“I

t’s quiet,” John said while he and Billy played on the Xbox. Billy tilted his head to listen, “You’re right,” he said as they set aside the games and got up, walking out into the hallway and into the living room. It was empty. “Queen V and Samuel are gone,” Billy said. “Maybe we should ask Anna?” John said. “Maybe not,” Billy replied, “She may be preoccupied.” “Lisa then,” John said. They walked to her room and noticed her door left ajar. Opening it, they peered into the cream-colored room with a chestnut bed with

Along the wall were a hope chest with a ballerina music box, a dresser, and rows of porcelain dolls. “She isn’t here,” John said. “Well, that leaves one option,” Billy said. Walking to Cody’s room, Billy lightly rapped on the door. After no reply, he turned the knob, opening it. Both men stopped abruptly at the sight before them. Lisa was nuzzled against Cody on his bed, resting on his chest. He had his arms wrapped around her. Both were fully clothed and were asleep.

Embarrassed by the intimate scene, John suggested that they leave before awakening them. “I know you liked, Lisa,” Billy said, searching John’s eyes. “Does it bother you to see her becoming close with Cody?”

“I will admit that it bothers me a little,” John confessed. “But I told her that we didn’t have a future, and once I did that, I had no say so on what she did with her life—including whom she spends her time with.”

“What makes you think it wouldn’t work between you?” Billy asked. “We come from different worlds,” John said, “and I don’t want to be a vampire, which is what I would’ve had to do if I wanted to be with Lisa.”

“After seeing what happened with Queen Sage and Cristian, it reinforced my convictions that it’s better this way.”
“So your decision to not have a relationship with a vampire doesn’t influence your friendship with one?” Billy asked. “No,” John replied. “Good, because with Samuel so occupied, it’s good to have other friends around, and I like you,” he said. “So you noticed Samuel and Queen Sage too?” John asked. “I thought I was the only one.”
“I always knew they had a close friendship like she and Anna do, but there was something else, and Samuel admitted to me that he was smitten with her once,” Billy said. “Maybe he still is and that’s why Cristian didn’t want him to help look for her, because he noticed it too,” John said, “Maybe Samuel was trying to avoid a messy situation that that would cause.” “Look what happened when Pedro was obsessed with her.” “Samuel is very considerate and respectful of Queen V.”
“He wouldn’t want to get in the middle of her and Cristian’s relationship,” Billy replied. “He’s not like that.”
“Sage, are you alright?” Samuel asked, still holding her. “I’m fine,” she replied still reeling from her bizarre fantasy and the feelings it stirred in her. She looked at the simple gravestone again and noticed that next to Cristian’s grave were two family plots, one containing

DARKNESS AND LIGHT

his mother’s name, Carolyn Thomas, and the other containing the name of Jonathan Thomas. She saw that his mother died the same year as Cristian. “She must’ve died a few months after he did,” she thought sadly. She recalled Jillian West and her desperation to save her son who, unbeknownst to her, has the same name and face as her lost love. “A mother would do anything to protect her child,” she mumbled softly. “To lose a child is unbearable for any parent.”

She understood Jillian’s love for her son, and if she were in the same position, she wouldn’t want her child to live their life as a vampire. “I understand you more than you realize,” Sage thought. Samuel stared at her, pained, as she was lost in her thoughts. “Is this why I was to return to New York?” she wondered. “Was this that purpose? We find each other so that we can both have closure in our lives.” The magnitude of what Jillian West was asking Sage to do was great within her like an old scar chafed raw as she leaned against Samuel and let the emotion wash over her in waves of grief as she wept on his lean shoulders. He affectionately stroked her hair as she buried her face in his neck, sobbing.

“Son,” Christopher asked as Cristian stared at the wall. He watched in anguish as a tear streamed down his son’s face.

“We’re doing this because we love you,” he said taking Cristian’s hand. He looked away from his father and closed his eyes. “We’d remove the straps if you promise to not remove the IV from your arm.” Cristian remained silent. The doctor had mentioned to his parents that because he hadn’t eaten a solid meal for weeks, he would need to be fed intravenously until he was able to consume solid meals again. “I can understand Mother doing this,” Cristian said, turning his face toward his father askance. “But why you?” “I did this because I feel it’s the right thing to do, Son,” Christopher said gently. “By keeping me away from the woman I love?” Cristian asked. “That’s cruel, Dad.” Christopher looked down at the floor, his lips quivering. “Please try to understand,” he said softly. “Your mother and I are doing this because we love you.” Cristian shook his head and stared back at the wall.

“After tomorrow, you won’t remember any of this,” Christopher thought, “because seeing you in pain is killing me.”

John had a tray of food in his hand eating, while Billy drank a glass of blood when the door opened and shut with a clang. “Probably Samuel and Queen V returning,” Billy said. He heard haggard breathing and choppy footsteps as Pedro, badly burned, his clothes barely hanging onto him, limped into the room, and collapsed on the floor. “Pedro!” Billy yelled. John dropped his tray of food to the floor with a clatter. “Sangre!” Pedro said in a raspy voice repeatedly. Lisa and Cody ran into the room at Billy’s utterance, gasping in shock at Pedro’s appearance. “Get blood from the storage room,” Billy said to Lisa, not wanting to touch Pedro because his skin was blistered, bleeding, and sagging from his body like melted wax. “Hang in there, Pedro,” he said as Pedro continued to gasp for air. “Sangre,” he said straining. “Sangre.”