meant exactly. He said I was hers, and that meant she could use me however she wished; then he fed me my first meal. I was shocked when he threw the woman at me. She was bleeding from a cut in her neck and I realized how famished I was. That woman was not my last, but each that I fed on, I regretted later,” he said, though I wasn’t sure why he was telling me this. Knowing he had killed people…I understood it was his condition, but it can be difficult to see your hero as…flawed.

“Not long after my awakening, she called me to her; she promised if I behaved she would tell me what had happened to my sisters. Where they had been buried.” He shook his head, clutching my hand between both of his. I hadn’t realized how painful it was for him when I had asked before. Never in my dreams did I think it could be this horrible.

“Years passed in what seemed like days, and each time I would request that one bit of information I wanted, she refused me. She insisted I had failed to be attentive enough. I had yet to accomplish this for her, or that. Somehow, I had managed to displease her. And yet I had done everything she asked of me and more. I abandoned my humanity and buried my feelings of remorse after each hunt; I gave her no reason to despise me. Every time she denied me, though, I grew to loathe her more.”

Drei stopped talking and studied our hands, as though that image gave him strength. As though it reminded him I wasn’t her, and I wasn’t here to hurt him.

“You don’t have to tell me everything now,” I told him. His amethyst eyes held mine, a look of disbelief obvious, as though I was missing something. And I probably was. But how could he expect me to catch all the little things he wasn’t saying when I was worried about what telling me this was doing to him?

“You do not understand what is happening yet,” he whispered, glancing away again. After another moment of silence—in which I couldn’t help but wonder why he felt it had to be done now when we had eternity—he began again. “I overheard her speaking, one day, of how she would never tell me where they were. She treasured my company too much. At dusk, before the rest awoke for a night of ravaging, I killed all of them. Decapitating each one in their sleep, and setting the place ablaze.

“I wandered then, unable to die and unable to live; I avoided feeding until I absolutely had to, and could usually be found drunk and unmotivated, occasionally brawling with drunken humans. It seemed the worst existence to be stuck in…until someone came along and gave me a bit of hope.” A smile cracked his lips. “Gloria found me brawling with a human. She told me to stop searching and then walked away.”

“You followed her,” I said, sitting up. I wasn’t sure how long I could stay sitting up, considering I felt light-headed and ill after doing so. Drei perched on the edge of the mattress beside me, taking my hand in his again.

“Of course. Gloria is how I learned of elementals, clairvoyant vampires, and about the emptiness filling me. She told me not to give up on love because it had not given up on me. But for the meantime, I had to stop seeking it, else it would continue to elude me. It was not until speaking with her, I even realized love was for what I had been searching. The moment she said it, though, I knew it was true.

“After my conversation with her, I recalled the legend of the Lady of the Moon. She had always fascinated me, and I had studied her extensively throughout my living days. So I vowed to her, if she would bring me love someday, I would strive to deserve it.”

“Did you?” I asked, watching him carefully. He seemed so fragile as he spoke, I was terrified he would break and leave me alone in this place. As disappointed as I was that he was here to begin with, having him with me was better than being alone.

“I am not there yet,” he chided gently, squeezing my hand again, a smile barely visible on his lips. “Over the next few hundred years, between trying to locate my sisters while avoiding remembering my actions, bettering myself emotionally, and, in the past few decades, searching for and saving elementals, I began to find a balance in my life. The anger was still there, the first response to anything unpleasant, but it was no longer ruling alongside grief. Stoicism was my aim, and when I came across Valetta, she seemed at first to help that goal be attainable.

“For the longest time, I had thought she was the one I was to love. That was when I built my garden,” he said, holding my gaze again. “It was to help soothe unpleasantness and, in part, be a gift. Gloria stopped my thoughtlessness. She was not the one, nor had she ever been. She provided love, but I had none in return for her as much I longed to—which was a truth I could not deny. I valued Valetta, but I felt obligated to behave in ways to communicate love for her. Valetta did not handle the truth well. For many years, she was understandably upset;” he hung his head and furrowed his brow. “I did not mean to harm her emotions, but I could not allow us both to live untruthfully, and she did eventually forgive me, though, as you might know, her protectiveness is still fierce.”

“I definitely know,” I said, grinning sheepishly as I remembered how cold she had once been toward me. It seemed like forever since I had seen her, longer so since she had despised me.

“When Gloria first told me of you,” he continued, glancing at me again, “I had the most remarkable urge to bring you myself. We had never harbored an air elemental before, and I had thought that was why I was so eager. I had not meant to contact you before you had an inkling of the changes you would undergo, but seeing you struggle those nights to sleep, I could not help myself. You reminded me of my sisters in your restlessness. It was not until later I discovered how unlike them you were—are at times. How troubled and unhappy you were, yet stuck where you had no wish to be, even if you would not admit as much to yourself.

“Before I had reached this realization, your similarity to my sisters was unbearable. I had not meant to…but I found myself biting you.”

“So that was you.”

“You knew all the while,” he said, as though he might have raised an eyebrow at me had the situation been different. “I did not dare trust myself after that. If I lost myself in thinking of my sisters, I was sure to turn you, and that would be unacceptable. I knew that. Yet I could not help but return occasionally and watch your growth. You were never to know I was there, but I could not help but let myself be known when those men proved their intentions were dishonorable. Particularly towards you.”

I brushed a lock of hair from his pale face. “Thank you for that. You didn’t have to, but you saved me anyway.”

“But I did,” he said, shock lacing his voice. “I have already said you reminded me of my sisters, but I had come to realize you were different from them in so many ways. As you healed, I volunteered my stories, hoping they would help you. And as I did, I grew more protective of you, as I had been of my sisters, but…in a way that made little sense to me. It remained that way until it was far too late for me to alter the situation.”

“What do you mean?” I recalled his protectiveness, thinking of it then as unnecessary. Confusion kept clouding my thoughts and I didn’t see how this explained anything.

“I was—am in love with you. With the Council, the emotion is as punishable as the deed,” he said solemnly.

“Drei,” I said, smiling and trying to cheer him up. “We don’t have to worry about them anymore.”

Drei turned from me and his whole body seemed to sag under a new weight. “Abriel, we do.”

Vampiric: Chapter Twelve, Part 1

Chapter Twelve: The Missing Pieces of the Puzzle

Wherever I had ended up was dark. In all my imaginings of death, I had never thought it would be dark. It had always been bright—on the brink of blinding—with a gentle melody leading me along to a place full of people who knew me, who had been waiting for me. To be in darkness made my failure seem far more stark.

“Before I explain,” Drei’s voice said from the darkness, “I need to tell you the story you’ve been requesting to hear.”

Hearing him so close wasn’t a comfort. I was terrified by the thoughts of what could have happened to him, especially after I had wanted him to stay safe. Being here—if it was where I thought I was—was not by any means safe.

“Where are you?” I asked, my voice harsh, my throat dry and constricted. Another oddity; I didn’t think death meant you still suffered bodily needs like thirst.

A lamp came on, temporarily blinding me. Once my eyes adjusted from the shock, I saw Drei sat on the edge of a nearby chair, hunched forward and seeming unable to look at me.

“Right here,” he whispered, his eyes dark and sorrowful.

The light partially illuminated the room around us. The entire space was dark, heavy curtains drawn over what appeared to be the only window. I had been tucked under sheets and thick woolen blankets on a bed. Thus far, the only thing consistent with my imaginings of death was that I didn’t feel like myself; something was very odd and not quite right with me.

 “Everything will make sense when I finish,” Drei said; I could have sworn I could feel his insecurity. That couldn’t be, though, because I remembered losing touch with the air in the hospital. I decided to trust Drei would make sense of this all.

“Okay,” I said, watching him carefully.

“Nearly 400 years ago, before I was turned, I met someone,” he said softly, the shame rising from the memory engulfing him. “At the time, I was finishing my studies at university. A few of my peers went to celebrate the end of exams, though most of us had another the following day. It was at the pub where she noticed and seduced me. There was no hiding what she was doing; she openly admitted what she wanted. When I resisted, insisting I could not partake that night, nor anytime soon as I was returning home after the commencement exercises, she told me I would be unable to resist her. Unfortunately, that was also the truth.

“She released me from her spell long enough to pass my final exam and receive my diploma. I had planned to make my escape after the ceremony and return home, but she awaited my exit and seduced me anew. I spent the next several weeks with her, not realizing how much time had elapsed until a letter arrived from home, requesting my immediate return. She was livid, insisting I would be unable to leave.” He rubbed his temples as though he could still hear her protests. “I knew I had to go. I missed my sisters, and she had underestimated the strength of my love for them. So one day, as she rested, I left, hoping that was the last I would see of that place.”

“What happened?” I asked, my voice still scratchy but slowly returning to normal.

Running an unsteady hand through his hair, he said, “A month later, she showed up in my bed chambers. There was no way she could have been there, let alone have known that is where I was. She scolded me for leaving her, insisting it had been a poor choice. That I wanted to please her, keep her contented, or she would drain me. It was my first indication as to her true nature. She presented me an option, then: I could devote myself to her and leave my family straight away, or I could deny her. Though she guaranteed I would not like the consequences of denying her, I…I could not imagine disappearing from my sisters’ lives. They needed me…they were still young and impressionable…you understand.” His voice was pleading, as if trying to convince me they didn’t deserve their fate, whatever it had been. “And I believed myself intelligent and resourceful enough to elude whatever consequences she promised.”

“Drei,” I whispered, not wanting him to continue. His hands and voice shook from the pain of the memory; I reached a hand out to him, though he was just out of reach. For as long as I had wanted to know, I didn’t want him plagued by remembering after he had worked so hard to forget. I hated seeing him pained, especially when there was little I could do about it.

“No, you must know to understand,” he asserted, moving his seat closer and taking my hand. I could still feel the pain and shame clouding the air around him, but the contact seemed to renew his resolve and stop his trembling.

“For weeks she showed up, issuing the same offer, and each time I remained insistent on staying. One evening, I had been taking a stroll, considering my future and whatnot when she appeared. I thought she was there for the same reason she had been the nights previously, so I ignored her. Until she stopped me. She teased me a while, asking for another chance to fix things between us. When I explained I would have to refuse her, she stalled with small talk. After an appropriate interval of time, she let me go with no proposal, no threats or consequences. I was sure I had finally convinced her she did not need me. How naïve I was,” Drei lamented, cradling his head in his free hand, gripping tighter to mine.

Vampiric: Chapter Eleven, Part 2

“I will tell her,” Drei said when I started coming to again. I felt different; I was just as close to death as I had been, but I felt emptier now…less like a person.

Opening my eyes, even Drei was blurry, and his voice was beginning to drift away from me. He bowed his head to kiss my hand, his cheeks shining. “They removed the bullets…but you have suffered a great deal of internal damage and blood loss, and…” His voice trailed off. What feeling I had left told me his hands were trembling. “Your condition has been stabilized, but they cannot be sure for how long.” Even without the air to tell me, I knew he was in an immense amount of pain, and I wanted to stop him from hurting. As much as he had put me through, I didn’t want that for him.

A spot of blue showed up and pulled Drei’s attention away. He whispered at it to leave him alone. To go away. Slowly, he turned back to me. “I cannot live without you, Abriel,” he murmured, the words barely reaching me. “The past months have been so incredibly difficult—I am immeasurably sorry. I left you alone and—”

“I love you,” I somehow managed, feeling wetness on my hand, though that might have been my imagination. My lips formed the words, but I couldn’t be sure they had been said.

“Abriel, no. Please stay with me, please—”

“Take care,” I mouthed, closing my eyes. There was no more time to stall. It was done.

“You cannot leave me—Abriel, stay with…”

Everything was done.

I had failed.

Vampiric: Chapter Eleven, Part 1

Chapter Eleven: Tear Stained

I couldn’t tell if I was in pain. It might have been so intense I couldn’t recognize that’s what it was; but it might have been nonexistent, and my brain was just trying to find it.

On the ambulance ride, the EMT kept talking, kept saying the same things Caroline had. She was there, too—still hysterical and panicking—demanding he do something while he argued he was trying and needed her to calm down. As they fussed around me, trying to stop the bleeding in my back, everything started blurring on the edge of my vision. It wasn’t long before I couldn’t make out any of his features, but Caroline was easy to differentiate; her hair was flaming, almost as brilliantly as she was. Her element seemed to be wrapped around her in bright crimson ribbons. Even after I blinked, trying to clear my vision, the ribbons were still there.

The blurriness didn’t go away as another group of nurses and doctors swarmed me. They were all talking, reading stats and asking questions. None of them seemed to have faces, though a few had blue or green ribbons wrapped around them. The only thing that made sense was trying to stabilize my condition—at least until they figured out the extent of the damage—and whether it would be better or worse to remove the bullets.

One thing that scared me was the stale air they kept forcing into my lungs. It wasn’t the air I was afraid of; it was how it didn’t feel right in my system. That, and the fact I didn’t seem connected to the air around me anymore. Before I could have improved my hearing, picked up on other’s emotions and thoughts. Now, I couldn’t do any of that. And, worse yet, it felt like I was going deaf. All of the chatter from the nurses was dying away into oblivion. Even Caroline’s screaming voice was being pulled away until it was barely a whisper.

“Let me through,” someone was saying, his voice coming across clearly despite having lost all of the others. It rang in my ears, startling, comforting, and familiar. “Abriel,” he whispered, his voice drowning out all of the other noise.

“Drei,” I breathed shakily. A blinding pain shot through me as if talking was against the rules. It died away and I could feel his hands wrapped around mine, his lips brushing against my knuckles.

I couldn’t begin to explain how strange it was to see him, for him to be there. He hadn’t spoken to me in almost eight months. In two thirds of a year. Yet here he was, as if nothing had ever separated us. Though I couldn’t feel anything inside me, I was willing to bet my heart was racing.

A white shape passed by the door and Drei followed it, demanding to talk to whomever it was.

“What are you planning to do that will heal her?” he demanded, leaving no question they would do otherwise. I couldn’t make out what the white shape was saying, but Drei responded, “I am the closest to family she has. What are the options?”

It was a long time before Drei answered whatever babble the shape had spilled. I had closed my eyes, trying not to think about dying. Even if everyone else would like to think they could delay it, I could feel it setting in. It was why the air wasn’t responding to me anymore. At this point, it was inevitable but I seemed to be the only one aware of it. What was worse wasn’t that I was dying; it was I still hadn’t done the one experiment I had wanted to try.

But he was here. If my heart stopped beating in the next moment, I would be okay with it. As much as I disliked her way of bringing him back to me, she did. And for that, I was eternally grateful.

“So if I say yes to the procedure, she may live?” Drei asked, still conversing with the white shape. There was more soft murmuring and then he replied, “Do it. Whatever it takes, do it.”

When he returned to my side, I wanted to tell him no. It wasn’t worth it. He was only putting off what was bound to happen.

“They will take you soon,” he whispered, brushing my hair back. “I shall be waiting here when you wake.” I wanted to promise I’d wake up again, but I couldn’t guarantee it; I couldn’t even force the words out. “You will wake again.”

He followed them as they prepared to take me into the operating room. Part of me knew he couldn’t be there with me, but it didn’t stop me from wishing he would be. Just in case I wasn’t able to see him again.

Vampiric: Chapter Ten, Part 6

By mid-April, Caroline had deemed me emotionally stable enough to move out if I wanted. At the risk of sounding unappreciative, I had to admit I was more than ready to do so. We had already toured a few apartments on the upper side of town, at her insistence. What I wanted to see was apartments on the older side of town, though. I wanted the old brick building with no elevator—as crazy as she claimed it to be.

“This is it?” she asked uneasily, finding the building without much trouble. We had just finished at the spa, using our Christmas gifts for much needed relaxation.

“This is it,” I confirmed. I adored it from the outside with its old redbrick and traces of climbing ivy. The windows were shiny as though newly replaced, but the front door had seen better days; the stoop was narrow, but provided enough shelter if you needed to open an umbrella before stepping out.

“There’s not even a park nearby,” she complained, still trying to convince me to stay on her side of town. “And parking is ridiculous.”

“I don’t drive,” I said as she turned the corner, finally finding a space.

“But I do.”

Smiling, I said, “It’s not going to be your apartment.”

“That’s not what you’re going to say when you find out the bathroom is in the kitchen.”

“You’ve been watching too many old movies.” This apartment was at the top of my list and I could hardly wait to see it.

“Slow down,” she called after me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I told her, “No. You hurry up.”

The apartment I was looking at was on the fifth floor, and Caroline had plenty to say about that as well. The landlady was waiting inside for us, opening curtains and windows. Though the space was devoid of furniture, it was amazing and beautiful. The living room had hardwood floors and was spacious for as old as the building was. Off to the side was the kitchenette, complete with stove, refrigerator, and microwave. There was even a pantry disguised as a closet. The bedroom was on the opposite side. It was small, but workable, and the closet space was well worth it; the walls were a beautiful shade of pale violet and the floors were hardwood as well—I’d need to buy some throw rugs. Next to the bedroom, also accessible from the living room was the one bathroom. It was also a fabulous size considering I was the only one I had to worry about really using it. There was even baby blue tiling on the floor and in the shower.

I was in love. No matter how many things Caroline counted as negatives, it was all I wanted. The landlady admitted it was actually a little above the price range I had been looking for when I spoke with her on the phone, but it was all inclusive so my utilities would be on at move-in without any work on my part.

“Of course,” I said, still taking it all in. Something about the space just felt right. It felt like what I needed to move on completely.

 “Are you sure?” Caroline asked, still pouting a little. “You’d need to hire a super cleaning crew to get all of the dirt out of this place.”

“You’re one to talk,” I replied, grinning. “With as much carpet as you have, you can’t even see all the dirt you’re harboring.”

“Hey,” she said, indignantly. “Be nice. I’m driving you.” Walking through the bedroom again, just to remember everything until it was mine, she checked her cell phone. “Speaking of rides, we’re supposed to be meeting Ian.”

Glancing back at her, I nodded. Since the letters, we had started biweekly broadcasts and were working on setting up a march. At this point, we were finalizing the details, preparing to announce our plans.

“Come on already,” she insisted, grabbing my hand and pulling me away, briefly explaining we had a business meeting to the landlady. She smiled and I promised to be in touch.

“It’s perfect,” I said as we raced down the stairs.

“Glad. But I wish you’d live closer to me. It’s safer.”

“Nowhere is safe.”

Caroline started saying something else as we emerged onto the sidewalk and headed for the car. My attention had been drawn elsewhere, though. Something had changed in the air, some emotion. There were only a handful of people on the street and it was easy to tell they weren’t the source. Turning around, I saw it; the source of the change was a black SUV. Whoever was inside was sending out a unique mix of bitterness and concentration, as though stressed out. The passenger window rolled down as they neared, and, listening, I could hear the click of a gun being cocked.

A thousand different words and thoughts ran through my mind. Turning back, I reached out, trying to warn her, certain she was the target. “Caro—”

The air was sucked from my lungs as I was stopped in my tracks. The same instant I stopped, I was propelled into Caroline, her eyes wide and terrified. She was hysterical, nearly beside herself as she searched for her cell phone, demanding I stay with her. Caroline kept repeating it. That I needed to stay with her. All I could think was how I had been wrong. How, for some reason, my blood seemed to be covering her hands.

Vampiric: Chapter Ten, Part 5

Caroline and I were finishing prepping for the party they had planned for my birthday—lucky 22, Caroline insisted—w hen her cell phone started singing a rock hit.

“I’ll get it,” I said, twisting my hair behind my head so it would be ready for a clip. “Hello?”

“Turn on the news,” Ian said, exhilarated. “Caroline needs to see it, too.”

 Keeping the phone to my ear with the help of my shoulder, I picked up the remote as I asked, “Which one?”

“They’re all playing the same thing.”

“Who is it?” Caroline asked, donning a lacy black choker to go with her simple v-neck dress.

“Ian,” I said, finding a news station and seeing the red letter C hovering over the newscaster’s shoulder in a window.

“Holy crap,” Caroline gasped, standing beside me.

“It seemed last night’s broadcast from the infamous C was not just a prank,” the woman was saying as another window popped up with a frozen image of Caroline’s lips—the only thing anyone outside of our company ever saw. “While most viewers expected nothing to come of it, this afternoon’s mail revealed very much the opposite. Each household in the nation, according to our reports, received one of these crimson letters in her namesake.”

“We did it,” Ian said, startling me. I had forgotten I was still clamping the phone to my ear with my shoulder—which was easy enough to do as I had released my hair and dropped the remote when I had found the station. “The techs, your idea, my technique, her project…it’s really starting.”

The newscaster kept talking about the shock of receiving it, taking time to read through some of the online comments from the day as her image was replaced with photos they had taken of households displaying the sign in their area.

I was speechless. There was nothing to say. Ian had already said it best. We did it. We had officially taken the step from talk to walk and people were responding positively. People really were with us. More than we had thought, even.

“Give me the phone,” Caroline demanded. Her fingers wrapped around it as soon as it was within reach. “We’re brilliant!” She wrapped her free arm around my shoulders. “It’s finally here.”

Vampiric: Chapter Ten, Part 4

Caroline joined us then, sitting at her desk, tossing me a pad of paper. “How do we want our supporters to show the government this isn’t all hot air?”

“What about having them do something with the flag?” Ian asked, slipping easily into business-mode.

“No, it’s too direct an attack too soon,” Caroline argued, tapping a finger against her chin. “What about buying something?”

“Not everyone is going to want to spend money on something they won’t necessarily use,” I countered, logically, surprised I had switched gears as quickly as Ian. “How about an online petition or something like that?”

“We already have things like that. It doesn’t mean they’re all serious,” Ian returned, shaking his head. “We could do a download or something along those lines?”

“Nah,” Caroline dismissed, waving it off. “It wouldn’t be accurate. Some people would download just to see what it was. It has to be just for the supporters. The people who are taking this seriously. A game, maybe?”

“You’d run into the same problem,” I said. “People would buy it just to have it. And it would take ages to set up. You want something they can do now.”

“A nationwide march day,” Ian suggested. “It could work, right?”

“And not everyone who may support us could get off work,” Caroline said, pursing her lips. “Besides, that’s a lot of work to organize in not a lot of time. We want it to show up soon after the broadcast.”

“What about…” The idea was only half formulated in my mind, but it had promise. I remembered the sermons on the plagues of Egypt from back when I attended church. The Israelites had marked their doorways so their firstborns would be safe from the hand of death.

“What?” Caroline said with an edge to her voice, twirling a hand in the air. “We’re running out of ideas, so you might as well come out with it.”

“I don’t have it all figured out,” I confessed excitedly. “But what if we had them mark their house or apartment or wherever they live?”

“How do you mean?” Ian asked, sitting forward as well.

“Like, with a certain color or marking in the window or on the door. A way to admit…they’re supporting us without forcing them to spend money or do anything extravagant.”

“But what marking?” Caroline questioned, slightly skeptical, but her eyes alight with interest.

“That’s what I haven’t figured out.”

“I got it!” Ian smacked his hands together, his face glowing with pride. “The letter C. It’s how they know you, for one.”

“And it can be red,” I added. “The color of passion, and the most related to fire.”

“We’ll only have one for windows,” Caroline said, pointing at both of us. “On the door risks being stolen. And that wouldn’t do us any good.”

“I think it’s perfect,” Ian said, sitting back and smiling.

“Great thinking, Abs,” Caroline praised

“Don’t thank me yet,” I warned, the next problem coming to mind already. “We still have to figure out distribution.”

That took us forever. Most of the people celebrating were well gone by the time we came to a conclusion. For the longest time we toyed with the idea of sending them to a major superstore, but came to the dilemma of trust. Just because they arrived didn’t mean they’d be distributed for free. Then we played with the thought of setting it up online, but that was too risky. Too easy to trace to a source. Then Ian suggested a mass mailing. To hire different companies to mass produce these decals and then mail them to every household in their region. With the sponsorship money Caroline was somehow collecting in an offshore account under her project name, C, expenses weren’t a major concern. She was even willing to pay double to ensure the product was made and shipped so they arrived the day after the broadcast. And so everyone knew what it was for, she was going to talk to our technicians about hacking a satellite or something to make the announcement truly nationwide.

It was ingenious. Provided we could pull it off.

As the sun rose that morning, we left yawning, agreeing after a much needed rest, we’d use prepaid cell phones to call every sign company in the nation, setting them up to have the decals ready to mail in three week’s time. According to Caroline, she couldn’t have asked for a better team.

Vampiric: Chapter Ten, Part 3

Our first broadcast of the year was over, a magnificent success in beginning her call to action, so it provided another excuse for us to celebrate. Even though Ian, Caroline, and I had more work to do mapping out what action we wanted our now four million plus supporters—based on conservative estimates—to take. That was our next problem.

Ian and I waited at the back of the crowd as she made the toast that would commence the fête.

“This is not a celebration of victory,” she began, smiling around at everyone. “We haven’t won anything. This is not a celebration of everyone who has claimed to be one of us and spread our message. This is a celebration of us. Of everything we’ve accomplished over the past year, and everything we will strive for this year. This is to our team members who have left, those who have joined, those who have made sacrifices on our behalf and chose to stay in our company.” Her eyes stayed a moment on mine before moving on with her toast. “To continue on for the sake of people they do not know, but want to help. As we continue on this year, let us remember that out goal isn’t to take over. Our goal is to spread truth and aid the general public in realizing if they want a better life, they’ll have to make it, because our government will not.

“So this is to us! For all we have done, and all we have yet to do.”

“To us!” the crowd cheered, downing their poison of choice.

As music started up and people broke into groups to socialize, Ian and I slipped out, heading for her office. We expected her to be delayed by questions and adoration, possibly even drunken requests for a dance. Who knew? The employees were a wide range of people, all dependable and loyal but occasionally unpredictable. It’s what made them perfect.

“Ian,” I said as we sat in our usual seats, “is there some secret you have that you’d like to share?”

His sapphire eyes darted up momentarily, a flaming eyebrow raised in puzzlement. “Such as what?”

“Such as would explain that kiss on the cheek the night you told me to talk to Caroline.”

“Yes,” he admitted, sitting forward on his elbows. “I’m madly in love with you, love.”

The seriousness in which he said it made me laugh. “Really, though,” I said. “You didn’t move. So as flattering as that would be, it’s an outright fib.”

“If you know, why are you asking?” he asked readjusting his cap of the day—a crocheted cap in a houndstooth print.

Shrugging, I sat further back in my chair. “I want to hear it from you. Just as you wanted to hear it from me.”

“Fair enough,” he conceded, grinning mischievously. “But let’s make this a touch more interesting.”

“What?” That wasn’t part of my plan.

“Entertain me,” he requested, sweeping an open hand out to his side. “I’ll still let you in on my secret, but, what do you think it is?”

“That you’re an elemental, too.”

“Since I’ll be specific, you have to be as well,” he bargained, his smile growing larger. “So which element, love? You have a 25 percent chance of guessing right.”

“Air,” I replied. His personality was just too close to mine, and which else could blow a kiss so accurately?

“Seems you’ve found me out,” he smiled, leaning back again.

“Wasn’t hard when you gave yourself away.”

“I had planned on telling you when you told me,” he confided, seriously. “Then I was called away.”

“Does Caroline know?” I inquired, curious if he had ever shared with her.

“Well, I haven’t told her in so many words, but I’ve left plenty of clues for her. Whether she pieces the puzzle together or not is her choice,” he said, shrugging. I didn’t blame him. Just as she hadn’t directly told me she was fire, and I hadn’t outright told her I was air. We had simply revealed it to our advantage.

Vampiric: Chapter Ten, Part 2

As I had expected, Caroline sat in the living room, trying fruitlessly to focus on the paperwork before her. I watched her for a few minutes, witnessing her unease as she’d lift a page, sit back to read it, only to find herself staring blindly at it the next moment and trading it for another. Letting the door close noisily behind me, I shrugged out of my coat, feeling her eyes on me as she tried telling herself she wasn’t staring.

Taking Ian’s advice, I sat on the couch across from her, saying, “We need to talk.”

Caroline nodded. For the first time since New Year’s, I studied her and was surprised to see dark circles under her eyes.

“I’m sorry for blowing you off,” I began, slowly, figuring an apology was as good a place as any to begin. “I was…so upset by everything and I didn’t want to say something I’d regret.”

“I’m just grateful you’re talking to me again,” she said. She sighed and leaned back. “I have a question, though.”

“Yes?” I had a sickening feeling I knew what it was, which was worsened by the way she wouldn’t meet my eyes. Though I wasn’t sure I was ready to answer, I realized it was now or never. I had already waited too long.

“Why did he ask you to leave?”

It was my turn to sigh and sit back. There it was. Closing my eyes, I pretended I was talking to Ian again, when it had been somewhat easy to share. “He saw you kiss me and thought it was something more—”

“—when you were promoted and kept getting called away,” she finished, shaking her head dejectedly. Caroline ran her hands over her face, her fingertips stopping, tented under her nose. “God, Abs. I’m so sorry.” When she opened her eyes, I could see the tears pooling in them.

“It isn’t completely your fault,” I said. “I should have talked to him about it sooner, and he should have spoken to me as well.”

“But if I had been thinking…I shouldn’t have—”

“Caroline.” Now that she knew, I discovered I didn’t really want her to beat herself up about it. I just wanted things to be the way they had been, even if I didn’t think it was possible. “Nothing can change what happened. You didn’t know, and you weren’t expected to.”

“I’m sure there were signs I missed…that I ignored, Abs.”

“If there were signs we were anything more than…friends, at the most, it means we were careless,” I explained poorly. To fully explain the circumstances would take forever and even then she wasn’t likely to understand. “So if you knew, that means others knew, which means what should have happened would have been much worse.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, sitting forward on her elbows.

“It’s better if you don’t know,” I replied, really not wanting to go into that. “My point is, I didn’t want to outright blame you for that and whatever else I could think of at the time. I didn’t want to jeopardize our friendship while I was angry.”

Caroline stood and plopped down next to me, throwing her arms around my shoulders. “I thank you for that. If you had yelled at me, I would probably be the one not talking to you.”

“I know;” I smiled and hugged her back.

“Want to know something?” she asked, catching my gaze.

“Hm?”

“I think I know how you were feeling…still are feeling somewhat.”

“Ian kind of told me that,” I admitted, sheepishly. “Said I was behaving just as Drei had.”

“Exactly,” she said. “What if everything that happened was just because—”

“Stop.” I shook my head and closed my eyes. “This was his choice. We’ll both live with it so long as he chooses. Maybe longer. Don’t give me hope for anything different.”

“So if he came tomorrow and apologized, would you take him back?”

The question caught me off guard. I wanted to say yes, but less than five months ago I had told her I wouldn’t. “I’ll know if it happens.” It was the only honest answer I had.

“Not if, silly. When,” she corrected, squeezing my hand. “No worries, Abs. I’ll be optimistic enough for both of us. It will happen.”

Falling asleep that night, I couldn’t help but replay her logic and begin to hope she was right—against my own cautioning desires. Hope had brought him to me before and had kept me going this long; I could only have faith hope would be on my side again.