Chapter 13
Foolish
“You came,” he said from the balcony doorway. The room was dark and his silhouette was all that I could see.
“W-who are you?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“Tristan,” he answered. “Do you remember anything about me?”
“I…I know that I went to meet you last night, but I don’t know why, and I feel that I know you somehow, I felt it when you came to my room last night and again at school today. But they’ve done something to make me forget who you are.”
He nodded to himself. “If you come with me, I can take you to a place that will answer all of your questions.”
Despite the overwhelming sense of familiarity I felt for him, the thought of being alone with him scared me. “Are you a vampire?” I asked him flatly.
“I am,” he replied. “But please, don’t be afraid of me—I won’t hurt you. Can you trust me?”
His reply made me shiver. Shaking, I turned to Helena, who had moved to the end of my bed. Her face was damp and without my having to ask, she answered my question. “You can trust him, dear. More than anyone else in this world.”
I looked at him again. Who was this boy? I had to know. I swallowed. “I’ll come with you.”
He started toward me. “I’m going to pick you up, is that alright?”
I glanced at Helena once more, and then nodded.
At his touch, I jerked away from him. As much as I tried to convince myself that this was okay, my body still remembered being trapped under that bed with that monster. What he was, terrified me.
“Look into my eyes, Ana. You know me. There’s a reason you agreed to meet with me—to leave with me. I would never hurt you.”
There was just enough light from the hall that I could see the intensity in his eyes. It took me a moment to speak. “I believe you, it’s just—“
In a flash, he’d taken me into his arms and started for the balcony. How anything could move so fast, I didn’t know. I closed my eyes and felt him leap; the wind was rushing against my face, blowing through my hair… I stole a peek and saw the ground rushing up to meet us. I closed my eyes again, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck until I felt the impact of his feet meeting the earth. There was something reassuring about being in his arms. It was the feeling you get from returning to something familiar and comfortable—like home after a long trip. This felt so normal to me, as if I had been here a thousand times before. His scent was sweeter than anything I’d known. I laid my head against his chest, and felt the tension ease from my limbs.
“You can open your eyes now, Ana.”
First, I had been terrified of him, and now I couldn’t let go.
“Please,” he spoke softly. “We have to hurry.”
He dropped his right arm, allowing my legs to drop beneath me. The sun was setting and we were in front of a wide lake, I’d seen it from my balcony but it had always looked so far away then… I whipped my head around to find the house was now the thing that was off in the distance. We had covered what had to be a mile in a matter of seconds.
“Follow me,” he said next.
I followed him around the lake, watching the lightning bugs twinkling around us like tiny stars. He pulled an old wooden rowboat from behind some tall grass and dragged it down to the shore. As I watched the grass sway back into place, an image of a leather-bound book flashed in my head.
He pushed half of the boat into the lake and then motioned for me to join him. He stepped inside and then jammed one of the oars into the dirt to keep it steady.
“Where are we going?”
“The answers to your questions are on the other side of this lake, just beyond those trees,” he pointed.
I tried to look through them, to see what was there, but could only see tree trunks. I sat down at the other end of the small boat and he pulled the oar free. He pushed us away from the shore with his foot and we were sailing. Me and a vampire.
He didn’t speak while he rowed, the trip being serenaded only by the oars slipping into and out of the lake. I wrapped my arms around my knees and watched him. The strands of his dark hair fell messily over his face, and yet I had never seen anyone look so perfect. The curve of his jaw, the shape of his lips, he was so…beautiful. Something inside me longed to go to him, to have him touch me again. I felt restless and couldn’t sit still. I had never felt this strongly about anything. His scent still lingered in my nostrils…
He was doing his best not to look at me. Some kind of pain flickered in his eyes. Something was hurting him—that much was clear—some thought, some… person? I wondered if it was me; if my not remembering him was triggering this anguish.
“I’m sorry,” I said, piercing the silence.
Finally, he looked up at me, just as a lightning bug was passing near his face. The light caused his saddened eyes to glisten, and it was all I could do not to crawl across the boat to comfort him. Seeing him hurting like that caused something in me to hurt as well. It was as if we shared the same soul.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” he said quietly, before avoiding my eyes again.
“For my not remembering you—“
“We’re here,” he interrupted. He stood up and tied the end of the boat to a metal pole sticking up from the ground. With one foot on land, he guided the end of the boat around so that it floated parallel to the shore. He reached out and I gave him my hand, his touch flaming hot against my skin.
“Follow me,” he said. His face changed. “Wait— if you want to go back now, I’ll understand. I won’t be angry with you. And I won’t bother you anymore, I swear it.”
His eyes were desperate, as if he were suddenly begging me to turn back. It scared me.
“What shouldn’t I see?” I asked in a meek, child-like voice. “What is my grandmother protecting me from?”
“Yes or no,” he insisted.
“Y-yes.”
He closed his eyes. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. No more cautious Ana. I just prayed that this way of thinking didn’t get me killed.
“Then follow me,” he sighed, starting toward the trees he’d pointed at before.
The woods were shallow, and as we broke through the first line of trees, I could already see a clearing, the hiding place of a battered little cabin. I couldn’t help but notice his expression as we approached; he looked awful, as if every step closer was more painful than the last.
My mind raced as I replayed the exchange we had just had. “Is this a trap?” I wondered. Had he placed some kind of spell on me to make feel these emotions? To make me feel this way about someone of whom I had no memory? Was I walking willingly to my own death?
“We’re here,” he said once we had reached the door. I had momentarily retreated into my own head so it seemed to come too fast. He pushed it open. It was dark inside. He looked me in the eyes, the same tortured expression etched into his face. “This is the last chance to turn back, Ana. Once you go inside, once you know why I brought you here, there is no turning back. Understand?”
My heart was pounding and mind was swimming. It was very possible that I had been lured out here by a vampire to die. That he had done something to make London and Helena betray me. Why else would he look so conflicted? But why now? He had had so many chances already. Maybe he had tried to resist, but had finally given in to the monster inside him. Maybe he was giving me one last chance to live.
My mind was telling me to run as fast I could in the opposite direction. However, my heart had never felt this before. I had never experienced the longing I felt for this stranger. It begged me to stay near him. If there was any chance that this was real, any chance at all, how could I turn from it?
But was it worth dying for?
I stepped into the cabin, shivering in the da
rkness and uncertain if my beautiful seducer was about to end my life.
He followed me inside, shutting the door behind him. He sighed. “Very well then.”