Wild Flowers

Chapter 13

By the middle of the month, Ember's chemo starts. The day she decides to tell everyone, we collaborate in outfits. She wears black fishnet tights, tall lace up black boots, a red leather miniskirt, her griffindor t-shirt, with her hair in a high pony. I decide to wear sky blue tall lace up boots, a tight white floral dress and pull my vibrant red hair into a high pony too. We link arms as we walk into the school and Ember nods at me to tell Taylor and the girls. Taylor immediately bursts into tears and all three girls hold Ember tightly. From now on we all fear the worst; the day when Ember will no longer be strutting round the halls, her black hair swinging down her back, when she no longer sasses the teachers and inspires us with her meaningful quotes. We fear that we will wake up and she's gone.

After a few weeks of no news from Vincent and change from Chelsea, we all begin to see the difference in Ember. She's tired. She slugs around school with a sullen expression on her face and she rarely laughs. Her appearance has fallen, too out of it to notice what she's wearing. Most days its a pair of black jeans and a scruffy t-shirt. Her black hair lies limp, and she uses it as curtains around her face. Soon her hair disappears all together. And left is a girl with sunken in eyes lined in black, with nothing to protect her from the happy lives around her that are sure to be long lived.

On halloween, instead of attending Chelsea's party (or slutfest as Ember calls it) like the rest of our year, we traipse the town in our costumes. Ember decides to embrace her new look and dresses as a deceased husband and his zombie bride (Taylor) with her dead bridesmaids. We stuff our face with candy and sing loudly (and terribly) as we reach the end of our night. We've all had so much fun that the dark cloud that hangs over us like a thundering storm, has disappeared; if only momentarily.

The next day, I take a stroll around town and notice a singular white lily on top of the grocer's. That night, I stand in the dim, grungy alley as Lili with a plan.

I hear the soft thud of feet hitting the asphalt and turn to find Vincent a few metres behind me. He stands there in jeans and a navy t-shirt with the words vampire slayer on them. At the sight of his shirt I crack up, and it takes me a few minutes to stop. He stands there in amusement watching me silently, and I gather that speaking isn't his thing. I stand up straight after a few minutes and wipe a stray tear from my eye. "Nice shirt," I sniggeer.

"I happen to like it, thank you very much." He says and smiles at me, his dark purple eyes seeming to grow softer. "Oh, and I happen to have taken your advice." he says.

"Well that's good, but you haven't killed the one I told you too." I say quizzically, remembering my surprise at seeing Tyler at school.

"Well, the thing is..." he trails off, looking away. I can tell that there are things he needs to say, and so I fabricate a black leather love seat in the corner of the alley. I go over and sit down, but he remains standing, pacing in front of me. I cross my legs and sit elegantly, letting the blonde hair of my original form fall over my shoulders. I'm wearing a long chiffon burgundy dress. After a few minutes, Vincent stops speaking, and I watch the muscles in his strong arms move as he thinks of how to begin.

"You have access to many unknown and limitless powers, yes?" he asks and for the first time I detect an accent. I nod. "And yet you know nothing of the supernatural world. There are many species. We have angels, vampires, werewolves, witches, warlocks, and many more. But we also have rau. This literally translates into 'worst' . These creatures tend to anger quickly, and they have the gift of death. This means that they never die, are tricky to kill, can talk to the dead... but also can kill with ease and little or no remorse. Oh, and they can get rid of evidence of murder." He finishes and I think over what he has just said.

"So Tyler is one of these ?" I ask and Vincent nods.

"A very dangerous enemy." he adds and I realise this is why Vincent has not gone up against him.

"We need to keep our eyes on him." I say, standing.

"Of course, Lili." Vincent says and bows. I look at him quizzically. "You are more powerful than me." he explains "I must show you respect." I'm too tired to explain to him why he does not need to bow and I lean against the wall.

"Anything else?" I ask, wanting to return home to bed. Vincent hesitates. "Speak up, vampire." I say and realise how regal I sound. I decide not to contradict myself and don't apologize. Vincent comes to stand in front of me, looking down into my eyes.

"I was watching Tyler, following him to see if I could find anything out. And one night, he went out." he pauses. "And he met with Poppy." I inhale sharply. Misunderstanding clouds my mind and I reach out to hold Vincent's head. Seemingly driven by an unknown force, I place my hands on his head and push him to his knees before me, and he is powerless to stop me. I feel his aura and mine, and I force tendrils of mine to separate from my body and wrap around him. I can see inside his head, his deepest thoughts and desires. My own image floats towards me, but I shove it away, looking for something else. And then I find it.

I watch from the roof of an abandoned warehouse, looking down through the ripped ceiling. Tyler strides quickly towards Poppy, who stands in a large charcoal dress, the material pooling around her. He drops to his knees before her, bowing his head. "My queen, Dracona; le tout-puissant." he says and she touches his shoulder to stand. Tyler gazes at her adoringly, though he also seems to be in awe and wary at the same time. Poppy opens her mouth to speak, but my attention is drawn to the scent of fresh blood in the next street over.