Caylee's Confessions (Caylee's Confessions Series) (9 page)

“Hi…Thanks
for the fruit,” I said awkwardly.

“Well,
thank you for yesterday.  I had so much fun, but there’s one thing that’s been
bugging me all morning,” he said, and I took a deep breath.

“What’s
that?” I asked nervously.

“Well,
I was wondering if it was technically our first date yesterday when we played hooky
or Monday night at the bar?”  He chuckled, as the butterflies in my stomach
erupted.

“I…”
 I was stuttering.  He’d definitely caught me off guard.  “I’m not sure,” finally
left my lips.

“Well,
me either, but that’s why I called, because I want to end the debate by
officially asking you to dinner tonight—as a date—completely non-work related,”
Braxton suggested.

“Uh,
yes,” I said aloud as my mind reminded me that I had business to tend to
tonight.  But I didn’t want to change my mind now.  I’d already said yes.  I
would just have to hunt after the date.  Vampires were up all night, and the
one tonight, according to Claire’s call on my way to work, wouldn’t be feeding
on an innocent, because he traveled with a blood bank.  Claire wasn’t sure why
this vampire was even coming here, but she had said it wasn’t good and that he
would have friends—so no cancelling.

“Are
you sure?” Braxton asked, interrupting the silence.

“Yes,
sorry.  Just checking my schedule in my head, because I’d said ‘yes’ so fast,”
I said, regretting the last part, because that wasn’t supposed to be revealed. 
I felt my cheeks flush.

“I’m
glad to hear that.  Can I pick you up at eight?” Braxton asked.

“Yes,
that would be perfect.” And it would.  Claire wouldn’t get upset with me if I
would end the date around twelve, because it would leave me plenty of time for
the hunt.

Braxton
picked me up at exactly 8:00, like he had said.  He was, like the other night,
dressed perfectly.  Black suit, with a gorgeous merlot-colored dress shirt, and
a black tie.  The suit had to have cost him ten times what my dress did, but my
dress looked a lot more expensive than it was, thank god.  It was shiny, ruby-red
and clung nicely to the right places.  It had a sweetheart neckline and low-cut
backline.  I’d just bought it today luckily, during my lunch break.  I hadn’t
owned anything that I thought would look eloquent enough to what I knew he
would be wearing.  He seemed to like my dress as I watched him smile after looking
me up and down. 

“You
look delicious.” He smirked.

“Well,
thank you.  So do you,” I replied, and he softly grabbed my hand and pulled me
into his body.  As soon as my head tilted up, his lips meant mine, and I was
reminded why I had said ‘yes’ to this date.  I felt my hands reach up to his
face as the kiss intensified.  
Screw dinner
, I thought as he regrettably
pulled away, and I let out a deep sigh. 

“I
think we should get going or we’ll have a long wait.”  He smiled. 

“Where
are we going?” I asked, not wanting to really go anywhere after how he’d just
kissed me—but he was right.  This
was
only our first real date, and we’ve
only kissed a few times, but something about him was just extremely
intoxicating and had my body calling to have him on top of it.  I needed to get
a grip.

“I’m
not really sure, to be honest.  I’ve been thinking about it all day, and
nothing seemed to really catch my interest, so I thought we would just walk the
strip and see what we’ll find.”  Spontaneous—
Grandma would have liked him
,
I thought. 

“That
sounds perfect.”  I smiled. 

We
hailed a cab, and before I knew it, we were hand-in-hand, walking down the
strip.  This was extremely out of character for me, but he just had that kind
of effect on me.  My hand just felt so comforted and right, like it belonged
there.  It was just like our first meeting: he was easy to talk to.

“Thinking
about something?” he asked.

“Just
about how weird all of this is.”  I laughed.

“Weird?”
he asked.

“Yeah,
it’s just that I don’t usually…well…I actually haven’t been on an official date
in a while.  It just feels nice,” I said honestly.

“Yeah,
me neither.  Maybe that’s why this is going so good.”  He smiled.

“There’s
something about you.  It’s just…I don’t know.  I feel like I’ve known you
forever, that I could confide all my life’s secrets to you, and it’s only been
three days,” blurted out, and I covered my mouth. 

He
stopped, and turned to face me.  “I know what you mean.  And I’m glad you said
it so I didn’t have to.  Have you seen a place that has interested you yet?” he
asked.

“I
haven’t even been looking.”  I laughed, feeling relieved that he’d said he got
what I meant.  I was way too wrapped up in our conversation that I forgot I was
supposed to be looking for somewhere to eat.

“I
saw a place a few blocks back that I haven’t tried before.  Want to try it out?”
Braxton asked.

“That’s
fine with me.  I haven’t been to any of these places, so anything will work,” I
told him.

“I’ve
been to most, but I want to try something new—something different,” he said as
he pulled me in again and locked his lips onto mine.  I thought we were about
to rip off our clothes right then and there, when I felt a vibration on my
hip.  He pulled away and took his phone out of his pocket. 

“Yes?”
he answered, agitated. And I could only hear the mumbles of whoever was on the
phone.  It didn’t sound good though.

“Goodbye,”
he said to them as he hung up and closed the phone in his hand, making a
crushing sound.  But, surely, he hadn’t just broken his phone?  He saw me eye
it and quickly put it in his pocket.

“I’m
sorry, but it seems I have an emergency that I have to tend to. Please excuse
my rudeness, but I have to leave at this very moment.”  Before I could let out
a word, he had my face in his hands and gave me a kiss that sent tingles down
my spine.  I opened my eyes afterwards and watched him walk to a taxi, without
another word, leaving me speechless.  Was that a goodbye kiss?  I wasn’t sure,
but I really hoped not.  I stood there for a second, dumbfounded.  I’d just
been ditched.  But he had an emergency, right?  But why didn’t he tell me what
was wrong?  I mean, this was only our first official date, but who just gets a
phone call, kisses you, and leaves without saying a word?  It had to be what I thought:
I was just ditched.  His phone probably didn’t actually ring.  He probably
pushed the side button to make it vibrate.  That’s what I get for opening my
mouth about my feelings so quickly. 

I
finally gained some focus and hailed a cab.  I got in the backseat and put my
hands over my face.

“Where
to Ms.?” he asked.

“Just
drive anywhere,” I let out with a sob.  I wasn’t going to cry.  I didn’t even
know what just happened.  Maybe I wasn’t being ditched.  Why was I letting it
affect me this much?  It had only our first official date.  I was trying to
wrap this idea around my mind, when I looked down at my bracelet that was
practically screaming at me.  Flashing colors of light-green and dark-red. 
Really?  Could I even fight undeads right now in this outfit?  But if I didn’t,
someone would die.

“Stop!”
I yelled at the cabbie as I threw him twenty bucks and got out of the cab.  I
tried to run to the street, where something was definitely going on, but found
that my dress was not the easiest thing to run in.  I got to where the action
was and saw individuals everywhere.  There had to be at least fifteen undead
against four humans and Shad.  I lifted my dress up to my garter, which was
currently holding my stake, and pulled it out.  There was no way I could fight with
my dress being so long, so I made my stake into a blade and cut the dress just
above my knee—that would give me enough space to move.  I switched it back into
a stake, and was glad no one had noticed me. 

I
staked and beheaded two vampires before anyone else noticed me.  After the
second vampire screamed as it died, the rest were definitely aware of my
presence. I got the attention of one of the vampires that was currently feeding
on a human, lying lifeless on the ground.  The vampire came at me head-on and I
barely side-swiped him as he went for my throat.  He was fast.  Before I could
spin back around, he grabbed my arm and flung me into the wall, probably
wanting to knock me unconscious.  But I’d been hit much harder before. 

I
would pretend though.  So I closed my eyes until I felt it hover over me, then I
flew open my eyes, surprising him as I staked him in the chest.  Stupid
vampires always underestimated humans.  I got up, with only a slight throb in
my head, and looked around at the scene.  There were now only four vampires left,
which was an improvement, but the only problem was that Shad and I were the
only humans left.  All the others were in pieces and pools of blood.  The four vampires
surrounded him as they slowly moved in from every angle, waiting to all spring
at once. 

“I
think you forgot something!” I called out, hoping to distract at least one of
them to come after me instead.  It worked, but instead of one, I got two, and
they were angry.  My fingertips gripped my stake and looked down to see which
was stronger, because I would need to get them first—if I wanted to survive
this.  My bracelet told me that the one to my left was stronger, so I ran at him.
 Before I was within his reach, I threw my stake at his chest.  It landed in
the sweet spot, and I smiled as he screamed.  The second one, unsure of what to
do, decided to run.  He must have really been a new vamp, because the old ones
have too much pride to leave.  I grabbed my stake from the stronger one’s
chest, turned it into a blade, and with a quick swipe, cut his head off. 

While
running after the new vampire who was running away, I converted the blade back into
a full stake and threw it at the new vampire’s back.  It hit his upper
shoulder, enough so that it stunned him and landed him, face first, onto the
ground.  I then lunged my body on top of his, pulled my stake from his shoulder,
and shoved it into his back—in the area where his heart would be. 

I
took out my stake, only long enough to convert it to a blade, and then sliced
off his head.  I glanced over my shoulder, hoping that Shad had taken out his
two vamps.  He had one staked on the ground that was slowly ashing but,
unfortunately, the other was feeding from his neck, and Shad had no stake on hand. 
His eyes were closed, and he was being held up against the wall as the vamp was
draining blood from him. 

I
rushed over, hoping not to distract the vamp until after I staked him.  Lucky
for me, it was in too much bliss from drinking Shad’s blood that it didn’t hear
me coming.  Carefully I staked him in the back where his heart lay, just deep
enough that it only went thru his chest and not Shad’s.  It shrieked in pain
and both he and Shad slowly fell to the floor.  I dragged Shad out from under the
vamp’s body and began shaking him. 

“Shad! 
Shad!” I yelled, out of breath.  
Please don’t let him die
, I yelled to
God in my head.

“Please,
Shad.  Please.  You’re fine.  Get up.  Please don’t die…”  He wasn’t
responding.  I put my ear down to his chest to see if I could hear his heart
beating.  Nothing.

“Shad!”
I screamed as I began to hyperventilate.  I didn’t want him to die.  I didn’t
know why, but it just didn’t seem right.   Yes, he was an asshole, but he had
the redeeming quality of fighting undeads.  Sometimes there was even a hint of
playful that he let me see.  I felt my eyes begin to water as my head laid on
his chest.

“You’re
not crying are you?” Shad said, scaring the hell out of me as my head jumped
off his chest.

“You
idiot!” I yelled as I began to laugh.  “You’re alive.”  And I wrapped him up in
a bear hug.

“You
thought otherwise?” he tried to say confidently, but I felt the uncertainty in
his voice.  I got up, now feeling awkward for hugging him, and helped him to stand
up.

“Are
you sure you’re okay to stand?” I asked.  He looked really shook up.

“Yeah,
I’m fine.  I’ve been drank from before…I don’t feel like I’m going to pass out,
so I should be okay.”  He smiled. 

“You
fought in that?” he asked, looking me up and down with the same look that
Braxton had given me earlier. 

“What
was I supposed to do—fight naked?” I asked.

“No,
uh…I just…”  He was stuttering and his cheeks turned pink.  Had I just caught
him checking me out? 

“What
happened to your arm?” he asked as he seemed to struggle to look away from my
chest, changing the subject.

“Probably
from the fight.  It doesn’t hurt though.  Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked,
as he was acting a lot different than usual.

“Yeah,
I’m fine.  What are you doing here though?” he asked.

“Well,
for one thing, you’re welcome!” I said, frustrated that he hadn’t yet thanked
me for saving his life.  “And trust me, I wasn’t following you or anything.  I
was actually out on a date…”  I paused, and watched as his eyes widened.  “Well,
actually, on my way home from a date, when I heard a disturbance going on.  I
figured it was undead stuff, so I came to look, ruined my dress, grabbed my
stake, and joined in.”  I laughed. 

“Oh,”
was all he said as I caught his eyes looking down at my now shorter, ripped
dress.

“Yeah…”
I said awkwardly.

“Well,
thanks, but you shouldn’t have come.  Next time just stay in the cab,” he said,
finally turning into the Shad I knew.

“Are
you serious?” I yelled.  “How can you even say that after what I just did for
you?”  I was screaming.

“You
should have just stayed safe, Caylee.  Like I said before, there is no reason
why a female should be out on the hunt…”  He was beginning one of his speeches.

“You
would be dead if I hadn’t!”  I was now hysterical.

“Yes.
 Like my brothers down there, it would have been an honorable death.  We did
kill a lot, which would have served the greater purpose,” he said, looking like
he didn’t completely believe his own bullshit.

“Will
you please, for a second, stop thinking in your cult mindset?  I came and
helped you, and now, instead of being like your other members down there—” I
pointed at the bodies. “—you can live to fight another day!  Isn’t the risk of
me fighting alongside you, worth your life?” I asked him.

“No,”
he said, while looking down.

“You’re
fucking hopeless.  I can’t believe that you still doubt my fighting abilities
after what you have seen me do today.  I just don’t understand how you can be
so naïve and ignorant about the whole thing.  I’m just a female, and it doesn’t
make me weak, just different,” I said as I turned away.  I’d had enough.  I
couldn’t believe that he still felt the way that he did after what just
transpired.

“It’s
not that I think you’re weak; you just shouldn’t be doing it.  Females are of
such value and worth,” he said, not making any sense. “It’s just not right.”