Diary of a Vampeen (34 page)

“Maximus Arturo was a prophet, a
leader of sorts to the vampeens, destroyed in the nineteenth
century by a viciously raven vampire; and Sir Staten likewise to
the vampires. Though they never crossed paths, their predictions
were identical, flawless in description of one red and purple aura
sharing young couple. I am a feeble vampire lucky enough to have
been welcomed, embraced by Maximus. I have lived a full
three-hundred-thirty-two years by the skin of my teeth. I have
crossed far too many in my existence, but never have I happened a
pair like you.” Energy was surging through him, excitement
projecting with each new line.

“You cannot pull from her side now
that you are linked, am I correct?” Dr. Zhan pressed to
Kellan.

He wearily looked at me before nodding
his head once.

“And you both have kissed?” he asked
anxiously.

“Yes,” I answered
cautiously.

“You have touched his senses, felt his
feelings as if they were yours, shared his mind and united as one
soul feeling as if the universe shifted?!” He was nearly jumping in
exasperated enthusiasm as he clamored through the intimate details
of my kisses with Kellan as though he was there.

“How…?” I couldn’t put it
together.

“My dear Alexa, you will rise to your
destiny with Kellan, your eternal solitude of strength beside you.
You cannot avoid fate, it will always find you. And I am not
mistaken, you are the only two I have ever seen or heard of to
carry a permanent unified single aura of red and purple. No other
colors are flickering amongst them; they are a solid ring of red
followed by purple surrounding you both. While they are common
colors, they are seldom together with such vibrancy. Heed my words,
you are the ones we have long awaited for,” he cited with diligence
and a sort of reverie.

Apparently Kellan wasn’t ready to hear
this; I couldn’t say I was either. He interrupted, “What about
Lexi’s nose? She doesn’t smell blood; she’ll resist humans easily
without the scent to attract her.”

“Ah, yes,” Dr. H stated removing a few
instruments from his black bag. He asked a series of harmless
questions over what I did and didn’t smell regularly. He inspected
every part of me to ensure my transformation was
complete.

Dr. Zhan then handed me a cup of dark
red syrup. He asked me to smell it. I noticed Kellan, my mother and
Al all took one step away from me, as if the contents were
something to fear.

Cautiously, shaken by their reactions,
I lifted the contents towards my nose, yet smelled nothing. I
relinquished the container back to Dr. Zhan shrugging, “I don’t
smell anything.”

“Nothing?” Dr. H confirmed.

I shook my head acknowledging my
original statement.

Dr. H pulled out a small silver
canister. The moment he opened the lid one millimeter, the air
filled of ancient dried herbs mixed into a sour, molten
blend.

“Whoa! That smells bad!” I exclaimed
pinching my nose between my thumb and pointer finger.

The doctors exchanged glances, as if
they were speaking without words. “Alexa, do you want to feed off
humans for survival?” Dr. Zhan asked.

“Not really,” I replied sheepishly. I
was fully aware that most would shun my desire.

“Interesting,” Dr. H
commented.

“What is it doctors?” my mother
questioned.

“You truly are different Alexa,” Dr. H
announced.

“Different good or different bad?” I
pressed beginning to fiddle with my hands.

“That depends on how you view it,” he
answered.

“What’s the problem doc?” Al
interjected, arms folded defensively yet he spoke with sheer
curiosity.

“Ah. It seems our dear Alexa here has
a gift beyond her impeccable aura balance,” Dr. Zhan stated,
raising his arms towards the heavens as a gleam sparkled in his
eyes.

“Me? A gift?” I fumbled trying to
piece it all together. “Are we still talking about my
nose?”

“Of course, for your gift is
will-power,” he answered.

“Will-power? That’s it?” I wasn’t
certain as to what the big deal was. Everyone has will-power and
self-control to some degree. I didn’t see why they would make such
a fuss over it.

“Ah, but yours is advanced. You see
Alexa, your will-power is so strong that you are able to control
your senses with your determination,” he explained. “Once you set
your mind to something, your senses react and adjust
accordingly.”

“So what you’re saying is since she
doesn’t want to feed off humans, she has willed her scent of them
to be muted?”My mother talked through her reasoning, wrinkling her
forehead as she processed everything.

“That is precisely what I am saying,”
he acknowledged.

He shifted in front of me raising his
hands to either side of my face. I felt Kellan stiffen beside me,
his eyes darting at Dr. Zhan with intensity.

“You are who they’ve predicted. I am
not wrong,” he reiterated. Staring straight into his eyes, I saw
through Dr. Zhan. He gave no hint of a fib, no deceitful glare.
Even the creases of his weathered face and soft brown eyes appeared
genuine.

“How do I smell humans? How do I
unplug my nose?” I asked breaking away.

“You must will it into existence,” he
replied stepping back to gather his container of liquid.

“How do I do that?”

“Only you can determine that my dear.
It is your will not mine,” he riddled.

“So what am I supposed to do?” I
panicked glancing at my mother who was still awestruck and slightly
confused by expression.

“Decide, believe, and enforce,” he
stated.

“I know this sounds strange Alexa; you
are only the second one we’ve crossed with this ability. Perhaps
you should read a few books on the power of positive thinking and
thinking things into existence. They should in essence detail what
is happening to you and give you a few ideas on how to change it,”
Dr. H offered.

I shook my head. I supposed I could
purchase some books when I meet up with Mel later. They gathered
their belongings and shuffled out. Downstairs I heard my dad
silently pacing alongside an ever-calm Beth. I guessed my dad
didn’t want to hear bad news or react poorly in my
presence.

“Mom,” I called her on her way out the
door. “Can Kellan and I go for a drive?” Kellan didn’t say anything
though I could sense his disquiet.

“Where to?” she asked.

“The beach.” It was Kellan’s favorite
place to think, and right now I needed to think and get answers
from him. I knew he understood my motive behind the trip, but he
remained silent.

“Can you protect her?” my mother
directed towards Kellan sternly.

“I think I’ve proven that,” he
reminded her rigidly.

“Yes Lexi. You can go. It’s probably
for the best. Your father is struggling to cope with you despite
his calm façade,” she stated before leaving.

“You ready?” I prompted to
Kellan.

“Yea,” he replied motioning towards
the door.

“We should leave quickly. Like run. I
don’t want my dad to see me,” I prompted. Glancing at the bedside
clock showing 6:58am, I mentally noted my countdown to see
Mel.

The car ride there was smooth and
quick as usual. It gave me time to reflect though, to focus on me
and Kellan, to correlate what Dr. Zhan was referencing earlier. How
was he so accurate in description of our connection? I’d known
Kellan three weeks as of today yet it felt like years. I felt like
he’d always been a part of me, always belonged in my life. I didn’t
dare say I loved him at this point, it’s far too soon, yet my
connection to him surpassed that level of flattery. Dare I say I
couldn’t live without him?

My hesitations were justified because
my observations were all relationships started with such bliss, but
none were as intense emotionally. What I had with Mike was nice,
it’s cordially passionate in many ways but nothing close to the
fiery pit of L’s associated with me and Kellan.

Oh God, I love him. With
every fiber of my being I love him.
Now
that he’s in my world, I would be crushed should he abruptly leave.
I was overwhelmed by him. Though he’d been with me every waking
moment, my heart still skipped a beat when I opened my eyes to see
him beside me. His eyes still captivated me as did his smile dazzle
my senses. And maybe the overanalytical side of me was in
over-drive but our lips matched perfectly; Mike’s lips were smaller
than mine which made me feel sloppy when I kissed him sometimes.
Kellan and I aligned perfectly. Come to think of it, we fit
together as if our anatomy was uniquely designed to interlock like
a puzzle.

I looked over at him as he swiftly
parked on the first try though it was a tight parallel space. He
lightly squeezed my hand before opening my door one second later. I
couldn’t help but sense his reservations in taking my hand as we
walked towards the beach. I knew he was overcome with the same
compilation as me, yet I wanted to see it, to feel it to confirm my
assumptions and there was only one way.

I stopped myself though. I couldn’t
insist on prying the truth from him, invading his space over my
selfish insecurities. I couldn’t force a connection just to find
answers. No, I needed to remain civilized despite the vampire
within.

I respectfully broke the ice. “I need
to know something.”

He said nothing, but gave me a light
hand-squeeze and one quick nod signaling his acceptance.

“Do you believe him?”

We continued walking for several
minutes. I didn’t press recognizing his faraway look. He was
thinking, deciphering his response. I merely absorbed the sounds of
nature’s beast beside me and random clanks and chatter. He finally
turned to face me. “I need to know first. Do you believe
him?”

Normally I would argue that I asked
first, but it seemed insubstantial to me. “I… umm…” I stuttered. I
wasn’t anticipating this, but gathered what thoughts I could and
answered truthfully. “I’m confused. He sounded so confident, so
sure of his claim. I can’t help but consider the relevance of his
words. But I also can’t help thinking he could be wrong. What
stands out is he knew our weird connection as if he felt it; like
he was there in our minds when, well… you know…” I trailed off
looking down at the sand beneath my sneakers. I dragged my shoe in
the shape of a heart.

Kellan took my face in his hands
forcing me to look in his eyes, eyes I still get lost in. They hold
my interest with their mesmerizing color yet draw me in with their
depth, striations as deep as the walls surrounding a once cold
distant man. “Maybe this makes me crazy, but I believe him. My
mother told me the fortune long ago in Spain so I’m familiar with
it. And racking my brain, I can’t think of a better couple to make
this happen than us. I’m vampire, you’re vampeen. I want to devour
humans, you don’t; and no other woman could have me consider the
pro-life eating habit. Whether I like it or not, I can’t walk away
from you. There are times when I can’t take my eyes off you without
feeling anxious. I’m in love with a strong vampeen who compliments
every part of me including my vampire heritage. I was a wreck until
I met you. You’ve sobered me into a warrior in weeks. I would fight
until the end of time to ensure a safe existence for you, even if
that means killing my own kind. Regardless of the hard front, I
don’t enjoy murder, but I do value my life with you in it. The only
alternative is to bring peace among our kinds. And knowing that’s
the only way you will forever be safe to live outside a gang driven
existence, I’ll gladly take on the task,” he answered
solemnly.

For the first time ever, all my guards
were plowed through with one speech. Never had I wanted to give all
of myself to a man, but I did here and now to Kellan. Was this
possible? Were we meant to act as a pair of Ghandis to the vamp
world?

Strangely, it wasn’t until he phrased
it just right that I realized we were our own modern translation of
West Side Story. He’s from the vampire world, I’m from the vampeen
world – rival kinds that are so similar, distant cousins in a
family, yet make the value on their existence be based off how many
‘distant cousins’ they kill.

I knew without hesitation
now that Kellan was my destiny,
the
one
, my future husband, father to my
children, and lifelong partner. But was he also my business
partner, my lethal advocate of peace with his kind to ensure no
other vampeen endured the wrath my gran did? Maybe. Or maybe not.
Either way, he was still my destiny. No other guy was capable of
obtaining another look from me similar to the one I was giving
Kellan now.

Though I acknowledged all this, I was
still waiting. I took my choice seriously, and maybe I just wanted
a choice left in my life. Everything else was pre-determined or
forced upon me; from going to school to becoming a vampeen to
drinking human blood, it’s all set in stone. Sex was the one
stronghold I still carried since I was a virgin. It’s like the last
remnant of power to a lonely royal heir.