“I love that he’s growing his hair out a bit,” Jessica said, staring at him dreamily, her chin resting in her palms. “Damn, it looks good.”
“Seriously, what do your parents feed him?” Silvia asked, turning toward me.
“The same as me,” I muttered, rolling my eyes at my friends.
“Who do you think he’ll date next, now that he’s no longer going out with Yasmine?” Jessica asked.
“No idea.”
“Does he still do martial arts training with your dad?” Becky asked.
“Yeah,” I said, stretching my legs out on the grass and yawning. “My dad makes us both do it.”
“Ahh… Prince Benjamin Novak,” Silvia whispered, sighing. “When will you be mine?”
I looked at the three friends who had stayed back with me after the picnic just so they could continue to ogle my brother. Ben was the heartthrob of all the girls on the island. Whenever I was with them while Ben was around, it felt like I might as well not exist.
It was my birthday as well as Ben’s, yet throughout the whole picnic my friends had done almost nothing but stare at and gossip about my brother. Occasionally I found myself wondering how many of them were friends with me just so they could get the inside scoop on my brother.
I, on the other hand, didn’t seem to get as much attention from the boys my age. Sure, I caught them looking at me, but it was rarely more than that. My girlfriends thought that maybe I intimidated them, being princess of The Shade. My theory was that they were intimidated by the males in my family. I thought that perhaps the prospect of having both Derek and Ben Novak breathing down his neck was just too daunting for a young man to bother. Because my brother was just as protective of me as my father. There were after all plenty of other pretty girls on the island with less obstacles.
I couldn’t say that any of this bothered me much though. My life didn’t revolve around finding a boyfriend as my friends’ seemed to.
I didn’t know if it was just my imagination, but my girlfriends’ gossiping seemed to have become worse in recent months and I found myself spending more and more time with Griffin. When he wasn’t around, I’d got into the habit of hanging out with my parents’ friends instead. I realized that I had more in common with them than most of my contemporaries, who were all still human.
The Shade was an odd place. Although most of my parents’ friends were technically in their late teens and early twenties, many had been alive for hundreds of years. In a sense, I got the best of both worlds when I spent time with them. They were still young at heart, yet had so much experience – with centuries’ worth of knowledge and stories to share.
“Would you do that for us, Rose?”
I looked up to see my three friends staring at me.
I’d drifted off into my own thoughts and completely lost track of their conversation.
“Sorry, what?” I mumbled.
“We want you to give us a tour of your brother’s bedroom,” Jessica said, her chestnut brown eyes wide with expectation.
“Oh,” I snorted. “No. Trust me. You don’t want that. It’s such a mess, you have no…”
My voice trailed off as I spotted Anna and Kyle taking a seat on the lawn a few feet away from us with their children, Ariana and Jason.
Although Ariana was four years younger than me, I knew that she would make for better company than my friends right now. I stood up and shook the grass off my dress.
“I’ll see you guys around,” I muttered, waving a hand and walking away before they could object.
All four looked up as I approached.
“Happy birthday, princess.” Kyle grinned. “You want to sit with us?”
“Thanks.”
I plopped myself down next to Ariana. Everyone on the island joked that we were twin sisters because our features were similar.
“Happy birthday,” Ariana said through a mouthful of cake. “What’s up?”
“Ah, nothing much.” I sighed, leaning back and looking around the lawn once again. Most of the attendees of our picnic had left by now, with just a few latecomers stopping by to drop gifts off for us and pick up some lunch. “I wanted to thank you so much for the gifts.”
“You liked them?” Jason asked, poking his head around Ariana’s shoulder to look at me. The ten year old’s mouth was covered with strawberry icing.
Anna had knitted pajamas for Ben and I, and they truly were works of art. I hated to think how many hours she must have spent on them.
“They’re the most beautiful pajamas I’ve ever seen,” I said, ruffling Jason’s hair. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, darling.” Anna smiled.
“Hi Rose.”
I swivelled around to see who had spoken.
A tall red haired boy with warm hazelnut eyes. And now possibly the best friend I had on the island: Griffin.
“Sorry I couldn’t make it earlier,” he said, grinning sheepishly.
“Oh, that’s fine.”
He had one hand hidden behind his back, while he reached the other down to pull me to my feet.
I turned back to Ariana and her family.
“Sorry, guys,” I said. “I’ll catch you later. Enjoy the rest of your cake.”
“Bye!”
I turned back to Griffin and attempted to see what he was hiding. He stepped away, blocking my view.
“Wait,” he said, laughing. “Not yet. Follow me.”
He placed his hand on the small of my back and pushed me forward toward the entrance of the woods.
“Where are we going?” I asked, looking over my shoulder and narrowing my eyes on him in mock suspicion.
“Just trust me,” he said, still smiling. “It’s a surprise.”
He led me forward, refusing to answer any of my questions until we reached the Port. We stepped onto the jetty and he walked me right up to its edge.
“Keep your eyes forward,” he said.
I placed my hands on the banister and stared out at the dark ocean. I heard a clinking behind me and then Griffin said, “Okay, you can look now.”
He stood beside me, holding out a gorgeous shell necklace.
“Happy birthday.”
“Oh my.” I gasped, reaching out to take the necklace from him.
“I’ll put it on you. It’s quite delicate.”
“Yeah, good idea,” I muttered.
I bunched up all my hair above my head and he reached his warm hands around my neck, fastening the hook.
“I wish there was a mirror here… Did you make this yourself?”
“Yup.”
“It’s beautiful. Thanks man,” I said, giving him a high five. “Since when did ol’ Griff start getting in touch with his feminine side?”
“Since I realized I should probably start giving the princess better gifts than home made chocolate pigs every year… which my mom made, by the way. I just took them from the kitchen and pretended they were from me.”
“I always thought those pigs tasted suspiciously good,” I said, giggling and shoving him in the shoulder. “What did you get Ben?”
“Oh, pigs again.”
“So the princess was deserving of a better gift, but the prince wasn’t?”
“Yeah, I guess,” he said nonchalantly, reaching a hand behind his head and running it through his hair. “Maybe I’ll think of something better for him next year. But for now, it’s pigs.”
“I see,” I said. “And why did you need to bring me all the way here to give me the necklace?”
“Oh, I dunno. Just thought the setting matched the gift.” He averted his eyes to the ocean and placed his hands on the banister next to mine. He cleared his throat. “Rose, uh. I also wanted to ask you if…if you—”
“If I still want the pigs too?” I asked, grinning up at him.
He chuckled and shook his head.
“No, actually. I mean, you can have them too if you want but… I-I wanted to ask if you–”
“Rose!”
I whirle
d around to see Ben emerging from the woods.
“Just a moment, Griff,” I said, looking at him apologetically.
“O-okay. Yeah. Sure.”
I ran over to my brother.
“Now’s the best time to do it,” Ben whispered hurriedly. “Almost everyone has gone, but Corrine is still there with Ibrahim.”
“Okay,” I said, casting a glance back at Griffin. “Just let me say good bye to Griffin.”
I left Ben and ran back over to my friend.
“Griff, I’ve got to go.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew him in for a tight hug. As I placed a kiss on his cheek, I felt taken aback to see him blushing.
Feeling awkward, I took a step back. It’s not like I’ve never hugged him before. What’s up with Griff? I didn’t have time to ponder over it, however, since Ben was waiting impatiently for me.
“I’ve really got to start, uh, packing for my trip. But thank you again for such a stunning and thoughtful gift. You’d better keep up the handiwork though, because I’ll expect a crown next year…”
“All right, princess.” He smirked, slipping his hands into his pockets. “The necklace does look beautiful on you.”
“Thank you…” There was an odd silence between us as he stared at me. “Oh yeah, what was it that you wanted to say to me?”
“Oh, it was nothing,” he said quickly. “Really, I’ve even forgotten what I was going to say.”
His cheeks were still a bright red color.
“Oh, okay. Well, if I don’t manage to see you again before I leave, I guess I’ll see you when I get back in a couple of months.”
“Sure thing.”
I patted him on the shoulder and ran back over to Ben. We rushed through the woods together until we arrived at the lawn.
I scanned the area for my parents. They appeared to be deeply engrossed in a conversation with Vivienne and Xavier.
Certain that they wouldn’t notice me, I left Ben’s side and walked over to Corrine, who was still sitting on the grass next to Ibrahim. I took her hand in mine and tugged on her to get up.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I need to talk to you in private,” I said.
Corrine looked surprised, but followed me. I led her away from the field and into the woods. I didn’t stop walking until we’d reached the Sanctuary, and refused to offer any explanations along the way.
Once we were safely inside her bedroom, I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out two passports, laying them on the table in front of her.
She raised a brow at me. “Rose, what?”
I cleared my throat.
“I told you to wait before giving me a birthday present this year, because I had something specific in mind.”
“Yes, and?”
I flipped open Ben’s and my passports and pointed to the date of birth inscribed on each of them.
“I want you to work a little magic on these dates,” I said.
Her eyes widened.
“Huh?”
“I want you to change them. Set them back.”
“Why?”
I sighed.
“My mom keeps saying that this will be our last summer away. Our last summer as normal, human teenagers. Well, if that’s the case, I don’t want to spend it wallowing around in mud.”
“Rose.” She looked at me sternly. “Nobody is forcing this to be your last summer as humans. You don’t have to turn into vampires.”
“I know, Corrine. I know. But we do want to turn into vampires. We just really wanted this last summer to be special before we do.”
She frowned at me, biting her lower lip.
“Well, what exactly do you want to do?”
“This place we’re going is off the coast of Scotland. And we’ll likely be the youngest there. If we make friends, we want to be able to go to the mainland and stay out late partying. We’ll need ID to get into clubs. I was reading in the brochure that people above the age of eighteen are allowed to come and go as they please.”
“That’s all you want these passports for?”
I nodded.
“All you need to do is change these dates,” I said. “Oh, and don’t tell my parents about it because I doubt they’d approve.”
“What age do you want to be?”
“Twenty-one.”
She looked at me dubiously.
“Why twenty-one?”
“It’s the legal drinking age in the UK,” I lied, praying Corrine wouldn’t know any better or verify my statement.
“Hm. You don’t exactly look twenty-one.”
“Maybe not,” I said, “But they’re not going to question it if they see it on our ID.”
“Hmm… And this is really all you want for your birthday?”
I nodded vigorously.
A small smile curled at the corner of her lips as she reached for the passports and slid them across the table toward her.
“You’re making me into a criminal by asking me to tamper with these, you do realize that, don’t you? Wait here.”
I waited as she left the room. When she returned a few minutes later, she handed me the two passports—the dates changed and looking as though they had been that way all along.
I wrapped my arms around her neck and kissed her cheek.
“Thank you, Aunty Corrine.”
She frowned at me.
“I feel awful going behind your parents’ backs like this. Just promise me that you won’t get yourselves into trouble.”
“I promise,” I said, grinning and dashing out of the room.
Ben was waiting for me in his room when I returned to the penthouse. He raised his eyebrows expectantly and stood up from the bed.
“Well? Did she give them to you?”
I nodded and handed the passports over for him to inspect.
“And you?” I asked. “Did you do it?”
“Yes, I called them,” he replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a black mobile phone—one of the few phones on the island that Corrine had charmed to allow outside contact with the world. “Jake says we’re still welcome. They were planning to spend the summer in their dad’s condo anyway. And he says Kristal is looking forward to seeing you.”
I sat down on the bed next to him.
“Good. So that’s accommodation sorted. Now, let’s count the money… and we also need to think about plane tickets,” I muttered.
Ben reached under his bed. He pulled out a leather pouch stuffed full of cash. We both started counting up all the pocket money we’d been given by our parents and grandfather over the years that we hadn’t had an opportunity to spend. It amounted to several thousand dollars. Certainly more than enough for two months, especially considering that accommodation would be free of charge.
“So, here’s how this is going to work,” I said, once we’d tucked all the money back into Ben’s pouch and replaced it beneath his bed. I rubbed my temples as I tried to think the plan through. “Corrine will drop us off on the little Scottish island. It will be in the evening, so we may as well spend the night there. But the next morning, we’ll catch a boat out of there and head toward the nearest airport. The staff at the island won’t bat an eyelid on seeing us leave because we’ll have checked in as twenty-one-year-olds with these passports. So, we’ll arrive at the airport. We’ll pay for tickets in cash and book the first flights out of there.”
Ben nodded. “And we’ll take this phone with us as we usually do. They’ve never tried calling the camps we’ve stayed at before—they’ve always contacted us directly on the mobile. So they’re never going to know we’re not in Scotland.”
Ben and I stared at each other as the scale of the trick we were about to attempt settled upon us like a heavy weight.
The truth was, I didn’t enjoy lying to my parents. And Ben didn’t either. Yes, Ben and I threw our strops, but at the end of the day we didn’t like to see worry written all over their faces.
But the invitation of our
friends from last summer camp—Kristal and Jake—had begun ringing in our ears as soon as our mother had mentioned we were to be going on this stupid adventure course. That, and the fact that this really was going to be our last summer as humans.
“It’s just this once,” Ben said quietly. “For two months. They’ll never know. We’ll just make sure to be back in Scotland on the date Corrine is due to pick us up.”
I nodded, though his words didn’t dissipate the guilt that had settled in my stomach. We had never perpetrated such a massive deception before. We’d be betraying not only our parents’ trust, but also Corrine’s.
I stood up and walked around the room, breathing deeply.
“Well,” I muttered. “Hawaii, here we come.”
Chapter 3: Derek
Once Corrine had left the island with Ben and Rose, the first thing I did was call a council meeting in the Great Dome.
Sofia and I sat at the head of the long table, Vivienne and Xavier either side of us. The room filled up with our most trusted comrades.
Once everyone had seated themselves, I cleared my throat and began.
“So, our children have turned seventeen. As you all know, Sofia and I vowed that we wouldn’t get entangled with any situation that was risky until this time.” I looked down at Sofia.
She nodded, reassuring me.
“Over the past decade, these beach kidnappings have remained steady, while the police have remained clueless. It should be apparent by now that there is likely some greater force at work than humans.”
“May I ask what these kidnappings have to do with us?” Claudia called out.
My eyes settled on the blonde vampire.
“If our suspicions are correct that these kidnappings are not being done by humans, then we ought to know who is behind them. Especially since they are going on so close to our own turf.”
I paused to look around the room.
“Also,” Sofia said, “I say that since we have knowledge of this hidden world of supernaturals—something normal people could never have—we ought to use this knowledge to get to the bottom of this. It’s our responsibility. Nobody else will solve this mystery unless we do.”