Evanescence (Black Rose #1) (17 page)

My father laughs.

"That was to keep it from floating, Evan."

"Oh," I chuckle. "Right. Of course."

"Are you ready for your next lesson?"

"I'm sure I can manage."

"Great. We're going to test your climbing and agility. You've done this one quite a few times, but I'm going to make it a bit more of a challenge."

"I'm ready for it."

He looks up to the mansion and we all follow his eyes.

"I want you to grab that pole and bring it to me."

I stare at the silver pole that stands above the bell. I think the best way to do it is the way in which I am used to. I will climb the pillar walls, make it window to window, grab hold of the lip of the bell, and pull myself over. The pole will be right there in front of me. Not too difficult actually.

"--Without touching the bell."

I turn to him with raised eyebrows.

"Wi--without touching the bell?"

"Go on. Try," he says inching me over to the mansion with a hand. 

I stand at the bottom of the mansion and look up. Much taller than when I first climbed because Bianca and I were up a floor already, which made it a bit easier. I can't stop now. I believe in myself and must continue.

I exhale deeply and brush my palms against my pants. Either they are still damp from the water and drizzle of rain, or it’s sweat. I place my hands and feet on a few rocks and try to climb. After a few feet, I lose grip and slide back down to the ground. I look over my shoulder at my family who watches quietly. My father holds his grin and I decide to try again.

I have to discipline myself. My father will not always be there at times like this to coach me along the way. I have to get this down on my own. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, tune out my surroundings, and focus on breathing. Maybe if I approached my situations while in a brief meditative state, I can focus more.

My best friend Mike, I was starting to think was either lost or dead. I had forced myself to believe otherwise. That he was alive and well. His family. All of them were afraid. I was afraid. I can't imagine a world without my best friend, and for weeks, I was forced to experience what that would feel like.
Unbearable.

I open my eyes and grab onto the rocky walls of the mansion. My feet leave the ground and soon, I am coasting up the mansion wall, grabbing one window, climbing to the next, then grabbing hold of another. A sound from below catches my attention. I look over my shoulder. The ground is far below, but just beneath me--.

"Mike? What are you doing?" I call down to him.

"Kaius upped the standards a bit," he responds climbing the mansion. "Since you're making it look too easy," Mike continues to climb and grunts a bit. "You have to get the pole before I do."

"But I never beat you at anything?" I say.

"HAHAHA!" He laughs hysterically, and his voice gets high pitched. "I knowww!"

Mike is crazy.
Apart from trying not to laugh, I try to move faster. He's gaining on me. Mike has always been much more athletic than I am. I can't let him win. I have to not only prove to myself that I can do this, but also prove to myself that I can beat Mike sometimes as well. Here is my chance.

The wind gusts against us, but we manage to stay against the mansion's walls. I take a brief moment to look back.
Where is he?
Mike. I search for him, but nothing.

"Better hurry, Evan," I hear him say.

He climbs up one of the pillars of the mansion's corners. The bell is centered in the middle of the mansion.

The bell hangs by metal prongs that come from the four pillar-towers of the mansion. I leap for a pillar and almost lose my grip. My body suspends from the wall by one hand and my feet kick to find balance.
Don't fall. Don't fall. Don’t fall.
I regain control, hug the pillar, and climb to its top. Mike stands above his pillar and sizes up the bell, the pole standing, centered above it.

I struggle to stand to my feet, but manage, and look across at Mike. He grins and I know he is about to jump for the pole.

"Sorry, Ev. I'm taking this one."

Mike leaps from his pillar. I turn back to the pole, but Essence is there holding her arms out to me.
No, Mike. I am.

I take a leap of faith, rising above the lip of the bell. Mike extends his hand to grab the pole, still holding onto his confident grin. I extend my arm for it the pole, but my heart sinks.
He's going to make it before I do.

Mike grabs the pole, but then we collide in the air. The pole fumbles, and we fall into the sky, plummeting after it. It flips and descends to the water below. I adjust my body into a dive. Mike trails behind me.

"It's mine, Evan!" he yells.

"Not this time, Mike!" I yell back to him. 

"We'll see about that!"

I extend an arm out for the pole. It continues to cartwheel in the air. Mike hovers above my back, slowly taking the lead. He extends his arm above mine as he then passes in front of me.
No! No! I can't let him win. I can't always fall short of Mike all the time. I was born a vampire. He was bitten. I am supposed to win!

Mike falls closer to the pole and his body falls in front of me.
I have to do something. Think!
I grab hold of his ankle, pull as hard as I can, and flip above him, taking the lead

"Evan!" he yells. I place my foot on his shoulder, kick for a boost, and straighten my body into a dive.

Got it!

We fall into the river. I keep my grip on the pole. I swim to the surface and look around.

"Mike?" I call out. Nothing. 

"Mike!" I call again. 

He bursts from the surface of the water.

"You still have to give it to Kaius!"

I jump out of my skin and begin to swim for the cliff. Mike is on my heels. 

"Give it, Evan!"

"Come get it!"

I grab hold of the cliff, place the pole into my pants belt holder, and begin to climb as fast as I can. Mike follows behind monstrously, anxiously trying to grab hold of my ankle, yet missing. He reaches and reaches and almost grabs hold. I leap for another grip on the cliff hoping that would grow the distance between us. I slip from the cliff, the pole drops from my hip, but I manage to catch it by its end.

Uh oh!

Mike leaps towards me, with his arms out and wide open. I quickly climb out of the way, avoiding the tackle. The edge of the cliff is just above, but Mike is nowhere in sight again. Perhaps he called it quits? I reach for the top of the cliff and grip it with one hand. I look back. Then reach over with my other and begin to pull myself up.

"Evan!" I hear him yell. Mike is in the air with his arms spread once again for a tackle. I pull with all my force and roll over the edge of the cliff. Mike grabs hold of the edge, tries to find his grip to keep himself from falling.

"Ev," he says. "Could use a hand here."

"Oh?" I say. "You look like you're doing just fine."

"Oh, come on," he says. He holds a hand out. "I'm your best friend."

I sigh and walk over. He smiles, and keeps his hand up to me. I smile back, but not for reasons he believes. I crouch down to him and kiss the pole.

"I win." I say.

Mike drops his forehead to the ground. He then looks up and glares at me through his eyebrows.

"That's cold-blooded, man," he says.

I shrug and stand to my feet.

"We're vampires, remember?"

Mike nods with a smirk, loses his grip and falls to the water below.

Mission Accomplished.

My family begins to clap.

"Impressive! Very entertaining," father exclaims. "It was—theatrical!"

"You deserved it brother," says Bianca.

"You're not upset I let him fall?" I ask.

Bianca looks over the edge of the cliff, then shakes her head.

"Nope. He'll be fine with his little alone time before he gets back up here."

"You're doing better than Mike," says my mother. "You're a natural."

I shake my head smiling.

"I just--."

Essence kisses my cheek.

"Great job, Evan. I knew you could do it."

I blush.

"Think he'll be okay?" Sarah asks.

"Mike is fine," says Bianca

"What'd you like me to do next?" I ask earnestly. "Hopefully, it will be on land this time. The water is getting a bit old."

"That was my final test," he responds. "I would teach you how to hunt, but that would be unnecessary.

I feel slightly disappointed.

"...Oh."

Mike makes it back up the cliff.

"Ah, yes, there he is!" my father says. "In one piece."

Mike manages a smile. He is soaked to the bone, but apparently not cold.

"You won, Ev," he says shaking my hand. "You finally beat me."

I return a smile.

"Well, you didn't exactly make it easy."

"I figured if you are as strong as they say you are, then I should expect to lose."

"You didn't just lose, Michael" Abel says. 

"You got owned," Essence jokes. 

We join in laughter.

"What about killing? Defending himself. Fighting." a voice calls. 

Cedric. 

"You gonna' teach him that?" he asks as his eyes sting mine.

"No, Evan wouldn't have to kill anyone," father responds. "He has no enemies. Besides, we don't want to force his transformation. We want it to come naturally. The correct way. That incident in school should have been a reminder to you, if Evan gets overwhelmed, emotionally, it can trigger his transformation."

"You never know who's an enemy nowadays. It's unpredictable. He wouldn't be ready, so why not force his change now, by teaching him, while we are all here together, which would promise safety? Why leave him vulnerable?"

"Because he's is not ready and apparently his body isn't either. When it is ready, he will change. Until then we will continue to watch over him."

"Watch over him? I'm sick and tired of babysitting!"

"I didn't ask you to," I say.

"It is for the best son," father says to me.

"Besides," Cedric continues. "When the time comes, we'll see how strong he can fight the thirst. Won't be able to be around her for a bit. Not without wanting to kill her."

"Cedric!" Valencia calls. "You'll frighten her."

Essence clasps her hand into mind, intertwining our fingers. It hurts.

"I'm just being honest," Cedric says. "She has a right to know what to expect right, just as Evan must as well."

"Yes, but you don't have to be so rude about it," Bianca says as Mike places hands on her shoulders to keep her back.

"She's right, Cedric," Abel agrees. "There's a way to explaining things just as there's a time and a place for it."

"So, why not now? While we're all here?!" he yells back.

"Because now is not the time. As the Dracula, I will--"

"You are not the Dracula," Cedric says pronouncing each word harshly. "And I think it's a perfect time. Essence." He turns to face her. "The smell of you, will be irresistible. He'll want to kill you, feed on you, rip you apart."

"Cedric,” father calls. Essence tightens her grip.

"All he'll be able to eat or drink," Cedric ignores, "Are the humans. Like you. Your friends. Your family. Maybe the family dog if he isn't full by then."

"CEDRIC," father calls again. He continues to ignore.

"Tell him, Mike," he says. We all turn to him. "Why don't you and Bianca tell Evan how we had to keep chasing you down because you couldn't resist the scent of your grandmother."

I think about the time I felt the same towards Sarah when she was asleep on the couch. I cringe and shake my head. Mike’s face hugs the ground.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs to himself.

"Due to evolution," Cedric continues, "we're able to go into sunlight, but, that doesn't weaken the beast. Nope. Not anymore. Unfortunately, the thirst becomes this unavoidable frenzy because as the sun shines across the sky of this oh so beautiful world, it heats the blood of the humans. The scent of them fills the air like barbeque in the summer.”

He nods.

"Lucky for you we stay on this cliff and drink watered down blood packets just so we won't rip you precious humans apart…Like we couldn't if it were a rainy day or any other. You're far luckier than other places that are infested with our species."

"Cedric!" father calls with the base of his voice.

Cedric looks over at father then turns back to Essence.

Everyone remains silent, Cedric smiles, then shrugs.

"As I said. You sure you don't want to teach him everything? Kaius? Er, I'm sorry, uncle? Like what 
really
 happens when he dies?" he says. Father turns his head away.

"
What really happens?
What is he talking about?" I ask. 

Everyone shies away a bit and doesn't respond.

"I am a vampire right?"

"Yes, of course you are," my father answers.

"Then what is he talking about?" 

"You see what you've done, Cedric!" Bianca yells. Mike pulls her back again. Cedric smirks and leans against the red doors of the mansion.

"He has a right to know," he responds, crossing his arms.

"Yes, and we would have told him when it was the right time," my mother says.

"Now, we don't have much of a choice do we?" Abel jumps in.

"I guess not," Sarah says.

"Wait, wait, what is everyone talking about?" I ask again.

"Well, it would have been better to tell him a bit later," my father says.

"But then again if he would have changed…" says my mother.

"Then we would not have been able to tell him at all," Bianca finishes.

"HEY!" I yell. "I'm standing right here."

They stand quiet and listen.

"What is it that you have to tell me?"

My mother turns to father and nods. He steps forward.

"Evan, when you die," he says carefully. "Everything you have known or experienced in your human life will be forgotten like…an amnesia."

"What? Why? I don't want that," I tell them. "I'd like to keep my memories, thanks."

"I'm afraid it's not in our control," he says. "It's like, some sort of defense mechanism we have yet to understand. It normally isn't such a big deal because usually, the awakening happens at a very young age, but for you, it would be more drastic seeing how you are indeed sixteen years old…Sixteen years to be deleted."

My heart leaps into my throat and goosebumps populates my arms. Sixteen years of my life will be deleted from memory. 

"No," I say. "Not again. I’ve already forgotten once…That can’t be right. Mike remembers everything.”

"Sweetie," my mother says placing her hands on my cheeks to hold my face. "Mike was bitten. It is different for him and other humans that are bitten."

"Then if that's the case, since I'm still human, bite me now," I look to them. "Bite me before I change so I won't forget."

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, nephew," Abel interrupts. 

"Because you are born to be a vampire, you already have vampire blood," my father says. "It is mixed with your human blood. Biting you will do nothing."

My head hangs to the floor.

"But…That's not fair," I say.

"You want to know the worse part, Evan," Cedric says. "You'll forget everyone."

Everyone.

"Everyone like Sarah," he says with a smirk.

I look over at my step-mother who refrains from looking at me.

"You'll even forget the one person you care about and love," he continues.

No.
I place my arms around Essence and squeeze. He nods.