The Emerald Talisman (33 page)

“Well, you can’t give it back,” he said
plainly.

“What? Why?”

“I willed you to have it,” he said solemnly.
“Only after your death would I be able to retrieve it. Fortunately,
your death will be virtually impossible while you wear it.”

I gasped at the confession, my hands falling
limp into my lap. There had to be another way. But his determined
face told me I’d not win this fight today, plus I didn’t have the
energy to try anyway.

“If it’s impossible for me to be injured,
then why does my cheek hurt?”

“Okay, let me clarify. You can’t die from a
vampire’s hand though you could still be under their influences.
But it doesn’t save you from yourself.”

“That’s good to know,” I said.

I thought back to when I’d lost my voice. I
knew Angelia had somehow silenced me but that’s as far as her power
went. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t unable to crush my
arm.

Suddenly, I felt very tired. I slunk into his
side and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. With a yawn, I
looked at the time. It was after one in the morning, much later
than I thought. I sighed because I didn’t want to go home, but I
didn’t know if anyone worried I was missing. Without a cell phone
they wouldn’t be able to reach me.

“I should be getting home. It’s getting
late,” I said, as I started to reach for the door.

I felt his disappointment was just as strong
as mine.

“I’m sorry to ask you this, but before you
go, I need your help with one last thing.”

“Really?” I was confused.

“Bettina said that she should’ve killed you
earlier. What did she mean by that?”

“Oh,” I said looking down.

Even though Phil was dead, I didn’t want
Nicholas to think I willingly went with him when he kidnapped me. I
kind of hoped the whole sordid thing would have gone away when the
others died. But Alora was still alive and she knew who I was.

“Well…” I took a deep breath. “… Phil
kidnapped me and took me to meet the others. He wanted their
blessing before changing me.”

“Everyone’s blessing or just one?” he
asked.

‘
Don’t tell him about Alora’
I heard
in my mind.

My eyes shot outside. Enigma was nearby
again.

‘
It’s not time for Nicholas to know about
her yet. I promise it will be detrimental to tell him.’

My heart started to beat a little faster as I
felt time passing while he waited and I struggled to give him an
answer.

“Be-Bettina,” I finally said.

“She was the head vampire?”

‘
Tell him there was another, but she’s not
here locally, but was planning to visit.’

“There was another… but she’s not here. She
was going to be coming,” I said quickly, amazed at how easily the
lie came with the cat’s help.

“We need to go there. Where did he take you?”
he said, while starting his engine.

“What about my car?” I asked, as he pulled
out of his spot.

“We’ll worry about that later.”

I looked down the street when he got to the
corner to get my bearings.

“That way,” I pointed.

The hideout was closer than I realized. I
worried Alora was still there and in the confrontation I’d get
caught in the lie. I didn’t want anything else to ruin our budding
relationship, especially after I had the chance to come clean and
didn’t. The closer we got, the more I resented the cat and saw our
relationship unravel in front of my eyes. He’d never forgive me for
keeping this from him.

“What are you planning on doing?” I asked,
feeling my fear heighten.

“I’d like to take care of this before they
can replace their numbers. If you invite me inside, then I can
hopefully surprise them.”

“Invite you?”

“It works both ways for vampires. If they
live there, I can’t come in uninvited either, neither can you.”

“Oh.”

My mind raced. I didn’t know how to get out
of this and the cat was back at the other building.

“I wouldn’t allow you do this without the
talisman though,” Nicholas said, full of new ambition. “Just come
back to the car once you invite me inside. You’ll be safe until I’m
finished.”

“How’s that?” I asked, still not
understanding the significance – like the car provided some unseen
protection.

“Because I’ve never invited anyone in here
but you.”

“Oh.”

I gave a weak smile and thought back to the
tunnel and my driveway. If only I’d stayed in my car that night,
then Phil couldn’t have taken me to meet Alora. I was safe all
along. The revelation hit hard. I closed my eyes as my insides
crawled in alarm.

“Won’t they feel you coming?”

“Maybe. It was a lot easier when I had the
talisman. Don’t worry. I’m good at ambushing. They won’t understand
my power and by then, it’ll be too late,” he chuckled, excited. I
felt the beginnings of a panic attack.

What do I do? What do I do?

I sat on my hands to keep from biting my
nails; the building was in sight now. He pulled up across the
street and parked. This could be the moment the prediction came
true and he died.

“Ready?”

I nodded sheepishly.

He was out of the car before I finished
nodding, opening my door.

I looked at the ominous building remembering
back to the events just a few hours ago. Nicholas grabbed my hand
and walked me swiftly towards the door. Nicholas was far gentler
than Phil, but déjà vu grabbed me, unsettling my stomach.

Once we got to the door and I stopped,
trembling.

“I’ll be okay. Just invite me in and then you
can wait in the car,” he said, noticing my petrified
expression.

“Please don’t do this,” I said, knowing Alora
was ruthlessly powerful.

“Don’t worry about me. Just hurry. They’re
going to know I’m coming.”

Against my better judgment, I quickly lugged
the squeaky door open and whispered “Come in”.

He was by me in a flash, dusty swirls the
only evidence of his decent into the darkness. I stood wide-eyed
trying to adjust to the dark, reaching out to see if I could find
Alora’s presence. Nothing registered beyond Nicholas. I wondered if
I was close enough.

‘
She’s not here’

I jumped and looked down, withholding a yelp.
A familiar black cat wove around my ankles. I hated that she could
sneak up on me like that, not being able to feel her in her cat
form.

“Geesh. You again. What are you doing
here?”

‘
Talk in your mind. I don’t want Nicholas
to hear you.’

I glared at her, miffed with at all the
demands placed on me.

“
Happy? ”
I thought in a distempered
tone.

‘
Don’t be upset. I’m only here to let you
know Alora is gone.’

I waited for her to pry around in my mind and
come up with some wild retort. I didn’t get why she needed internal
conversation when she knew everything I thought anyway. It seemed
juvenile to go through the pretenses.

“
And?”
I thought, feeling
impatient.

‘
What do you mean “and” ?’

“
Don’t pretend you aren’t rifling through
my thoughts.”

‘
I can’t read you anymore. You’ve figured
out how to block me.’

My anger subsided. I wasn’t sure if I
entirely believed her, since she was in cat form and I couldn’t
read her back. I thought some vile insulting things about her as a
test and waited. Nothing.

She didn’t hear me unless I spoke directly to
her.

“
So where’d Alora go?”
I said in my
mind.

‘
Since her coven was
annihilate
d
today, she left to recruit more followers since she doesn’t sire
people. Phil was a mistake.’

I’d wanted to know who’d originally made him,
since Phil didn’t name names.

“
And Bettina?”

She purred loudly in my head.
‘Gone.’

I looked at her little, sweet, kitty face and
swore I saw a smile.

“
Will Alora come back?”

‘
Yes. I’m sure in the near future. She
didn’t get what she was looking for.’

The necklace suddenly turned icy cold against
my skin and I fought to reach up to touch it, not wanting to bring
attention to my medallion. I sensed it knew who Alora was. How
would she know about the talisman if it stayed in Nicholas’ family?
I convinced myself the cat meant Alora’s purpose was to capture
Nicholas.

‘
He’s coming. I’ll warn you when she
returns, until then keep the secret little one.’

And she was gone.

“No one’s here,” he said, his face
crestfallen

“And you’re frustrated?”

“Well, I do enjoy a good fight,” he said with
a wink.

I’d never seen this side of him. I liked it.
But before I could do or say anything else, he’d swooped me up in
his arms and kissed me again. My mind went dizzy as my body fell
limp; yet another part of him that I was powerless against.

“What a day,” I said, breathless as he gently
pulled himself away, brushing my hair out of my eyes again.

“Yes and I should get you home, now that it’s
over.”

The guilt of pushing the limits overpowered
everything now. I was sure everyone was looking for me by now. And
before I knew it, we were back in the car driving stealth in the
direction of my home.

“But my car?” I said, realizing we weren’t
going back to retrieve it.

“If you give me your keys, I’ll bring it to
your home for you. I have business there later anyway.”

I remembered he was going to burn the
building.

“Okay,” I said with a yawn.

I guessed his plan was to park at my house,
do his fancy vampire sprinting back to the building, burn it then
drive my Quantum home. The details weren’t of consequence to me
anymore anyway. We were both alive and everything worked out, the
only things that truly mattered. I leaned my head on his shoulder
suddenly feeling very tired.

I felt the car stop; I groggily opened my
eyes.

“We’re here,” he said sweetly, kissing my
forehead.

I was home.

I felt the atmosphere inside my house and it
was peaceful. No panic, no worries. I was glad, considering it was
now 2:20 AM. I smiled thinking of all the times I’d woken up at
this time, the aftermath of frightening dreams. I never imagined
one day I’d be living the nightmare for real, but have it end like
a dream. Just like the cat had promised.

“I’m going to be toast tomorrow, look at how
late it is,” I said, yawning again.

“Late? Nah. It’s prime vampire hunting
time.”

I caught the twinkle in his eyes, the misty
flecks in his eyes glowing.

We walked hand and hand up to my door. Peace
surrounded us like tiny petals fluttering in the wind. Nicholas
would never run away again out of fear of what some retaliating
vampire could do to me now. Every cell in my body wanted to sing in
joy.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said when we got
to the door.

“On what? My cell phone burnt up tonight,
remember?”

“Oh, well… Then I’ll be seeing you tomorrow,
I guess.”

He gave me a surly look. I jabbed him in the
ribs knowing he was joking.

And the day after and the day after.

But before I could object, he kissed me
again, deeply and I swooned.

“Good night, Julia. Pleasant dreams.”

. . .

23 – ROLLER COASTER

We waited together, a little nervous as the
repeated clicks filled the air, followed by the chilling screams.
The smell of grease and oil mixed with the sweetness of baking
waffle cones and cotton candy. In the distance, the ocean waves
could be heard intermixing with the sounds of people milling about,
enjoying the evening. Nicholas and I stood in line, waiting our
fate, his arms wrapped around me and his head resting gently on the
top of mine. Gawking onlookers exuded annoyance for our blatant
displays of affection.

“I can’t believe I’m at an amusement park,”
he whispered into my ear while attempting to nibble on it just to
annoy me. I shook him off, feeling the disdain change to disgust as
we shuffled slowly closer to the front of the line. I tried to
ignore inquisitive eyes focused on us.

“Well, I can’t believe you’ve never been.
It’s all the rage for humans you know,” I teased quietly, knowing
my use of the word
human
would confuse eavesdroppers, but I
didn’t care. Being daring seemed to be the theme of the
evening.

I felt a little awe struck as I recognized
how closely my life mirrored the roller coaster ride we waited in
line for. For a first timer, you hear the clicks and the screams
unsure if they signify something good or bad. Once you take your
seat, your heart races in anticipation as the bar is securely
fastened across your lap, pinning you in place. The time to retreat
suddenly becomes a point of no return when the conductor waves
good-bye and the car moves forward plunging everyone into
darkness.

“You scared?” I teased as the ride started,
jealous that it wasn’t my first experience riding a roller
coaster.

“Only if you are,” he chided back, putting
his arm around me, exuding excitement but playing it cool. I’m sure
if I could see him, he’d be smiling, the malachite streaks of his
eyes vibrant.

I used to live my life in the dark not so
long ago, the track invisible with unseen horrors lurking around
dark corners. I was naïve to what happened right under my nose,
every little twist exciting. But then I surfaced into the light
exposed to a whole world of deadly creatures. The fear building as
I crept closer and closer up to the top finally reaching
acceptance. And then the clicking stopped and the car paused for an
instant before spiraling downward, the real thrill just ahead.
That’s the precipice we stood on. I could see things were going to
drop out from under us soon, I just didn’t know when.