What If?

The moonlight felt warm on my skin, the stars shining brightly in the night, lighting my way to my secret hideaway, tucked back into a hidden tool shed that was about 10 minutes away from the house. The humid air made sweat form on my brow but I wiped it away quickly as I ducked inside the small door, wiping away the makeup on my forehead. Though the marking was faint now with the years, the outline of a crescent was still slightly visible on my forehead.

When I was young and foolish, I met my mother for the very first time. She had me when she was very young, at the age of only 16, and after I was born she had to give me up before I turned a year old. I never even knew who she was until I was about 8 years old. My foster parents were able to get in hold of my mother and she agreed to meet me, to see how I had turned out. I had read of books where there were vampyres who sported crescents on their foreheads and could occasionally control an element.

My mother met me that next morning, her bright red hair framing her face and her green eyes bright even in the morning. I could tell I had her eyes but had gotten the hair color from somewhere else, probably from my dad. She smiled down at me and picked me up, pulling me into a tight hug. I felt peace in her arms and thought I had smelt the lingering of hay in her hair but I ignored it, glad to finally see my mom.

She promised she would have me home before my bedtime and my foster parents told her not to hurry as they were going out for the night. My mom took me to the park near my house and we sat on a bench.

“Mama,” I asked after a few minutes of silence. “Why did you leave me?”

She looked startled by the question and gaped at me. “I didn’t want to sweetheart, but I didn’t have another choice.”

“Why not?” I demanded, stomping my foot against the grass.

She glanced around, almost as if she was nervous and was making sure no one was watching us, and then she leaned forward. “Dani, can you keep a secret?”

I nodded my head, making a motion of zipping my lips up tight and throwing away the key.

My mom reached up to her forehead and started rubbing it. It almost seemed as she was trying to wipe her skin away, but I realized it was a type of makeup that covered things up. And what she uncovered was beautiful.

“So pretty.” I whispered, my fingers tracing the patterns on her forehead. “Why do you have flowers on your forehead?” I asked, my finger still running over the blue flowers.

“Just keep this between us okay?” She said and I nodded. “I’m a vampyre.”

“Like the ones in my book?” I asked her, remembering the young girl who could wield elements.

“What book?” she looked surprised, almost as if she had never heard of a book before.

“Marked. My book had vampyres that have tattoos like that.” I pointed to her forehead.

“Honey, please don’t read those anymore. They will give you nightmares.” Mama said as she pulled a container out of her bag and covered her tattoo once again.

“Why are you covering that mama?” I asked.

“A lot of people don’t know we exist and we need to keep it that way.” She said and that was the last thing we spoke about on that subject.

I still keep in touch with my real mom today, but she is busy working for the Vampyre High Council so she is really busy. And against her best wishes, I read those books. I did wait until I was a teenager to read them again, and now at the age of seventeen, I even perform special rituals to the Goddess Nyx to make sure my mother stays safe.

I hear footsteps behind me and I turn quickly, hoping that my brother had not followed me here. But when I turned, Danny wasn’t behind me. It was a tall Native American boy. And he was really cute. And he also had on nothing but a sheet.

“Wh…who are you and what are you doing here?” I asked, my voice sounding even twangier in my nervousness.

“Stevie-Rae?” He asks, his voice coming out melodiously.

“How do you know that nickname?” I asked, making sure the candles where hidden behind me so he couldn’t see.

“What’s wrong Stevie Rae? Why are you acting different?” His black hair fell down his back in a braid, making me wonder if he did that himself. As I looked at him closer, he reminded me of someone but I couldn’t put a finger on it.

He glanced behind my back and saw the candles. “Praying to Nyx again? Where are Zoey and the rest?”

That was what finally made it click for me. Why he was calling me Stevie Rae. Why he looked so familiar. “Rephiam?” I asked, questioning the name first.

“Yes Stevie Rae. It’s me. What is different about you? And why did you cover your Mark?” Rephiam asked, walking forward and rubbed his finger against my finger. The sensation sent a shiver down my back.

“Where is your Mark Stevie-Rae?” Rephiam asked when he realized the mark wasn’t there.

“My name isn’t Stevie-Rae. That is just a nickname I go by in school. My name is Dani. And why are you here anyway? You are a character in a book, not a real person.” I started getting really freaked out and started pacing.

“What? You aren’t the Red One? Then why was I sent here? Where am I anyway?” He demanded, pushing me back into a corner.

“You are really scaring me. And to answer the where are you question, you are in a small town in Florida.” I answer, cowering away from his tall figure.

“Florida? But I was just in Tulsa. How could I have travelled this far? Stevie Rae is probably worried sick about me.” Now it was his turn to pace and it looked like he was really freaking out.

“Wait. Tulsa as in Tulsa, Oklahoma? I have a sister that lived there. I know where to go.” I say, lying my ass off but I was in such a great rush that I would have walked all the way to Tulsa to figure out what in the hell was going on.

“You do? Great! Thanks Dani.” He smiled and pulled me into a hug. Jeez, talk about mood swings. This boy has got them bad.

“Well we better get going before you go all raven on me and I have to put you in a cage.” I joked but then realized I shouldn’t have said that.

“How do you know that if you are not Stevie Rae? And why do you go by Stevie Rae?” He asks.

“It is quite a long story. I will tell you on the way.” I quickly walk back towards my house and leave a note for my foster parents, saying I was staying over at my friend’s house for a few days to finish a project, grabbed my purse and keys, and walked to my car. I quickly type Tulsa, Oklahoma into my GPS and it tells me I will get there in a couple days.

I explain to Rephiam how I knew everything and let me tell you, he was really confused but didn’t mind it since I was taking him home. As it neared morning I stopped so I could rest and so I didn’t have to deal with a raven in my car. We continued the next three days traveling like that, driving at night and stopping during the day. Finally we arrived in Tulsa and Rephiam finally started to feel better about the entire situation.

“Turn right here.” Rephiam pointed to the right and I turned, parking my car next to some underground entrance.

“I’ll wait here.” I mumble, settling back in my seat. I hadn’t been able to sleep well the past couple of days and today I felt like I was nearly going to die. I could swear my head was on fire and I was coughing so much that I should have hacked up both my lungs by now but somehow they remained intact.

“Are you sure Dani?” He asked. “It’s not too safe around here. It’s safer underground.” He started to grab my hand but the squealing of metal made me jump away.

“Who goes there?” We hear a voice ask, the accent sounding very similar to mine.

“Stevie Rae!” Rephiam shouts in relief and runs over to embrace his love.

“Re…Rephiam?” Stevie Rae started crying, the tears landing on the sleeve of Rephiam’s borrowed shirt.

“I am sorry my love. But Dani helped me back.” Rephiam replied, rubbing her back soothingly.

Stevie Rae pulled her head off of his shoulder and met my eyes. “Thank you so much.” She said, smiling through her tears.

“No problem.” I said as I had another coughing fit. This one was once than the others and was enough to cause me to slip and fall. My head smashed against the concrete and I blacked out.

At first I heard a buzzing. Almost like radio static but the way when you are almost on the station instead of between two stations. Then I heard words, not quite phrases, here and there. And finally I could understand everything.

“Is she going to be alright?” That was Rephiam’s voice, concerned for me.

“She will be fine. It was similar to the fall I had at my Grandma’s farm after I was Marked. She will be just fine.” Another voice replies, a soft voice. With her voice I could feel my spirit being slightly lifted, almost as if it were trying to escape from my chest.

“Why hasn’t she gotten up yet? Do you think that had something to do with how I Marked her while she was unconscious?” A man’s voice said, really nervous compared to the others.

“She will be up soon. My gosh, you think I would see if she would die because of the way she is.” A sarcastic voice says from across the room.

“And plus her colors are brighter than they were before. She will be great. I can tell.” A younger voice comes from her other side.

“What is all this nonsense about?” I am finally fed up with them all talking about me like I wasn’t laying right there. My eyes flew open and I was met with Rephiam’s eyes.

He smiled. “You’re awake.”

“Yes I am awake but can someone get me some really strong painkillers? My head is killing me. Not in the literal sense though.” I rubbed my forehead and sat up slowly, looking at my surroundings.

“Hello Dani.” A girl in front of me smiled but all I could look at was the beautiful mark on her forehead. It was like swirls that led you through a maze.

“Hey Zoey.” I said, knowing instantly who she was.

“Wait, how does she know who you are?” Another voice sounded, the one shyer voice from earlier.

“That is a story for another time Shaylin. Right now, we need to welcome Dani into her new life.”

“Wait, new life? What?” Zoey handed me a mirror and I finally saw what she was talking about. There emblazoned on my forehead was a filled in blue Mark, the pattern like flames across my forehead. “Wow. It’s beautiful.”

“I’m surprised you hadn’t been marked earlier. The way you act right now shows that you know about what is going on.” The man’s voice sounds again.

“Yes I know quite a bit Eric. My mom was Marked just shortly after I was born and I met her when I was eight and we still keep in touch.” I smile.

From there I remain silent as everyone explains what was going on and my head pounded with every word. I never knew that these fictional characters were real but now that they are it was amazing, and it would have been greater if someone had brought me some damn painkillers.