“Don’t go,” I implored him.
“I have to.”
“Is there still a chance to run away?” I asked,
only half-jokingly.
He chuckled and put his arm around me,
kissing my forehead.
“Sweet Alice,” he whispered, his lips still
pressed against my forehead. “I would run away
with you in a heartbeat… if it were possible.”
I sighed. I wanted desperately for it to be
possible. The thought of him leaving now… it
was unthinkable.
But the next day, he was leaving.
*****
Chapter Three – Alone
Kai was locked in his room when I got home
that day. He refused to answer, even when I
begged and pleaded. Only the sound of his
paintbrush angrily swishing against the canvas let
me know he was still alive.
Max was leaving, and Kai wasn’t speaking to
me. I tried to call Jamie, but I only got her
voicemail. My mother and Will had gone to a
movie. I felt truly alone. Then I remembered
Max’s birthday gift. I went downstairs and found
the keys to Kai’s car in his coat, which hung on
the hook by the door. I knew Kai would be
furious with me for taking his car to see Max,
but he wasn’t speaking to me, anyway.
With Max’s gift in my hand, I got into Kai’s
car and drove to Max’s house. I guess Max saw
the car through the window, because he met me
outside the front door.
“Are you crazy?” he whispered. “What if my
dad sees you? You know he could track you if he
ever met you!”
“I had to see you one last time,” I said. “I
brought your birthday present.”
“Please, Alice,” he begged. “You have to go
before he sees you!”
“Fine, meet me down the street,” I agreed.
“Fine, fine,” he urged. “Just go!”
I got into Kai’s car and took off. Max’s eyes
followed the direction in which I was headed,
and I knew he would follow me soon. I pulled
into the parking lot of a gas station that appeared
to have been closed for some time. The windows
were covered with plywood.
A few minutes later, Max pulled up.
“Do you have any idea how dangerous that
was?” Max admonished.
“I had to see you,” I said, tears filling my eyes.
“Your gift…”
I pulled the package from behind my back and
thrust it toward him, looking up at him with
puppy dog eyes.
He took it gently and sighed.
“I can’t be mad at you,” he admitted.
He placed the box on the hood of Kai’s car
and unwrapped it. Inside the box was a small
golden trophy. A figure atop the trophy held a
bowling ball as though he were about to release
it down the lane. The engraving on the plaque
underneath the figure read: To My #1 Bowler,
Love, Alice.
He was apparently stricken speechless. He
stood there motionless, staring at the inscription.
“Our first date,” he finally said solemnly.
“It wasn’t really a date,” I reminded him.
“Jamie was there.”
“It was a date to me,” he corrected me,
stepping closer.
“I have to get back,” I said. “Kai’s going to
freak out when he realizes I stole his car to come
see you.”
“You stole Kai’s car?” he asked, raising one
eyebrow at me.
“I had to give you your birthday gift,” I
explained. “I won’t see you tomorrow.”
“I wish I didn’t have to go,” he moaned.
“Me, too,” I agreed.
“I’ll think of you every moment of every day,”
he promised me. “Say it one last time.”
I stepped up until I was right in front of him,
and I stood on my tiptoes. He leaned down, and I
put my arms around his neck. My lips kissed his
ear gently, and I breathed, “I love you.”
He shuddered and closed his eyes, his arms
pulling me tightly to him. His cheek brushed
against my face, and his lips searched for mine. I
turned toward him, and he kissed me.
“I love you for every moment of forever,” he
said.
I stood there in the parking lot for several
minutes, almost hoping he would come back and
sweep me off my feet – taking me away into the
sunset. But he never came back. I listened
intently for the roar of his car, but I was met with
nothing but deafening silence.
I drove home, expecting Kai to meet me
outside, but he wasn’t there. I placed his car keys
back into his pocket and slowly trudged upstairs.
My feet felt like they weighed 200 pounds each.
I paused outside Kai’s door, and I heard the
telltale swish of his paintbrush flicking across
the canvas moodily. I didn’t bother to knock. I
went into my bedroom and collapsed onto my
bed in utter exhaustion. I fought sleep, knowing
that the next morning, Max would be gone. I
wanted to stay awake and at least savor every last
moment of his being in town, but my eyelids
finally became too heavy, and I fell asleep.
The next morning, I awoke with a feeling of
dread. Max was gone, and I might never see him
again. A lump rose in my throat and threatened to
turn into tears, and I swallowed it back. The last
thing Kai needed to see was me blubbering over
Max’s departure.
I took a deep breath and tried once more to
choke back the overwhelming emotions that
were assaulting me. Somehow, the sunlight
streaming through the crack between my curtains
seemed dull and lifeless, and the air in my room
seemed devoid of life. I couldn’t let Kai see me
like this.
I decided to get up and send Max an email.
Maybe if I could communicate with him now and
then, things wouldn’t seem so hopeless.
Max,
I’m assuming you’re already gone, and my
world seems empty without you. I miss your
friendship already. I miss you.
I know you had to leave, and I understand
why, but I hope we can keep in touch by email,
at least. Write soon.
Alice
I felt a little better after emailing Max, so I
went to see if Kai was awake. I knocked lightly
on his door, but I got no response. I sighed. I
heard no activity downstairs, so I went back to
my room to call Jamie. Voicemail again.
It felt like the whole world was conspiring
against me to ensure I was truly alone. I crawled
back into bed and tried desperately to fight back
the tears, but it was impossible. I’d never in my
life felt so truly alone.
I heard a gentle tap on my door.
“Come in,” I said, quickly trying to dry my
tears with my hands.
Kai peeked in. “Alice?”
&
nbsp; “Kai! Come in!”
He came into the room and sat on the bed
beside me. Despite my best efforts, a tear welled
over and spilled down my cheek. He gently
brushed it away.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” he said.
“Please don’t apologize, Kai. You had every
right to be upset with me.”
“I know, but I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you, too. I didn’t mean to.
The only reason I didn’t tell you I was ditching
school with Max was because I knew it would
hurt you, and there was no reason to hurt you
since he was leaving town anyway.”
“I know,” he said gently. “I just wish you
didn’t… well, I wish…”
“I know, Kai. You don’t have to say it.”
He leaned over and wrapped his arms around
me, and I put my head on his shoulder. I felt his
jaw clench against my head, and I knew he was
upset. He must have been trying not to cry.
“I love you,” he said quietly, his voice
threatening to break.
“Oh, Kai,” I breathed. “I love you, too. I hope
you know that.”
“I do.”
“Please don’t ever forget.”
He pulled the blankets back and got into bed
beside me. Wrapping his arms around me, he fell
asleep. It felt so good to lie there with him that I
actually went back to sleep, too.
I woke up around noon, and Kai was gone. I
felt a twinge of loneliness again, and I went
downstairs. Kai was in the kitchen, and his back
was facing me. I couldn’t tell what he was doing.
He turned around and smiled when he heard me
shuffling across the floor.
“I was making you something to eat,” he said,
beaming proudly.
“Oh, my gosh, thank you,” I said, suppressing
a yawn. “I’m starving.”
He turned around with a tray in his hands. He
had a bud vase holding a single rose on the tray,
along with a can of Diet Coke, a glass of ice, and
a roast beef sandwich with carrot sticks and
ranch dressing – my favorite lunch.
“I was going to serve you in bed,” he
mentioned, placing the tray in front of me on the
bar.
I hopped up on a stool. “Are you going to join
me?”
“I’m not hungry,” he said. “But I will sit with
you while you eat.”
It was hard to choke down the food. It was my
favorite, but all of the emotions I’d felt the past
few days were still raw. Max was gone, and Kai
was too good for me. I felt like the world’s most
evil person. I’d betrayed Kai yesterday, and I was
sure he knew the extent, yet he was going to
serve me lunch in bed. I was truly, truly evil.
“Let’s do something together,” I suggested.
“Anything you want,” Kai agreed.
“Maybe we could go out to dinner tonight,” I
suggested.
“We could do that.”
“A movie maybe?”
“Sure.”
“Could we go to Tybee tonight?” I asked
quietly, nibbling a carrot.
Kai was quiet. I peeked at him, and he was
staring at me with a slight smile on his face.
“You really want to go to Tybee?”
“I think it would be good for us to be there
together again.”
“I agree,” he said.
“So let’s have dinner and a movie tonight,” I
said. “And after we’ll go to Tybee.”
“Sounds good,” he said, planting a kiss on my
forehead.
I’d been afraid he wouldn’t want to go to
Tybee – like maybe our relationship was so
damaged he wouldn’t want to go there with me
anymore, because it would taint the place. But
instead, my asking to go seemed to give him
hope that things would be okay. I guess he
thought I must really still love him if I wanted to
go there with him.
It was settled.
*****
Chapter Four – Renewal
Kai chose the movie and I chose the dinner
location. We watched an action movie, which I
was happy about. I wasn’t one for watching
sappy chick flicks, anyway. I preferred science
fiction and action movies.
For dinner, I chose Italian food. That would
have been an ironic choice if people had known
we
were
vampires,
given
the
popular
misconception that vampires are somehow afraid
of garlic. The irony had Kai and me snickering
through the whole meal.
We got to Tybee around ten o’clock that
night. It was a chilly February evening, and the
beach was completely deserted. Kai spread out a
blanket, and the two of us relaxed together. It
was an especially breezy night, and I could taste
the briny seawater in the air. I leaned against him
and sighed happily. He put his arm around me
and squeezed. I wasn’t alone, anymore.
I couldn’t believe I’d never been to the beach
before I met Kai. It was such an incredible place
at night. I could never get over the way the
moonlight sparkled like millions of glittering
diamonds across the water. I could have looked
at it forever.
When it was nearly midnight, Kai and I heard
a commotion further down the beach. It sounded
like a woman crying and a man shouting. We
went to investigate, and we discovered a couple
arguing. As we neared them, we could see the
woman had a black eye and was crying while the
man was shaking her violently.
“We should do something,” I commented.
“What can we do without calling attention to
ourselves?” Kai asked.
I looked around. There was no one else
nearby. It was just the arguing couple and us.
“I haven’t fed in several days,” I said slyly.
He grinned at me wickedly. “How can we get
the woman somewhere safe?”
“Leave it to me,” I winked.
With that, I sauntered over to the couple.
“Is there a problem?” I asked sweetly.
“None of your concern, little lady,” the guy
bellowed.
I was blasted with the stench of alcohol and
cigarettes
emanating
from
him.
It
was
nauseating.
I looked directly at the woman. She looked
terrified. “Are you okay?”
“I… I’m fine,” she stammered anxiously.
“You don’t look fine,” I commented,
scrutinizing her injuries.
“I said it’s none of your damned concern!” the
man shouted.
“Please don’t talk to my girlfriend that way,”
Kai said suddenly from behind the man. “It
makes me very angry.”
“What are you going to do about it, punk?”
the guy spat at him.
“Honey, can you take
this lovely lady
somewhere safe while I deal with this… man?”
Kai asked me.
I put my arm around the woman and gently
said, “Let’s go.”
She looked at Kai and the man glaring each
other and I could tell she was afraid of what the
guy might do to Kai. I knew there was nothing to
worry about in that department. This human
male, tall and bulky though he was, would never
stand a chance against Kai.
I led the woman away from the beach, and I
asked her where she was staying. “We’re staying
at the Sea Breeze,” she told me.
I took her safely back to her hotel room, and I
gave her my cell phone number and told her to
call me if he tried to hurt her again. She insisted
she would be fine, though I wasn’t so sure.
I met Kai on the beach, and he already had the
guy paralyzed with his venom. “I saved him for
you,” he said with a grin.
“Thanks,” I winked, sinking my fangs into the
flesh of his neck.
I was thinking it was a shame he couldn’t feel
this and wouldn’t remember it the next day. I had
no patience for abusive people, especially after
seeing the way Kai had been treated.
Suddenly, I heard a deep gasp behind us.
“You!” a man’s voice shouted.
I turned to face the voice, and there stood a
very tall, muscular guy who appeared to be in his
twenties. He had intense green eyes that seemed
to reflect the moonlight, and spiky black hair.
For some reason unknown to me at that time, I
shivered.
Kai’s instinct to protect me kicked in. He
moved toward the man, intending to bite him so
his venom would erase all memory of me.
However, as he neared the man, he jumped back
in shock. The man was holding the sharp silver
blade of a hunter. It glinted menacingly in the
moonlight.
“Run!” I hissed, but Kai would not budge. He
stood between the guy and me, holding his arms
out in an attempt to shield me.
“Go!” he hissed.
I realized the hunter had only seen me bite the
human, so I sprang into action.
“Get out of here! This is too dangerous for a
human!” I yelled at Kai. “You don’t know what
you’re getting into!”
“You’re human?” the guy quizzed Kai, eyeing
him suspiciously.
“Go!” I shouted again.
Kai hesitated, and I whispered as quietly as I
could, “Please.”
With that, Kai took off running, careful to
keep his speed slow and even like a human.
“I have no beef with you,” I told the hunter.