Crossover

Chapter 11 Edmund's Gift

Chapter 11
Edmund’s Gift

    On the morning of October 7, Aria found herself lying in bed wide-awake for a change. She could have sworn she had woken up from her heart beating so heavily from excitement.

      “Aria, time to wake up.” Elizabeth knocked on the door and walked in. “Happy birthday, sweetie!”

    “Thanks, Mom.” Aria sat up, enthusiastically.

    “Wow, Aria, I have never seen you this alert in the morning,” her mother commented with a grin, “even on your birthday.”

      “I just have an extra good feeling about today,” Aria replied, her voice filled with glee as she jumped out of bed and went to her dresser. “Now, could you help me brush my hair, please? I want to look extra nice today.”

    On a normal day, including birthdays, Aria just wore jeans and a t-shirt to school since she didn’t care to spend a lot of extra time on her appearance, not to mention, she was always too sleepy in the morning. Today, however, she wanted to be different. As Edmund said, you only turn sixteen once. Aria just knew today is going to be the best day of her life.

    Her mother’s smile appeared to fade as she spoke in an awkward tone, “Aria?”

    “Yes, Mom?” Aria asked as she got up and walked over to her mirror.

    “Your father and I were thinking, maybe you would like to stay home from school today since it’s your birthday. We can call in sick for you if you want?”

    Aria turned away from her reflection to see Elizabeth looking quite concerned, almost distressed. She could not imagine what could be causing her mom to behave in such a manner.

    She shook her head. “No, Mom. Edmund is taking me out for dinner tonight. I don’t want him to think I am sick.”

    “WHAT?” her mother practically bellowed. “Who is this boy?”

    Aria rolled her eyes. “Edmund, Mom. Remember, the boy I told you about? I know I mentioned him to you before.”

    “Oh no, sweetie. That can’t happen tonight,” Elizabeth responded frantically shaking her head. “Your father and I have something special planned for you.”

    “But Mom,” Aria protested. “Can’t it wait until I get home? After all, it is my birthday.”

    “No, Aria! You can’t go out today.” Elizabeth seemed even more stressed out now as she let out a heavy breath. “Listen to me. I know, of course, we can’t actually keep you home from school but I want you to promise me you will come straight home after, okay?”

    Now this is getting really weird. Aria wondered why her mother wanted to keep her home so badly today. As she studied her mother’s face, Aria read great worry, more intense than she had ever seen before.

    Elizabeth looked at her daughter intently. “Aria?”

    “Okay, sure,” Aria agreed though she secretly planned to go out with Edmund anyway.

    Once Elizabeth closed the door behind her, Aria proceeded to do her hair and make-up. Opening her drawer, she pulled out the little eye shadow kit Kendal gave her on her birthday two years ago. She desperately tried to remember the way her former friend showed her how to do her eyes, but since time has passed that proved rather difficult. After about ten minutes, Aria let out a huff and decided to keep her make-up simple rather than screwing it up. She did not even try to do anything fancy with her hair. Having it tangle free was a vast improvement from a normal day.   

      Aria then threw on her purple peasant top and short black skirt and prepared to leave. As she opened the door to go downstairs she overheard her parents.

    “I told you, Elizabeth,” her father spoke in a hushed tone. “You should have just let her sleep. By the time she would have woken up, school would be out.”

    “And what would we have told her when she woke up, Ted? She can already tell something’s wrong. Besides, we have no valid reason to keep her home from school.”

    Aria heard Ted fold up the paper as he asked, “You told her to come straight home?”

    “I made her promise,” Elizabeth assured him. “Lets just hope nothing happens.”

    Ted sighed. “I’m telling you, Honey, one thing for certain is I will sleep a lot better once this day is over.”

xXx

      On their walk to school, Aria did not hesitate to tell Vanessa everything she overheard from her parents.

    “It sounds like they think someone’s after you,” Vanessa commented, scratching her head.

    “Who could that possibly be?” Aria wondered aloud.

    Vanessa shrugged, but still said, “Well, sixteenth birthdays have always had a bad rap. Some say that day itself is bad luck.”

    “That’s only in movies,” Aria replied.

    “You know, I read somewhere that all stories ever written were inspired by at least partial truth,” Vanessa explained. “I mean, think about it. How could anyone actually think up some of these creatures or situations without having something to trigger it?”

    Aria tried to hold back laughter as she commented, “So with that logic you could say that maybe Anne Rice meant some sort of vampire and then decided to write a book about it.”

    Vanessa sighed, “Well, maybe not exactly a vampire but something like it. There are websites that actually say this stuff is true.”

    “Have you tried running your theory by Walter?” Aria asked with a raised brow.

    Vanessa let out a huff as she replied, “You know Walter…” she dropped her voice for an impression of him, “If it can’t be proven then it’s not a valid fact.”

    Her imitation caused both of the girls to descend into a fit of laughter. Aria even forgot about how unnaturally worried her parents behaved this morning.

    Still in giggles when they reached the end of the street, the girls heard a voice call out from behind. “Well, hello, birthday girl!”

    They turned around to see their disappeared neighbor, standing in her yard, waving enthusiastically with a broad smile on her face.

    “Ms. Fleming!” Aria greeted, cheerfully. “You’re back! It’s so good to see you.” 

    Still beaming, Ms. Fleming let out a sigh of relief. “Believe me. It’s good to be back. My sisters are rather difficult to be around sometimes.” She paused to let out another long exhale. “So, anything new?”

    Vanessa looked over at Aria, “You wanted to tell her, remember?”

    “Tell me what, Aria?” she asked, appearing quite curious.

    Aria could feel her cheeks flush as she grinned. “Well, I met someone at school recently and, well, we’re kind of dating.”

    “Wonderful!” Ms. Fleming beamed and clapped her hands together. “And just in time, oh… um, I mean that’s great! What’s his name?”

    Aria practically sung the name, “Edmund Calloway.”

    Ms. Fleming’s smile faded slightly. “Has he always gone to your school?”

    “Actually he recently moved,” Aria answered.

    Ms. Fleming suddenly got quiet for a moment then said, “Well, I need to go check on something. Bye girls! I hope you have a fantastic day… Oh, and Aria? Make sure you come straight home after school, okay?”

    “Um, sure,” Aria replied solemnly and then turned to Vanessa. “How did she know my parents said that?”

    All Vanessa could offer in response was a shrug.

xXx

    This day was absolutely perfect for Aria. No one bothered her for a change, and best of all she got to spend it with Edmund.  For Aria, this had to be the best birthday, ever. The entire day, her bones jittered in excitement as she thought of there first official date soon to come.

    Once school let out Aria met up with her new boyfriend and asked, “Hey, do you think we can go ahead and go out together, now, instead of waiting for tonight? You see, my parents told me I had to come straight home and I have a feeling once I’m in my house, I won’t be allowed to leave it.”

    “As you wish,” Edmund replied smoothly. “After all, today is your special day.”

    Aria beamed joyfully. Never in her life had she felt so blissful. Aria knew she would remember this day for the rest of her life.

    In the school parking lot, Aria found a black limo parked by the front entrance. She let out a gasp upon realization that this elegant ride was meant for her.

    “Edmund!” Aria threw her hand over her mouth. “How much money did you spend on this?”

    “Do not worry about it,” Edmund replied, soothingly. “Today, I want you to feel like a princess.”

    And indeed she did. That evening, Aria and Edmund shared the most amazing dinner together at the Palace Royale. The servers at this restaurant seemed to treat their guest like royalty. The building itself was decorated just as Aria pictured an actual castle with red, velvet banners hanging from the walls, chandeliers from the ceilings, and stained glass windows. Aria truly felt like a real princess and Edmund her prince. She thought that perhaps all this time, Ms. Fleming was right about her finding Prince Charming.

    Aria looked up to Edmund and smiled. “Thank you for all this, Edmund. This has to be the most amazing night of my life.”

    “I’m glad you are enjoying it,” Edmund responded softly as he sipped his drink.

    Aria sighed thinking back to this morning. “Well, its perfect now. I just hope I don’t get into too much trouble when I get home.”

    “You shouldn’t worry about that,” Edmund muttered in an odd tone.

    Aria smiled dreamily not picking up on it. “You’re right! I should just live in the moment. I deal with it when I get home. Besides, however much trouble I get in, it will be worth it.”

    Edmund just sat in silence, looking downward at his plate.

    “Is something wrong?” Aria asked, looking at him with confusion filling her eyes.

    Edmund fiddled with his fork awkwardly. “It just that…Aria, um, would you like to come to my house after dinner?”

    Aria let out a sad breath. “Oh, Edmund, I really wish I could, but I better go home after this. My parents will already be mad enough.”

    Edmund nodded. “I understand. It’s just that I left your present at my house.”

    “Oh, well, you can give it to me tomorrow,” Aria suggested, giving him an apologetic smile.

    Edmund remained persistent. “Actually, it’s kind of big. I was planning on putting it in my car and driving it to your house.”

    Aria laughed. “My gosh, Edmund! What on earth did you get me? I hope you didn’t spend too much money on whatever it is. You have already done enough with the limo and this dinner.”

    “Actually its an antique in my family,” Edmund explained. “There’s just not enough room for it in our house and my mother would really like to see it go somewhere nice rather then sell it to anyone. She said it would be wonderful if I gave it to you.”

    Aria could not help but feel intrigue so she agreed. Also, she figured that since she would likely be in a grand amount of trouble for being out in the first place against her parent’s wishes, thirty more minutes would not make much difference.

    As they rode the limo to Edmund’s house, Aria curiously observed the neighborhood. She had never been to this part of town before. All the homes they drove past looked like mansions. Edmund’s appeared no different.

    “Wow, your house is beautiful,” Aria commented in awe.

    Edmund smiled. “Thank you. Now, let us go in so you can see your present.”

    The inside of Edmund’s house looked rather similar to the Palace Royale, like a Renaissance castle. Aria admired the banners that hung on the walls. They were all tones of gold and silver.

    “Aria,” Edmund called gently as she admired the place. “Your present is in this room. Come in.”

    When Aria walked to Edmund he covered her eyes and walked her into the room. Once he removed his hand, Aria saw a golden spinning wheel.

    Throwing her hand over her mouth, Aria let out another gasp. “Wow! This is beautiful, Edmund! How much is this thing worth?”

    “It doesn’t matter. I would give you the world if I could.”

    Aria had absolutely no idea what she was going to do with this as she had no idea how to even use a spinning wheel, but it did not seem to matter to her now. The important fact Aria picked up on this moment is that Edmund had given her a family inheritance. This alone told her a great deal about their relationship.

    “Would you like to touch it?” Edmund asked.

    Aria was thrown off guard by this question, but answered, “Um, alright, sure.”

    With Edmund’s hand on top of hers leading it, Aria stroked the spinning wheel until all the way to the needle on top.

      Aria pulled her bleeding finger to her mouth. “Ouch!”

    “Are you okay, Aria?” Edmund asked, appearing concerned.

    “Yeah,” Aria glanced at her hand. “I just pricked my finger, that’s all.”

    “Let me see.” Edmund took hold of Aria’s hand and kissed her bleeding finger. “Does it feel better?”

    “I, uh…” Aria felt her mind suddenly turn foggy. “Edmund, something is wrong.”

    The dizziness grew more intense. Aria felt as if the entire room was spinning, as well as the flood below her feet. She continued to feel this overwhelming sensation for another moment as she began to lose balance and then… nothing.