Eighteen troubled teenagers wake up one morning to an even more troubling discovery. They are all vampires...
Given the chance to correct their Scrooge like behaviors, they must accept the guidance of a keeper. Assigned to each of the eighteen, Dek...
The Walshes have finally returned from their vacation. It turns out that it was a three month long cruise. I don't even want to pretend that a vacation out to sea that long would be fun. Or any vacation for that matter. Vacations are meant to be family trips. My parents have been gone for forever, Des is now gone, and now I don't even have Ace. I have the others, but selfishly they aren't enough.
The heavy hum of the household never seems to fade. With actual human life brought upon the house, it's a completely different place with a whole new fascade. Gone are the random dust bunnies and tumble weeds of Willows hair, swept up thoroughly by the household staff. Even the furniture seems stiff as if overly cleaned like the rest of the house.
Secretly I miss the dust steaks on the floor and the sagging upholstery of the couch when you flopped on it. Everything about this place is different.
Leaning against the sitting room wall in the back of the room, I have full visual on the happenings of the entire house. Both Alma and Jett have their feet propped up on the velvet love seat with a comic book resting between their knees. Switching angles, Quinn and Hadly sit side by side in a bean bag chair while sharing a pair of ear buds. They both seem very into their music. In the center of the room both Bo and Willow laugh while they put together an impossibly large kitten puzzle. Out of the entire room, their laughter is by far the loudest. I've never seen Willow this happy.
Willows parents have taken it upon themselves to foster all of us. With plenty of rooms and lots of nagging on Willows end, they finally relented without much persuasion needed.
The rooms they chose for us are the same rooms we had been staying in previously, but that's where the similarities end. Mrs. Walsh was over the moon about decorating each of our rooms. Their generosity didn't end there, oh no. Mr. Walsh looked every part of an off duty basketball coach. He found it a must that each of us have more than one reliable pair of sneakers. Outfitted with decorated rooms, closets full of clothes and more shoes than one pair of feet can possibly wear, we now had everything. Everything except Ace.
The Walshes know about Ace, well kinda. Fates. They didn't know nearly enough about him. The way he smelled, spoke, and even the secret talents he held. He was my person and part of me hopes that I was his person too.
Another lunch passes, and then dinner. I've never been this unmotivated, it's highly unlike me and everyone knows it. Everyone reaches out, except Alma. Part of me thinks that she's gone through this and that she gets it. Every other night she drops little packages off at my door. She wraps them in old newspapers and midnight blue silk ribbons. Poor and wealthy all wrapped into one. Each package is another metal figure, tonight's is a dainty crane. This one is my favorite yet, its dainty in a warrior like way. Placed on a shelf amongst the others, I say goodnight to the nameless crane.
Under the covers, a shiver races down my spine, causing me to curl my toes. Sliding further under into my warm star laden quilt, warmth tucks it's way around my waist and under my chin. Imagining all of this, I cling to that false warmth as sleep begins to take me. Until the final seconds before my eyelids slump shut, I truly believe that I'm alone. When the warmth reaches out to tuck a curl behind my ear, I know I can't be imagining this.
Turning in his arms to face him, my eyes seek out his green ones through the moon light seeping through the windows.
"Ace."
His smile lights up the dim room. Idly he begins to trace my features with his fingers. Each pass of his warm hands sends a different kind of shiver through me.
I have so many questions to ask him.
What happened?
How are you alive?
Who helped you?
What took you so long?
When I'm ready to ask them, they dissapate from existence. All that matters is that he's here and that he's still human. They're all human. I did it. Settling in for the night, Ace tightens his hold on me while placing a kiss on my forehead. My victory isn't lost as we both snuggle into each other under the thick covers. I know we can't guarantee tomorrow, but at least we have tonight.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
