Arielle Immortal Passion (9 page)

When they had been there for six days, Arielle decided to stay home one day and read her book while the others went horseback riding. Sebastian didn’t miss the contemplative expression on her face and the way her fingers brushed her necklace.

“Are you sure, baby?” he asked, concern in his voice.

“Yes, go ahead. I’ll be all right, I’m just a little tired.”

Sebastian went to look for Mrs. Wilson. She was in the kitchen looking over the dinner menu.

“Sebastian, what is it?”

“We are going horseback riding and Arielle has decided to stay home. Please keep an eye on her, will you?” he said, giving her a meaningful look.

“Don’t worry, Sebastian, I’ll look after her,” she smiled.

Chapter 6

A
rielle took her book and her journal, and made her way to the garden. She sat at the wooden bench under a beautiful tree, and let her gaze drink in the beauty of the view around her. Her lips curved in pleasure as her mind absorbed the stillness in the air. She watched several singing birds make their way between the trees. Her eyes followed the beautiful butterflies that lingered over the myriad colorful blooms.

Her eyes fell on the huge fountain that occupied the very center of this amazing garden and made it a piece of heaven. Her eyes narrowed against the brightness of the sunlight that illuminated the water with its beams, turning it into a million sparkling diamonds and sending them to disappear, along with the sun rays, into the fountain basin. She closed her eyes, let her ears enjoy the soothing sound of the flowing water. She smiled.

Turning her attention to the books in her arms, she decided to first write a few pages in her diary. It had been a long time since she had done that. This morning seemed to be the perfect time, with everyone out of the house. She set her novel on the bench and, opening her diary to a blank page, she drew a pen out of her pocket. Crossing her right leg over her left, she used her knee to support the open journal, as the pen started to glide along the empty page. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair was waving gently in the breeze, and her thoughts started to formulate on paper.

June 10

St Jean de Luz

I have missed talking with you. You have been my trustworthy friend for as long as I can remember. The last time we spoke was December of last year, right after Sebastian came home from New Zealand. I have thought about sitting down and putting my thoughts into your pages, but this year, school has been very challenging for me. And then there is Sebastian! What can I say about the man of my dreams, the man that turned my world upside down, and stolen my heart and soul? I’m absolutely crazy about him. I don’t seem to be able to want anything more that to spend every waking moment with Sebastian. There are so many things that I want to say, things that have changed my life in every way possible. Nothing is the same as it used to be. Most of the changes are great, and then some are quite bad.

I want to talk about the good things first. My life has become an unbelievable dream. Sebastian is the most amazing man, and I love him with every fiber of my being. I have fallen into the habit of not wanting to think about anything else in my life beyond him. He has consumed my life with his existence, and the funny thing is that he does not even try to do. He proposed last Christmas Eve, and now I have a beautiful ring on my finger to remind me every single moment of every day that I belong to him, that I am smack in the middle of this amazing dream. We haven’t set a date, even though Sebastian wants to get married right now, but I’m thinking it will be sometime next year, after I’m finished with school.

Right now, we are on our summer break following the completion of the first semester in our senior year. Happiness has come for Eva and Gabby as well. They are both engaged to two wonderful guys that have become good friends with Sebastian. Even Paul has found his true love, in Sebastian’s sister, and that is even more amazing. I love them both dearly.

Sebastian and I bought our dream home by the ocean and we just love it. Being with him is not the kind of life I was used to. I feel like one of these days I will wake up and everything that I have come to love will disappear in a cloud of dust. I am overwhelmed with a mixture of feelings. Feelings of completion, fulfillment, contentment, and then suddenly a horrible feeling that all I have is a dream, and it creeps inside of me and bleeds into my bones and shatters my world.

I am not sure how I was the lucky one to capture Sebastian’s love. It is hard to believe that his heart doesn’t beat any longer because he is the most thoughtful, and the most giving person I know. There is almost nothing in this world that I want more than I want him.

My father is doing well, but I can see that he is getting tired a lot more often that he used to. He and my mother took a trip to Africa, and they had a lot of fun.

But oh, dear diary, believe me, all has not been great. Annabel has discovered that Sebastian and I are truly in love and she has gathered an army of her crazy immortal friends to terrify me. They have tried to kill me three times now, and two out of the three times I got badly hurt. I know she is not going to stop trying to kill me. What she and the other women really want is for Sebastian to be miserable for eternity, however long that is.

Sometimes, I do think about having children, but I know that being with Sebastian that is something that I will have to live without. The thought does make me sad, but it is outweighed by the thought of being without Sebastian. I can’t imagine a moment of my life without him, because I can’t breathe without him. Sebastian is what I want, who I want. There are many times that I imagine my home filled with children that look exactly as beautiful as he does, and it makes me happy and sad at the same time.

Arielle stopped writing for a moment. Her lips lifted wistfully and her gaze lingered over the lines in her journal for a long moment, as she was lost in thought, lost in his image.

Well, we are back at St. Jean for the summer holiday with Eva, Gabby, Troy, and Ian. It is so wonderful being here with Sebastian, and being part of his amazing home and his amazing family history. The thought that this castle is now mine, it’s not something I can fathom. It will take a long time to believe that any of his vast riches have anything to do with me. All I want is him and him alone.

His touch is like electricity, it hits every nerve in my body, making me want a lot more than his touch. I don’t ever remember being this way, and by that I mean having this kind of need for a man’s touch, or a man’s love. I want to get lost in his arms, and I want our lovemaking to last for hours. Every time we make love I feel like together we are in a totally different universe, one in which no other person exists, just me and Sebastian alone. How crazy is that?

Well, we have a few days left and then we are on our way back to Brighton for the last semester. Oh, I did forget to tell you that Annabel did show up for a short moment again when we went horseback riding, and she did succeed in frightening me, but we have not seen her since. I do hope that this was the last time for a very long time.

I will write more when we get back to Brighton.

Arielle chuckled at the thought that she considered this little diary as a secret best friend, a friend that kept every thought and every notion she had right where it belonged, in those pages. She closed the diary and set it down on the bench.

Her eyes swept the garden once again and the tranquility made her heart leap into her mouth. What a picture. She was sure that an artist’s hand couldn’t capture the beauty that her eyes could see, words couldn’t describe it. She chuckled blissfully and reaching over, she picked up her novel.

She was re-reading again Jane Austen’s
Mansfield Park
, and was intrigued by Fanny Price, who was so different from Elizabeth Bennet. Fanny didn’t stand up for herself like Elizabeth did. She fell in love with her cousin, who loved someone else. But she stayed faithful to her love, and in the end she won her cousin’s heart.
Showing that the meek do indeed inherit the earth—or at least they do in Mansfield Park
, Arielle thought. She was totally engrossed in the story when suddenly she felt that someone was watching her. Her body went stiff as a chill ran down her spine. She kept her eyes glued to the pages of the book, but she was sure someone was standing somewhere very close. She reached with her hand and clasped the necklace. A million thoughts raced through her mind, and she tried to grasp the one that would help her fight the urge to scream. Then, gathering all the strength she had in her, she finally looked up.

There stood Annabel, glaring at her with an icy stare. Arielle looked into her eyes and was overwhelmed with a feeling as cold as death. Annabel seemed to have the power of Arielle’s mortality in her hands. Sebastian had told Arielle that Annabel’s wish was to capture and control him forever, to have the ability to destroy him any time she wished. A surge of nausea washed over her and she pressed her lips together. She was consumed by gloominess and darkness as she realized the significance of this moment.

Annabel continued to silently glare at Arielle with intense condemnation. A wild fright came into Arielle’s mind as she became suddenly conscious of the fact that she was completely alone with Annabel. Annabel was absolutely beautiful, but there was something nauseating about her. She crossed her hands in front of her chest, clearly enjoying the fear she was creating in Arielle, relishing the quivering of her body. Her eyes pierced Arielle’s, just as they had in her dream, making her shudder again.

“What do you want from me?” Arielle asked, in a voice she barely recognized. It was as if a stranger were speaking.

Annabel forced a smile and stood there with fire in her eyes, pressing her hands together and grinding her teeth. Then, she shrieked with unbelievable hatred in her voice, “I told you the last time we met that I would be coming for you. I told you to stay away from Sebastian. He’s not going to be with you, or anyone else. He is mine, and will be mine for centuries to come.”

Then, she moved so fast that Arielle was startled to see her suddenly standing right in front of her as her arm reached over and grabbed Arielle’s arm like a steel vise.

Arielle froze, and her jaw dropped. Nausea rolled through her, burning her throat and bringing tears to her eyes, as she was pulled off the bench and lifted up high within milliseconds, as if she weighed nothing. Suddenly, a bright flash blinded her and she felt herself falling. Her body hit the bench first and bounced off, hitting the ground hard. She felt an excruciating pain shooting through every fiber of her body. An ear-piercing shriek made her look up in shock. She saw Annabel flying across the garden, as if someone or something shoved her with extreme force, and she landed on her back against a huge tree. Annabel heard crashing noises as her bones broke and shattered, and her arm was on fire. The tree broke away, and the upper trunk and broken branches landed about thirty centimeters away, along with Annabel’s body.

Arielle’s jaw dropped and her body shook uncontrollably. She almost didn’t believe her eyes. She forgot about her own pain as she watched Annabel trying to get up. After what seemed like hours she finally stood up, shaking her head, looking extremely disturbed.

Arielle was still on the ground, unable to shift her position. She watched every move Annabel made.

“There is something strange about you, human,” Annabel said, spitting out the last word contemptuously. “It looks like I can’t touch you. This is the second time this has happened to me.” Rage filled her eyes, and there was a cold, lethal sound to her voice. “I’ll get to the bottom of this. And I promise you, next time I come for you, I’ll kill you!” she shrieked, as she turned and walked away, looking furious.

When she was gone, Arielle remained on the ground. Finally, she drew in a painful breath and tried to pick herself up. She was in terrible pain and she let out a cry of anguish. Her arms and legs were badly bruised, and a couple of deep scrapes were bleeding, saturating the ground beneath her. The stinging brought tears to her eyes, and the realization of how close she had come to death’s door terrified her. She tried to move once again, but a ghastly pain shot through her and she collapsed unconscious on the ground.

Mrs. Wilson and Mr. Struthers, hearing the commotion, came running outside. Squinting into the sunlight, they crossed the terrace, went down the steps, rounded the fountain, and right through the trees to where Arielle had told them she would be sitting reading her book. When they reached the spot they stopped in their tracks, as they stared at the terrible damage. A huge tree was broken in half, and several broken branches were spread across the lawn. They walked around the rubble and Mrs. Wilson let out a cry as she saw Arielle sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

Mr. Struthers moved quickly, knelt down and, cradling Arielle’s shoulders, let out a sigh of relief when he heard her whimper.
What in the world?
he thought.

“Is she going to be all right?” Mrs. Wilson asked, anxiously.

“Yes, she’s fine. She is badly bruised, though, and the scrapes need to be cleaned up immediately.”

As they tried to pick her up Arielle began to come around. “What happened?” she asked, weak and confused.

“Can you walk, dear?” Mrs. Wilson asked.