Healing Hearts

I woke up on my own again. I wondered if Blake even slept in the bed anymore. Not that it mattered to me, just being in his room made me feel safe. I sat up slowly in the bed, trying not to cringe away from the sunlight peaking through a crack in the curtains. I got dressed quickly after a shower and made my way downstairs. I was still amazed that I had the mental stability to get out of bed. It didn’t feel real to me. I felt like I was living someone else’s life and it was their dad and their friend that had died, not mine.

I found Sebastian alone in the kitchen. He was sipping on a cup of coffee and poured me one without asking. I sipped it gingerly, hating the smell of it. I wasn’t a coffee drinker but I drank it anyway since it seemed to help a little. I watched Sebastian as he moved around the kitchen with ease. He made me waffles, from scratch, with some berries on the side. I liked watching him cook. I just liked watching him, period. He smiled softly when he placed the plate in front of me. I nodded my thanks before eating everything on the plate, not realizing how hungry I had been until I had smelt the food. They were really good waffles.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” I whispered.
“I picked up some classes when I was in Paris,” he said simply, shrugging.
“Where’s Blake?”
“He went out. He had some errands to run.”
“Are you going to school today?”
“No, I was thinking I could stay home and keep you company.”

I nodded before finishing off the coffee and getting up from the dining table. I stood still for a few seconds, not sure where I had been planning on going. Sebastian seemed to notice this because he nodded towards the parlor. I followed him into the room, gazing at the bookshelves that lined the walls. I walked around the room, reading all the titles. I wondered whose books they were. Had Sebastian read all of them?

“How have you been sleeping?” he asked me.
“Surprisingly well,” I said. “I had thought I would be having nightmares or something but I haven’t.”
“You seem to be doing quite well,” he said quietly.

I turned to look at him, my hands clasped together in front of me.
“Does that make me a bad person?” I asked.
“Of course not,” he said quickly. “People deal with things in different ways. I’m glad you seem to be so calm. It’s easier to deal with than if you were hysterical or something.”

I nodded slowly before turning back to look at the bookshelves, not knowing what else to say to Sebastian. I heard him sit down and glanced at him as he opened a book. How could he read at such a time? Jordan was still out there. He could be killing someone else right now. Why wasn’t Sebastian worried about that? Why wasn’t he out looking for Jordan? I walked over and sat in the seat opposite Sebastian’s.

“Why are you not worried about Jordan? He could be killing someone else,” I said quietly.
“Jordan can’t walk in the sunlight. He doesn’t have one of these,” Sebastian said.
He held up his right hand where a chunky silver ring was sitting on his middle finger. The blue stone twinkled at me in the sunlight.

“A daylight ring,” I said simply.
“Yes. If Jordan tried to walk in sunlight, he would burn to a crisp. He can be up during the day but he can’t step outside if it’s sunny.”
“So he could walk around if it was cloudy?”
“I suppose.”

“How does someone get a daylight ring?”
“Well, it’s not always a daylight ring. It just has to be a piece of jewelry with a Lapis Lazuli stone on it. The item has to be blessed by a witch.”
“That’s why he killed Willow, because she didn’t bless his ring.”
“Yes.”

I nodded and we sat in silence for a while. I noticed that he hadn’t looked up from his book once when we had been talking. Was he just rude like that? I didn’t know but something about it annoyed me. How could someone have a conversation when the other person couldn’t even be bothered looking from whatever it was they were doing? How was that a conversation? I wondered if he was shy and that was the reason he didn’t make eye contact during conversations. But it didn’t explain much. Even shy people made eye contact. Willow had made eye contact when I had talked to her. I quickly thought of something else, finding it too painful to think about Willow.

I nearly jumped when the front door slammed and Blake walked into the parlor. He looked at both of us slowly before heading upstairs. I wondered where he had been. I stood up and walked up the stairs slowly. Blake’s bedroom door was open and I stopped in the doorway. He was lying face down on his bed.

“Where did you go?” I asked.

He rolled over and sat up, looking at me. I moved into the room silently and perched on the bed beside him, noticing the deep lines on his forehead. Why was he frowning so hard? What was upsetting him? I didn’t bother asking. Both of the boys were private people and I knew Blake wouldn’t answer even if I did ask. I wondered if it was a vampire thing or a Harris thing. Blake ran a hand through his hair as he looked at me. His face softened slightly.

“I was looking for Jordan. I checked all the places he might be but I couldn’t find him. I couldn’t even smell his scent anywhere over town. It’s like he’s disappeared or something.”
“Oh,” was all I said.
Blake reached out and moved a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I met his shocking blue eyes and he smiled softly as his hand rested on my cheek.

“I’ll find him,” Blake promised. “I’ll find him and kill him for what he’s done to you.”
“You shouldn’t make promises like that.”
“I don’t break my promises. Even if it takes me a year or five hundred years, I will do it.”
“I won’t be alive in five hundred years.”
“Would you want to be alive then?”
I looked away and he dropped his hand from my face.
“No, I wouldn’t. I don’t want to feel this pain for an eternity. One lifetime is enough; I don’t need it to be extended.”

Blake fell silent and I was about to stand up when he pulled my face back around to look at him. His eyes were dark as he rested his hands on either side of my face. I stayed very still as his eyes met my stare. He didn’t move and I wondered what he was doing before he finally moved forward, placing his lips gently against mine. I didn’t respond. I was too surprised to do anything. I stared at Blake when he finally pulled away, seemingly calm.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, not when you are in the state you are in. I’m sorry.”

He stood up and I stood up quickly, grabbing his hand. I spun him around and pulled him against me as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I didn’t know what came over me as I pushed my lips against his, kissing him fiercely. Maybe it was the pain or the overwhelming sadness inside of me that made me kiss him, I couldn’t be sure. I just needed to feel… something. I needed to feel the warmth from his skin, the softness of his lips and the steadiness of his hands on my back. I was just pulling Blake onto the bed when he pushed me away from him. I was surprised at first, thinking that he had kissed me first but then I saw why he had pushed me away.

I gasped. His face was like Jordan’s had been that night. His eyes were a bright red and the veins below his eyes were sticking up under the skin. He was covering his mouth but I knew that his canine teeth had extended. He didn’t look threatening and he was trying to turn his face away from me but it was too late, I had seen it all. It shocked me to the core, made me freeze on the spot. I couldn’t help it; it brought back too many memories for me.

I screamed.