The Lie (The Skyy Huntington Series) (6 page)

I got up to use the bathroom, using my cell phone again for light. The tile floor was freezing on my bare feet. I went to Christian’s bedroom closet to see if he had an extra blanket in there anywhere. I guess he couldn’t sleep either, because he scared the daylights out of me as he entered the room and asked if everything was ok. I was way too jumpy lately.

“I was just looking for an extra blanket, it’s freezing in here. I can’t sleep.”

“I’ve only got the two, one here on the bed and the one I have downstairs on the couch. You can have mine though if you want, I’ll just grab another sweatshirt,” he replied. Always the gentleman.

“No, that’s ok you’ll freeze to death down there with no blanket. Go grab it and come on back up here, two bodies and two blankets are better than one, right?” I didn’t want to encourage him, but dang it was cold and our body heat would make it at least a little bit warmer. Who knows how long it would be before the power company would get out here to get things turned back on, but I’d guess it wouldn’t be any earlier than tomorrow afternoon.

We laid in bed spooning as he held me and rubbed my hair softly. I was definitely warm now, and really tired. Just as I was dozing off, Christian said, “I’m sorry if I screwed things up Skyy. This is all I want though, to hold you in my arms every night.”

I sighed. I didn’t want to get back into this conversation again, I just wanted to sleep. “I’m really sleepy Christian. Don’t worry about things, they’ll work out, ok?” I yawned and drifted off to sleep shortly after that.

I woke up and maneuvered my way out of Christian’s arms to reach for my cell phone to check the time. Just after 9 a.m. and still no power. I didn’t want to get out of the warm bed, and besides there was nothing to do even if I did get up with no power.

I washed my face and brushed my teeth in the bathroom with ice cold water, which definitely woke me up. I walked downstairs with Cupcake to see if it was still snowing. Thankfully it wasn’t and I let her out into Christian’s small backyard to do her business. It was freezing outside, and with no power in the house here, all I wanted to do was head home so I could be warm. I didn’t want to crawl back into bed with Christian, I just wanted to go home.

I let Cupcake inside, hooked her leash to her collar, and scribbled out a quick note to Christian to call me when he got up. I darted out the door, still wearing his sweatpants, shirt and sweatshirt, and cranked up my car. It looked like the snow plows had already cleared out the neighborhood once this morning. The drive would be slow, but at least it would be warm.

What normally was a twenty minute or less drive, took me almost an hour. But at least I still had power at my place. I cranked the heater up and turned on the water for a hot shower. While I was in the shower Christian had called twice. His messages informed me he was still without power. I called him back and told him he was welcome to come by my place if it didn’t come back on soon.

I had rushed into the house so quickly that I didn’t even look to see if I had a reply to my hastily written letter from last night. I peeked outside the door, not wanting to let the cold back into my nice toasty warm house. There was no letter on the porch, but as I was closing the door, I noticed that my mailbox had a letter sticking upright out of it.

I snatched it up quickly and slammed my front door to shut out the cold wind. I sat down on my couch wondering if I really wanted to see what the reply was. I opened the envelope and unfolded the thick paper to see the elegant calligraphy, I did not expect this:

I am a vampire.

My hands began to shake without even realizing it. A vampire, sure I knew it could be possible. I knew whatever I was dealing with was not a “human” but to see it written out on paper like that, before my eyes, so plain and so blunt made my heart stop beating for a few ticks. I knew what vampires were, in lore and in legend. I have seen countless vampire movies, but this was something I could not prepare for. If this thing was real, I didn’t know what to expect.

This vampire said it had never encountered someone like me before, it could not erase my memories. So I was also hoping that it couldn’t mind control me or seduce me into being a takeout meal. I was not sure how to proceed. I guessed that by this point, it knew where I lived, everything I was doing, and everywhere I was going, and whether I wanted it or not it was going to get what it desired from me. That thought frightened me and excited me at the same time. I decided to reply and play it cool…

Dear Mr. Vampire,

Assuming you told me the truth, then I am sure you know this might raise a concern for my own personal safety. But, I trust you, as you trust me. While I like having a pen pal, it might be convenient to communicate in more modern ways. Do you have an email address? A phone? Text messaging? A computer, we could instant message there?

Skyy

I sealed the envelope up, complete with my phone number, email address, and three different IM names he could find me at. I figured that if this thing already had me in its sights there was nothing I could do anyway, may as well just roll with it.

I put the envelope into the mailbox and went inside to start some laundry. I got a text message from Christian about two hours later that he was still without power and was on his way over. It took him almost another two hours to get to my place. He walked in the door, taking off his shoes and jacket holding out a bag to me.

“You would think that these Massholes would learn how to drive in the snow by now, traffic was unreal on the way over here. A little snow and they all turn into retards on the road. I picked up some Chinese food for us on the way over.”

I took the bag from his hands which smelled delightful, and walked into the kitchen to get some plates. He ordered a ton of food, chicken lo mein, some chicken fried rice, boneless spare ribs, pepper steak, sweet and sour chicken, six egg rolls, and some won ton soup.

I unpacked it all onto the counter and breathed out in shock, “Wow, that’s a lot of food! You expect we’ll be snowed in for the winter?”

He blushed a little before replying, “No no I just thought we’d have enough for lunch and dinner, and I know you like all of it so I got a little of everything.”

I smiled at him, he knew me way too well. The two of us devoured a good portion of the food, and then went to sit on the couch to relax. The clouds were finally starting to break as the sun was setting, and it made for a beautiful sunset. We walked out onto the upstairs balcony to watch the sky turn different shades of purple, pink and blue. It was still really cold outside, but that sunset made it all worthwhile.

As I was putting the leftovers into the fridge, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I had a new text message. I checked my phone and looked at the time. It was
just
after dark.

Hey there, human

Oh shit. He got my letter! I felt bad for giggling a little inside at the thought a vampire had a phone, or any means of technology for that matter. I glanced over at Christian sitting on the couch, and had to wonder if this was the smartest thing I had ever done in my life. I was looking at the guy I had known since high school, the guy who just brought me a Chinese buffet to my doorstep. I wondered if I should tell him about all of this, incase anything happened to me, but at the same time I didn’t want him in my business 24/7 if I told him. He’d insist I was either in danger or insane…of course I might be both…but I didn’t want him interfering with my situation. So, instead I hit the reply button on the text message.

Hey there, vampire

Within thirty seconds I got a reply.

Got a hot date again tonight I see

I looked around the kitchen and glanced out a few of the windows near me. I wondered if he was in my house, or watching me right now from somewhere outside. As creeped out as I was, I couldn’t turn back now.

Jealous?
I replied.

Maybe I shouldn’t egg him on. If vampires actually had human emotions and felt jealousy then he might decide to take Christian “out of the picture”. I sure didn’t want to endanger anyone else with my foolish behavior. My phone beeped with another reply.

No

Just a simple, one word answer: no. Well at least he was direct and to the point, I liked that part. Christian and I watched some TV and had some hot chocolate. His power was still off, so he decided to sleep on the couch at my place. My phone was silent all night, but I kept checking it every few minutes to see if I had missed a notification. I guess Christian noticed me fidgeting with it all night.

“You expecting a call or something? You been playing with your phone all night long,” he asked.

“Oh yeah, I was expecting a call from my realtor about a space I found for rent.” I was a horrible liar but that was all I could come up with.

“I doubt she’d be calling at 10:30 at night,” he replied, giving me a suspicious look.

I changed the subject as I went upstairs to grab him a blanket and some pillows. This was the exact reason why I wasn’t going to tell him about my new vampire friend. He’d never leave me alone then. I threw the stuff onto the couch and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

“Well, I have some stuff I need to do before I head to bed, so I am gonna go upstairs. I’ll see you in the morning.” I hustled up the stairs before he could even reply. I was hoping he wasn’t going to ask to sleep in my room again, and luckily he didn’t. I shut my door, and leaned up against it for a moment. My bedroom curtains were all still open. I walked over to my balcony and looked out the glass door into the snow. I didn’t see anything, and didn’t expect to really. I took my phone out of my pocket and started typing another message out.

You still awake, vampire?

I hit send as I walked over to my computer to turn it on. My phone beeped before I could even sit down in my computer chair. He was fast!

I’m a vampire, what do you think? ;)

And he had a sense of humor apparently. I don’t know what I expected so far, but I didn’t picture vampires with cell phones or typing smiley faces. I was sitting there trying to figure out how to respond to his message when my phone beeped again.

Turn on your IM program

I wondered where he was. He had to have a house, I didn’t know of any internet café’s in the area open this late. I had so many questions for him, I didn’t even know where to start. I had given him three IM names, he didn’t say which one he was on so I just decided to open them all up. I had friend requests on all three from Aiden1437. I accepted them and almost as soon as I did a window popped up on my screen.

Aiden1437 says: Good evening, milady.

This was so weird. I was sitting at my computer, instant messaging a vampire.

You say: Hello

Aiden1437 says: How was your evening? Anything good on the TV?

You say: Not really, over 1,000 channels and there is never anything on.

Aiden1437 says: Is your friend still there?

He seemed awfully interested in Christian. I didn’t know if I liked that.

You say: Yes, he is sleeping on the couch. His power is out at his house.

Aiden1437 says: Electricity is a luxury, we’re all spoiled by technology these days.

He was right, I guess. From his comment I would imagine that he had been around long before electricity.

Aiden1437 says: You going to sleep soon?

You say: I wasn’t planning on it. It’s still early by my watch.

Aiden1437 says: That is true, you’re usually up until 4 or 5 a.m.

If he was trying to freak me out, he was doing a good job. Not sure if he was bragging about being able to stalk me without me knowing, or if he was just making conversation. I knew that he’d been watching me but to see him say it like that was weird.

Aiden1437 says: Did I scare you off already?

You say: I’m still here.

Aiden1437 says: Good.

I had a lot of questions that I wanted to ask, but I was just sitting there frozen, staring at the screen. I guess a few minutes had passed before he finally typed again.

Aiden1437 says: I’m scared too, you know. This is something I have never done before. It’s ok to ask me questions. I can’t believe I’m doing this either.

You say: Can you read my mind?

Aiden1437 says: No, I’m just guessing that you’re feeling the same way I am right now about this situation.

He was right. I was scared. And confused. But it helped to know he was feeling the same way.

You say: I have so many questions, I don’t know where to start. What is your name? I guess that is a good place to start.

Aiden1437 says: Aiden Carrick.

I guess that was pretty obvious, since that was what his IM handle was…

You say: Ok, so what does the 1437 mean?

Aiden1437 says: It’s the year I was born. I’m not very original.

You say: Wow. 1437 huh? I guess I get the electricity comment now.

Aiden1437 says: It was a wonderful invention.

You say: So, do you have a house in the area?

Aiden1437: Of course. I live fairly close to your house actually. I’ve lived in Marblehead for a very long time.

You say: I’m sorry if I ask a stupid question. I don’t know anything about your lifestyle, just what you read in fiction, you know?

Aiden1437 says: If you dig deep enough, there is some truth in the fiction, but for the most part it’s all rubbish.

As I was typing out a reply, I heard a soft knock on my door. Great, Christian was coming up after all.

You say: Hold on a sec please.

Aiden1437 says: Sure.

I minimized the screen and opened the door. “What’s up? Can’t sleep?” I asked him with a hint of irritation in my voice. He sensed it and began to apologize.

“I’m sorry if I interrupted something, I just saw your light was still on and I can’t sleep.”

“It’s ok, I’m just trying to get some emails sent out before I go to sleep. Did you need another blanket or something?” I was trying to get the point across that I was busy.