Blood-Red Tear (12 page)

“
I’m trying, but you need to leave until she is old enough to deal with all of this. I cannot imagine what you are going through, but if you care for Katie the way I believe you do, then leave now before you hurt her. I swear, I will keep her safe for you,” he pleaded.

“That
is not as easy as you make it sound, Paul,” Aidan told him with a sigh. “I know it is best I leave, but the idea of her being in danger, and me not being here to protect her, wars with what I know is right.”

“At least consider it
,” Paul said, before I heard the squeak of the gazebo steps as he walked away.

I opened my eyes to find my brother
gone and Aidan staring off into the sunset, as he leaned against the wooden post of the entrance of the gazebo.

“Aidan?” I called
out, sitting up, prepared to confront him about their argument. To demand he tell me what was happening.

“Beth will see you in,” he said
, disappearing before I could protest.

I walked to the entrance
of the garden to find Beth striding across the garden towards me purposely. “Are you ready to go in now?” she said, upon reaching my side.

“
Where did Aidan go?” I asked.

She shook her head.
“I do not know. He called to me to walk you inside, so here I am.”

“I suppose I
am ready to go in then,” I told her.  With my head low I walked toward the house, hurt by Aidan’s curt leaving and angry about the secrets everyone was keeping from me.

Beth followed silently
behind me until we reached my bedroom door. As I opened the heavy wood door she leaned against the wall, staring at me sympathetically. “I’ll be here if you need anything; just call for me.”

“Thanks
, Beth.” I turned and walked into my room, and put on my pajamas. I lay down on the bed, trying to reconcile my feelings for Aidan. I had always adored him: he was my favorite person in the world, outside of my family, but the feelings I had for him since that amazing kiss were far more than those of a friend. And that complicated things immensely.

“God
, I am so stupid,” I whispered, before turning out the lights and shutting my eyes.

*****

That night in my dream, I was running through a forest, my body covered in red mud, leaves stuck in my hair, my bare feet and hands covered with scratches from where tree branches and thorn bushes had gouged me. Blood seeped from the many wounds I had received, making my clothes sticky and wet against my skin, and my body ached unmercifully. I glanced often behind of me as I ran, trying to stay one step ahead of the vampire who chased me, but as I turned, strong arms enveloped me in a vise like grip, ending my attempt to escape.

“Finally
, you’re mine,” the grotesque male vampire said, sinking his decaying fangs deep into my neck, tearing at the soft skin with abandon in his attempts to drain me. The blood- curdling sound of my screams reverberated around the forest, but no aid came. The vampire drank deep, taking all the nourishment my body had to offer, then lowered me to the leaf-covered ground with an evil grin before kneeling beside me, gently stroking my cheek. Blood dripped from my ravaged neck, pooling under me as I stared up at my killer with dull, lifeless eyes, ready to give myself over to the finality of death, but he had an alternate plan. With a loud chuckle, he lifted his wrist to his mouth and tore into his own flesh before pressing it to my lips, silently compelling me to drink. Weak and so near death, I was unable to fight his compulsion and found myself drinking deeply of his blood, even as my mind recoiled in horror at the idea of him making me a vampire.  

“Shhh, I’m here now.
I will keep you safe if it is the last thing I do,” Aidan’s soft voice whispered, pulling me from my nightmare. His strong arms held me tight in their embrace, and his light kisses feathered my brow as he soothed me. “Sleep,” he commanded. Warm and safe, cocooned in his love, I was able to slip immediately into deep, restful sleep.

Chapter Nine

Paul was waiting impatiently the next morning as I rushed into the garage, and he did not wait to start in on me for my tardiness. “You get later every morning,” he growled, helping Beth into his truck as I stood beside Aidan’s car, waiting for him to drive me in.

“I’m so
rry. I didn’t sleep well last night.” I yawned and leaned against the car tiredly, as if to back up my excuse.

“Yeah
, well, maybe it was the nap you took yesterday in the gazebo,” he sneered.

“Back off, Paul
, and mind your own business,” I warned, tired of all of his interfering.

He jumped into his
truck and slammed the door closed, looking down on me from his window. “He’s too old for you,” he said.

“What
are you talking about?” I asked, exasperated by his surly attitude.

“Aidan
, He’s too old for you,” he snapped.

He had to be joking. I mean
, yeah, I was totally head over heels for the vampire prince, but it wasn’t as if anything was going to happen between us. We were from two very different worlds. “Are you kidding me? You think he would even look twice at me when he could have any woman he wanted?” I snorted.

“Just don’t let your feelings for him interfere with your common sense. D
ate boys your own age, alright?” he pleaded.

I blushed
, embarrassed he had called me on my feelings for Aidan at all, let alone in front of Beth, a stranger. “Sure, now you want me to date,” I snapped, sarcasm ringing in my voice.

“I won’t get in the way if you do
, I promise.”

Aidan appeared
in the doorway, giving Paul a quelling look that ended our conversation. “Come, you will be late,” he said, helping me into his car before he got behind the wheel and took off down the driveway.

We were almost at the
school when he turned to me looking resigned. “He’s right, you know.”

“About what?” I asked softly
.

“About you, me, us,” he said.

“Is there an us, Aidan? I don’t understand any of this,” I confided. “Since the moment you kissed me, everything has become complicated. I am so confused about what I am feeling, and it doesn’t help that you are keeping secrets from me.”

“There’s so much you don’t understand, so much I can’t tell you right now. It’s too soon, you’re not ready
, and I can’t allow my feelings to override what is right for you.”

“Aidan,” I murmured placing my hand on his arm.

“No,” he cried out, pulling his arm away and looking pained. “Now is not the time. You are late for school. We will talk later.”

We pulled into the parking lot.
“Have a good day,” he said softly,, handing me my bag then getting into the car staring ahead as he pulled out of the driveway without a backward glance. 

Beth came to stand beside me
, saying nothing as I watched him drive away. I had the growing concern he was going to leave and, as much as I wanted him to stay, a part of me wondered if it might be for the best. Even though I was sure it would devastate me.

“We should go inside,” Beth said after a few moments.

I nodded, gripping my bag in my hand, dreading the rest of the day that had started out so badly. “Sorry that you had to listen to Paul and me this morning, Beth,” I apologized, as we walked into the school.

She nodded,
already down to business, scanning the area with her cunning eyes. “No problem,” she said, ignoring all of the curious male stares directed at her.

“Katie
, wait up!”

I looked up t
o see Chad approaching. Beth stepped in front of me, ready to block him, but I put my hand on her arm and shook my head.

“Oh
, hey, Chad” I called out, smiling at Beth to let her know he was all right.

She relaxed slightly
, but still eyed him speculatively as he drew near.

“Hi,” he
said with a shy, awkward smile as he reached my side, looking at Beth nervously. “I was wondering if maybe I could take you out…you know…sometime this weekend.”

I probably would have turned him down
gently the day before, but after my earlier conversation with Paul, I’d decided that maybe he was right. Maybe I did need to date some males my own age. If nothing else, I figured it might help me understand better what I was feeling for Aidan, so I found myself agreeing. “Sure, Chad, that would be nice. Call me later and let me know when.”

  
“You sure are popular this year,” Jess said, pulling books from her locker as I approached.

Obviously she had overheard my conversation with Chad.
“Yeah,” I answered absently, introducing her to Beth, explaining she was a friend of the family whose parents had passed away and who was staying with us for awhile, as we had planned the day before.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Jess sa
id, never questioning the cover we had planned for Beth’s sudden presence.

I
should have been relieved, but I felt like a horrible friend for lying to her. It was not something I did lightly and I hated myself for it.

“Nice to meet you
, too, Katie talks about you all the time,” Beth added, earning a smile from my all-too-trusting friend.

“Uh, we should go or we are going to
be late,” I said, eager to get the day over with.

We
headed to our first class, Jess eagerly planning what I should wear when I went out with Chad, while I silently pondered my conversation with Aidan. Me, him, us: What did it mean? Was there something between us, or was I just a teenager with a crush that would pass? I didn’t have experience with guys, so I certainly couldn’t compare what I felt for Aidan with anything I had ever felt before. So I just didn’t know.

*****

   I was only to happy to get out of school when the last bell rang and end the speculation I had nursed since leaving Aidan that morning. After a quick goodbye to Chris and Jess, Beth ushered me out of the door to the parking lot, where Aidan sat behind the wheel of his car watching our approach. He got out of the car, his face void of emotion, and I knew I needn’t ponder what was going to happen any longer. It was clear he had decided to go.

He
opened my door as I approached, taking my bag and tossing it carelessly into the back seat before checking to be sure the seatbelt was secure around me and closing the door. He got into the car and clenched the wheel between his hands before pulling away from the curve. I could feel his tension as he drove silently towards home, and it ate at me. I wanted to scream and protest his decision to leave, but that just proved to me why I wasn’t ready for a relationship with him. My reaction was immature and showed my inability to deal with my feelings like an adult would. Tears pooled in my eyes, my lips trembled, and it became hard to breathe, but I managed to keep it together.

W
hen he pulled into the driveway and parked, I didn’t wait for him to open my door but got out on my own, grabbing my bag and walking directly into the house, leaving him staring after me sadly.

Once ins
ide the sanctity of my bedroom, I threw myself on the bed and allowed the tears that I had managed to hold back the entire drive home to fall. Aidan had been around since I was a baby and had left many times before, but it had never affected me as it was doing now. I had always felt oddly put out when he left in the past, but now I felt as if a piece of me was going with him. From somewhere deep inside a loud pitiful sob came, echoing the anguish I felt.

   “Katie
?” my mother called through the door. I knew she had heard me crying and she did not wait for an answer before walking into the room and sitting next to me on the bed, her gaze full of sympathy. “Would you like to talk about it?” She smoothed her hand over my back offering comfort.

My mother was truly my best friend
and the only one I could turn to about my puzzling feelings for Aidan, since she knew what he was.  I wasn’t sure she would understand, or even be happy to know how I was feeling about their prince, but I needed to confide in someone before I went insane.  “I’m so confused, Mom. I have these feelings for Aidan that I never felt before and I’m afraid I might never feel again with anyone else.”  

 
“Oh, my sweet Angel, I had hoped you would be older before you began to feel these things, but as with all things nature decides when you become a woman, not your age. Believe it or not, I do understand how you feel for Aidan, but you are so young and we want you to live a little before you act on those feelings.”

I was surprised by how easily she seemed to accept m
y words but glad she wasn’t making me feel like a child. “Everyone’s so angry and he’s leaving. I’m not sure how I am going to handle him not being here,” I confessed.

“
No one wants you to be unhappy. Believe me, that has never been our goal, but you need experience with other males before you can take on the kind of relationship someone like Aidan needs.  Eventually he would have to bring his mate into the vampire world if she is to survive amongst us, and that choice is not one that should be made by one as young as you are.  Your father and I want you to enjoy being human for now. Any decisions regarding your future can be made when you’re older and have a better grasp of what you want in the future.”

She was direct but
not condescending, and I appreciated her insight. Everything she said was true. I was young, immature, and not ready for the kind of relationship I knew Aidan needed, but my heart didn’t want to hear that. “I’m so confused. For most of my life I felt as if there were something else I should be doing, as if I hadn’t really found my calling, but when I am with Aidan everything feels right. With him, I feel like I am whole and where I belong.” Most mothers would have scoffed, but she didn’t. She just smiled ruefully and patted my hand.

“I know
how you feel, honey; trust me, I have been where you are, but you are human and so very young.  Aidan is a vampire, the prince of our people, and has great responsibilities. He will never be able to have the kind of relationship with you that other human males your age can.” She hugged me close, and I savored the comforting smell of vanilla and spice that wafted around her. In that moment I wanted so badly to be a child again so things would return to the way they were before that kiss, but I had the feeling that now that I had fallen for Aidan things would never be normal again.

“
Sweetheart, I love you, and you can talk to me anytime, no matter what the problem. I will always be there for you,” she assured me.

“Thank you, Mom.
” I hugged her again and she left, leaving me alone to think about everything she had said. The feelings I had for Aidan were more consuming than a teenage crush. When he was near I felt alive and whole, and when he wasn’t, well, I didn’t even want to go there. Just the idea of him leaving made me morose. I needed to get out of my room and think, so I headed to where I always went when I was upset or needed time to myself, the garden.

Beth was waiting for me outside my door
when I exited, but she seemed to know I craved privacy and just followed along next to me silently, her efficient eyes missing nothing as we walked the short distance to the garden entrance. After a quick scan of the area, she allowed me to enter the garden, taking a post at the entrance where she could keep her eyes on me but allow me the solitude I had been seeking.

I walked the
many twisted paths, stopping to smell the last fragrant blooms of summer as I thought about how different my life had become since my horrendous date with Scott. My wanderings took me to the place where all of my new feelings for Aidan had begun. I stood staring at the flower-covered gazebo where he had kissed me with tears clouding my eyes, overcome with emotion. Something had happened that night, something inside of me had come to life, and now my heart was breaking at the thought of his leaving, despite knowing it was for the best.

“Katie,” Aidan called
behind me, his heavy voice an indication of the conversation to come.

I turned and watched him appro
ach with panther-like grace, my heart racing in anticipation of being near him, even though I dreaded what he was about to say. I met his sorrow-filled eyes with my own and shuddered involuntarily. I knew what was coming but it was like an accident.  You see it but cannot turn away, even though you know you should.

He took my hand
in his own, his mouth lifting into a half-hearted smile as he stared at the sparks dancing between our fingers. He led me to the bench inside of the gazebo and pulled me down to sit beside him. “I need to leave for awhile,” he said softly.

I tried not to let him see how his words affected me
as the moment I had been dreading came to fruition, but I flinched involuntarily and he winced. 

T
o his credit, he tried to make it easier by lying about the reason he was leaving, but we both knew the lie for what it was. “I’m going to be very busy traveling for a while, handling some things I have been putting off, so I won’t have time to visit. But I did not want you to feel as if I had abandoned you.” His jaw clenched and he turned away from me. “I wish…” His voice broke, his head dropped, and I was overwhelmed with the amount of torment his leaving me was causing him.