The First Musical: Chapter Six: Johnathan, Part 1

I should have tucked her hair behind her ear, or touched her hand, or kissed her. I should have held her close, or said something more than gorgeous. I should have done any number of things, but I hadn’t.

I sat in the practice room for a good hour or so before I finally stopped kicking myself long enough to head to my apartment. There, the kicking recommenced, but less cruelly. My mind was dazed with thoughts of her; my ears were filled with the sound of her voice. If I closed my eyes, I could see her, and when I reached out, she didn’t run away. I imagined what her skin felt like, or her chocolate hair, or her lips against mine.

Between my imaginings, I scolded myself. Someone had hurt her, and I wouldn’t prove I wasn’t the same by trying to romance her. But was it so wrong to think, for a moment, she had the same thoughts running through her mind?

“Bastard!” Carmen screeched, her hand flying across my vision and stinging my cheek in the process. I hadn’t expected the violence, but her reaction was expected.

Tact had never been a strong suit of mine. So when I had told her she couldn’t have the lead, that she wasn’t talented enough for it, I had anticipated anger and resentment.

“I don’t have the talent for it?” Her voice grated, hurting my ears and seeming to hit just the right nerve to set a headache blooming. “But you give it to Gisele? Who doesn’t even perform? Asshole!”

“You have the second best role,” I said, expecting another slap across the face. She didn’t disappoint. This time, the promise ring on her hand left a small scratch across my cheek.

“I want the lead,” she hissed before storming off.

“But I can’t give you that.”

“Sucks for you,” she snapped over her shoulder.

“Can you at least not take it out on Gisele?”

Carmen turned on her heel and marched up to me, granting me a third smack. “I’ll do whatever the hell I want to.”

Then she was gone. I ran my hand through my hair, reminded how much I despised girls like her. They were too hotheaded. It made me really grateful she hadn’t been the one. Gisele’s anger I could handle, because it could be broken down and worn away. She didn’t harbor it because her energy was better spent elsewhere. Carmen’s fury wasn’t so simple. Hers had to be cooled off over time, and even then there was no guarantee she wouldn’t hold a grudge.

I caught sight of Gisele exiting a building across the way. I didn’t go to her, but was surprised to see her head wasn’t bowed today. In the past week, some of her confidence had returned. It was a small victory, but there was still a long way to go yet.

Baron didn’t join her, as I watched. He waved as they passed, but didn’t stop to chat at all. Either Carmen had guilted him into not talking with her, or perhaps it was something I didn’t understand. Maybe he thought she had persuaded me to give her the lead. If he really did know her, though, shouldn’t he have known that was unlike her?

The First Musical: Chapter Three: Gisele, Part 3

“Where have you been?” Carmen asked the moment I stepped through the door. She had sprawled out on her bed, reading the text for her discussion class. The rest of her textbooks and school things were scattered across the floor in a haphazard mess.

“Nowhere.” I didn’t want to talk with her about it. She still wanted that lead, and I would be perfectly happy giving it to her if I could. It wasn’t my choice, though; it was his and I wished it wasn’t.

“What’s wrong, Gisele?” she asked, sitting up on her bed. “You can talk to me, you know.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I murmured, trying to focus on my math homework for the next day.

“Something’s wrong; I can tell.”

I slipped into the sweater on the back of my chair, pulling it tight around me. Cold still seemed to wrap me in a death grip; I just couldn’t seem to warm up. “It’s nothing.”

“Don’t tell me that, Gisele.”

“I’m trying to concentrate,” I snapped. She wouldn’t understand. She’d blame me and any number of things. Between Johnathan, his musical, and having auditioned against my wishes, I couldn’t handle whatever she thought she could do to help. She’d probably do more to worsen things.

After a while I gave up on hoping calculus would make sense and started to regret snapping at Carmen. But she hadn’t bothered me since, so it wasn’t so bad? It just wasn’t me. I couldn’t remember snapping at anyone in the past several years. I felt ambivalent about it. Like Johnathan and everything was changing me into some unrecognizable.

Climbing into bed for the night, my back to Carmen and her unusual silence, I struggled to find sleep. Between singing that song—to Johnathan of all people—and everything else the day had revealed, my mind was too preoccupied to stop thinking.

Even though I’m certain I did eventually fall asleep, I couldn’t be sure. It felt like I opened my eyes every ten minutes to escape the images of Johnathan running through my mind. I couldn’t make heads or tails of him, but I would be happy if I never saw again.

But my nightmares were closer to reality.

Eternal: Chapter Six, Part 8

“I need your help,” I said gently, knowing there would never be a good time. “My movement is starting soon; our first meeting is after everyone’s finals. I want you on my team, for everything you can bring.” As I explained, I watched him carefully, not wanting to risk losing him to his own suffering right now. “School will come first. The only relative downside is we have two years.”

Jake didn’t say anything, which worried me. Everyone had reacted to the two-year limit and he wasn’t even batting an eye at it.

“Are we taking them down?” he asked after a moment.

Nodding, I said, “That’s the general plan.”

“I’m in.”

We sat there for a long while, me wondering if I should ask if he needed anything else, him wallowing in his own thoughts.

“Will I ever forgive them?” he asked softly, gazing steadily at the river. “My family?”

Sitting back on my hands again, I gave the only answer I could think of: “You’ll know in time, though I’d like to think you’ll be able to.”

Nodding, he admitted, “I have another question.”

“Shoot.”

“Can we save her?”

I almost hated the way he was looking at me, as though all of his hopes and dreams depended on the next thing I said. Yet it seemed fitting, as I had done the same thing to Caroline a year and a half ago.

“We’ll do our best,” I promised, unable to give the affirmative. There were too many variables, and how he meant saved may not be the same as just freeing her from whatever facility in which she was kept. “Did you want me to do anything for you?”

Jake shook his head, exhaling heavily. “You’ve done so much for me already.”

“It wouldn’t take much for me to remove your pain,” I offered, wanting to do more. I wasn’t sure if leaving him in this condition was healthy.

“I need it,” he said, holding my gaze. “It’ll make me better.”

“If you don’t let it consume you.”

“I’ll handle it better this time around,” he promised, offering a small smile. That hint of youth hadn’t been an illusion after all. “Besides, I’ll be seeing more of you now, and you can keep me in check.”

Smiling back, I assured him I would. He then excused himself, heading back to campus and leaving me by the river, promising he’d be better when I saw him next.

I watched him leave, not moving quite yet. It amazed me how this had gone from being a general action that needed to be done, to being personal for so many people. Ian needed it to happen so he could make his own contribution. Xenia needed it so she could be herself. Kora needed it so she could live a normal life without having to keep secrets—though I wasn’t sure she realized that yet. Mikael needed it so he’d know no one else would have to go through what he went through. Caroline needed it because it was her goal. Jake needed it so he didn’t feel like it really was his fault. And I needed it because I’d know I didn’t relinquish my dreams in vain.

Two years was starting to look like the least of my worries.

Eternal: Chapter Three, Part 5

“How are you handling your hunger?” the woman asked after a long, breaking the long pause.

Exhaustion weighed heavy on me and I wished we could skip to what I wanted to discuss. “I’m handling it well, though the lack of fresh air around here isn’t helping anything.”

“Elaborate.”

Speaking with my hands, I did my best to simplify what wasn’t so simple. “My element finds nutrients in energy—mostly sounds, people’s thoughts, emotions, so on—and my vampire is sated by those nutrients.”

“How, though?” the presiding vampire asked, sitting forward on his elbows.

Shrugging, I admitted, “It’s really complicated, and I only understand the basics of it aside from it works.”

“Interesting.” After a moment, he sat back again. “We cannot leave you in Mr. Valmoritim’s custody, as he has disregarded Council rulings and has proven himself a poor role model. Instead, we would like to place you in the temporary custody of Councilmember Emaline Walters until another vampire has been found to raise you,” he said in a way that made it clear he didn’t see my opinion of the option as mattering. It did; he just didn’t know it yet.

“May I offer another option?” I asked, holding his eyes steadily, despite my exhaustion.

Leaning forward, he amusedly inquired, “What would this other option be?”

“The way I understand things,” I said, “personal dealings with an elemental are against your rulings because it will interfere or alter our destinies. Am I correct in this understanding?”

“Yes,” he said slowly.

“So then, by that logic, if I’m still able to accomplish what I’m destined for, none of this should be a problem. Is this an accurate assumption?”

The seven vampires below him glanced up, intrigued and concerned. Whatever he said now would become law. “In a large part, yes.”

“Then I propose you suspend any rulings on these events for three years, allowing me to do what I’m supposed to do,” I said, looking at all eight of them in turn, ending with the presiding vampire. “If, at the end of that time, there has been significant advancement in the direction my movement is supposed to go in, all charges are dropped. If, however, I fail, or have been unable to make significant progress, then you can press any and all charges. How does that sound?”

He was pensive at first; he didn’t look at me, though several of the others did between watching him, trying to guess at his reaction. “We shall confer and when you return with the others, you shall hear our verdict.”

“Very well, then.” It was better than no.

Eternal: Chapter Three, Part 3

It seemed hours passed before she came out of the room, followed by a voice demanding Mitchell enter. She glanced in my direction and then retreated into a corner of her own, defeated. Whatever happened hadn’t gone well. It had exhausted and drained her.

Though I could have asked what had transpired, I resolved to plot, to find a solution to this new predicament. I didn’t want to be the ingénue and Drei the villain. Valetta and Mitchell didn’t deserve to be punished. At least, I didn’t want them to be punished. I wanted everything to work out well. I needed Drei; and although I didn’t know what they would do yet, I needed Valetta and Mitchell as well.

I was determined to find some solution. There had to be one.

Mitchell exited after another extensive period of waiting. He moved as if to look in my direction, but changed his mind and leaned against the wall a few feet from Valetta. The demanding voice summoned Drei.

He didn’t seem to see anything as he disappeared into the room again; he just stared ahead as if indifferent to these events. Watching him leave, I felt hurt. Not because I was afraid for him, but because he didn’t look at me. Once I had told him lying hurt more than it helped. Right then, all I wanted was for him to lie to me. Tell me it would all work out, or not to worry; I’d even settle for a convincing smile. Anything to make the situation seem better than it was.

There was a crack in the wall across from me. I stared at it, wondering. I wondered what was happening in that room; why, when I tried to listen in, I couldn’t keep my focus; what would happen to me; why they would leave this crack in the wall. It wasn’t a very interesting place to look. Occasionally, a spider or two crept in or out but, other than that, it was just a black slice of void. It gave me somewhere to look, I supposed. Somewhere that wasn’t completely hopeless. Valetta and Mitchell were so worn and defeated it made me feel worse to look at them. Something about this place suggested speaking with them would be entirely inappropriate and punishable by some obscure Council ruling.

As I stared and thought, occasional ideas popped up that had nothing to do with what I was thinking. All of them, I realized after a while, were related to the Council and my movement. Studying the hole in the wall as if it held the answer to how these two were connected, I began to see how I might be able to spare all of us from punishment. Might being the key word. I’d have to do a ton of smooth talking and hope the Council bought into it.

Eternal: Chapter Three, Part 2

“We shall begin the proceedings on this first night in May, of the human year 2015,” the presiding vampire, the one seated above the rest, stated in a dramatically disinterested voice. His dark eyes were scanning over a document before him, then they glinted at us as he continued, “We shall begin with the reading of your charges. Step forward when your name is called.”

“Valetta Bevinston,” the centermost councilmember began; Valetta took a step forward, her head up but her eyes diverted. “You are being charged with conspiring against Council rulings and being an accessory to unlawful conduct. Do you understand the charges brought against you?” His dark eyes bore into her.

“I do.”

“Very well, then,” he said, monotonously. “Mitchell Jameson.”

He stepped forward, changing places with Valetta. The vampire read the same list of charges, to which Mitchell agreed he understood. I watched, everything feeling as though it was happening in slow motion. This was happening because of me. They encouraged us, kept our secret, and now they were being charged as felons. It wasn’t right; I wanted to make this go away, to plot a way to fix things. But the vampire’s silky, monotonous voice demanded absolute attention and any attempt to do otherwise was thwarted the moment he spoke again.

“Drei Valmoritim.” My eyes followed Drei as he stepped forward, my plotting forgotten. Unlike Mitchell and Valetta, he didn’t look down, but stared at the vampire, awaiting the list of charges he faced. He knew, already, what rules he had broken, and the consequences. He wasn’t going fight them; he wouldn’t deny any of it. Despite the situation, that thought delighted me briefly. Drei wouldn’t deny me; even if that was our undoing, it was the greatest thing he could have done. The feeling, though, disappeared as the vampire began reading the charges.

“You are being charged with conspiring against Council rulings, jeopardizing an elemental’s purpose, seducing a mortal, seducing an elemental, feeding on a mortal, feeding on an elemental, and two acts of high treason: turning a mortal and turning an elemental.” My heart sank with each item. “Do you understand the charges brought against you?”

“I do,” Drei replied stonily, his face set like marble. Shadows didn’t dance across his features, but he appeared just as menacing as the others. I wished I could appear strong like him in this place; I’d even settle for the subdued guiltiness of Valetta and Mitchell. But all I continued to feel was ill and crushingly guilty.

“Abriel Jones.” Drei stepped back to the far side of Mitchell as I took his place, glancing down the line of shadowy figures before me before diverting my eyes to my feet. “Sir,” he said, turning to face the presiding vampire. “You wished to handle this one?”

“Yes, Tudor,” he replied before turning his attention away from the document before him. “Miss Jones, how long has it been since you were turned?”

“Roughly a year and a couple of weeks,” I answered, looking up at him as he leaned forward, more of his face coming into the lantern light.

“Were you given a choice in the matter?”

“Will it change anything?”

“In the case of your charges and the outcome in regards to you, it will,” he said, his black eyes studying me carefully. I was about to glance over my shoulder at Drei when he snapped at me to answer him. Yeah, they definitely knew how to be delicate about this sort of thing.

“No,” I whispered, unable to return my gaze to him.

“Miss Jones, you are then free of charges as an innocent, for the time being. If our interrogations to follow should find you otherwise, the charge will be of falsifying information and seduction of a vampire,” he said before sitting back again. “Should your status remain that of an innocent, during your interrogation, we will also deliberate what shall be done about you.” Was I really so much of a burden something had to be done about me? If I were in a better state I probably would have argued with him. I was their burden because they deemed me so, not because I had to be. “Do you understand your situation?”

“I do.”

“Adjourn to the hallway,” Tudor instructed. “You shall be summoned one at a time for your interrogations. We shall begin with Valetta Bevinston.”

In the hallway, Mitchell paced anxiously, glancing towards the door, concerned with how Valetta was faring. Drei leaned elegantly against a wall, his hands buried in his pockets, his eyes closed in meditation. Between Drei’s resignation and Mitchell’s nerves, I didn’t have focus enough to figure out how I was feeling amidst this mess. By now, I was fairly certain my nerves were shot and I was faintly worried about how Valetta was doing, how Mitchell would do next, and Drei after him, but I had no clue as to what the vast majority of me was feeling.

I sat curled in the corner, my head resting in my arms. This whole experience was tiring and the lack of fresh air wasn’t helping my hunger—now a fairly large part in my distraction. If anything, it only starved me faster.

Mentally shaking myself, I pried my mind from thoughts of my hunger and tried listening to whatever was happening to Valetta. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to concentrate long enough to pull the conversation to me. Their emotions were drawing too much of my element’s attention, seeking anything that resembled what it usually relied on to satiate me.

Eternal: Chapter Two, Part 1

Chapter Two: Fearful Truths

“Drei, we really should talk,” Valetta calmly said when we reached the apartment, though it was more a demand disguised as a suggestion. I wished all of this hushed discussion would be finished; I wasn’t a child and I knew what was happening. There wasn’t any reason I could see to keep me out of the loop when I was in the center.

He nodded as if expecting this. Kissing my cheek, he said, “You and Mitchell should wait for us out here. We shall return to join you shortly.” His eyes didn’t meet mine and I wanted to tell them to just have it out here. They wouldn’t, though; they’d probably just pretend they didn’t know what I was talking about and leave anyway.

Mitchell kicked back in one of the armchairs and I sunk into the middle of the couch. I didn’t want to eavesdrop on their conversation—I could guess it was only a continuation of earlier—but I wanted to know what kind of mood they’d each be in when—if—they returned.

“Go ahead and listen,” Mitchell said, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. “I am.”

“But—”

“It is good to know what mood to expect him in, and Valetta as well. As you know, no harm ever came from eavesdropping;” he tilted his eyes in my direction a moment, a content and mocking smile playing across his lips. “We know. It was almost expected of you.” And here I thought I was doing a fair job at not looking shocked. But I wasn’t going to argue with an open invitation.

“Do not drag me away if you are not going to say anything,” Drei was saying as I tuned in. Splitting my attention further, I mapped the room so I could watch them.

Valetta stood a few feet from Drei, biting a fingernail. “Are you not even ashamed of what you have done?” Her hand batted away a tear on her cheek.

“I am ashamed, and many days I loathe myself for what I have done to her,” Drei answered softly, his hands in his pant pockets.

“You do not act ashamed,” she replied humorously. “No, because if you were ashamed, you would not kiss her in front of us, or hold hands in public, or any number of things that you may be doing with her—sharing a bedroom, for another.”

“I see nothing wrong with any of those. Despite what I have done, I still love her,” he said softly, keeping a firm grasp on his stoicism.

“And turning her is how you show that?”

“I have told you she was dying. What would you have me do?”

Valetta threw her arms up in frustration. “Prevent the situation in the first place? You promised to protect her, to be with her. Where were you?”

“It is complicated.”

“Everything is complicated, Drei. That does not mean you leave her to die and then decide you want her to live.” She turned her back to him, crossing her arms. Soon, one hand flew to her mouth and she chewed her nails again.

“Valetta—”

“It does not even suggest that you take advantage of her. It takes years to control one’s vampire, especially the lust.” She ran a hand through her hair, exhaling heavily to steady herself before turning to him. “Swear you have not taken advantage of that, too.”

“I have not taken advantage of her, at all.”

“But you have,” she argued, advancing on him, pacing circles around him. “First you took advantage of her humanity, and took her mortality from her. Then you take advantage of her love and flaunt that as if you deserved it. Who knows what else you have taken advantage of before that, or even after,” she spat angrily. “So have you, or have you not, taken advantage of her vampire’s lust?”

“No.”

“Do you want to?” she continued, stopping in front of him. “Because wanting to is just as disgraceful as the deed.”

Drei looked away from her, walking past her to the bureau.

“Drei;” she sighed, shaking her head. “I should never have encouraged you. She might very well have been better off with Nick.”

“Do not say that,” he shouted, a few tears tumbling down his cheeks. He clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists atop the bureau. “Nick would not be able to care for—”

“Nick would have been there to protect her,” she shouted back at him, her voice strong despite the tears filling her eyes.

“You do not even know the circumstances,” Drei said through gritted teeth, turning back to her.

“I know you promised to protect her, and you obviously failed.”

I didn’t like that they were fighting, but I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt them. They needed to have it out, as much as it hurt both of them; it was even hurting me. Valetta was making several good arguments, and I almost wanted to stop listening. Drei was right, though, she didn’t understand the circumstances. I had forgiven Drei for not being there because we were both responsible for it. But I had never before thought about if he had failed. Dying meant I failed, because I couldn’t change anything if I wasn’t alive. Hearing Drei had also failed pained me; I didn’t want it to be true. Even as I realized it was.

“I cannot decide if I want them to take her from you,” Valetta whispered, breaking the silence that had filled the room. “You do not deserve her…but she still needs you.”

“Valetta, I love her. Ten—no, ten thousand times the world over. What do you want me to do to prove I deserve to stay with her? I will do anything.”

“I shall think on it.”

Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I looked up at her as she entered the living room. She had recomposed herself and dried her tears.

“Come, Abriel; you should sleep. Today has been far too…exciting.”

She didn’t sound remotely excited and I wasn’t tired, but saying that wouldn’t have been in anyone’s best interest. Mitchell gave me a quick look as if wishing me luck, or perhaps it was pity; then he stood and went to console Drei. At least, I hoped that’s what he was doing. I would hate for him to have to face Mitchell after Valetta had torn him apart; I wouldn’t listen, though. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to withstand another argument if that should occur, or put words to the pain swirling around me.

“How long has it been?” she asked, sitting at the foot of the bed, staring at the curtained windows.

“A year,” I replied, staring at a wall. I really wasn’t tired and it was strange to be falling asleep without Drei. It felt like missing a part of myself, or having forgotten something important. It was a dark and deep feeling of loss, of desolation.

She didn’t say anything after that, some part of her hoping if I thought she was asleep, then I would follow suit. Valetta should have known better though, especially with her emotions as turbulent as they were. I wasn’t the only one who wouldn’t be sleeping that day.

Vampiric: Chapter Eight, Part 3

The night of the broadcast, Caroline took Ian and me out to a restaurant for dinner, her way of ensuring I was going to eat something. She may not have noticed my sleeplessness, but she had noticed my eating habits. They discussed if everything had been triple checked and if there were enough cars to carry everyone. According to all the files I had looked over the past weeks, the group had expanded considerably—at least quadruple the size it had been at the first broadcast; we were large enough to be seen as a real force of reckoning.

We were back at headquarters before most had arrived, but a few people were milling about anxiously. Caroline reminded me I could work up in the office some more if I wanted, but Ian would fill in for me tonight. She didn’t believe I was emotionally ready for the task.

As I walked toward the stairs to the office, I noticed Drei standing in the shadows, hands buried in his pockets. Before I knew what I was doing, I was in front of him, feeling something for a change. Feeling anything was frightening and a relief.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, trying to keep the sudden press of tears at bay. “But nothing happened. I should have talked to you about it sooner, but I swear it’s not what you think.”

He looked over my head and then to the left as though scanning the thin collection of early birds.

“Listen to me,” I cried, forcing him to face me even if I couldn’t force him to see me, to acknowledge me. “You’re wrong, Drei. Okay? For once, you’re wrong.”

“I am not mistaken,” he said icily, refusing to meet my gaze.

A burst of air pinned him against the wall, and I was there, standing inches from him. Anger and hurt raced through my veins and logical thought failed me. I wasn’t even sure what I was doing, or planning to do. “You are. Just listen to me, will you?”

“There is nothing for me to hear.” He turned his face away from me.

“That’s not true!” I shouted, wanting to make him listen. He had looked at me when I started to assert myself, maybe he’d listen if I did something else. If I didn’t give him any other choice, I could force him to face me…see me…hear me. Maybe even believe me. Instead of just being stuck in his own head and his own pool of pity, too blind to see the damage he was causing.

Caroline interrupted, stepping between us and forcing me away from him.

“Just let it go, Abs. Let it go; it’s easier;” she ducked her head around to try blocking my view of him.

I fought to move around her, to close the gap she was creating, but it was half-hearted at best; I didn’t want to hurt her. “He needs to listen to me,” I cried, tears searing my cheeks.

“No, Abs. He doesn’t want to and you can’t force him,” she said sternly. “All you can do is leave him alone.”

“But I can’t,” I argued, wishing she’d go away. I didn’t need her to tell me what I was doing; I could figure that out for myself if I really wanted to. With the tears, though, the anger was draining quickly and, with it, the last of my energy.

She led me up to her office, sitting me down in the chair and squatting before me; she wrapped her hands around mine. “Work, if that’s what helps,” she ordered. She bit her inside cheek as if holding back some other choice comments. I guess she figured one of us had to rational and that wasn’t going to be me. “Trying to change him isn’t going to do anything except hurt you more.”

I tried to tell myself she didn’t know what she was talking about, but she was right. I had been fine feeling nothing, and now I felt like I was just in a new mess altogether. So nodding, I quietly said, “I won’t leave the office until you’re all gone.”

“Good,” she said, relief washing from her. “This is in your best interest, Abs. I’m not trying to be a bully, you know.”

“I know.” I wasn’t able to meet her gaze. I would have told her it was hard, start to let her help me a little, but I couldn’t. It seemed every time I let someone in, something went wrong. They either left me or told me to leave them, always after they hurt me.

Despite my earlier intention of doing some more sorting, I couldn’t bring myself to move from the chair. For a while I just stared at the stacks of paper everywhere, trying to figure out why I had approached him. What had I expected to happen? When I didn’t find an answer to that, I listened to the pre-show jitters downstairs, letting their words drown out my thoughts. It was easier than actually thinking. Thinking was dangerous for me. Who knew what I would do? I certainly didn’t.

After the cars all drove into the distance, I left the office, deciding to walk back to the apartment. The cool night air calmed me a little, and the hidden stars seemed to twinkle louder than usual, as if trying to comfort me; the moon watched, and I let her. When she felt the time was right, she would do something, I guessed. So I questioned how long that would be. How long until I could hold him again and know he loved me?

Vampiric: Chapter Seven, Part 12

Drei was back to disappearing before I could catch him, and I couldn’t miss anymore of Caroline’s calls without some repercussion. I hated that this was what we had been reduced to. We might as well have been time sharers.

It was a week before the next broadcast when we finally happened to be there at the same time. I was just arriving home from another meeting. Drei was sitting on the couch reading a newspaper.

“Can we talk?” I asked cautiously, hanging my purse on a rung of the coat rack.

Drei gazed at me a long moment before setting his paper down. Sitting across from him, I asked the first and most important question I had thought of: “What happened?” His brow furrowed, and before he could demand some clarification, I added, “Between us. Why are you avoiding me and angry, and cold all of the time? What did I do?”

“You are not aware?” he asked quietly, his amethyst eyes flat and stony. I hadn’t seen his eyes so cold since Nick had been at camp. And even then, they had rarely been directed at me.

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin guessing.”

“Let me give you a few clues, then;” the ice in his tone suggested I really had done something and, whatever it was, it could not be easily forgiven. “Our arrival here your first day back? Your new position? Still no? Then you leave me for her. In the middle of something intimate—for me, at least.”

“Caroline? What does she have to do with anything?”

“It is more painful to lie, Abriel;” his features were stoic though his voice betrayed pain and anger. “I witnessed you kiss her that day. This promotion, the phone calls, they are all a ruse. You can tell me.”

“But it isn’t. Nothing happens. I don’t even know—”

“You do not have to lie or justify it. Just be honest.”

“But I’m not lying;” I felt tears press at my eyes and my throat start to tighten. My mouth felt dry and I could barely swallow.

“I have trusted for years what I see. I am not about to change that because you want me to.” He stood, turning away from me. So this really was all her fault. She was the reason he was tearing my heart out of his chest.

“I’m not lying,” I choked, drowning in the accusations and clues and thoughts flooding my mind.

“Just admit it!” He turned suddenly, grabbing the arm rests of my chair. His flaming and vibrantly dark eyes were inches from mine.

“I can’t. Not when you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You love her, just say it! Stop lying to me. Stop pretending your affections belong to me. Just stop it all!”

I covered my mouth and shook my head, trying to contain my anguish and shake out all of the hurtful words. “I’m working for her because of you…because I love you. You told me I needed her; you told me to go back to work for her because she needed me.”

“I did not think you would make a relationship of it.” He pushed off from the chair; though he stood upright, his head was bowed and his shoulder slumped.

“I did it for you. I love you…so I did what you wanted.”

“Your fickleness is not something I desire,” he whispered, turning away.

I bit my lip. He wouldn’t listen; he was too stubborn and set in his belief of this. If he knew me at all, how could he possibly think this about me? It didn’t seem probable in the least. I think that’s what hurt the most. He didn’t know me well enough to trust I wasn’t lying to him.

Trying to hold myself together, I asked, “Do you want me to leave?”

Slowly shuffling away, he didn’t bother to turn back to me. “It might be for the best.”

Unable to stand looking back, I grabbed my purse and shoes and ran from the apartment, still trying to keep it together by forcing myself to breathe slowly, but my chest was too tight and the air seemed too thin.

Outside, I sat on a bench, staring at the blurred phone in my hand. Caroline and Ian were the only other people I knew around there. But Caroline had started all of this and Ian was her friend. It would feel like an admission of guilt to call and ask for their support. For their help. Yet, I didn’t have anywhere else to go.

Before I could make up my mind to do anything, the phone sang out its piano melody.

“Look,” Caroline began before I could say anything. “A problem came up with one of the people we chose, so we have to pick someone else.”

I tried to answer, I really did. I was determined not to cry on the phone to her, not even sure I wanted her help. She was partially responsible for this and I hadn’t begun to think through how I felt about that.

“Where are you?”

Realizing the depth of the situation, I couldn’t help but break down into tears. Drei didn’t love me because I had done what he had wanted. I didn’t have a place to stay anymore. To top things off, my heart was shattered by the one person I never thought could hurt me. Who would never willingly choose to hurt me.

“Abs?” She sounded worried. I wished I could tell her I was fine, but I couldn’t stop the gasping sobs shaking my body. It didn’t feel like I had any control left over anything. “Oh, god, Abs,” she said into the phone, her voice tremulous. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Don’t move.” The phone fell from my hand as I sat there, crying, hugging myself, and trying to keep the rest of me from shattering as well.

Vampiric: Chapter Seven, Part 11

Purposely taking up more time, I wrote a note and pinned it to his door, insisting we needed to talk, even if he had to wake me up. Then, walking at nearly a maddeningly slow pace, I made my way outside and slipped into the passenger seat.

“Take long enough?” Ian asked jovially, speeding off.

“Sorry if I’m not Little Miss Sunshine;” I stared out the window.

“Something wrong already?”

“You obviously wouldn’t understand.” Although he tried to make small talk—possibly an attempt to cheer me up before we met Caroline—I ignored him, adding another thing on my list why I wished I had never met her.

The meeting was to finalize our employee list—since she was adding a few more, but had interviewed probably 20 people—and for her to thank me for redoing the charts—finally finished and filed.

All I could think of doing was going back to the apartment and waiting up for Drei. I didn’t care if he didn’t return until the next day or if Caroline called a hundred times before then. I set up camp on the couch, my phone off and charging, the lights off, and my mind racing. I only wished we could work this out; unfortunately, I wasn’t sure anymore if he wanted the same thing.

Around midnight, there was a knock on the door, which I ignored. Drei had a key; he wouldn’t need me to let him in. He probably wouldn’t assume I’d be there to do so. I continued staring into space. A few hours later, another knock came, louder and more insistent. Around the time the sky began to lighten, Drei entered.

“We need to talk,” I said, rising to face him. Then I noticed Ian standing behind him.

“A shame work came calling.” Drei, not even seeming disappointed, went straight to his room and closed the door, letting the note hang there unnoticed.

“Have you been here all bloody night?” Ian cried, immediately on his phone.

With nothing else I could do, shy of breaking down his door and locking Ian out, I picked up the fully charged phone and turned it on, greeted by fifty messages; there were probably more missed calls than that.

“I’m with her now,” Ian said, pacing in the entranceway. “Yes. We’re going now,” he said, shooting me a tight-lipped look; I hadn’t thought it was possible to anger Ian.

Needless to say, Caroline was pissed because my phone was shut off and, according to her, she had been worried sick about me. I didn’t care. My relationship was falling apart; Drei was a complete stranger to me anymore. When I had first met him, we hadn’t been this foreign to each other. And what was worse, I didn’t know how to fix it. I wasn’t sure there was a way. So as Caroline droned on, berating me in between explaining why she had wanted us there, I was debating if I could even try anymore. If it was possible for me to take anymore.

Vampiric: Chapter Seven, Part 10

The following morning, Drei still wasn’t back, but it didn’t take long for Caroline to call me. Ian picked me up shortly after and drove to the same place as the night before. In the sunlight, it looked even more desolate, as though it might collapse if you sneezed at it.

This time she was waiting for us when he parked. A heap of folders and papers were tossed into my arms the minute I was standing upright.

“Those are the charts. It has everyone’s positions on them as well as their profiles and what we know about each one. This is your copy. If you change or add anything, you have to do the same with my copy,” she said, hands on her hips, staring at the pile in my arms. “There’s some other stuff in there, too. Mostly information and assignments on the next broadcast. You’ll have to make printouts for every person working that night to hand out beforehand. Well, everyone who has something specific or important written in the assignments folder.”

She started to walk off in the opposite direction of her office, Ian following a step behind, before she turned back. “I almost forgot,” she said, smiling in her carefree way, tossing me a key. “Don’t lose it,” she warned. “It’s to my office. You should get acquainted with where everything is. If I can’t find something,” she said, turning back around and walking off again, “it’s you I call.”

Thus was the official start of my new secretarial responsibilities. After acquainting myself with her files—realizing how disorganized she was—I sat down to her computer to begin typing out the assignment sheets. Those, once printed, went into a new folder so I wouldn’t lose them. When I was done with that, I crammed what I could into my purse and, carrying the rest, left, walking to the nearest working bus stop and hitching a ride back to the apartment.

Drei was asleep in his room, a heavy blanket over the window to block out what the curtains didn’t. I left him alone, wishing he would be around and awake so we could talk about what was bothering him—I sensed it was something more than my needing to leave abruptly the previous night. I was starting to believe Caroline was right and he was letting something stew instead of talking to me about it, possibly whatever had happened to make him dislike her.

I sat at the coffee table and began reading through the papers. I didn’t know who had put them together, but it was a mess that was quickly driving me as crazy as Mom. Stopping just before reaching a point of wanting to tear my hair out, I left and returned an hour later with paper and colored pens. I was going to scrap the old charts after I remade them.

Those charts took a week. Not because they were particularly difficult, but because, originally, there were eight charts with all of the positions and first names written in. I simplified the charts for future use, only marking down the positions and creating a separate chart for each group of people. Also, I made sheets detailing the positions of each person in any set. That was the most time consuming, mostly because once I had two sets made—one copy for Caroline, one for me—I had to make a copy for each person on the list. True, there was probably some computer program I could have used, and perhaps I would do so later on, but working by hand filled the long, lonely hours and kept my mind busy.

Every night during that week, I fell asleep on the couch. Without fail, Caroline would wake me up by calling. There were a total of 17 calls from her, four of which were while I was working in her office; those meetings covered everything from the location of the next broadcast to new employees and security. While I saw plenty of her and Ian, I didn’t see Drei unless he was asleep. His waking presence was apparent, though; when she did wake me, I found someone had covered me with a blanket. Despite this, I failed to ever come across him. Needing to speak with him, but unable to, I focused even more on finishing the charts.

The next broadcast was still a couple weeks away when Drei and I were finally home at the same time. I had just woken up—surprisingly, it wasn’t because of Caroline. Still slightly groggy, I heard him walking past rather than saw him.

“Wait;” I reached blindly out with one hand, the other still clearing sleep from my eyes.

Sitting up, I watched him shrug into his coat and reach for the door; I did the only thing I could to stop him from leaving. Manipulating the air, I shoved his hand aside.

“I said wait.”

He tried again, and this time I wasn’t as nice.  Shoving him sideways into the kitchenette, I stood and was soon blocking his way out.

“We need to talk.”

“What about?” he questioned grudgingly, his eyes frighteningly cold.

“Well…” I had been waiting for this moment but had failed to develop any specific questions. “For starters, why are you avoiding me?”

“I have not been avoiding you,” he said, though he shifted his weight from foot to foot and wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“I didn’t think you’d lie to me about that,” I whispered, shoving my hair behind an ear. “I haven’t seen you in over a week.”

“We have both been busy.”

“Amazing how you’re suddenly busy after I get promoted,” I snapped before I could stop myself. I dragged my fingers through my hair, breathing deeply. “That’s not what I meant to say.” This was already going so wrong and now I was trying to make it out to be a power trip? Slumping against one of the cabinets and hiding my face, I tried to think of something to say that would help fix this all. “I—Drei—”

My phone started ringing.

“You had better answer. Caroline does not strike me as particularly patient.”

“We still need to talk,” I said, knowing he was right.

“Then do not answer.” When I didn’t move—partially pissed off he could even suggest that—he added, “You know you want to.”

“I don’t want to,” I said, hating the constricted feeling of my throat. Caroline was ruining what could have been a healing moment for Drei and I, something we wouldn’t need if she had never come into our lives.

“Then do not answer.”

Though I knew I needed to, I debated which I needed to do more: talk with Drei or answer Caroline. Just before the ringer quit, I answered, hearing Drei’s disappointed sigh. I didn’t see how he had a right to be disappointed when he was being the difficult one.

“Can you give me half an hour?”

“If we are going to discuss anything,” Drei said behind me, “we shall need more than half an hour.”

“No,” Caroline replied shortly. “I need you now. That’s why I’m calling now.”

“Please,” I begged, knowing I needed to at least spend some time talking with Drei.

“What could be more important than me needing you here?” she asked, a note of incredulity to her voice.

I wanted to tell her there were a lot of things more important, but I couldn’t. Not without unleashing her full wrath—or mine, for that matter. Instead, I said, “This, Caroline. Please.”

“No, and Ian will be there shortly;” she hung up.

“You act as though you did not expect as much.”

Despite my growing frustration with him, I wrapped my arms around him, trying to think of something to say. Trying to convince myself I wouldn’t go…not now. Even though he was stiff in my arms, I didn’t let go; I couldn’t so long as I believed there might be a chance—even if it was in hell.

“It is apparent both of us must be going, so let us not delay.” With that, he broke my embrace and disappeared again, slipping through my fingers.

Vampiric: Chapter Six, Part 6

“She's still resisting,” a man with a clipboard said, his face shrouded in shadows.

“She will cooperate,” an angry voice growled from the shadows. A tall, wrinkled man following the words into the light. “Won't you.” A too long nose and tiny, wide-set eyes leveled with me.

When the lights had come back on, two men in black combat gear collected me from the cell—rather roughly considering I wasn't going to fight them; I could have, but it wasn’t worth the effort or the energy. They dragged me into another black room with one bright light, like where I had been before but different. Here, I could hear the whirring of machines. I was shoved into a chair that looked like it would better serve a death sentence than “research.” Straps were tightened across my wrists, shoulders, and ankles, as if anticipating some thrashing; they had also placed sensors on my temples and either side of my collar bone.

I didn't know how long I had been there, but so far the specialists had thrown objects at me, trying to scare me into submission. Each time, I diverted the object. What they hadn’t realized was I had no intention of fighting them directly, but they were not going to make me lose control.

“What will you do?” the other man asked, a scratching sound coming from his clipboard.

A sneer spread across the cracked lips of the one in front of me before he backed away. He reached for something on the tray—where the knives they had thrown earlier had come from. His face was hidden again in the darkness, but the object in his hand glinted in the light, a biting edge of metal smiling maliciously at me.

The man gaited slowly towards me again, my eyes locked on the long blade in his hand.

“I think we'll have to try something different, James,” he said in a low voice, a perkiness to it that didn't fit the mood. At least, not from where I was sitting. “You see, the other two elements have no choice. They don't have water or earth to come to their rescue. But with her,” he sneered again under the light, “we can't deprive her of that use. She's no good to us dead.”

“So what's the plan?” James inquired amidst more scratching sounds.

“A direct attack,” he replied, as if it had always been so simple. “We take the object we've been trying to scare her with, and make it so she has to acknowledge its existence.” He sliced the knife across my forearm.

I flinched, gasping, jerking my injured arm in an attempt to pull it out of danger and cover the wound. It hurt, more so because I hadn’t expected it.

“There was a spike in her brain activity,” a feminine voice called from the darkness.

The man turned toward the voice; “The kind we want?”

“Affirmative.”

She talked on about something dealing with my mom and the other experiments in progress, but my mind had raced to other things. If that had sparked the start of a reaction they wanted, I was in trouble.  Not just a little bit, either. They were closer to getting what they wanted, and I was fairly certain I was helpless to stop them.

Vampiric: Chapter Four, Part 3

“You’re okay,” a soft voice whispered to me. So far, it was the only voice that managed to penetrate the darkness. “Relax; you’re safe.”

My mind tried to hold onto the voice, to keep its comforting words close. The blackness didn’t harm me, but I was terrified of it because it blocked everything else out. All I wanted was to be free of it again. And it seemed everyone but this voice was insistent on keeping me from that.

“Breathe; that’s right. Calm, relax—listen to my voice.” The longer it spoke, the more I began to realize someone was brushing hair off of my face and the air around me was cool on my surprisingly warm skin. A bright light was shining through my eyelids, and the voice became distinctively feminine—motherly, to be more accurate.

“You’re safe,” she cooed again, combing her fingers through my hair.

When my eyes opened, the first thing they saw was her face. She had faded cerulean eyes and dark blond hair mingled with strands of gray. She had a long, somewhat round face, very motherly in appearance, especially with the naturally full pink lips.

Past her visage, I could see the room. This one had white walls, one high, narrow window with a grid of bars over it, and a menacing metal door in the corner. There was what I guessed to be a toilet in one corner and a padded area in another. The air in the room was stifling. It took me a moment to realize the woman had been removing the warmth from the air and circulating a cool breeze around me. Her power might have explained how she had penetrated the darkness.

“Don’t exert yourself,” she said.

“Where am I?” I asked, sitting up, hoping that was the end of the blackness.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said, avoiding the question. “I’ve seen so many earth and water elementals. But never any air elementals; I’ve been so lonely. I’m afraid I may not be the best conversation. It’s been so long; I thought I was going crazy. One of the night guards was nice and stopped to talk with me some times. He saved me from losing it; otherwise they would have put you alone and then you would have ended up like me—”

“Where am I?” I interrupted.

She stared at me, as though it was the stupidest question in the world. How I loathed that expression.

“Sweetie, you’re in a secret government facility,” she said when I didn’t withdraw my question. It sounded absolutely ridiculous, like the sort of thing you’d dare someone to say without cracking a smile. For some reason, it sounded more so because it came from her. “You really didn’t know? I thought you would have known that. Were you somewhere else first; usually they just bring you right here.”

“I was in a black room the last time I woke up,” I said, hoping she might be able to explain where that had been though I doubted it.

“Oh. Then they didn’t know at first.” She thought about this for a moment before continuing on very hurriedly, wearing a bit of a crazed smile on her lips, “Well, you’re here now, anyway. With me. Sorry you didn’t have better luck, but there aren’t many air elementals; and since you’re with me that must be what you are—but, yes, you’ve been abducted by our very own government, sworn to protect and treat all justly and blah blah blah—so much for that. We’ll be here until we die…or they kill us.” The smile disappeared from her lips fleetingly at her last words.

“You’re wrong. Someone is coming for me. When he gets here, you can come with us,” I said before I could stop myself. I wasn’t sure I would want to bring her with, but if I didn’t at least offer, I knew I’d feel guilty for it later.

“Sweetie,” she said again; her voice softened and her head shook almost pityingly. “No one is coming. No one even knows we’re alive—otherwise he would have come for me years ago. I think about him a lot, you know,” she changed the subject suddenly, her face lighting up. “He was married, but we loved each other more than anything in the world. My baby was by him—I don’t know where my baby is—”

“You’re wrong,” I said again, not wanting to believe her or think about how I might end up like her before he arrived. “He’s coming for me; he promised.”

“He’s not coming. Just like he didn’t come for me. Why would he come for you?”

“Not your ‘he’. Mine. And because he loves me.”

“Not coming,” she singsonged evilly, breaking into giggles as though it were humorous.

“You’re wrong,” I seethed, tired of her insanity and doubtfulness—she hadn’t seemed like that at first, giving me hope it wasn’t so bad. I hadn’t been there more than a few minutes and already we were on the wrong foot. Besides, even if her hope was gone, why couldn’t she let me have mine?