***
“Good morning, the Harris residence.”
“Hello, Mrs. Harris, this is Lance. May I please speak to Amber?”
“Well hello, Lance. Sure, she is right here.”
On the nights and weekends, Lance did not work and we were not together, we spent that time on the phone. Olivia handed me the receiver with a huge grin on her face. She was still reeling over the fact that I was dating. I collected the phone from her and leaned back in the kitchen chair. “Hello, Lance. How are you?”
“It happened again.”
I knew exactly what he was talking about. Weird things continued to happen to the car. It was hard to pinpoint what set it off or who was doing it. Normally it was something like a flat tire with the same little slashes as the first time, but one time the driver side door had been removed. We found the car door sitting in the backyard leaning against the house. Whoever was doing this only wanted to slow the Graysons down.
Thankfully, Lance was habitually up before his mother, so we had been able to hide most of the car problems from her. I had spent many nights walking the neighborhood and there were never any incidents on those nights. I had, however, picked up the same faint scent from the first flat tire incident every time there was an attack on the car. We were all clueless. I was truly wondering if it was just a random scent of some animal or if it was another being like vampires. Whatever it was, the creature was smart. It knew when a family member or myself–well, everyone besides Christopher-was near. We grasped there was a rhyme or reason for the crimes, but we had yet been able to pinpoint it. Not many things can stump a vampire, but this by far was the most annoying problem that left all of us scratching our heads.
“What happened this time?” I could hear him breathing heavy in the phone. He must have had his mouth very close to the mouthpiece. I assumed his mother was awake and he did not want to let her know there was a problem.
“Well, I’m not quite sure, but the car won’t start. I was going to go to the butcher’s before heading to work, but I can’t get the engine to turn over.”
Thinking about all the reasons the engine would not run, left me with a longer list than I wanted to imagine. I wanted to run over and pop the hood, but I knew it was not the best thing to do in the middle of the day. It may not look too weird if Isaac had a quick peek, but I had a feeling it would still be best to wait until night fall. “Okay, I’m on my way. We can talk about what to do with the car later.” Lance’s breathing changed, and I sensed he was not happy he needed to call on me again. But what else could he do?
“Thank you. I’m sorry about this, Amber…”
“Not a problem, sweetie. I’ll see you in a few.”
After talking to Isaac and Olivia about the new problem, I left to spend the morning with Lance. I did not mind as much as he thought I did. Although we went on a date the night before, we were not going to see each other until Sunday. I kept it my little secret, but those days that went by where I did not see him all day were so long and boring. In some ways it made me not want to solve the problem, just so I could spend more time with him. That night after giving Lance a ride home from work, and making sure he and his mother were in for the night, Isaac and I came back to look at the car. We did not want to wake the neighborhood while fiddling with the car, so we picked the vehicle up and carried it a few miles away to a dark service road.
I let Lance know that we would be moving the car and not to worry if he looked outside and saw that it was missing. He had trouble grasping how we were going to move the car. Before then, I do not believe he understood how strong a vampire could be.
“What do you mean you will take it somewhere else? The engine won’t start.”
I gave him a rueful smile and with one arm reached out and lifted him off the ground and over my head. I exerted little energy to do so and Lance could tell. After putting him back down, he had no more questions about how the car would be moved.
While in the process of relocating the car, we swiftly deduced the dilemma. We did not need to check the engine, as we were moving the car-me holding the front half and Isaac on the back-Isaac thought he smelled a familiar scent, but wanted to get it to the location before confirming his suspicions.
“Amber, do you smell that?”
“I smell a lot of things. Can I have a little more description?”
“I think I smell mothballs, but it’s diluted. I hope that smell isn’t coming from where I think it is.”
I sorted through all the scents swimming around me, and I did pick up on the same thing. “Ah, yes. I do smell it. I sure hope it isn’t that either.” Once we put the car down and opened the gas tank, we both knew it was what we feared. Someone had shoved mothballs in the gas tank. The car was going to need some work.
“Who would do such a thing!”
The next morning I came over first thing to tell Lance about our findings. He was outraged. Since it was a Saturday there were no places opened. Isaac and I figured we would wait until Monday night to work on the car. I considered replacing the car, but I was unsure of how well Lance would handle that. “I don’t know, but we will fix it. I’m going to let you borrow my car until it’s done. I don’t think it will take long. Isaac will start looking for all the parts we need come Monday. For right now there is nothing we can do about it.”
“What about my mother. What will I tell her?”
“I was thinking about that. We’ll only work on the car at night, so that will solve the problem of the car not being parked in the driveway. If she needs to go somewhere, I can offer to take her or we can just come up with some excuse as to why you have my car for the day. Let’s worry about that part when we come to it. The other night did you hear anything funny outside? Did the car look different to you the next day?”
“No, that is why I’m so confused. If it was a person doing this, wouldn't I hear them? Do you think it’s another vampire?”
“There are only two other vampires in the area, and I haven’t picked up their scents anywhere near here. Besides, I went to talk to them to see if they knew of any other beings in the area and they knew nothing.”
“Well, whoever this is, I hope we figure it out soon.”
“My feelings exactly. Don’t fret. I plan on staying close until we find who is doing this. I’ve talked to Isaac and Olivia and on the nights when I cannot be here, one of them will stand in my place.”
That went on for months. The nice part about standing guard at the Grayson’s house was that I was around Lance even more. As we figured, the car attacks stopped, and Isaac and I were able to get the car restored in no time. It still bewildered us. Whatever had vandalized the car could not be human. The creature had to have a sense of smell much more acute than a vampire, because it identified we were there, but none of us could pick up its scent. It was like the creature knew how close it could get before we could detect its approach. Once again, we were left with more questions than answers. Why the Graysons? Why their car? What did the creature want?
At night, I had the task of looking over the Grayson household as they slept, but during the day, I had the issue of Annie to deal with. It seemed like she was everywhere now. She was at school, the Bag and Carry, and I would see her taking walks down Lance’s street, although Lance tried to clear that one up very quickly.
“Amber, she always walks down this street. She lives a block over.”
Lance pointed to a house that was diagonal to his backyard. I was a little miffed with myself for not recognizing she lived so close. I would like to say, it is hard to detect one human scent from the rest when it is mixed in the elements from the outdoors and they all live so close. Or maybe my subconscious put Annie’s scent in the furthest part of my brain. The truth was, the less I thought about her crushing on Lance the happier I was. Lance still showed no interest in Annie. She was his friend in his mind and I was being jealous over nothing. Well that was the case until one day during final’s
week.
It was late spring and our junior semester was coming to an end. I had finished my Business final exam and was headed over to meet Lance. We were going to Luna Park after what he called a stressful week of exams. As I walked to where we decided to meet, I passed this couple. At first glance, I saw a young man and woman carrying on very inappropriately in public. Not only were they kissing but they were practically making out in the middle of the hallway. As I walked as close as possible to the opposite wall in the hallway, I tried to give the busy couple as much space as the narrow walkway would allow. That is when it hit me. It was a scent I would know anywhere. I stopped mid-step. All I could think was 'it cannot be'. “Lance?” I usually did not talk to Lance mentally. I found it was hard for him to do more than one thing at a time when I did. But right then it was the only thing that kept me from going over and ripping both of their throats out. He stiffened the moment my voice sounded in his mind.
Lance’s one hand dropped from the small of her back and the other from cupping her right breast, and he turned slowly to face me. I could see the girl’s face now. It was Annie, and she had a look of contempt lingering on her lips. Once our eyes met, a look of confusion came over Lance. He then turned and looked back at Annie and then tried to step away. She still had her hands locked around his neck. I started to take a step forward, but stopped myself. Instead, I did what I told myself I never would do. I broke my promise and dove into Lance’s mind. I saw that he was a little confused on what was going on. He also had a stream of blissful thoughts running through his head. One of his thoughts made me shiver. I did not need to read Annie’s mind to know what she was thinking. Instead, I turned and ran. I moved much too quickly for the amount of humans in the hallways. Thankfully, they did not see the scene I had just witnessed and I was able to move so fast that all they felt was a brush of wind as I dashed past them.
It was dumb on my part, but I did not know how to react. I loved Lance too much to hurt him. Besides, was it not what I wanted in the first place? I wanted Lance happy with a normal life. I wanted him to not have to worry about putting him and his loved ones in danger. Yet there was still a bigger issue. Even though Lance and I had never talked about it, it had crossed my mind many times. As I sifted through Lance’s mind, I saw my greatest fear. Lance wanted kids, a family. That was the one and only thing I could never give him. I could feed day in and day out to keep from being tempted by his blood, and I could try to fit into the human world as best as possible to be with him. I was able to fix his car when other creatures damaged it, and I could love him with all my heart-the part that was not cold, dark and monstrous-but I could not give him a real family. I think becoming aware of Lance’s true desires is what made me run. Seeing Lance make-out with Annie did hurt too, but knowing that I could not give him the children he longed for hurt the most.
I ran, not too worried about anyone noticing me. I headed straight to the house. I wanted to run home, home to my real mother, but I knew she was dead. I knew that all of my real family, and my past life was dead. So I turned to the only other person who could at least try to make it right. Olivia heard me coming and was just about to open the door when not only did I knock the front door off the hinges, but crashed into her, sending both of us falling to the floor. She knew something was wrong by the pace in which I moved. I was running at such a fast clip in day light with the possibility of witnesses seeing me; yet, she had no idea what was wrong, nor did she ask. We sat on the floor in the foyer with the front door laying next to us and she held me. This was another time in my life I wanted to cry. We stayed in that position until Christopher and Isaac returned to the house. The moment the boys saw the state I and the house were in, they went into defense mode. I did not have the strength to talk, so I dropped my wall that I kept up to keep Christopher and Isaac out of my thoughts. Bringing everyone into the recap that was repeating in my head, they realized quickly that there was no danger.
I thought for sure Christopher was going to laugh at me and tell me I was being childish over a simple human. Instead, he walked over to where I sat cradled in Olivia’s arms and gently lifted me up. There were no harsh words toward me or about Lance. Christopher was as always right there to hold and keep me safe. A few hours passed before the phone rang. I knew who was on the other end without thinking about it. Everyone knew who it was. I doubted if anyone would pick up, but on the last ring Isaac got up and answered the phone.
“Yes, Lance she’s home. No, I don’t think she will be talking to anyone tonight. Have a good night.”
After getting off the phone, Isaac walked back to where I now sat next to Christopher. He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, and I could see he was none too comfortable being in the middle of my mess.
Still he gave me a small smile before saying, “Do you think I should still go over there and keep an eye out on the house?”
I felt Christopher stiffen. I had put my wall back up so I could not read his mind and he could no longer hear mine. Somehow, I knew what he was thinking though.
The logical part of my brain was working again. I knew that whatever happened between Lance and I would never change my need to keep him safe. “Yes, can you? Just tonight. I will tomorrow.”
“Sure sweetie, no problem.”
With that, he was on his way to Lance’s house. I cringed slightly and waited for it. I could tell Christopher was not happy with my decision and I was afraid to look at him. I sat still and waited for the tongue lashing. I realized after a while that he was not going to say anything. He may not have been happy with the situation, but I could see in those brilliant green eyes of his that he was not going to say a single word.
The next day Lance came calling with flowers. Christopher answered the door, only after promising me he would do no harm to Lance. After telling Lance nicely I did not want to see him and kindly shooing Lance away, Christopher then came to inform me that Lance looked like hell.
“Would you believe me if I told you I feel sorry for him with how sad he looked.”
Lance receiving grief from Christopher for his appearance really tugged on my heart.
The next night I kept my word and went to keep watch over the Grayson household. My plan was to stay out of sight. Lance generally did not come looking for me at night, but I was uncertain of what to expect. Isaac told me he saw Lance staring out the window the entire night before. I got to the house a little later than usual. I think I was trying to prepare myself for the long evening which caused a delay. Upon arriving at the house, I picked up that weird scent I had smelled before. The first thing I did was investigate the car. Yet, there was nothing wrong with it. I did a quick loop around the house, and detected a noise coming from the bushes adjacent to the house. As I neared the bushes, the scent became stronger. I paused, unaware of what to think. Before I took another step, I opened my mind up to talk to my family.
“Guys, I’m at Lance’s house and I just picked up the weird scent I was telling you about. I’m following a noise to the bushes and the scent has become much stronger.” Through our link I could see that Christopher was none too happy with the fact that I followed through with my plans of watching over the Grayson house. He was debating on ignoring me, but he realized that not only did I start a two-way conversation with the whole family, but I was also feeding everyone's thoughts through the channel as well.
“Isaac and I will be on our way. Christopher will you be joining us?”
Christopher rolled his eyes. He was heading out for a late dinner and really did not want to be bothered. I wanted to be mad at him for not caring, but I understood his feelings too. For all I knew, I was chasing some cute furry animal and would feel really dumb for wasting everyone's time.
“Yeah, well, I doubt you would admit how dumb you really felt. Hell, if this is just some stupid animal than it will be well worth the look on your face when you pull it out the bush. So, I guess I will be joining you, Olivia.”
Happy t
o know most of my family still cared. I disconnected the link and resumed my hunt. I took another step closer when the scent suddenly changed. I stopped dead in my tracks. Had I been so absorbed in talking to my family that I lost whatever it was I was tracking? I tilted my head to try to hear if there was anything in the bushes. I did not need to concentrate long before it moved again. When it did move, I thought I was losing my mind. An aroma of sweet and tangy drifted passed me. There was only one person I could put to that scent. “Annie?” The bush moved again, and then seemed to open from the middle section. As the shrub separated, I saw two hands and then a leg come out. Soon the bush gave way to a body, a body I knew matched that scent.
Annie stood in front of me fully dressed with twigs and leaves tangled in her hair. Brushing a few leaves from her shirt, she stood up straight meeting me with her dull brown eyes and a sneer plastered on her lips.
“What are you doing here? I thought Lance finally got rid of you.”
I returned the glare she was giving me, and I straighten my shoulders. “Why I’m here, is not your concern, and for that matter, neither is anything between Lance and me any of your concern.”
Annie through back her head and laughed, “You really are some work. Look…”
Annie’s sentence trailed off as my family appeared behind me. Fear scattered across Annie’s face and she took a few steps back. The arrival of my family scared her. I thought she would run, instead, she took a few deep breaths. A stillness settled over us for only a moment, before the next course of events would transpire.
First, Lance who had been watching my and Annie’s interaction through the window started to come out the backdoor. Second, Annie’s skin started to bubble. My attention was divided. I wanted to rush to Lance’s side and get him to safety back indoors, but I could not take my eyes off of what was going on in front of me. As Annie’s skin continued to bubble and turn brown, she let out this shrill-I do not think the humans could hear it, but my family and I needed to cover our ears. All the neighborhood dogs howled, and a commotion from the house Annie lived in began. During all of this, the weird scent grew stronger than ever. I lowered my wall to see if I could read everyone’s mind around me. I knew Lance was now on the back porch looking at what Annie was becoming. Isaac, Olivia and Christopher were as perplexed as I was.
Annie’s well tanned skin melted away and left standing before us was a creature that no longer looked or smelled like Annie. Lowering my wall, I was able to read its mind. I saw and understood everything. The creature that stood before us was a complex species. I could see all of its memories, and why until that moment I was unable to read Annie’s mind. Annie-well, the form that humans called Annie-was nothing more than a shell. The shell was like that of the vampires, it helped you fit into the human world but was nothing more. My gaze into this monster’s mind was like a two-way mirror. In her monster form I could see all of what Annie thought, at least what it wanted Annie to think. I could also grasp what the creature was thinking. The catch was when the creature was inside the “Annie shell” it blocked its true self. It resembled a human putting their ear to a thick piece of steel and trying to hear to the other side.
From the time Annie stepped out from the bushes until now with the new creature standing in front of us, possibly thirty seconds had gone by. I realized that I had been so busy reading Annie’s mind, that I had not taken a good look at what Annie had become. She and her family called themselves Komodo Widowers. All of her skin had been replaced by brown lumpy flesh that oozed-I could not tell if the ooze was clear or brown. New Annie was much taller with an underbelly covered in scales-something you would see on the stomach of an alligator. My eyes continued to move upwards. I noticed it had a long thick neck and her face had turned into one of a komodo dragon. Before I had a chance to react to the awful monster standing in front of me, it swung its long arm out to claw at me. I barely escaped being gouged by its sharp claws-which somehow were oozing too.
I heard Christopher growl, and Lance take a step off the porch. I took another step back, and I saw what Christopher was growling at. Annie’s family had come to join her. There were seven of them and four of us. My biggest concern was Lance. I heard him trying to get closer. I pondered if he really understood what was going on. Did he not understand he was in danger? “Lance, get back in the house!” He had no chance to respond. Annie and her family were closing in on us. I needed to keep my mind on what was going on in front of me. This would only work if Lance went back inside. I sent a mental command for Lance to turn around and go back in the house. I could tell he was fighting my command, but I was stronger than him. As I heard the door shut with Lance on the proper side of it, I swiftly visualized the back door, and wrapped my mind around the lock. I then turned the deadbolt securing and holding it in place. “Lance, stay put!”
By now I was standing next to my family. We were all crouching, never breaking eye contact with the walking lizards.
I could hear Olivia panting. I refused to break eye contact with our rivals to see what was wrong with my mother. Thankfully, I did not need to. Olivia began to speak in a labored breath and I quickly understood what had her so winded.
“Umm, Amber, can you mentally tell them to back off? I keep trying to move them back myself, but it’s like me pushing against Mount Everest. They won’t budge.”
Olivia was on my right side. She is not the best fighter amongst the family, and she would want us to take any actions necessary not to fight. It made me worried; if she could not move them with her mind, could I? If I had known I would have used so much energy that night, I would have fed before coming over. “I can try,” slipped through gritted teeth as I put my focus on the task at hand.
Using what energy I did have, I attempted to lock onto all seven of our opponent’s minds to cease their attack. I hoped I could hold it long enough for my family and I to destroy their bodies, before the neighbors came out to see what all the noise was about. I hated to think that way, but there was no other way around it. I did another quick read of Annie’s mind, and saw that she was of age, and she was looking for a mate. She had her sight fixed on Lance for some time. I ground my teeth harder when I saw that once their species mated, the woman would absorb the male into their body to be food for their offspring during the pregnancy. The seven who stood in front of us were all females. There was no way I was going to let Lance become her food source.
There were only a few feet between my family and Annie’s. I was trying to concentrate on holding our rivals at bay; however, Lance was not making it easy. I figured he would not stay in the house too easily and for the past few seconds he had been yanking at the backdoor and deadbolt, trying to get back outside. A part of my mind was still holding the lock in place, and I had this awful tugging sensation in the back of my mind where Lance was pulling on the door. “Cut that out!”
“NO! Let me out! What’s going on? I want to help!”
“You can help by staying inside. I need to concentrate. Now leave the door alone.” Lance abruptly let go of the door and began to move within the house. In his travels, I heard his mother inquired what all the noise was about. I knew I would have to worry about that later. I brought what was left of my full attention to the issue at hand. I attempted to work my way into the monsters minds to halt their attack.
It worked, although it took a lot of energy to make them stop moving. Surprisingly, Isaac noticed that the attackers had stopped moving, and was the first to react. He lunged forward before the rest of us had a chance to do the same. He hissed and jumped back holding his hand moments later. The creature to Annie’s right had not moved since they were still under my control. Yet, a new scent of burnt flesh and vampire blood filled the air. I drew my attention to Isaac and noticed that the skin on his right palm was gone. Even though it had started to heal, his hand was badly burnt.
“Isaac, what happened?” Olivia’s voice rang out in a high pitch shrill.
She was too scared
to move to his side and break rank.
“Their skin. That slime must be some kind of protection. It will burn you on contact. I’m fine. Everything seems to be healing. Are there any other ideas?”
I could feel the creatures fighting against my hold. We were slowly losing any footing we had. “Guys, I don’t know how much longer I can hold them. Ideas…anyone?” We did not need to wait for each other to answer. Just as quickly as Annie had bubbled out of her human skin, she was able to change again. I chastised myself. I was so worried about keeping Lance in the house and holding the family of monsters back, that I was not reading the lizard’s minds to see what they were planning on doing. I wondered how badly Isaac was hurt for him not to catch the change either. I also wondered if he could hear their thoughts. If Olivia was unable to move them, perhaps Isaac could not hear what they were thinking without my help.
As soon as Annie made the change, I was back to looking through the one-way mirror. The rest of her family was still holding in place, but I had lost any and all control of Annie in her human shell.
She cocked her head to the side to study me. “You silly vampire. Did you really think you were going to win? Did you honestly think I was just going to let you have him? I guess it was my fault. I was hoping that you would’ve figured out that I was the one meddling with the car. I should have been a lot more forward with it.”
She took a deep breath like she was trying to control her temper. Annie’s gaze shifted to the Grayson house and she continued speaking. “It… it just upset me so much every time I knew he was out with you. I just didn’t want to hurt him physically, and I knew you would see me coming a mile away. That’s why I went for the car. I wished Lance would have saw that by going out with you, something bad would always happened to the car. Ha!” Annie threw back her head and laughed. “I guess it’s a good thing that once he and I mate, our offspring will have my brains and not his. It’s not like he’ll be around to have any type of influence anyway.”
I was in shock. How could I have missed such a simple thing as that? And here she was explaining it like it was as clear as day. I had no time to chide myself over missing that simple detail. That would need to wait until later. My thoughts shifted to Annie’s human shell. I pondered if the human shell could be destroyed any easier than her dragon form. I began to move forward when I was caught off guard by a low groaning noise. I was not the only one who stopped. All heads in the backyard turned to see Lance climbing out the kitchen window, with what looked to be a rifle in his hand. The first question that crossed my mind was: where in the world did Lance get a rifle from? With my thoughts on Lance, I lost our precious advantage over the rest of Annie’s family, and they knew it. Sensing that it was their one and only moment, they attacked.
At the same time that the lizards launched themselves toward my family and me, Annie took off in a dead sprint in Lance’s direction. Lance of course was still making his way out the window and was not paying any attention to his longtime friend, soon to be mate running full force toward him. I was torn. I wagered Annie would not do anything to harm him until they mated. I wondered if Annie was going to grab Lance and run away with him. I had no clue how long of a process it was for them to mate. I hoped I would have time to stop her family and still go after them before she did anything to Lance. Different scenarios played out in my head until I heard Olivia scream. The two dragons that were on Annie’s left had Olivia, one on each arm. I could see her trying to pull herself free. Her skin was burning under the restraints of their hands. I also saw that Christopher who was the closest to Olivia had his hands full trying to stay out of the grasp of another dragon-the biggest out the group. Isaac was in the same boat as Olivia. The two tracking Isaac appeared to be identical. As they moved closer their tongues seemed to be lashing out like whips. Isaac, to his best abilities was not only trying to stay away from their claws but also their slithering tongues. For their size, the creatures were pretty nimble and fast on their feet. I caught a glimpse of Christopher just missing a blow to his face. By ducking and rolling to the side, he just barely missed having half of his face burnt. I could see a trail of ooze leaking from the beast’s claws as it whirled around and was caught by a right hook in its midsection. The smell of Christopher’s burnt skin joined the smell of Olivia’s, who was still struggling to be free of her tormentors. In the midst of her struggles, I saw her flesh had been practically burned to the bone. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the seventh member of Annie’s family moving in on me.
Something in me snapped at that moment. I realized there was no way possible that I could do this. I could hear the nearby dogs barking from all the commotion we were making. I knew their owners would come to investigate at any minute. Annie was closing in on Lance, who had his body out the window, but still was removing the gun from the house. In addition, Olivia, Isaac, Christopher, and I were still under attack by some creatures that we could not touch without burning ourselves. I cannot explain it, but I felt something inside of me start to moil. Everything was happening in slow motion now and I just wanted it all to stop. The smoldering that I felt in my core started to spread from my midsection to my arms and legs. As it entered my fingers and toes, I felt my lips curve into a snarl. There were so many other noises going on at once. I could hear Lance breathing; Christopher, Olivia and Isaac growling and hissing; Annie’s feet hitting the ground as she got closer and closer to Lance; and the shrieking of the other giant lizards’ as they continued to attack. But the sound that came from my body was something that I did not recognize. As the sound left my throat it bounced off the wall of night that had surrounded us. The feral noise then ricocheted back slamming into me like a ton of bricks. The world around me started to go dark. I was not sure if it was just the heat of the moment or if something was happening to me. My mind reeled, but before I could figure it out, everything went black.
11
Earthly Purgatory
The darkness consumed me for six days. I have no memory of what happened to make my world go dark, nor do I have any memory of those six days. I awoke to find my family and Lance by my side. They explained they, too, heard the same snarl come from me just before I blacked out. As my body collapsed to the ground, Annie and her family imploded, leaving nothing but dead grass where they stood. Isaac said that the moment my blackout happened, he felt a tidal-wave come crashing down on his mind, and was brought to his knees. A few neighbors came outside towards the end. Christopher made sure they had no memory of what transpired in the backyard. Thankfully, Lance had the foresight to send his mother to the other side of the house, furthest away from the ruckus we were making. I was assured that she spent the latter part of the fight, reading a book before settling down for the night. I did not like the fact that any humans’ memories were tampered with, but I understood.
Olivia’s arms healed days before I woke up, and none of my family seemed to have any long term effects from the ooze. Isaac and I were able to determine a few facts about the Komodo Widowers. Like vampires, Annie’s family had come from a mutated gene which caused the transformation between the Komodo dragon form and a human shell. The goo oozing from their skin was most-likely the same venom that is known to be the deadly bite of the Komodo dragon. It did not kill Christopher, Olivia, or Isaac when they came in contact with the slimy substance since they are no longer human. As for reading the creature’s minds, we are still left pondering why in their dragon form, we could hear the thoughts of their human and non-human minds, however, in human form it was like listening to any other conceited human. We believe like vampires, the Widowers had their own abilities, such as: being fast, strong, attractive looking, and presenting a wonderful scent to draw the prey in, in addition to a repellant to keep others away. Their repellent oozed from their skin, unlike a vampire, whose blood when comes in contact with air, displays a foul scent which deters predators.
Lance felt horrible about the whole situation and blamed himself. He struggled with the f
act that he was fooled by Annie. He also hated himself for betraying me. I understood it was part of Annie’s abilities to pull him in. When I read her mind, I saw it was a part of her plan to make Lance think he was kissing me-that is, until I interfered-besides I also knew the look of confusion Lance gave me when I found them kissing. Annie had placed him in some sort of trance, until I broke his concentration by mentally calling his name. After Lance came out of the trance, he could not understand how I ended up on the other side of the hallway, when he thought I was the one he was kissing. Granted, he and I never made out like that in public, I acknowledged he truly meant me no harm. Nonetheless, our relationship in most ways picked back up where we left off a few days before. Although Lance wrestled with the fact that he kissed another woman, and I slowly admitted to myself that I would never be the woman he needed. In some ways it was a little sick for me to think, but I knew Annie would have killed him after mating and I did not want that; yet, she would have been able to give him something I could not.
Because I could not give Lance everything in life, I accepted that one day we would have to part ways. When that time came, we did. Lance wanted to be a doctor. In our last two semesters of undergraduate classes, Lance and I started applying to different colleges to further our educations. Lance wanted to make something out of his life, and I wanted to make sure he had any and everything he needed to do so. We had never talked about me reading his mind, and he assumed that I had always kept my promise. Therefore, about a month before Lance started grad school in Boston, he and I went out to eat. I chose the restaurant, something I typically did not do. Once we were seated and he had ordered, I pulled a large envelope out of my purse and handed it to him.
“What’s this?”
“Just open it, please.” Regarding me with weary eyes, he pulled the contents out.
Inside was a deed to a house located near the college, a title to a new car, two checkbooks, savings account information, a business card to a stock broker, and a personal letter from me, which read:
Dear Lance,
I hope you understand I love you more than words can explain. This is why I can no longer be with you. I know this may not make any sense right now, but hopefully, sometime in the future it will.
Enclosed in this envelope is a deed to a new house in Boston. The house is paid for and has a first floor bedroom for your mother. I know it was a huge concern of yours to leave your mother behind to go to school. There is also a new car sitting in the driveway, paid in full as well. The keys to the car will be waiting for you after the move. You will be receiving a letter in the mail in the next few days from the school, stating that the school is offering you off-campus residency and transportation. The letter will go into more detail. It will be believable enough for your mother not to ask too many questions. The check bookending in 009 is for school. Enough money will be deposited in the account per year to pay for all school expenses. Please shred all those loan papers. The second checkbook ending in 297 is for all household items: groceries, gas, electric, doctors’ visits, and car maintenance. Once you are finished with school, and if you are unable to find a job or if for any reason you are laid-off from work, there will be money in this account to help in those hard times. At any time of unemployment, whatever the cost of living for that area and profession in which you worked in will be deposited into this account until you are back on your feet-this amount will only be deposited once a year. The business card is for a stock broker in the area. There are already a few stocks set up. They are not to be touched yet. The stocks are in place for your future family. Depending on how many children you have, will depend on how much additional income will be provided for their college education. Yes, this is a college fund for your future children. I understand your mother’s health is a huge part of your life, there is no paper work attached to this letter, but when the time arises, there will be around the clock in-home medical coverage to take care of your mother. In three weeks, a moving truck along with movers will help you move to Boston. It will be your mother’s and your decision to keep the current house. If you choose to sell, someone will be in contact with you before you move, and if you choose to keep it and rent the house out, you will not have to worry about the upkeep. It will all be taken care of.
Lance, please try to understand. I do love you. I never thought I would fall in love. Yet, the last four years with you have made this lifelong imprisonment completely breathtaking and unforgettable. I only wish I could give you everything, but I know I will never be able to give you the things you most desire. Please use these gifts wisely. I want you to make the most out of life. Promise me that you will go on with your life, get married and have a family. Give your family the world and much more.
This will not be easy. I recognize things may come up, and though I am saying goodbye, I am also offering you this one last thing. I will be here for you, always. If there is something that you cannot take on by yourself, and there is no way around it, I will be there for you. Now this offer is only going to stay on the table if it is used properly. Should an emergency arise that cannot be handled on its own, the number below will bring you directly to me. Lance, if you call this number just because, this offer will come off the table…I know you. Nonetheless, if for some reason the number is changed, you will be notified. My family and I are leaving Johnstown. I will always be near if you need anything. Hopefully you will not, and this will be the last time we shall ever see each other.
My heart belongs to you. I know you are strong and will do well in life. Thank you for allowing me to have a glimpse into the life adventure you are embarking on.
With all my love now and forever,
Amber
While Lance read the letter, I quietly but quickly slipped away. It was hard enough knowing what the letter said. It would be even harder to face him after he finished reading it. I went directly back to the house. My family was waiting for me. We still had not figured out what our next step would be. They wanted to go overseas to live, but I did not want to move too far away from Lance. I hoped he would not try to contact me, but I just could not leave the area and wanted to be near if he needed me. While we made our final moving plans that night, I wondered if Lance would listen to me, or if at any minute he would be knocking at the front door trying to get me back. The upside was he did not show or call. The downside was he did not show or call. It was for the best, still, my heart ached so much. By the next morning the decision was made that I would stay in the States on my own, and the rest of my family would move to Europe.
It was the first time my family and I had split up. I told them over and over again it would all work out, but deep down I knew I needed sometime by myself to process everything. This was the second time in my life I felt my world was out of control, and I did not want to be on this earth. I could not make my family suffer alongside me. They left for Europe two days after I gave Lance the letter. Once they were gone, it took all my willpower not to go running back to Lance. Somehow I made it through those gloomy days. I wanted so bad to just sit outside his house and beg for him to come back to me. Through sheer determination, I was able to keep my distance until he and his mother had safely moved from the state of Pennsylvania. Upon Lance, his mother and my family leaving, I was clueless about what my next step would be, so I wandered from city to city. Years passed before I decided to settle down and start living “human” again. Well, as normal as I could live as a frozen eighteen year old vampire amongst the human world.