River of Red

XXXV

My body was blissfully serene.

I felt as if I was floating on clouds.

But insistent chatter tugged at my brain.

Tiny thing tried to wake me, like the talking, the tiny scratching in my palm, and the light. I wondered where I was, was I at mom's or dad's? What was that smell? The noise? The touch?

It was sudden, light swarmed over my eyelids, casting a pink, speckled glow. My hands were opened, the scratching stopped.

I pried my lids apart, my eyes burning with pain.

I looked up, and saw a very, very handsome man. His jawline was perfect, not too square or too round, not too soft or too rugged. His eyes were black, the pupil and the iris barely distinguishable beside the tiny gray and blue streaks in his irises. A thin scar traced over his cheekbone, the pale skin only a few shades darker than the scar itself. His lashes were long and dark, his hair black, and I knew, somewhere in me, that it was as soft as it looked. He had plush, pink lips, the kind you have to kiss.

Memories rushed over me like a tidal wave, drowning me, choking me. The man looked up, I met his surprised gaze with one of my own.

"Domitius?"

His mouth opened to say something, but he closed it. Instead, he brought his hand down to graze my cheek.

I looked down.

It took a moment to decipher what I was in, a coffin. The idea was so absurd that I laughed, what were the chances that a mermaid-vampire would actually be in a coffin.

I looked at him again, my eyes amused and confused.

He bent his face lower toward mine.

"God, I missed you."

And he kissed me.

It was like he was dying, and I was his savior, and I guess I kind of was. I kissed him back with the same fervor. His lips were soft and plush. He deepened the kiss, and pulled my into a sitting position in the coffin. I ran my hands under his shirt, and felt the strong muscles there. His hand entwined into my hair, and held me firm. I traced my fingers in along his abs, and moaned.

I do not moan.

He broke from the kiss, dazed and confused.

I looked at his perfect face, and wondered how I landed my self such a damn hot hunk of man meat.

I peeked around his shoulder, and gasped when I noticed where we were. The church. The whole town sat in the rows of benches, staring at me with morbid curiosity, fear, and downright terror. Someone screamed, someone stood, someone ran toward us, someone ran away.

I saw Hanna, her mouth agape, she wore no makeup, yet tears ran on rivets down her face. My mother sat next to her, anger set in her eyes, along with a few emotions I couldn't quite place. No matter what books said, sometimes it was just downright difficult to feel people's emotions. I felt no apathy to my mother, and as soon as I saw her my eyes narrowed to slits, my mouth a hard line.

I practically crawled out of the coffin, the soft, white silk no longer smooth, but rough and grating like her eyes. My bare feet touched down on the cool, marble tiles elegantly. My body felt new, my hearing was peaked, my eyesight the best it had ever been, my smell picking up on any little thing.

I felt like a full fledged vampire, and I wasn't sure if that was good.

Under the definite vampire urges, I felt mermaid ones. I could sense the water in the pipes around me. I felt power in my veins, I felt the moon in the sky, whether the tide was low or high.

I just knew.

My eyes met my mother's, her brown orbs reflecting my own emotions: anger, disbelief, confusion, and hate.

I frowned, and started in her direction. Domitius's hands clamped down on my arms to stop me, but I was not to be stopped.

"What the hell?" I demanded. Domitius appeared beside me.

He leaned down into my ear, "I think we should leave, dove, everyone thinks your supposed to be dead."

Oh shook my head at him, no, I would address my mother, demand to know her reason for even looking at me.

"Hello, baby." She said, her sorry facade falling while she looked at me.

I sneered at her, my anger shoving its way onto my features.

"Why? Why did you do that?" I asked, almost yelling now.

She smiled at me, revealing a set of cigarette-browned teeth.

"Do what, cookie?" She extended her arms, like she wanted me to hug her. I stepped away with a scoff.

The woman before me had nearly, beat me to death and left me on the road to die. Now she wanted to hug it out? No.

I stepped backwards, straight into Domitius's arms.

"Calm down, dove, she isn't worth it." He whispered in my ear. I took in a calming breath and closed my eyes. When I opened them, they landed in Hanna.

I brushed past my mother's arms, only to be embraced by Hanna.

Tears ran down her face in rivers, and showed no sign of stopping. For the first time, I noticed she wore no makeup, which must be bad because she always wore makeup.

"Katrina!" She choked, "I thought you were dead!" I patted her back soothingly,  Tears forming in my eyes also.

"I'm not, so it's okay. I thought I was too."

I looked around at the church, now realizing what the congregation was for, a funeral. I gasped, wondering how I could have died, when I remembered the past week. Memories flooded my mind, Domitius and Nolan, the fight, the obvious end of the brother, the airplane crash, and most importantly the feeling of all the life seeping from my limbs. Of my inevitable end, the reason why Nolan's bite had killed me was unknown, well, not completely kill. . .

An intoxicating smell wafted past my nose, through the air. I backed away from Hanna when she tried to pull my deeper into the hug. I knew the smell, blood.

I blinked my eyes fast, trying to get the image of her long, tan neck out of my mind. My back slammed into Domitius's chest in my haste.

"Come on, dove. Let's go get a snack." He nibbled my ear, which turned my attention to him instead of the now eerily beating chests throughout the room. I heard sirens, someone must have called the police. I guess someone waking from the dead wasn't a regular occurrence.

I knew I had to run, to get away from the town. It hurt that I had to leave Hanna, but I couldn't stay with my mom. I looked at her frowning face, and flipped her off.

I stepped toward the door, Domitius at my side, and walked into a new life.