Inside the Fire Book One in the Warden's Series (11 page)

So he thought I was a medium that could
channel outside forces, never suspecting me of being anything evil
he was saying the evil was using me.

“So I guess the question isn’t what am I.
It’s who are you?” I sighed trying not to sound like I was
relieved.

He looked like he had been sucker punched
when he stepped back and away from me. I had to get away before
something else happened, like fire erupting from my fingertips. If
I had to hurt him just a little to make this whole situation go
away then so be it.

“Let’s just forget this happened.” He said
putting his hands in his pockets, “You know it just strikes me as
odd, I just told you I loved you after a week and you have nothing
to say to that?”

I looked at him in terror,
he
had
said that
and I had dismissed it. Nobody had ever said it to me so it wasn’t
something that would pop out of a conversation especially not one
where weird things are happening.

I beheld him with hard eyes, sighed and
spoke. The words that came out of my mouth were harsh but I
couldn’t love him. If I loved him it would kill him if I had to
leave again.

“I do believe in love at first site. So I
think it’s possible. I just don’t know. I don’t know if love is
possible for me. I need to get home Wesley.” I left him standing
staring after me as I ran down the stairs.

I didn’t stop till I got to my car. Once I
got behind the wheel I pounded it screaming, tears were streaming
down my face. My heart felt like it was breaking, deep down inside
I felt joy but it was only for a second. I put my keys in the
ignition and stared out the front window willing myself not to go
back into the house.

I watched Wesley leave out the back door,
walk into the field, and disappear into the trees behind it. He was
hanging his head and in no hurry it appeared. I’m sure he just
wanted to get away as quickly as me. I threw the car in reverse and
took off like a bat out of Hell splaying gravel as I sped out of
his driveway and onto the highway.

Deaths Salvation &
Heartburn

I was sitting in a bar, one I had never been
to before. Two shots sat untouched in front of me, and the room
smelled of sweat and stale perfume. People were pressed together in
rhythmic masses, bodies smashed as the music pumped loudly. I
downed both drinks and motioned for the bartender to get me two
more.

Four more shots later I looked at the guy
sitting next to me, he was around twenty two, moderate frame with
light hair and dark green eyes. He was obviously oblivious to the
world, he’d met me shot for shot and he had been here longer. I
glanced his direction and he looked back at me and smiled this
drunken twisted grin. He thought he could take me back to his place
and do sinful acts and I wouldn’t object.

I could see the thoughts in his head as they
came at me in waves. Each of the images he shared were becoming
more and more disturbing as he made eye contact with me, the
thoughts darkly grotesque made my stomach crawl. I suppose it’s a
good thing that not all men think like this pervert.

He didn’t see nor sense the dark shadow
coming up behind him, with a snap of the neck he planted face first
onto the bar, and his eyes were still open staring back at me. The
shadowed figure sat down on the other side of me sending prickles
down my spine. My fingers were eager; I looked over and into the
green eyes of Wesley.

“Did you not hear me, I said I love you,” he
muttered not looking at me, “You belong to me!”

“I belong to no-one!” I seethed fire
erupting around me.

"You should have thought about that before
you claimed me!" he screamed back as he shielded his eyes and
hissed before disappearing in a cloud of black fog.

Wait my Wesley doesn’t have green eyes!

****

I woke with a shutter and looked around my
dark room. It had been three days since my last encounter with
Wesley. I had been working hard to avoid him. When I couldn’t I
opted for the less enjoyable approach of ignoring him. I didn’t
answer a single one of his fifty calls nor did I answer any of his
hundreds of texts.

Everything was happening so fast, there was
no slow road with him. All this talk about love, and this claiming
word that kept coming up. It was all just too quick.

What is love?

I mean really. Other than some emotion where
your heart pounds, and every moment you are apart you feel like you
are being ripped into two million pieces. I blamed my erratic
emotions for my dreams becoming more intense. It was happening
again. Several times I awoke to the smell of burning fabric to find
I had singed my bed sheets in my sleep. This was happening far more
than it did when I was a tween.

I wanted him more than anything and being
without his touch had sent me reeling into an alternate reality.
One that made him a key character in my dreams so it seemed. I
questioned the subtle changes though. The green eyes that made
little sense. I was always enamored with his blue eyes why would I
subconsciously change them to green?

How does someone fall in love in a matter of
days?

I had never felt love before, never knew how
it encased the entire body in warmth. How you would long for your
other half when they were only a door away. The feeling was nice,
but it was not one I truly enjoyed having, at least not right this
second.

He deserved better, he deserved a mortal
girl that could give him everything he wanted and desired. He
deserved to have someone capable of love to love him in return. I
had already taken so much from him, and I couldn’t bring myself to
take more. Even the thought of letting him go for his own good was
tearing at me. I just couldn’t fathom doing it, he was mine.

I picked up my phone and looked at the time,
two a. m. I sighed and tossed it back on the nightstand. Running my
fingers through my hair I got up, a little shaky at first but I
gained my balance. I was feeling light headed and a little groggy
as I made my way out of my room and into the kitchen. Holding
myself up on the counter I looked out the window and into the
night.

I was watching the wind blow the leaves of
the trees when I saw something run across the yard. It appeared to
be traveling extremely fast. Before I could control my feet I tore
out of the kitchen and into the night. A hundred yards ahead of me
I saw a shape stop and turn to look at me. It appeared human with
glowing red eyes, and it was looking at me very curiously.

I willed whatever power I could into my
hands and stepped closer to the figure. My fingers sparked
noticeably, and a wicked smile spread across the creatures
face.

“Wer bist du?” The words flowed from me like
they were my own, however they were not. I had simply asked who are
you and instead said it in German.

What was happening to me?

“I am the thing you fear most.” It replied
in English. “I am your death. I am your salvation.”

“I do not fear you.” I said to her as she
turned to get a better look at me.

She put her nose in the
air and took in a hefty breathe.

“You should.” She teased me.

“And why is that?” She was creeping me
out.

I mean really who runs through someone
else’s yard at two in the morning for no obvious reason?

“Your blood. It smells different,” She
smiled at me this devious smirk. “I have not eaten in so long. What
is just a little taste?” The creature lunged for me.

I felt my body shift as instinct took over.
She was clawing at me her hands reaching for my neck. There was a
prick of teeth on my skin but the pain faded as quickly as it
started. By the time I knew of what was happening the creature was
dead at my feet. I looked around in a panic and kneeled down on the
ground pushing the creature’s hair from her face feeling for a
pulse, but there was nothing. Those dead red eyes just peered back
at me.

I didn’t know what I had done to kill her
but at least she didn’t get to me. I put my arms out in front of me
inspecting. It would appear that she had broken no skin after all.
The shock wore off, and it clicked in my head what was going on. I
ran off to wake my mother.

****

“Vampire.” My mother said standing up and
brushing off her knees. “Judging by the way she is dressed she was
rogue.” She looked at me like I had to believe her. I knew better
than that, I knew that vampires did not exist.

“Seriously mom. You expect me to believe
that Vampires are real?” She had jumped up running when I went
racing into her room screaming about red eyed women in the
driveway.

“Dawn, you have been raised on stories of
Heaven and Hell.” She pinched the rim of her nose annoyed. “You
know what you are. What makes you think that there cannot be other
things similar to you in this world?”

“Alright I will give you that. How do you
know she was a vampire?” I asked impatiently.

“Well the big pointy fangs were a dead
giveaway.” My mother started, her words dripping with sarcasm. She
turned and walked towards the house. “Do me a favor and burn the
body before you come inside. You kill it, you dispose of it.”

“How am I supposed to do...?” I cut myself
off before I sounded even dumber than I felt.

I stood there and willed the fire to roll
through my veins but I got nothing. Not even a single fizzle. My
powers had never failed me before. Maybe I had over used them. I
opted for the less dramatic approach and covered the body with gas
from the mower and lit a match. The woman went up in flames turning
to ashes in seconds. I have to admit that pretty much confirmed it
for me. I was stuck in a bad dream.

When I got inside my mother was making a pot
of tea. This had always been her medicinal comfort for stressful
situations. I washed my hands in the kitchen sink and took a seat
at the table.

“Explain.” I muttered rubbing my face with
my hands.

I still didn’t believe it. I had pinched
myself repeatedly on my way into the house. Sadly I was not
dreaming.

“I could give you a history lesson on
vampires but you read enough. I’m sure you will figure out all of
that. I can tell you this though; there are different types. Ones
that live off of human blood and others that can live, mostly, off
of human emotions. When I say mostly let me explain.” She turned to
face me, her way of letting me know that it was the truth.

“They find the human emotions to be quite
intoxicating. It’s like a drug to them, makes them feel high. They
still need blood to survive but at the same time they only need a
trace of it because they are feeding off emotions. They are drawn
more to anger and loss though if they can get their hands on love
it goes from being a pleasant high to a meth high. The victim
usually does not understand that they are being emotionally drained
until one day they don't wake up.” She took a drink.

“Your blood is your weapon against them. One
bite won’t kill them but if they try to drain you your body will
retaliate sending the fire into their veins. As you know fire is
not exactly a friend of the vampire. This one it would appear was
pretty hungry just one drop of your blood killed her, but didn’t
turn her to ash.” She raised an eyebrow as if she wasn’t sure she
believed it herself

“Mom, this is all just a bit hard to
believe.” I groaned and threw my head back.

“You will figure it all out.” She said
finishing her tea.

“What else exists that isn’t supposed to
exist?” I asked as she looked in the bottom of her cup and glancing
at me with a twisted expression.

“Everything in your imagination can exist,
as time goes you will meet these beings and learn their stories,
but for now.” She pat my hand. “For now you just get some sleep and
we can discuss it at a later time.” She stood up and looked at me
warmly before leaving the room.

I had to think hard on this new plot twist.
If vampire really existed I wondered how many of my dreams about
them were true. For the first time I found myself wanting a friend.
Someone that I could talk to about all these things that just kept
happening. Life was simpler in El Paso it seemed. The most I had to
worry about was who would get in my way. There were no supernatural
creatures or boys with their own cooling systems.

I went back outside the scene of the attack
and looked around. There had to be a reason she was in the yard. I
heard a branch break to my right and my head shot around. I could
have sworn I saw something moving but when I got to the location
there was nothing there. I looked around a moment longer and
unsatisfied with finding nothing that gave me insight I went back
inside.

I was unable to go back to sleep after my
mother and my little talk. I understood what she meant when she
said that I had been raised on stories of Heaven and Hell. I should
not be surprised that there were other creatures out there. No
matter how vile they may be at least they were there. However, it
was a lot to stomach. The thought that vampires really existed. It
made the dreams even more surreal with the possibilities I could be
harboring some internal vampire radar. Still didn’t explain why my
blood was convinced Wesley was one.

So there I sat in my pajamas on my bed with
my legs crossed around each other resting my head in my hands. All
I wanted was to just remember what I had done to stop the vampire
that morning. Why had my instincts taken control and blacked out my
memory of what I had done. It was bad enough something inside me
was channeling spirits, allowing them to use me as a vessel to
speak, now let’s throw in a vampire attack and make my life even
more messed up.

Maybe this whole incident was a sign the
internal battle had begun and the darker side of me wanted its
chance to come out and make its mark on the world. So it began to
make me wonder if the me I had just grown accustomed to wasn’t the
me I would be when I got older?