Betrayed (17 page)

She couldn’t believe that he didn’t even try to make conversation. Well, if he wouldn’t, she would have to take the high road; someone had to be civil.

“I’m Caitlin, by the way,” she said, giving him one last chance.

“I know,” he said, his back still to her.

Now she was pissed. That was it—his last chance. How dare he have the temerity to just keep standing there like that, to not even turn around?

“OK,” she snapped. “Fine. Have it your way.”

She walked as far as she could to the other side, and stood there, looking out the other direction. It was actually a relief. All of the romantic illusions she’d had based on the day before, based on her brief glimpse of him, were starting to drift away. He wasn’t, as she had imagined, some great guy. He was just a jerk. It made it easier for her not to like him. Which is exactly what she needed right now.

But something about him still troubled her. She couldn’t quite let it go. Why was he so cut off? What had happened to this boy? The mystery of it gnawed away at her.

As time passed and she stood there, looking out, she started to wonder if maybe it was just that he didn’t like
her
. Could that be it? If so, she wondered, what was it about her that he didn’t like? Was it the way she looked? How she was dressed? Because she’d been late? She didn’t really see why that was such a huge deal.

No, she concluded, it must be something else. She had never encountered anyone in her life who seemed to dislike her so much on a first meeting. It bothered her. She had to know why.

“So,” she finally said, turning and shattering the silence, “why do you hate me?”

He still kept his back turned, but this time she noticed an ever-so-slight turning of his neck in her direction.

“I don’t hate you,” he answered, after some time.

“Oh, I see,” she said. “You just hate everyone?”

That got to him. Finally, he turned and faced her. He was scowling.

“I don’t hate anyone,” he said.

“Oh, that’s obvious,” Caitlin said.

He must’ve realized she had a point, because he softened his anger lines. But he still looked annoyed.

“Just because I don’t want to get embroiled in a conversation with you,” he said, “doesn’t mean I don’t like you.”

“
Embroiled
?” she asked. “I wasn’t exactly looking to enter into a meaningful dialogue. Just simple courtesy. Like, ‘Hello, nice to meet you. My name is blank. How are you this morning? I’m fine, thank you’….That’s enough for me.”

“My name is Blake,” he answered quickly. “Happy now?”

She had finally gotten to him, finally provoked a response and annoyed him back, and she smiled inwardly. Good. He deserved it. This arrogant boy needed to be thrown off guard a bit.

But as she looked at him, she could suddenly see that he was just a troubled soul, and her anger began to lift. She could see that, behind his brave facade, he was actually very fragile. Vulnerable. This boy had some serious walls, there was no doubt about that. She wasn’t sure what had happened to him, but she recognized a guarded person when she saw one. It reminded her of her brother, Sam. But even more intense.

“Blake,” she echoed, as if she hadn’t already known, and nodded back.

“Anything else?” he asked.

Now it was her chance to turn her back. She did it quickly, before he could turn his back on hers. It felt good. At least she’d had the last word.

“No,” she said, her back to him. “That’s enough.”

She could feel him staring at her back, probably twice as angry to be provoked into conversation only to have her cut it short and turn her back on him. She smiled.

She heard his shuffling of feet, and realized he’d turned his back, too.

They both stood like that for minutes, the thick silence hanging over them like a cloud.

Minutes turned into hours, as the sun rose high in the sky and Caitlin looked out at the Hudson. She looked at the sandy shores, and thought again of Caleb. Of the Aquinnah cliffs. Of their beautiful night together. She remembered the horses, the pounding of the waves, the sandy shore, the rocks, the cave….She suddenly missed Caleb so badly, it actually hurt. It had not been that long ago. How could so much have changed so fast?

She felt the surreal, superhuman power coursing through her veins and looked down at her own body, gleaming in the sun, more muscular and toned than it had ever been when she was human. Indeed, much had changed. But the strangest part of it was, she felt so comfortable in her new skin. She felt natural being a full-blooded vampire, felt like this was always who she was meant to be. Her entire life, she had felt so confused as to what her identity was, as to who she really was, as to where she belonged. Now, she felt, she finally knew. She was a vampire. This was where she belonged. Here, on this island, with this coven, with all of her new friends. If Caleb couldn’t be a part of her new life, at least she felt confident in who
she
was now.

Caitlin stared out at the beautiful Hudson for hour after hour, watching the sun rise high in the sky. The silence had become so pervasive, that after a while she had completely forgotten that anyone else was on the fort with her. She loved the isolation of this place, the views, being completely immersed in nature. And she loved having Rose at her side. If this was all guard duty entailed, she’d gladly sign up for it every day.

The cool air blowing off the river cleared her head, and allowed her to clear her mind. She felt it was washing over her, cleansing her, allowing her to let go of her past, to let go of everything.

Just when Caitlin felt her first hunger pang, started to wonder when lunch might come, she suddenly heard a loud screeching overhead.

She leaned back, covered her eyes from the sun, and scanned the skies. It didn’t sound like the usual bird.

Blake must have heard it, too, because he also leaned back and scanned the skies. As they both watched, a huge falcon circled over them, again and again, coming in lower and lower. To Caitlin’s surprise, it finally dove right at them, setting down on the stone wall. It stared right at her and screeched, defiant.

Caitlin was taken aback. It was such a large, beautiful and primal bird.

“What is it?” Caitlin asked.

“A falcon,” Blake said.

Caitlin stared.

“It’s a vampire thing,” he added. “We use them as couriers.”

“Couriers?” Caitlin asked.

Blake set down his spear, took two steps forward, and pointed at the Falcon’s neck.

Caitlin looked down and saw the small metal box, clamped to its claw.

“Open it,” Blake said. “It’s for you.”

“For me?” Caitlin asked, stunned. “How do you know that?”

“It’s looking at you, not at me,” he said.

Caitlin took a few tentative steps forward, reached out, and removed the locket from the Falcon’s neck. As soon as she did, it startled her by flapping its huge wings in her face and taking off. In seconds, it was high up in the sky, flying off into the horizon.

Caitlin examined the small metal box in her hand, in shock. Who would possibly be sending her a message?

She pushed the small latch, and the little metal box, barely bigger than a pillbox, popped open. She extracted a small, folded up piece of paper. On the outside, it read: “For Caitlin.”

As soon as Caitlin held the piece of paper, she could feel it, through every pore her body. It was from Caleb. He had written her a letter.

Caitlin looked off into the horizon, and sighed deeply. Receiving this note from him pained her more deeply than she could have imagined. She felt so torn, so conflicted, so caught up in a whirlwind of emotions. Why was he writing her? Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? He obviously was with Sera. They obviously had a kid together. It was obvious that he didn’t really care about Caitlin anymore. So why? Why keep bothering her? What could he possibly say in a letter to make things any different?

Caitlin was about to just tear it to pieces and throw it in the river, let it float away for good. But she didn’t want to do it in front of Blake. He’d ask too many questions. And a part of her couldn’t quite allow herself to, anyway.

At the same time, though, she couldn’t bring herself to read it. She doubted that she’d ever be able to bring herself to. She would hang onto it for now, at least. But it would remain unopened.

She stuffed it in her pocket, turned, and headed back to her position.

She felt Blake watching her. She could feel his eyes on her back. The falcon and the letter must have peaked his curiosity.

“Well?” he asked. “Aren’t you going to open it?”

“What do you care?” she answered, her back still to him. At least something caught his interest. At least he was alive.

“A vampire doesn’t send a message unless it’s urgent. You should respect that. You should open the letter.”

“Again,” she said, turning and facing him, “what difference is it to you?”

“I just can’t understand,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you open it? It makes no sense.”

“Maybe because I don’t want to read it,” she said, defiant. “Maybe I’ll
never
read it.”

Blake stared at her. As he did, the light shifted, and lit up his pale blue eyes. She realized again how striking he was. She quickly forced herself to look away.

“Do you know who it’s from?” he asked.

She didn’t answer.

“Of course you do,” he answered himself. “That would be the only reason why you wouldn’t open it….It must be from someone you don’t want to hear from,” he continued, reasoning aloud. Suddenly, he figured it out. “It’s from your boyfriend, isn’t it?”

Caitlin let the question hang in the air for quite some time.

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she finally said. And, even as she felt the parchment sitting in her pocket, she meant it. She didn’t know what Caleb was to her anymore, but she knew that he was not her boyfriend.

“Can we just
not
talk anymore?” she said, annoyed herself now, wanting silence.

Caitlin felt the hesitation behind her, then, finally, after some time, she heard the shuffling of feet that indicated his turning his back. At least he let her be. That was more than she could say for Caleb.

At this moment, she hated all boys. She thought of the upcoming concert tonight, and remembered that she and Blake would be the only ones without dates. That suited her just fine. The last thing she wanted right now was another man in her life.

SEVENTEEN

Caitlin was excited as she hurried through her room, laying out her clothes on her bed as she got dressed. The sunset light streamed into her window, and as she realized how late it was getting, she increased her pace. Polly would be here any second, and she couldn’t be late to the concert. But she was frozen in indecision. She just didn’t know what to wear.

Spread out on the bed before her were two outfits that Polly had found for her. They were both black, but both very different. One of them was a fitted dress made of some material that Caitlin didn’t recognize—whatever it was, it had a sheen to it, and looked like leather. The other was more subdued. It consisted of black, fitted jeans and a light black turtleneck, with black flats to go along with it. Caitlin couldn’t decide if she should be more subdued, or if she should go for the high-gloss, more dramatic look.

There was a knocking on the door.
Polly
.

Caitlin quickly sprang into action, deciding on the more subdued look. It was more her.

“Caitlin!” came the voice.

Before Caitlin could answer, Polly let herself. Caitlin finished pulling on the turtleneck, pulled out her hair from it, and was basically dressed.

Polly looked her up and down. “Wow,” Polly said, “that fits you so much better than me. You look beautiful.”

“Really?” Caitlin asked hopefully.

“I wish we had a working mirror to prove it,” Polly said. “One of the hazards of being a vampire girl.”

Caitlin had actually discovered, the day before, a piece of washed up metal on the island, and had brought it up to her room, rubbing it down and polishing it.

“Problem solved,” Caitlin said.

It sat in the corner, and as she walked over to it, she could indeed catch a small glimpse of her reflection.

Polly’s eyes opened wide in delight, and she came hurrying over, and stood beside it, too, looking at herself in the metal.

“OMG, this is awesome!” Polly exclaimed. “How did you figure that one? It’s great to see myself!”

For the first time in as long as she could remember, Caitlin actually liked how she looked. It felt
her
, and she felt as if she were starting to come into her own, to figure out what her look was.

“Your cheeks are shining, too,” Polly said, “they’re full of color. You look very healthy. Fleshed out.”

As Caitlin looked, she realized that Polly was right. She had never quite seen herself looking like this before. Was it because she was a full vampire now? She looked more mature. Less like a girl, and more like a woman. She liked it.

Caitlin looked at Polly. She was wearing the Lily Pulitzer outfit, and it suited her. She looked radiant.

“You look beautiful, too,” Caitlin said.

“Really?” Polly asked. She turned left and right, examining herself, “I hope Patrick likes it. He’s never seen me in this before. I’m so excited. It’s our first official date.”

Caitlin fell another pang of anxiety, as she remembered that everyone would have a date but her. And Blake. That would make them both stand out. It was a lot of pressure. And really not something Caitlin wanted to deal with right now.

But on the other hand, she liked all of her covenmates and was excited to see what their concert would be like. So she would just deal with it.

She marveled at how normal things felt. If it weren’t for being on an island, and in a castle, she would right now totally feel as if she were back at home, in her bedroom, hanging out with her friends, getting ready to go out for the night. It really felt like life had finally settled down, come back to normal. She realized again how at home she felt here, and she was so grateful for it. She hoped things would never change.