The Black Limousine

“Kristina, what is with you and that Keith Blake?”, Beth asks, snorting at his name.

“Hmm?”

“Girl, stop lying! I heard you sing about him!”

“I didn’t sing about him!”

“I’ve seen you flirting with him, Kristina. And I see the way you’re looking at him. And I saw you two making out!”, Beth whispers.

“Why should you care? You’re the one who set me up with king of man-whores.”

“Kristina!! I’ve told you how sorry I was!”

“Yeah? Well, you’re not forgiven.”, I snap, slamming my locker shut.

“Ugh! Ever since Keith and Luke got here you’ve been acting like such a whore!!”, Beth shrieks. I stop dead where I am, spinning around to slap Beth.

“At least I’m still a frickin’ virgin!”, I growl, stomping away from her.

• • •

I knew me and Beth weren’t ever gonna be okay again. It just made sense. I’ve never been so mad at her, and she always promised to stick with me through whatever and never judge the decisions I made.

And, well, I made my decision. I like Keith Tristan Blake.

“S’up,” Keith says, smirking at me. I smile at him, rolling my eyes. “I heard yah singing.”

“Yeah?”

“And I was wondering who yah were singing about?”

I started panicking, wondering if I should lie and say ‘nobody,’ like I have been with everybody else. I wanted so badly to tell him that I was singing about him, but what if it scared him away?

“Umm … you,” I mumble quietly, stuffing my books into my backpack.

“Me?”, Keith asks, almost like he didn’t believe it. I chew on my lower lip, nodding. “Sweeeeeet!”, Keith cheers, smiling at me. He leans down, kissing me. I smile into the kiss, soon making out with him.

“Ugh, break it up.”, Luke says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Me and Keith break apart, and I blush madly.

“So, Friday?”, Keith asks, smiling. I nod my head, smiling back at him.

“Did I miss something?”, Luke asks, raising an eyebrow at us.

“Nothing really …”, I say, looking around.

“Just that I’m taking Kristina on a date this Friday.”, Keith says, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“How many brain cells have you lost?!”, Luke asks, gaping.

“Dude!”, Keith says, hitting Luke in the shoulder. “Why do you think every girl I date has to be stupid!”

“Because they usually are,” Luke says, rolling his eyes. “Trust me, Kristina. Run while you can.”

“Luke, shut up!”, Keith growls. Luke rolls his eyes, and we all start walking toward their limo. The car ride was pretty quiet. And it was most definately awkward. I stared out the window, while Keith sat next to me with his arm around my waist. Once we finally made it to their house, Keith pulls me toward their backyard, which looked more like a forest.

“Will you ever tell me what Anna was talking about?”, I ask quietly, staring up at him as we lie in the hammock.

“Maybe,” Keith says, looking up at the sky. “You’d probably think we’re insane, though.”

“It can’t be that outrageous.”

“How about this, I’ll tell you when I think you’re ready.”

“But I wanna make sure I’m not in love with a psycho killer.”, I pout teasingly. Keith chuckles, looking down at me.

“Trust me, I’ve never been in jail. And I’m not running from the law.”, Keith chuckles, smiling down at me. I kiss him, and before I know it, we’re making-out. We seemed to be doing that most of the time. Keith pulls away, smiling at me. I smile at him, resting my head on his chest.

For once, in what seems like ever, everything is going right, I think, smiling.

• • •

That night, was another night of hardly any sleep. I roll over, sighing. I didn’t wanna hear my mother’s voice, but I knew it was basically the only way to get to sleep. I sigh, picking up my laptop. I was going to do a little research. I wanted to know what Anna meant when she said, “it will be worse than Salem.”

I google Salem, reading how they were known for the “Salem Witch Trial.” I click on the link, reading through it quickly. I gape, quickly seeing that it was four in the morning. I shut off my laptop, lying down. I sigh, looking over at Keith and Luke.

Witches aren’t real … I think, sighing as I squeeze my eyes shut. Remember when you were five? And you had that gut feeling that fairytales were real? Yeah, I was having that now.

I sit up, rubbing at my tired eyes. I look out the window, watching as the first speaks of dawn appear. I sigh, running through all I had read. Witches aren’t real, Kristina! Stop doubting that! I think fiercely, feeling my eyes get heavy. Witches don’t exist … I think tiredly, falling asleep as the sun gets brighter.

• • •

I felt like I was in that half-asleep half-awake phase. But I could’ve sworn I was dreaming.

“She’s getting suspicious, Keith! You gotta be careful!”, I hear Luke growl.

“She won’t ever figure it out, Luke! She’s too logical to ever guess that you’re a vampire, and I’m a demon. Seriously, dude. She wouldn’t believe us if we told her.”

“Just be careful around her, Keith.”

“Look guys, it’s my fault. If I had been more careful and listened to your warnings, she wouldn’t even be suspicious!”, Anna says quietly.

“Well, we can’t let her stay here much longer.”, Luke’s dad says gravely.

“Mr. Vane, she can’t go back home. Her mom cheated on her dad.”

“Keith’s right, dad. She was completely torn. I’ve never seen a human so emotional before.”

“You obviously don’t spend that much time around girls, Luke. They’re always emotional.”, Philander says dismissively.

“Phil, this is even more emotional than that.”, Keith says, rolling his eyes.

“She’s getting too suspicious!”, Luke’s father roars.

“So, what? We send her to the middle of nowhere and kill her?!”, Keith yells.

“If we have to.”

“No way!”, Anna says. “Her dad’s a lawyer, and her mom’s a doctor! They’ll fit the pieces together and send people after us. Plus, thanks to Keith and Luke, everyone knows that she’s been here recently!”

“Look, she didn’t have anywhere else to go!”, Luke growls. “And Keith was planning on telling her anyway!!”

“Guys, shh!! I think she’s waking up!!”, Keith says, looking at me. “Kristina?”

And there was blackness, but I could still hear them.

“What are we gonna do?!”, Luke’s mother’s voice sighs heavily.

“I say we change her!”, Trevor says.

“No!!”, Luke growls quickly.

“Luke, calm down!”, Mr. Vane roars.

“Don’t tell me to frickin’ calm down!!! She’s about to figure out that we’re a family of killers!!!”, Luke growls. “And you wanna frickin’ kill here?!!!”

And I stopped hearing. I was in complete darkness.

• • •

I slowly woke up, the sun blazing on my face. I sit up slowly, looking around as I rub my eyes.

“Hey,” Luke says, smiling sheepishly.

“Umm, hey … what time is it?”

“Noon,” Keith says, walking in. My eyes go wide, as I shake my head.

“Great,” I groan sarcastically, leaning back against the wall.

“Are you feeling okay?”, Keith asks, putting a hand to my forehead. “I’m not entirely sure, but she feels like she has a fever.”

“No, I’m fine. I just haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately.”, I say, yawning. Keith shrugs, his hand leaving my forehead.

“Well, you just get some more rest.”, Keith says, forcing a smile. I could sense something behind his fake smile, a dark secret of some sorts. But I was too tired to really look into it. I yawn, lying back down and falling asleep.

• • •

There was fire … all around me, closing in on me. “Kristina!”, Luke yells, making me look at him. He pulls me close to him, kissing my forehead. “Oh, you’re okay.”

“What’s going on?”, I ask, panicking.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry.”, Luke says, pressing me against his chest. “I have to get you out of here.”, he mutters, looking around. He picks me up, bridle-style, quickly running as everything blurred past me. But there was fire, blocking him from getting very far.

“What’s going on?!”, I yell, startled.

“Keith!!!”, Luke yells.

“Hand her over,” Keith’s voice, booming, straight of the fiery flames.

“Never,” Luke snarls, pulling me closer.

“You’ll die in a heartbeat with these flames, Luke. I don’t wanna have to kill you, but I will for her.”

“I’m not giving her up so easily, Keith!!”

“At least I can actually protect her!!!”, Keith’s voice snarls, the flames growing closer as they gently touch my skin. They hardly touched it, but it burned my skin horribly. I scream, watching as the flames flinched away from me. Luke pulls me closer to him protectively, even as the flames sneak behind him.

• • •

My eyes flutter open, as jerk up in bed, looking around. “Kristina, are you okay? I heard you screaming!”, Luke says, looking around the room.

“It was just a nightmare.”, I say in gasps, trying to get my breathing normal.

“You’re burning up, Kristina.”, Luke says gravely.

“Oh, it’s —,” and I fainted.