“Yes.” His eyes focused on the road, “he needs Zen gone, dead. So we can trust him to help us when the time comes.”
“Stephan this is too dangerous for your human. She shouldn’t be around for this.”
He couldn’t help but look at the back seat. From the corner of his eye, he saw Solara’s startled expression. He heard Solara mumble something that sounded like he speaks. Sam had never spoken ever since the first time they met and his deep voice matched his mean look.
“We have that sorted out. She will be leaving soon and as for now I want to keep her as close as I can.”
He turned to face forward when he heard Solara sigh. They were home, he could hear them laugh and was glad that Scarlet was in a good mood. Her laughter was the loudest, he wondered what they could be doing that made her so happy.
When he walked into the house, he saw that they were pilled on top of each other. He could see a mat with different color circles where they had fallen. He wasn’t familiar with it but assumed it was a game of some sort. Nikki was leaning against the wall but stood straight when she saw him. Stephan couldn’t be sure but he thought he saw her smile for a second. Like she was happy to see him.
“I missed you.” Kayla who was at the top of the pile stood up and walked into Solara’s arm. She stood with the rest of them as they watched the others try to free themselves. They looked ridiculous doing it. She could see that the rest of them were confused. “Twister. It’s a game. We were bored so Scarlet took it out of her closet.”
“Stephan, help.” Scarlet was laughing while she tried to beat Vincent off her. She was at the bottom of the pile, he was worried about her getting hurt but she didn’t seem to be.
“Get off me guys.” She chuckled as Eric stood up and Vincent followed. She lay on the ground taking a minute glad all the weight was off her.
“That was fun.” Eric was more like Vincent, childlike and his blond hair and blue eyes made it more so.
“It was awesome, we have to play again.” Vincent’s eyes were wide with excitement.
“Yeah why not, but this time the human sits it out. She can watch from the sidelines. Need a hand, honey?” Stephan watched Scarlet on the mat, her face looked so content and her body relaxed. He knew he was being overprotective but he wasn’t sure wrestling like games against vampires and beasts were in her best interest.
With one hand he picked her up from the ground. He held her against him and kissed her before setting her on her feet.
“Thank you for the lift.” She combed her fingers through her frizzy hair.
“Tell us what happened in RWC,” Kayla asked. Personally, all she needed to do was tap into their minds but she wanted the others to hear about it.
“Nothing much, we have their support. So we will be prepared when Zen decides to attack again.” Solara filled them in.
“Zen.” At Stephan’s side, Scarlet whispered her hand dropping from his hair. She thought about the message on the wall and Marcie. She hadn’t thought about the previous night until then. Her body shivered.
“Are you cold?” Stephan bent his head to reach hers.
“No, am fine.” She forced her lips into a hard smile. She was defiantly not fine. She needed to know more about Zen, and now that Stephan was back it was a good a time as any.
“Stephan we have a pending conversation.” Kayla could see Scarlet’s reaction and the thoughts that played in her head.
“Scarlet do you want to take a seat.” He was leading her to the chair, although she shook her head. She didn’t want to move from his side. He could tell but was more worried about the ghostly paled color her skin had turned to. He sat next to her, his arm around her.
“Zen and I used to work together. He was my superior.” He could tell that they didn’t understand him, but that wasn’t important. The story of his past was too long to tell and he needed to get to the present. “He was my superior for a while until he and Mathias got kicked out. The Conselho preferred that I lead their warriors. They were against it, so they were banished for defiance. Zen hates me for it and wants to kill me. He isn’t the direct approach, kind of person. So when he saw me with Marcie at the diner, he decided to kill her first.”
He paused when he felt Scarlet flinch, her color hadn’t returned and he was worried. He looked up at Kayla and she was just as worried as he was. When she nodded to him her eyes still fixed on Scarlet, he continued, he knew that Kayla thought she could handle it and he had to trust her judgment.
“He killed her to get to me. Don’t worry Scarlet, he doesn’t know you. He knows you exist but hasn’t seen your face.” He squeezed her shoulder, but she didn’t react to anything he had said. “He will be back, but not soon. He is hoping that he can wear me out, to make it easier for him to attack. The bad news is that he won’t be alone this time, so we have to get ready.”
He looked down at Scarlet. He was surprised at how she was handling everything. He kept expecting her to get hysterical, the calm before the storm. Kayla was still concentrating on her but didn’t look worried anymore.
***
Are you ok?
I’m fine, just worried.
Everything will be fine, we have back up. Not to mention the super immortal at your side.
He is super, isn’t he?
Super hot, want to trade?
Kayla and Scarlet exchanged a look and began to laugh. Although Stephan didn’t understand what had happened the past few seconds he was glad, because the pink color had come back to her cheeks. She seemed more relaxed.
***
“How long do you think Mathias will take before he calls us with his answer?” Xavier was more concerned about Zen. There were only four of them and four of Stephan’s party. That made eight. He hoped Mathias would have a larger number. He didn’t want to bring any more shifters into this. He didn’t think his superiors would allow him to fight to protect a human. Xavier hoped that once they helped Stephan, then he would join them and fight for the beasts.
“We should hear from him by tonight, tomorrow morning latest. He was pretty confident that his coven would join in. But he wanted them to have time to think about it.” Solara was playing with Kayla’s curls. He loved the texture of her hair.
“You don’t seem to be taking this serious enough.” Nikki watched how Stephan and Scarlet cuddled on the seat, and Solara playing with Kayla’s hair. She wasn’t annoyed by how they seemed relaxed about the situation, but by how they relaxed.
“One thing you should know,” Vincent spoke up since the rest of his family had decided to ignore her. “Stress causes wrinkles and since Scarlet is still human, they don’t want her to age too fast.” He dodged the pillow Scarlet threw at him.
“Seriously, this is how we cope with the situation. How we have been coping for the past year. We worry about the danger every single day, every single second, but we take pleasures of now rather than later.” Vincent’s tone was more serious. It was important for him that the newcomers knew why they did the things they do.
“Because we may not have a later.” Scarlet finished Vincent’s thought, her eyes moving to the four people who had become her family the past year. And finally, resting on Stephan’s face, his eyes, and his lips. Her fingers combed through his black hair, before cupping his face.
Kayla wrapped her hands around Solara’s waist and looked at him before meeting Scarlet’s gaze, “We are a family, we fight literary throwing blows at each other, we say things that hurt each other but we forgive each other. We suffer through each other’s pain and celebrate together through the happy moments. This is how we cope.”
“It is isn’t it?” Solara put his arm around Vincent’s shoulder, which had moved to stand beside them. “We are an odd family, aren’t we though? But I would give my life for any one of them.” He sighed.
“Xavier, you need to understand this, before signing up to join us. At the moment our main concern is Scarlet and we are all going to protect her.” Stephan was glad that they were able to grow so close in such a short time. “I know it is me they are after. I have thought about leaving, but I can’t leave without knowing that they are safe. And now that Zen knows where we live, it more dangerous. I can’t risk him finding them here without me.”
***
“Mathias did say it was a suicide mission, but they’re more important things to think about. We understand and we will stay here and fight with you.” Xavier could feel the ties that held them together and was glad of the advantage it posed.
“Why don’t you just change her? It will help you all to focus on the real danger at hand.” Everyone looked at Nikki who hadn’t moved from the window.
“Because she isn’t ready yet,” Kayla answered. “She has to make the decision, we aren’t going to force her into it because of the psychopath coming for Stephan.” Nikki’s presence annoyed her each time she spoke or thought.
“Sam, Eric, go see what can be done to fix the door upstairs. Tell me if it can be salvaged or if we need to get a new door.” Xavier was trying to change the topic, distract them. He could see how angry Kayla was getting and a fight between the two females wasn’t in their best interest.
“My home is always getting renovated. First the wall now the door.” She walked to Kayla and took her hand. She pulled her towards the stairs, she was glad that she always came to her defense. “Let’s go to your room, I think you need some distance from Miss Nikki.”
***
The guys decided to buy a new door. They couldn’t salvage the pieces of wood that once stood as a door. The next morning the same constructors who fixed the wall came with the new door. Vincent had given them the measurements the previous night, so all that was left was them to fix it. Just as before they put up the door without asking any questions and left.
The house was getting crowded, Solara offered his apartment to Xavier, Sam, and Nikki. It was a two-bedroom and since they slept it would suit them well. Eric decided to stay at the house, he crushed on the couch while Vincent watched television. The two of them had grown close and Xavier didn’t object to the sleeping arrangements.
The police had been to the house once to ask them a few questions. Stephan and Solara handled the interview as the rest of them looked on. Scarlet didn’t trust herself to talk about Marcie, and Kayla couldn’t do it either.
Xavier and the others came to the house in the afternoons and left at dawn. Nikki didn’t accompany them most of the time. Scarlet didn’t care about her jealousy over her and Stephan, she rarely saw her anymore and was all too happy about it.
A week after Marcie’s death, the investigation had stopped. The police couldn’t find any physical or forensic evidence. The only thing they were able to conclude was that the blood was not hers.
The diner closed for two weeks and only opened the day of her funeral. Joany wanted to open it in her memory and thought that it would be the best place to hold her wake.
Marcie’s parents traveled to San Francisco so that they could take their daughter back home and bury her on their farm in Tennessee. They agreed to have a mass in town for the family and friends she had made there.
The ceremony was simple, a Christmas funeral. It drew in a larger crowd than was expected considering it was a religious holiday. All the friends she had made and every life she had touched during her past five years at the diner came to spend Christmas with her and her family.
Marcie’s picture was the cover of the program. A huge picture of her was at the door a pen on a table beside it so that people could sign it. Another picture was at the front of the church near her casket. The church was adorned with her favorite flowers, lilies, and the Christmas decorations blended in with them.
Scarlet, Stephan, Solara, Kayla, and Vincent all went to the funeral. Xavier and Eric also joined them determined to pay their respects. The other two beasts opted out. Kayla was glad Nikki decided not to accompany them, this was Marcie’s day and she didn’t want her thoughts distracting her from her friend’s memorial.
Kayla was afraid of going to church that day. She was familiar with all the vampire movies and was well aware that the damned aren’t allowed in the holy place.
“Are you sure it’s ok if we all go? If Scarlet goes and represents us am sure they will understand.” Solara was buttoning up her black dress and planted a kiss on the back of her neck.
“Those are just stories, my love. You won’t turn into a fireball if you do go to church. And the holy water won’t burn into your skin, so you are safe if the priest decides to go crazy with it.” He was chuckling. Her worries were ridiculous to him.
“I don’t see what so funny.” Kayla was beginning to get annoyed.
“What are you talking about K?” Scarlet was crossing the hall and could hear, Kayla whimpering. She leaned against the door frame.
“I was asking Solara whether it’s safe to go to the church. He says it’s fine but I’m not so sure.” She turned to give him a mean look that made him laugh even harder.
“Yeah I know, I asked Stephan about it and he says it’s cool.” A smile formed on her face, “why are you afraid you are going to turn into a ball of fire or something.”
“Haha funny.”
“We need to get going people.” Stephan emerged from the other room and stood behind Scarlet. “Kayla since you don’t believe us, let’s go test the theory.” He was grinning at her.
“You guys think you are really funny huh? Let’s get moving.”
They decided to take both cars, Vincent rode with Solara when the two beasts rode with Stephan. When they got to the church, they lingered at the doors. She stared at the picture at the door. Marcie’s beautiful smiling face. She walked to it and picked up a pen to sign it.
Marcie,
I am sorry you had to lose your life like this.
Bring happiness to all the people on the other side just as you did to us
Merry Christmas
We love you
Scarlet and Kayla
Vincent picked up the pen after which he and wrote only two words.
Stay cool
They hesitated, they saw how she looked like before and they weren’t sure how she would look now. She could feel the anxiety creep up on her.