The Lie (The Skyy Huntington Series) (24 page)

"Ok, sounds good. Here’s Dad honey. Love you!” I heard muffled sounds as she passed the phone over to my Dad, then he came on.

“Hey kiddo,” he said.

“Hi Dad, how’s the wood working going? What are you making?” I asked.

“I’m making a dresser for the Gordon family, they are having a baby in a few months,” he said.

“Oh wow nice! Tell them I said hi when you see them again. That’s exciting.” The Gordon family lived next door to them, they were a younger couple, probably late thirties with three kids already.

“So, anything new with you Skyy? How is the search going for a building for your restaurant?”

“I haven’t found anything exciting yet, but I’m still looking. I went by a real dud a few days ago. I’d like to get into the downtown Salem area but there isn’t much ever open down there,” I replied truthfully.

Dad and I chatted for a few more minutes, he also asked if I was coming for Easter, and then I said goodbye to them feeling sad as I hung up. It was really hitting home that this situation we were in was really scary. I had no idea how it would turn out and I just hoped nobody else in my family would get caught up in this mess.

I sat there feeling down for a few moments, but then got up to check on the breadbox. Nothing yet. I figured I should go find Christian and get to watching that movie I suggested to him. I dreaded telling him about Aiden but it needed to be said.

I knocked on his bedroom door, but got no answer. I went downstairs and didn’t see anyone. I went by the rec room and computer room and nothing there either. Weird. I pulled my cell out of my pants and text Aiden:
Where is everybody?
I asked him and pushed send. A few seconds later he replied:
Christian is in Fiona’s room. Lucius and I are upstairs discussing things we don’t need Christian hearing.

Ok then. I wasn’t sure if I should knock on Fiona’s door or what. This was awkward. A few seconds after his first text Aiden send me another one:
So, you really think my accent is sexy?
followed by a smiley face. Oh man, so he
had
heard my conversation with my parents. Thankfully he couldn’t see the bright shade of red that my face turned.
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
I replied to him, acting casually like nothing happened.

I walked down my side of the hallway to Fiona’s room and knocked gently. “Come on in dear,” I heard from the other side. I walked into her room to find Christian leaning back on a chaise lounge sofa and Fiona on a matching one on the other side of a coffee table. I’d never been inside her room before, but you could tell it was her room, very hip and fashionable. For some reason I felt like I just interrupted something between them, and I just stood there not speaking for a few moments while they looked at me.

I put my hands in my pockets and then just turned around to leave the room. “I can come back later, I didn’t mean to interrupt…” I said as I edged back towards the door. Fiona and Christian both jumped out of their chairs and they both assured me I was not intruding.

Fiona spoke, “I was just keeping Christian company while you were making your phone calls. I know you two have plans to watch a film so you’d better get to it,” she said cheerfully. I glanced at Christian.

“It’s cool if you want to do it later instead Christian. I’m not in a rush, just thought it’d be fun to hang out for a bit,” I said to him. He walked over towards me smiling.

“No no, I was just waiting on you. Let’s go over to the rec room.” Fiona told us to have fun as we walked out and I closed the door behind me.

We grabbed some sodas and chips from the kitchen, then browsed through Aiden’s massive DVD collection until we settled on an action film we both could agree on. We had roughly three hours to kill until it was dark.

The two of us sat in relative silence as the movie played, but once it was over I knew it was time to drop the bomb on Christian. I shifted in the super comfortable theatre style chair to face his chair.

“So, you having fun here this weekend?” I asked him. Lame start.

Christian grinned at me. “Yeah of course. This place is great, it’s like staying in a resort or something. And his mom and uncle are really nice.”

“And you and Aiden are getting along well? You like him too?” was my next question.

“Of course, he’s a good guy. Why do you ask?” he replied.

I took a deep breath. Here we go… “Well I don’t want you to get mad at me Christian. Remember when you first met Aiden at my house, and you thought I was dating him? I wasn’t lying to you about that, we weren’t dating, or involved at all. Aiden and I were just friends. I wasn’t sure how I felt about you, and I never really…well I never really felt 'it' when we were close Christian. You kissed me, and I just felt like 'shit I am going to lose my best friend' you know what I mean?” I said, pausing to judge his reaction.

He was looking down at the floor. Just by that one action I knew Aiden hadn’t mind whammied him about that part. He didn’t say anything so I continued.

“I really think we should just get this out in the open. I’d like to stay friends with you Christian, always. You’ve been there for more times than I can count, but us together romantically…I think it’s a bad idea. And I don’t want to lie to you, I’m not dating Aiden yet, but he and I are developing feelings for each other.” I was fidgeting with my hands and just kept looking for some kind of reaction out of Christian but it never came.

After a few minutes of silence he just looked up and nodded his head. “I pretty much knew we would never be an item Skyy. You told me, kind of without telling me directly, a few weeks ago when it all happened. I kept my hopes up but deep down I knew I wasn’t good enough for you. But if anyone is, it’s Aiden, I mean it’s weird because he and I are good friends and he knows how I feel about you, but he’ll treat you right.”

Oh, if you only knew Christian, you poor thing. I felt so bad about all the lies we had to tell him. But I felt good about being able to tell him the truth about how I felt about him, and also my feelings for Aiden without that part being affected.

“If I told you something, would you keep it a secret?” he asked me.

“Of course, you know that,” I said, wondering what it was. He started to turn a light shade of pink and looked down shyly again.

“What would you say if I told you I kind of thought Aiden’s mom was hot?”

I laughed out loud, then realized that Fiona could hear every word we were saying. Too late now! “Fiona? You got the hots for a cougar, you dirty boy you!” I reached over and swatted his arm. He continued to turn a darker shade of pink.

“Well I mean, she hasn’t told me her age yet but she looks so young, she’s so pretty! And she’s so much fun to talk to, she has all these stories and tells me about all the places she’s been.” He was getting more excited as he talked about her, which on one hand made me ever so slightly jealous but on the other hand I was very excited for him and glad he didn’t take the news I gave him so bad. As I mentioned earlier, he doesn’t dwell on any subject too long thankfully.

“Yeah, she is really nice. I like her a lot too. She’s not dating anyone?” I asked. Aiden had never mentioned if she had someone in her life or not.

Christian shook his head no, “Nope she’s single. But would it be super terrible if I hit on her? Well not hit on her like some sleaze bucket, but maybe ask her out to dinner one night while she’s here?” His face was so hopeful I didn’t want to tell him fat chance that’ll happen.

“Christian, I’m sure she’d love to go out with you, but you’ll never know until you ask. She seemed to really like talking with you last night and you two were talking again today. And for the record, you
are
good enough for me, that was never the issue with you and I hun.” He nodded his head in silence.

“Skyy, I’ll always be your friend. And I’ll always love you. But I can’t sit around waiting for something that’ll never happen either. I’ve got to take a chance. And I really wish you all the best with Aiden, you deserve to be happy.”

I smiled at him. I hoped to God Fiona didn’t break his heart. He’d never had a girlfriend before, he was just a simple guy who loved life. I’d have to have a talk with her if she actually did accept his date offer.

I stood up to give Christian a big hug. He wrapped his long arms around me, and it felt good and familiar. We’d always be close, I knew it now for sure. I was almost glad the confusion with us had happened because now I knew for sure, instead of wondering all those years if Christian was the one for me or not. And it could have been a lot worse for him, but I think he was going to be ok with it.

“Thank you Christian, you’re such a good person.” We stood hugging for a few moments. He was still in his pajamas and had not showered yet. “So, you gonna ask Fi out looking like a homeless person?” I jested.

He looked down at his ensemble and laughed. “Yeah I guess I should probably get cleaned up. Thanks Skyy, for everything.” And with that he left the rec room. That was the first time I’d ever been thanked for breaking someone’s heart.

I went back to my room, took a shower, and changed into something I could move in for tonight, in case I did have to get my hands dirty. I slipped on some comfy stretch jeans and a fuchsia colored turtleneck shirt and some Ugg boots. I peeked into the breadbox once I had my hair dry. There was a note in there.

Let the vampires fight the vampires. You are better off to stay out of it, I told Aiden to take care of you and he damn well better. I am sure he and his “friends” won’t tell you any of this, but when they kill the vampires, you need to make sure they either burn them to ash, or take off the heads and keep them separated from the body if they bury them. Or else they have a chance to regenerate and come back. I can contact my friend at a funeral home there in Salem if you need access to a crematorium. Silver also is a good tool to use against them. I’ll see if we have anything I can send through to you before tonight.

Yeah Grandpa, I bet you
do
have a friend at the local morgue. Maybe one who helped you fake your death.

As soon as I took the note out and read it I noticed that something new had come through, along with another note. He sent me a bottle of some stuff that looked like silver glitter, but it shimmered with a life of its own like fairy dust. The note said if I throw it into a vampires eyes it’ll blind them for over an hour and stun them even longer. Good to know. He also gave me the name and number of his “guy” at the funeral home.

About a half an hour to go until dusk. I decided to go have that talk with Fiona about Christian. The sooner the better.

Luckily he wasn’t in her room and Fiona was alone. She invited me in and offered me a drink. I took a bottle of water and sat down on a soft purple velvet chair. Most of her room was some shade of purple and crème. I started playing with the label on the water bottle, a bad habit of mine.

“So I uhhh, I guess you heard the conversation Christian and I had earlier?” I asked her. May as well get to the point.

She smiled at me and nodded her head. “He’s a sweet thing isn’t he? He had mentioned that there were some issues between you two, I am glad you worked it out. I’m also really happy for Aiden and you, he’s been alone so long and I always worry about him.” She always had the right things to say and always smiled with those perfect teeth of hers. I’d punch them down her throat if she hurt Christian.

“Well, I just wanted to tell you a few things that I am sure Christian hasn’t yet. He’s shy, like
really
shy, he hasn’t really dated anyone. I mean he’s taken a couple of women out here and there, but nothing serious at all. He’s one of the best guys you could ever meet, he’s kind and generous, he’s fun and funny, always in a good mood. He’d give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. I guess I am just trying to say, don’t say yes to him when he asks if you think there is even a chance that it might not work out.” There. I said it.

She wasn’t smiling now, she looked concerned and serious. “Aiden was right about you, I cannot influence your mind at all, it’s like you’re blocked out. I wondered if it was maybe just him, but Lucius and I cannot either. Not that we’d influence you but I was trying to speak with you telepathically earlier and it would not work.

I really like Christian, Skyy. He’s handsome and everything you said just now and then some. I was immediately attracted to him physically when I saw him last night. But, there is also a lot involved in a vampire-human relationship. You were made aware of our world and you know what Aiden is, and you openly accept him into your heart. I won’t lie to Christian, I don’t want to alter his mind at all in order to be with him, which means telling him about us, Skyy. How do you think he’d react?” she asked me seriously.

I sipped my water a few times while I thought that over. Christian was a really strong person, I thought he’d be able to take it. We’d had tons of conversations over the years about everything from aliens existing, to ghosts and werewolves. He was a believer, just like me. And it’d be nice to not have to lie to him any longer too.

“I think he’d be shocked at first, I mean I was. But I think he’d be fine with it. If it goes bad, can’t you just mind whammy him to forget you told him?” I asked her.

Fiona laughed. “Mind whammy him? Yes, I could alter his memory of that, but I really would hope it wouldn’t come to that. Maybe we could tell him together? With you there, he’ll have a better chance of believing me.” She was almost pleading me, it was kind of cute. A vampire begging a human for help.

“Sure,” I said honestly meaning it, “I’d be happy to tell him with you. I really think it’ll go better than you think it will. And we can also give him the lowdown on what’s happening so he’ll be better prepared in case we get attacked,” I added.

Turns out Christian would find out soon enough that vampires existed, and not in the way Fi intended him to find out.

Chapter 13

Darkness had fallen, and it felt ominous to me. Lucius, Fiona, Aiden and I all stood in the foyer. I had my fiery sword in its hilt attached to a belt on my jeans. Its blade tapped lightly against my leg when I walked, and I felt like a total bad ass. I had the silver glitter dust that Grandpa gave me in my jacket pocket.