The Soul's Mark: FOUND (27 page)

“This isn’t my first life…” Amelia
breathed, not as a question, but a statement.

Mabel shook her head.
 
“You have an old soul.
 
It’s a little different for supernatural
beings.
 
As a witch, you’re blessed to
always come back to the same family.
 
You
have always looked the same, had the same parents, everything about you stays
the same in every lifetime.”

“That’s awesome,” Tyler said, but Amelia
wasn’t so sure.

Mabel smiled and continued with her
tale.
 
“When Angelle and Mitchell got to
the pub they found Derek instead.
 
Sadly,
vampires were more than he could handle.
 
He was terrified of her.
 
It broke
her heart.”

“So she bit him,” Amelia said.
 
“He’s the one who said the bond was a curse.”

Mabel
nodded,
a
short bob of the head.
 
“Angelle thought
that biting him would bring them closer together.
 
She had hoped that with the increased link
between them he would see that she wasn’t a monster.
 
But young Derek was very stubborn.”
 
Mabel paused, drawing in a breath.
 
“I told you once that there is a fine line
between love and hate.”

Amelia snagged a soda and took a few long
gulps, giving herself time to think before she said, “I remember.”

“Sometimes it’s so thin you can’t see the
difference.
 
The bite gives the vampire
more of an edge because they already have the power to manipulate our
minds.
 
In most cases we’re the weaker
species but I don’t think that’s entirely true with you.”
 
Mabel beamed at Amelia with pride.
 
“I don’t understand the magic behind it but
it has something to do with our blood mixing with theirs—this links any human
to them, but with the soul bond …” she sighed and her eyes glistened.
 
“Angelle realized her mistake and turned him
into a vampire, her equal, to stop his suffering.
 
But after the change, he couldn’t accept what
she had forced him to become and his hatred grew.
 
In the end, Derek killed himself.”

“But he’ll come back, right?” Amelia
asked.
 
“Maybe he’ll be okay with it next
time.”

Mabel stayed quiet for a moment and Amelia
took another sip of her pop, letting the sugary syrup soothe her fears.
 
When Mabel finally spoke, breaking the tense
silence, her voice was distant, as if fighting against an unbearable pain.
 
“No, he won’t.
 
Humans come back because we have souls.
 
Our souls stay intact in death.
 
For a vampire, it’s different.
 
Their souls leave them and find their mates.
 
Since Angelle is a vampire, when his soul
found her it joined together and ended the circle.”
 
Mabel reached over and took Amelia’s hand,
eyes glittering with tears.

“Are you saying that the only way to break
our connection is for me to become a vampire and then one of us has to
die?”
 
It couldn’t be true.
 
There had to be another way.
 
Then an idea came to her.
 
Did she even want to break it?
 
She couldn’t imagine what life would be like
without Mitchell.

Mabel must have seen Amelia’s inner
conflict and she squeezed her hand reassuringly.
 
“What I’m telling you is that Derek’s the
only one who managed to break the bond and it didn’t turn out so good for
him.”
 
She searched Amelia’s face.
 
“Do you hate Mitchell so much that you could
not spend your life with him?”

“I don’t hate him,” Amelia said, amazed at
the passion in her voice.

Mabel sighed, a long, gusty sound.
 
“Then you fear him.”

“What if she’s not scared of him?” Tyler
said and both women shot him a look.
 
Amelia had been so involved in the story that she had completely
forgotten he was there.
 
He put up his
hands.
 
“Just hear me out.
 
You almost killed Mitchell, right?
 
So what about the other part of the
warning?
 
The revenge is for the weak
part.
 
What if you’re doing this so you
won’t hurt him?”

“Do you really think it’s that
simple?”
 
Amelia asked.

Tyler shrugged, stood up and paced,
thinking.
 
“Maybe this whole warning is
about you accepting Mitchell.
 
Maybe the
death part is you becoming a vampire.
 
It
would make sense you know.
 
He kills you
but then he also saves you by changing you.”
 
He shot a questioning look at Mabel.
 
“Vampires are the undead, right?”

“You’re a very bright young man,” Mabel
said, getting up from her chair and walking towards the door.
 
“I think we need to let Millie have some time
to think.
 
Please bring the tray with
you, Tyler.
 
You can help me clean up.”

“Wait.”
 
Amelia jumped up from the chair and rushed forward.
 
“Don’t go.
 
Please, don’t leave me in here alone.”

“Amelia, you have the power to leave
whenever you wish,” Mabel said wisely.
 
“As the prophecy said, look inside yourself.
 
You will know what you need to do.”

Tyler picked up the tray and collected the
dirty dishes, stacking them up.
 
“Ty,
don’t go!” Amelia pleaded.

Tyler grinned, and his eyes sparkled with
amusement.
 
“Don’t worry, Millie, I’m not
leaving.
 
Mitchell moved me into one of
the guest rooms until you get better.
 
Your house is sick.”
 
He elbowed
her in the ribs and winked.
 
“Take your
time figuring all this out.
 
I don’t mind
hanging around.”

Amelia shot him a look that she hoped said
she was not impressed.
 
She must have
missed the mark because he laughed and left the room.

Amelia glared at the door.
 
It’s
not fair,
a voice in her head shrieked.
 
Being a witch really wasn’t helping much.
 
Shouldn’t she be able to wiggle her nose,
point a finger and get out like Sabrina the Teenage Witch?
 
She tried, embarrassing herself at the
absurdity of the sight—the nose wiggling didn’t work.

Amelia was just about to give up when the
ear-piercing ring of her cell phone went off, she rocketed upward, a good foot
off the ground.

Shaking off the jitters, she let out a
nervous giggle and went in search for her phone.
 
On the fifth ring, she found it under the
masses of pillows on her bed and answered it just in time.
 
“Hello,” she squeaked, breathlessly.

“I’ve been calling you for days,” Erin’s
panicked voice blasted through the phone.
 
“Pack a bag.
 
I’m coming to get
you.
 
You need to get out of town,
fast
.”

“Take a breath, Erin.
 
What’s wrong with you?”
 
Amelia perched on the edge of her bed.

“I can’t explain.
 
You just need to trust me.
 
You’re in serious danger and you’ve gotta get
as far away from here as you can,” Erin blurted in a frantic frenzy.

The hairs on the back of Amelia’s neck rose
and a biting chill encased her skin.
 
”You’re not making any sense.”
 
She glanced back at the door and a flood of scorching fury washed over
her.
 
“And I can’t leave.
 
I kinda locked myself in my room.”

“Unlock the stupid door and get ready,”
Erin snapped.

Amelia wished it was that simple.
 
She gritted her teeth and put all her energy
into calming down, because she really didn’t want to snap at her friend.
 
“That’s not what I meant.
 
It’s some kinda magic.
 
I can’t get out and none of the vamps can get
in.”
 
She knew she sounded bitter, but
she was pretty sure she earned the right to be.

“Shit,” Erin puffed.

Amelia heard something that sounded like
glass shatter over the line.
 
“What’s got
you so freaked?” she asked cautiously.

Erin ignored her.
 
The line was so silent that Amelia was sure
that the connection had been lost.
 
She
was just about to check the screen when Erin said, “I guess that’s actually kinda
perfect.”

Amelia couldn’t hold it in any longer.
 
“Erin!” she yelled.
 
“Tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t explain just please don’t leave
your room until you hear from me.
 
I’m
really sorry but please believe me… I didn’t know.
 
But I promise I’ll fix this.”
 
The words came out in a tear soaked stream.

“Fix what?
 
What’s going on?”
 
Amelia yelled,
but it was too late, Erin was gone and the wretched beeping of the cut-off call
was all that was left.

****

Hours passed by and Amelia watched
helplessly as the sun set and the darkened sky came alight with glittering
stars.
 
A shooting star streaked by, and
she closed her eyes to make a wish.

“Amelia,” Mitchell said from the doorway
and she turned around.
 
She hadn’t heard
him and wondered how long he had been standing there.
 
Her heart fluttered, skipping and jumping and
she felt the now familiar tug, urging her to go to him.
 
Was she just getting used to him?
 
A week ago she would have known he was
coming.
 
It was distressing to think that
they might be drifting further apart.

Amelia smiled, lighting up like a
spotlight, but he kept his expression serious, nearly blank.
 
“I talked to Mabel,” he said.
 
“I’ve done a lot of thinking on this.
 
I just want you to know that if you really
want to break the bond.
 
If you really
don’t want to be with me…”

“Mitch, it’s not…” Amelia cut him off and
took a small step towards him.
 
She had
never felt so helpless before.
 
He needed
her and she couldn’t get to him and it was all her fault.

His frown deepened.
 
“Just let me finish.”
 
He looked so miserable that it broke her
heart and a sting burned at her eyes.
 
“You know what happened to Derek and Angelle.
 
Well, I could change you if you want and once
you’re a vampire I’ll sacrifice myself.
 
I’ll do that for you, if it is what you want.”

“Mitch…?”
 
Amelia couldn’t believe
what she was hearing, and for a second she was blinded by a flash of red-hot
rage.
 
Did he really believe she wanted
him dead?

“You don’t need to say anything,” he
sighed.
 
“I just want you to know that
I’ll do it for you.
 
Think about it,
love.”
 
He smiled a small, sad smile and
then turned his back on her.

The anger bubbled up, boiling over.
 
Amelia’s face felt hot, and her neck and her
entire body, as if she had been consumed by flames.
 
They licked up the back of her neck,
flickering hotter and hotter.
 
“This
isn’t as black and white as you’re trying to make it, Mitch,” she seethed
through clenched teeth.
 
“You just don’t
get it.”

Mitchell kept his back to her and said, “I
get it.” She could hear him take a few deep breaths and his aura started to
flicker, gray, darker, darker, black.
 
“We bring out the worst in each other.
 
Look at us.
 
I broke Eric’s
neck.
 
I wanted to kill Tyler.”
 
The blue veins in his neck bulged and he
balled his fists.
 
“I can’t control
myself when it comes to you.
 
And you…
You almost killed me.”

“I don’t want to live without you.”
 
The words seemed so wrong and so right.
 
With everything they had been through in the
last few weeks Amelia had let all the anger drag her down, but she genuinely
meant it, unable to conceive of not having him.

Mitchell spun around, eyes blazing and
Amelia gasped as his fangs popped down.
 
He smashed his fist against the barrier that kept them apart.
 
“And you obviously don’t want to live with
me.”
 
The words were snarled.