Authors: Renee Thacker
The two protectors retreated.
Tarun hesitated giving me a very meaningful look before swishing her dress around and leaving.
Carson picked me up like a child.
I clung to
him
as
he tore through the forest insanely fast.
He laid me in the back seat, jammed the keys in the ignition, and sped away.
All the way to his house.
Carsons strong gentle hand pulled the shirt from my neck causing me to cry out in pain.
“Shhh,” he hushed me.
The sting from my neck wound spread through my body, making me feel like my blood was acid.
I made it over to the mirror and took myself in the mirror.
I had paled.
My eyes darkened.
Hair lengthened and lightened in to a dirty blond.
The scar that run down the side of my face was now gone.
On my neck were two new scars.
One from a dangerous man and the other from a rather seductive vampire.
When I parted my blood red lips it revealed two fangs.
A new hunger came over then me.
One that did not include a cafeteria lunch...
In the
distance
howls erupted.
This must be the changing at the full moon.
I turned to Carson but he was not there.
I looked down.
There stood the most beautiful, gorgeous, mesmerizing wolf of all time.
Carson Lund.
The one who entered my life and led me in to a whole new dimension.
Did he hate me now?
Now that I was the forbidden enemy?
Would Rifle be the one to turn to?
Were there more vampires out there besides the Ricolis?
I was eighteen in two weeks.
Which didn’t mean I had to go home to explain to my parents I didn’t eat food.
No matter what, even if it meant the end of my existence, I refused to drink the blood of a human being.
Chapter 8
I sat cross legged on
Carson’s
bed.
The wolf rested his head in my lap as I gently stroked it.
Sleeping was out of the
question
now.
In fact now that I was a vampire I couldn’t sleep.
An eternity of this.
Of Carson.
Of I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do.
When the first sign of dawn began to break Carson jumped back and shifted back in to his human form.
His expression was so, I don’t even know.
But he has never looked at me with that much
disgust
.
“Go now.” he ordered.
“Never come back.
Never talk to me again.
We can never ever be back together so just go.”
“But-”
“Now!” he shouted with so much rage it frightened me.
Tears stung my eyes.
This was beyond cruel.
It wasn’t even fair!
“But I loved you.” I whispered.
“Go,” every single muscle in his body was vibrating.
“Take my car and go back to the school?”
“Never again.”
“Never again what?”
He angrily demanded.
“Just leave like that.”
“It’s different this time
..”
“You always say that.”
I gritted my teeth and jumped off the bed.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Carson held his hands up.
So I didn’t.
I just turned around without looking back once.
Heartbroken.
Slowly turning the keys in the ignition of the red convertible, heading back to the school.
Taking a long shower.
Thirsty for something.
For
blood.
For my old normal human life again.
For all of this to be over.
But now my destiny was chosen. And I had an eternity of it.
But right now I needed blood.
So after the shower I got back in to the car and headed back to the clearing at white claw park.
Lea’s teddy bear was there along with the knife.
I picked up the blade driving it deep into the dirt.
Placing the teddy bear against the knife.
I kneeled down and cried some more hopelessly calling Carson.
That’s when my senses kicked in.
I
smelled
it.
My fast reflexes had the snow white rabbit by the tail in no time.
It seemed so disgusting to bite in to.
But that blood.
That blood I was craving so much that I lowered my mouth to it and bit down.
It was so regurgitating yet so rejuvenating.
My senses were sharper.
I had strength, agility, speed, all of it.
Thinking back to everything I don’t know what it is that I really did want.
When I got back to the school
It
was morning.
Kids were scarfing down unappetizing plates of food.
I looked over to the table I normally ate at with Loren.
It was all empty except for Tarun.
Tarun!
What could she do in a school cafeteria though?
I sat across from her, both of us without plates of food.
It was strange to see her in normal clothes again.
“So we meet again.”
She
said coolly.
“Yes but this time we’re at a truce.”
I nodded.
“Ha!
When have I ever hurt you?”
“You tried but failed. Twice.”
“You will not talk about this.”
She
told me.
“I will never forgive you for any of it.
So don’t even try to play
kiss up
with me.”
She
paused.
“When we’re outside of school your throat has my name written all over it.
“
Why
?”
I emphasized.
“You don’t have to be like this.”
“You don’t understand my world.”
She
threw back the exact words Carson had once spoken.
“I am part of your world,
” I
told her.
“Vampires have nothing to do with werewolves!”
She snapped.
“You belong dead.
That’s why Carson can’t be with you.
Rifle
bit you
.”
I gulped, “I’ll find a way.”
“With who?”
She exclaimed.
“With werewolves?
Highly doubtful.
The Ricolis?
After all the hell you put the them through?
Well I’ll be damned if they ever accept you again.
And I’ll bet your senses are to week at this point to track down others of your kind.”
Others of my own kind?
So there are other vampires out there.
But how close?
Tarun refused to give me any further information.
When I got to math none of the other werewolves were there.
Except for Dimitri.
For a second I could still see the old friendliness on his eyes.
Then
it
was gone.
Replaced by a sad cold look.
The stick figure drawing was still hanging on the whiteboard.
Wow, nice way to bring back all the pain.
The school day went by long and boring.
After I got back to my dorm Emi comforted me by trying to teach me yoga, with a few
popcorn breaks.
She had no clue what was going
on (
I envied her) all she knew was I was down.
The computer in the corner reminded me of
my mom’s
emails counting the days until I would come home.
Twenty one days.
Exactly three weeks.
My phone vibrated in my pocket.
Signaling I had a text.
The caller ID said it was from someone unknown named Galen Serecue.
It read:
MEET ME IN THE PARK AT 9:00 TONIGHT
There was
no way
I was going to get played into another trap.
DON’T EVEN KNOW YOU, I replied.
Seconds later the phone rang.
Caller ID: Galen Serecue.
“Hello?”
I answered.
“Oh hi.
Is this Leslie woods?”
His voice was deep, mature, serious.
“What’d you want?”
“You of course.”
“Look I’m done with tricks and games so don’t waste your breath.”
“It’s not that,” he continued.
“I know what you are and I’m one too.
I was wondering.
Well I need to teach you some things.
What I’m saying is
,
I’m a vampire.
You’re a vampire.
Let’s face
it,
you have no one to turn to.”
My phone clattered to the floor.
“Leslie
are
you okay?”
Emi gasped.
“Yeah I’m fine.”
I picked up the phone and hung it up quickly before texting him I’d be at the local park at 9:00.
This is what I needed after all.
The time read 7:49.
The park was a five minute
drive.
But since I didn’t have a car, I had to walk.
Carson
.
The one who ripped my heart in half and flipped my world upside down.
I know I still yearned for him.
I was irrevocably in love with him.
The empty road leading half a half an hour walk was torture.
Carson was on my mind the whole way until I got there.
That’s when I first laid eyes on him.
He was a
Californian
dreamer.
That blond hair and light skin.
Everything except for the dark eyes.
His feet remained spread apart as he stared off in to the distance.
When he looked at me that half smile about killed me.
I thought he was an older man like Alex but he looked my age, If not younger.
“Leslie,
” he
acknowledged when I made it over.
“Come on.”
I thought maybe he was going to lead me somewhere.
But instead he sat on a swing and gestured to the one next to him.
It was dark and thank god there were no children.
“So why do you need me?”
I asked.
“Who said I needed you?
I was just accepting a new vampire.”
Galen replied.
I stayed silent.
“Well as you know,
it’s
hard to adjust.”
He told me.
“So maybe I was just wondering if we could go try out some skills in the forest...
?
”
“Skills?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Vampire skills!”
he
was quick to say.
“And is this a trick?”
I asked him.
“No but let’s just go somewhere else and talk.”
Galen led me over to the sidewalk curb.
We both hugged our knees and sat there silent and peaceful in the dark of night for a
moment.
“So how’s life treating you?”
He
asked.
“I don’t know,
” I
shrugged.
For some reason there was something about this guy that I could trust.
Maybe the sparkle in his eyes.
Or his beautiful dreamy features.
“My mom’s a
lawyer;
she lives in a world of black and white.
She would never understand.
My dad, he’s not really the type to talk things through with.
Plus they live in Los Angeles and I’m almost eighteen.
I can’t rely on my parents forever.
So...”
I trailed off.
“Anyone else?”
He asked.
“Well long story.
My-well I met this guy werewolf- quite a few of them actually
- then
I turned in to this.”
“And that’s why I’m here.”
Galen finished off on Cue.
“Yes
Mr.
’ Psychiatrist,
” I
laughed like a lunatic.
Galen’s
expression darkened.
I followed his eyes.
Carson Lund was standing there on the bridge of the playground.
“I’ve got to go,
” Galen
said sternly.
“What- why?”
“Two men don’t fight in front of a lady.”
He got up and left in to the darkness.
Carson and I
just stood there staring at
each other
.
I didn’t know
If
I should be happy that I was once again
staring
into those beautiful green eyes or mad because he was the one who shouted at me to leave.
I opened my mouth to speak a couple of times but couldn’t.
I was frozen, shocked.
“What’s your problem?!”
I shouted.
“Les-”
“You can’t just tell me off like that then-”
“Les-”
“Come back when I am clearly trying to t-”
“Les-”
“To another man.
Now it’s my turn to tell you to leave and you’ll know how I feel.
You have no idea the p-”
“Leslie pl-”
“Pain I’ve been going through because of you.”
I stopped to gasp for air, then turned around and started to walk away.
Carson turned me around to face him.
This was a fight I couldn’t fight.
“It’s not that,
” his
breathing was heavy.
“Don’t do this to me,
” I
whispered hotly through tears, adjusting my eyes to his tattoo.
“You’re becoming more popular.”
“Oh great so now you want my autograph.”
I threw my arms in sarcasm.
“No it’s nothing like that.
First the werewolves wanted you and they wanted you pretty bad.
But now you’re a vampire.
No human being has been bitten by a vampire and survived it for six thousand years.
Let alone a vampire and a werewolf bite in the same night.
They want you.
The werewolves want you.
The vampires want you.
It’s a tug of war.”
He was dead serious.
“So what
Is
it this time?
The Ricolis or some other innocent family?”
“No.
I just want you to stay close to me.
It was my fault I didn’t keep a closer I on you.
And I couldn’t stay away from you.
It’s way
to
hard.”
Right now I was thinking two things.
Galen.
Carson.
Vampire.
Werewolf.
Reluctantly I turned around and followed him to the car.
Before I left I saw a
little sparkle by a tree.
Galen was leaning against a tree waving his phone at me.
As a message.
I nodded and looked away quickly so Carson wouldn’t notice.
“Put your seat belt on.”
He told me.
“You never do,” I reprimanded.
“That’s because I’m a werewolf.”
“And I’m a vampire.”
“Don’t.”
He gritted his teeth.
“That’s like discriminating blacks.
Look Carson, I’m a
vampire
.”
“We’re two different species.”
Very quietly he said something my new vampire senses allowed me to hear.
“Maybe you really do belong with Galen.”
“Then why did you pick me up?”
I asked.
“Because I want you.”
He pierced me with those green eyes.
“You’re confusing,
” I
sighed.
“That’s what happens when you’re in love.”
I stayed silent.
“Coffee?”
Carson suggested.
I stayed silent.