isa sat on a timber chair and watched Cody, who had his face covered with his cowboy hat, lying on his bed made of unpolished hickory. She stared at the display of cowboy hats of different sizes and colors hanging on a hat rack thinking of what to say. “Cody,” she said softly.
He lifted up the tip of the hat and gazed at her. “Please don’t shut me out,” she said on the brink of tears. “What happened with you and John?” he asked, knowing the source of her pain.
“Nothing,” she said, not wanting to let on to her disappointment of his rejection. “I know you liked him,” he said, staring at her. “I did, but…,” she glanced down at the floor, “it would’ve never worked. He’s human and I’m a vampire.”
“Come here,” he said, motioning for her to join him on his bed. She sighed heavily and crawled onto the bed, needing his comfort. “Rest your head on my shoulders,” he said. She smiled slightly and laid her head on his shoulders. “It’s okay,” he said. “You don’t have to put up a wall around me. You can let it out.” She buried her head in his shoulders and began to weep. “I’m here, Lisa,” he whispered, caressing her hair tenderly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Anna, Daniel, Billy, and Samuel walked into the department store while the customers stared at the gothic foursome curiously. Walking directly over to the costume section, they began to peruse through the varying costumes. “I saw the way you looked at Queen V,” Billy said teasingly to Samuel. “She’s beautiful—what can I say?” Samuel said. “Somehow I think there’s more to the story than you’re letting on dude,” Billy said. Samuel didn’t answer and continued to look through the costumes.
“Here, Anna,” Daniel said, showing her a Snow White costume. “No way,” Anna said laughing. “Besides, I can’t reflect in a mirror to see how fair I am,” she joked.
Daniel stared her. “I can tell you how fair you are,” he said, his voice taking a serious tone. “You have a sparkle in your eyes when you’re excited about something.
They change colors like a kaleidoscope. Sometimes they’re blue as sapphire. Other times, they are crimson as hot lava, green as an emerald, and yellow as the sun.” Anna stood still, struck by his words. “Your skin is smooth as satin and white as pearls, and your hair black as a stallion yet soft as silk. It shimmers like a sparkling diamond in the light.” He stared at her lips. “Your lips are red as rubies and your kisses hotter than a sultry summer’s night. You are beautiful Anna.” Her breath in her throat caught speechless as she stared at him moved.
“Wow!” Billy said, startling them misty-eyed.“That was beautiful, dude.” Samuel smiled at them. “Very poetic,” he said. “Spoken like someone who was touched by love.”
Anna swallowed hard still unable to speak.
Randi and Rafael entered her apartment. “So how did you hide the credit card?” she asked, setting her purse aside. “It was hidden in my shoes,” he said remembering how John hid his silver stake in his shoes. “I still think you need to speak to the police, and then they won’t be looking for you anymore,” she said. “I was at the cemetery—my fingerprints will be on his body,” he said. His cell phone began to vibrate. He picked it up and saw that Jillian had called. He listened to the voicemail. “Excellent,” he said, hanging the phone up. “What it is?” Randi asked.
“I asked you if you’ll help me,” he said. “Will you?” “I’m involved now whether I like it or not,” she said. “What is it?” “Friday, the gallery will be hosting a masquerade ball in honor of the return of the portrait, and I’m sure that artist will be bringing the vampire.”
“Will you help to distract her coven while I finish her off?” “Her coven?” she asked. “Yes, she has seven vampires that live with her and they are inseparable. If you can help me, then this will be all over.”
Samuel stared at a rock star costume while Billy and Daniel joked over a vampire costume when Anna approached him. “What did Sage tell you?” she asked telepathically. “I saw her go to your room.” He put the costume back and faced her. “She told me that she killed someone,” he replied. “Her thirst for human blood consumed her to the point that animal blood isn’t satisfying the thirst anymore.”
“She killed someone…,” Anna replied. “I know she was devastated.”
“She was,” Samuel said. “Cristian was upset with her being emotional about it, and they had a misunderstanding.”
“No wonder there’s been so much tension between them,” Anna said. “And she feels guilt for turning him.”
“I know,” Samuel said. “She really didn’t want to turn him, but when he was injured, she had no choice. The guilt is eating her alive.”
“Not only that,” Anna said, “We haven’t seen her feed since we’ve been back.” “No,” Samuel said in agreement. “We haven’t.”
“We both love her,” Anna said with a fleeting glance to signal her knowledge of his obvious fondness for her. “We can’t let her give in to the guilt.” She looked over at Billy and Daniel fussing over the cloak.
“Anyway, I’ve chosen our costumes,” she said.
Samuel winced. “Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “It’s perfect.” “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the response.”
She called Daniel and Billy over so they could pay for the purchases.
Cristian wandered around his loft hours after Sage left, replaying her words in his mind. “I have to win back her trust,” he said. “She loves me and I love her. We can overcome this.”
He remembered the first time they made love. Not only the intensity of the encounter but also how frightened she was of giving in to her urge to bite him. “Sage wanted to spare me of this life that she detests,” he thought. “She didn’t want me to live in the same torment. But what she doesn’t understand is I wanted this, so I don’t feel guilt or torment. How can I make her see that she doesn’t have to feel guilty for being what she is,” he said, “and that we can overcome this roadblock between us?”
He closed his eyes imagining her bedroom and found himself inside her room as though he was dreaming, yet he was awake. She was lying on her bed clasping the old newspaper clipping in her hands. Her eyes were closed, but he wasn’t sure if she was asleep.
“Sage,” he whispered. She didn’t respond. He leaned over her and swept his fingers across her cheek. “I love you, Sage,” he said. “I want us to go back to how it was when we fell in love with each other.”
He knelt at her side and watched her lying still like a corpse. “You’re so beautiful,” he said. “After the ball Friday, I’m going to use all my efforts to win you back. You and I will leave for Egypt and be together forever. Mark my words, sweetheart,” he said. “Nothing will separate us.”
“So this is the plan,” Randi said. “Yes, if all goes well,” Rafael said, sharpening the wooden stakes with his new silver hunting knife. “I must admit I’m a bit nervous about this,” she said. “What if something goes wrong?” “It shouldn’t, but a word of warning to you…,” he said. “Vampires are very strong and they will rip out your arms if you get too close. I’ve had my share of battles with them, and they don’t have supernatural strength for nothing.” “The vampire queen?” she asked. “She knows how to get inside your head. Don’t let her,” he said.
“She uses power of suggestion to bend people to her will; she can shift her form.” “Shift her form?” Randi asked. “How?” “She can change into mist, fog, an animal, or insect.” “Oh my God!” she said, astonished. “She has other powers, but those are the ones I’ve seen,” he said. She swallowed. “And we know she can command the weather too,” she said. “But if things go as planned, you probably won’t have to worry about getting too close to her,” he said. “I guess we need to go shop for costumes then” she said wearily. “Thank you for believing me” he said. “It means a lot to me.” “You’re welcome,” she said quietly.
Sage in her dreamlike state remembered meeting Cristian at the furniture store vividly. The way he looked at her…her heartbeat quickening as they stared into each other’s eyes. Then she saw him lying dead on the floor. The next procession of images was from the night at the gallery. Cristian was standing at the podium smiling as he unveiled the portrait that changed both their lives.
She trembled remembering the night he nearly died, forcing her to make the decision to turn him against her wishes, along with the guilt that she has carried ever since and the hunger it awakened in her for human blood.
Suddenly, she saw herself in a structure that was ablaze. Flames were licking at her feet. She could hear screams as she saw her skin begin to prickle and blister; the pain unlike anything she had ever experienced. The scorching heat was so severe it singed her eyebrows and eyelashes. Her lungs ached as she struggled for breath.
She couldn’t see anything but flames in front of her. As the screams became increasingly louder, she realized that the sounds were coming from her. Sage woke up with a start, her body drenched in sweat. The nightmare felt real, as if she was actually experiencing it. Looking around terrified, she realized she was in her bedroom, but the smell of smoke and burning flesh still lingered, making her wonder if she had a glimpse of hell and of her fate.