Diary of a Vampeen (19 page)

I laid perfectly still inhaling a few
more breaths before opening my eyes. I didn’t know what to expect.
I just poured my heart out, admitted all my secret desires in a
matter of sixty seconds to a guy I knew didn’t feel the same in
return. I stared up at the stars waiting for some sort of response.
Laughter, a jab at me, something… anything, but alas I heard
nothing. I dreaded eye contact after all I’d splurged, but Kellan
wasn’t giving me a choice. I didn’t want to speak again, plus my
foot was too far lodged in my mouth for anything to come out
clearly at this point.

I slowly turned my head towards him.
His eyes were intently staring at me, his brows furrowed almost in
anger. “I’m… I’m sorry. Did I cross the line? I was just telling
you the truth. I thought you would appreciate that,” I attempted to
explain.

Nothing. Neither one word nor one move
in response. He remained dormant with the same intense expression
in my direction. Feeling more and more awkward by the minute, I
finally gave up. I stood to my feet and began walking. I was
clueless with navigating my route, but eventually my mom or aunt
would find me. Why was he acting like this anyways? He was the one
who asked. He pushed for my answer. I should have lied. I should
have said or done anything but what I did.

I walked no more than ten feet before
I felt a pull on my left arm. Great! What did he want now? Did he
think of another way to humiliate me in a matter of thirty seconds?
Frustrated and embarrassed, I lashed out as I turned back towards
him. “What do you want from me Kellan?!”

“No one’s ever said any of that to me
before,” he whispered.

Still angry, I blurted, “Well now they
have. Good for you!” I turned and began stomping across the
field.

“Lexi,” he called. I ignored him and
kept pressing forward.

One minute I was walking in an open
grassy golf course, the next I bumped into something hard. A bit
dazed I shook my head and looked up. Kellan placed one hand on each
of my arms as to hold me hostage in this position. I did the worst
thing possible… I looked into his eyes. His beautiful brilliant
green eyes sparkling like emeralds in the night responded to my
attention with a flicker of passion within them. Lost in my trance,
I was caught off guard when he whisked me into his arms without
warning and took off.

When I broke away, I realized we
weren’t going the way he came. We were flying in and out of trees
along the back yard lines of a neighboring community. I sunk into
Kellan, retracting against the cold of the night once again. Within
minutes we were on my door step. The moment he set me down I
marched up to my room to sulk in the comforts of my big warm bed
where I was free to like and dream of anyone secretly without
repercussions.

Chapter 12

The morning was a standard routine
despite Mel’s presence. Mike came over and after last night with
Kellan, I was happier than ever to entwine myself within his arms.
I knew I was supposed to be breaking up with him; I knew I was just
procrastinating, but it felt good to be in his arms in that moment.
I needed the comfort, even if he didn’t know what it was truly
for.

“Now this is what I call a proper
welcome,” he smiled as I nearly toppled into his embrace the minute
he set foot in the door.

“Yea.”

“How was dinner last night with Mel?”
he asked pulling us into the family room to sit.

“It went good. She stayed the
night.”

“I’m surprised.”

“I know, right? Anyways, she’s
freshening up. My mom already said she’ll take us.”

“Awesome. I hate the bus. My dad
promised to buy me a car, but not until I bring English up to at
least a ‘B’.”

“I can help with that,” I offered.
“That is definitely my forte.”

“That’d be great. You think you could
help me with my monologue? I have Mrs. Henderson second period so
we have the same assignment.”

“Sure. You want to just come over
after school?”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“Ok. I’m officially ready to go,” Mel
announced as she entered the family room, backpack in
hand.

Right behind her stood my mother.
“Lexi, I need to speak with you for a moment. Mel. Mike. Why don’t
you go get in the car; the heat is on already,” she prompted
politely.

I waited for my friends to exit before
turning to my mother a bit uneasy. “What’s up, Mom?”

“Alexa,” she stated firmly placing her
hands on my shoulders lightly, “I need you to please be careful.
Avoid all new students at school, anyone you are unfamiliar with.
The attacker in is our area.”

Instantly my stomach began to gurgle
nervously. “H…How can you be so sure?” I stuttered.

She sighed looking into my fearful
eyes and answered not out of desire, but necessity. “A vampeen
transforming was murdered. She lived in Goose Creek.”

“What…When did this happen?” I pressed
in a panic. My mind was racing. Ideas, concerns, nightmare
possibilities flashed before me, consuming my rational.

“Last night,” she stated looking away,
trying to remain unruffled for my sake seeing how easily frightened
I was.

I felt the life force within me drain.
I felt empty. In forty-eight hours, I would be transforming with a
crazed vampire on the loose and ready to destroy me. I hadn’t
crossed over yet and I was already the center of their war efforts;
a war I didn’t wish to be a part of. I’d met Kellan and his father;
I had no problem with their kind thus far. And the vampeens I’d met
seemed equally amicable.

“Let’s go before you’re late for
school,” she prompted, maintaining a professional manner about her.
She gently pushed me towards the garage. I wasn’t mentally there at
the moment and she recognized that.

Upon arriving at the car, Mel and Mike
had strategically sat apart. Mel was sitting in the front seat with
Mike in the back anticipating the ride to school beside me. I
quietly slid in the backseat next to him, feeling pale as a ghost,
bug eyed and fearing death with each lingering second.

Mel stared at me as I entered the car
absorbing my energy, or lack thereof, and Mike acknowledged my
expression with matched apprehension. I couldn’t shake it; this was
one time when my emotions couldn’t be tamed. The concept was
engrained into my mind; the sheer comprehension of intent to murder
was slathered over my confidence. I suppose for the first time I
fully understood the danger I was in; the danger I was luring to my
family.

Neither Mike nor Mel questioned me in
the car knowing it was my mother’s words that had disarmed me. Mel
attempted to communicate with her eyes and a few mouthed words, but
I just stared off into space, dead to the world and incapable of
recognition. Mike put his arm around me, and, though I couldn’t
tell him the truth, his presence alone provided me a bit of
comfort.

I leaned into his arms prompting a
full embrace from him. I didn’t believe for one minute that Mike
could fight off a vampire, but I did know he cared enough about me
to try. Of course this would probably never happen, but I thought
the same about encountering a vampire in my lifetime a week
ago.

The moment my mother drove off, what I
knew was coming did – Mel and Mike drilled me.

“Lexi, what the heck happened with
your mom?!” Mel exclaimed.

“Yea babe, you look whiter than a
ghost. What’s going on?”

Wow. Am I really that
pale?

Snap back Lexi! What are
you going to tell them?
What could I tell
them? Surely I couldn’t exploit the truth; they probably wouldn’t
believe it anyways. But I had nothing but the truth at the
forefront of my audible thoughts; my thinking was fogged by the
mounting stress.

“Lex! I’m drowning here!” Mel cried
wearily trying to squeeze juice from a barren fruit, which would be
me at this point.

There’s nothing else I could do but
tell the truth. I had to say something. I could escape with a white
lie with Mike, but Mel knew me too well.

“Umm…” I stumbled to coordinate my
thoughts into words without revealing too much. I sighed. At that
moment I felt it, I couldn’t hold back any longer. Then it came.
The water began welling up in the ducts of my eyes, my throat
tightened and breathing became uneven.

“Lex. Are you okay? What’s wrong
babe?” Mike pressed with worry lines across his
forehead.

“Lex. Talk to me. You’re freaking me
out. I’ve never seen you like this,” Mel stated
anxiously.

I couldn’t. I was frozen in the middle
of the hall with my best friend and supposed to be ex-boyfriend by
this point feeling like a building just collapsed on me. I guess I
didn’t heed their warnings last night. I’d felt invincible; like a
serial killer wouldn’t touch me. Knowing he or she had struck close
to home was what shook me. I didn’t want to die, but if I did I
would accept it. If someone else died trying to protect me though,
especially Kellan or my parents, I would crumble. I couldn’t handle
that amount of guilt.

I looked at my friends before me and
realized I had to pull myself together. They couldn’t be involved
in this. I wiped the last of my tears trying to gain the courage to
tell them something.

“I… uhm...” Mike pulled me into his
arms embracing me and immediately the water works began again. Who
knew turning sixteen could be life threatening? I was saved for the
moment though. Mid-hug the warning bell rang forcing us to hurry to
class in time.

Mike remained glued to my side all
day, warmly wrapping his arms around me randomly. He walked me and
Mel to every class. I knew I should have been distancing myself
from him, but I was distracted throughout the day. Mel realized
whatever was said upset me beyond words, meaning I wouldn’t be able
to talk about it anytime soon. She tried to coerce me a few times
during first period, but I didn’t budge. After much thought, I
decided it was better to say nothing at all, at least for
now.

Conveniently, Kellan was absent all
day. Today, as angry as I was with him over last night, or should I
say this morning, he still was the only one I could talk to about
this. My dad was obviously withdrawn, my mother was torn
emotionally and yet trying to stay neutral over the whole thing,
and though I loved her to bits, I didn’t really talk to my Aunt
Claire. Sadly, Kellan was my only outlet; he was my stability in
all of this. I hated to admit it because he was a jerk just hours
before to me, but I needed him right now. I wanted to open up,
spill my guts entirely and ball my eyes out. I knew if I did this
with Kellan, he would put it all into perspective and reassure me
to the point where tears would be unnecessary. Alas the jerk was
inconveniently m.i.a. the one day I needed him, so I was forced to
cope alone.

Lost in my own world mentally, the day
passed quickly. Mike met me outside English the moment the final
bell rang. Mel was frustrated with my silence by the day’s end and
walked to her bus immediately without a word to me or Mike. Mike
remained patient the entire day and pressed for nothing more. This
was very unusual for him. He and Mel couldn’t stand
silence.

My mother insisted on picking us up
after school. She and Mike made small talk on the ride home. Almost
to the house, Mike spoke to me breaking the silence. “Are you sure
you’re still up for helping me Lex? I’m sure I could figure it out
if you want.”

I inhaled a deep breathe. “I’m sure.”
I smiled as convincingly as possible.

Once inside, Mike insisted I eat since
I’d skipped breakfast and lunch. I grabbed a bag of pretzels and a
coke on our way upstairs to pacify him. I dropped my book bag on my
bed and slid off my tennis shoes. I turned back around to close the
door and almost ran into Mike.

I glanced past him to see the door was
already shut. He took my face into his hands and pulled me towards
him. I couldn’t help but look into his eyes, innocent and honest,
somewhat mesmerizing but flat compared to Kellan’s. He stared down
into my eyes intensely as if he was trying to read me.

“Listen Lex, you don’t have to tell me
what’s going on. But if you do want to talk, I’m here. I know you
have Mel, but I want you to know you also have me,” he spoke
strongly emphasizing all the right areas to reaffirm his commitment
to me emotionally; this just made the guilt resurface. He was
completely dedicated to me and I wasn’t to him.

“I know,” I answered softly still
awestruck over the intensity behind his wording. He spoke in a
manner that you were forced to pay attention to.

“Would it be too girly of me to ask
for a kiss?” he smiled shyly.

I giggled, cracking a smile for the
first time today. “I promise not to think any less of you.” I
closed the gap between us, pressing my lips to his. I hadn’t
planned to linger, merely placate him for the moment and return the
favor of his support. Instead I released all my inhibitions and
angst from today within this kiss.

I finally pulled away from my
stress-reliever feeling surprisingly much better. Though my
mother’s words hadn’t been erased mentally, I was distracted by my
present company rather than the complications that could arise over
the next few days. Mike slid off his shoes and pulled me on the bed
with him.