The Emerald Talisman (24 page)

“That would make my job easier.”

I turned towards the window and watched the
world zoom by. We’d broken the rules today by being together. As we
drove, I felt the warmth he had at the beach start to fade into
something cold and distant. He was changing back to his serious
self.

“We can’t do this again, can we?” I finally
muttered, still looking out the window, deciding to just get it out
in the open.

“No,” he said despondently.

I took a deep breath and leaned against the
head rest. I didn’t need to study his face to know his
feelings.

“It doesn’t seem fair,” I uttered softly in
an even tone.

“Nothing we can do about it.”

The frequent appearance of his cynical side
began to annoy me. I knew there was a way to still see each other
and not get caught, like today. Why wasn’t he willing to try?

“I don’t want to go home,” I said in a
whisper, secretly hoping he’d change his mind.

He reached over to grab my hand. Excitement
and pain flooded directly to my heart and I broke under the strain.
The tears spilled down my cheeks.

“Please, don’t cry,” he said, instantly
feeling sorry.

“I’m trying not to. It just hurts, you
know?”

I tried to stifle my tears by biting my lip.
Secretly, I was glad we hurt together. To know he cared for me on a
deeper level comforted my spirit.

“I never meant for this to be difficult for
you,” he said with remorse.

“It’s not your fault. You have no control
over this hopeless situation.”

“Well, I shouldn’t have made it harder on
you.”

He let go of my hand to take something out of
his pocket. I stared down at his palm and recognized the familiar
piece of worn journal paper. I looked at his face in shock and then
anger.

“How did you get that?” I said, snatching it
out of his hand, wiping away my tears.

“I saw you throw it over the cliff,” he
confessed.

My head swam as I remembered back to that
day. I’d poured my heart and soul into that letter never intending
for him to read it. And now that he had, I felt violated.

“Well, that’s a dirty trick,” I said,
scowling at him.

I turned away and crumpled up the note in my
hand.

“You didn’t want me to read it?” he said
confused.

“No.”

“Then why is it addressed to me?”

Even though he had a point, I hated that he
justified his actions. How could he think I wanted him to read
it?

“I didn’t give it to you. You only got it
because you were spying on me,” I lividly said, completely
mortified.

He sat for a minute, his face hard like ice,
insides full of frustration.

“Fine,” he growled. “I knew I shouldn’t have
done this. Today was a mistake.”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have after knowing how I
felt about you.” Hot angry tears flowed over my cheeks. “Why would
you want to tease me when you knew that this could never be?”

“Because I’m selfish,” he said, raising his
voice. “I was hoping it would make things easier.”

“Well, I don’t know how you figured
that!”

“You have no idea what it’s been like for me
the last ten years, Julia – watching you from afar and never able
to even talk to you. It’s been a lot worse for me. For you, it’s
only been a little over a week!”

His angst hit me like a tidal wave causing my
anger to subside. His admission left me confused and bewildered. I
felt foolish for not seeing his experience had been far worse than
my own.

“Oh,” I said, not knowing what else to
say.

We sat in silence while Nicholas fumed. I
realized I really hurt him badly. I reached over to grab his hand.
At first, he didn’t respond, but then he interlaced his fingers
with mine and the tension between us melted.

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking down feeling a
little ashamed. “I wasn’t being fair.”

“It’s fine. Like I said, I’ve accepted
it.”

He pulled up in front of my house and I felt
a pit form in my stomach. As we sat for a minute, I tried to think
of a way to prolong my exit when Nicholas spoke.

“Before you go, we need to talk about Phil
real quick.”

“Oh,” I said, remembering Phil
was
the
real reason for our tryst.

“Do you have any idea what he’s going to do
next?”

“He still wants to talk to me,” I said,
unsure if I should mention that small detail. “But I don’t know
what about.”

Nicholas kept quiet for a minute, his lips
pursed together. I pictured Phil’s face the night before when he
tried to coax me out of the car and my cheeks blushed in response.
I knew partly what he was after, but I wasn’t going to mention
it.

Even though I longed to be with Nicholas,
Phil’s attention flattered me. But the tug between the two made me
feel like a stretched rubber band. On one side was Nicholas, the
most amazing but unavailable guy because he killed a few vampires.
And on the other, Phil, the incredibly hot, new, bloodsucking
vampire, who wanted me and wasn’t afraid to show it. If something
didn’t stop the tug-of-war with me in the middle, I was going to
snap into two.

“I’ve been thinking about this all day and I
think I’ve got a solution to protect you.” Nicholas said,
interrupting my thoughts.

I wondered the same thing earlier. How did he
manage to watch over me and investigate at the same time?

“So…what do you want to do?”

“I want you to stay in your house at
night.”

I furrowed my brow in disbelief. Was he
crazy? I just finished a stint of house arrest with my ankle. I
wasn’t about to do it again because some vampire wanted to talk to
me. Especially when that vampire was Phil. This request was
completely out of the question.

“I can’t. What about my job?”

“It’s just for now. Make up an excuse, quit,
whatever you have to do. I’m serious about how dangerous these
vamps are. Especially Phil. Your house is the only place I know he
can’t penetrate, where you’ll be truly safe.”

His brilliant solution infuriated me. Not
only was he overreacting, but now he acted like a tyrannical
parent.

“No,” I said with folded arms. “I refuse to
be cooped-up in my house.”

Nicholas let out a huge frustrated sigh.

“Julia, you need to listen to reason. I’m not
doing this to be mean. Phil
will
stalk you.”

“You think it’s reasonable to lock me up in
my house? What are my dad and brother going to say? They’ll know
something’s up.”

“You’ll have to figure it out. I’m just
saying I can’t always be there. You have to do this to protect
yourself. Aren’t you afraid?”

“Well, no actually. “

He eyed me suspiciously. “And why not?”

“Because I don’t think Phil wants to kill
me.”

“And why do you think that?”

“Because he told me so.”

He gave me a condescending look and smirked.
I glowered back. He wasn’t going to win this one.

“You’re so naïve Julia. Vampires lie. It’s
what they do.”

“He wasn’t lying,” I said because I knew it
for a fact and didn’t need to prove how.

He let out an exasperated groan.

“You’re making it very hard for me to protect
you,” he said slowly through gritted teeth.

“You don’t have to worry about it. He’s not
going to hurt me. Just find out about the others and leave Phil up
to me.”

“What?”

“He wants to reform, I know it. I just need
to talk to him. Encourage him not to go to the dark side.”

Nicholas pounded his fist into his steering
wheel and cursed. “I can’t believe I’m having this
conversation.”

The rage bowled over me like a suffocating
gas. But I didn’t care. I was determined to hold my ground. “I’ll
tell you when I’m leaving, so you’ll know.”

“Oh thank you,” he said sarcastically.

“Just do what you need to do. I’ll take care
of myself,” I said, wanting to antagonize him.

He glared at me and clenched his mouth shut
as his emotion grew thick with irritation.

“I should just let you deal with one and
we’ll see who’s able to handle themselves,” he seethed.

“Yeah, you should,” I said, knowing I was
being completely absurd. We both knew the one behind the alley
would have finished me off if I were alone.

“Fine, since you’re feeling so brave, do as
you want.”

“I’m glad you’re finally seeing things my
way,” I said but wondered why the sudden change.

“Well, don’t blame me if something
happens.”

“I won’t,” I said, with a quiver in my voice.
I started to believe he really was going to quit being my
guardian.

We both stared each other down.

“I’m going to go,” I said coolly.

He turned his face towards the front
windshield. “Bye.”

My stomach pitched and rolled over, I fought
getting sick. All the emotion was more than I could handle and I
needed to get out of the car before I lost it on his floorboard. I
lurched open the handle, climbed out and closed it before he could
say anything else.

My feet practically ran down the cobblestone
path, but I listened for his retort that never came. His tires
crunched the gravel and spun out instead. That’s when I remembered
my shells were in the trunk, but he was halfway down the street,
turning the corner. It was too late to stop him.

. . .

17
- PROTECTION

Confused and heartsick, I walked inside the
house. There were two suitcases sitting in the front hall.

“Oh good, you’re home,” My dad said as he
came out of his office with his briefcase. “Have a nice time?”

“It was okay,” I said, trying to sound
chipper.

I went straight over and wrapped my arms
around his chest. His confusion surfaced as I lingered in our hug
longer than normal, hoping for some fatherly protective
consolation. But it paled in comparison to Nicholas’ solace.

“Everything okay?” he asked after I finally
let go, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Everything’s fine. I just miss you when you
leave,” I said fighting back my tears, feeling completely
overwhelmed with emotion.

“I’ll miss you too.” He kissed my forehead
but still looked concerned. “I will only be gone for a week this
time. I’ve been to the store and stocked up the fridge so you and
your brother will have plenty of food. And I left some cash on the
counter in case you need anything.”

“Okay,” I said and sighed.

“I have to go though. I don’t want to miss my
flight. Call me if you need me.”

And before I knew it, he was gone.

I slumped down on the couch and pouted. The
sun had just set, trapping me until morning. And even though I’d
put up a good front to Nicholas, I was scared to leave the house
now.

My phone remained quiet in my hand.

More than anything, I wanted him to call. I
needed to know he’d always be there even when I acted like a
stubborn mule. But I knew he wouldn’t. And I couldn’t swallow my
pride and call him – even if I regretted my actions.

I went upstairs and took out my math book.
Algebra would have to preoccupy my evening. But after solving one
problem I found myself lost in thought, the harsh tones of our
fight bouncing around in my head. I let out a sigh of exasperation.
I needed chocolate.

The double fudge ice cream was still in the
freezer, untouched and hard as a rock. I managed to scoop up enough
to drown my sorrows when I caught sight of the morning paper.

The headline read “
Teen death in alley.
Authorities asking for help.
” I flipped to the story with
uneasiness. Apparently a student from Soquel High was found dead
downtown. Authorities were asking for eye witnesses. A wave of
nausea hit me as I read the gory details.

I wondered if I should report something, but
knew that was impossible. Vampires were doing the killings. But I
worried if Phil was involved. The whole situation confirmed the
danger everyone was in and the validity of Nicholas’ concerns.
Apprehensively, I looked out the kitchen window, peering into the
black night. No one was there, but it still seemed eerie. They were
out there somewhere, ready to take anyone who crossed their path.
Would I always be afraid of the dark now?

I heard the soft sounds of the TV in the next
room and decided to keep Luke company– being with him felt safer
than being alone in the kitchen.

“Hey,” I said, as I slid into the
La-Z-boy.

Luke sat mesmerized with his face glued to
the TV. The program he watched showed continuous clips of wild
animals in their habitat. I had to turn away when a lion brutally
snapped the neck of the gazelle before ripping into its flesh.

“What are you watching?” I asked, while
putting down my bowl. I suddenly lost my appetite.

“
When Animals Attack
.”

I peeked through my fingers to see if it was
safe, but re-shielded my eyes when the tiger separated the baby
elephant from the pack. I couldn’t watch anymore.

“Crazy, isn’t it?” he asked with a sick smile
on his face.

I started to imagine the same scenario but
with the boy from the newspaper article. I could see him minding
his own business walking down the street, maybe coming from the
local drugstore with cold medicine for his sick grandma when he
hears a noise. Maybe it’s an animal whimpering or a baby’s cry that
lures him into the alley. When he finds nothing he turns back
towards the street but is greeted by three dark figures blocking
his way. One cackles an ominous laugh and they jeer and tease him,
getting excited as they watch their victim grow anxious in fear.
Then one crouches down like a tiger and before the boy knows it,
he’s thrown against the wall and the vampire sinks his teeth into
his neck. I gasped.

“What’s wrong with you?” Luke asked with a
puzzled look.

I snapped out of my trance and realized my
gasp was misplaced. At the moment a commercial played with cuddly
koalas promoting Fluffy Soft toilet paper.