Flirting with Danger Bk 1

I smiled at him, hands on my hips, and cocked my head. I was just about to continue my interrogation when there was a flash and we all turned to see Sue’s smiling face, a camera in her hands. “Happy birthday!” she called, running to me.
“Hi!” I said as we hugged each other, Sue almost knocking me over.
“Hi, I called Ivan and told him about the party, but he said they couldn’t make it. I’m sorry.” she said, letting go of me.
“It’s okay. Connelly called and told me this morning.” I said, shrugging my shoulders and smiling. “He said he’d make it up to me.”
“Oo. Nice save.” she said and we giggled.
“Kota dear?” we turned to see my mom coming to me, Kati behind her.
“Yeah mom?” I said.
“I just wanted to know if you’d like to open your presents now.” she said, smiling.
“Going a little quickly aren’t we?” I asked, though I still followed her out of the kitchen.
“Well, I just figured you’d want to go out and celebrate with your friends so I wanted to give you as much daylight to play as I could.” she said with a smile.
“Thanks mom.” I said, hugging her tightly as she sat back on the couch across from me, camera in her hand while dad wielded a camcorder behind her.
She made me sit down on the couch with presents and cards on my left, along with Dale, who was sitting on the couch arm. Louis was sitting on the couch arm on my right, while everyone else gathered in the other seating, some leaning on the backs of them. And everyone’s eyes were on me.
“Okay Kota, let’s do it.” said Dad, his face half hidden behind the camcorder.
“Okay,” I said, looking at my presents and wondering which one to start with. There weren’t that many actual presents, as in boxes and bags, but there were more cards. I looked around and said, “Which one should I choose first?”
There was a ruckus as everyone called out their own present. I heard, “Mine’s the best!” from Louis, “Mine’s the biggest!” from Dale, and “Start with the cards!” from my mom.
I looked down and decided that I would go ahead and start with the cards. I picked one up from the top of the pile and opened it. It was from my grandparents, telling me I was the best granddaughter in the world. It also had a fifty inside, and I slipped that into my pocket. There was one from my aunt and uncle, my grandparents and aunt and uncle on my mom’s side, and some from my cousins. We didn’t have any family in Colorado, most of them being spread all over the U.S. We always got together two or three times a year though, on Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and Thanksgiving.
There was at least twenty, thirty, or fifty bucks in each one and I passed all the cards around for everyone to read while I moved onto the presents. I picked up a little box in red wrapping paper that said “Happy Birthday!” and had a green bow on it.
“That’s from me.” said Sue and we smiled at each other. I ripped the paper and bow away from the box and opened it, gasping when I saw what it was.
It was a pair of sterling silver earrings, with a deep red stone hanging off each one. I looked at it in awe, my mouth agape as I picked one up to examine the stone closer. These were the most interesting looking stones I’d ever seen.
“Wow Sue, this is beautiful.” I said, looking over at her in appreciation.
“What kind of stone is that?” asked Jason, squinting his eyes. Everyone looked over at Sue for an answer.
“They’re bloodstones.” she said, smiling and nodded.
“Bloodstones?” repeated Dale, looking back at the earrings.
Bloodstones. I thought, looking at the earrings. How weird is it that I know vampires and then I get bloodstone earrings for my birthday? I know it sounds stupid, but it just gave me an odd feeling, like I felt there had been vampire intervention with the choosing of this gift. Maybe I was just being stupid because of the whole Rudi thing.
“Thank you Sue. I love them.” I said, getting up and hugging her.
“You’re welcome. Ivan helped me pick them out.” she said as I sat back down. I knew it.
Next, I picked up another actual box, though this one was bigger, but really thin. I had suspected clothes before I picked it up, but it didn’t feel anything like clothes. “That one’s mine.” said Kati, coming over to lean on the back of the couch. “I changed my major to photography.” she finished in a whisper so mom and dad wouldn’t hear. I smiled and opened the box.
Instead of clothes, I saw a framed picture of the mountains, and on a smaller slope were two people standing in the snow looking up at it. It was a beautiful picture, perfect for a postcard or a picture in a travel magazine. “I love it. Are these our mountains?” I asked, knowing that it was.
“Yeah, it is.” she said, sighing as we looked at the photo.
“It’s perfect. Thanks.” I said and hugged her. We weren’t that close, but I knew she loved me a lot. She was the best sister ever.
I was just about to put the top back on the box when she said, “Wait, lift up the picture.” I looked at her, and then did as she said, finding when I did that there was a small white box underneath.
“Open it.” she said excitedly, biting her lip and covering her mouth with her sleeve like she was nervous but happy about this surprise present. I looked at Dale, who looked at me and then to the box, and then opened it.
It was another bloodstone, this one on a ring, which matched the earrings? I looked at the ring in confusion while Dale voiced my thoughts. “Another bloodstone?” he said and everyone demanded I let everyone see. I held it up for the camera and everyone else to see while I looked back at Kati.
“Do you like it?” she asked, looking at me hopefully.
“I love it, but how did… Did you know Sue got me earrings?” I asked.
“No, but this isn’t from me. It’s from my boyfriend. He wanted to get you something and he said this looked perfect.” she smiled hugely now that she knew I liked it. “I’m so happy you like it! He was nervous that it might be weird to get you something since you two didn’t know each other.”
“No, it’s beautiful and it matches perfectly with Sue’s earrings.” I said, smiling and hugging her again.
“Great! I’ll call him and tell him the news.” she said and ran off, pulling her phone out and dialing her boyfriend’s number. I looked after her and had a sudden suspicion about this boyfriend. What if these two gifts were linked? Sue picked the earrings out because Ivan helped her, but what does that say about Kati’s boyfriend. Or does it say anything? What if he was a vampire? Oh my gosh, what if my sister was going out with a vampire! But wait, what if the bloodstones don’t have anything to do with vampires and it’s just a coincidence? I forced myself to calm down and pushed the subject away for later.