Pure Magic (Book One)

Chapter One

I found myself angrily walking through San Myshuno. Another first date gone horribly wrong. I wondered what the hell was so wrong with me that made everything come crashing down before I even truly got to know someone. Not that it mattered. After all of these dates, I told myself, ‘never again’, despite knowing I would try again.

“Whoa, whoa, what’s going on?” I heard. I looked up and saw Caleb Vatore, my best friend.

“Oh,” I tried to sound happy. “Hey.”

He squinted his eyes. “Don’t ‘hey’ me,” he scowled playfully. “I didn’t even get a call, but I see you stomping around here?” He put his hands on my shoulders, centering himself in front of me. “What happened this time?”

The fact that he had to add ‘this time’ after his initial question made me realize just how horrible my luck really was. I looked at Caleb like a dog who had just been scolded. “He made some comment about being the one, I realized what a narcissist he was, acted like I felt sick, paid the bill and left.”

Caleb smiled warmly. “Maybe it was a joke?”

I glared at him. “Like I can’t take a joke?”

“I just think maybe you are too serious on dates,” he explained. “Like you’re on a mission. You also set your expectations way too high.” He rolled his eyes and continued. “In my experience, men are never perfect, and like half of them can’t even admit they are wrong.”

I tried to hide the smile that was forming on my lips. That statement, coming from him, was ironic. It was like he was badmouthing himself while he was trying to make me feel better. Caleb was bisexual, though I had never seen him date any men or women. He was very social, but seemed to have no inclination to get a date. I envied him. I got lonely way too quickly, and couldn’t stand the thought of potentially dying alone.

“You know that just sounds silly coming from you, right?” I asked, grinning.

“Oh, well, I mean men other than myself, of course.” Caleb laughed as he clarified.

I narrowed my eyes.

“I know,” he continued laughing. “Now I’m a narcissist, right?”

“Hey!” I playfully shoved him and scowled. “Excuse you, but I’m going home.” I started to walk away.

“Want company?” He asked.

I sighed. “Sure.”

We went back to my apartment, and I flopped down on the couch.

“I don’t get it,” I said. “I mean, you’re probably right. My expectations are much too high. It’s like, I don’t want to be alone, but I’m alone because I expect to find the perfect guy. Someone says ‘one wrong thing’, and I end it right then and there. I don’t answer their calls, I don’t call them, I just move onto the next.”

Caleb stared at a sculpture on the shelves on the wall. “Well, I mean, you’re attractive, so it’s not like you don’t have a bunch of guys you can choose from.” He wiped some dust off of the shelf with his finger.

“Are you insinuating that I have guys just falling all over me?” I laughed. “Because, I assure you, that’s not the case.”

Caleb shrugged. “I’m just stating the obvious,” he smiled. “If they aren’t falling all over you, that’s their problem.”

I blushed. “Well, thank you.”

We were silent for a moment. I really wasn’t good at taking compliments, so I would tend to shut down and just think about what was said to me, silently wondering what I was supposed to say in return.

Caleb sat beside me. “I’d say call him,” he smiled. “Try again. See what happens.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Try to remember that no one is perfect, even if you want them to be.” He looked down, straightening his jacket a little. “But, if you look hard enough, you’ll find someone who is so almost perfect, that they are perfect in your eyes.”

I nodded and watched him. After he said that, he wouldn’t look at me, as if he would rather focus on something else than see what my reaction was. It wasn’t the first time that I thought maybe he had more feelings for me than he let on, but I shrugged it off. I never wanted to ask, because I knew I would sound desperate or like he was my last resort.

“You do know that no matter who I meet, I will always love you, right?” I asked him.

He looked up at me, confused. “Huh?”

I laughed a little. “You’ve been with me through pretty much everything. I love you, like the best friend you are. That will never change.”

He smiled happily. “Well thank you. And, same.”

I could understand he couldn’t just come out and say it. I wasn’t offended. It was sort of a weird thing to say to someone who you weren’t in a relationship with.

We snapped back from the awkward situation quickly, talking about work, school, Caleb’s vampire life. He was one of three vampires that lived in Forgotten Hollow. The other two were his sister, Lilith, and the only evil vampire in town, Vladislaus Straud. He founded Forgotten Hollow, and definitely had the ego. He also enjoyed drinking from people, while Caleb and Lilith didn’t want to hurt anyone, so they drank from plasma packs. There had been a long time feud between the three of them about social acceptance and expectations. Vlad didn’t care. He considered himself traditional, and called Caleb and Lilith ‘softies’ for their modern take on vampire life.

Vlad and Caleb also felt very strongly against each other because Vlad had broken into my house on three separate occasions in an effort to bite me. Caleb refused to let it happen and came for my protection. They had a bit of an agreement. Don’t bite Jade, or all hell will break loose. I was impressed. Not a lot of people enjoyed Vlad, but no one had ever spoken to him the way Caleb had. The fact that Vlad agreed made even less sense. I was thankful for Caleb and the way he defended me, even to the most intimidating person that everyone knew to date.

I realized it was getting late. I had university class early in the morning, and I didn’t want to be exhausted during it.

“I need to head to bed,” I said to Caleb, sadly. “But I don’t want you to go.”

He laughed. “So what am I supposed to do? Man your living room?”

I leaned my head on his shoulder. “Maybe I need a bodyguard.”

We both laughed.

Caleb stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I nodded, standing up as well. “Yes, you will. Don’t be late.” I wagged my finger at him as if I was scolding him. Caleb often met me on my college campus to have lunch. He worked at the neighboring college, Britechester, so he wasn't really going out of his way to see me.

He grinned. “I’ll be just a little late, just to piss you off.”

I giggled. “Jerk.” I walked over to him and hugged him. “But I’ll let it slide."

“You always do.” I could hear his smile in his voice, and I smiled too.

As he left, I went into my room, changing for bed. I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Even if nothing was to go right in my life, the one thing that was going right was the friendship I had with Caleb. Nothing would ever make that go wrong, and I was thankful for that. I pulled out my phone and texted the guy I had gone on a date with. Maybe Caleb was right, and I was too uptight about finding someone. 

The man, whose name is Akira, responded quickly and happily, asking if I was feeling better. I smiled at my phone.

"Yes. Much better. Thank you."

"Of course! So, maybe we can try again tomorrow?"

"I'd like that."

I added a smiling emoji after my reply. He responded with a wink. I smiled again, re-reading our messages. Akira really did seem like a nice guy. He was funny and witty, cheerful and patient. I would miss out on a lot of I just let it go that quickly.

Putting my phone on my nightstand, I got under the covers and drifted off to sleep.