“What a sweet ride!” he announces, admiring the Jaguar.
“It is our uncle’s,” Alexander explains.
We all get out and head up the walk toward the house. Once Nathanial catches a glimpse of me, he stands motionless, like a deer caught in headlights. If I could, I would blush in this very moment. He looks so handsome in his tuxedo; once again, I am stunned by his perfection.
Nathanial finally catches his breath and stutters, “I have never seen such a beautiful sight in all my life. You are much more beautiful than all the stars in the heavens.”
I gasp, wondering how he can think so highly of me. I am nothing more than a murderous animal that could easily take away everything as he knows it. “Thank you.
You look amazing too,” I say and run into his arms.
“Come meet my parents. I have told them all about you,” he encourages.
As we approach the door, Nathanial’s parents greet us. “Please come in from the cold, kids.”
We all smile at each other before entering, and Alexander telepathically adds,
“Thank God they asked us in. I hate that we have to be invited before we can enter another’s dwelling, and it’s always hard to make excuses for it. I’m glad Nathanial and his family are so polite.”
The McCord home is very modest, but warm and inviting. I feel so much love within these walls.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. McCord. My name is Sophia, and this is my brother Alexander and my sisters Mati and Danika. It’s nice to meet you.” I am glad Danika’s date just lives a few houses down, so he will be meeting her here to escort her to formal.
“The pleasure is all ours. We have heard so much about all of you, and it is nice to meet teenagers with such wonderful manners,” Mrs. McCord replies. “Nate speaks very highly of you, Sophia. It is nice to see him so passionate about something other than football and school,” she adds.
“Mother, do you mind?” Nathanial blushes.
“Sorry, love. You kids have fun tonight and be safe. Please call if you need a ride home or anything,” she offers.
“Thank you. That is very kind of you, ma’am,” Alexander replies.
After a few pictures, we say our goodbyes and head back to the car. Danika’s date is waiting for her on the front walk. She introduces everyone and hops in her date’s car to head to the formal. Nathanial opens the car door and helps me into the back seat.
Alexander follows suit and assists Matilda into her seat, then gracefully shuts the door.
The two of them walk around to the other side of the car and hop in. Alexander drives cautiously to the school, so as not to alarm Nathanial with his usual speed-demon driving skills.
***
Once we arrive, I observe the beauty around us. We proceed to walk under a canopy of white lights that looks like stars. It is enchanting, and every couple pauses for a portrait lit by the hanging lights and the full moon that hangs perfectly in the horizon of the night sky. Nathanial and I pause for our portrait, followed by Alexander and Matilda, and then the four of us together. It is perfect. I know I will never get to see heaven, but this is what I imagine it would be like if I did. Matt and Ebony arrive just after us, in Matt’s ’69 Shelby Cobra GT 500. It belonged to his grandfather, and Matt rebuilt it by himself, something he is extremely proud of.
He did an amazing job, as if the car was rebuilt by Foose himself. He even thought of entering it in a car show, and now that I see it, I understand why and think he most definitely should.
We all enter the gymnasium under an archway wrapped in spruce branches and accented with white roses and red berries. Inside, thousands of little white lights twinkle, and lighted snowflakes hang from the ceiling. A disc jockey is playing a variety of music that almost everyone is dancing to. Throughout my years, I have seen many dances, formals, and proms, but nothing has ever compared to the perfection of this one. I wonder if it is because of the scenery or the company I am sharing the evening with. I now understand that love does brighten the world. Everything is better when you have love.
Nathanial guides me to the dance floor; it is like the parting of the red sea, as everyone moves to either side to make room for us. The music slows, and Nathanial extends his arm, offering me his hand. “May I have this dance?” he requests.
“You may.” I smile as he places one hand on the small of my back and raises our joined hands up. I place my other hand on his broad shoulder.
Just when I am thinking this is a perfect first dance together, I realize what song is playing, and I look at him in amazement.
“I told you I would remember.” He smiles.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “I can’t believe you got them to play good old Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra, for me!”
“This is beautiful. I think I have even heard it before. But it is not nearly as beautiful as you are. I understand why you like it. Maybe it can be our song now?” he suggests.
“Hmm. That would be okay, but I heard another song that suits us much better,” I reply.
“Really? And what song is that?”
I wink at Alexander, and he goes to request it.
Seconds later, Nickelback’s “Never Gonna Be Alone” begins to play, and Nathanial smiles at me. “This is perfect. It describes exactly how I feel, especially if I were to lose you.”
“I feel the exact same way. I could have written the song lyrics myself.” I lean in and give him a small kiss, happy that we have found our perfect song. I can’t stop myself from looking into his big ocean-blue eyes as the song ends and he embraces me in his arms so tightly. The music picks up again, and everyone begins bobbing to the beat and cheering. We decide to escape and go for a walk in the park to be alone. We can never get enough alone time. People still stare at us, shocked that Nathanial finally has a girlfriend.
I look over at Alexander to tell him our plan, and he nods in agreement. I know he will be listening in at least a little; he is very protective of me. It’s like he doesn’t think I can take care of myself, but I know he is really just concerned that I can’t control myself.
Sometimes I worry too. Nothing has ever appealed to me with such force and strength before. I refuse to give in to the temptation, no matter how hard I have to fight myself. I would rather leave him and know he is safe than to harm him with my love and desire.
For that reason, though, I am grateful that Alexander will be close by. I want to taste Nathanial’s blood. I crave it. But even more than that, I want to be with him. That is the main thing that keeps me from going on a complete and utter feeding frenzy. This man means everything to me, and over the course of just a few months, I have found everything I have ever wanted, and I found it in him. I do not mind the extra precautions, though, I’d rather be safe than sorry.
After losing Caspian everyone is secretly concerned about my relationship with Nathanial. They know he appeals to me even more than Caspian’s girlfriend had to him. They feel my pain and torment when Alexander connects us all. I will make them understand. Nathanial is the only one for me, and now that I have accepted him as my soul mate, I am comfortable letting myself go, knowing that he will never let me fall.
With Alexander close by, I feel even more confident with that fact.
Chapter Twenty Two
Saving
We sneak out of the dance and cross the street into the park. It is dark, lit only by the moon, which is shining like a big blue diamond, reflecting off the blue in Nathaniel’s eyes as if they are a piece of each other. The park is quiet and very peaceful with only the faint booming of the bass coming from the school gymnasium. The sound mimics a beating heart and turns into a faint pulse the further we get. In an unusual way, the beating calms me and helps curb my urges.
From what I have learned, Wenham is a typical small town, a safe town, the kind of town where people leave their doors unlocked at night. Nathanial and I don’t speak much. We just enjoy the starry sky and being in each other’s company. Nathanial, being the gentlemen he is, offers me h
is jacket, but I am fine because the weather does not affect me. It is one of the perks of being immortal, I guess.
We get about halfway through the park when I suddenly freeze where I stand.
“What’s wrong?” he questions with concern.
“I hear something,” I whisper.
My eyes widen. I can’t read minds like Alexander can, but I have a bad feeling, and I feel it heading straight toward us. In my head, I scream for Alexander, hoping he is spying on us and will be here soon. This feels bad–real bad.
Then, out from behind the bushes, a man appears. He is not from around here, and he is very rough around the edges. He has long, stringy hair, tattered old clothes, and he is very dirty. The man looks as though he had been traveling a while, and he seems tired and hungry.
“Stay where you are!” he orders.
“Keep behind me,” Nathanial whispers as he braces his arm in front of me. “Can we help you?” Nathanial asks in a monotone voice.
Any member of my family could take this idiot down in a nano second, but that would draw unwanted attention to us and raise questions I am not quite ready to answer.
I begin to panic. Should I protect Nathanial and deal with this moron, or should I wait for Alexander to come? I do not want to give away my secret, but I can’t stand the fact that Nathanial is in immediate danger while I can protect him.
That is when I hear Alexander, who is finally linked with my mind. “I am on my way. Be there in a second,” he says.
I know everything will be okay. We can take this man down as a team, and Nathanial will not even realize what happened.
The man approaches us and presses a knife to Nathanial’s abdomen. He demands our money and possessions.
Just then, Alexander runs up, startling the man, but suddenly Nathanial collapses to the ground. I can smell his blood spilling everywhere, it is intoxicating.
Before I even realize what is happening, the man jumps on Nathanial, and I notice a flash of red eyes and fangs glistening in the moonlight. He bites Nathanial’s neck and tries to feed. Almost as fast, Alex rips the rogue vampire off of Nathanial.
“Sophia, are you okay? You have to take care of Nathanial. I will handle this scum.”
Alexander orders.
Matilda is already on the phone with our family. They will be here in a moment.
This is about to become the biggest fight of my existence thus far–the fight to save the man I love, to save Nathanial.
Nathanial is lying helpless on the ground beneath me, bleeding to death from the knife wound and injured from the vampire bite. I start to worry about the venom and then realize it will not harm him as long as he doesn’t ingest any vampire blood. When Alexander startled the attacker, he reflexively jabbed the knife in to Nathanial’s abdominal cavity, twisting it and pulling it out in a downward motion before trying to feed on him.
“Everything will be okay, Nate. I will take care of you.” I comfort him and try to hide my concern.
He begins to moan and grunt in pain. His blood continues to spread, and it fills my nostrils, smelling better than I ever imagined it could. I want his blood so badly, but NO! I want him more. I place my hands over his wound and began to visualize it repairing from the inside out. My throat begins to burn, and my jaw aches, I feel my teeth growing from the bone. I continue by visualizing a bright gold light around him, protecting him and healing him.
He opens his eyes and weakly smiles at me.
“You're...okay?” He can barely get the words out.
“I am and you will be too. I promise.”
I do not want him to look in my eyes. They are not green anymore, but jet black because of the presence of his blood. His blood is affecting me, and it is so hard to resist I must fight it because I love him and never want to harm him. I can only hope Isaac gets here soon.
I look around to see what is happening with Alexander and the other vampire. They have gone deeper into the woods, but I can hear them and faintly see them. It looks as though Alexander needs help. A hungry vampire is strong and desperate. He tasted Nathanial and wants to finish feeding.
The rest of my family arrives just in time. Isaac runs off to help Alexander finish the job and destroy the vampire. It ends quickly, and they both return to the park.
“Sophia, that’s enough. We need to keep a small wound to explain things. Work on the bite now.” Isaac instructs me to finish the healing, as he takes over care.
Matilda pulls me off to the side to talk me down. A crowd is starting to form, and I am so thirsty. Constance is on the phone with 911 and Florence begins working on Nathanial’s memories of the attack. He cannot have any recollection of me healing him and Alexander getting to us so fast–not to mention the vampire jumping him and feeding. I don’t think he noticed Alexander fighting because they went into the forest pretty fast. I feel so weak, emotionally and physically, and the temptation of Nathanial’s blood has taken everything out of me. What little energy I have left is draining from when I healed him. I am sick with worry, and panic is setting in again. I collapse to my knees, completely weak and helpless. I need to feed and to free my mind. I need to remain strong for my Nathanial.
The ambulance arrives at the same time as Elijah, who had gotten the McCords. He began to explain what he knew from Matilda’s phone call.
Mrs. McCord runs to Nathanial’s side. “Thank you for helping my baby,” and she climbs into the ambulance with Nathanial, as does Isaac.
Constance and the rest of us will quickly go for something to eat before we go to the hospital. We have to eat before heading there, if for no other reason than to get the scent of Nathanial’s blood out of our systems. Isaac and Constance want to be his doctors, since no one else will be able to make sense of his injuries and would have many questions. This way they can protect our secret.
Once we disappear into the woods, my family tries to calm me. Tonight we will hunt the old-fashioned way, feeding directly from the live animals we catch.
“Sophia, everything is alright. Nate is going to be fine. You did what you needed to do to help him, and you resisted the temptation. I am proud of you.” Florence holds me in a motherly fashion. She has always been an amazing mother figure for us.
“It was so hard. I wanted his blood so bad. I wanted to change him so I could keep him forever. I just could not do that to him, to his family.” I confess.
“It is all over now. Let’s get you fed and go check on Nate. We can talk more later on, but right now, we need to be there for him,” Constance says and holds my hand momentarily.
Chapter Twenty Three
Over Night
We’re only about ten minutes behind the ambulance. When we arrive at the hospital, Nathanial’s parents run up to me, concerned about the blood on my dress.
“My dear, are you okay? Did you get hurt?” Mrs. McCord frantically checks me for injuries.
“I’m fine. Nate protected me and kept me from getting hurt. I’m just a little shaken up and worried. Is he...is Nate going to be okay?” I ask, panicking a little.
“Your uncle says he has no internal injuries. Everything is superficial and just needs a few stitches and a little bit of blood through his IV because the knife nicked an artery.
It is a miracle he wasn’t hurt worse than that. Your uncle said you helped Nate by putting pressure on the wound,” she reassures me. “Thank you for saving our baby.”
she adds as she sheds a few tears.
“Miss, may I ask you a few questions?” requests a tall man in a police uniform. “My name is Officer Smith, and I’m here to investigate the attack,” he adds.
“Yes, of course. Anything you need, Officer,” I reply as I look to Elijah.
I follow the officer into a small room dedicated to interviews. Elijah follows, being that I am technically a minor and cannot be questioned without a guardian or lawyer present, and he is both. Elijah will observe as I recall the events of this evening for the officer, minus a few minor details.
“Okay, Miss Pierce. Can you explain to me what happened this evening?” Officer Smith pulls out a chair for me to sit in and walks to the other side of the table.
“We left the formal to go for a walk in the park, a man about fortyish, kind of scruffy looking, approached us from out of the bushes. He pressed the knife up to Nate, and Nate pushed me behind himself to protect me. Alexander and Mati had also come on the walk, but they were slightly behind us, and the man did not see them. When Alexander saw the man, he snuck around and came running from behind the man and grabbed him. This startled the man, so he stabbed Nate. The only thing I remember after that is Nate bleeding everywhere. I pressed my hands to his wound, like they teach us to in first aid class, until the ambulance came.”
“Do you know what happened with your brother and the man?”
“All I remember is seeing the two of them struggling with each other a little. I didn’t see a lot, because I was mostly focused on helping Nate.”
“Thank you, Miss Pierce. Could you please ask your brother to come in?” requests the officer.
“Yes sir.” I leave the room, and Elijah stays behind for Alexander’s interview.
Out in the waiting room, I tell Alexander it is his turn, even though he already knows that since he was listening in while I was interviewed. He hugs me and then turns and heads to the interview room. He is prepared to give the same story as I did; only he will add the part I could not remember. He will explain that he fought with the perpetrator in self-defense. He will tell the officer that when he arrived, he placed the man in a headlock with one arm twisted behind his back. During the struggle, the man stabbed Nate, and the two of them fought. The man tried to stab Alexander but then ran off into the woods. What Alexander will not admit is the fact that the attacker was a vampire and that he and Isaac destroyed him.
Ebony and Matt arrive at the hospital. They run up to me and hold me as I collapse in their arms. “Are you okay? What can we do to help?” she asks.