The Locket (18 page)

Christian kept his eyes busy, trying to do anything but meet hers. “Not every day, I suppose.” It seems he did not like this whole lying scheme after all. It became more and more difficult not only to keep track of his story but also to hide the truth from someone he was beginning to trust and be more comfortable with. Oddly enough, despite her abnormal behavior, her indecent—though not unattractive—way of dressing, and her crude manners, Christian had felt much more himself with her than with anyone else.

This made it extremely difficult to keep any secrets from her.

I do not want to hurt her, he thought regretfully. He said it in his mind with confidence as if that were the one thing he was sure of, even if that meant he wasn’t quite so sure about anything else. But …

There was always a “but,” he thought. I cannot simply tell her who I am, that is out of the question. My location would be at stake and if I had to go back … no, I refuse to go back. I refuse to be put under that hot light of responsibility and dependency.

Christian’s thoughts were soon interrupted by a rustling in the bushes and a faint sound of a hard crunching of the leaves. Somebody was coming.

The noises mounted, becoming louder and louder. They moved closer and closer to where the two of them sat, until the sounds were just beyond the thin line of bushes that stood between them and the rest of the forest.

Savannah didn’t realize that she was holding her breath until she heard Christian’s own coming out in huffs. Daring to slide her eyes briefly in his direction, she noticed that his face tightened in anticipation, brave and aware. His body had tensed and was moving carefully in front of her, poised almost like a cat’s before an attack.

Too anxious to be flattered, Savannah watched as the source of the noise moved beyond the bushes and into view. A silhouette of a man, or what she hoped was a man, was making its way toward the campfire.

Moments later, a face as pale as the moon was turned in their direction, focused on them. From a distance, it seemed wrinkled or possibly deformed. The eyes that gazed upon them were eyes as green and attentive as a cat’s, taking some of the attention off of his broad shoulders. The creature had a strong chin and a sharp look, with his thick, black hair slicked back. There was nothing about his exterior that made him appear vulnerable.

Realizing that he was in the presence of company, the creature grinned at them, showing very white and very sharp pointed teeth. Then it occurred to her; this was no ordinary man. This was a vampire.

Savannah’s blood ran cold, leaving her stiff with fear. She could not decide whether to run and hide, or whether there was no use and she should stay and try to use her wits to get her out of this mess. Before she could make up her mind, the vampire lightly placed down his firewood on a nearby log and beamed at them. “Hey, more company! Just what I needed!” Her eyes stayed glued on him, even when he edged closer to the fire. “What brings you two around this neck of the woods?”

“We were just in the middle of our quest when we noticed a fire burning not too far away.” Christian answered without so much as a hint of distress. Savannah observed how his body slacked back to normal, as though the danger had passed. “Since it was so dark, we hoped that you would not mind spending the evening with us.”

While Savannah sat still gawking at him, she was able to take note that when the vampire zeroed his attention on Christian, a brief surge of confusion crossed his face before he set the problem aside, came over, and stuck out his hand. “I most certainly do not mind it at all if you stay! I appreciate the extra company. My name is Dimitri.”

“Christian,” he took Dimitri’s hand with a powerful shake.

Turning toward Savannah, he smiled warmly. “And you are …?”

“I’m Savannah,” she declared, offering him her hand to shake. Instead, he cupped his hand around hers, brought it to his lips, and lightly kissed it.

“Savannah, what a lovely name. But your name pales compared to your face. It suits you.” Her face automatically flushed from the compliment, though it took a bit longer for the giggle to escape her mouth. The shock was at last seeping out of her body, as she was growing immediately more comfortable with him. After all, he was just another creature in the world that still didn’t exist to her, so he couldn’t possibly be real or dangerous. Might as well enjoy receiving a compliment and the flirty smile that crossed his face as he kissed her hand again.

Christian, on the other hand, did not take to the gesture as kindly.

The site of Dimitri kissing her hand was irritating enough. But to have her smile at him so foolishly in return … no, he wouldn’t think about how much that bothered him. He wouldn’t think about how a girl so troublesome could make him feel so protective of her. Worse yet, so envious of the man holding her hand.

Christian deliberately cleared his throat, pleased with himself when he saw that it broke their gaze. “So, Dimitri, how did you come to be here?”

“Oh well,” he began, waving a hand in the air passively as he took a seat next to Savannah, “my family and I had lived in a tunnel underground for the longest time. It wasn’t until recently that I decided I wanted to do more with my life than just sit around, doing nothing. I wanted to see what was out there and what I could do for the world. And once I realized that the trees here cover up most of the sunlight, at least most days, I left. I still haven’t quite figured out what I’m meant to do. I just know that I’m meant to do something more than simply sitting in a dark tunnel, afraid of the world.”

Savannah grinned, feeling a small kinship between herself and Dimitri. The only difference was, she still had yet to come out from her dark tunnel. “That’s very brave of you,” she said, placing her hand on top of his. Her smile widened when he looked up at her and returned her grin.

“Thank you,” he replied, taking her hand in his.

Her eyes shifted briefly over to Christian, and when they did, she was stunned by the scowl on his face. His eyes rolled, and without looking at her, he turned toward the fire with his hands staying occupied. What was eating him? To the best of her knowledge, neither she nor Dimitri had said anything that might have made him angry.

Whatever it was, Savannah had had enough of his self-absorbed attitude and was ready to have it be known. “You know,” she added on, making sure to grab Christian’s attention as well as Dimitri’s, “I really like it that you can go out in the world and discover yourself. I think it makes you stronger and much wiser than someone who just … runs away from his problems.”

She didn’t look at him, but Christian knew she was talking about him. He could hear it in her voice that she meant the comment, mostly, as a sarcastic one. You’re just adding fuel to the fire, he thought as he watched her free her hand from Dimitri’s and use it to search through her sac.

He kept his eye on the two of them as Savannah cooked their dinner, talking with her newfound friend without giving Christian so much as a second thought. He began to feel a knotting in his stomach, but decided to endure it. Turning away would only be showing signs of weakness and disrespect, no matter how painful it was becoming to be a third wheel. He could not let Savannah know that this was bothering him so much … it would be too embarrassing.

Resentment surging through him like crazy, Christian finally suggested getting some sleep before the next big day ahead of them. Nodding in approval, Dimitri picked up a bucket of water and tossed it over the fire. Darkness was infinite.

***

Christian was the first to awake that morning. Careful not to disturb his companions, he slipped the canteen out of Savannah’s sac and headed out to look for a water source. As a child, being the first to rise in the morning was always a bore because until someone else woke up, you had no one to play with or talk to. Over the years he grew to enjoy, even embrace, the silence and the solitude; it gave him time to think, time to reflect on his life. It is what eventually led him to the conclusion that he needed to run away.

Now, like an old friend lost over the past few months, he needed it again. Just what was he to do about Savannah Morgan? He didn’t hate her, didn’t love her, and couldn’t seem to get along with her. He most certainly wasn’t indifferent when it came to her either. So what was she to him? An acquaintance? No, that was too formal, too impersonal. A friend? Possibly, though they hadn’t known each other long enough or intimately enough to consider themselves friends. She vexed him, but not in a way that made him want to walk away from her. She intrigued him, but not in a way that made him want to be with her forever.

But he liked her. He would certainly by lying if he claimed he didn’t have feelings for her.

And just what does that Dimitri have that I lack? he thought as he came to a shallow stream. Is it his dark, slick hair? Is it his deep, chilling voice? What? I cannot imagine what she sees in him. He shrugged at his own question and then knelt down to dip the canteen in. The coolness of the water trickled over his fingers, feeling wonderful in the morning heat.

When he got back, the other two were already awake. “Well, good morning, Christian,” Dimitri said cheerfully. “We were wondering where you ran off to.”

He thought twice about spreading a scowl across his face. “I went to refill the canteen, that is all.”

Giving a quick stretch, Savannah smiled sheepishly at her new friend. “I’m sorry, Dimitri, but I’m afraid that we have to go, at least if we want to reach our destination in time.”

She came over and embraced him. “I understand,” he announced, squeezing her tightly. “I wish that you could have stayed longer.”

“I know, I’m sorry. Really, I am. But I think that it’s best to leave now and get as far as we can before dark.”

“I agree,” Christian added, taking a step back when Dimitri came to hug him as well. “I think that we had better leave very soon.”

Giving him a quick glare, Savannah brought her attention back to Dimitri. “Goodbye, Dimitri. It was a pleasure to meet you. And thanks again for letting us share your campfire.”

“Anytime, my friends,” he smiled at them warmly. “Goodbye, and good luck!”

Savannah waved back, nudging Christian to do the same, and within moments, he was nothing more than a figure in the distance.

***

It took the two of them three hours before the tall grass became short enough to only nip at their lower ankles. After not much longer, it began to look more like a path, and whether that was more of a good or a bad thing became a personal debate in Savannah’s head.

Meanwhile, Christian’s thoughts were more directed on whether or not he should ask Savannah if she had any feelings for Dimitri. The problem was that he knew that her reaction would be far worse than the embarrassment he would feel for saying anything. He was nervous as hell to ask her.

“You and that Dimitri seemed to get along pretty well.”

Savannah turned her head and looked at him with eyes that were oblivious to his mood. “Hmm? Oh yeah, yeah he’s a nice guy.”

He fell silent again when she turned her head back as if that was the end of the conversation. Little did she know what was bursting inside of him. “What was going on between you and Dimitri?” He held his head up high so that he would not have to look directly into her eyes.

“What?”

He rolled his eyes. “You heard me. I said, ‘what was going on between you and Dimitri’?”

Savannah furrowed her eyebrows in a face full of confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know what I mean,” he replied bitterly. “I saw how cozy the two of you looked, sitting next to each other and giggling by the fire. It was almost sickening,” he added, moving a tree branch out of the way.

Still puzzled, she matched his pace and tried to get him to stop and talk to her more directly. Where was all this sudden anger coming from? “Chris, there is nothing going on between me and Dimitri. If you …” she froze mid-stride. “Oh … I see.”

Peeking back, he followed her lead and stopped. “What?”

Savannah stared intently into his eyes and then at the rest of his face. She saw it now. She might be a bit jaded in this area, but there were certain things that just popped out at you. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

“Jealous? I never get jealous,” Christian confirmed before he began walking again.

She came up alongside of him, smiling sweetly. “There’s a first for everything.”

“Listen,” he pulled her aside. “People like me do not get jealous. They never have and they never will, especially over young maidens such as you. Understood?”

When he went ahead, she could not move for a second after that last remark. All she was able to say was a whispered, “Got it.”

Before she could start walking again, she noticed Christian had stopped up ahead, his hands on his hips in speculation. Catching up to him, Savannah detected the problem instantly … the path they have been on split into a huge fork. Oh no, she thought. “Which way should we go?”

He did not immediately answer, being too absorbed in his own thoughts. “Uh, well—I believe that—uh …” As he rattled off, mumbling his thoughts out loud, Savannah became distracted with one of her own.

Wait a minute. She zealously dug into her sac, drowning out the sounds of Christian’s repetitive rambling. Of course! The king gave her a map. Now if she could just find it and figure out where they were …

“All right, I know what to do at last!”

“Found it!” she shouted, not realizing that he was not listening. “Ok, we go … right!”

“Left!”

The two of them examined each other in frustration. “Now why is it that you suppose we turn right?” he asked in obvious displeasure.

“Because the map says so,” she replied with the same uncalled for attitude. She shoved the sheet of paper in front of his face.

He examined it quickly and concluded, “It is upside-down.”

“No it’s not,” she countered, while not even looking at the paper. “You’re just saying that because you don’t want me to be right.”

“No,” he said, giving her a stern look. “I am saying it because it is upside-down. Look, see the Enchanted Pond?” Christian asked, pointing to a small blob on the map. Noticing that she was not satisfied, he tried to make it easier for her to see it his way. “Find me the compass on your map.”

Savannah took a deeper look at the drawing in front of her. “What compass?”

He tore the paper away from her hands and studied it himself. “Who drew you this map? I must say, this is one of the most childish and unrealistic drawings that I have ever—”