Eternity (21 page)

I spent the day
in the library, which wasn’t exactly unusual. I’d finished the book
I was reading by Isadora, and I’d liked it enough to search for
more books by her. I found one that was written a couple hundred
years ago, and it was about ancient Rome. I recognized the story as
one Ms. Coleman had told us in class, and I looked forward to
reading about it in more detail.

The story was
actually quite romantic, and from what I could remember it was
true. The main character, who was really Isadora, was a slave, and
she was bought by a man who owned gladiators. One night she was
forced to go to a gladiator to please him, but she refused, so her
owner just let all of them have her. She fought them as much as she
could, but they were all bigger and stronger than she was. One of
them rescued her and offered her shelter in his room, which she had
little choice but to accept. He didn’t try anything on her, but she
hated him because he was a killer.

After awhile
with living under his protection, she came to understand him
better. He didn’t fight and kill because he wanted to; he was a
slave like she was, only he had to fight for his life. She still
couldn’t accept what he did, and he didn’t like it either, so he
tried fighting without killing. He would incapacitate his
opponents, but he refused to kill even when the order was given. He
got in trouble for it, but the crowd loved him anyway, and that was
the most important thing for a gladiator. His life was spared, and
the girl learned to love him. They both died in the end, but it was
a really good story, and I spent all day reading it. It seemed to
me, however, that Isadora’s lives always seemed to end so early. I
hadn’t yet read one in which she lived to old age. I wondered if
that was how she wanted things to be, or if it was just
coincidence.

The next day,
which was Monday, it was stormy outside. The sky was completely
covered by dark gray clouds that occasionally lit up with flashes
of lightning. It was pouring rain heavily enough to be able to hear
it almost anywhere in the school, and the teachers were often
interrupted by loud rumbles of thunder. I was kind of annoyed at
being stuck in class when there was such an awesome storm going on
because I had always loved watching thunder storms. I looked
longingly out the window so often in History that Ms. Coleman had
to tell me to pay attention.

The noise was a
little distracting when I was in Skills Development. I was
partnered with Rhea, who was still working on creating a gold
pattern on a coffee mug instead of turning the whole thing gold or
going all the way through, which she was getting better at. I was
working on my drawing again, and I tried drawing what Rhea’s mug
would look like at the end of class. I actually managed to do it,
and Mr. Ramirez was pleased. I couldn’t help but be a little proud
of my accomplishment, since I really wanted to be able to control
my ability. Mr. Ramirez said that once I mastered my drawing I
should work on learning how to not see auras, and I agreed that
that was a good idea, though I still had a long way to go.

In Physical
Defence that morning Victor put me with Lucas again, but luckily we
didn’t have to actually fight. He taught me a few moves instead,
which I mastered quickly. I tried them on him, but he already knew
what I was going to do, so I still ended up on the floor. When I
got back up again I decided to surprise him with a move of my own,
which he wasn’t prepared for. I got him to the floor for the first
time, and he was impressed. Victor also applauded my success, and
got me to show the move to the rest of the class.

I was feeling
pretty good about myself by the time I got to lunch. I felt like I
was finally improving at something, and it made me feel more
powerful and confident. I couldn’t find Heather, who I had last
seen in the locker room by the gym, or Jack, who I hadn’t seen
since History. I found a seat next to Leon, who was sitting with
Patrick and Duncan. He had a gigantic plate of food, per usual, and
he was shovelling it down with his usual lack of manners. I really
didn’t understand how someone could eat so much and not gain any
weight.

“I miss
unhealthy food,” Duncan was saying when I sat down. “I feel like
it’s been too long since I had a nice artery-clogging
cheeseburger.” He was picking at his lunch, which consisted of a
salad and some tomato soup. He had already finished his
crackers.

“Yeah, I know.
I would’ve actually gained weight by now if there was a decent
amount of fat in this food,” Leon agreed. “I’m still a walking
stick.”

“I told you,
you need to eat more protein and start lifting weights or
something,” Patrick said. “You’re better off gaining muscle than
fat. Wouldn’t you agree, Juliet?”

“Of course,” I
answered, as I helped myself to some soup and a roll, which was
whole wheat. “If he just got fat he wouldn’t exactly be helping
himself any.”

“I tried that,
but it’s hard to get to the gym that often. I have too many
assignments to get done most weeks, as well as band practices,”
Leon said. “Plus, that requires effort.”

“You know what
else would be good?” Duncan continued, as if we hadn’t spoken. “I
could really go for some French fries. You know, the ones that are
greasy and covered in salt.”

“I think Duncan
has lost like twenty kilograms since the start of the school year,”
Patrick told me. “He’s a junk food addict, and being here is like
being in withdrawal because they try to make all the food healthy.
Also, there’s always at least one physical course every year that
you have to take to keep you in shape.”

“I hate it,”
Duncan grumbled. “It’s like being at fat camp or something.” He was
still probably thirty kilograms overweight, which didn’t seem
common at Winterwood. Most of the students were normal sized or
thin.

“He misses his
fat,” Leon explained. “I can’t really blame him. I’d miss my fat if
I had any to begin with.”

The rest of us
laughed, and the conversation turned to music, which ended up being
interesting. I’d never talked to a bunch of people about music
before who were also musicians. Many of us had different tastes,
but at least we knew what to appreciate. I was disappointed when
the time came to return to class after lunch, but I was still in a
good mood.

Chapter
27

My good mood
had evaporated by supper time. I got a new project to do in
Biology, and we had to do weird experiments in Psychology. I looked
forward to Calculus so I could see Adrian, but he didn’t even show
up, which was a bit of a let-down. I couldn’t even find anyone to
sit with in the cafeteria at supper. The only friend I could find
was Sydney, who waved to me, but she was sitting with her friend
Jackie, who really didn’t like me. I sat by myself at an empty
table and ate alone.

I found out
where some of my friends were later that evening. I was sitting by
myself in the common room of the south wing, and I was reading
another book written by Isadora, this time about ancient Greece.
Heather came in the room not long before it was time for bed, and
she was flushed and happy.

“Jack kissed
me!” she announced almost as soon as she saw me. “It was so sweet.
We were watching a movie in the west wing, and it had a really sad
ending. I totally had tears running down my face, and he wiped them
away, and then he turned my face and kissed me right then and
there.”

I couldn’t help
but grin. “That’s wonderful!” I said. I had noticed lately that
Jack had really started spending more time with Heather, though his
feelings for me hadn’t seemed to change at all, which bothered me.
I was worried that he was trying to distract himself or something,
but there wasn’t much I could do even if that was the case. I
really did think he and Heather were good together because they had
similar personalities, aside from the whole werewolf temper
thing.

Melissa came in
not long after Heather, and then Rhea, who was usually in earlier.
Melissa had been listening to Light’s Kingdom practice. They were
still practicing with their keyboardist who had stage fright, but
they were looking for someone to replace him. Melissa wasn’t
actually interested in their music, since she was more of a hip-hop
fan, but she was interested enough in Michael to pretend she was.
Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to notice her quite so much, though
I’d seen Patrick eyeing her a few times when we were all
together.

Rhea had come
in late because she was tutoring someone else in our class, which
didn’t surprise me. She was a quiet and calm sort of person, and
she possessed a natural sense of grace and dignity that would
probably make anyone feel comfortable around her. She was also very
smart and good at explaining things. She didn’t tend to spend as
much time with us because we could be a little overwhelming to her,
and we had a tendency to break rules that she didn’t want to be
part of, which I could certainly respect, even if I was the chief
rule-breaker.

The next day,
after supper, I went back to the library to get a new book, and I
curled up on one of the plush red couches in the middle of the room
between the shelves of books. I wasn’t there long when someone sat
down beside me. I didn’t look up to see who it was until she spoke
to me.

“Hello,” she
said. Her voice was soft and melodic, like most vampires, which she
was. I recognized her instantly as the vampire who had looked at me
so intently at the beginning of the school year. I’d seen her a few
times since then in the north wing, but I had never spoken to her
before. She was looking intently at me with her bright blue eyes.
She was very pretty, and she looked like she was around twenty,
though you could never tell with vampires. She certainly had a
sense of wisdom in her look that would make anyone second guess her
age.

“Hi,” I said
back, a little startled that she was talking to me. She continued
to watch me with her penetrating eyes. I was pretty sure that
vampires could read the thoughts of humans, but I wasn’t sure if
that applied to those with special powers.

“It does,” she
informed me, answering the question in my thoughts. “I’m Anna. I’ve
seen you around a lot, especially when you go to see Adrian.”

I blushed.
“Yeah, I do that sometimes,” I said.

“I’ve never met
you before school,” Anna said. “I believe you’ve met my father
though. It was probably a long time ago. He told me about you, and
I kind of hoped I’d get to meet you someday.”

“Who’s your
father?” I asked. I was a little confused by what she was
saying.

“Kalinor,” she
told me. I was shocked. Kalinor was the first vampire, and he was
born that way. I didn’t think vampires could have children. Then I
thought that maybe she was sort of adopted by him or something.

Anna listened
to my thoughts, and she smiled. “It is rare, but vampires can have
children. Both of my parents are vampires. I was the first ever to
be born from two vampires, but not the last. There are two others
now, including my younger brother.”

“What makes you
think I’ve ever met Kalinor?” I asked. “I hardly ever saw any
vampires before I came here, and I never spoke to any of them. I
certainly don’t remember ever meeting the most important vampire in
the world.”

“It’s so hard
to imagine that you don’t know,” Anna said, almost to herself,
instead of answering my question. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I
couldn’t see it for myself.”

I realized what
she was saying, and I got annoyed. “I’m not Isadora,” I said
firmly. “I know it’s a common misconception, but it isn’t
possible.”

“I apologize. I
wasn’t trying to offend you,” Anna assured me. “You can believe
whatever you want. Perhaps it is for the best.”

I decided to
ignore that. “What’s Kalinor like?” I asked.

“He is kind and
very wise. I get the feeling sometimes that he wasn’t very happy
for a long time, which was why he decided to sleep for two thousand
years, but he is very happy with my mother. They’re soulmates. I
hope that someday I will meet mine, but he isn’t alive now. Yours
is though.”

“How do you
know?” I asked.

“Every vampire
has at least one ability, and I possess the ability to see
relationships. I can tell if someone has a soulmate, and if they do
I can tell who and where that person is. I got the ability from my
father.”

“Is Adrian my
soulmate?” I asked.

“No, he isn’t,
and he has a soulmate as well. The two of you aren’t supposed to be
together. You can love someone without them being your soulmate,
and I’m sure you love each other, but when you meet the right
person you’ll realize how big of a difference it really is. Your
soulmate is more than just someone you love very much, he is a part
of you, and he becomes all you live for. I’ve seen it myself with
my parents and two of their friends, though they’re dead now. My
mother was in love with the vampire who turned her before she met
my father. It broke his heart when she left him, but she didn’t
have much of a choice. You can’t fight fate.”

I believed what
she told me, and it made me sad. I didn’t want to leave Adrian, and
I didn’t think I ever would unless he wanted me to, or unless one
of us did meet a soulmate. It just seemed unimaginable.

Anna smiled
kindly. “I’m sure everything will work out well in the end.”

“Not if I am
Isadora,” I joked. “All of her stories have tragic endings.”

“But for her
they aren’t really endings,” Anna pointed out.

I looked down
at the book that was lying open in my lap. “I don’t know how she
lives like that though. She falls in love so many times, and she
always loses the people she loves. Don’t you think it would take a
toll after awhile? How could anyone live with that much pain?”