(Phelan's POV)
I knew someday that one of my dear friends would get dragged into this mess. I just didn't know he would be in this deep…
Ally, Tori and I rushed outside at the sound of a gunshot, and the sight we saw wasn't pretty. Simon was lying stiffly on the ground, blood all over his clothes and Jeanette sobbing by his side. He was surely dead, which meant that we had less than twenty-four hours to save him…
Suddenly, I heard Jeanette's sisters – Brittany and Eleanor Miller – run over to Simon's side. They held Jeanette in a hug, and watching him lie there dead must have been heartbreaking for them.
Hell, it was heartbreaking even for me.
To tell you the truth, I died a little inside when I saw him there, the bullet wound still visible on his chest.
"Girls, I really suggest you bring Jeanette home," I insisted. "She needs some rest."
I couldn't imagine what Jeanette was going through. She told me that, only moments ago, Simon had told her that he loved her. I knew that he meant it since Jeanette would've been the one dead instead of him if he didn't tell her.
Brittany and Eleanor escorted Jeanette, who was still sobbing, into Miss Miller's old car.
"Should we tell them what we can do?" Ally asked.
"It's too soon," I replied. "We can't let them know yet... Tori, get my car. Ally, help me carry Simon into the backseat." I noticed Ally shed some tears. "I know how you feel, Ally. I wish there was something we could do to get him back."
"Well, there is, isn't there?" Tori asked, backing up my Chrysler so we could put Simon in the back.
"Yes, Tori, but I don't know if all six of the head Dimensia elders would agree. We can't just bring someone back to life just for the hell of it, though. You know that better than the rest of us."
(For further reference, "Dimensia", in this story, is the afterlife dimension of Earth.)
The three of us entered the portal, and after a few hours, we were in front of the Immortal Palace. I kept looking at Simon as I led the girls, while they were carrying Simon inside.
For some reason, I felt a new "attachment" to Simon that I just couldn't understand, but there was no time to wonder about that. There was business that needed to be taken care of.
One of the Elder Immortals ran over to my side. "Phelan," he said, "what happened?"
I sighed. "Ian got to him before I could do anything," I answered. "I'm sorry, sir."
A second elder rushed down. "He's… dead?" she asked, covering her mouth as tears came out of her eyes. "Oh, this is terrible!"
"Vinny, he's okay… We can still revive him."
"Well, how exactly are we going to revive him, Harvey? We can't do it. Otherwise, we'll be on surplus, and we can't risk that in this weather."
(For those of you not following what surplus means in this case, it means too much blood in the system. We only have blood once a month, so it's total overkill if we have anything more than the blood from one person.)
"There's only one way, Vinny," Harvey replied. "None of us can revive him, but one of them can." He motioned in my general direction.
Damn it! Here we go, I thought.
"Well, Ally can't revive him," Harvey had continued. "She can't handle as much blood as Tori or Phelan."
"Tori can't do it, either," Vinny added. "She'd be on surplus, too, if it weren't for her bringing Ally here as a newborn vampire last week."
Harvey sighed deeply. "Looks like you're our only hope, Phelan… I hope you'll do what's right for our son." He gently held Vinny close to him.
I turned to the girls, who were on edge. "I know how important Simon is to you… It would be a privilege – no, an honor – to have Simon be part of the Coven… Girls, bring him to my room. He'll be properly taken care of when I get there."
Vinny nodded. "Thank you, Phelan," she said. "I don't know what I would've done if we couldn't do anything to help him."
"We're back!" Ally and Tori chorused, and for a moment, I had completely forgotten about our super-speed ability.
"How much longer does he have?" I asked them.
"Simon has two hours left."
My eyes went wide, and I turned away from the group. "I'm out of here."
An hour later, I was in my bedroom, laid out next to Simon on one of the two beds. I had been contemplating exactly when to bite him and turn him into one of the Coven, but I felt nervous to do so since normally a person of the opposite sex would bite a male unless it was out of anger.
I took another long look at Simon. He seemed so alone (or at least by the look on his face), so I moved in closer to him. I rubbed an area of his face where there was still more wet blood. I resisted the urge to obtain the blood, only because I would have the rest of it later on.
The time for deciding had finally come, and it was now or never.
… I chose now.
Quickly, I turned Simon over as my fangs stuck out. I hesitated to bite him, but I had to for the sake of the Elders, and I couldn't stand to see Simon like this any longer.
He meant a lot to me…
What are you thinking? I thought to myself as I pressed my fangs into Simon's neck. He's nothing more than a friend. There's no other attraction…
Or is there?
After I finished with his blood, I got back in the bed next to Simon. I slid my arm underneath his back and my hand underneath his shirt. I slid my other hand above the bullet wound that had killed him almost twenty-four hours ago.
The next thing I knew, I was on top of Simon, kissing him.
Oh, God, I thought. This is going to be a long night.
