Til Death

34. Blake

BLAKE

"He has to prove himself," Adrian had said. "If he doesn't leave the party for you, it means he will never care about you as much as he cares about himself. Test to see if he'll give you control."

Thinking about those words now, Blake wanted to vomit. The butterflies in his stomach were merciless, bouncing and smashing up the walls of his organs. And he was so cold. The night had an especially deep bite, the frost creeping through his skin and down to the bone. He cursed, rubbing his hands together and conjuring the last of his warmth into his hands to make a small flame. He used its heat like a reverse sunscreen to protect from the cold. It wasn't as potent as his usual spells. It was because he wasn't focused. He was too concerned with Daniel.

He reached for his cell, debating to phone Daniel up and call the whole thing off. He felt so stupid and immature making demands like he did. Honestly, Blake would've forgiven him in the ballroom... but Adrian's voice had stopped him.

"He needs to show remorse," Adrian's words wormed their way in again. Blake had been listening to Adrian's advice ever since he was a kid and he never steered him wrong before.

Sighing, Blake strolled deeper into the park, remembering a gazebo around here somewhere that would work for at least a little cover. The path was marked with cobblestone and lots of foliage along the way.

The lights from the lampposts were dim, but the Christmas lights wrapped around the pointy naked trees were warm and bright. Some lights were shaped like snowflakes and the posts were wrapped in garland. Blake wished there were some Christmas music, not just the low hum from the city and his thoughts. It was odd to look over trees and see skyscrapers.

Some laughter behind Blake cut through the peace. He glanced behind him as two guys were stumbling and laughing about something. None of them seemed to care about Blake, engrossed in their own conversation. They seemed young. Around his age maybe. A yelp flew out his mouth as Blake hit something hard, and he stumbled back.

"Hey, watch out," the man in front of him said. He was built like a bolder with cropped hair and wore only a sweater in this snowy night. "If you don't look where you're going, you could get hurt."

"Uh, sorry," Blake said and took a step to the side, attempting to walk around him, but the boulder man mirrored his action and stopped him.

"Hey," The man smiled, a flicker of excitement in his eyes as he leaned closer and popping Blake's personal bubble. "You wouldn't be Blake Winslow? Would you?"

That question pulled the air out of Blake's lungs. It deafened all the noise in the world. Suddenly, Blake was hyper aware of this man's size. "Uh," Blake's voice came out shaky as his heart plummeted to his toes. "No. I don't know who that is, sorry."

He turned around, but the laughing guys were there and too close to be an accident. Just two of them felt like a second wall in his way. One guy with icy blonde hair held up a magazine with Blake's stupid face right on the cover. It was a picture of Daniel and Blake exiting the Venture Hotel after their cake tests.

A better time.

"So, this isn't you?" The other guy egged Blake on, treating him like an idiot.

"No," Blake insisted, attempting to go around, but they moved in front of him again. It was getting harder to breathe. They were too close. He was getting boxed in. All his exits were disappearing. 

"Don't be so bashful," the blonde laughed and smacked his shoulder with the magazine. "You should be more confident."

Blake jumped. "So, what if I am Blake Winslow? You know that means there's a castle full of people waiting for me. A small army of vampires that will make you pay if you do anything to me."