Chapter 2

Laura was still asleep when little Ashley came into her room. She walked stealthily up to her bed without making a sound. She sat down beside her sister as she began her experiment. She touched Laura’s hair, then brought it up to her nose and smelled it.

“Smells nice but not as nice as mine.” She said as she smelled her hair too. She then went to Laura’s eyes. She opened one of her eyes with her hand.

“Crystal blue eyes. I guess we both got the eye color from dad.” As if that wasn’t enough, she went to Laura’s nose, poking through the nostrils as Laura gave a slight sneeze.

“Good morning,” Ashley said, smiling knowing full well what she had been doing.

Laura rolled over to get a good look at her sister who was dressed for school and wouldn’t allow enjoying the rest of the sleep.

“Seriously Ash? Do you have to do that every time?”

“I couldn’t think of a better way.” Her sister shrugged. “Mom and dad need you downstairs.” Ashley said as she moved to the door. “You should get a shower first, you stink.” Laura quickly grabbed her pillow and threw it at Ashley, but the little girl was too fast. The pillow fell to the ground as Ashley peeked at her sister.

“You miss,” she said sticking out her tongue.

“Get out of my room Ash,” Laura said as she watched her sister shut the door behind her. Laura looked at herself in the mirror not believing that she slept and had no nightmare. I hope all my nights end up like this. She thought to herself.

She went into the bathroom and heated the water a little. Looking out the window of her bathroom, she could see the snow melting and the sun was finding its way to shine despite how cloudy it was.

Ashley was set for school. “No fighting in school today Ashley,” her mom said, handing her a food flask.

“And less experiment,” her dad - Jones - added, his eyes not leaving the newspaper he was reading.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Before her parents could say anything, she had zoomed off, and the only sound they heard was the sound of the door shutting.

“Where’s Ash?” Laura asked, coming out of her room, yawning.

“Good morning sweetheart,” both parents greeted each other.

Laura walked up to her dad and pecked his cheek.

“Good morning dad.” She went to meet her mom who was setting up breakfast in the kitchen. “Good morning mom.” She pecked her mom’s cheek.

“You look and sound better than you did a few days ago,” her mom said.

“No more nightmares?” Her dad asked as he joined them in the kitchen to have his meal.

Laura took a while before she replied. She thought for a while if she had any dreams or maybe she did but forgot about it but nothing, her mind was blank.

“I slept well,” she said taking a bite of her pancake.

“I’m glad you did,” her mom said.

Laura wasn’t that much of a foodie so she only ate two pancakes and she was filled.

“I will go to the shop now,” she said.

They own a flower shop where they sell different kinds of flowers for different occasions and they have lovely cards too made by their daughter Laura.

“Besides, I still have to make more cards,” she said as her parents nodded.

“I’ll join you shortly,” her mom said.

Laura nodded as she pecked her parents goodbye.

“You should come sometime to see it, dad,” Laura said but her dad just laughed it off.

“I can tell you guys are doing a good job even without seeing it,” her dad said which left them all laughing.

“Be careful on the way there okay?” Her mom advised.

“I will,” Laura said as she shut the door behind her.

“You should come to check out the shop,” Madeline said. Her husband came close to her and held her face, cupping them in his palms.

“I don’t need to check it out because I know how amazing of a florist you are. You know the right flowers for every occasion. Remember when I came to you and told you I needed a flower for my mom’s birthday, without knowing, you gave me her favorite flower. That’s how I figured you’re an amazing florist.” After he said that, he looked into his wife’s eyes and planted a kiss on her lips.

Madeline couldn’t understand why her husband wasn’t interested in coming to see her shop. He doesn’t even go out with the kids for family picnics. It’s more like he was hiding but she couldn’t tell why. She decided not to push on with the matter and just go on with it. If there’s something he wants us to know, he’d tell us about it, right? She asked herself.

Madeline nodded as she took the plates and was about to do the dishes when her husband stood behind her, grabbing her waist.

“You can leave for work now, I’ll do the dishes,” Jones said as he turned his wife so she would be facing him and he kissed his wife one last time who returned the kiss with the same passion.

***

“I am serious Theresa, I slept like a baby,” Laura said in a video calling her friend. Theresa was Laura’s favorite customer. She helped Laura boost her mom’s business by telling people about it. She and her boyfriend Jason have been amazing to her and they are like the only friends she’s got.

“I just can’t believe you were able to sleep without waking up in the middle of the night screaming. Did something happen last night?” Theresa asked as Laura thought about last night’s events. Not much happened. Her mom came to check up on her, heated the fire and she slept, that was it.

“Nothing happened, just the usual,” Laura finally spoke up after a few seconds of thinking.

“Well, maybe you weren’t meant to have those dreams in the first place,” her friend said as she nodded.

“I have to go now, I’ll call you when I can,” Laura said. As she was about to end the call, someone brushed past her, hitting her on the shoulder, making her almost drop her phone on the ground but good thing she was quick enough to grab it.

“Hey! Watch where you are going will you?” She said, turning to face the guy. The guy was almost far from her but he could hear her loud and clear. He turned to face her and then their eyes met.

Laura couldn’t believe her eyes. The shock was so great that she didn’t even know when her phone had fallen from her hand. Her eyes still fixed on the guy. She remained motionless, her mouth agape.

The guy walked up to her and helped her pick up her phone. He was about to give it to her but there she remained static. He waved his hands over her eyes multiple times before she blinked and got her breath back. She quickly moved back from him.

“Are you okay?” he asked wanting to touch her but she quickly left his presence in a flash. She ran towards her mom’s shop as she got inside and locked the door, resting her back at the door to catch her breath.

“Why does it feel like I know him? Like I’ve seen him before,” she asked herself. She decided now would be a good time to call Theresa and tell her about it but when she looked at her hand and checked her pockets, her phone wasn’t there. She later realized that she left it with that stranger. How was she going to get it from him now? She asked herself as she opened the door to check if he was there but good thing he wasn’t.

Reed looked at the phone in his hand and wondered why she ran off like that. He had better give the phone back to her but how would he get it across to her? He didn’t even seem to know her name or anything. Then suddenly her phone rang revealing the caller to be Theresa. He was doubting whether to pick up the call or not. After the call ended, he decided to start searching for her. As he was about to begin his search, the phone rang and this time the caller was Jason. He mustered up the courage to pick up the call.

“Hello,” he said as there was a long silence on the other side of the line.

“Who the hell are you and what are you doing with my friend’s phone? Where’s the owner of the phone? What did you do to her?” The question came from a girl. He was shocked and had to look at the caller again but it was still Jason that was written there.

He placed the phone to his ear as he spoke gently.

“I have no idea where your friend is, she ran off and left her phone behind. I was thinking of getting it to her but I have no idea where she is.”

Theresa became silent as that voice calmed every nerve in her.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“I’m Reed and believe me, I do not have any bad intentions towards your friend, I just want to return the phone to her. Can you tell me where she is?”

“How am I sure I can trust you?” Theresa asked.

“If I don’t return the phone to her, you’re free to call the cops,” he said.

“She should be at her mom’s shop. It’s a florist shop, in fact, the only florist shop you’ll ever come across around the town coast,” Theresa said.

“Thanks. You can call her later to confirm,” Reed told her.

Theresa hung up and prayed silently that this Reed guy isn’t a bad person. She can’t risk the life of her friend by doing something so stupid but what if he’s really a good guy and he meant well? A lot of questions and doubts were rising but the only thing she could do was hope for the best.

Somewhere along the town coast, Evan received a call from his human friend Max. Max knows all about Evan’s secret, and he’s even planning on becoming one.

“Her mother owns a flower shop?” He asked.

“Yeah. I’m at the town coast,” he told Max. “Is it the only flower shop I’ll see across town?” He asked. As he walked, he saw a flower shop just a stone’s throw from where he was standing. “I think I’ve found it, I’ll call you back,” he said as he ended the call and walked to the shop.

“Good morning and welcome. This is LA florist, how can I be of service?” Laura asked without looking at the person in front of her. She was too busy arranging some flowers into their vases. Evan and Reed looked at each other. It was as if they were examining themselves. Evan could feel something strange about Reed and Reed could feel something strange about Evan but both said nothing to each other. Evan broke the stare first as he rushed to meet Laura who was still lying on the ground. He carried her and placed her on the seat at the back of the counter.

“I came to drop her phone,” Reed said as he placed the phone on the table and left. Although he had many questions to ask Laura, he decided now wouldn’t be a good time.

Evan looked at the lady in front of him. He studied her features, her brown hair with a fringe covering her forehead, her oblong face, her pointed nose, and her V-shaped pink lips. She looked skinny, but she weighed a lot. Evan quickly unbuttoned the top of her shirt as he was moving to other buttons. Laura groaned. He looked at her and saw her eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t understand why. Could she be dreaming? He thought.

Laura’s eyes were closed, and she was having that nightmare again. Without knowing, she clung to the hem of Evan’s shirt, making it impossible for him to move. She held it so tight that Evan had to give up escaping. He could see she was scared but of what? Only one way to find out, he said as he looked around and shut the windows and doors. It’s dangerous to use his powers during the day but he didn’t mind besides this is all part of protecting her. He thought.

He placed his right hand on her forehead and closed his eyes, images started flooding into his very eyes. He could see every scene. He saw Laura running but he couldn’t see what she was running from. He decided to focus his attention more thereby using more power, that was when the sights of hungry vampires appeared. She’s been chased by vampires? He asked himself as he opened his eyes. He removed his hand from her forehead and stared at her.

“What exactly are you?” He asked her but she didn’t respond to him. He knew what he had to do. He placed his right hand on her chest and the left hand on her forehead as he closed his eyes and every dream she had about being chased by vampires, he erased. For her protection, he had to delete them.

He brought out something from his pocket, it was a silver necklace with a pendant shaped like a full moon, and he put the necklace around her neck. He looked for a sharp object that he could cut himself with. He brought a knife and cut his palm with it and the blood that was rushing. He poured the drop of blood into the moonlight necklace and the necklace glowed. After some time the necklace went back to its normal color.

Evan needed some time alone to heal before he can use any of his powers again. He stared at Laura one last time before deciding it was time to leave. Without moving, he stretched forth his hand to the windows and doors and they opened. Evan could hear footsteps, so he jumped out of the window at the back and used his speed to leave that area.

Madeline came into the shop only to see her daughter sleeping on the chair soundly.

“I thought she said she slept well last night then why is she here sleeping again?” Madeline decided not to disturb her daughter as she took care of the shop while Laura remained there sleeping.

A few hours later, Ashley returned from school and went straight to the shop.

“Mom, I’m back,” she screamed.

“Be quiet. Your sister is sleeping,” her mom told her as Ashley’s eyes widened in shock. “I’m going home so wait here till she’s awake and you both can come home.”

“Sleeping?” Ashley asked as she moved close to where her sister was sleeping. “That’s so unlike her,” she said as her mother nodded in agreement. Ashley looked back at her sister and decided to wake her up but before she could wake her up, Laura woke up on her own, holding her head. She had no idea why her head was pounding so much. Her visions were blurry, it took some time before her visions became clear. Her eyes caught her sister who was standing in front of her folding her arms.

“Ashley?” She called but it sounded more like a question. “Why aren’t you in school?” Laura asked as she tried to stand up but she was too weak to. So she decided to just relax a little more.

“Who stays in school till around eight in the evening?” Ashley asked.

Eight? Did she hear that right? Laura asked herself as she stared at the clock, and it was five minutes after eight. What the hell has she been doing?

“Where’s mom?”

“She went home and told me to wait here for you to wake up.”

“What?” Laura asked as she mustered up the strength to stand up. “Why didn’t she wake me up?”

“She didn’t want to disturb you,” Ashley told her when something caught her eye. She moved closer to her sister, who was giving her weird looks.

“What’s that?” Laura asked.

“What’s that?” Ashley asked, pointing to the necklace around Laura’s neck.

“What’s what?” Laura asked. “Listen, Ash, if this is some kind of a joke, I’m not in the mood for it right now,” Laura said.

“I’m serious. There is something around your neck. It’s like a kind of necklace,” Ashley said as Laura looked at her neck and there it was the necklace.

“What the heck!” Laura exclaimed. She quickly looked for a mirror and looked at herself in the mirror, and there the necklace was.

“It suits you perfectly. Where did you get it?” Ashley asked. Laura thought for a while about how the necklace got to her neck but she had no idea.

“I don’t know, can you get it off me?”

“Okay.”

Laura scouted so Ashley could get to her neck. Ashley looked for a look around the necklace, but there was none.

“Um....there seems to be a problem,” Ashley said.

“What now?” Laura said, feeling fed up with everything that had happened to her today. First, she had to meet two strangers that triggered something in her, and now a necklace finds itself around her neck. What more does she need to expect in one day?

“There’s neither a hook nor a knot,” Ashley said, still looking around at the necklace.

“What? How’s that possible?” Laura said, trying to pull the necklace above her head, but it didn’t work. She tried to cut the necklace but injured her neck in the process.

“Stop it, Laura, you’re injuring yourself. Let’s go home first, we’ll think of a way to get it off,” Ashley said.

Laura felt it was a good idea that way she can focus more on how to get the mysterious necklace off her.

“Don’t tell mom and dad about this, I don’t want them worrying, understand?” Ashley nodded as they went home.

Immediately they got home, Laura greeted her parents and ran straight to her room. Her parents looked at her, then at Ashley, where it lingered. Ashley knew her parents wanted explanations, but instead, she shrugged, pretending not to know anything.

“I’ll be in my room in case you need me,” she quickly went to her room before they started asking her questions she couldn’t explain.

***

Reed went to the quarter he’s staying with his team.

“I met someone today,” he told them as he sat on the sofa. “I think he’s one of us,” he said as they all looked at one another.

“That’s not possible. There hasn’t been another vampire for a century now,” Phoebe said.

“That’s what we thought,” Reed told them.

“How sure are you, he’s a vampire?” Jack asked.

“I could feel it and he could feel it too,” Reed said.

“This isn’t right,” Phoebe said.

“Why are they suddenly showing themselves?” Flora asked.

Reed stood up to calm down his team since he could sense the terror.

“All we need to do is be careful. There are some vampires that walk in the day, just like us. We can’t put ourselves into any kind of danger. Be careful. If you sense anything, just leave immediately,” Reed addressed as they all nodded.

***

Evan walked to his house, and he was surprised to see his team there. “What are you all doing here?” Evan lives alone in this huge house. His mother ran away after finding out his father was a vampire after giving birth to him, of course. Evan’s father is the boss of the Goodwine.

“We came looking for you. Where have you been?” Adam said.

“Out,” he said bluntly.

“How about your search with um... What’s her name again?” Emerald asked, trying to remember Laura’s name.

“I found her but she’s in danger,” Evan said as they all looked shocked and worried.

“I went into her mind and I also used my powers to go into her dream.”

“What?” Emerald asked. “Are you crazy? Don’t you have any idea how dangerous interfering with people’s dreams is, you could have been locked in there forever.”

“I know, okay? I don’t need all that lecture. But you all won’t believe what she dreamt about?”

“A knight in shining armor?” Adam asked as everyone stared at him. “What?”

“Anyways, she didn’t dream about knights; she has never dreamt about knights not to talk of them in shining armor.”

“So what then did she dream about?” Chloe asked.

Evan sighed before he replied. “Vampires.”

“What?” Everyone chorused.

“That’s not possible,” Jim said.

“It is because I saw it.”

“So what did you do?” Emerald asked.

“I had no choice but to erase her memory and the dream too.”

“Why would you do that? Isn’t it better for her to know her life’s in danger?” Chloe asked.

“If she doesn’t know, they wouldn’t know. It’s as simple as that. If those vampires find out she has a hint about them, then her life is in danger.” They all agreed.

“I thought we were going to live a quiet life forever but now it’s like a war is going to start soon,” Jim said.

“It all begins with this girl and it will end with her,” Adam said.

Everyone was giving their opinion about the matter, but Evan was silent for a while, like his mind was hovering around, searching for something he’s missed. Then it suddenly hits him.

“Right, I found a vampire,” he said, and that got everyone quiet.

“Where? How?” Emerald asked.

“At Laura’s shop.”

“Who is Laura?” Adam asked. “Oh is that her name?” He asked again.

“Yeah.”

“This is confusing. How did they know each other?” Jim asked.

“I don’t think they do. It’s kind of hard to explain. From the way I see it, it’s like she knows the two of us because when she saw the both of us, she was shocked and she fainted.”

“This is weird,” Emerald said.

“I think there’s more to why the boss wants you to protect her,” Adam said.

“I know but what could be the reason?” Evan asked himself.

“Do you think she’s a vampire too?” Chloe asked.

Evan thought about it. He thought about every encounter he had with her and the few minutes he had spent with her.

“No I don’t think she is.”

“How would you know? I mean you talked about how shocked she was when she saw the two of you, that could mean something,” Chloe said.

“She’s not. I put the moonlight necklace on her neck, if she was a vampire, she would have vanished.”

“The moonlight necklace is dangerous,” Emerald said.

“To vampires not to humans,” Evan said. “Let’s just be careful. If there’s one vampire out there, there could be more”.

“We’ll be careful.”

Evan stood up and was ready to leave when Emerald walked up to him.

“Where are you going?” She asked him.

“I need to check up on her and see if I’ll find anything.”

“Be safe, okay?” Emerald said. She tried to touch his face, but he took his face away. “Do you still hate me?”

“Not now Emerald.” And with that, he left.

Evan wasn’t thinking through when he came here, he had no intention of buying flowers, and he had no idea what to do or say to her.

“Good thing I’ve found you.”

That voice. Laura thought as she stopped what she was doing. She knew she couldn’t run now, so she turned to face the guy but what she saw made her drop the flower vase in her hands as her eyes widened in shock. Her heart was pounding so heavily that the sound could be heard. Right in front of her were faces she recognized but had no idea where or when.

“Are you okay?” They both asked as Laura fell to the ground unconscious.