Blood-Red Tear (24 page)

I
lay down upon the bed, hugging the note to myself and crying, until I fell into a restless, nightmare-filled sleep.

The dream
I had that night was vivid and so real, I felt I was truly there. The same vampire who haunted my every nightmare had me in the cave once again. Aidan was there, fighting to save me as the vampire taunted him ruthlessly. “Do you think she is worth it? Will your people want her to be your princess? She’s just a baby, and by refusing to change her it makes all of you vulnerable.” Aidan looked at me, and that was all it took for the vampire to overpower him. I watched helplessly as the vampire attacked and killed the one man I knew I could not live without. But because I was weak and a human, I was helpless to save him. My screams echoed off the walls of the cave as the vampire turned to me, holding Aidan’s head high in the air, blood dripping from the sinew and muscle of his neck to the ground below, a smile of triumph on his face. I woke with my heart racing, a fine sheen of sweat on my trembling body, while biting back the scream of terror I knew would draw my family to my room.

*****

Late the next afternoon I walked down the staircase to the foyer. I felt refreshed after allowing myself to sleep in and enjoy the rest I was often deprived of, thanks to my recurring nightmares. To my surprise, there was nothing left of the mess from the party the night before. It was as if the party never happened and I shook my head, marveling at how efficient my mother and the people she hired were.

“What have you been up to,
sweetheart, I haven’t seen you all day?” she asked as I walked into the kitchen, handing me my dinner plate. “Not much, just being lazy,” I said as I grabbed a can of soda from the refrigerator. Instead of going to the dining room as I usually did, I sat at the counter to eat as my mother moved around the kitchen, cleaning up.

I
tried a few bites, but it was useless to try to eat when all I could I think about was Aidan and the amazing kiss we had shared the night before. “Mom, did you know?”

“Know what
, honey?”

“D
id you know Aidan would show up last night?” I asked directly.

“I had a feeling
he might make an appearance,” she said with a smile.

“Does D
ad know?”

She glanced
at me slyly and tossed the rag into the sink. “I’m sure he does, but he didn’t say anything to me about it.”

I was glad my father hadn’t interfered
, but was desolate that once again I was without Aidan. “Why does it hurt so much when he leaves?” I pushed the food away and laid my head on the counter, too upset to eat.

“
Honey, I know you don’t understand, but this time you have is a gift. Someday you will thank Aidan, and your father, for giving it to you.”

I looked up
, frowning at her optimism. “I doubt I could ever be happy to have gone through this.” I jumped off the stool and went back to my room, spending the night reading and doing homework, anything to get my mind off Aidan. But nothing could take away the ache being separated from him caused.

*****

   That night my dream was scattered. The vampire held me in the cave but instead of attacking as he usually did, he instead plied me with reasons why I should not be with Aidan. I was too young, not good enough, and too weak to ever be an asset to him and his people. When that failed, he tried to convince me that if Aidan cared for me as he said he did, he would have changed me to protect me. It was mental subterfuge and, to my shame, doubts about any future we might have together began to form in my head. The loud beeping of my alarm broke through the dream state, and he cursed before fading away.

I woke with
tears streaming down my cheeks, my breaths coming fast and furious. A glance at the clock told me it was time to get ready for school. I dried my eyes and went to the bathroom to get ready, knowing if I didn’t Paul would come looking for me. As I dressed, I looked on the dresser and saw a fresh rose in the vase, with a note propped up beside it. I opened the note and tears rolled down my cheeks as I read the brief message. “Thinking of you always. Aidan.” My life was so incomplete without him.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Ladies and Gentleman, we have a new student today. Please make him feel welcome,” my first-block teacher announced at the beginning of class, earning everyone’s immediate attention. A newcomer in our small school was a novelty, so of course everyone was curious.

   I looked
to the front of the room where the new guy stood confidently, despite the many eyes now focused upon him. He had dirty-blonde hair, wore snug jeans that molded to his fit form, and had muscles that rippled under his T-shirt. He looked my way and my breath caught as our gazes collided. His eyes were the most amazing green, like the ocean of a far away, exotic beach, crystal and clear pools of mesmerizing depth that held me captive. He smiled as if he knew I was appraising him. His arrogant cockiness reminded of James Dean, or one of the rebels of a by-gone era that were considered “bad boys.” The kind of male parents warned their daughters to stay away from.

   “What is your name
, dear?” the teacher, Mrs. Washburn, asked. He flashed her a devastating smile, leaned close and spoke softly to her. Unbelievably, she looked flustered and I could swear her cheeks were flushed as she turned to inform the class. “Please make Orin feel welcome. If you would sit next to Ms. Sutherland, she will help you get acquainted with what we are working on. Katie, please raise your hand so Orin will know where you are.”

  
I raised my hand dutifully, and he flashed me a killer smile before sauntering slowly down the aisle toward me. His gaze locked with mine, and within moments he slid down in the seat next me, never breaking eye contact.

“Hi
,” he said, leaning in closer to me.

Brenda made a choking noise from across the room t
hen proceeded to glare at us.

Chad watched
us with a frown, looking angry at the attention Orin was showing me, and I offered him a wan smile hoping to appease him, but it was the male beside me who held my attention. There was just something about him that drew my interest. 

   “Hi
, I’m Katie,” I told him, despite the rapid beating of my heart and the shaking of my hands. It was odd how instantly attracted I was to him, but there was just something about him that called to me.

   Orin lea
ned closer, dropping his hand over mine to caress my fingers lightly, his eyes glued to mine. “I’m really good at Algebra, so I won’t bother you much.”

   “Oh
…it’s okay…anything you need,” I stuttered, keenly aware of the warmth of his body so close to mine and uncertain why I was reacting in such a way to someone I had just met. Especially when I was in love with Aidan.

“I might take you up on that,
” he said with a wink then leaned back in his seat staring at me instead of the teacher for the rest of class.

When the bell
finally rang, Chad stormed to my side, scooped up my books, and grabbed my hand, pulling me from the room. I looked over my shoulder to find Orin watching it all with a frown and a shake of his head.

Chad wal
ked me to my next class in icy silence, leaving me at the door without a word, which was very unlike him. So I knew he was really angry.

“Man
, Chad looked pretty pissed off. What’s wrong?” Chris asked as I sat down at the desk next to him.

“He didn’t like
me talking to the new guy, Orin,” I mumbled.

“
New guy, huh? Haven’t met him yet, but I can’t see why Chad would care if you were just talking to him.” He eyed me speculatively and frowned. “You were just talking to him, weren’t you?”

Before I could
answer, I heard a male voice ask, “Is this seat taken?”

I
looked up to see the object of Chad’s unhappiness smiling down at me.

“No
. Please, sit, Orin.” I waited for him to settle then introduced him to Chris who said hello politely, but eyed him warily. Thankfully, Orin didn’t seem to notice or care.

“I’m sor
ry if I made your boyfriend mad,” Orin said.

I wasn’t sure why, but I felt the need to explain my relationship with Chad.
“It’s okay, and Chad’s not really my boyfriend. We just go out sometimes.” Chris coughed next to me but Orin beamed.

“Good to know
,” he told me with a flirty smile.

C
lass began so there was no more conversation between us, but when the bell rang, Orin put his hand on my arm as I moved to leave, stopping me.

“Would
you show me where the gym is?”

“Actually
, I’m on my way there now. We can walk together.”

As w
e walked, I asked where he had moved from, to make conversation and appease my curiosity about this male who had suddenly appeared in our small town and managed to take my breath away.

“I just moved from Washington
state”

“
Why did you move here of all places?” I questioned. Don’t get me wrong, our town was nice, but Orin seemed more like a city guy.

“Something
just drew me here,” he told me as we arrived at the gym.

“What could possibly draw anyone here
?”

He looked
uncomfortable. “See you in there,” he said, ducking into the boy’s locker room before I could ask him anything more.

“Smooth
, Katie,” I chastised myself.

“Talking to yourself
, Sutherland,” Brenda said arrogantly as she passed. “Isn’t that what crazy people do?” she called out, earning laughs from the group of girls that surrounded her.

I ignored her taunts and strode into the locker room where Jess was
waiting, wringing her hands anxiously. “What’s going on, Katie?”

“What are you talking about
?” I asked as I dressed for class.

“Ch
ad is really upset that you and that guy were talking,” she explained grimly.

I could tell
she was upset too. For some unknown reason Jess really wanted Chad and me together, but that wasn’t what I wanted. In fact, she had never asked what I wanted. “Jess, Chad and I are not together. People just made that assumption about us,” I explained.

She glared at me
, angrier than I had ever seen her. “Chad really likes you and I would hate to see him hurt.”

I didn’t want to hurt him but I knew I was going to. I
had let it go on because he was safe. I knew I would never feel more for him than friendship, and that was all I wanted as I waited for Aidan to return to me, but I realized by his reaction to Orin that he wanted more. “I know, but is it right to string him along when I know I do not feel that way for him?” I hoped she would understand, but by her reddened cheeks and irritated expression, I had the feeling she did not.

“Whatever,” she muttered before walking
away, shaking her head.

I walked
out to the gym by myself and sat on the bench, feeling the weight of my mistake weighing heavily on my mind. I should have confronted Chad sooner about how I felt, but I hadn’t wanted to hurt him. Now it looked like there was no way to avoid it.

“Excuse me?”

I looked up to see Orin standing in front of me.

“Coach told me to take a seat
. Do you mind if I sit here with you?”

To be honest
, I wanted to be alone, but one look into his eyes and I couldn’t voice my feelings. “No. Of course not.” I moved over to make room for him and he settled next to me.

“We have to s
top meeting like this,” he joked.

I laughed
softly. “I’m okay with it if you are.”  Did I say that? Was I flirting? How was that even possible when my heart belonged to Aidan?

“Anytime
,” he answered, moving a little closer. “What do you all do around this town for fun?”

“Most of the time we hang out at Kelly’s
. They have the best food in town, video games, a pool table, and on weekends, they have a local DJ come in. Coming from a big city like Washington he probably thought that sounded lame, but really, that was all our small town offered for entertainment. Aside from its scenic views, history, and of course the local park where all the kids went to make out, there was little else to do for the teenage population.

“Maybe I’ll run into you there sometime.”

“That would be great,” I answered nervously, noting Jess giving me a scathing look from across the gym.

“So where do you live?”
he asked.

“Oh, we have a house on the outskirts of town,”
I answered, not offering exact directions. I didn’t know him at all, and although I felt weirdly drawn to him, I wasn’t that stupid.

“Do y
ou enjoy living here?” he hedged.

To my surprise, the answer came easily. I loved our small town and the protection it offered my fa
mily. “Who wouldn’t? It’s small, quiet, and we know everyone.”

“Seems like the perfect place for anyone who had something to hide,” he told me.

His answer bothered me so I played it off the best I could. “Are you kidding? With the local gossips everyone knows everyone else’s business around here. You can’t hide anything.”

“I’ve heard that about small towns,” he replied easily and I felt myself relax.
It had to suck being the new guy in our small community, and I was sure he was just getting a feel for the area.

The bell rang and I stood
, telling him I would see him later before I ran to the locker room to change. As I walked out of the locker room I saw Chad waiting for me, leaning on the wall. He watched me approach with a sad expression.

“Hey, Chad,” I said h
oping he would let it go until after school, but clearly we were not of the same mind.

“What’s goin
g on, Katie?”

“With what?”
I answered, knowing quite well, what he was referring to.

His jaw ticked slightly.
“Everyone tells me this Orin guy is following you all around the school.”

  
I was sure it was probably more like Brenda was whispering in his ear, but I let it go. “He is not following me around. He asked me to show him to the gym,” I explained.

“Is it not big enough for him to see?” I had never heard him sound so angry
, and I was taken aback by his tone.

   “Chad
, I can see you are upset, but you do not have the right to be angry about another guy talking to me when you have never asked me to be your girlfriend.”

   “Well,
I’m asking now! Are we a couple or not?” he snapped, surprising me with the vehemence of his voice.

   I shook my head sadly. “I’m sorry
, Chad, but we’re not,” I told him, hating the hurt look that passed across his face. “I just don’t feel that way about you. We can still be friends, though, right?” I put my hand on his arm but he pulled it away.

   “I don’t know,
maybe later we can.”

Tears welle
d in my eyes as I watched him walk away, his shoulders slumped and his head hung low. I walked quickly to the bathroom so no one else would see how upset I was, washed my face, and took a few deep breaths, hating myself for hurting Chad but knowing I had done the right thing. We had no future together, not when I was in love with someone else. Taking one more deep breath to calm myself, I left the bathroom to go to my next class, surprised to find Orin there waiting outside the door as I exited.

“Are you okay?
” he asked softly. “I could not help but hear you and Chad talking in the hall. I’m sorry if I had anything to do with your breakup.”

“We weren’t exclusive, so there was nothing to break up,” I explained, tears pricking the back of my
eyelids. I hated that I hurt Chad. Although I did feel this weird pull toward Orin. He wasn’t the reason I told him I wouldn’t be his girlfriend. I just simply hadn’t realized until I saw his reaction to Orin how serious his feelings were for me, and once I knew I couldn’t allow it to go on.

Orin took my books and placed his arm around my shoulders
. “Listen, let me walk you to class. Where do you go next?”

“World history.”

“What a coincidence, me too,” he said with a grin.

“Yeah,” I said
, allowing him to lead me to class. “Coincidence,” I muttered.

*****

   “Let me help you,” Orin said behind me, reaching out for my book bag as I finished closing my locker at the end of day.

“I
, uh…well, I’m going to the parking lot to meet my brother,” I told him.

“That’s great.
I’m parked there too. Red truck with flames right?” he asked, flinging my bag over his shoulder.

   “Yeah
, it’s my brother’s truck,” I explained, wondering how he knew that.