Bitter Sweet (20 page)

              “Never say never.” I could hear his smile without looking at him.

              “You weren’t expecting me to bring Phil back, were you?”

              “I didn’t know what to expect, actually; you did seem conflicted over the last few days.”

              “I don’t know what I’ve been over the last few days,” I sighed, tossing a stone into the water, this one just made a soft clunk when it hit.

              “Then are you okay now?”

              “You’re here with me, aren’t you? Why wouldn’t I be?” I smiled.

              “Have you made a choice then?” he asked timidly.

              I turned to him and put my arms around his neck.

              “Does that answer your question?”

              “No.

              “Then what will?”

              He leaned down to kiss me; that familiar chill ran down my spine and I kissed him back. When it ended, he looked me in the eye. “Okay, that answered my question.” And his face broke into a wide grin.

Samantha Marie Castillo

Chapter 29.0

              I let myself get swept up in the thrill for a moment and I'm ashamed to say that I wasn’t thinking about my friend for a long time. It took me maybe a good three days of driving around in my new car until I realize that I was in a sixty thousand dollar car bought by a nineteen year old boy who my friend has been dating for maybe two or three days officially and a few months unofficially. You have to meet Alik to really understand this, but just being near Alik made you feel that he was dangerous, like he wasn’t a guy you say no to and was never bothered by anything. I started to think that maybe Vanessa had gotten herself into a dangerous relationship. I had to know!

              “Hey Vanessa, are you busy?” I called her as I was thinking all of this.

              “No, I’m just watching TV.” I could hear the  TV in the background.

              “Have you had dinner yet? I’m really hungry and my mom said I would have to fend for myself tonight.”

              “I could use a snack.”

              “Okay, I will be over in a sec,” and then I ended the call.

              I started to get nervous in the short time it took me to get over to Vanessa’s house. When Vanessa came out and got into the car I didn’t bring up Alik right away. I was new to this and wanted Vanessa to be in the best mood possible for when I messed this up. So first we started talking about food options. We decided on a hot dog vendor as we walked around Time Square. There was nothing better than a New York style hot dog at night.

              “What can I get for you young ladies?” asked the vendor.

              “Umm... Beef,” I said.

              “And for you?” he asked, handing me mine and looking at Vanessa.

              “Veggie please,” she said and he handed her a steaming hot dog. We moved to dress the hot dogs.

              “No young men out with a pair of beautiful ladies like yourselves?” asked the vendor.

              “Not tonight,” smiled Vanessa.

              “Such a shame,” he said as we finished dressing our hot dogs. “Well, you two ladies have a good night,” smiled the vendor as we started to walk.

              I watched Vanessa out of the corner of my eye for a while as we walked and ate, trying to find the right time to bring it up and finally just dove in head first.

              “Vanessa, is Alik good to you when I’m not around?” The moment I said that I thought I could have phrased it better.

              “Of course,” she answered. She took it better than I thought she would, but that could have just been confusion. “Why do you ask?”

              “I probably put that wrong. It’s more. Who buys his girlfriend’s best friend a car when he hasn’t bought his girlfriend a car?” That was a lie for the most part. When I went to pick her up, I saw the beautiful DB9 parked in her driveway. But it’s all I could think of, she is usually the one looking after me so I was new at this. She surprisingly laughed

a little and smiled.

              “He told me he told you why he bought you the car.”

              “How did he buy it? Masteria can’t be doing him that well.”

              “No, it isn’t Masteria, that’s more just a pastime for him.” She took another bite of her hot dog. “What do you really want to know, Sam?”

              “I’m not good at this, I guess,” I said with a sigh and Vanessa laughed. “It’s not funny, it’s normally you the one looking after me.”

              “You haven’t done this before, and I have had other boyfriends, like Phil.”

              “Phil was a friend with very few benefits. Alik is something else just from how you look at him or gravitate towards him.”

              “It’s true that I have never felt the way I do about Alik before.”

              “So what’s his last name; I don’t even know that about him.”

              “Alik is his last name. His first name is Alyon.”

              “See, I’m such a bad friend. I should know this stuff...” Vanessa just laughed and let me struggle. “Okay, fine. Don’t help me out here. Can you at least let me know if you really love him?”

              “I love him so much.” I could tell that she meant it.

              “You don’t get that feeling that he is dangerous when you let your guard down?” I asked and she really laughed at that. “What did I do.”

              “A feeling like you’re scared for some reason but have no idea why, still the feeling is slowly creeping up your spine,” her voice slowly got lower and creepy and then she ran two cold fingers under the bottom of my shirt and sent a chill up my spine.

              “Yes, just like that actually.”

              “Yeah, I get it too. I don’t know how to describe it really. By no means am I scared of Alik, but how he makes others feel isn’t his fault.

              "But you don’t like it?”

              “Like fear?”

              “Okay, this might sound stupid, but a small part of me likes that feeling, it makes me want him. I fought it for a long time, but if it is what I like, then it is what I like.”

              “I think I read somewhere that that isn’t healthy for a relationship.”

              “I’m not sure that came out right. This might sound stupid as well, but Alik isn’t most guys, or better he isn’t like any guy I have ever seen or heard of outside a book.”

              “The book guy is never good though, he is always hiding something for the girl he is dating.”

              “True, but any guy can hide anything from you. We all have secrets we keep from everyone.”

              “I’m not talking about not telling a guy your breast size.”

              “Neither am I. I’m not going to say you have to trust me on this one. If you want to know something, ask him.”

              “I’m asking you. There is something about those golden eyes that’s hard to look into, I can’t keep the contact, I just want to...” I almost said something stupid.

              “You want him, like to touch him or have him touch you?” Vanessa asked.

              “Okay, don’t hate me, I’d let him do whatever to me, that is what scares me. Watching you deny him at times made me want to scream at you for how stupid you must be.”

              “Don’t worry about it, Sam. I’d know if he touched another girl.” She was so confident when she said that. ”You’re cute when you worry.” I still looked unbelieving, ”You have his cell phone, try calling him. It might make you feel better?” It didn’t make me feel any better to call him.

              “Nah, I will just watch out for you.”             

              “Like I would for you.” We both smiled at each other and somehow we ended up outside a Victoria’s Secret.

              “Well, time to make Alik happy.”

              “What do you mean?”

              “You will figure it out,” and I pulled her into the store.

Vanessa Stanton

Chapter 30.0

              My mother unsurprisingly didn’t put up a fight when I told her that Alik wanted to take me to Africa for New Years. What was surprising was that my father didn't either. "He has kept you safe up until now, why shouldn’t he keep doing so," my father stated matter of factly.

              Alik seemed to have won my parents over so completely; they were his since the first time they met him. I had made a mental note to ask him if that was a vampire thing or just natural charisma. Then I thought on it more and I just got angry; ‘just how much time did he spend over here while I was at school’, I yelled in my mind as my mom folded one of the uglier shirts I got from an aunt one Christmas. I gave Sam a look and she instantly understood. My mother placed the shirt neatly in the bag and turned to get another, Sam grabbed it and I placed another where the ugly one had been.

              "Ive seen him around you, you are his sun. At first I thought it might not be healthy, but I have had time to talk with him. He is trapped in your gravity like the planets. He really loves you, Vanessa," my mom said seriously while we packed for the trip.

             
I smiled to myself. "I know. I wish I would have seen that sooner. But I know now."

              "He is also the sweetest and cutest boy I have ever seen," Sam chimed in, a little dreamily.

              "You’re only saying that because he bought you a car," I told her.

              "Why he did it was more sweet than you will ever know."

              "Why did he buy you the car?" asked my mother. She went to whisper in my mother’s ear so softly that even I couldn’t hear what she told her. They both giggled and looked at me like I was the luckiest girl in the world.

              "What?" I shouted.

              "Nothing," they both replied at the same time and laughed. I sighed. I made another mental note to stare Alik down until he told me in detail why he bought Sam that car.

              Sam then went on to become a little moody because I was leaving her in America while "I go off and have an exotic New Years with Alik" as she put it. Also to complain about why I hadn’t introduced her to any of Alik's friends. Did he have friends I could introduce Sam to? Or even that I could be introduced to? I didn’t know. That was the third mental note for that night, but I knew that she was just joking and didn’t mean it as she smiled the whole time while she complained. The idea that I would be going to Africa didn’t really settle in until I was talking to Sam. I had never left America before despite having a passport. My mom made me renew it every few years, she claimed it was ‘just in case’ I’d need it, and for once, I’m glad she was right. She just had to rub it in before I left.

              "So, do you have your passport?" she asked smugly.

              "Yes, it’s safely in my purse mother," I sighed.

              "That’s good, so what are you and Alik going to do in Africa?" she couldn’t help herself from asking any longer.             

             
"I’m not completely sure; all I really know is that his mother is throwing some kind of opening for a new resort she just had built."

              "You don’t know how lucky you are, dear. You’re only 18 and you have a boyfriend who truly loves you. He whisks you all around the world to exotic locations and drives you home in expensive cars,” she said dreamily. “When I was your age, the farthest place I had ever been taken by a boy was the noodle place in downtown Seoul. That was until I meet your father over here. Still, the farthest he had ever taken me was Long Island and home in your grandmother’s old Civic. Well that was true until the money and deals came in."

              "But you loved him," I teased with a smile.

              "Yeah, I did and still do,” she sighed, reminiscing about a past memory. “I can remember one night so very well... That night was magical.”

              "Was dad an old romantic?" I asked in a ‘that’s sweet’ kind of voice.

              "Oh, he had his moments, but I was talking about when we got back to his apartment," she said with a smile.

              "Oh mom, come on. I don’t want to hear about that," I stated, my smile turning to disgust.

              "Really?" replied Sam, as if she was interested.

              "Have you and Alik ever... I mean, you spend enough time alone to have..." she had a smile and now was on the offensive.

              "Mom, do you have to bring this up now?"

              "Actually I’m interested in that myself," Sam agreed, even more interested. I gave her a dirty look.

              "Well, you will be a few thousand miles away in a few hours, so yes, I do," replied my mom.

              "Well, no we haven’t. Up until four days ago, I had another boyfriend, remember?"             

              "I don’t think Phil really counts," Sam said.

              "Why not?"

              "Because I was never informed about him by you, nor have I met him, so no you didn’t. Anyway, you spent more than enough time with Alik before that," my mother remarked.

              "You know, shouldn’t you be telling me to take it slow and avoid sex until after marriage?" I asked as I zipped a suitcase shut.

              "So you’re already thinking about marriage," she stated happily, taking everything out of context.

              "Don’t start twisting my words."

              "Well, you’re mature and Alik is as well. I don’t see why you two should only enjoy half of your relationship."

              "How did you ever raise me?" I asked her and she smiled, looking proud.

              "I’m good at what I do," she said smugly, then I heard a ding.

              “I think your roast is done,” I let her know.

              "Oh my, the roast; I almost forgot. Your hearing is amazing. You two finish up here and come down for dinner."

              "Alright," we both said.

              I zipped my last suitcase shut, sat it next to the door, and then I went down with to dinner with Sam. We talked about how my father and mother met, a story I had heard a million times, but strangely I couldn’t remember it very well. My new memory and senses allowed me to absorb the story more completely this time and I appreciated it a little bit more in the context of Alik's and my relationship. It was my cue to leave when they got to the sex or ‘when we made you’ part as my father put it. I dragged Sam out even though she wanted to stay for the juicy details.

              I walked Sam out and she gave me a hug before speeding

down the street. I took a shower to wash that mental filth from my body and mind. In the morning, I woke up nervous about where I was about to go, but it was a good kind of nervous. Kind of like when you get to the top of the hill on a roller coaster and are about to drop. Alik got to my house bright and early and carried my bags to the car. He then had a quick talk with my mom and dad before we left, where I’m sure my father slipped a box of condoms to Alik. I called Sam on the drive to the airport and she also gave me her best wishes to 'get laid'. Everyone was so involved in my sex life. The check-in and boarding went by smoothly and as we had first class seats, we were seated soon.

              "So, what are we going to be doing while we are there?" I asked him on the flight.

              "Relaxing mostly; even vampire enjoy that sort of thing. Then on the night of the 31st, there will be the gathering: a collection of the most influential vampire in the world will be there. Most will only be there for the day however; they don’t like being in the same place all at the same time. The resort staff was told this is a soft opening for the resort before we allow others to visit," he said, not bothering to whisper.

              "Shouldn't you keep your voice down?"

              "It doesn't really matter as I'm crazy to anyone who overhears me, or talking about a book."

              "I thought you were crazy when I first met you," I mumbled and he gave me a smile.

              "Well, you see it works."

              "Well, what do you mean by these vampires don’t like to be in the same place at the same time?"

              "Coven leaders, the wealthy, and other vampire like me who keep the peace have all lived long lives and keep long memories. Our very nature as vampire makes us suspicious of each other, especially some of the oldest. Vampire have a bloody past apart from our meal times, so they have very good reason to watch their backs so to speak. There have been a few cold wars, where young vampire of

some covens have been the victims of assassinations, blame never being placed even when the circumstantial evidence against one or another is so great. These destructions act as warnings or threats. As well as attacks on the interest of other covens dating back thousands of years even more so hold sore spots. Some of those acts still ripple out from the past into the present where cash or precious metal flow is concerned. Of course, most members of these covens are just young and know very little about the wars of the past. But the young are the most dangerous as they will believe and do whatever their masters tell them even if it is to destroy or be destroyed for them if need be. So we limit the attendance to only coven leaders who know the full gravity of what an unprovoked attack would mean."

              "This may sound stupid but are you saying that there are active wars going on dating back generations and you’re bringing the leaders of these wars into the same place?"

              "Try and think of it this way: when the human race was young and defining itself, what was valuable and what was not was established early on. To a human at that time, that might have been food, shelter, or a mate. Vampire didn't have to fear the cold or starvation, we could devote ourselves to other trinkets that man grew attracted to later on, around the time kingdoms, dynasties, empires and such were created. This idea of unity was us; vampire populations have never even come close to one perccent of that of humans. Our mistrust steaming so deep, even of those we create. We were in the shadows controlling the ideas and actions of human leaders. As if it were a game of chess, if one vampire were to swing a human’s vote or opinion one way causing another vampire to lose out of something, that could mean a lot for the potential business aspects for years to come. We were thinking much farther ahead." He saw my look of confusion and smiled. "I will try again. If vampire had not been whispering in the ears of a few influential people of the time, the belief that the world was flat could have held out much longer and the exploration of the world by Europe could have resulted in a lot of lost revenue untapped and unexplored land held. To vampire, the gentle nudge in the way of the America's, China, and such was a way to get a work force to move itself. Many of my kind find value in the humans for much more than just food and know who might be working against one or the other; it is these suspicions that have led to bad blood between the covens. Some have taken to killing a young vampire to put another in his or her place, others just threats. The Elders do this gathering

mostly to watch and count those who show, to make sure connections and ties they hold to the others are tight, and to see where they have grown weak."

              "Are cars your wealth?" He laughed at that.       

              "You want to know what I have collected over my time?"

"Not entirely, but do vampire only care about wealth?

              "Not at all. Like I said, much of what vampire value is much the same for humans: money, and power are big, but land and religion are high on the list as well. When a human is changed, they are still the same being they were before. The transformation adds and enhances things that were already there only, but what makes them vampire is to what degree the changes control their new existence. You have to think when a human becomes vampire, they feed off humans. Basically they are given the instinctual right to control the life and death of those who used to be their equal. Their new strength, senses, and indestructibility even make killing easy, not mentally, but physically. Your instincts tell you to feed and while you might not want to, it’s hard not to lose yourself just a little. Once someone actually becomes vampire, it’s easier to experience the sensation that would have lead the first vampire when they were young to pick fights they might not have been able to when human.”