Beginnings (The Trifectus Series - Book One) (7 page)

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

“Why would that be too bad?”

“I don’t know.  I guess I just believe that not everybody of a certain group is bad.  There have been many bad humans but nobody lumps them all into one category.  I think there are probably good androidians out there who are discriminated against because of others.”

“I guess, oh well.”

“Yeah, oh well.”

After he sent that, he logged off on me again.  What was with him?  Why was he just logging off on me at weird times?  He always got so defensive about the androidians when he has no reason to.  Oh well, there was no point to getting upset over it.  I had enough to worry about with Saturday soon approaching.  What do you even wear to meet a vampire family?  Would it be disrespectful to wear red?  I hope it won’t be too awkward.

I was willing to do anything to get his family to like me.  I needed him in my life, and I figured getting his family to love me was the best bet. 

Just as I was about to start my paper, my mother got home.  I went downstairs to talk to her.

“Hey, mom.  I just wanted to let you know I won’t be able to be here Saturday night for dinner.”

“And why is that, dear?”

“I got invited to a friend’s house for dinner.”
              “Oh that is wonderful, dear.”

“I’m a little nervous, I hope they like me.”

“Oh don’t be silly, dear, I’m sure they won’t bite.”

Chapter Four

Family

I woke up the next morning extremely happy.  I only had one more day before I met James’s family.  While I was happy, I was also nervous that they wouldn’t accept me.  What if James had told them I was a vampire?  What if they were expecting this pale-skinned girl with a thirst for blood?  What would they even serve for dinner?  Blood pudding?  Blood sausage?  Possibly some tomato soup with a hint of blood? 

I went downstairs to get breakfast, and saw my father at the table.

“Hey dad,” I said.

“Hello, dear.  I hear you have a date on Saturday,” he said.

“Oh, I wouldn’t call it a date.  I am just going to a friend’s house for dinner.”

“Oh?  And who is this friend?”

I started to panic.  I knew that if I told him I was going to see James and his family, he would want to meet James.  I also knew that if he met James he might know what he was.  After all, my father spent a lot of time with vampires and if given the opportunity up close, he would be able to put together the pieces.

“Emma,” I spurted out.

“So, no boy?” he asked.

“I think she has a couple brothers, but nope, my friend Emma.”

I tried giving a crooked smile to make him think I was telling the truth.  I knew if I told him I was going over to Emma’s, he wouldn’t care about meeting her.  It was true, also.  I was going over to Emma’s house for dinner.  It just so happened that James lived there too, and I would say hi to him if I ran into him there. 

Breakfast was a little tense.  I could tell my father wanted to ask me more about these brothers of hers.  I didn’t even know whom exactly their family consisted of so I tried making up names in my head so I looked truthful.  Surprisingly enough, he never asked me anything more.  He finished his eggs and toast, kissed my mother goodbye and went to work. 

I gathered my things for school and left for school.  I was excited to see James.  Just to think that tomorrow night I would be sitting in his house was enough to send me over the moon.  We were finally taking forward steps for a future together.  We were that much closer to being together.  I could be the future Mrs. Juliet Sullivan.  The name sounded perfect, and the man who would give me that name would be much more perfect.

When I arrived to school, I noticed a few more guards than usual posted outside.  I was escorted in, just like every other student, and saw a bunch of people gathered in the auditorium.  I walked in to hear an announcement being made by the staff.

“You all may be wondering why there are more guards here today than usual.  You all may also be wondering why you were all escorted into the school instead of walking in by yourselves as you usually do.  Earlier today there was a werewolf sighting outside Founders Park.  Three werewolves were spotted in full form running the perimeter of the park until they disappeared from trackers,” Principal Trudy said.

As she finished that sentence, everyone in the auditorium gasped.  It started getting louder as everybody gossiped and panicked about what this all meant.

“Now don’t worry, students.  We have extra security here today, and until we are able to deem the area safe.  Don’t be afraid of the guards, they are only here to protect you and make sure nothing bad happens.  Please go on with your normal classes as if this was any other normal day,” she said, exuding confidence.

We were all shuffled out of the auditorium like a herd of sheep.  As I was being pushed and prodded out, I saw Derek and Cara off in a corner talking.  They looked scared and argumentative.  What were they talking about?  What could be wrong?

I started making my way to my locker just as I do every morning.  I saw James standing there looking distraught.

“Hey you,” I said, smiling.

“Are you okay?” he asked frantically.

“Well sure I am.  Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I was just scared, because of the werewolf spotting.”

“Why would you be scared?”

“Because, Juliet, I don’t think you know what it means.”
              “What do you mean?”

“Werewolves are a serious matter.  Especially three of them in their full forms.  They get their power from their packs.  The more of them there are, especially in full form, the more dangerous they are.  They feed off each other’s energies and power.”

“Well, why would you be scared for me, though?”

“I just wanted to make sure you were safe.  With your father being who he is, I wanted to make sure they weren’t targeting you or trying to kidnap you for revenge.”

The bell rang and James put his hands on my shoulders.

“If you notice anything weird, please tell me.  I care about you a great deal and couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.  I would rather be dead than be without you.”

“You already are dead,” I whispered into his ear.

He smiled and walked away.  I watched him slowly walk away as I dreamt of tomorrow night.  All I wanted at this point was to be his.  To give him my heart so he could do what he wanted with me.  I would even let him convert me if it meant I was able to hold his soul for all of time.

“Girl, what is up with you?”

I turned around to see Ariel standing there with her hands on her hips, giving me a big grin.

“You’re talking to James, aren’t you?” she asked.

“A little bit,” I said, trying to contain my smile.

“Just be careful, you know that Brittany has been trying to get together with him for a long time now and if she finds out the new girl snatched him she will come after you.”

I didn’t even care what she did.  I was never going to let go of James and nobody was going to take him from me.  He was mine and I was his. 

We walked into math just before the bell rung.  I sat at my desk dreaming about the night that was coming soon.

Math was never my greatest subject, but I got by.  I always had trouble remembering all of the different rules and equations.  When was I ever even going to have to use this stuff?  I couldn’t think of many times in life I would have to figure out quadratic equations. 

Mr. Oliveri, my math teacher, was a very funny man.  He always tried to make us laugh and make math fun.  He gave us all nicknames.  Some got off better than others with theirs.  He called me LaVoeAtory, trying to be funny and make my last name sound like “laboratory.”  I never quite understood why he did this or gave me this name.  Maybe he thought I was weird and would grow up to be an evil scientist, sewing rats and frogs together to make the dreaded ratfrog.

“Ms. LaVoeAtory,” he said.  “Would you like to come up to the board and show the class how to solve this particular problem?”

I wanted to just shout “no.”  I had no interest in getting up in front of the entire class and making a fool out of myself. 

“Oh, okay,” I said with hesitation.

I started slowly getting up and making my way to the front of the room.  He handed me the marker and I walked up to the board.  Just as I was about to touch the marker to the board the bell rang.  That normally annoying bell now sounded like angels singing in my ear.

“All right, class,” he said.  “We will pick back up Monday.  Don’t forget to do your homework this weekend!”

I ran back to my desk and grabbed my things.  I had been saved.  I didn’t have to worry about this problem and I was one hour closer to tomorrow night. 

School went by rather fast on this particular day.  I am not sure if it was because I was so excited about tomorrow, or the fact that I wasn’t really paying attention to anything my teachers said. 

When the final bell rang, I was ready.  I pushed and shoved my way through the hallway and made it to my locker.  I gathered my things and started to make my way through the school.  I decided to take a different route through the school to save time.  With all of the students making a weekend dash for their lockers and buses, it was too hectic and I knew another way that would save me some time.  As I started walking the empty hallway, I heard two voices talking.  I stopped and started to listen.

“Cara, what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know, Derek.  With that wolf sighting we have to be careful.”

“But tomorrow is a full moon.  We aren’t going to be able to control ourselves.”

“Baby, yes we can.  We will keep each other in check.  We have to control it.  If we get caught again it won’t be good.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  Were Derek and Cara werewolves?  Were they involved with the ones that were found today?  Were they planning something big?  I quietly and carefully made my way out of the hallway.  I couldn’t afford them knowing I had heard them. 

I made my way outside and to my waiting car.  I had to tell James tomorrow.  I had to stop them from hurting anybody else.  I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if somebody got hurt because I was too scared to say what they were planning.  They had already been caught once for doing something bad, and I wouldn’t let it happen again. 

When I got home, I was pleasantly surprised.  Nobody was home.  I ran upstairs and started raiding my closet.  I had to pick out the perfect outfit to wear tomorrow night.  I wanted to blow James’s socks right off his feet.  I was going to go all out on this.  I had one chance to make a great impression on his family, and I wasn’t about to blow it on ugly clothes and bad hair. 

As I started daydreaming and dancing around, I remembered something.  James never told me where he lived.  In fact, nobody knew where he and his sister lived.  He didn’t have a phone, and I had no way of contacting him.  I started to think the worst.  Maybe it was all a trick.  Maybe he didn’t really like me and was just trying to trick the new girl.  Maybe Brittany made him do this to put me in my place.

No, I thought.  There is no way he would do this to me.  Why would he save me from the thugs and let me fall asleep in his arms if it was all a trick?  He loves me, and I know he wouldn’t ever do that to me. 

Just as I had convinced myself it was real, I heard a door close.  I went downstairs to see who it was, and I saw my mother walking in.

“Oh hello, sweetie.”

“Hey mom, how was your day?”

“Oh, it was wonderful sweetie, and how about yours?”
              “It was good.  I was just picking out an outfit for tomorrow night.”

“Oh,” she said.  “And why would you need to do that if you are just going over to a girlfriend’s house for dinner?”

“Oh, you know me, I just want to look nice.”

“Are you sure there won’t be a boy there?” she said, smiling.

“Well, she has a couple brothers that will probably be there.”

“Oh honey, you can tell me the truth.  I’m not like your father.”

“I know.  Okay, yes, there will be someone there that I like.  Emma’s brother.”

“See, was that so hard?  What is his name?”

“His name is James.  He is in my grade and we have a few classes together.”

“I see.  Well, just be careful.  You know how boys at this age can be.  I don’t want to see my little girl getting hurt.”

“I know, mom.  I won’t get hurt.”

Being able to talk to my mom was nice.  I never really got that close to her, but I was always closer to her than I was with my father.  He was always hard and emotionless.  The fact he was rarely around when I was a kid didn’t help things either.  My mom, however, was there and made an effort.  I just hoped she wouldn’t slip the information about James to my father.

I blew off my homework that night.  Usually I was the type to get everything done and study, but not tonight.  I had a big night tomorrow, and everything had to be planned.  I turned on my computer and decided to try to learn more about vampires.  I had never known another vampire besides James, and I barely even knew him.  If I was going to have any chance of fitting in with his family, I had to at least know my facts so I didn’t look stupid.