Eternal: Chapter Twelve, Part 1

Chapter Twelve: Working Towards the Future

After I handed control to Caroline, Drei and I returned to the apartment and packed what we needed, leaving the rest. We mailed a key to Caroline, in case there was something she needed from the last two years. Leaving the apartment was my choice, and Drei didn’t ask. I was done here, and continuing to be there…the memories would have killed me more than anything else.

Part of me felt bad for leaving them without saying anything. I could imagine them searching for us afterwards, unable to find us anywhere, confused and unsure why we had disappeared. The news crews that had been at the event talked about how they hadn’t found me to express congratulations or ask questions. Some people on the site mused I had been an angel, only there to show them the way, and gone the minute they could see where they were going again.

But I had done my part, as I had said. Anything that came next was up to them. They had to take control of their own futures, make their own decisions, and find their own way. None of them needed me anymore, no matter what they thought.

Besides, Nick was dead now because of me. I was beginning to understand the pain Caroline must have felt, but this time, she wouldn’t stop. Ian wouldn’t let her. And the note I had left with our apartment key assured her I was fine.

As for Nick, we returned his body to Lily, the only family he had other than Drei and I. I didn’t go with Drei. Imagining how she was handling it tore me apart; I couldn’t even stand to map it. It took her four days to calm down enough to make a decision. His body was cremated and the ashes spread in Winnsboro, where his family died. At last he could be with them again. In that, I found some comfort; little as it was, it was something.

Eternal: Chapter Nine, Part 8

After three months touring and speaking with Nick, I was relieved to be home. Though most days went much like the first, some were more difficult in different ways. I had been felt up at least four times by guys who were chosen to check for wires, but I couldn’t say anything to them until after I was done—and I always did so with a smile. Nick wasn’t always so nice, though. Usually after they left the immediate area, he stopped them and slapped them around a little. I couldn’t agree with his methods, but I wasn’t going to stop him. If I hadn’t been personally against performing actual acts of violence, I would have done it myself.

Because I was revealing who I was and what I could do, it made it harder to be safe. People knew, the government knew, and bounty hunters were out in force. They couldn’t do anything when we were in the middle of the oration, and they typically refrained from trying afterwards given Nick was at my side—the bounty hunters didn't seem to recognize him as formerly one of their own. The point was to make me ‘disappear’ and that didn’t work if there were witnesses. So we manipulated our advantage the best we could and otherwise took every precaution of which we could think.

But after everything, it was great to be able to relax at home and see Drei again. Nick had even chilled out about the Drei-biting-me-because-I-almost-died thing by the time we returned. I think it was mostly because we were both exhausted.

Now we could sleep a little better until it was time for the next tour—this one also three months, though we had three months to prepare. The three months before we began planning the march would be spent on guest visits to anywhere that requested us via e-mail or a form on the site. I was glad to see, when I went online, Mikael and Xenia had successfully added a forum and much of the discussion concerned our speaking engagements. Some of the users also posted videos they had taken for those unable to attend an event. Caroline had been successful with her tour, as well, though it sounded as though people better connected with me—it was the little things.

A few weeks after Nick and I had returned, I was finally done visiting with everyone and catching up with what had happened in my absence. Returning to the apartment after my update with the Council, I sat on the couch, opening the laptop Caroline had bought for me so I could keep up with the website. I navigated to the site and started reading through the comments on the speaking engagements, looking to make improvements, if needed.

The door to the bedroom opened, but I didn’t pay any mind. Nick was out clubbing with Lily—a vampire whom he had been with for a while now; she was visiting for a week. Lily was also from the camp; she had left before Drei and I, but it hadn’t been until a few years ago that I'd learned where she had gone.

I figured Drei was waking up from a nap or something; it was quite late—I'd had to wait hours to see the Council because they were backed up with vampires who had used the holidays as a reason to “splurge,” as Tudor had so delicately explained. It wasn’t until I heard a heavy thump on the floor by the door I looked up. Drei stood there, slowly slipping into his shoes, kneeling to tie them. At his feet was a single bag. A bag I had only seen once before: when we had moved in.

“Where are you going?” I asked worriedly, setting the laptop on the couch next to me.

Without looking my way, he straightened again, taking a moment before he reached for his jacket. “I do not know,” he replied, shrugging into his coat, staring at the wall when he finished.

I was standing before him in a moment, feeling small compared to him, and shrinking. “Then why are you leaving?” One of my hands found his cheek, brushing his shaggy hair to the side.

“Because I am useless here,” he said softly, still refusing to even glance at me. “I need something to do. I cannot sit idly by while everyone has something to contribute.”

“But you’re wrong,” I insisted, needing him to look at me. “You aren’t useless.”

“Not even you need me,” Drei whispered, gently grabbing my hand and lowering it from his face. “Your campaign will be a wonderful success.”

I couldn’t believe what he was saying. He was the one who hadn’t wanted to come with me. If Nick hadn’t been there, I would have failed miserably. I wouldn’t have been able to stumble through the script Caroline and I had written. But if I had had my way, it would have been him there, not Nick.

“I still need—”

“I know when I am needed.” He almost never interrupted me; the only times I remembered him doing so were when things were awful, and I mean so horrendous he didn’t see another option.

Mentally I was kicking myself. I should have seen this coming. He had been distant for a while, strict for the short period after my breakdown but otherwise quiet and somber. I felt colder than I had in some time, responsible for what was happening. If I had talked to him about why he wasn’t an ambassador or in charge of something else, this wouldn’t be happening. But it was because I had forgotten, distracted by other people and things and myself. I couldn’t help thinking that if he left, despite my pleas, it would be my own fault and I would deserve it.

Vampiric: Chapter Seven, Part 2

Lily saw us off the next evening after wrapping my arms in bandages. She had cleaned them when we first arrived, she informed me, but was wrapping them so I wouldn't have to look at them. She hadn't changed at all from how I remembered her. Still smiley and bubbly with bobbed, curly blond hair.

“Thank you for everything,” I said, embracing her.

“Aw, sweetie, it really is nothing to thank me about;” she hugged me back before holding me at arm’s length. Even if it was dangerous, looking at her, she really was good for Nick. He needed her, and she needed him. Who knew for how long? But did that really matter?

“It is. Nick's lucky to have you.” Taking her hands in mine, holding them between us, I stared into her topaz eyes. “Really.”

A smile broke across her lips as she said, “Thank you for that. You really are unique, Abriel.” Shaking her head, she added, “Stop thanking me. If you can pull it off, it will all be worth it.” She squeezed my hands before letting go. Sashaying to where Drei waited a few yards away, she poked a finger at his chest. “Take care of her. Nick and I can’t always be around to help you find her.”

Drei nodded, a bemused smile curling his lips and crinkling his eyes. “I would have figured it out eventually.”

She burst out laughing. “Of course. Before she was old and wrinkled or after?”

“Thank you, Lily,” Drei said, still smiling. “You saved me a few years.”

“And saved her in time to do her part, in case you forgot.”

“I'm right here;” I was a little embarrassed they were talking so openly about me but disappointed they still managed not to reveal anything I wanted to know.

“Your ride should be here shortly,” Lily reminded Drei, turning to face me. She hugged me again, whispering, “Take care, now.” Glancing over her shoulder at Drei, she added, “Of both of you.”

He held a hand out to me, then, saying, “Yes, our ride should arrive shortly.”

Outside, the last rays of sun were still fading behind the horizon, casting long shadows across the earth.

“It's so beautiful out here,” I whispered, taking in the view. Lily's home was on a hillside, surrounded by trees and a fabulous view of the hills falling away in the distance. Everything was cast into varying degrees of gold and black; everything seemed to shimmer in the dying light.

“It is.”

“So who's our ride?” I asked, tearing my gaze away from the landscape to face him again. Since waking up, I was considerably calmer—still torn from the news of my mom, but holding together well enough.

“Caroline said she would send someone, so I presume it would be Ian or another of her drivers,” he said, trying not to seem obvious about craning his neck to see further down the road.

“There's a car on its way up, so you can relax a little.”

“You are improving,” he said distantly, slipping his hand from mine and tucking it into his coat pocket.

“What do you think I was doing the whole time? Goofing off?” I questioned playfully, hoping I was doing a decent job of hiding the sudden jab of pain in my heart.

“You?” he teased in his awkward way. “I would never assume such a position.”

“Sure you wouldn't.”

Our burgeoning banter was interrupted at the sight of the black car rolling up the drive. We walked towards it, prepared to see Ian hop out wearing some crazy cap but were treated, instead, to the sight of Caroline slipping from the driver's seat. She was dressed down in a pair of blue skinny jeans, a black band tee, and black flats with hardware accents.

“What, didn't know I could drive?” Caroline questioned, a huge smile lighting up her face.

Vampiric: Chapter Seven, Part 1

Chapter Seven: Shattered

Drei was by my side when I awoke. We were in a small, colorful room. Posters were tacked haphazardly on the walls and the quilt I was curled under was faded and worn soft. There was a single lamp lit with a square of pink chiffon thrown over it. Around the lamp, on the night table, necklaces and bracelets were strewn as decoration.

“Where are we?”

He smoothed damp hair from my face, his eyes scanning over me. “I presume you have suffered nightmares the past day,” he said.

Day? It felt like I had just fallen asleep. That horrible room and those ghastly people still seemed to be lurking behind some curtain of shadows. The room was comforting, though, as it didn’t seem likely such dangers could lurk beyond pink light.

“You have been sleeping for the past two days or so,” Drei informed me, wrapping a hand around mine. “Lily was kind enough to allow you to rest here. We are at her home.”

“Days?” I bolted upright and immediately regretted it. My head throbbed and dizziness overtook me. Cradling my head in one hand, steadying myself with the other, I asked, “Why haven't we left? It's dangerous here being so close to that place.”

Instead of answering, Drei put a hand over mine and rubbed my arm with the other, the gesture calming. “You needed rest. That, and you need to be awake when we return. Caroline tells me you are on the news as an escaped convict.”

Though that should have been startling news, it wasn’t. Not because I wasn't concerned about it, but more so because, through the headache and receding dizziness, it felt like I was forgetting something…or someone.

“Nick?”

“He should be at work, helping with the investigation of the security breech,” Drei responded, a slight twist to his lips. It was unusual to see him enjoying something like this so much. I swear, ever since he admitted he loved me, he reveled in breaking the rules. To my benefit, at least.

I realized that wasn't it. At least I was certain it was a someone and not a something. Why couldn’t I remember?

“What is it?” The glint of his wry smile dissipated.

Shaking my head—a vain hope of knocking loose whatever I was forgetting—I said, “I'm forgetting someone…but I can't remember—Mom! Where is she?” I asked, the dizziness gone and my headache a dull throb at the base of my skull. I wrapped my hands around his, holding them between us, steadying my eyes on his pale amethyst ones. He wasn't sidestepping my question. When he looked away, I read him, needing to know where she was, if she was okay.

“Why didn't she come?” I demanded, dropping his hands. I felt betrayed, but couldn't figure out why or by whom. It was either Drei, because he had to know what having her meant to me—despite how annoying she could be in her current state—or Mom, because she had finally had her chance. Granted it wasn't Dad, but it was still an unlocked door waiting to be opened. The possibility of it being Nick crossed my mind for not telling Drei in the first place Mom was there, too, or where to find her. But the moment they crossed my mind—reasons attached—I knew they were all wrong. It wasn't any of them.

“She chose to stay,” Drei said softly. “I offered to bring her along, but she said she needed to wait longer. Her time was yet to come.”

“Why did you listen to her?” I argued, anger boiling in my chest. The second he answered me, I knew by whom I felt betrayed. Myself. I had been stupid enough to think it might last. “She's crazy;” I felt tears press at my eyes.

Drei grabbed my shoulders firmly, trying to catch my gaze. I kept boring holes into the posters tacked to the walls, trying to find some answer in them and hoping someone could tell me why I had thought this wouldn’t be the case.

“Abriel;” my eyes finally met his again. “She was perfectly lucid when I asked her. She knows what she is doing is right, even if it means she must hurt you.” The memory floated above Drei's head and I snatched it away, wanting to see for myself.

She had cried as she told Drei that she had to stay behind, that she would only be in the way if she didn't. As awful as it may be, I felt some small amount of relief in seeing her cry. It at least meant she had an idea of what she was doing abandoning me again. No matter how annoying she had been, she was still my mom and I felt emptier having lost her than when I had never met her.

“You need more sleep,” he said after a moment when I didn't say anything else. As I laid back down, Drei sank to his knees, his free hand rubbing mine. “We shall leave tomorrow. I can understand your fear of staying too close for too long.” As he said this, I felt his fingers lightly brush along one of my wounds. They had started to scar.

“Are we walking?” I asked, my eyelids heavy already. I still hadn't been able to wrap my mind around why, whenever Drei was nearby, I could fall asleep so quickly.

“Not back to the city.” His amethyst eyes sparkled; “Especially not when you are in such desperate need of rest.”

“Then what?” I yawned, unable to help myself.

“You shall see when you wake tomorrow.”