C21 Amelia Rose

Living forever definitely has an appeal, but this seems more like plastic surgery gone wrong. Yeah, you may look great, but now you have an infection from foreign substances put in your body. The idea of becoming a vampire feels like that. Yeah, at first, I’ll feel like a superhero with all the heightened senses, speed, and strength, but, it won’t take long to realize I’m more of a villain, with the blood-thirst and all.

Eli mentioned I would still be me, but much more so. Ha! Now I sound like the mad hatter in ‘Alice and Wonderland,’ I’ll be me but with “much more muchiness.” Maybe the empathetic side of me will prevent me from diving into blood-thirst head first. Or perhaps I’ll be like Eli, living decade after decade, sprinting from regret and wallowing in shame.

My tense shoulders droop at the thought; my brain stuck on his sorrowful eyes day after day, watching me from afar. I wrapped my arms tighter around my torso, pretending it was my sister Aria. I swear she gives the best hugs. She is like me in the sense that compassion compels her to rid her space of negative auras. We differ because I turn into a bootleg mediator; she turns into a goofball.

I need to help them solve their problems; she just wants to give them a reason to smile and laugh amid their sadness. I kick a pebble as I walk down the sidewalk, trying to forget about Eli. What would Aria do to make me laugh if she were there with me? When I tell her how the last two days have transpired, comedy will be the last thing on her mind. I tossed my head back, grunting loudly.

How could my life get this messed up? Seriously, who has feelings for a vampire in real life? I mean, I love reading about it, but living it is a whole different level of insane. Still, it’s kind of exciting and beautiful. I can’t help but think of the compassion inside of Eli despite his urges. Like his knee-weakening, heart-melting, no, heart-exploding smile.

The apartment I shared with Aria came into view; her car pulled in so fast she barely kept all four wheels on the ground. She got out of the car and was practically skipping to the door. I yelled after her and picked up my pace into a full-on sprint. I hated to rain on her parade, but I needed my sister. I threw my arms around her neck and sobbed. After thoroughly soaking her t-shirt with tears, we eventually made it to her room.

We settled on her bed, and I told her everything, novel style. Every. Single. Detail. She didn’t flinch, scream, or show any signs of disbelief. She held me tight, quietly listening as I spilled all the contents of my heart into her lap. I mean, yeah; she is into fantasy, but it’s fantasy! At least that’s what I thought all these years. Still, it was unnerving how calm she was being.

Maybe, in truth, she didn’t believe me. She was probably just letting me get it all out, then was going to hit me with a giant. YOU’RE BEING CRAZY bomb. So, I pulled up my sleeves tasked with hiding my vampiric generosity. There are a couple of ways she could take this: belief or suicide. She knows me well enough to know I would never choose suicide; I love life. I sat up and show her the holes in my wrist; the bite marks are still trying to heal.

Her eyes agape, she grabbed my wrist and stared at it. Without a single spoken word, I knew what she was thinking. About a million things at once demanding her attention, two pounding at her the hardest: sadness that he hurt me and anger that he hurt me. But no disbelief. There was no doubt in my mind that she believed me now.

“I think he wants to turn me into a vampire,” I whispered. She let my wrist drop into her lap and flashed fierce, angry eyes at me.

“He wants to do what?!”

“Shhh, Aria, you know Dad is nosy and protective. Don’t give him any reasons to come over here.” I threw a pillow off her bed at her. Dad lived next door. “He wants me to redeem him and join his family or something!” I flung myself backward, flopping on her bed. I grabbed the pillow I threw at her and pressed it against my face. She yanked the pillow away from me, her anger dissolving. I swear she doesn’t know how to be angry for longer than two seconds.

“That’s nuts; you just met that shadow man.” She flopped back too, joining me in my mini-tantrum.

“Shadow man?” I raised one eyebrow and lowered the other. I was judging.

“Yes, you know vampires, no light,” she waved her hands like I should have understood the concept already. “Plus, he has been stalking you literally from the shadows for a month. Emphasis on shadows. He is a shadow man.” I rolled my eyes, but I was already smiling.

“The light doesn’t seem to affect him as much as TV. suggests.” I shrugged, “probably a part of his training or maybe myth, I don’t know.” My smile faltered quickly. “What am I going to do?” I turned on my side, facing her, my face scrunched up.

“Come here,” she laid out her arm, and I nestled onto it. “Considering it?”

“Would you think less of me if I said yes?” I didn’t look at her; I closed my eyes and flexed every muscle, bracing for the impact of a pillow. It didn’t come.

“Of course not; I’m weird; I would already be a vampire.” We both burst into a fit of giggles. “You describe him with fondness, not fear. Why is that? He is a total creep. Plus, you let him bite you. Excuse me,” she flung up both of her hands and shook her head, “drink you.” I nudged her with my shoulder and gave her a fake glare.

“I guess because of our gift, I know him in a way that can’t be put into words. He has gone to great lengths not to attack me.” I pointed out, “He also tried to protect me from his mom. So there’s that.” I sighed.

“I guess.” She absentmindedly rubbed my scalp. That always puts me in deep relaxation. I swear she has magic in those fingers of hers. She could relax the most tragic and depressed soul with a scalp massage. And most of the time, she didn’t even use her magic. Some might even call her a superhero. I am that some.

“I’d be lying if I said being a vampire didn’t have its appeals, but I don’t think I can stomach it. Eli’s tortured by bloodlust. Something is going on between us, I don’t quite understand yet. I just know I don’t want our story to be over.” She springs up to a sitting position, looking back at me.

“Amelia Rose! Are you in love...with a vampire?! That you just met!” I pressed the pillow to my face and screamed again.

“NO!” I laughed, putting the pillow on my chest. “I mean, I like him a lot, but it’s too early to tell. I just know that when it was just us today, I forgot he is even a vampire. He makes me do the ugly laugh!” Her eyes widened. “Yeah, I never ugly laugh in front of guys.” I sucked in a sizable, reminiscent breath. “He kissed me and the world spun and warmed like we were being teleported to the earth’s core. It was both magical and scary at the same time.” I hugged the pillow tight, imagining it was Eli. “I just don’t know if it’s me or my powers that draw him to me. I’m not sure if he knows that’s why he calms around me.”

“First of all, stop reading so many romance novels. Second thing,” Aria gives me a sneaky little smirk, and I know she is about to crack a joke that’s rooted in and wrapped up in the truth. “Your lips are mouthing. I’m not in love, but all I hear is,” she puts her hands around her mouth like she is about to scream. She does, “I’M IN LOOOOOOOOVE!”

I threw the pillow at her again and launched a full-on pillow war. When we crashed into a tangled mess on the floor and caught our breaths, I told her the truth about my feelings. “I’m not in love yet, but it feels like it’s just barely out of reach. Like if we just stretch a little, we will collide into passionate unity.” I sighed heavily. “At least before I overheard his mother whispering, loudly might I add, about me not being good enough as a mortal? He didn’t exactly deny it.”

“Sounds like you need to talk to him. He said he would think of something because he knew it would put his father off, but that could mean he plans to find a witch to turn him into a frog.” My head snapped in her direction, our legs still tangled up, and now so was my face.

“Hey! It’s possible.” She shrugs, untangles our legs, and flops back on the bed. I look at her silently for a moment, then laughter explodes out of me.

“Yeah, you’re right. Not about turning his father into a frog prince,” I rolled my eyes, “but for someone so dead set on optimism, I dove right into pessimism.” I joined her on the bed.

“If you decide to turn into a vampire, don’t worry about sucking me dry.” My heart drops to the furthest point in my big toe. I hope she isn’t saying she will run as far away as possible. I didn’t respond; I couldn’t. I read a lot of books, so I know a lot of words. Not a single word came to mind.

If Aria is afraid of me as a vampire, there is no way I could ever become one. No romance is worth losing my sister. She must have sensed my thought tornado; she rolled her eyes and continued. “You don’t have to worry, because I might just be a werewolf by then.” She winks and runs to the bathroom, narrowly dodging my pillow bullet.