Twlight in Babylon The Vampire Saga by Julien Gregg
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I'm looking for my original editor, Mike. If you are out there and you read this contact me at greggjulien6@gmail.com I'd like to talk with you. For all others the email address above will get to me just put the name of the story in your subject so I don't delete it as spam. I love to hear from readers so drop me a line to let me know what you think of the story.
Chapter Six Bodies in the Forest
It was becoming an urban legend. Don't go into the Babylon Woods or you could die mysteriously. The third body found in the woods was a Kingsville man who'd been the town drunk. They said he'd drank himself into a stupor and then wandered into the woods and drowned in his own vomit. It made the Babylon Herald.
The Maxwells were really worried about all of this. Eventually they'd have to say something more to the tribe. They were talking about hunting down the Children of Apollo and killing them off but something was keeping them in place. That was the fact that Archie couldn't see their daytime crypt. It kept changing and it was like one of them was in charge and never made up their mind on a course of action.
Then suddenly a young Forsaken was hanging around. He transferred to Babylon High School and was suddenly in classes with me. Edward told me that his name was Lincoln and he was Archie's Forsaken drone. It was a shock to me that Archie had taken a drone. He'd always said all he needed was Jasper. I didn't know what had changed, but I welcomed Lincoln or Link as he liked to be called with open arms.
Link was six foot tall with long black hair and very dark eyes. His body was lean just like Jason and John's but he had slightly more muscle than they did. That was odd to me. I'd thought they all looked the same at sixteen. I was to learn soon that Link was seventeen and from the farm of Forsaken that was just outside Kingsville. He had joined the family officially and started school under the name Lincoln Maxwell.
The other kids in school paid very little attention to this. He was just another Maxwell boy for them to ignore. Some commented on it but others just accepted it and went on their way. Mitch and Angela returned to school. I hugged Mitch and then Angela and both wanted to know who the new Maxwell brother was. I told them the official story. Link as he liked to be called had come down from California to live with Dr. Gabriel Maxwell because his parents had died. That seemed all the explanation they needed.
School went on. I sat in my classes, taking notes, answering questions, and taking quizzes. Edward and I did well in Chemistry lab that day and all he talked about were the bodies in the woods and how they would have to do something soon. Otherwise the Council Di Vampire would descend on Babylon.
"But it's Apollo's children doing this," I said. "Surely the Council Di Vampire doesn't think it rules over them as well."
"Brendan probably does," he said. "Brendan said the council governs all of the immortals."
"That's silly," I said. "How can he rule over a people that are so unlike you all?"
"You'd have to ask him that," he said. "I have only seen him a handful of times. I don't like the Council Di Vampire much."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because they impose all kinds of rules," he said. "Sure some of those rules came from the King of the Immortals, but there are new rules that the council has set up. I mean I'd never want to impregnate some woman to have a super drone so I don't care about that rule. There are others that irritate me. For instance, you can't kill your own kind. But at the same time you must settle all squabbles between you and another group of vampires. How can that settlement not entail the killing of your own kind?"
It was apparent that he'd thought of this for a while. I was barely in the know about the council so I hadn't had time to form opinions on what the rules meant to me. I would likely never have to worry about some of them because I'd never break them. But Edward was right about settling all squabbles and killing your own kind.
We talked about that a lot and I could see where he was coming from. In the end we agreed that it was something that we didn't understand and that the only way to really understand it was to go to the council and ask questions. That wasn't likely to happen any time soon.
In the mean time, bodies continued to drop in the woods. Then Archie came up with an idea that neither Edward or I liked much. After a long argument I at least agreed that it was an effective use of my power. There was a body in the woods that no one had discovered other than Archie. He wanted me to burn the body until there was no evidence left.
We went out early in the morning and I had to really concentrate to burn the body and not the forest around it. It took me six tries but I got the body to nothing but ash. Edward was unhappy but at least I knew I could do it now. It still didn't make me feel any better about the red haired woman in Archie's vision.
"Couldn't one of you have burned the body?" I asked as we drove back to their house.
"Of course we could," said Archie. "But you needed the practice. I've been doing some thinking about the woman in my vision. What if she wasn't a woman but a vampire, a Child of Apollo?"
"Why would one of them want to hurt me so bad that my only recourse would be to burn them?" I asked.
"Because they're evil," said Edward.
"Evil?" I asked. "You're not evil. What makes you think that they are?"
"Because they're killing innocent people," he said flatly. I had to agree with him there.
So we spent a few weeks wondering how I'd come into contact with one of the Children of Apollo. Archie told us again that there was an overturned automobile and I was on the ground bleeding when I set the woman on fire and started to laugh. He said it was a desperate kind of laughing. That would make sense. If a vampire came for me and I had to burn her it would be out of desperation.
I spent some time getting to know Stuart and Link as well. Link surprised me by telling me that though he looked like a sixteen year old boy he was actually sixty-seven years old. That told me that the Forsaken live long lives too. Stuart was just an eighteen year old boy who was a senior in high school and now a drone of Edward Maxwell.
They both got a kick out of pyro practice when I wasn't burning dead bodies in the forest. We were usually down by the boarder of La Push in the clearing when I was burning things for pyro practice.
Of course life continued like normal. Charlie commented on the bodies in the forest but never asked me if I knew who had put them there. I did know that if he asked me I'd tell him. I was not keeping secrets from him anymore.
Then the talk of the dance was what was going on at school. The Spring Fling was the name of the dance and of course Edward had bought me a suit. It looked good and I would wear it to the formal dance. He had a suit that looked almost just like mine. We were wearing different ties but I was still worried about being on the dance floor. He just kept telling me that it would be all right with him.
Mitch asked a girl named Jenna to the dance. She was a beautiful girl with long dark hair, blue eyes, and stood about a half inch smaller than Mitch. They looked really good together. Angela was asked to go with a boy named Ben. He was one of Mike's friends but I hadn't gotten to know him all that well. He was a good boy with light brown hair and green eyes. He was built a bit like Mitch but not as big.
Everyone was talking about it and of course they talked about me and Edward going to the dance together. They didn't know that Archie and Jasper would be together at the dance and so would Roman and Emit. I didn't know if the Forsaken were going to the dance. There were three of them now. Jason told me that he wasn't going so I thought the other two weren't going either.
The night of the dance I was dressed in my suit. Charlie and Kale took turns taking pictures of me. When Edward showed up the round of pictures continued. He walked me out to the Volvo smiling from ear to ear.
We arrived at the school about the same time that his brothers did. Archie and Jasper were in blue suits with starch white shirts and blue ties. Roman and Emit were dressed in black suits like mine and Edward's but were both wearing red ties. I was shocked that John and Link arrived in matching suits. They weren't gay so I was confused why they were going to the dance together.
They took our tickets at the entrance to the gym, a room I was deadly in. We posed for pictures right inside the gym and then headed to a table to sit down. Heads turned to see us and I was a little intimidated as we sat down. Heads turned when Archie and Jasper followed us in and then a bit later Roman and Emit. Heads really turned to see John and Link together.
We went to get punch and came back to the table. The others were all dancing, but I wasn't about to get out on the floor to this upbeat song. I was waiting for a slow one so all I did was step on Edward's feet. Even Link and John were out there dancing. Others gave them space. Of course Mitch and Jenna danced right beside Archie and Jasper. They didn't need space between them.
When the song changed I followed Edward to the floor and he led me around it like a pro. I didn't step on his foot more than once and he smiled at me when I did. We danced to two songs and then headed for the table where I drank punch.
"I told you it would be all right," Edward said as we sat there.
The whole gym was transformed. There was a carpet on the floor to keep us from doing any harm to the actual gym floor. Red and gold streamers were strung from the center of the room to all four corners. A disco ball hung from the center of the room with lights all over the ceiling that pulsed with the music.
"That you did," I said with a smile. "I'm having a good time so far."
"Good," he said. "When we leave here we'll go back to the house and see what's happening there."
"Sounds good," I said. "I'm sure that John and Link will be happy to be not `together'."
"Yeah, they shocked me when they told me they were coming to the dance," he said. "Jason told me he wanted no part of it."
"Well wonders never cease," I said with a chuckle.
"Mitch and Jenna look good together," he said. "As do Ben and Angela."
"I don't really know Ben or Jenna," I admitted. "I've been introduced a few times but they've never actually been part of my group. Which now is the Maxwell family as it seems."
"Mitch still hangs out with you at school," he pointed out.
"He's the only one," I said. "But I'm fine with that. Mitch is probably my best human friend."
"Who's your best vampire friend?" he asked.
"Archie," I said with a grin.
"Yeah he thinks the world of you," he said. "He's always telling me about your future. He seems to forget that any changes you make in your life will alter that future he sees so clearly at the moment."
"What does he see?" I asked.
"You becoming a vampire," he said. "You and Mitch working out in a gym, and you and your dad arguing over something."
"That's odd," I said. "Charlie and I rarely argue."
"Well he sees it in the future," he said. "Who knows what you will argue over."
"Well I just hope it isn't about you," I said as Archie and Jasper came back to the table.
"What are you guys talking about?" Archie asked as he sat down.
"You seeing him arguing with Charlie in the future," said Edward.
"I saw him arguing with his mother and father," Archie corrected. "She was packing his clothes and he was yelling at her about something I couldn't make out."
"That's even more odd," I said. "What would I have to argue with Renee and Charlie about at the same time? And why would Renee be packing my clothes?"
"I don't know," Archie said. "I also can't figure out why I saw you on the reservation with Jacob either. One thing about those visions was that none of us were in them. It was always just you and the other people. No vampires were anywhere to be seen."
When he said this he eyed Edward suspiciously. Edward shook his head. I didn't know what was going on but I didn't like it. Now I had all of this to worry about. What would cause Renee to come and start packing my stuff? Why would I argue with her and Charlie, and what was I doing on the reservation with Jacob? That one wasn't exactly hard to figure out. Jacob and I were friendly. Who was to say that that friendship wouldn't become full blown?
"Now you've got his head spinning," Jasper said with a smile.
"I thought you couldn't sense my emotions?" I asked him.
"I can't, but I know your head is spinning on this because so is Archie's," he said, grinning like the cat who swallowed the canary.
"The futures that I see are sometimes a little blurry and that's when they might not come true or have the most chance of not coming true," said Archie. "With these they're crystal clear which worries me."
"What worries you?" I asked.
"No vampires," he said. "Of course we wouldn't be on the reservation, but what would make your mother come and pack your stuff? Why would you argue with Renee and Charlie when Edward wasn't with you? There are a lot of things that seem to be hanging in the balance with you. For instance you becoming a vampire was crystal clear for me a few days ago but now it's a bit blurry. I don't know what to make of it. Plus there's the one where you just disappear from my sight that troubles me too."
"Disappear from your sight?" I asked. "What would make that happen?"
"You would disappear from my sight if I stopped looking for your future," he said. "That would happen for any number of reasons."
"I don't like that sound of that," I said honestly. It scared the living hell out of me.
"I don't like it either," he said. "But something else has to happen to make any of these futures a reality. I can't quite see what it is."
"This conversation has become too heavy," said Roman, saying the first words that he'd spoken to anyone but Emit since they'd arrived. "You said yourself that something big has to happen for those futures to come true. We'll just be on the lookout for something big happening in Beau's future."
"Right," said Archie as he looked at Roman.
"I think Beau and I need to dance," Edward said as the song that played was slow.
I got up and followed him to the floor in silence. What could make my becoming a vampire blurry to Archie's visions of the future? My mind was made up. That was usually what made his visions so clear. I was worried about that one. Plus he was right about me arguing with my parents when Edward wasn't with me. That one threw me for a loop, too.
We danced to a few more slow songs but I was growing tired of Edward trying to keep me away from Archie all night. He had to know it even if he couldn't read my mind. I wasn't exactly subtle when it came to my anger showing on my face.
"You're keeping me away from Archie," I said as we hit the dance floor once again.
"You don't need to have his headache about what he does and doesn't see in the future," he said. "I told you that his visions are subjective. Things always have to happen for his visions to become a reality."
"Why would my becoming a vampire suddenly become blurry to him?" I asked. "You still plan to turn me don't you?"
"I do," he said. "That one bugs me a bit, too. The only reason I can see that his vision of you becoming a vampire would be if you change your mind."
"Well that won't happen," I promised. "Then his vision of it should be clear."
"It should be but many things could change that," he said. "What if you were bitten by the Child of Apollo? I don't know how they turn their fledglings but if it is just a bite then that would cancel you becoming a Maxwell vampire."
"I don't think they'll bite me," I said. "From his vision of the red haired woman I think she wanted me to die a painful death and not turn me."
"Well she won't if you burn her to death," he said, dismissing it entirely.
"So," I said, not willing to let it go so easily. "If she doesn't bite me then I don't have to worry about becoming a Child of Apollo. What else would make me disappear from Archie's sight?"
"You could die, Beau," he said. "No one is saying that you will but one thing that would surely make you disappear from Archie's sight is that you were dead."
"That's scary," I said.
"What's really scary is that I can't live in a world without you in it," he said, taking me completely by surprise. "I would find a way to end my life if yours ends."
That really did end the conversation. I couldn't even think of a world without Edward in it at all. No matter if I died or not. No Edward would mean a dark world in my opinion. He couldn't kill himself if I died. That was unthinkable.
When the dance ended we went back to House Maxwell. Gabriel and Elfric were happy to see me in my suit. They took their own pictures of me and Edward before they let us change. Charlie knew I was spending the night with the Maxwells the night of the dance so I didn't have to call him or anything.
We had a bit of time to chat with the others as soon as we were changed. Edward took my by the hand and led me up the stairs to his room. We undressed each other and then devoured each other. Our love making was gentle that night. He had a lot on his mind and I knew that I had a lot on my mind as well. Archie had thrown me for a loop with his visions.
The next day was Saturday and we spent the first part of the day with me eating a wonderful breakfast cooked by Edward and then we hung out in his room. We listened to music and just lounged against each other until I had to go and talk to Charlie.
I drove my own truck back to the house and Charlie and Kale were both in the house when I got there. I gave them a run down of the dance and told them that I'd actually had a great time. I didn't mention any of Archie's visions even though they both knew that he had them. I made dinner for them and ate with them but Archie was at the door as the sun set to take me to the clearing for pyro practice.
That night he had me trying to burn rocks. Big rocks. The mountain was between us and the reservation but I was sure they could hear the rocks exploding as I burned them. I didn't actually burn them. They just exploded. I was generating a lot of power to do it, too.
I'd found the balance that kept me from draining my energy with the power but this was a lot of power. The explosions were loud, almost deafening. Then Archie stood up straight and Edward was suddenly beside me. The whole family was now surrounding me as Edward shivered beside me.
"What?" I asked.
"They're nearly here," he said.
"I'm sorry," Archie said. "I didn't see them until it was too late."
They came out of the woods silently. They moved like cats in the night. They walked straight to us and stood about two feet in front of the gathering. That they were vampires was evident from the scent of death that surrounded them. One was black with dread locks that came to his waist. One had blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that he directed at us. The third was a red haired female with green eyes. Her long red hair blew in the wind behind her. I wondered if this was the woman I would burn. One look at Archie and I got a gentle nod and knew that this woman was trouble for me.
"We heard the explosions and came to investigate," said the black one. "I'm Laraunt, and this is James and Victoria."
"We're the Maxwell family," said Gabriel. "I'm Gabriel, my partner Elfric and our children, Edward, Beau, Archie, Jasper, Roman, and Emit. The Forsaken are Nathan who is my drone, his sons Jason and Johnathon. Link is Archie's drone."
"A large coven," said Laraunt. "We mean you no harm."
"They have a human boy with them," said James. His voice deep.
"He's part of our family," Gabriel said.
"He smells like you," said the female. Victoria.
"We were hunting in Kingsville and heard the explosions," said Laraunt. "We came running."
"We've seen evidence of you being in the area in the forest," Gabriel said. "We've had to clean up after you."
"Apologies," said Laraunt. "We'll dispose of our dead in another way."
"We mean you no harm tonight," said Gabriel. "You can see that we aren't like you."
"Yes," he said. "I can smell that you aren't like us. Of course we'll leave here and not hunt in your back yard, and the human boy is safe from us as well."
This caused both James and Victoria to look at him hard. I gulped and Edward moved me behind him. Victoria saw this and smiled, showing her fangs which weren't at all like Edward's. I shivered.
"Go now," said Gabriel. "In peace."
"Yes," said Laraunt.
Then they were gone just like that. They'd run away so fast that I couldn't see them. We stood there for a long moment and then I was being ushered to the Volvo. Edward was speaking rapidly to Gabriel and Archie but I couldn't make out what they were saying. He got me in the car and then he drove me back to my father's house.
"She saw it as a challenge when I moved you behind me," he said when we were in my room. "She'll come for you."
"I can't run away or anything," I said. "Archie's vision is about to come true."
"Not tonight it's not," he said. "You're staying in this room with me. Jason is outside watching the yard and will let me know if anything happens out there. They won't come where the Forsaken can get them."
"At least you don't think they will," I said.
"One of us will always be here," he said. "And Jason isn't leaving your side once the sun goes down. He'll be either in this room or outside."
"Okay," I said.
You would think that I was too riled up to sleep but you would be wrong. I said that I had found the balance but that had been a very huge amount of power I had been using that night to blow up the rocks. I was asleep almost as soon as we were cuddled up together in the bed.
The next day I started getting things ready for Sunday dinner and Edward brought my father up to speed on what had happened. Kale was off to the flower shop. Charlie let him get it all out before he started to ask questions or make comments.
"A Child of Apollo is coming for Beau?" he asked.
"We think so," Edward said as Jason came in the back door.
"Charlie this is my Forsaken drone, Jason," Edward said when he came though the back door. "He has been outside all night long on guard duty."
"Come on in and make yourself at home, Jason," Charlie said. "We'll have food here in a minute."
"Thank you, Mr. Swan," he said.
"Call me Charlie," said Charlie. "How many of them were there?"
"Three," said Edward. "Laraunt, James, and Victoria. Now Victoria is the one we think will come for Beau. It was because I made it a point to push him behind me when they were standing in front of us."
"Well you did the right thing," Charlie said. "You were protecting Beau and that's always the right thing in my book."
"Well if you will indulge us, there will always be a Maxwell in the house with you and a Forsaken walking around your yard all night long," Edward said.
"Whatever it takes to keep Beau safe," he said. He looked at me. "You could just go to Florida for a while."
"That's not going to happen," I said. "I'll go to see Mom when I want to see her not because I'm running from some vampire that smells like death rot."
"Okay," he said. "Then we stick it out here. One of you is going to have to hunt them down."
"That's what Roman and Emit are doing today," Edward said, shocking me. "If they find them in the daytime they can just expose them to the sun and the problem will be over."
I knew from Archie's vision that the problem wouldn't be so over any time soon. I had no idea when I would be in an automobile without Edward but it was evidently coming soon. Of that I was sure.
We had brunch I guess you'd call it. I made waffles for everyone. Jason ate six of them and Charlie chuckled at that. I ate two of them and had a glass of milk. Edward of course ate nothing.
Then I was doing dishes while Edward was on the phone with Roman talking about the fact that their daytime dwelling could be anywhere in Kingsville. Or they could have left Kingsville all together.
After dishes I got back to getting things in order to make Sunday dinner. I put the roast in the crock pot and peeled potatoes. Edward helped when he got off the phone. I skinned a bunch of carrots and cut them down to smaller pieces and put those with the potatoes in the crock pot with the roast. Then I started my noodles. I got the mixing bowl and put in six cups of flour, used a drinking glass in the middle to make a hole. Then I put six eggs in the hole and started to stir. When I had a dough I rolled it out flat, cut it in half and then rolled the halves again. Then I dusted them generously with flour and rolled them up. I cut my noodles and unrolled them leaving them in a heap on the table.
I took the roast and potatoes and carrots out of the crock pot and transferred the broth to a pot and turned it on to boil. I took a piece of the now slightly cooked roast and started to shred it. Edward watched me intently as I started to add the meat and noodles to the broth. I stirred them and then got the bread rolls out of the pantry. I put them on a baking pan and turned the oven on at one hundred fifty degrees and put them in the oven. I just needed to warm them up. All of this took almost all of the daylight left but I had it all done by the time Kale showed up at six.
We sat around the table with Jason and Edward. We ate our feast and then Jason went outside to patrol and I went up to my room with Edward. I had no homework to do so we just lounged against each other on the bed.
"You don't seem tense," he said as he rubbed my shoulders.
"I'm not," I said. "It's been a relaxing day."
"You're not the one on patrol or hunting the Children of Apollo," he pointed out.
"No, I'm not," I said. "But I am the one that Victoria wants."
"True," he said. "But she won't get you."
"You know she's going to," I said. "Archie's vision is going to come true."
"I wondered if you'd gathered that Victoria was the red headed female that you burned in Archie's vision," he said carefully.
"I gathered," I said.
"She won't get you as long as I'm near you," he said. "I can't see anything that would pull me away from you."
"She's going to find me," I said. "Archie's vision was clear."
"That's what bothers me," he said. "That one was clear but you becoming a vampire was cloudy."
"I haven't changed my mind if that's what you're asking," I said. I hadn't changed my mind and I wasn't planning to.
"I wasn't planning to ask you anything," he said. "Something has to happen to decide that and that's what worries me."
"Well he didn't see me becoming a Child of Apollo," I said. "So that's off the table."
"Yeah," he said. "There's that. But why would you disappear from his visions like that?"
"You said it could be a number of things," I pointed out.
"Yes, but it worries me," he said.
We didn't talk more about that. Instead he kissed me like I'd never been kissed before. He put so much love and emotion in that kiss that I was hard in no time. The kiss deepened and I was suddenly in his lap. He smiled at me when the kiss ended and then started to kiss my neck and collar bone.
"Are you trying to distract me?" I asked.
"No, I'm feeling a bit needy at the moment," he replied and then he started to lift my shirt.
Was he really going for it with my father down the hall? Kale's room was across from mine. Would he hear? I wasn't about to deny him so to hell with whether or not they heard what was going on in my room.
Once my shirt was off his was too. Then he undid my belt and tried to get my shorts off of me while I was sitting in his lap. I encouraged this activity by raising up and letting him pants me. When I was naked in his lap he pushed me back onto the bed and began to kiss me again. How he did this and got out of his own shorts I'll never know. But suddenly we were both naked and he was moving down my body to take me in his mouth.
I sighed as he worked on me and let him do his job. All too soon he let me fall from his mouth and climbed back up the bed to kiss me again. He wouldn't let me move to get to him so I continued to lie under him. He smiled at me and began to lift my legs. I was ready for him so I didn't protest but when he slid back down the bed and took me in his mouth again I was confused. Then I felt him move lower and I was in that heavenly place between wanting to cum and not wanting it to happen too fast.
Then he moved around in the bed until he was at my entrance. He slid smoothly into me and I made no sound. I was proud of myself for that. I didn't know how he made it so it didn't hurt but I was thankful for that.
Our love making was silent and sensual. He kissed me as he moved in and out of me, and I saw stars almost literally. He moved slow and steady and push me closer and closer to my own climax. I hoped that we could climax together. He sped up a bit and I moaned quietly. Then before I knew it I was cumming all over his torso and he was filling me up. He continued to kiss me as we both rode the waves of our orgasms and finally untangled as he slipped out of me and lay beside me panting.
"I love you," I said softly, running my fingers through my offering on his chest.
"As I love you," he said just as softly.
"I think we need a shower," I said, trying not to laugh.
"Do you think Charlie would mind severely if we showered together?" he asked.
"I think he might," I said. "You go and I'll follow you when you're done."
He got up and walked out of my room naked as the day he was born. I hoped that Charlie or Kale didn't wake up and need the bathroom. They must not have because he came back just as naked and sent me on my way.
I showered and brushed my teeth. Then I put on my ratty Cripen High shirt and a pair of light cotton shorts. I went back to the bedroom and found him in his shorts. What shocked me was that Jason was in the room with us. He and Edward were having a short discussion about whatever was outside of my house.
"I scared her away," he said. "But she'll come back."
"Then get back down there and keep her away," Edward said. "Thanks, Jason."
"Any time," he said and passed me on is way out of the room.
So Victoria had tried to come for me. That wasn't a shock. I knew she wouldn't get to me tonight. I wasn't in a vehicle. Archie's vision had been specific. I had apparently been in the overturned vehicle and she had pulled me out to torture me before I set her on fire.
So it was a waiting game. She couldn't get to me unless I was in a vehicle alone and Edward would never allow me to be in a vehicle by myself with her on the loose. It was a rat race, but I knew that the vision would come true eventually. It had been a clear vision after all.
I'd also come to the conclusion that if my becoming a vampire was now a cloudy vision for him then it was Edward who would change his mind because I sure wasn't going to change mine. That hurt me in more ways than I can describe. I loved Edward with my entire heart. No man or vampire on Earth could take his place in my heart. To have him decide that he just didn't want me anymore would crush me.
Instead of being attacked by a Child of Apollo we went to school the next day. There wasn't much of my sophomore year left. We were gearing up for final exams and then they'd hold the prom and we'd be done. Of course none of us could go to the prom. Roman and Emit could and probably should go but that would remain to be seen.
At school I was able to cast my feelings aside as we went over review in all of our classes. The perpetual good student in me just couldn't shirk my responsibilities for any dramatic thing like being stalked by a Child of Apollo or Edward's probable decision that he didn't want me to become a vampire.
I paid attention, took notes, and even participated in the review of each subject. I was doing really well in all of my classes and would probably make honor roll again. Charlie would be thrilled. Edward didn't participate or take notes but then he'd had these classes over and over again.
Yearbooks were passed out and I was mortified to find not just my picture but seven pictures of me between the binding. There were pictures of me and Edward together, pictures of me with Jason, and pictures of me at the lunch table with all of the Maxwell boys.
People wanted to sign my yearbook and thrust theirs out to me to sign as well. Surprisingly people signed Edward's and he signed theirs. Even Archie and Jasper got in on the signing of yearbooks. Roman and Emit did not. Jason, John, Link, and Stuart all got in on it.
By the end of the day I was tired of school. I headed to work and stayed late to wait for Edward to pick me up as the sun had gone down. We went to his house and I hung out with the others for the evening. I did get some studying done and Archie went out of his way to help me study. He even brought me snacks.
Then my truck wouldn't start which was sketchy. Edward asked Roman to take a look at it while he drove me home. Jason followed behind us morphed into a huge wolf and guarded my house. Edward went upstairs with me.
"So are you studied out or do you want to do a bit more?" Edward asked as we sat in my room that night.
"I need to study some more," I said. "Do you mind?"
"No," he said. "I'll even help. I can quiz you on facts and such."
"Sounds good," I said.
For a few hours that's exactly what he did. I answered more correctly than wrong so he was satisfied that I'd do all right. I didn't want to do just all right. I wanted to ace the exams. Clearly more study time was needed. I only had a few nights left to do this studying before finals began on Monday.
We made it through the weekend and even got to pyro training. That was a moot point with me now. I had all of that down as far as I was concerned. I could burn things at will, I wasn't getting tired from using my power, and I was burning more and more impossible things. Still Archie preached practice, practice, practice. He was on me more than anyone about anything.
The weekend nights brought more studying. Edward continued to quiz me on facts and such and I did even better each time. Finally Sunday night around eleven I decided I'd studied all that I could. Whatever happened with finals happened as far as I was concerned.
One positive thing that had come out of our meeting with the Children of Apollo was that they weren't dropping bodies in the woods anymore. Now they were doing something else with them. There were reports on the news about fires breaking out all over Kingsville. They didn't burn anything really. No structures were damaged but huge scorch marks were left behind and some kind of oily residue with a lot of ash. Apparently the Children of Apollo had figured out how to burn their bodies.
I sailed through my first final of the day. The second was a bit trickier but I got through that one as well. They were only giving us two a day so I had the rest of that day to study for the upcoming finals.
Edward complained that he was feeling a bit neglected as I studied for my finals but I promised to make it up to him when finals were over. He seemed mollified with that. I still hadn't got it out of the back of my head that he would decide he didn't want me to become a vampire or that he didn't love me anymore. I was trying to be positive but it was still in the back of my mind while I studied for my finals. After all I couldn't sacrifice one future if the other didn't work out.
If he noticed I was distant with him he didn't say anything. I worked at the flower shop that night and for the first time I was scared. Edward wasn't there to pick me up, my truck was still at the Maxwell house, and Jason wasn't outside. Then a car pulled into the lot and I was hoping it was the Volvo but it wasn't. Instead it was a Jeep. Kale? What would he be doing here at this hour?
No it was Emit. He strolled into the store and told me that my ride had arrived and that he was taking me to House Maxwell. He said that my father and uncle were already there. That sounded ominous. I got in the Jeep and strapped myself into the harness and off we went.
"Edward's got his panties in a bunch over this," he said.
"I still don't know what this is," I said.
"Oh, Victoria knocked on your dad's door tonight and asked for you," he said. "Jason ran her off. He's still chasing her as we speak."
"That's crazy," I said. "Did she think my dad wouldn't know her for what she was?"
"Don't know," he said. "The point is she's getting bolder. That's what has Edward in a tailspin. He's bugging the shit out of Archie right now."
"Why is he bugging the shit out of Archie?" I asked, though if I thought about it for a moment I was sure I knew why.
"Because Archie didn't see this happening," he said. "He relies far too much on that boy's visions."
Then out of nowhere came something that slammed into us so hard that the Jeep rolled onto it's side. Emit was knocked out which I thought was impossible for a vampire. I was hanging by the harness. Then someone grabbed me and ripped me out of the harness. The force was so much that the harness ripped but not before breaking three of my ribs. The assailant also nearly pulled my shoulder out of the socket.
Pain like I'd never known ran through my body and I had to fight to keep my eyes open. Then I was kicked in the side so hard that I heard more ribs snap. I turned to face the very satisfied face of Victoria. Apparently she'd given Jason the slip.
"You were hard to get alone," she said. "Your vampire friend is out cold. I could kill you now and get it over with but I so want you to suffer. Scream for me."
"Fuck you," I said.
"I said, scream," she yelled as she kicked me again.
Boy did I scream. They likely heard me all over town. The pain was unreal. This time she'd kicked me in the hip, and I was sure from the amount of pain there that she'd broken that as well.
"I'm going to kill you," I warned her. If I could just remember how to access the fire.
"Oh?" she laughed. "A puny human like you?"
"I'm not so puny," I said just before she kicked me again and sent me flying into a tree.
That's when I found it. I embraced it like I'd never embraced it before. I felt it building up in me as she stalked closer and closer. I crawled painfully to the road again to save the trees because my aim wouldn't be so specific this time.
"What's that you said about not being so puny?" she laughed. "I could break you into pieces for your vampire to find."
That's when I unleashed it. I pushed with all of my might and she was engulfed in flames. She twisted and screamed as I fed more and more power into the fire that had engulfed her. Then it was like a high pitched keening and she was gone. I lost my battle with consciousness right then and there.
"Wake and be judged," a voice cried out in my head. I opened my eyes and beheld one of the most beautiful men I'd ever seen.
He had hair as dark as night. His eyes were blue as the sky on a clear day. That he was a vampire I was sure, but the scent was so strange. I'd never encountered a scent like that before.
"What are you?" I asked feebly.
"I am Apollo," he said.
"And just what do you think you're doing," said a female voice.
Apollo and I both turned to see an Egyptian woman standing slightly behind him. She had plated hair that was infused with gold. A white robe covered her from her neck to her feet. She looked at Apollo with disgust.
"Isis," he spat.
"You dare to threaten one of mine?" she asked.
"He's not one of yours," he said.
"Oh but he is," he said. "The power that he used to kill Victoria was mine bestowed upon him at birth. He is a witch and he is mine."
"He's also ours," said another male voice.
I turned to behold twins, men of Egyptian heritage. Their hair was plated behind them with more gold infused in it. They wore tunics that matched and they were both brilliant white with gold piping. On their feet were golden sandals that laced up the shin of their legs.
"Darias," spat Apollo.
"You dare to strike at one of ours?" asked one of the twins.
"I won't have your interference in this matter," said Apollo. "He killed one of mine."
"Because she was trying to kill him," said Isis. "You forget who you are Dark God of the Sun."
"I'll have his life," he said. "Hates can have his soul."
"He is not Greek," laughed one of the twins. "Hades can't touch him."
"But I can touch you," said another male voice. I had assumed was one of the twins until Apollo looked up in horror at who had come to speak.
"Ra," he said.
"He is my brothers' and my mother's," he said. "That makes his soul mine. But you won't take his life tonight. We will take yours if you do."
"Hear me now," said one of the twins. "You will not touch a hair on Beau's head. If you do we will throw your soul into a pit of doom."
"You do not order a child of Zeus around, Ren," said Apollo.
"And what of Zeus?" Darias asked. "He's an immortal man with no power that humans mock to this day."
I was having an out of body experience or something. These were Gods? They had come to fight over me? I couldn't believe it. That they were here was probably a figment of my shattered mind. That I believed in them with my entire soul was a given but were they really there?
"I will not take his life," Apollo said. "But hear me, if he does this again I will take him."
"Not if he is defending his own life you won't," said Isis. "I will smite you if you do."
I lost my battle with consciousness for real that time. I sank into a wonderfully dark place where there was no pain.