The Lie (The Skyy Huntington Series) (7 page)

“No, I’m alright, I’ll head back down. Sorry to bother you, I’ll let you get back to it.” He turned around and walked down the stairs with his shoulders hanging low. I didn’t have time to feel sorry for mopey Christian right now, all I wanted was to get back to my conversation with Aiden.

You say: Alright, sorry about that. My friend was at the door.

Aiden1437 says: Do you need to go?

You say: No, he’s gone now, I’ve got all night.

Aiden1437 says: So how about you, when were you born?

You say: I figured you knew all about me already.

Aiden1437 says: Not much, though I did do some research to find out who lived in your house which is how I found out your name. I’ve tried not to invade your privacy too much, and I am sorry for making you nervous. I just want to get to know you.

You say: Well, I was born in 1982 in Boston.

Aiden1437 says: Have you lived in the area your whole life?

You say: Yep, sadly.

Aiden1437 says: Why are you sad about that? I love Boston and the area around it. It’s why I have lived here for so long.

You say: I like it enough, just have not experienced much else outside of here and would like to see more of the world.

With the exception of going to Florida a couple times when I was a kid to Disney World, and once to Las Vegas, I hadn’t really left the New England area much at all. My parents lived a couple hours away in Vermont and I visited them a few times a year, but other than that my life was pretty boring. With my newfound finances and all my spare time, I had been looking into some travel destinations but it really isn’t fun to go alone and I didn’t know anyone who could take off more than a week from work to go with me.

Aiden and I stayed up all night long chatting. Before long it was after 4 a.m. and I was getting sleepy. I was afraid to ask too many vampire related questions, not sure I really wanted to know the answers yet. Mainly, ‘do you drink blood to stay alive and if so am I on the menu?’ type questions. We kept the conversation light, mostly talking about places he had visited. He owned several houses all over the world, and had traveled to just about everywhere imaginable. But I guess with immortality, you had plenty of time to travel. We wrapped up the conversation with plans to talk again tomorrow. He seemed so normal, and very fun to talk to.

As I was crawling into bed, my phone beeped. Nobody else but Aiden could be messaging me this late at night. Sure enough, it was from him.

I had a great time talking to you tonight. Can’t wait to continue it tomorrow. Sleep well, milady.

I fell asleep with the phone in my hand and woke up a few short hours later when Cupcake heard Christian downstairs in the kitchen and wanted to go see him. I opened my bedroom door and she darted down the stairs to him. I followed behind with a lot less enthusiasm.

“Sorry if I woke you up, I was trying to be quiet,” he said as he gave me a quick hug.

“Cupcake heard you and woke me up. You know if your power is back on at home yet?” I inquired.

“Yeah I called my neighbor, he said it came on sometime in the middle of last night. I’m sure everything in my fridge is ruined by now, so I was about to go swing by the grocery store on the way home. I took another personal day off from work.”

“Well, I’m going to hop in the shower. If you’re gone before I’m done just give me a call later.” Christian stepped closer to me again, and touched my face. He started to lean in to kiss me and I turned away from him. I heard him sigh out loud.

“What is going on with you Skyy? I know I said I would be patient and all but you have been all over the place the last few days. One second you’re hot the next second you’re cold with me. I can’t keep up with the mixed signals.”

He was right. I was all over the place. I still didn’t know what I wanted, and I figured that if I didn’t know by now then I should stop sending him those mixed signals. Sleeping together in the same bed sure wasn’t helping him out.

“I’m sorry Christian. I know I’ve been a pain lately. Look, let's just chill out a bit. Let’s just stay friends for now. It’s all I can offer at this point, and I don’t want to lead you on or have things get any weirder than they already are between us, ok?”

I saw the look on his face. It was sad and awful, and I hated being the one to cause it. He took in a deep breath and held it, and tried to look like what I had just said didn’t bother him. He nodded his head at me.

“Ok, whatever you want Skyy. I’ve got to get going though, give me a call later,” he said quickly as he shrugged his jacket on. He was at my front door opening it to leave, when he turned around and said, “I should have kept my mouth shut. I never should have kissed you. Now I get to go back to standing on the sidelines waiting for you to hook up with the next shitbag boyfriend who will treat you wrong, wishing that you were mine.” He walked out and slammed the door shut.

I stood there in the silence for quite some time. He was mad, really mad at me. He had never snapped at me like that before. I wasn’t sure what to do. Calling him right now probably wasn’t the best idea. Maybe I could stop by his house later on today, give him some time to cool down.

I took a quick shower and threw some clothes on. I needed to get some grocery shopping done as well, and figured I should get that out of the way. I glanced over at my calendar as I was putting my shoes on, tonight was my cooking class that I attended twice a month. My mind was such a mess lately I would have forgotten about that had I not marked my calendar.

I headed to the grocery store, and did some quick shopping. Enough to last me a couple of days anyway. I normally loved to cook, but lately my mind had been focused on other things, mainly my supernatural friend Aiden. I didn’t even want to go to the cooking class tonight, but I figured I should anyway because it gave me a chance to meet new people in the area.

I dropped off my groceries at home and was debating on calling Christian or not. It was just after 2 p.m. and he usually didn’t stay angry too long about anything, though I had never seen him mad at me like this before either.

I picked up my home phone and started to dial his number, my fingers hovering over the last digit, when my cell phone began to buzz in my pocket. I looked at the caller ID, it was Maia, a girl from the cooking class I had become acquainted with. She seemed really nice, we had gone out once after class for some drinks. I answered the call while still holding the other phone in my hand, “Hey, Maia, how’s it going?”

“Skyy! I’m glad I was able to get in touch with you. Are you still planning on going to class tonight?”

“Yeah, why what’s up?” I asked.

“Well, my boyfriend got called in for over time and we only have one car right now, mine is in the shop so I was wondering if you might be able to give me a lift? I can give you some gas money or maybe we can get some drinks after class again.”

She lived on the way to the cooking class, so picking her up wasn’t a big issue at all.

“Sure, no problem at all. I’ll come by at six to get you, ok?”

“Thanks soooo much Skyy, you’re the best! See you at six!” Maia replied.

I hung up the phone, and was still hovering my finger over Christian’s last phone number digit, when my cell buzzed again in my pocket. It wasn’t a call this time, but a text message. Figuring it would be Christian, I hung up my home phone and glanced at my cell to check the message. Instead, I was surprised that it was from Aiden. It was midafternoon.

How’s your day going?

For some reason I pictured him lying cold and dead in a coffin somewhere in a cemetery. I guess that was another fact that was “rubbish” according to Aiden.

Not so great. How is yours?
I replied.

I sat down at the kitchen table and absently starting eating some grapes I had bought at the grocery store.

What’s wrong? Want to talk about it? I can get on IM if you like.

I had some time to kill. I knew I should call Christian, but maybe giving him some space to cool off might be a better idea.

Sure, I’ll be right there. Give me five, need to turn my PC on.

I flew up the stairs, Cupcake hot on my heels wondering what was going on and why I was so excited. I hit the power button on my PC, and kicked my shoes off at the foot of my bed. As I plopped down into the computer chair, my phone started ringing yet again. This time it was Christian.

I picked up timidly, “Hello?” There was a brief moment of silence on the other end before he spoke.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier today. It’s hard for me to keep my emotions about you bottled up.”

He knew how to make me feel bad alright. But I promised not to lead him on anymore. My computer just finished booting up as I replied, “It’s alright.” I didn’t know what else to say. I guess he sensed that too.

“Well, I just wanted to say I was sorry, give me a call later on if you want,” and then he hung up without even saying goodbye.

I stared at the phone for a second, before typing in my login information to the IM program. There he was, my vampire, at 2:43 p.m. in the afternoon, in the daylight, ready to chat with me. I smiled to myself.

Aiden1437 says: Good afternoon, milady.

You say: Hello Aiden.

Aiden1437 says: Everything ok?

I sighed. Everything was definitely not ok. I was in a fight with my best friend and possibly my soul mate, and I was in a counseling session with a vampire about it.

You say: I’ll be ok, just had an argument with Christian this morning.

Aiden1437 says: A rejected kiss is always hard on a gentleman.

I sucked in my breath. How did he know what happened this morning between Christian and I?

You say: I thought you weren’t invading my privacy?

Aiden1437 says: I’m not. Well I am not trying to on purpose. Vampires have great hearing though. I just happened to be in your area when the events this morning took place.

In my area? More like in my house!

You say: Are you sneaking into my house now? I’m not sure I like where this is heading.

Aiden1437 says: I would not enter your house without your permission. I’ve been watching over you though, for many months. I can hear your conversations inside your home from the outside lawn and street. I can see you through your windows, and your house has many, many windows.

I felt violated. He might not be able to enter my house, but being able to hear my conversations and see me without me even knowing he is looking at me pissed me off.

You say: You know, humans would call that stalking. And I could file a restraining order against you if you were a human…

Aiden1437 says: But I’m not a human. And is it such a bad thing, to have someone like me on your side?

He did have a point. He was handy to have around in a pinch, like say when you’re caught in a graveyard at night and some drunk kids stumble in…

You say: I’m not sure if it is a good or a bad thing. I don’t know what to think right now.

Aiden1437 says: I’m sorry if I frightened you. I honestly don’t mean you any harm, now or ever. Please believe me.

For some odd reason, I did believe him. I knew I shouldn’t but I did.

You say: Is it true that vampires cannot enter a person's home unless they are invited in?

Aiden1437 says: No, that is not true. We can enter any public establishment we desire, even sacred or holy grounds, churches and temples, anytime we like. But a vampire cannot enter another vampire’s house uninvited.

Great, and here I was thinking that I might have been safe inside my own home.

You say: Please promise me you won’t come in my house unless I invite you, ok?

Aiden1437 says: Of course, milady.

I sat there trying to think of something to say for a few moments. I felt uncomfortable, but I still wanted to know more about Aiden. I guessed that he wouldn’t just go away if I wanted him to, but the thought came into my mind and I figured I would ask, just to see.

You say: If I asked you to leave me alone, and not bother me again, would you do it?

There was a short pause, close to two minutes before he replied.

Aiden1437 says: If that is what you desired then yes. I would.

You say: Let’s change the subject. How has your day been so far?

Aiden1437 says: Very boring. I went to the dry cleaner to pick up some clothes, made a few phone calls, and apparently stalked you somewhere in between.

I laughed out loud. I was not sure if it was the image of him picking up clothes from the drycleaner like a normal person might do, or him mocking me about the stalking. Maybe he was more down to earth that I had previously imagined. We chatted right up until I had to leave to go pick up Maia for our cooking class. I told him I would text him when I was done.

Chapter 4

I picked up Maia right at 6 p.m. and we headed over to the cooking class. It lasted a little longer than usual because we had a substitute teacher in charge tonight. A group of students were gathered outside smoking and talking when Maia and I walked out. We walked over to them, as Maia pulled out a cigarette, handing one to me in offering. I shook my head, “No thanks, I don’t smoke,” I said politely.

“I really should quit. My boyfriend and I want to have kids soon. I’ve tried to quit like seventy-two times at least, but you know how it is…” she said as her voice dragged off. She had difficulty lighting the cigarette since it was quite windy outside. Her long blonde hair was flying all around her face and I was wondering if she was about to catch it on fire with her lighter. She was a lot shorter than I was, I’d guess close to five foot maybe and was really skinny.

“I’ve got enough bad habits as it is without smoking, I am glad I don’t have to worry about that too,” I chuckled.

The smoke really bothered me. Even though we were outside, there were about three other people who were smoking along with Maia, and it started to sting my nostrils. I just wanted to get out of there. A month ago I would have welcomed this opportunity to interact with the people from my cooking class, to make new friends. But tonight I just wanted to get home, open up a beer and chat with Aiden. Maybe even make a call to Christian to see if he was doing ok. I stood there and made small talk while they smoked their cigarettes, and eventually we all started wandering towards the parking lot to where our cars were parked. Maia and another girl from the class named Heather were interested in heading to a pub for some drinks. I turned their offer down, but let Maia know that if she needed a ride home later not to hesitate to call me.