Blood-Red Tear (16 page)

I reached down into
the car and took the card in my hand, knowing without opening it whom the car was from. Only one other person would spend so lavishly on me, and I could feel his presence in the vicinity. The card began to shake in my hand, and I felt as if the air around me had thinned.

“Well?” Jess said next to me
, looking expectantly at the card in my hand.

I opened the note and read
, my words monotone, my heart filled with pain. “Happy birthday, sweet 16, you will always be my Amado Uno. Aidan” Tears welled in my eyes, my chest tightened, making it hard to breathe, and my hands trembled. I looked back toward the garden, catching a glimpse of Aidan standing among the shadows. He smiled wanly, then was gone before I could react. This time I didn’t bother chasing him. As long as I was human I would never be able to catch him, and that thought filled me with even more despair than I already felt.

With a heavy heart
, I managed to finish the night, saying all the right things and participating in the events my mother had planned when necessary, but my heart was not in it. When all of the guests had gone I thanked my parents for the party, kissed them goodnight, and headed for my room.

My mother made to follow,
but Dad put a restraining hand on her arm. “Let her go. Nothing we can say will help right now.”

  Paul growled loudly
, slamming the door as he left the house, and I knew then that I had not really fooled anyone.

Chapter Twelve

A year to a vampire was
probably fleeting, I realized, but for me, a mere human, it seemed endless. The days following Aidan’s departure were long, hollow, and achingly slow. I spent most of my time in my room, alone, pining for him despite my family’s attempts to draw me out of my self-imposed seclusion. It wasn’t until the first day of school as I stood in the hallway watching my friends that I realized that, while I had been pining for Aidan and hiding away from the world, everyone else had gone on with their lives.

Jess and Josh
were now an inseparable pair, so in love that it hurt to be around them.  Chris had been dating one female exclusively for most of the year and seemed quite happy to be in a committed relationship, but I barely knew the girl.

I had become
isolated in my misery and had not even noticed that I had missed out on so much with my friends. At home, my family walked on eggshells around me, avoiding any conversations where Aidan might be mentioned, afraid to upset me any more than I already was. It was an eye-opening observation. It was not living, as Aidan had asked me to do: I was just existing and it had to end. Then and there, I vowed to myself to put aside my feelings for Aidan and learn to live without him as I had done before that first, fateful kiss.

*****

I woke on the morning of my seventeenth birthday ready to start a new chapter in my life. I still missed Aidan and felt pain in my heart every time I thought of him, but I had learned to deal with that pain and go on with my life.  I made amends to my friends for my horrid behavior and focused on the here and now. In short, I did as Aidan asked: I was living.

Jess, Josh
, Chris, and his girlfriend, Taylor, were taking me out for dinner, since I wanted a quiet celebration and not the big event my mother usually planned. We all met up at Kelly’s, where a small, lopsided cake Jess had made for me and bouquet of colorful balloons waited at the table. They were the only nod that we were celebrating my birthday, which was just fine with me. We hung out for hours, laughing and joking with one another as we used to do before my breakdown. When we were done, Josh drove Jess and me to my house, where we had planned on having a girl’s sleepover.

The house was dark as we approach
ed, but, I saw the guards hidden in the shadows keeping watch over the place, so I didn’t think anything of it. I opened the front door and reached for the light switch, flipping it on and squealing like a frightened child when a foyer full of people yelled “happy birthday!” scaring me within an inch of my life. 

Jess came to my side as I stared wide-eyed
at everyone before me, my heart pounding wildly inside of my chest. “You did not think your mom would really let your birthday pass without a party, did you?” She smiled and hugged me. “I know you’ve had a rough year, but I can’t believe you did not realize what we were up to.”

“I really didn’t,” I murmured
, still in shock.

“Good, then we got you,” she told me playfully
.

“You sure did.”

Josh took her hand, offering me a sympathetic smile before pulling her toward the ballroom, where everyone was gathering.

My mother
approached me warily as I stared into the ballroom where music was blaring and people were already dancing, having a good time. “Are you mad, darling?” she asked hesitantly.

“Not really,”
I said, and really I wasn’t angry. I just had thought it would be easier to avoid missing Aidan if I went out and got away from all the reminders of him and last year’s party, but I realized it did not matter. I always thought of him no matter where I was or whom I was with; he was simply a part of me, no matter where I was.

“Why don’t we
go inside, everyone’s waiting,” she said, leading me to the doorway of the ballroom.

The room was decorated in bl
ue and silver, the music was loud, and the lights were pulsating in a nightclub-like atmosphere. As we entered, the music stopped on cue and everyone began to sing Happy Birthday. I blew out the candles on the massive cake, and my father pulled me into his arms, hugging me close.

“Sorry honey, your mother insisted on giving you a party,” he murmured.

“It’s alright, Dad. I’m good with it.” He didn’t look as if he believed me. “Really, it’s alright.”

“Okay
, well then go and have fun with your friends.”

“I love you, D
ad,” I told him giving one last hug.

“I love you too, honey,” he said before letting me go. 

“Let’s dance,” Jess yelled over the loud music that began to play, grabbing my arm and pulling me to toward the dance floor, where Josh and Chris waited for us.

“Let’s get this party started,” Chris said
, his body already moving in time with the fast- paced music.

“Let’s,” I agreed
, allowing the music to overtake me.

T
o my surprise I found myself laughing and enjoying the time with my friends. That was, until the music changed suddenly to an achingly familiar slow song that brought back the memories of my sweet-sixteen party and dancing with Aidan. Tears welled in my eyes as I saw Chad moving towards me. I knew there was no way I could dance to that song with him, so I lowered my head and excused myself, needing to get away. I was walking off the dance floor when pair of strong arms pulled me close, stopping my escape

“Can
I have this dance?” a familiar male voice asked, his voice husky and full of emotion.

I looked up into Aidan’s
brilliant blue eyes and nodded, too choked up to form an answer. He held me in his arms and I laid my head against his chest as he swept me away, dancing me out of the doors and onto the patio where we could be alone. It felt good to be in his arms again and I savored the feeling of our bodies moving as one, perfectly in sync as they swayed to the music. As the song ended, he took my hand, led me off the patio, and in one seamless motion picked me up in his arms and took us to the gazebo.

“You came,
” I whispered, fighting back tears as my feet hit the ground, unwilling to move away from the shelter of his arms.

“
I would never miss your birthday. It is far too special a day not to celebrate,” he answered, brushing his knuckles down the side of my face with a look of adoration.

“
Where have you been?” I asked, wondering if he had suffered as I had. If he had missed me like I missed him.

“I am giving you the time you need
,” he said, looking pained.

“Time is a funny thing
, Aidan. For you it passes quickly, but for me our separation has been an eternity.”

“
You are so wrong, my dear, sweet Katie. Never in my life I have waited for time to pass as I have this last year,”he assured me, wrapping his arms around me and lowering his head to mine.

T
he moment our lips met fireworks exploded inside of my head and my body began to tingle with awareness. His cool lips moved against my warm ones eagerly, and I was shameless in my response, pushing for more, needing his embrace more than anything I had ever needed in my life. When he pulled away, I was dizzy, breathless, and completely consumed by desire for the man in front of me.

“I have missed you,
” I told him when I found my breath. He reached out, cradling my face in his hand, and I pressed a kiss against his palm. His hand shook slightly in response, and I savored the small sense of victory that I affected him in such a way.

 
“I have missed you too. More than you will ever know.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him, afraid to let go, but he pulled back and took my hand, led me to the bench seat, reached in his pocket, and took out a long, thin royal-blue box. “Happy birthday,” he said, as he placed it in my hands.

   With trembling hands I
slid off the beautiful white satin bow that held it closed and snapped open the lid, gasping when I saw that nestled inside was a gemstone bracelet unlike any I had ever seen. Large, twinkling sapphires were held in place by a platinum setting and between each one, there was a slightly smaller diamond that twinkled in the moonlight. It was a bracelet fit for royalty. I did not doubt for one second that the gems were real, since Aidan never did anything by halves, especially where I was concerned. He took the box from my hands, placed the bracelet on my wrist, and closed the latch, brushing the inside of my wrist with his finger. My body tingled in response to his slight touch, and I found myself moving closer to him.

“It’s beau
tiful, thank you.” I brushed his lips shyly with my own and returned to admiring the bracelet.

“I had it made for you. T
here is one sapphire for every year of your life,” he explained. “And there is one diamond for every year you have brought happiness to my life.” Since my parents had found me shortly after I turned one, sixteen of those sparkling gems graced the bracelet. I smiled, touched he put such thought into a gift for me, and threw myself against him, kissing him again. I felt his hesitation at first, but knew my appeal far better than I did at sixteen and used it to my advantage. He groaned low and deep, his hands moving around my waist, pulling me onto his lap as the kiss grew more frantic and out of control. Our tongues mingled and our bodies pressed ever closer. His taste and smell filled me, bringing with it a heat that crept over my body and had me feeling lustful sensations that I had never felt before. His hand moved up my leg, caressing my thigh, and I moaned, my head dropping back as he nibbled my collarbone.

“God help me, you are a temptation
,” he groaned, before disappearing from under me.

I looked up to find him
off in the distance, pacing furiously, obviously angry with himself for letting things get out of hand. I knew he needed time to calm, so I sat quietly and waited for him to come back.

“I’m sorry
,” he told me as he approached the gazebo a few minutes later.

“It’s
okay, I understand.”

“No, I don’t think you do,” h
e said, his voice strained. “It’s…hard for me to be with you like this. If I lost control even for a second, I could take away your right to choose your fate.”

“I tr
ust you,” I assured, him positive he would never hurt me.

“That is the problem. You should never trust me
. Your blood calls to me like the sweetest nectar. If I were to indulge myself, I couldn’t be sure I would stop. Then I would have no choice but to change you. I won’t do that to you. You deserve the right to choose the course your life will take, and I won’t take that from you so selfishly.”

I wanted to deny his words. To scream that I wanted him and I didn’t care what I had to do to have him, but I knew that wasn’t true. I wanted him
, but I hadn’t really considered what I would be giving up to have him. Was I ready to give up my friends? My high school graduation or college? Was I ready to die?   

My indecision must have shown on my face because he frowned. “This is the very reason why I stay away. You are not ready to choose yet, and I can’t take the chance of changing you by accident: something you might resent me for forever.” I could see the resigned look on his face just before he turned away and knew what was going to happen next.

“You’re going to leave again,
” I whispered, walking behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist, laying my cheek against his back, hating the thought of another long absence.

“Yes, I must
. It would best.” He turned and pulled me to him, hugging me close and pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Know, though, that I will miss you every moment I am gone, and that I long to hold you in my arms.”

“Please
, don’t stay away too long.  If I can’t have you all the time, I’ll take what I can get.” I pressed my lips to his once more and he groaned.

“I will tr
y to get back soon.”

“Promise me,
” I pleaded, unconcerned how desperate it sounded.

“I promise,
” he said solemnly.

One last, lingering
kiss and he walked me back to the patio, holding me close to his side, our fingers entwined. 

“Are you coming in?” I asked as we reached the doorway.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.  If I stay any longer I might never be able to leave you.” He reached down, giving me one last, lingering kiss before stepping back and disappearing into the night.

I walked back into the ballr
oom still dazed by his kisses, but happy he had come. His parting hurt, but I reminded myself that he would be back, and I managed to enjoy the rest of my party. It was well past midnight by the time everyone left and I hugged my parents, thanking them for another great party.

“
I’m so glad you had a good time,” my mother told me.

“It was wonderful
, Mom. Thank you.” I threw my arms around her neck and hugged her close.

M
y father snarled, grabbing my wrist and glaring angrily at the bracelet that hung there. “Where did this come from?”