The Emerald Talisman (22 page)

“Please, Dad. Don’t say you want to talk to
him. That would be really embarrassing. We are just going as
friends.”

He took a long drink of his coffee and acted
like he was mulling it over. I held still to keep from
fidgeting.

“You can go.”

“Thank you,” I said in a gush, grabbed a
banana, kissed his head and ran out the front door.

I heard a faint “You’re welcome” resonate
from inside. When I turned after shutting the door, I spotted
Nicholas’ black Chrysler 300 parked out front and savored the
moment. When he saw me, he got out of the car and walked up the
path just like I’d imagined he would weeks ago– taking long, deep
strides full of confidence, the bronze highlights of his hair
glinting in the sunlight. I just needed to be patient.

“Hi,” he said with an impish grin.

His green eyes danced and everything inside
me wanted to run and hug him, but I stayed calm and walked casually
towards him instead. “Hey.”

“You ready?”

I nodded and we walked to his car.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, looking
up at his adorable face.

“You’ll see,” he said with a smile and opened
the door to let me in.

We drove down the highway in silence and took
the freeway up the coast flanked with beautiful oceans cliffs on
one side and grassy farmland on the other. The day was clear and
warm. I tried to keep from fidgeting as I waited in anticipation of
our future destination.

Soon he parked in the same gravel parking lot
that overlooked the virgin stretch of beach Sam and I always
visited. My excitement dwindled.

Why was he taking me here?

I tried to hide my disappointment. Granted,
his main concern was privacy, but that could be accomplished with
his heavily tinted car windows. I had assumed that he had somewhere
more secluded in mind. Somewhere new. Some place I could hold as
special. Our place. I felt annoyed he wanted to use the same place
I enjoyed with my best friend. I pursed my lips.

Nicholas ignored my expression, wordlessly
getting out of the car. I crossed my arms, rooted in my spot. I
wasn’t going anywhere without an explanation. But his dark hair
shimmered in the sunlight as he rounded the front of the car and
suddenly my anger melted. I couldn’t stand to be away from him
another second and eagerly stepped out when he opened the car door
for me.

Together, we walked over to the edge of the
cliff.

“Wow,” I said, peering over the side, feeling
a little woozy. “I wonder if anyone ever gets to go down
there.”

“I wonder…” he said, as he pivoted his body
towards me, circling me in his arms.

His touch made me hold my breath. I looked at
him nervously, but gladly wrapped my arms around his waist in
response. The last thing I expected to happen next was for him to
jump over the cliff, carrying me with him in the process.

I squealed and grabbed his torso tighter. We
soared through the air, out over the cliff and floated towards the
sand 1000 feet below. Within seconds we touched down and he made
sure I had my balance before letting go.

“Feel familiar?” he asked, emerald eyes
twinkling, searching my expression.

“Oh. My. Gosh,” I said, remembering the
cliff. “Is this how you were able to catch me?”

I would have never believed it if I hadn’t
seen it in the daylight. Nicholas laughed and nodded his head. I
laughed too, marveling how insane that night had been.

“So you can fly too?” I asked in
amazement.

“Well… not really. Just jump far
distances.

“…. not all vampires can fly?”

“No,” he said and his smile faded from his
face.

“I’m confused.”

Nicholas looked back at me tenderly.

“Phil’s acquired the gift to fly – a very
rare ability – something a very powerful vampire wouldn’t want to
share freely. I suspect
they
never intended for you to come
along and take him to the hospital of all places. The transfusion
sustained his life and the venom changed his body. He was never
supposed to become a vampire.”

His explanation didn’t help explain things
and I inadvertently reached up and held the base of my neck,
wondering if I’d naively just missed a vampire feeding frenzy. What
could’ve happened if I was a little bit sooner? I shuttered even
considering it.

Nicholas continued to gaze deeply into my
eyes and I lost my train of thought. I looked away and felt my
cheeks grow hot.

“Come on,” he said in a happier tone and
motioned for me to follow.

We walked next to each other towards the
water. Every once in a while, I’d watch him. His intrinsic beauty
overwhelmed me, I couldn’t help it. Today he wore a woolen sweater
that contoured his strong rippling arm muscles. I really wanted to
reach out and lock my arm in his.

He caught me stealing a glance and gave me an
inquisitive look. I looked away embarrassed, but could see his
smile from the corner of my eye.

Once we reached the waterline, I discovered
hundreds of perfect sea shells and sand dollars on the abandoned
beach.

“Wow!” I said while picking up a cantaloupe
sized conch shell, putting it up to my ear. “I guess the shells
wash up and sit here since nobody can comb the beach.”

Nicholas watched in amusement as I started to
make little piles of treasures.

I giggled and wondered how I would take the
shells home with me.

“I forgot to bring a bag,” I said in
disappointment.

“Hold on.”

Nicholas sprinted across the sand, nimbly
climbed up the cliffs edge where the car was parked, disappeared
for a minute and then returned with a beach bag all in a matter of
seconds.

My mouth fell open.

“Would this work to hold your shells?” he
asked smugly, playing off his immortal talents, holding out the
bag.

“Um, sure,” I said after closing my mouth but
still staring at him, taking a second before retrieving it. “How
did you do that?”

“It comes with the territory,” he said
quietly. “It’s no big deal.”

“You can run, jump, climb and see at night.
How is that no big deal?”

“Now flying would be something,” he said
playfully, but I knew he really would like that gift.

“I don’t understand the power thing.”

“Well… it’s like with humans. Some people can
do things others cannot. Vampires are gifted with special abilities
too, passed from the one that creates them.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Well, the ones I know of are the ability to
read minds, turn into animals, understand and speak different
languages, plant thoughts, invoke feelings, hypnotize, just to name
a few. Whatever is helpful for a vampire to lure its prey besides
being stealthy and incredibly beautiful.”

Lure its prey?

His comment gave me chills as I remembered
all the vampires I’d encountered already – in particular the ones
that wanted to bite me.

“Do you have any special abilities?”

“Me?” He grinned widely, flashing his pearly
teeth. “Just the ability to walk in the sunlight, something no
other vampire can do but I think that’s because I’m half-human. I’d
be a force to be reckoned with, if I was bent towards evil,” he
said with a chuckle. “But I don’t think I have anything extra
special.”

Yeah, right.

I hid my smile. It was nice to be with
someone so humble.

We headed towards a huge sea cave worn away
by the waves over time.

“Want to check it out?”

I nodded.

We stood at the edge of the cliff in awe as
the water ebbed in and out of the immense mouth of the cave down
below us.

“Wanna closer look?” he said, with a gleam in
his eye.

I started to recognize the twinkle and knew
he was going to do some kind of phenomenal act that would blow my
mind again.

“Okay?”

“I need you to trust me and climb on my
back.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Just do it.”

“Okay,” I said and crawled on.

He held my legs tightly and jumped. I
instinctively wrapped my arms around his muscular neck and held on
for dear life. For a second we hovered over the water just inside
the mouth of the cave. The spray of the waves lightly rained over
us and I squealed in delight.

Then like a bird, he gingerly landed on a
protruding rock inside the monstrous cavern. I looked up at the wet
walls teaming with sea life and reeled back feeling like I was
going to lose my balance when I felt him reach around and carefully
lift me off. He placed me so I could stand on the rock in front of
him. His strong arms wrapped tightly around me so I wouldn’t fall.
We stood in astonishment deafened by the noise of the waves hitting
the reef all around us. The warmth of his chest radiated against
me. I molded my body up against his, my heart erupting in a flutter
that caused my legs to weaken.

“What do you think?” he whispered into my
ear. I felt his hot breath against the side of my neck, which
caused me to be light-headed as my heart raced even harder.

“Awesome,” I whispered, which was all I could
get out as I slinked into his chest a little bit more. A seal
popped his head out of the water next to us and I nudged Nicholas
to alert him.

Its little black eyes gawked at us curiously
then he swam around the rock as if to wonder how we entered his
domain. I giggled uncontrollably at the sight.

After a few minutes my teeth started to
chatter from the continuous cold salty sprays. Even though I didn’t
want to leave, I didn’t know how much longer I could stand the wind
blowing against my damp skin.

“I think it’s time to go. Put your arms
around my neck,” he instructed as he gently helped me turn
around.

I reached up, but feeling shy kept my head
down for fear that he’d meet my gaze with a kiss. Within a second,
I felt him hug me tight, crouch his legs down and spring off the
rock into the air. We were flying again, headed for the sandy
beach.

When we landed, I laughed at our dripping
attire. He removed his sweater to reveal a white tee-shirt that
outlined every muscle of his powerful chest. Again, I saw the
emerald medallion around his neck under his shirt and stared at it.
He followed my gaze and fanned the shirt off his skin to release
the extra moisture. I looked away still shivering, not willing to
take off my sweatshirt knowing my wet tee-shirt underneath would be
too revealing.

“Maybe that wasn’t a good idea,” he said
while looking around. “Come on.”

He led me over to a place out of view of the
cliff and started a bonfire in the sand. Within minutes, a roaring
fire burned and I finally felt warm again. When he broke the
driftwood into smaller pieces against his leg, I noticed a tattoo
of a cross on the outer side of his bicep. The intricate ornate
design was different than anything I’d ever seen. I couldn’t stop
staring at it.

“Are you feeling warmer now?” he asked as he
sat next to me.

His damp dark hair and his olive skin
shimmered in the light from the small droplets of water that clung
to him. The sight made it hard for me to concentrate.

“Yes, actually,” I said while holding my
hands out, feeling the heat on my fingertips. “Thank you.”

I wondered how long he’d planned on being
here today. From the looks of it, it didn’t seem like he was in a
hurry to leave and I didn’t mind.

“Um… I have a question,” I finally asked.

“Okay.”

I took a deep breath and held it. I wanted to
ask without offending him. Could I just say it? I watched his
innocent expression as he patiently waited.

“H-h-how did you know to bring me here? I
mean, this isn’t… um… just
any
beach.”

I watched his countenance change from
curiosity to sheepishness.

“How do I make this sound right?” He
hesitated. “I just know you… I’ve been watching you for so long, I
know your habits, your likes, your dislikes, your friends, your
favorite hang outs and I have exceptional hearing. So I’ve known
ever since you’ve found this place that you’ve always wanted to
come here. I figured it would be fun to give you your wish.”

I hadn’t realized my life was such an open
book. His confession should have bothered me, but I was actually
flattered instead.

“Oh,” I said while playing with the
drawstring on my sweatshirt. “Thank you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his eyes
light up as he watched me. It truly was a magical place; far better
than I’d imagined. I’d never been anywhere so pure; I felt honored
to be one of its only inhabitants. As far as I was concerned, this
was the closest to heaven on earth I could imagine. All we needed
was lunch. I was starving.

“I was wondering…” not really wanting to
leave, “do you have plans for lunch today?” I sheepishly asked.

“Why? Are you hungry?”

“No, not yet, I was just thinking…” I
lied.

“Actually I packed a lunch,” he said,
matter-of-factly.

“Oh… you did?”

“Well, I didn’t know how long we’d be out
here and it’s not like we can go out to eat.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because you can never be too careful, the
less people know about us the better,” he said with a very serious
tone. “That’s why this beach is perfect. There’s no way anyone
could find us here.”

I felt a wave of pain from him. What had
happened to make him be so cautious? I could understand not wanting
to be seen at night, but why did I matter in the daytime? Vampires
were sleeping, or hiding, or whatever they did during the day. But
I’d learned my lesson in the past about prying, so I didn’t ask. I
figured when he wanted to share, he would.

He stretched back on the sand and put his
head in his hands while closing his eyes, his thoughts someplace
else.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t someone see your car
parked on the cliff?” I asked just remembering his car could tip
off our location.