Time Will Tell (14 page)

Chapter 30

“I need to talk to you,” Anna whispered, meeting his eyes. She wiped away a tear with the sleeve of her hot pink sweater. Even though she hadn’t planned for Austin to see her this way, she’d been thinking about him all night. She had to get this over with, even though she was afraid. Actually, afraid didn’t even begin to cover the way she felt. Terrified was more like it.

Austin didn’t say anything, but his face, which was normally pale, was an even ghostlier shade of white than it usually was. He opened the door wide enough to let her in, but it was obvious from his slow movements that he was reluctant to do so. Anna knew that Austin was just as nervous to hear her answer as she was to give it to him.

When she came into the guestroom, Anna sat down on the bed, which had been sloppily made, and darted her eyes away from him.

“When I went away, I wasn’t sure what I was going to decide,” she began. “Like I mentioned in the letter I left you, a part of me wondered if I was really in love with you, or if I just loved being your blood donor. The only other time I’d ever had another vampire drink from me was Gabe, and I wasn’t sure if the reason I enjoyed it the second time when he almost killed me was because I just love being a blood donor, or if it was because of the mind-control that Rhonda had over me. So, there was only one way for me to find out.” She paused, running her hands over the soft cotton of the comforter. “I went back to Westbrooke, and I—”

“You
did
?” Austin interrupted. “I don’t understand. Why would you go all the way back there without letting one of us know? It could have been dangerous for you.”

Anna sighed. “I know that now. And it
was dangerous for me. That’s where Greg Lawrence found me. Everything that happened there is a long story that I’ll tell you about one day, but . . . I had to go there to figure everything out myself.”

“Anna, I know avenging your mom’s death was important to you, but there was no reason you couldn’t have taken either me or Lexi and Dan to Westbrooke with you—if you really
had
to go back there,” Austin said, a serious tone in his voice. Some of the color had come back to his cheeks, and Anna knew that he had temporarily forgotten that she was going to reveal her answer to him.

“I didn’t go Westbrooke to find out more about my mother’s death, Austin. I happened to find out that Greg Lawrence was Geoff when I went there, but . . . that wasn’t the reason I went back there,” Anna said quietly. She nervously played with
a loose string on her sweater.

“Why did you go, then?” Austin
pressed.

Anna avoided making direct eye contact with him when she guiltily admitted, “I went
to Westbrooke to be a donor.”

Au
stin’s jaw tightened. “I see.”

“Austin, I had to. I had to know what it felt like for another vampire—someone besides you—to drink from me,” Anna tried to explain, but even as she said the words, she knew how lame they really sounded. If she were the one in Austin’s shoes, she would have been mad a
t him, not to mention jealous.

“And how did it feel?” Austin questioned. This time, he was the one who darted his eyes away from her, and it made her heart sink that
he wouldn’t even look at her.

“It felt disgusting. Dirty, even,” Anna admitted. “I only got a few seconds into letting the vampire drink from me before getting up and leaving in the middle of the session.” She glanced at him. “I’m sorry that it took me doing something like that to find out if I was truly in love with you, or if it just felt like I was in love with you, but . . . I have an answer f
or you now. The answer is yes.”

“Yes?” A flicker of hope flashed through Austin’s eyes, even though
he didn’t sound too convinced.

Anna nodded. “I want to be with you. And not just for today or tomorrow. I want to be with you
forever
.” She met his eyes. “I want to become a vampire. Now.”

“Now?” Austin asked, the surprise obvious in his voi
ce. “Are you sure about this?”

Anna nodded and gave him a small smile. “You should change me b
efore I change my mind.”

Austin stared at her for a moment. “I don’t want there to be a chance that you might change your mind. I want you to be sure about this
before we go through with it.”

Anna laughed. “I’m not going to change my mind. I was just kidding.” She swallowed. “I’m ready to do this. I’m ready to be wi
th you, fully and completely.”

“But what about the fact that I won’t be able to drink from you anymore? Once you’re a vampire, we won’t be able to drink from each other because we’ll develop Wilkins’ Syndrome,” Austin explained. “I know you’re going to miss it
. . . possibly more than me.”

Anna gave him a small smile. “You’re right. I
will
miss it, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t want you to grow old without me. I don’t want there to be a risk that I’ll die of some human cause. I don’t want to risk not being with you.”

Nodding, Austin met gaze. “I feel the same way. But if your answer is yes, why were you crying whe
n you first came to my room?” 

Anna sighed. “Because this isn’t easy for me, Austin, but it has nothing to do with whether or not I want to be with you. I’ve always believed in heaven or the idea that there might be an afterlife, and . . . I always thought I’d see my mother there one day. And now, there’s a good chance that I’ll never die. It’s not that this isn’t what I want. It’s just not what I expected to happen one day, even though I want it to happen, if
that makes any sense to you.”

Austin nodded. “Yeah, it makes sense.” He breathed in deeply and exhaled. A smile pulled at his lips. “I’m so happy, Anna. I really thought you were going to tell me you didn’t want to be with me . . . or that you didn’t want to become a vampire. I would have respected your decision either way, but I’m so happy you decided to go through with
this.”

“I am, too,” Anna said with a smile. “So, what do you think? Can we go
through with this right now?”

Austin nodded. “Yes, we can.”

He moved closer to her and locked lips with hers. She felt his tongue examine her mouth, as though they were kissing for the very first time. When he broke the kiss, he stared into her eyes for a moment before inching closer to her and swirling his tongue around her neck.

When Anna felt his teeth sink into her skin, she felt her whole body tremble—partly out of the pleasure that she felt every time he drank from her, but mostly because she was nervous. This was the last time he would ever drink from her, but it was what she wanted: being with him for the rest of her life—for the rest of her
eternal
life. She wanted to be with him—forever and always.

Anna felt all of the tension leaving her body as Austin drank from her. Even though she hadn’t expected to enjoy it as much as she normally did due to her fears of what turning into a vampire would feel like, her body gave into the pleasurable feelings and she found herself gripping the bed as Austin’s tongue
worked its magic on her neck.

She wasn’t sure when she stopped feeling, but it happened quicker than she expected it to. Her arms and legs began to feel numb, and her vision started to go blurry. Eventually, Anna felt her eyes flutter shut against her own will, and then everything went black.

Chapter 31

Gabe knocked on Caroline’s bedroom door. When she opened the door, her eyes were red and puffy, as though she
had been crying.

“Is everything okay, Caroline?” Gabe asked gently, feeling a twinge of sympathy. He had never seen Caroline—in the past or in the present—cry before. Normally,
she was a very strong person.

Caroline met his eyes and forced a small smile. “Everything’s fine, Gabe. Well, fine considering everything that’s happened,” she said, opening the door wide enough to let him come in
and sat down on the bed. “I’m not used to all this vampire stuff and everyone killing each other like you guys are. It just feels like a lot for me to take in, I guess.”

Gabe stepped into the room and glanced around. He had never been in Caroline’s room before, and he hadn’t been sure of what to expect it to look like. He was surprised when he saw the antique white wall paint and the vintage furniture. Since Caroline was such a bubbly person, he had expected her bedroom to resemble an Easter egg, but it was actually decorated like the type of bedroom that you would have seen when Caroline ha
d lived the first time around.

“What is it?” Caroline questioned, following his eyes. A worried l
ook crossed her face. “Oh, no. You think my room is too neat and organized, don’t you? You’re probably one of those people who think everyone looks better when it’s messy, aren’t you?”

Gabe laughed and glanced over at her. “No, that’s not
it at all. I’m actually a neat freak, too.” He glanced into an oval-shaped mirror that was positioned directly behind her head. Her curly blonde hair and light eyes, which twinkled in the dim light, were a stark contrast to his own nearly-black hair and blue eyes. Even though he knew that he was biased, Gabe couldn’t help but feel like the two of them looked perfect together; it was as though they were meant to fit together.

Now, he just had to see if Caroline felt th
e same way about it as he did.

“I need to talk to you,” Gabe said, closing the door behind him and watching Caroline to make sure that she didn’t tense up with fear about being alone in the same room as him. Luckily, though, she didn’t seem to mind, which made him relax a little bit. Hopefully, it meant that she wasn’t afraid of him. And he needed for her to not be afraid of him. As it was, he wasn’t sure how to explain everything to her without makin
g himself seem like a psycho.

“I need to talk to you, too,” Caroline admitted. Patting her blonde curls nervously, she added, “You can go first,
though.”

Gabe took a deep breath. “I know this question is going to seem crazy, but have you eve
r had memories of a past life?”

Caroline blinked. “Has Danny
been going through my diary?”

Gabe stared at her. “No, thi
s has nothing to do with Dan.”

Caroline rose to her feet and opened the drawer to her dresser. She pulled out a tiny book and flipped it through it. “Here.
Read this page,” she told him.

“Are you sure you want me to read your diary?” Gabe questioned. “These are your personal thoughts.
”

Caroline shrugged and waved her hand at him. “I want you to read them. It will answer your question.”

Gabe began to read the lines that were scrawled in Caroline’s neat, cursive handwriting on the paper.

Dear Diary,

I had the same dream I had two nights ago, except this time, it felt even more real than it did the first time. I’m in a car with a man, who I assume is my husband, and there are two children in the backseat. The roads are slick from the snow that’s falling, and I think we’re going to som
eone’s house for Thanksgiving.

I see the truck as it hits us head on, and my heart stops as the headlights just about blind me. I scream, but I don’t make any sounds.  I’m too scared to make any sounds. I’ve never been in a car accident in real life, but in my dream, it’s the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced.

This time was different, though. Before everything goes black, my mind drifts to a guy. Somehow, I know this guy isn’t the husband who’s in the car next to me. It’s someone else—someone who I can tell that I miss. His eyes flash through my mind; they’re an icy shade of blue, almost like steel, but I can’t see his face. All I know, before everything goes black, is that I miss him. Every ounce of my being misses him, and I wish that things had ended differently between us.

I can’t help but feel like this dream isn’t just realistic; it feels
real. It’s as though I’ve lived through this before in a way, as though the dream pains me because it was a feeling I once felt. I wish I could tell someone about the dream, but I know I’ll sound crazy. So, for now, I need to keep this to myself.

Will try to write again soon, but hopefully it will be
about something much happier.

Caroline

A lump had built up in the back of Gabe’s throat while he’d read the entry. When he glanced up at Caroline, he knew that the pain had to
be obvious in his eyes.

“That’s not all,” Caroline told him, taking the diary back from him. She flipped forward towards the end of the book and handed it back to him. “Read this.”

Gabe swallowed hard and glanced down at what Car
oline had written on the page.

Dear Diary,

Yesterday, I met Danny’s friend, Gabriel. It was sort of strange. It almost felt like I knew him already, even though I know we’ve never been introduced. It’s going to sound crazy, but . . . the moment our eyes locked, it felt like magic.

Gabe smiled and glanced over at Caroline before he continued to read the rest of the diary entry, wondering what sh
e had written next.

Later that night, I had the dream again . . . the one where I have a car accident with my husband and children. It was scary, as usual, but this time, I figured something out. The reason Gabe felt so familiar to me was because I saw him in my dream. His eyes were the eyes I saw in my dream. I know it probably sounds really crazy, and maybe it is, but . . . what if I did know him before? What if there’s a chance that in some other
lifetime, we knew each other?

Maybe that’s not what the dream means, though. Maybe I’m completely overanalyzing it. Maybe the dream is predictive of my future, rather than indicative of my past. Maybe I’m going to fall madly in love with this guy, Gabe, and I’m going to make the wrong decision. Maybe I’ll marry someone else, even though I’ll always regret the decision.

Gabe was about to tell Caroline the truth, which he knew she needed to hear, but before he got the chance, something on the next page caught his eye. Even though he knew that he probably shouldn’t read it without permission, he couldn’t stop himself from reading it once he spotted his name. 

If my mother knew that Gabe was a vampire, she would probably want to disown me for having feelings for him. She can’t even stand that Danny’s a vampire. I know she wants me to end up with some rich doctor or lawyer, but what she doesn’t understand is that I’m not her. I’m going to be with who I want, whether it’s Gabe or anyone else who she doesn
’t approve of.

Gabe couldn’t control the smile that tugged at his lips. Even though he was certain that Dan’s sister was his Caroline, it was obvious to him, after reading this diary entry, that she had changed. Back then, Caroline never would have done anything that had the potential to make her parents upset with her, but it was obvious that she didn’t care that much now—which made Gabe feel a sense of relief. It had sometimes worried him that he and Caroline wouldn’t work out a second time around because she wouldn’t want to disappoint her parents.

“Why are you smiling?” Caroline asked, raising her perfectly-shaped eyebrows at him.

“I’m smiling because you don’t care what your parents think about us,” Gabe told her. Locking eyes with her, he added, “You see, in your last life, the reason we broke up was because you didn’
t want to upset your parents.”

Caroline cupped her mouth in her hands. “You mean my dreams were right? I really did know you in my past life?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Wait, so you
remember your past life, too?”

Gabe laughed. “No, Caroline. I don’t have a past life. At least, not one I can remember. I knew you when I was a young va
mpire.”

Caroline’s eyes widened. “Was my dream accurate? Did I really get into a bad car accident?”

“Yes, you did,” Gabe replied with a nod. Hesitantly, he added, “That was how you died.”

“So, we didn’t end up together, then, did we?” Caroline asked quietly. “Well, I guess if we had . . . I would probably still be alive right now, because I probably would have
become a vampire.”

“You’re right. We didn’t work. The reason was because you didn’t want to disobey your parents. Things were a little different back then than they are today. Young women were expected to do what their parents wanted, so you went along with them.”

Caroline seemed to think this over for a moment before asking, “Have you know about this the whole time? Ever since the first time we met?” 

Gabe nodded. “Yes, I have known.”

“Well, why didn’t you say anything to me? It would have been nice to have known.” Caroline crossed her arms around her chest, almost angrily, as she waited for him to answer.

“I didn’t know how to tell you without sounding like a lunatic,” Gabe admitted, lowering his eyes to the floor. “I wanted to tell you . . . so bad. But a part of me wondered if you would even believe me. I definitely didn’t expect you to have any memories of it, but I figured I would ask . . . just in case.”

Caroline glanced down at her hands, obviously still trying to absorb this information, and then she looked back up at him. “How did you know it was me when we first met? Did you just feel the same connection you felt the first time I was alive, or . . .?”

“Well, you look the same. Identical, actually. And your name was Caroline the first time, too. It was more than just that, though.” Gabe met her eyes. “You know that song you played for me? The one that you told me you composed yourself?”

Caroline nodded. “Yes, the composition that got me into Juilliard.”

“Yeah, that one. The first time you played that song for me wasn’t really the first time I’ve ever heard it. You used to love playing the piano, and you played the same song for me in your last life.” He wasn’t sure if he should tell her, but then he decided that he wanted to be honest with her about everything from here on out. “You played it for me when you broke up with me in your last life. The day you told me that you couldn’t be with me anymore because of your parents. And you told me the song was about ‘the type of love that you think you can’t live without, but that you know you can’t live with, either. It’s about the love you lose because there’s no other way’.”

Caroline’s jaw had dropped before he’d finished explaining. “That’s why I felt like I could relate to it, even though I’ve never actually been in love before. What
do you think I meant by that?”

Gabe hesitated before answering. “I like to think you meant that you felt like you couldn’t live without me because you were in love with me, but that you couldn’t live with me because your family didn’t approve—and that you had to let me go because there was no w
ay we could ever be together.”

“That makes a lot of sense.” Caroline gave him a small, sad smile. “I’m sorry I did that to you. I wish there was some way I could go b
ack and do it all over again.”

Gabe smiled back and reached for her hand. “It’s okay, Caroline. I don’t hold it against you. I’m just happy to have you back now. And to be honest, I’m sort of happy it all turned out the way it did. This way, you still have Dan as your brother. Plus, not being with you all those years helped me realize just how much I wanted it to be with you. I’ll ne
ver take you for granted now.”