A Vampire's Imprint

“Can I come?” Kathleen whined again.

“I said no,” Theodore answered once more. “Now that I know you’re completely stable, if you come and get hurt, well then those two weeks I’ve tended to you would be a waste.”
Kathleen giggled. She had finally learned to determine whether Theodore was mocking her. “Tended to me? All you did was hanging around the loft and telling Trevor to escort me to the grocery store with forty dollars.”

“Ice climbing is too dangerous for you,” Theodore reasoned.

“Trevor gets to go…”

“He’s my ride there,” Theodore answered simply.

“What am I supposed to do all day? What am I going to eat?”

“You always complain that my house is dusty. Here’s a broom, knock yourself out. And here’s twenty dollars. That should be enough for you to gorge yourself with until we get back.”

“Everyone ready to go?” Trevor announced as he peeked his head in. “Kathleen! You’re not going ice climbing dressed like that are you?”

“I’m not going… Theodore says it’s not safe.”

Trevor glanced at Theodore and grinned. “Don’t worry. We’re going sky diving next week. You can come.”

Waving goodbye, Kathleen watched the boys get into a small truck and drive away. Instinctively following Theodore’s directions, she picked up the broom and began sweeping. After that, Kathleen took out and ate what little left over she had and began dusting.

A photo fell out and she quickly recognized the print. This was why Theodore had yelled at her weeks ago. The name Vera was scrawled across the bottom of the back of the picture, the part Kathleen had seen. It was a picture of Theodore and a girl. Neither one smiling, though they seemed very close. Succumbing to mischief, she read the letter, dried her wet eyes, and placed the photo back in the bookcase. Understanding that Theodore would get mad if he found out she had read the letter, Kathleen hid that fact from him.

The boys came home at midnight to find a tidy loft and Kathleen sleeping in her room.
“I can’t believe she actually cleaned up. I was just kidding…” Theodore muttered with a surprised smile.

“Yeah…” Trevor glanced up at Theodore from where he sat. “She’s such a great person huh? There’s no need for her to remember everything already, right?” Trevor tested.

“No, don’t tell me you haven’t found anything on her yet!”

“Sorry! But I didn’t find any missing girl in any of the neighboring cities with her description.”

“Did you check this city?”

“Why bother, we would have seen it in the news if she came from this city.”

“Do you even watch the news?”

“No, but I know you do, so I’m not too worried.”
As Trevor had promised, the three of them went sky diving the following week. After listening to instructors train her to sky dive and use the parachute properly, Kathleen followed the boys on the jet. Theodore and Trevor had done this before.

“Are you sure you want to come with us?” Trevor teased. “Theodore would kill me if you get hurt just because I invited you.” Kathleen smiled and nodded; afraid her trembling voice would give her up.

“You shouldn’t have even come on board…” Theodore complained as he put on his parachute.

“Okay, get ready to jump,” the pilot yelled.

“I’ll go first!” Trevor called. He positioned himself in front of the door and jumped.

“You’re next,” Theodore commanded. Kathleen situated herself like Trevor and jumped. The fear finally overcame her and her heart pounded unnaturally hard. Another panic attack. Forgetting all directions given to her, Kathleen hugged herself to calm her heart, escalating the speed of her descent.

Recognizing the posture, Theodore jumped out after her. Veering towards her, Theodore grabbed her in one arm, trying to slow their fall. “It’s okay… Calm down Kathleen… Calm down…” he soothed. She could feel his strong heartbeat. Her heart once again paralleled with his.

“I’m okay,” Kathleen finally answered.

“Good…” Theodore replied, noticeably relieved. “Do you remember what to do?”

“Yeah.”

Theodore let go as she lay horizontally like Trevor was slightly below them.
When they finally landed, Kathleen’s anticipation of being reprimanded like a child was futile.

“Be more careful next time,” Theodore murmured and hugged her.

“What? No hug for me?” Trevor taunted.

“You? You almost got her killed. If you hadn’t invited her, she wouldn’t have had a panic attack.”

“That reminds me! We’re going rock climbing in a week. Do you want to come?” Trevor tempted Kathleen, winning him a punch from Theodore.

“Okay,” Kathleen answered happily.

“What?” Theodore yelled threateningly.

“Don’t worry, I know my limits. I’ll climb back as soon as it’s too much for me.” Anything for another hug, she thought.

They turned in their equipments and went to a restaurant.

“So how do you guys pay to do all these things? I mean, it must have cost a lot to go skydiving and to pay for plane tickets to go to icy mountains.”

“Oh, well you know that restaurant you met me at? My parents own a whole bunch of them. My allowance is enough for us to do this kind of thing every week; I’m just working for extra money,” Trevor explained. Their meals came and, with empty stomachs, they stuffed themselves.

The days past slowly until it was finally time to go mountain climbing. Kathleen knew that if she wasn’t imprinted on Theodore, she wouldn’t go. She wasn’t very into the whole extreme sports thing, but the impulse to follow Theodore was something she couldn’t control. She stared out the window, already getting carsick. Trevor drove faster than drunks on the desolate freeway.

Upon reaching the mountain, Kathleen knew she wouldn’t be able to go very far.
“Don’t worry,” Trevor called from behind her, “As soon as you’ve had enough, I’ll walk you back to the car. Plus my parents own a cabin near here. If you get seriously hurt, we can bring you there to rest.”

Theodore was already ten feet ahead of her as she tried to reach him. Trevor, on the other hand, was patiently helping her jump across streams and such obstacles. After tripping an eighth time, Kathleen finally gave up and let Trevor guide her back to the car.

“Trevor?” Kathleen began. “Do you think Theodore likes me?”

“God, I hope not,” Trevor replied jokingly before he could sensor his thoughts.

“What?”

“Oh I mean… you know the main reason you like him so much is because you’re imprinted on him. Once you remember everything, your feelings are probably going to change.”

“Just like Vera,” Kathleen mumbled to herself.

“What? You know about Vera?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I found the picture when you guys went ice climbing. And then I read the letter on the back…”

Trevor laughed slightly, “Yeah… she hurt him really bad. He wouldn’t let me get anyone to imprint on him after that until I tricked him into meeting you.”

“So they were really in love, huh?”

“Yeah. He still thinks about her.”

Theodore looked back to see no one behind him. Finally some peace! He climbed up half way in twenty minutes, half the amount of time a human would have needed. Finally able to see over the trees, Theodore saw Trevor and Kathleen staring into a river at some ducks. She took a step too far and fell in to the shallow water. Theodore chuckled, letting his guard down.

“Something funny, dear cousin?” a voice interrupted.

Theodore jumped, losing his footing. Clinging on with only two arms, he glared up at his cousin, Payton. She smiled wickedly.

“What a coincident, meeting you here. What’s wrong? Not happy to see me?”

“Disgusted actually.”

“Oh cousin, you take our little rivalry too far.”

“Aren’t you the one who pushed me into the manhole when we were racing two years ago?”

“I knew you weren’t going to get hurt. Honestly Theodore, are we vampires or little human children?” she ridiculed. “Wait a minute, I remember now. Even human girls don’t like you. What was your old girlfriend’s name? Vena? No, no… Vera! There we go! I heard she dumped you as soon as she remembered her past,” Payton giggled.

“Get away from me,” Theodore growled.

“Now what was that you were laughing about just now…?” Payton looked over the trees to Trevor and Kathleen, wading in the river. “Wow. Another human girl? Don’t get too attached, dear. She’s going to run away, too… wait a minute. I know her! I’m the one who bit her! She caught me drinking blood while the two of us and a couple of other friends were on a road trip, so I had to…” Payton smirked at Theodore.

With a big gasp of air, she whistled louder than any human could. Kathleen and Trevor turned their heads to see the two vampires. Payton waved slowly, watching Kathleen’s expression morph into recognition.

“Well, this should be fun. If you find a goodbye note signed by Audrina, don’t be confused. That’s her real name,” Payton laughed.

Anger erupting, Theodore punched Payton in the jaw. She glared back at him, “If that’s how you want it…” Payton grabbed his arm and yanked with all her might. Because he was still unbalanced, he easily fell, descending fifty feet.

After watching the fight, Audrina and Trevor raced toward Theodore, carrying his unconscious body to the car. They drove to a cabin Trevor’s parents owned and rested him on the couch.

“How is he?” Audrina asked quietly.

“He seems okay… his aura… looks like it’s losing willpower.” Trevor turned to Audrina and seemed even more surprised. “You’re… not imprinted on him anymore?”

“No. But I don’t think my feelings changed,” she answered in a more mature voice. “You can call me Audrina from now on.”

Trevor smiled, sensing she still loved him. “His heart beat is rather slow, too…”

Audrina lie down next to him, hugging him closely. Hoping that her heart can guide his back to her as he did many times before.