Eternal: Chapter Nine, Part 2

Ian stopped by later that day as I was preparing supper. Nick was helping me, but decided to run to the grocery store for some rolls when Ian arrived. I know he knew I was having individual conferences with people, so I wasn’t sure if he’d gone because of that or simply because he really wanted rolls at dinner.

“Hey, love,” Ian greeted as Nick ran out the door. He kissed my cheek and asked, “Would you like some help.”

“You don’t have to,” I said, washing my hands. “I can finish later.”

“What are you making?” he asked, rolling up his sleeves and washing his hands.

“Veggie fried rice with sesame chicken. Nick says he knows a great recipe for the chicken,” I answered. “I’m cleaning the chicken. You can cut it up if you want.”

“How big?”

“Bite sized chunks.”

He nodded, taking up the knife and working on the breast already on the cutting board. “So do you have a new tagline?”

“Of course.” I had been thinking about it for some time and decided to stick with miracles as the central theme. “The next set will be based around ‘miracles are unstoppable,’ because after that set airs, no matter what happens, no matter what people want to believe, they know,” I said, working on removing excess fat and bits of gristle from the next breast. “Most people won’t want to live with the guilt, and even if they can, someone else will step up.”

“You’re right about that,” he said, setting the knife down. “What do you want me to do with these?”

“There’s a bowl to your right;” I pointed to the ceramic bowl with the chunks Nick had already cut up. “The last set of commercials will be based on ‘miracles never die.’ That one isn’t aimed to the people as much as it is to the government. They need to know this won’t stop with just us. Others like us, and even unlike us, are tired. Tired of being lied to, exploited, mistreated in general.”

“I can do that,” he assured me as I handed him the next breast, starting on the last one. “Did I tell you how much I love designing your ‘miracle’ commercials?”

“Only a couple of times;” I smiled, unable to help myself.

“Well, I do.” His eyes darted my way for a fraction of a second, reflecting the grin on his lips. “How have you been doing?”

“Good, thank you,” I responded, not even thinking about it. It was one of those automatic responses hardwired into me; I would have said ‘good, thank you’ even if the world was burning to ashes around me. “Yourself?”

“I’m good.” After a moment, he added, “But you weren’t.”

He finished chopping as I finished cleaning. I handed him the last breast and then washed my hands; then I scrubbed the sink with hot, soapy water and bleach.

“I’m fine now,” I persisted, rinsing the suds down the drain. I checked the rice, though I wasn’t sure how to tell if the rice cooker was working or not; I hadn’t used one before, but Nick seemed to trust it.

“But you weren’t.”

I wanted to retort snidely about how that was obvious, but Ian wasn’t attacking me. I knew that. He was doing what Caroline hadn’t—though I had wanted her to. “Why does it matter?”

“Because I felt it,” Ian said, looking up from what was left of the chicken breast. “You’re my friend, Abriel—Leirba—whatever you prefer. Maybe it’s because you’re also air, but my connection to you is different from anyone else. When you hurt, I feel it as if it were my own pain.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, turning my back to him and going about cleaning up. I didn’t want him, or anyone else, to feel what I felt, especially not when I had been that badly off. But I couldn’t control that, and I doubted he could either. If he could have, I was sure he would have stopped after I almost died—well, did die, kind of.

“Did you want to talk about it?” Dropping the last of the chicken into the bowl, he placed the cutting board in the sink and ran some hot bleach water for it to soak. He washed his hands, saying, “I have time if you wanted to.”

“I can’t,” I said, trying to find something else to do and discovering the rest of it Nick would have to finish as he hadn’t left instructions for me to follow.

“Can’t…or won’t?” The way he said it wasn’t hurtful or mean, but it still stung. No one else had questioned me about that, and I had started to assume people wouldn’t. Now that someone had, I couldn’t remember how I had planned to reply.

“I’ve talked to Drei already, and I am feeling better. But I can’t really talk about it with anyone else because it would lead to a conversation about something I can’t discuss.” I knew it sounded terrible and pathetic, but I hoped it would sate some fraction of his curiosity.

“I won’t ask;” Ian walked around to the other side of the counter and sat down. “But I’m here if you ever want to, even if you’re not supposed to.”

Silence found its way between us for a short while before I decided to ask the question I hadn’t been able to ask Caroline: “Is something wrong with Caroline?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, leaning forward on his elbows.

“She seemed weird when she was here earlier. Like she was overcompensating for something by being less argumentative.”

Ian’s head bobbed slightly, though he didn’t say anything. It was like he was debating whether or not to tell me about it. I would understand if he didn’t—it was only fair. But I was hoping he’d find it decent to share.

“Her parents dropped by for a visit a few days ago and finally left today,” he said, almost as if that answered it.

A couple years ago, when I had met Caroline’s parents, they seemed like perfectly normal people who may have loved their only daughter a touch too much. However, appearances, especially in the world Caroline and I both hailed from, were everything but meant nothing about the real person underneath. And there was definitely something about her parents because, that entire vacation, even Ian had been stressed. It was the first time I had seen him stressed in a subdued, biting his tongue, way. And Caroline’s stress had been off the charts. I had never had the opportunity to know why that was, and I had been too preoccupied with my own problems to ask then.

“What is it about her parents she doesn’t like?” I asked, hopefully in a way that suggested I wasn’t forcing him to answer.

He opened his mouth to say something before closing it. Exhaling, his lips curling upward, he noted, “You never got to be alone with them. They are two real pieces of work.”

Eternal: Chapter Nine, Part 1

Chapter Nine: Reason to Stay

Good news met me upon my return. The commercial was a success. Within the first 24 hours the website had several thousand hits. That turned into several hundred million after a week’s time. Mikael and Xenia added a comments section to the site after the first day; while some people insisted we were crazy, insane, needed to be locked up for life, there were even more who asked what it was like, how did it feel. They believed; even if there was only a hint of belief, it was enough.

Drei, still worried about me—never straying too far, always looking over his shoulder, watching for signs that something was happening again—and wouldn’t let me hold a group meeting to discuss our budding success and the next set of commercials. If he could have, I think he may have swept me away somewhere new to hopefully forget about everything again—likely a better option than fighting himself. Time and second chances weren’t luxuries we had, though; he eventually compromised on individual meetings with my team.

Caroline was first because she had demanded it. I needed to talk to Ian about the next set of commercials, but there wasn’t a point in arguing.

“Missed you at the party,” she said, sitting down across from me in the living room. “What happened?”

“Long story;” I hoped she would drop it. “I’m better now.”

“Well, at least you’re better.” She waited a moment as though vainly hoping the silence would drive me to reveal my secrets. “Anyway, you saw the numbers, right?”

“Most of them,” I said, nodding toward my notebook. “You won’t show me how much you’re paying for everything.”

Smirking, she said, “Good. That’s how I wanted it. And…we’re ahead of schedule;” she crossed her legs and leaned forward on her elbows. “So we only have two more rounds of commercials and two more additions to the website left before we go live.”

“We’re not going live with broadcasts; we’re going live—”

“As in speaking publicly,” she finished, waving a hand to the side. “I remember. More my point was, with a website, we could put together mini broadcasts that people could download for free. That way people who can’t see either of us speak can still know what’s going on.”

“I’ll talk to Mikael and Xenia about it.” I liked the idea; I had already planned to discuss making the commercials available on the site with them, and this tied rather nicely into that. My primary goal with the website was to keep the message accessible, especially as it evolved.

“Also, did you plan on keeping the apartment as your office?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Shrugging, she replied, “Nothing wrong with it. I was just wondering.”

“You didn’t buy something, did you?”

Caroline stood, denying it. I couldn’t help but feel she had, or was looking to, at least. “I’d best be going,” she said, giving me a hug before heading toward the door. “I’ll see if I can find any of my old research and bring it over. You can look through and see if anything’s useful,” she explained over her shoulder. “Take care, Abs.”

“You, too.”

I was surprised Caroline hadn’t thrown a fit, but that might have been because she’d already thrown it to Drei or someone else. She was behaving strangely, though, more secretive than usual; she also didn’t try to make me talk about it like she usually would have. How much did Drei tell everyone, if anything at all? Or was this something else entirely?

Eternal: Chapter Eight, Part 6

That’s where I stayed. It felt like an eternity that I lay there, my hand slowly bleeding—not fast enough to make a mess, just a slow, almost gelatinous, ooze—the carpet absorbing my tears, and me, suffocating, despite not even having to breathe. And the pain; the wrenching, burning pain clawing at my insides.

“Abriel, we will be late if you do not—,” Drei called as he walked through the door, stopping as he no doubt saw the mess I had created. He had run an errand and promised to be back in time for us to make it to the party.

He sat me upright, propping me against himself and holding me in his strong arms. I still couldn’t stop myself, even with him here. Nothing he said made any sense for a while, it was too soft and I was focused too much on what was happening inside me. When I wasn’t crying so hard, he lifted me and laid me in bed.

“I will be right back,” he promised, wiping the wet hair back from my forehead.

Drei spoke to someone in the other room, probably on the phone to tell them we weren’t coming. Caroline would yell at me for it later and Ian would probably tell her to shove it. Or someone else might. I tried imagining how it would pan out, but the distraction was useless; I rolled over, sobbing and crying again. I was coughing so hard my chest ached.

He was back again, propping me against his chest, rubbing my back until the coughing stopped. Then he cleaned and wrapped my cut hand. At least that’s when I suspected he did it; I didn’t actually know for sure. When he was done with that, he wrapped me in his arms and rocked me back and forth. I wasn’t sure how it was possible there were still tears left in me, but there were more, even if they only came quietly now.

Drei held me at least until I fell asleep. I was still in his arms when I awoke. His eyes were closed and his head bowed over me. I felt exhausted—emotionally and physically. Closing my eyes again, I only wanted to sleep, or try to anyway.

“We should talk first,” Drei said softly. It was strange hearing his voice in the silence, more so because he sounded worn and weary, almost fragile. “What happened?”

I tried to bury my face in his chest, but he turned and lifted my chin with a hooked finger.

“Something is wrong.” Had I not been so exhausted, I wondered if I would have thought that was the stupidest statement ever. Of course, something was wrong. The last time I cried anywhere near that much was when he kicked me out years ago, and, even then, it hadn’t hurt quite this much.

Shaking my head, I attempted pulling away from him. I loved him, but he did this to me. And yet I didn’t want him to feel guilty about it. If I told him, that’s what would happen, but he might be able to help me work through it so I felt better; if I didn’t tell him—I didn’t really want to think about that. None of what was going through my head was making any sense.

Drei wouldn’t let go of me; he wasn’t hurting me, but he wasn’t going to let me escape and avoid this.

“I know you need rest,” he murmured as he lowered his face until his forehead nearly touched mine. “But we need to talk about this, Abriel. What happened?” he repeated, as if I had forgetten the question. I was only trying to avoid answering it after all. “Tell me.”

“No.” Part of me still wanted to pull away from him, but part of me wanted to fall asleep in his arms again. Either way, I knew I didn’t want to answer that question, especially not now. “You don’t want to know.” I buried my head in my hands.

“If you are hurting, Abriel, I want to know.”

“Why? It’ll only hurt you.”

“That means nothing to me. Your health, your wellness means everything to me.”

Glancing up at him, I found his face already contorted in pain, all because I wouldn’t talk to him. That was what I’d been hoping to avoid. “It sucks,” I said lamely, unable to meet his gaze. “I don’t have a reflection.”

His fingers ran through my hair and massaged my scalp, though his unease and worry snaked around me. “I should have told you.”

“It’s why you took down all the mirrors.” I didn’t need him to confirm it because I already knew it was why. He wanted to protect me from that truth, and as I had become considerably with other things—like sating my hunger and the movement—I hadn’t cared. “That’s mostly why.”

“Such a trivial thing?”

“No, Drei. It wasn’t trivial.” He didn’t understand. By the time he went out into the world, he was numb from what he had done. He didn’t notice the world moving on around him, leaving him behind. “It was the last thing I could stand losing.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Drei, I’ve been giving up and leaving behind so much. For my element, for my vampire…and it was just building on top of itself. One thing on top of another; something old would come up and add…and when I couldn’t even see what I looked like—couldn’t even prove I still existed—” My voice cracked as a new wave of tears pressed at my eyes. I had hoped my tear ducts were empty.

“I had no idea.”

“I didn’t want you to,” I admitted, sniffing, trying to hold back the tears.

“You do exist, Abriel,” he said, wrapping me tighter in his arms.

“How can I—”

“Because if you ever wonder, I will hold you. I will say anything you want. I will kiss you and do whatever you desire of me. I will stay by your side until you feel better,” he promised, his amethyst eyes pale and serious. “To me, you exist…and because you do, I am happier than I have ever been.”

Wrapping my hands around the back of his neck, I buried my face into his chest—breathing him in and failing to quell the tears now rolling down my cheeks—and this time he didn’t stop me. One of his arms was wrapped around my waist, his other hand lost in my hair.

Eternal: Chapter Eight, Part 5

It turns out, about a week.

Until the day the commercial aired, to be exact. I was told it was a wonderful success, and the party Caroline had thrown for everyone was grand fun. But I didn’t know because I wasn’t there.

While dressing for the party, I wanted to check my appearance in a mirror. I hadn’t thought about mirrors in a while. It seemed strange, that day, I hadn’t looked in a mirror for so long. But then, I hadn’t had a reason to do so. I hadn’t worn makeup since before my turning and I didn’t usually do much with my hair. But I was nervous, and I wanted to ensure I looked okay.

Nick had left an hour earlier because he had promised to help with set up for the party; I would have left with him but I was specifically told I wasn’t to arrive until the party started, and it would be even better if I was fashionably late. Remembering the vanity Drei had bought when we first moved here—that I hardly used—I went into Nick’s room. Sure enough, it was in the corner with a few cologne bottles, hair gel, and some other grooming things of his lined up in front of the mirror.

I could already see the dress in the mirror and knew it looked nice, but that wasn’t my concern. I wanted to know if it looked nice on me. So backing up, I looked again, and the dress was still there…but I wasn’t. I thought it was that I was too far away and my vision was going bad. But when I neared the mirror to just look at my face, it wasn’t there. My earrings were, but not my face.

Immediately falling into denial, I left the room, searching the kitchen for a pot, a bowl, a ladle, anything that was reflective. I pulled open the cabinets, grabbing everything that might have worked, and when I had gone through all of those, I went through the drawers, snatching up cutting knives and teaspoons, even forks. And in all of them, I wasn’t there. It was like I didn’t exist.

I swiped everything off the counter onto the floor, threw the mixing bowls in different directions—the sound of something smashing reached me though I didn’t care enough to know what; I slammed the drawers and cabinet doors, oblivious that they just swung back open with the force. My hands reached into the open cabinets, taking up plates and glasses. I didn’t care what happened to that damned kitchen with all of its reflective dishes and silverware that couldn’t find me; it didn’t matter if I broke a plate here or a glass there. It didn’t bother me I had cut my hand with a knife when I grabbed the wrong end, or that I was crying so hard everything was a blur. None of it mattered.

I didn’t matter.

I wasn’t alive, and that meant I didn’t have a reflection; I wasn’t able to prove to myself I still existed. For all I knew I really was a ghost. I had died back in that hospital room and was so in denial that everyone just told me I was somehow still walking upright and solid.

Stumbling from the kitchen, I couldn’t stop crying. I was crying so hard I felt sick and like I was suffocating. But I couldn’t stop; it wouldn’t stop hurting. I didn’t even know what was hurting. My knees went weak and I collapsed on the carpet.

Eternal: Chapter Eight, Part 4

Later that week, Drei had arranged for us to meet with the Council. The vampire—the one even more stoic than Drei—drove us there. This time, he permitted us roll down the windows so I wasn’t starved when we arrived. About an hour after we left, the air changed from fresh to stale. The window wasn’t down far enough for me to see why, but I figured it partially explained why the area around the house had seemed archaic.

We were told to wait in the same dusty room while the Council assembled. This time, however, instead of their courtroom equivalent, we were brought into a more office-like space. There was one large desk, at which the head of the Council was seated. Then there was a table to either side with a total of seven chairs. Tudor, the vampire who had sat under the presiding head, sat immediately to the right of the desk on the table of four. Strangely enough, they all appeared to be dressed casually and each had a mug of warm blood on the table before them.

“You may deliver the update, Mr. Valmoritim,” Tudor announced in a lighter voice than he had used the last time we’d met.

I handed Drei the papers and he passed them to Tudor, who offered them to the head vampire. He leafed through them as Drei returned to my side. We waited for him to stop, because I knew he would. The commercials were cryptic. Just because the site, currently, was set up to reveal the nature of elementals didn’t mean it couldn’t be altered to reveal the existence of other hiding groups. We knew he would recognize this, and that’s when I had to talk them into patience.

“Tudor, what is your opinion of these?” There was the edge to his voice; the tell-tale sign he was displeased. Until they brought it up, I had decided to play dumb—and resist admitting how much I loathed these games.

“I believe these are too general,” Tudor stated, his brow furrowed, wrinkling his crown even more than it already was. “Do you realize, Miss Jones, these could lead to the discovery of every hiding organization?”

“I realize it may seem that way,” I replied, meeting his gaze, despite how difficult it was to look into those black orbs. “But let me assure you, they will all remain hidden.”

“For how long?” Tudor asked calmly, the edge in his voice as well.

“So long as they choose. This has nothing to do with them;” I folded my hands in front of me. “I can swear to you that this is a movement centering around the civil rights of elementals and exposing the corruption of the current government. What do vampires and other such groups have to do with that?”

There was a lot of nodding and murmuring along the table before Tudor spoke again. “You are responsible for informing the other organizations of this. We will not interfere with the current goings-on.”

“Thank you,” I said, bowing my head to them. That was easier than I had expected.

“Miss Jones,” the presiding vampire called, staring intently at me. I met his gaze. Maybe I had spoken too soon. “Should we feel endangered by your movement, we will end it.”

“I understand.”

“Dismissed,” Tudor granted.

In the hallway, Drei hugged me, kissing the top of my head.

“You amaze me,” he whispered, holding me a second longer before letting go.

I waved it off. “That was easy compared to some of this.” Mentally, I reminded myself to start Valetta and Mitchell on speaking with the other groups’ leaders about their privacy and secrecy. I wasn’t keen on being summoned to meet with werewolves or fairies and the like.

“But that is the last obstacle, Abriel,” he said, his fingertips brushing my cheek as he tucked hair behind my ear. “The commercial will air in a week, and we will be three weeks ahead of schedule.”

“It’s a good start. But we still have a middle and an end to go.”

He looked ready to say something more before our escort led us downstairs to the car. I wished I knew what he had been about to say. I had a feeling it had something to do with enjoying the moment. Not live in the moment—since living wasn’t something we could technically do—but enjoy the moment.

Perhaps it was a strange thought to have; they seemed more frequent, though I couldn’t tell if they made me feel bitter or grieved. I tried not to think on it too much. Sure, it wasn’t healthy to hold it inside, but I needed to be calm and collected; I was in charge and needed to appear as such.

But how long could that last?

Eternal: Chapter Eight, Part 3

Justin was the one who met me in the lobby shortly after I arrived for our meeting. Angeline, he said, was saving a conference room. As we walked, he kept flashing me smiles as if that made up for something wrong. From where I was standing, there was nothing wrong. The smiles were flattering; I could see why she might like him, though I could also see how his confidence could be annoying.

The conference room was all windows on two walls, 30 stories up, and had an oblong table in the center surrounded by cushioned chairs. Angeline was standing at the window when we entered, enjoying the view of downtown; at this height, you could barely hear the traffic below.

“It’s wonderful to see you again, Miss Jones,” Angeline said with a strained smile. “You’re looking wonderful, though you could stand to use some sun.”

That must have been why Caroline liked her. “It’s a medical condition,” I lied, smiling. There was nothing wrong with the woman; she was pretty much just like Caroline, even if it didn’t make her the most eloquent or flattering of people. “And please, call me Leirba.”

It was still strange giving people a name that wasn’t technically mine; all the practice in my spare time helped, though.

“Shall we sit?” Justin asked, pulling a seat out for me. I took the seat, on the corner of the table. He helped Angeline sit, as well, before sitting across from me.

“So what is the goal of your revolution?” Angeline asked, sitting back in her chair.

Passing them each an overview sheet, I summarized, “The goal is to reveal the corruption of our government through the oppression and mistreatment of elementals—citizens who are gifted with the ability to manipulate a certain primary element.” When I said elementals, Justin tensed and his brows knit; a second later he had regained a neutral composure. “In the process, the current government may be completely removed, but that remains to be seen. For sure we’re aiming for exposure and liberation, our rights as people and citizens.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Justin asked after a moment. A bead of sweat creeped down his right temple.

Justin’s response didn’t worry me as Kora had already reacted similarly; Angeline was different, though. She stared, her lips pursed and eyes widened in disbelief, and a single thought scrolled continuously through her mind.

“It’s already in the works,” I answered, flipping to the front of my binder and pulling out the disks. “One of the disks is the rough draft of the commercials we’re putting together.”

“Commercials?” Angeline asked, one of her eyebrows arching high.

“To intrigue viewers into visiting the website, which the content for is on the other disk if you wanted to look over that; in that case is also a paper with the information needed to view the developing website. It’s mostly set up already and it explains our cause.”

“People won’t believe it’s real,” Justin said, staring at the CDs on the table before him.

“That’s where we disagree,” I politely said, sitting forward. I knew this was going to be an uphill battle; the whole two years were going to be an uphill battle. So far I was doing pretty good, but I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be able to last at this rate. “I think most people want to believe there’s some magic left in the world. It’s why people are interested in Wicca, even if they won’t ever practice it. Why supernatural books sell and movies are made. Deep down, we all want to believe there’s some kind of magic left in the world, that miracles can still happen.”

He stared at me and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. After neither of them said anything, I stood. Right now, it didn’t matter if they believed me. All they had to do was keep my movement from sinking due to legal issues.

“Just do your job.”

I was halfway down the hall before Justin stopped me. He instructed me to follow and then led me past the elevators and into what I presumed to be his office. Once there, he closed the blinds on all of the windows and locked the door.

“Why do you want to do this?” he asked, sitting on the black leather couch he had in the corner.

Still standing, I said, “Because it has to be done.”

“Exposing all of us is the only way?”

Ian’s instinct about the past was seeming more right by the second; given the opposition I was coming against, it seemed easy to believe everyone else who had tried before had been stopped by someone else; discouraged by someone telling them it was wrong. But no one could convince me what I was doing was wrong. Not because it wasn’t frightening to think how others might handle the news, but because there was a greater wrong happening that needed to stop. We weren’t weapons; we were people, and we deserved the right to live our lives.

“If you expose yourself, it’s your own thing. But people have to know we exist. If they don’t, we can’t stop what’s happening.” It struck me suddenly that he might not have known what was happening to us, how oppressed we were. “You do know about that, right?”

“Of course, I know. We all know.” He bowed his head, rubbing his temples.

“So, wild guess, fire?”

“Yeah. I’m guessing you’re air.”

Nodding, I sat down next to him. “I’m not forcing anyone to admit anything they don’t want to. I have given everyone on my team a choice, and any of them are allowed to back out when they feel it’s too much. You’re only association with us will be as a lawyer,” I said, feeling a need to comfort him. “It’s completely up to you if people learn otherwise.”

Justin sighed and looked at me. “Okay.”

“I need to be going now.”

He unlocked the door and walked me to the elevator. I hoped he would be okay; part of me also hoped he would choose to reveal himself as an elemental and truly accept himself.

Eternal: Chapter Eight, Part 2

“Can I get you anything?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“No, thank you.” After another moment, she asked, “What are your plans for today?”

“I’m meeting with the lawyers and explaining what we’re doing with the movement, also giving them what we have so far since it seems we’re mostly done anyway. That way they can look over it and make sure there’s nothing illegal…yet.”

“Yet?” One of her eyebrows arched.

“We are taking down the government,” I reminded her good-naturedly. “That isn’t exactly legal.”

“What is anymore?” Nick inquired, walking through the door and surprising us both. I hadn’t expected him for another hour. “Here’s what you asked for,” he added, handing me two writeable disks. “The information for accessing the website is in with that disk.” He pointed at the bottom disk.

“Thank you.” Opening my binder, I slipped the disks into the front pocket. “Valetta, if I had another set of disks made, would that be okay or would it be better to print the site layout and frames of the commercial?”

“Printed would be better;” she sat forward on her elbows, resting her chin on her interlocked fingers. “Technology doesn’t tend to work there.”

“This is what you asked for,” Nick said, gesturing sharply to the binder, his brow furrowed.

“No, this is perfect, Nick,” I said, turning toward him. “I need another set. This time a printout of the site layout, no coding, and a storyboard using frames of the commercial.”

“What for?”

“We have…stakeholders.”

“Who?”

I looked at Valetta and she gave me an almost imperceptible shake of her head. “I can’t say.”

“Okay…” His brow knitted in confusion, and his eyes were tinged with sadness. “You’re going to tell me sometime, right?”

“Of course,” I said, smiling, though I was unsure I’d ever be able to tell him.

He smiled—that beautiful crooked smile—and I felt my stomach twist in guilt.

Nick went to his room for whatever reason and then left again, probably to start the others on my latest request. Since Nick had come to stay with us, I sometimes wondered what my life would have been like if I had been with him. Granted, that meant not having Drei, but would things have been less complicated? Probably not, though it didn’t stop the question from arising.

“He can never know,” she whispered.

“I know,” I said, still staring at the door. “But I don’t think I could ever admit that to him.”

Eternal: Chapter Eight, Part 1

Chapter Eight: Concerned Bystanders

A few weeks later, Valetta stopped by with a letter from the Council. It wasn’t necessarily bad news, but I had been hoping not to hear from them for a while longer. The letter requested frequent updates on our progress, with a lot more flourish and many more words.

“Very well, then, I’ll have everyone make an extra copy of what we’ve done so far. Did you want to keep it?” I asked, offering her the letter.

“You may.” She crossed her arms loosely. “You do not appear worried about this.”

“Because I’m not,” I said, going to find my binder. “I figured they would do this, and even if it hadn’t been updates, they would’ve had concerns after the first commercial aired. It’s why you and Mitchell are ambassadors.”

“We have no leverage with the Council, Abriel,” Valetta reminded me stiffly. “You are the only one we know who has any.”

“I didn’t say ambassadors to the Council, Valetta;” I filed the letter in one of the folders. “I’ll deal with them personally.”

“Then we are ambassadors to no one?”

I turned to face her, leaning against the counter. “I’m guessing that if there is a Council to govern vampires, there should be a similar institution for other…I don’t know what they—we, go by collectively…mystical beings, I guess.”

 “How do you know about the others?” she asked slowly, leveling her eyes at me.

“Did you really think I couldn’t guess?” When she shrugged, I walked around to the kitchen, taking inventory of everything Nick had been eating so I could restock for him. Drei and I ate occasionally, but it wasn’t really required for either of us. He needed blood and I needed to be outside. I could guess what Nick liked best by figuring out what was disappearing; to my knowledge, he hadn’t figured out I wasn’t eating.

“Once I actually started thinking about this—and it wasn’t that long ago, just about the time you and Mitchell showed up—I figured if vampires existed in hiding, reason suggested other groups did as well. And since I purposely chose the first few commercials to be more on the vague side to make people want to go to the website, I realized it might put the Council a little on edge, as well as the other groups.” I finished assessing the cupboards and moved to the fridge. “Thus, since you and Mitchell have been around a while and would actually know about the groups, I decided you two would be perfect to go around and calm them, assure them all it’s not about them. Voilà, ambassadors.” Finished with the shopping list, I turned to Valetta and asked, “So was I right? Or should I not have bothered?”

Taking a seat at the breakfast bar, she admitted, “I did not anticipate you arriving at these conclusions.” After a moment, she added, “Drei knows more about the other groups than Mitchell and I do. Why not him?”

I remembered I hadn’t yet spoken to Drei about that, about why he was with me and not in some other, more definite role; I needed to do that. “He’d be a great ambassador,” I conceded slowly, taking the seat next to her. “Part of the reason is because I think it’s usually a good thing for people to work in pairs, and you and Mitchell make a great pair. You balance each other and it’s…great.”

“But that is not why.”

Her dark eyes were scanning me, and I felt extremely conscious of everything she was doing, of everything I was doing. I looked away from her, my gaze boring holes into my intertwined hands before me. “I need him, still,” I whispered, knowing how conceited I must have sounded.

Nodding, she laid a pale hand on mine, and I realized for the first time how ghostly I must look to the others, how pale I had become. My skin tone nearly matched hers. “Of course, you do,” she said kindly, squeezing my hand a little. “This is still new…”

She was biting her tongue. Valetta and Mitchell had been working hard on not discussing what Drei had done; the few times they said anything on the topic, it always sounded like an accusation, as though they had been betrayed by him. It was topic they avoided for the sake of not arguing around or about me; while I was grateful, it also felt like I couldn’t raise questions with the only people who had answers.

Eternal: Chapter Seven, Part 6

“It is not yet time for that.” He reached out a hand to me, but I didn’t want to accept it if he was going to ask me to consider never doing so again. “We are not the choice you must consider. We are almost there.”

I stared at him for a moment longer—ensuring he meant what he said—before taking his hand. Drei pulled me into an embrace, holding me tight, and my doubts dissipated as I breathed him in, inhaled his luscious scent. Part of me was frightened by what he might ask of me, but I had trusted him this long. A little longer wouldn’t hurt.

We continued and a knot started forming in my stomach. The further we walked, the more I remembered this place, and, if I was right, we were heading toward my old neighborhood. That meant the choice dealt with either my mother—my adoptive mother, my dad’s wife—or Dad. But the likelihood of my dad being home was slim; before I’d left, he was rarely home. And if this was for my mother…that wasn’t even a choice, really. I wanted nothing to do with her, and that I’d decided long before I’d left.

Sure enough, we ended up at the end of the drive leading to the gate of my old neighborhood. I was grateful we were here and not at the school; I wasn’t sure how I might have handled that, but this I could handle—maybe. There were a lot of good memories here, at least, even if there were some less than pleasant ones to wish me off.

“Your first choice,” he said, stopping at the bottom of the drive. “We can continue, or we can check into our hotel for the night.”

I stared through the darkness at the neighborhood ahead, contemplating the option before me. To go on might mean having to face one of my parents, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure I wanted to just disregard it all. Against my better judgment, I had bottled up the final events here years ago and avoided thinking on them when I could. The downside was I never found closure for myself, and letting go of my own emotions was much more difficult than helping someone else release theirs. So while I wasn’t sure if I was ready for confrontation or reunion—whichever awaited me—I wasn’t particularly keen on giving up a chance for resolution.

“If we continue, there will be one more choice for you to make,” Drei said.

“One more choice.” He nodded beside me. “We’ve come this far,” I said, “why not a little further?”

“Very well.” He turned to start along the outside perimeter.

At first, I thought to suggest we go through the front as I used to know the night guard fairly well; then I realized how long it had been and how much I didn’t know about this place anymore. If it was a different guard, he would probably call ahead to verify my identity and then whatever second choice I had to make would be made for me. Even if it was the same guard, many of my team hadn’t recognized me in my new state and we had lived together. Without a suitable alternative, I jogged to catch up to Drei.

“When I used to visit you at night, I took a back way in, never through the gate. They would have asked too many questions.” After a moment we came to a tall tree and Drei smoothly climbed up to the first set of branches. “Here.”

Though he reached down to help me up, after glancing around—mostly using my element to sense around us—I formed a block of air below me and was sitting on top of the wall in a moment. He smirked—probably at my ingeniousness—climbing the rest of the way and joining me.

“I take it no one is around but us?”

Nodding, I glimpsed over the wall. “Want a lift down?”

He nimbly jumped from the wall and landed in a low crouch on the other side. Slowly, using the air as an elevator, I joined him.

“Show off.”

“I am not the only one,” he said, smiling. “It is not much farther.”

“It’s just down the street.”

He nodded, a brightness to his eyes. I followed his lead out of this yard and onto the street.

In a couple of minutes, we were standing on the driveway of my parents’ house. I had never thought I would be there again—not this soon, anyway. It hadn’t changed from what I remembered, though it seemed larger and more intimidating now. Lights shone through various windows, mostly on the ground level.

“What’s my choice now?” I asked, looking up at him.

“I am not sure if you will take this opportunity, but I have felt for some time now that you left some things unfinished when you came with me,” he said, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t disagree with his conclusion. Maybe Caroline had rubbed off on me and now I wanted to disagree for the sake of disagreeing; I couldn’t be sure. “You must decide whether or not you’ll see your father.”

I had known that was coming. Despite my suspicions, I hadn’t given it much thought. Drei wouldn’t have brought me here if Dad wasn’t going to be home. But could I face him? After he had told me I was the only reason he could stand missing Mom, I’d left him without a word. There wasn’t a note. I hadn’t called, or written, or anything in the years I had been gone. Nothing, in all my experience, could suggest how this might play out. He could hate me for all I knew. Then again, he might be worse than before, and that would be my fault; no matter what anyone else said, it would be my fault, because I’d known how he was. He’d told me how bad he was.

A light came on in what I remembered as my old room. A backlit figure passed by the window and I wondered if that wasn’t Dad. My mind immediately filled with images of him wandering my old room, everything tidied and left in place like some kind of monument to my memory; I wanted to go to him, to show him I was okay and well and deeply regretting the hurt I must have caused him.

But what if he asked me to stay. Part of me would want to say yes, but I had Drei to think about; I had myself, and everyone else…not to mention my movement. I had to lead that; no one else could. If he asked, though…I felt obligated to say yes just thinking about it. Should I face my dad, I knew I wouldn’t have the heart to deny him.

“No,” I whispered, taking in the empty windows, the lifeless exterior, the cold building that once had been my favorite place in the world.

Drei waited until I turned away before he took my hand and we left. He didn’t ask why, though he probably knew; I had a feeling I was thinking loud enough for him to know anyway. But it was the best thing he could have done. As much as I wished I could see my dad again and make it up to him, now wasn’t the time. I wasn’t sure there would ever be a good time. Maybe after this was over, I could start to make amends.

Eternal: Chapter Seven, Part 5

Drei wouldn’t tell me where we were going, just that I would know soon enough. Until then, we were on a train traveling west, and he was keeping a tight hold on our tickets.

“Are you sure I’m going to like this?” I asked for perhaps the tenth time since we had left the apartment that morning. Part of me hoped if I was annoying enough, he’d slip and tell me.

“I cannot guarantee you will,” he said, as he had all day, “but I know it is something you have been considering doing.”

That told me a lot…not really. There were a lot of things I had considered doing over the years and most of them I hadn’t thought much about lately. I was preoccupied with other, more pressing matters. However, it was rather nice to be alone with Drei again and not having to worry about anyone else. Resting my head on his shoulder, I said, “Should I thank you now or later?”

“Neither,” he whispered, taking my hand in his. “Later, you will make a decision. Now you should sleep.”

“I’m not tired,” I insisted, holding back a yawn. I didn’t want to waste our time together sleeping. Especially since this was only my second day with him in weeks.

“You are.”

“You can’t know that.” I hoped I could convince him.

“It is raining outside;” he smiled kindly down at me, knowing he had won. I didn’t hate him for it; I honestly should have remembered it was raining. Rain made the air heavier; I’m no scientist, so I don’t know how to explain how exactly it does, but I can feel it. When it’s raining, I usually feel somewhat depressed if I don’t have someone near me to change that. Lately, that hadn’t been as true; instead I found I felt tired, though I could push past that if needed. Drei insisting I give in to it wasn’t helping anything.

“When you wake, we will have reached our destination.”

His arm wound around me, pulling me close. The next thing I knew, he was gently shaking me awake, saying something about arriving.

“Five more minutes,” I bargained groggily, curling closer to him.

“You may sleep when we are returning home, and I promise not to wake you then,” he said, combing the hair out of my face with his fingers. “But for now you have to wake. And look, the rain has stopped.”

Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes to clear the sleep from them. “Where are we?”

“It stops being a surprise when I tell you,” he teased kindly, grabbing our overnight bag and taking my hand.

It seemed since the Council knew, he didn’t care how we were seen in public. Before, everything had to be done with the utmost caution; no one could know—though this attitude had relaxed slightly with my turning. Now it didn’t matter, because the only people we had to be afraid of already knew and weren’t going to do anything about it for a while. Personally, I preferred it that way; it was less complicated.

I followed him along the aisle and down the stairs where we joined a few other travelers waiting to depart. Drei steadied me as the train came to a stop at the station.

“Do you mind walking?” he asked, glancing at me as we headed down the street from the station.

“Not at all,” I said distractedly. There was something familiar about this place. I’d been here before, I knew that, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was driving me crazy not knowing, especially since my mind seemed to be putting a block on whatever importance this place held for me.

“Do you remember?”

We passed the Café Cherie, and I knew where we were. I stopped to stare at it, unsure why he would bring me back here now. Drei turned to watch me, a certain glint in his eye at my revelation. His lips were pressed together, though, as if unsure he was doing the right thing.

“This is where you told me about—”

“And you left me there feeling guiltier than ever I had felt before,” he interrupted. My shock at being home—well, in my hometown—was clouding my judgment. Until my movement was fully in motion, it was dangerous to admit being an elemental.

“You said I’d have to make a decision,” I said slowly, staring through the large glass windows. This was the beginning, and some part of me was convinced it might also be the end. “Does that have to do with us?”