The Black Limousine

“Kristina?”, someone says quietly. “Kristina, can you hear me?”

“Keith, you need to sleep. She’ll probably wake up when you do.”

“But what if she wakes up while I’m sleeping.”

My eyes flutter open, as I look around.

“Kristina?”, Keith says, his face inches from mine.

“Personal space, Keith, personal space.”

“But then I can’t do this,” and he kisses me, smiling. Someone coughs, and we pull apart, as I felt my face heating up.

“Stop trying to get in her pants.”, Drake growls, ruffling my hair.

“Why can’t I go an hour without someone accusing me for trying to sleep with Kristina.”

“Have you ever thought of it,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I’m not gonna lie to you. I have thought about it.”, Keith says, smiling at me.

“Well, don’t get your hopes up.”

“How’re yah feeling?”, Drake asks, studying my head.

“Good, I guess. A little fuzzy, but I guess that’s normal.”

“Yeah, you hit your head pretty hard. Drake had to pull out some stakes to keep the vampires from draining you.”, Luke says, chuckling.

“Oh, yeah … I remember,” I say, sitting up. “Their eyes …”

I shiver, shaking my head. “They were new borns, Kristina. Blood thirsty and savage. But, they make delicious BBQ.”, Drake says, smiling.

“Drraaakkkkeeeee!”

“Relax! Something scared them off. And it looked like a tiger.”, Drake says, eyeing me skeptically.

“What?”

“Let me see your shoulder.”

“What?!”, but that was useless. Drake pulled my shirt down, revealing my shoulder. “Drake!!”

“Y-your birthmark!!”

“What?!”

“It’s glowing,” Luke says, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah? Well, let go of my shirt!!”, I growl, jerking away from him. “Gosh, Drake! How did you trick John and Rebecca into signing contracts?”

“Using the old dragon charm.”

I roll my eyes, whacking him on the back of the head. “I’ll believe that when I marry a unicorn.”

“Your dad did that …”

“Not funny!!”

“Ever wonder why you’re —,” and I kicked him.

“He hung out with George. He’s a little crazy.”, I say, smiling. “Shut up, Drake.”

And I walked away, outside, smelling the fresh air. “Hello,” someone murmurs in my ear. I roll my eyes, shaking my head.

“I have a boyfriend.”

“Well, why not ditch him for me?”

“Because he’ll kick your ass.”

“Wanna bet?”, he asks, wrapping an arm around me.

“Yeah, I guess you do,” Keith growls. “Let go of my girl.”

“What are you gonna do about it?”, he growls.

“I don’t need to do anything.”

And he was right, I was setting the man with his arm around me on fire.

“Ohmyfinggod!!! You witch!!”, he growls, grabbing my hair and yanking.

“Let her go!!”, Keith growls.

“She smells too good to just let go.”, he growls, his fangs extending near my neck. He coughs just then, and I see the stake right where his heart is.

“Let her go,” Luke growls.

“In your dreams,” and he bites me. Right in the neck. I scream at the top of my lungs.

“Let her go!!!”, Luke snarls, pulling him off of me. Keith grabs me, pulling me near him. I could see out of the corner of my eye, Luke tearing the man apart.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think so …”, I say, letting him pull me into the house.

“You’re not going anywhere for awhile.”, Keith mutters.

“What?!”

“Kristina! About every vampire in the state tasted your blood!!!”

“So?! I can take care of myself Keith!!”

“Yeah, ‘cause you did such a great job with that one!!”

“I can handle it, Keith! You’re acting like I’m five!”

“I just don’t want an army of vampires coming after you, Kristina!!”

“What are the chancing of that happening?!!”

“Pretty high!”

“You’re overreacting, Keith!! I’m perfectly fine!!”

“Yeah, thanks to Luke and I!!!”

“I could’ve burned him to ashes in a second!!!!”

“You nearly did, and look where it got you!!”, and he puts a hand to my neck.

“I’m still untrained!!!”

“And who’s gonna train you, Kristina?!!! Nobody’s a witch!!! We can’t always be there to save you!!!”

“You don’t have to!!!”

“Yes, I do!!! I don’t want you getting hurt!!!!”

“I’m not gonna get hurt!!!!!”

“You already are!!!”

“I just woke up, Keith!! I’m a little fuzzy!!”

“Doesn’t matter, Kristina!!! You’re not walking out of this house!!!!”

“So, what?!! I’m stuck up in this house, while you go flirt with some whore?!!!!!!”

“Why would I cheat on you?!!!!”

“I don’t know!!! Why did you give me a perverted comment every five seconds when we met!!”

“I’ve never dated anyone like you, Kristina. I just wanna make sure that I won’t loose you.”, Keith says quietly, gripping my shoulders.

“No, Keith. Just … just don’t talk to me.”, and I pulled away.

“Kristina?”

“Keith, go.”

“No.”

“Go,” I say, pushing him away.

“No.”

“Keith,” I try pulling away.

“Look at me, Kristina,” he pulls my chin up toward him. I felt the tears sliding down my face, as he leans down. I turn my head away, and he leans back. “Kristina?”

I walk away, practically running.

• • •

I wasn’t sleeping well. I was lying in their theater, just staring at the ceiling.

“You okay?”, Luke asks, walking in.

“How’d you find me?”

“I just checked the library.”

“Why are you here?”

“Keith isn’t sleeping.”

“He made you come down to guilt me into listening to him.”

“Look, I’m not gonna get in the middle of this. Keith thinks you’re gonna start looking for trouble now, but I know you’re not sure whether he’s any different from that perverted Keith Blake you met two months ago.”

“He’s your best friend. You tell me.”, I say, sitting up to look at him. He sits down next to me, closing his eyes and looking stressed. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s wondering what’s taking so long.”, Luke grumbles. “But, in all honesty, through all the years I’ve known Keith, I’ve never seen him so … in love. He’s never gone so long without thinking about sleeping with a girl. And he’s never thought about a girl so much!! I mean, he thinks about you so much, that it makes me wanna —”

“Makes you wanna?”

“Look, he’s my best friend — and I’m not lying when I say this! — but you shouldn’t break up with him. He just wants to make sure you’re safe.”, Luke says, frowning.

“I understand that much. But …”

“But you’re worried that he’s gonna find some slut and forget about you.”, Luke says, chuckling.

“Exactly!”

“Look, with me around, he wouldn’t dare.”

“’Cause I’m like the sister you always wanted?”

“Umm, yeah, sure.”

“Luke, is something going on?”

“What? No, nothing.”

“Luke, your venom is still in my veins. I get a natural sense of that kind of stuff.”

“It’s nothing, okay!”

“Luke, tell me!”

“Tell you what?”

“What’s bugging you.”

“Okay, look,” Luke says, looking up from the carpet. “Okay, I can’t do this!”, and he stood up.

“Do what?”

“Nothing!”, Luke says, staring at the carpet. “Just … just don’t break Keith’s heart if you think there’s still a chance that you and him have a future.”

“Well, you tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“How much he’s changed.”

“You probably don’t need me to help with that.”, he says, chuckling darkly.

“Are you hiding something from me?”

“Why are you so suspicious?”

“Because some things are too good to be true.”, I say quietly, pulling my knees up to my chest.

“Name one.”

“My parents.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Luke says, sitting down beside me.

“It’s okay. You know, since I died, they aren’t my parents.”, I say, forcing a smile.

“You’re lying. You miss them.”

“Maybe,” I say, looking down.

“Kristina, that’s perfectly normal.”

“Oh, so you had a girlfriend that you missed when you moved or something?”

“Umm, yeah. Oh yeah. Hot one, too.”, Luke says, frowning.

“Oh,” I say, chewing on my lower lip. “What was her name?”

“Umm … Melissa.”

“Oh,” I say uncomfortably. “Well … I’m gonna try to get some sleep.”

“No you’re not. You always have your mom sing to you, but your laptop is in our room.”

“Could you get it for me?”

“Not without Keith practically murdering me and starting another fight with you. Speaking of which, he’s gonna be here in five —,” and I fell back, pulling the covers over my head. Tell him I was sleeping, I think, hearing Keith’s footsteps enter the theater.

“I know she’s awake!”, Keith growls.

“Does it look like she is?”

“I heard you two talking down the hall.”

“Then go away,” I say, sitting up.

“We need to talk.”

“I don’t like where you’re headed, Keith.”, Luke says, frowning.

“Go,” Keith growls.

“No. Luke, stay!”, I growl.

“Kristina, this is between you and me.”

“Yeah, but you can kill me. I want a witness.”

“Why would I kill you?!”

“Hmm, I don’t know. Why did you sleep with so many sluts?”

“They aren’t apart of this either!!”

“Well what if you meet one of those while I’m here? What are you gonna do, Keith?!!”

“Why do you keep thinking I’m gonna cheat on you?”

“Maybe because —”

“Shut up, Luke!!”, Keith growls.

“No, let him finish!!”

“As I was saying: Maybe because her previous boyfriend cheating on her in public.”, Luke says, rolling his eyes. “He wasn’t much different from you, Keith.”

“See!”

“I wouldn’t cheat on you, Kristina!!!”

“Then why would you want to lock me up in here?!”

“Because I don’t want you dead!!!”

“I won’t die!!!!”

“You don’t know that, Kristina!!!”

“Well, so far everything else about me seems to be true.”

“John died, Kristina!!!”

“Doesn’t mean anything.”

“You don’t get it!!!”

“Then maybe we shouldn’t go out anymore!!!”, I yell.

“What?!!!”, Keith yells, grabbing my shoulders. His grip was painful, feeling like he’d break the bones right there.

“Keith, dude, I think you’re hurting her!!!”, Luke says, standing up.

“Kristina, I love you, don’t break up with me.”

“Keith, let go.”

“No.”

“Keith, dude, you’re breaking her arms!”, Luke yells.

“Kristina, please, I love you.”, and his grip tightened. “Kat, please.”

“Keith, let go of me.”

“You’re breaking her arms!!!”, Luke says, finally pulling me away from him. “Gosh, Keith! You’re gonna kill her!!!”

“Kat, please.”

“Just go, Keith,” I sat down, staring at the carpet.

“Kat, please.”

“Go!!”, I growl, pulling my knees to my chest. I could hear both their footsteps, followed by a crash just outside the door. I jump to my feet, running out of the theater. I immediately heard the yelling, and went running toward it.

“What did you frickin’ say to her?!!!!”, Keith snarls.

“Why are you blaming me?!!!!!”, Luke yells. “Keith, look, you’re her first boyfriend since that Connor guy. You gotta understand that she’s a little edgy. I mean, he cheated on her right in the cafeteria!”

“I don’t frickin’ care about that jackass!! His loss was my gain. I love Kristina!! Whatever you told her ruined us!!!”

“I didn’t say anything!!!!”

“Then why did she just dump me!!!”

“Because you’re too possessive, Keith!!! Look at yourself!!!! You want her locked up like some medieval princess!! Or Salem witch!!”

“I just don’t want her dead!!!!”

“There’s other ways to do that, Keith.”

“But that’s the safest. I don’t want a vampire army coming after her!!!”

“Dude, that only happens in Twilight!!!!!!”

“But it’s getting closer to happening!!! I could smell her blood and I’m addicted.”

“Yeah, I know,” Luke grumbles. “But I’ve actually tasted her blood. And it’s hopefully the only time.”

“And you know what goes through those new born’s heads!!! They tasted her!!! They’re addicted!!!”

“We killed most of them, Keith. And you know Drake wouldn’t let anything happen to Kristina either. She’s perfectly safe with us around.”

“Yeah? But what if we’re not around. What if we’re not prepared! I’m not loosing her!! Not ever.”

“You really love her.”

“Yeah, I do,” Keith chuckles. “I’m in love with Kristina Jane McPhee. Or Kristina Helen Vane, I guess.”

I stopped listening, and went running back as quietly as possible, sitting down in the theater chair. I pull my knees up to my chest, feeling tears pour out of my eyes. I have just made the biggest mistake of my life, I think, tears blinding my vision.

“Kristina?”, Keith asks, walking in.

“Go away,” I grumble, wiping at my eyes.

“Kristina?”, Keith asks, putting his hand under my chin, forcing me to look at him. “You’re crying.”

“I’m fine!”

“No, you’re not,” and he kissed me. “I love you, Kat.”

“I love you, too,” I say dazedly.

“Then hopefully, you’ll forgive me.”

“For what?”

“For this,” and he changed. He wasn’t Keith Blake. Or at least not the one I knew. He was an honest demon. I screamed, soon running out of the theater. I bumped into someone, realizing it was Luke.

“Kristina, what’s wrong?”

“That’s not Keith!!”, I yell, already beginning to continue running.

“Ohmyfinggod!!!! Keith!!!!!!”, Luke yells, picking me up. “Take Kristina!!! We’re got another demon in the house!!”

“There’s what?!!”, Keith growls, taking me.

“H-h-he —”

“It’s okay,” Keith says soothingly. I scream, just as the demon comes barging in. “Frickin’ bast—,” and I was screaming as the top of my lungs, pulling out the gun full of silver bullets, pulling the trigger and praying that I shot him. I heard a scream, and opened my eyes. “You carry that around?!!!”, Keith yells, shocked.

“Umm, yeah …”, I say, shooting the demon again. “I’ll be right back,” and I was running up the steps, hearing the demon follow. I throw ice at him, smirking as he screams. I go running into the bedroom, digging under my bed quickly. I finally give up, jumping out the window. I start dialing Drake’s number, shooting the demon as much as I could.

“Hello?”

“Code red, demon attack on roof!!!!”, I yell into the phone. “Damn it!!! I’m out of silver, Drake!!!”

“I’m on my way, Kristina!! Damn, why are you always looking for trouble!!! And it was your choice to date ‘im!!!”

“It’s not Keith!!!”

“Oh, that is code red,” and I hung up, throwing ice at the demon. He yells, charging straight at me.

“La ma ca, papa and mama,” I pray, looking toward the heavens, as I jump straight from the roof.

“Kristina!!!”

“I’m fine, gosh,” I say, feeling ice form in my hands, as I touch the gun. “Please let this work,” and I pulled the trigger. Silver ice went straight toward the demon, and momentarily distracting him. I start running back into the house, meeting Keith and Luke.

“Are you okay?!”, Keith growls, looking me over.

“Yeah, I’m fine! Back up!”, I growl, shooting the demon again. “Damn him! Why can’t he just go back to hell!!”, I growl, glowering.

“He’s a demon, Kat! He won’t leave until he’s killed you!!”

“Then frickin’ tell me how to kill him!!!”

“What is going — ohmyfinggod!!!!”, Anna screams.

“Gr-eat,” I growl sarcastically, shooting the demon again. “Aim for the heart, knock off his head,” I mutter, aiming before I pull the trigger. I pull out my sword, just to have it taken out of my hands.

“I’ll do it!”, Keith growls.

“No need,” I say, making another sword form in my hands. I do a flip, managing to jump right over the demon and cut off his head. “Now lets play hot potato!”, I say sarcastically, putting the sword back into my pocket with the gun.

“That’s it!!! I want her out!!!”, Anna growls, glowering at me.

“I’m here!! Where’s — oh, nice work, Kristina.”, Drake says, smiling at me. I roll my eyes, looking back at Anna.

“Take her!!!! Get her out of this house!!!”, Anna yells. “I don’t want her within this state!!!”

“Anna, the demon attacked her.”, Luke says, frowning.

“I don’t care!!!! First it’s this, then what?!! One of us?!!!!”, Anna yells, glowering at him. I frown, hanging my head.

“She’s right,” I say quietly. “I’m leaving.”

“Kristina!! No!!! You don’t have to go just because of Anna!”, Keith yells.

“Well, what if that had really been you, Keith?!!! What if I had accidentally killed you?!!!”

“You wouldn’t do that —”

“Who knows?”, I growl, running out the door. Images of the night were flooding my mind, as I sat up in a tree, far away from them, soon falling asleep tiredly.