Beautiful Monster 2 (22 page)

“It wasn’t that I was in love.
”

“But it was different, and she needed me…”
We were speaking on top of each other, speaking different words and yet the same heart. Neither of us had cheated, but we had strayed, emotionally, and it didn’t make it right. But here, on the rock, in front of the waterfall, it felt like we were the only two people in the world.

When we fell into a silence again
, it was different. Comfortable and calm, not filled with tension and anger. It seemed we had said everything, and yet, I knew there was one more thing left to say.

“How long?” I asked her
.

S
he turned those beautiful eyes towards me. “A few years, maybe, if I take care of it right.”

“And are you? Going to take care of it right?”

This answer she was certain of. “Yes. I am. I’m not going to give up, Liam. Not this easily. Not when I’ve come this far.”

I felt the tears prick in my own eyes, and I looked away, towards the rushing rapids.

“Who knows? Medical science changes every day. Maybe they’ll have a cure for AIDS before your time comes. Are you hungry?”

I didn’t want to think of a time when I couldn’t have Amy beside me, when I couldn’t just call her or knock on her door. Even if we weren’t together, even if we spent the next 100 years screaming at each other, I wanted her there.

She nodded, and I reached for the bag behind me, pulling out a picnic lunch I had packed. We ate sitting closer than ever, practically on each other’s laps, sharing a bag of chips and a cookie for desert.

I had nothing planned for the entire day, intending on devoting it to her. But her watch beeped around noon, and she glanced at it, annoyed.

“Sorry. We have an evening shoot for Ranger, so I should get back.”

“Of course.
”

I was slightly disappointed, but I reached to pick up our discarded garbage, shoving it back in the bag. As I came back up, I found myself just inches from her face. I went to pull back, but she grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

“Liam…”

“Amy, we don’t have to…” I breathed, although I was practically trembling with the restraint.

She brought her hand up to my face, her eyes searching mine. “What if I want to?”

I
groaned, unable to stop myself. “I don’t want you to… be confused. I don’t want… But I do want… I…” The words were tumbling out without making any sense.

“Liam
.” She leaned in closer, until we were practically rubbing noses. “I know that it’s complicated, and I know that there’s a lot going on. And there are words that need to be said and apologies that need to be made and all these things that have to go in between… But can we just skip all that and can you just be kissing me right now?”

She didn’t need to tell me twice. My lips were upon hers instantly,
devouring hers, my hands running up and down her back, and pulling her close until our bodies were pressed together. I let her take the lead, and I was surprised by the aggression in her movements.

Before I knew it, we were lying on the ground, panting, and clothes were scattered every which way. Our lips were constantly touching somewhere
: an arm, the chest, the face, an eyelid; kissing and touching and never breaking apart.

When we finally did, it was only because we could barely catch our breaths, the passion having broken like a swell of waves on a beach. I felt completely satisfied, lying there in the sunlight, and never getting up. Amy was lying with her head on my shoulder, her eyes half
-closed, and her body relaxed.

“Feel better?” I asked

She laughed. “Yes. But even though I want to stay here…”

“You need to go. The world of film beckons
.” I gently hoisted her up and went to retrieve our clothing. Once dressed, we made our way back to the car. “Man, I hope there was no paparazzi.”

She snorted.
“At least this time it would be an accurate shot, not a fabricated story.”

“And wha
t would that story be?” I asked cautiously.

She smiled up at me.
“The headline would be something like, Amy and Liam, back together again, question mark.”

“Ahh, question mark,” I replied as I held the door open for her, and then slid into the driver’s seat.
“Well, that is the question.”

“It doesn’t have to be
.” She took my hand as I started the car. “I mean… if we take it slow. I think I would be willing to give it another go. If you’re okay with that.”

I laughed.
“If I’m okay with that? Really? It’s pretty much been the only thing on my mind.”

“I hope not, we’ve got a show soon
.” She giggled, and then turned solemn. “Do you really think we can pull this off? Without the others?”

I turned down the road that led us back to civilization; back to the real world; or at least, as close as we could get
with me being a vampire. It was the last place I really wanted to go right now. But looking at Amy, with her shining eyes, and quiet beauty, I knew that we’d be alright in the end.

“I think, together, my love, we can make anything work.”

She nodded, staring off into the distance. “Then let’s do it.”

I squeezed her hand, getting up to speed as we drove back towards the school, where it all started. Whatever Selene had in store, she was not stronger than what was betw
een us. Selene operated on hate and lust, and that was a world I would never live in again.

I hated dress rehearsal day, always have and probably always will, no matter what side of the stage I was on. Today, I was just as nervous as when I was ten years old and doing my first show as a talking tree.

Christmas had been like the calm before the storm. Peter and I had joined Amy and her father for Christmas lunch and then exchanged presents after the meal in Amy’s
father’s home. It was fascinating, to listen to her Christmas memories, growing up, and then share my own. A candle was lit by her mother’s picture, as Amy told me this was the tradition every Christmas. But this year, she told me she wasn’t as sad as she normally was. There wasn’t that moment of silence. I didn’t want to ask how much she had shared with her father, and she didn’t tell me. She knew that sharing our secrets were forbidden, that the elders would crack down just as hard. But when they talked about her mother over the meal, there was more happiness than previous times. Perhaps he was comforted simply by knowing his dead wife’s spirit was watching over them. Adding that his daughter was dating a nightwalker; a creature of the undead, was probably not the best thing to do. I felt like it was her news to share and didn’t prod her for information. I figured when she was ready, she would tell me what he knew. But judging by the fact that he didn’t greet me at the door with a crossbow and wooden stake, I figured he didn’t know the whole story… yet.

It was one of the things we had discussed, late into the night as the chains bit into my wrist. How long before our secret would come out to her father
and to the school, and what we would do when it did. It was never an
if
. Amy and I accepted that one day we would have to run away and hide for good, to die in the eyes of society. But that day was not this day; and in the face of the 48 point to do list, that day seemed a lot less scary.

Replacing some of the cast at the last minute had been tough
, especially with some of the routine being highly choreographed. But the vampires had left gaps in the scenes, and I had to do some fast shuffling around to fill them, including the entire party scene. We still had Connor, which I thanked God for, and he was still enough to lure Selene on stage, and drag her off into the wings, weakened by Sarah’s powers, and untempted by Amy’s blood. At least, I hoped he was. In the wings, I would be waiting, fangs gleaming. For tonight, Sarah would bind herself to me.

Binding a
Shield was like using a coupon code: it only worked once. The witch who we had enlisted explained to me that it was more about changing my body chemistry than Sarah’s. I would be both immune to her power and immune to any others, including a werewolf bite or a witch’s spell while she was around. So while Selene was withering in the weakness of being human, I would be in full transformation.

When I found out it only worked once, I thought for sure that Connor was going to beat me into a pulp. The relationship between Sarah and Connor had developed into something quite deep
and quite serious. The conversation that I heard them having surprised me; they were already planning well into their future. Part of it worried me; after all, Sarah was a rebound girl after a 500 year relationship. But Connor was showing no signs of distress, and it made me wonder if there really was
The One
for everyone.

And if there was, Amy was certainly it for me.

Things had been amazing since our waterfall picnic. I wouldn’t say things were the same, because they weren’t. There were little differences here and there; she was different than before, and yet, it was a difference I liked.

The
theater was already in full chaos mode when I got there. Everyone seemed to be going in different directions and shouting different things at each other. I heard at least four conflicting instructions before I made it to the stage.

“Alright, everyone, listen up!” I called, my voice ricoch
eting off the walls. Everyone turned. “I’m going to go through this from the top in thirty minutes. That means you have fifteen minutes to finish what you are doing and then I expect everyone to be in costumes. So let’s get moving!”

I was fixing Amy’s front lace corset, admiring the view from above, when I heard the door open.

“Unless you’re part of the show, we’re locked down!” I called
.

A
quiet, deep voice answered me back, “I think we’re part of the show.”

I looked up, stunned, to find Steve and the others standing at the door, en masse. Grabbing Amy’s arm, and ignoring her cry of surprise as her corset was half open, we flew down the stairs towards them. Steve stepped forward from the group, bowing his head.

“Liam, please accept our apology. We have acted foolishly.”

I sto
od, stunned, my arm around Amy. “Steve, no one is forcing you to return. If you don’t choose to fight this battle…”

“This is our battle to fight, and we were foolish to forget it,” he said, and the others nodded. I found the older a vampire was, the less they tended to say. “That is, if there is still a place for us.”

“I’m sure we could manage something.” I smiled, reaching out to shake his hand. “Thank you, guys.”

“Thank you,” Amy piped up from beside me, smiling up at them. I was glad that she seemed relieved; I had wondered if she would be angry at them for abandoning us. “I can take care of it, Liam. Connor and Sarah can integrate them back into the show, I’m sure.”

“That’s great.” I glanced back to the stage, where Connor and Sarah were descending down the steps to greet them.

S
oon there was more chaos, as others noticed their former classmates had returned. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I stuck my head into the hallway to look for a costumer and came face to face with Thomas DeRitter and about thirty Shields behind him. Even though it was daytime, the force of their power stopped me in my tracks.

“What are you doing here?”

Thomas smiled so slightly that if I blinked, I would have missed it.

“Since
we are part of the show, we thought we should be around to see how it would go.”

“You’re just going to be ushers,” I blurted out
, and then immediately regretted my words, from the look on his face. “But of course, you can come in… Thank you for coming.”

“Selene’s ticket is not confirmed until closing night, is that correct?”

“Yeah.” I held open the door and they glided in, as if they were royalty.

The remaining vampires on the stage turned, feeling their power, and I signaled briefly to leave it be. Still, they couldn’t help but stare at the Shields, coming in single file and standing as if they were waiting for someone to pull out the chairs for them. Even I felt diminished in their presence, there was something regal about them. There was also something stuck up about them, and I exchanged a glance with Amy, who was warming up. She smiled at me, reassuringly.

“If you want to sit here,” I said, “and watch the first run-through of the show, you’ll have a better idea of what is happening when. But it’s the party scene, like we discussed, and you’ll see Connor come into the audience to get someone…”

Thomas nodded, and they filed in, sitting and crossing their arms, as if
theater was the lowest form of entertainment possible. I decided to leave them be, and headed backstage.

“Alright, everyone who is not actually
in
this production, it’s time to clear out, now!” I bellowed, moving through the wings. My heart was pounding in anticipation as the lights dimmed and I heard the opening strains of music start.

To my relief, none of the vampires seemed to have forgotten their roles and blended in perfectly with the actors. And my actors were trained enough to step back and make roles of their own. There were few times
when I felt I was doing a good job, and this was one of them.

Somewhere in the second scene, I came down from the wings to sit beside Thomas, who was watching the stage with fascination.

“My daughter…” he said in a half-strangled voice, “was she as brilliant as they say?”

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“She was beauty itself. You never saw her perform?”

“No,” he said, watching every aspect of the show. “But seeing this stage, I can only imagine.”

We watched in silence for a few moments before he leaned over again. “Is Sarah aware of what we wish her to aspire to?”

“Please
.” I met his eyes. “There’s nothing worse than a distracted actor, especially when we have to pull off something as complicated as this. After this is over…”

“I understand,” he said, and leaned forward again.

To my surprise, we got to the middle of act two, past the party scene, without anyone doing anything too horrible. There were a few things I made note of, in my head, but it wasn’t anything major. However, in scene three of the second act, Charlie opened his mouth to sing the Phantom’s big number and promptly choked. He tried twice before I stood up.

“Whoa,” I said, making my way up the steps. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know.” Even speaking, his voice was cracking. “It just happened.”

“Ok, take
a break. We don’t want to overwork your voice before the show.”

“So, should he just mime, or what?” S
arah asked, standing beside me in a gown that went halfway across the stage.

I almost
laughed; she looked so annoyed to be done up in purity and innocence, her piercings and eye makeup removed and a brown wig on her head.

“Just uh
…” That one stumped me. We didn’t have an understudy for him. We had originally cast one and then lost him to a Broadway show, and in the chaos, I guess I had never bothered to re-cast. Luckily, Amy was always thinking on her toes.

“You do it, Liam,” she called, standing in the wings.

I smirked. “Oh God, not again.”

“I’ll be better tomorrow, Liam, I promise,” Charlie said, but I could hear the pain in his throat.

I could only pray that he actually took care of himself. I nodded, and sent him off to his dorm, and looked up to the lighting crew.

“Restart from the top of the scene!”

I had seen the show run so many times that I knew every line and movement. But no matter how many times I rehearsed it, I knew I probably wouldn’t be the right choice for the Phantom. I always pictured myself as more of the suave romantic Raoul.

Somehow, we managed to get through the show without too much chaos, despite the fact that I felt like I was half wandering through the stage, taking cues from people’s body language.

By the time we came to the end, I was physically exhausted. Thomas stood up, and the rest of them stood with him, in unison. It was creepy to watch as they moved as one. It was like they could read each other’s thoughts. I knew Shields were in tune with each other, but I didn’t think they were telepathic.

What bothered me the most about it was watching Sarah, standing at the edge of the stage, watching them. She was practically balancing on her tiptoes, and I knew she was longing to find out about this part of her that was brand new. Like me, on my first supernatural transformation, I had longed for the presence of other vampires, wanted to find out everything about them. But I just needed her attention for the rest of the show