Blood-Red Tear (18 page)

“Kat
ie, wake up,” my mother’s voice called out, pulling me from my dream. I forced my eyes open to find her in the doorway, staring at me with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah
, just a bad dream,” I told her, unwilling to share my weird nightmares with anyone.

“Are you sure?” she said worriedly. 

“I’m fine, Mom. It was just a dream,” I assured her, despite the fact my heart was racing and my arm was aching badly.

“Well, get ready for school and
I’ll get your breakfast on the table,” she told me, but I could tell she didn’t really believe me. In fact, I could see fear and worry in her eyes before the door closed behind her.

I
, too, was very worried. My dreams were steadily growing more disturbing and real. I wrapped my arms around myself, gasping at the warm sticky feeling and searing pain that met my fingers. I pulled my hand away from my arm and looked at the blood on my fingers, staring in disbelief at the large gashes in my arm, exactly where I had been injured in my dream. I scrambled from bed and went to the bathroom, staring at the wound in the mirror with horror. It should have been impossible for anything in my dreams to harm me, but there I stood, bleeding from a wound just like the one I had sustained in my nightmare.

“Okay
, be reasonable,” I muttered to myself. “Obviously I did this to myself while I was asleep.” 
Yeah, that was it
, I thought. I had been so caught up in my dream I had clawed myself.

Carefully
, I cleaned up the wound and wrapped it with a bandage before seeking a shirt with three quarter-length sleeves that would hide the injury from my family, who I knew would question me relentlessly if they saw the wound. The last thing I needed was one of them at my bedside every night to make sure I didn’t hurt myself while I was sleeping…

Chapter Fourteen

   As I got ready for my date Saturday night
, I was tense and out of sorts. The date hadn’t been my idea and now that the night was upon me I wanted nothing more than to cancel and stay home, but I couldn’t. I’d promised Aidan I would live and experience all the things other human teenagers did, and my parents had been so excited that I was dating that there was no way I could disappoint them by pulling out.

The doorbell rang as I walked off the last step
, as if reminding me there was no backing out. I forced my feet to move to the door, opening it to find Chad standing there looking so nervous it was adorable, and I couldn’t help but smile

“
You look great,” he said, his voice quivering slightly.

“Thanks
, you too,” I said, feeling somewhat nervous myself now that he was there before me. I mean, aside from Scott, I had never been out on a date before so I wasn’t exactly sure what the protocol was.

My father cleared his throat from
the doorway of his office, then strode toward us with a stern expression. He said a polite hello to Chad, made small talk about his family, and gave his “home by eleven o’clock” speech, then mercifully allowed us to leave before he could embarrass me anymore.

   After a short drive
down the mountain that we filled with polite, meaningless chatter, we met everyone at Kelly’s to eat before the movie as planned. We talked as we ate, laughing often, and to my surprise, I found it easier than I would have believed to just relax and enjoy the evening in Chad’s easy company.

Jess
, who was thrilled to have me dating and hanging out with them once again, made lots of little suggestions about future dates we should go on. I nodded and seethed inwardly, wanting to throttle her for pressuring Chad and myself, but knew she was only doing it because she wanted me to be happy. Unfortunately the only person who could bring me that happiness was Aidan, but I couldn’t tell her that, so I bit my lip.

    T
he movie theater, which aside from Kelly’s was the only other source of entertainment in our tiny town, was packed with other local teens as we entered. We found ourselves being stopped often to say hi and exchange small talk. With our stomachs full from our dinner no one wanted snacks, so we broke free of the crowd and went directly to find our seats. It wasn’t long before the lights dimmed and the movie began: but, to my utter disbelief, it was all about a vampire and a young girl who fell in love but couldn’t be together because of how very different their lives were. As I watched their tragic love story unfold, tears rolled down my cheeks.

Chad
, seeing my upset, put his arm around me, trying to console me. “Do you want to go?”

He was sweet to ask
, but I just had to see how it would end. Would they get their happy ending? Would love conquer all? “No, I’m okay,” I told him. 

He
leaned back in his seat but kept his arm around me, glancing at me now and then as if assuring himself I was okay.

The movie ended sadly
, with the female dying tragically and the vampire walking into the sun to end his existence, unable to live without her. I clutched my hands on my lap wondering if that was the destiny Aidan and I would suffer, even though I knew it wasn’t logical. The lights came up suddenly and I brushed the tears from my eyes embarrassed to be caught bawling like a baby, but thankfully Jess’s were red and puffy too, so I wasn’t the only one looking like a fool.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said
, grabbing her arm and leaving the guys to follow behind us.

“
Wow, that was so beautiful. He gave up his own life because he couldn’t be with the woman he loved. Do you think Josh would do that for me?” Jess had a sappy look on her face, and I wished I felt it was romantic, like she did, but I was in love with a vampire, and I wouldn’t want him to end his existence if anything were to happen to me. I would want him to live and find another who could make him happy.

“Would never happen,”
a voice said in the back of my mind.

“Hey are you alright?” Chad asked when he caught up with us.

“I’m good,” I told him feeling badly for making him so worried.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said
, taking my hand and leading me through the crowd to the exit.

Chris
joked around as we walked to the parking lot, acting like a vampire and trying to put us under his spell so he could suck our blood. I did not find it amusing like everyone else did, but I really could not be mad at his antics. He didn’t know that vampires existed and that the members of my family were all vampires, or that I was hopelessly and totally infatuated with one.

I noted
, though, that Josh did not join in their revelry. He stood off to the side, watching them act like fools, while Jess stood in front of him, wrapped in his arms and smiling contentedly. His eyes met mine, the brown liquid gaze holding me captive for a moment as if probing my mind before he blinked and looked down upon Jess with a smile at something she murmured.

   I was relieved
when Chad noticed the time and remarked that it was getting late. It was clear he didn’t want to upset my father by returning me home later than my curfew, and I was thankful for his consideration. Everyone else decided to call it a night since we were leaving, and he took my hand to lead me to his car. Jess yelled goodbye from across the lot, and I waved as I got in the front seat of Chad’s vehicle. Chris honked his horn as he pulled out, and waved, and I couldn’t help but smile. It was good to be with my friends again even though it meant I was on a date with someone I merely liked. But I wasn’t sure if I would go out with anyone again. It was just too hard.

“Man
, that was a tough ending for a love story. Can you imagine giving up so much for one person; she would have to be everything to you. I can’t imagine that kind of love.” He blushed. “I mean like now, when we are so young,” he hurriedly added. as if afraid he had insulted me.

“I understand completely,
” I said, letting him off the hook.

I
t was dark and had grown foggy, so Chad was focused on the road and the car was quiet. I was staring out of the windshield when the figure of a man appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the road. I screamed for Chad to stop and he slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. We were going too fast, so he swerved to avoid the man, but the car took on a life of its own and began traveling off the side of the road and down the ravine. It bounced up and down, tossing us around before slamming into a giant tree, bringing it to a crushing halt. My first thought was to get out, but agonizing pain shot through one of my legs, and when I tried to move I realized it was pinned under the dashboard.  I turned to Chad, hoping he was in better shape than I was, but one look made it clear I was the only one alert.

“Chad
!” I yelled desperately.

Blood trickled
down his face from a jagged gash he had taken to his brow and he didn’t move. I panicked, fearing he was dead, and reached over, ignoring the excruciating pain it brought to my own body. I laid my hand on his chest. The feel of his heart beating brought me momentary relief, and I began to look around once more for a means of escape.

T
he overwhelming aroma of gas penetrated my senses. I knew I was going to have to pull my leg free, but before I could react the door next to me was ripped from its hinges and rough hands pulled me from the car, ripping my legs from under the dash without care. Fire seared down my thigh, causing me to scream in horror as I was pulled from the vehicle, lifted in the air, and thrown against a tree. My body crumpled instantly. A pasty face appeared in front of me, gnashing its razor-like teeth in my face before lunging for my neck. I was helpless to do anything to stop the vampire, but a quick-moving figure knocked my attacker away before he could succeed in biting me. Even in the dark I knew it was Aidan. I was able to make him out, crouched in front of me, keeping my attacker at a distance. The vampire lunged for me repeatedly, but was blocked at every turn. Blood seeped from my head and slid down the side of my face, making him frantic and reckless. I put my hand to the wound trying to stop the flow, but the vampire was overcome with bloodlust and desperate to get to me.

Aidan
attacked him when he lunged, pulling him far away from where I lay against the tree. They moved so fast that I could not make out who was winning the battle. My eyes were growing heavy and had almost closed when I heard an awful scream and looked up to see the attacking vampire’s arm fly through the air, its hand still clenching and unclenching as it fell with a thud to the ground next to me. I looked to Aidan, his vampire terrifying as he continued to tear the creature apart, his natural predator’s senses in control. The deafening screams of agony from his victim did nothing to stop his methodical dismembering of its body until the vampire was nothing more than pieces on the ground, its hands clawing the dirt uselessly. 

A loud explosion filled the
air. “Chad,” I screamed, looking toward the car that was now engulfed by flames. “No!” I cried out.

“Katie, I got him,”
Paul called out, walking from the darkness and carrying Chad’s body towards safety as flames filled the sky. The metal of the car buckled and groaned in protest at the searing heat that overcame it, filling the air with its death knell. Paul placed Chad down, out of the way of the wreckage, and looked at me with worry.

“I’ve got her. You and Beth burn the body parts before the humans arrive. We can’t have
them finding evidence of our kind,” Aidan growled.

Paul nodded and
began tossing the vampire’s mangled body parts into the burning wreckage. Beth joined him in the gruesome task and I watched as flames and smoke circled higher into the sky, making an eerie sight in the inky blackness of the forest.

“Katie,” Aidan called out in a raspy voice
, walking toward me cautiously. Worry creased his brow as he took in the damage my body had endured in the attack. Although he was still in vampire form, I found myself unafraid and completely at ease as he knelt next to me, checking my injuries, and swearing loudly when he surveyed my leg.

“What?” I managed to get out through clenched teeth.

“Don’t worry, we will get you help, it will be okay,” he assured me, but I could hear doubt in his voice and looked down to see my leg twisted at an odd angle that I knew was far from normal. Without thinking, I pulled my hand from the gash on my head to reach for my leg. Blood dripped from my fingers, splattering my jeans, and warm liquid rolled down my brow, flooding my vision. I cried out in alarm and all hell broke loose around me.

   “Beth
, no!” Paul screamed, tackling her to the ground as she ran toward me, throwing his body over hers to keep her from acting on the blood lust I saw in her eyes as she stared at me hungrily. Her fangs dripped with saliva and her face was feral, almost unrecognizable, as she fought Paul, seething, screeching, and fighting to get to get to me like a wild animal. Never before had I seen that side of any vampire I knew. It opened up a completely new understanding of what being a vampire really meant, and I was horrified.

“Aidan,” I murmured fearfully
.

Aidan
turned to look at me, his eyes black as coal, his gaze locked on the blood that ran from my forehead with longing. His desire for my blood was palpable. He wanted it, craved it, and I could feel his internal struggle not to take what he wanted so badly. I knew he was fighting with every fiber of his being to control his urge to drink from me. I remembered what he had told me about craving my blood and swallowed, knowing I needed to remain calm. My fear would only make the situation worse.

I struggled to
breathe as he leaned closer, his mouth open revealing his long, deadly fangs. I had to stop him on my own, Paul could not hold off Beth and Aidan, so I counted on his feelings for me to make him see reason. “Aidan, please, stop,” I pleaded, my voice trembling. “You’re scaring me,” I explained as calmly as I could, given the circumstances. His eyes snapped to mine and I could see the internal struggle going on inside of him. “Please, you don’t want to hurt me,” I said softly. “You promised me that you would always protect me and never cause me harm,” I reminded. Yearning for my blood radiated from his every pore, but slowly I could see control coming back to him. The black ebbed slowly from his eyes until they become the brilliant blue I was familiar with, and finally I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Katie,” he whispered
, as if coming out of a trance.

“It’s alright,” I m
urmured, closing my eyes tiredly, the overwhelming pain I was in threatening to knock me out. 

Beth snarled loudly and
Aidan turned to my brother with a loud growl. “Get her out of here now!”

I
struggled to open my eyes again as a loud, rage-filled roar filled the air. Somehow Beth managed to get free of Paul only to come up against Aidan, and he wasn’t taking the threat lightly. He snarled, tackling her to the ground, his hand locked on her neck as he sat on top of her, forcing her to stay down as she shrieked in outrage.