Sakura Suzuki
Today was the day! At the crack of dawn, a very tired looking Aphrodite girl knocked on my door and ushered me down the hill. There sat a yellow 911 Porsche. My mouth hanging open, the passanger car door opened to reveal Hayley. Seeing my look, she laughed out loud, and pulled me to the car. I clambered to the small backseat, still missing who was driving. Whoever it was had money, and lots of it.
"Sakura, meet Alice. Alice, Sakura." Hayley said, gesturing to the driver. Alice looked in the rearview mirror at me, her eyes and most of her skin hidden by a pair of sunglasses and a hood.
"Hello." Alice trilled, beaming up at me with a bleach white smile.
"Hi." I replied, as Hayley began to blare the local Alt station. Hayley immeadiatly started to sing, her voice almost lost in the music. Upon arrival in NYC, we went to a shop that specialized in Bridesmaids' dresses. Alice practically ran up to the counter, and in an instant, she was back with a consultant.
"What are the wedding colors?" She asked.
"Electric Blue and Black and Silver." Hayley answered before Alice even opened her mouth. The girl gave her a reproachful look.
"I asked the bride," I heard her murmur. I glared at her. Hayley was the bride.
"Well, I think we'll be leaving. Thanks for nothing... Evelin." Alice said loudly, causing the girl, Evelin, to blush red. We walked out of the store and to the next one over. This one looked... cleaner. Whiter. Brighter. There were extravagant dresses along every wall. Again Alice rushed up to the counter, and this time a staid looking woman nodded in understanding, gesturing for Alice to follow her.
"Come on, you two!" Alice whispered loud enough for us to hear. The woman lead us to a separate room, and gestured to the exact shade of blue dress. Alice pulled it off the rack, and held it up towards me. Clicking her tongue, Alice put it back on the rack, sifting through dresses until she found another. The dress was considerably longer looking, and a black dress ribbon that tied in the back was centered in the middle.
"This is the one!" Alice chirped. "I'll need 5 of these."
"Ok, Miss Cullen. Please follow me, We'll get your order set out." The woman said in a thin, wheezing voice. Alice nodded and followed her back out into the main room, the dress fluttering behind her. Hayley turned to me, and hugged me.
"Thanks for coming with me. Alice is every Aphrodite girl's best friend, if ya know what I mean." Hayley sighed, almost sleepily. I looked closer at her face, and was shocked to see what I saw. Dark circles under her eyes for lack of sleep, and she was sporting a permanently tired appearance altogether.
"Sooo," I began, poking Hayley's arm "Who's the lucky guy?" I asked. Hayley smiled, as Alice came back, ushering us back to the car.
"Alice?" I asked, as she turned the car back on. Alice looked up at me, and smiled that blinding smile again.
"Yes, Sakura?" "Can we stop for some coffee before we go anywhere else? I'm still a little sleepy." I murmured, finishing with a fake yawn. Alice's eyes widened, as she looked at Hayley.
"Yes, we can. In fact, I've got a specific place in mind.." she said dreamily, her eyes unfocused. Hayley sighed, and shut off the car. When Alice came back to earth, she turned the car back on and sped off to the nearest Starbucks. Out my window, I could see a guy wearing a long-sleeved hoodie, jeans, and high-tops. Hayley gasped and tore off her seatbelt, practically sprinting to get out of the car. The guy had showed up at Hayley's door, and upon opening it, he helped her out of the car.
"Sakura, I want you to meet Alec. Alec, this is Sakura Suzuki, the daughter of Demeter." Hayley said from her spot in the guy's arms. Alec nodded, and I realized that this was the guy Hayley would marry. We made our way into the Starbucks, having to move chairs to the table we were going to sit at while Hayley ordered the coffee. I was left inbetween Alice and Alec, 2 people I barely knew. Awkward barely described the situation. It was really cold, not something I noticed when I walked into Starbucks. I noticed something else. Alice's eyes were almost Brown, but Alec's were violet. When I looked closer, I noticed that red flecks stood out. Alec had blue contacts in, and as I watched, he blinked and the violet irises disappeared. Bloodred eyes were staring at Hayley as she walked back to our table with only 2 coffees. She proceeded to hand me one, and keep one for herself. Alec's eyes darted around the room before settling on Hayley, a crazed look in his eyes.
"Alec your contacts dissolved again." she said absentmindedly. Alec cursed under his breath and tore off to the men's restroom, holding a small box.
"What d'you mean his contacts 'dissolved'?" I asked Hayley slowly.
"Sakura, Alice and Alec are vampires. I thought I told you that in my letter... or did I tell Molly Stewert?" Hayley replied just as slow. I could barely breathe. A Empousai had killed my dad in a mad dash for blood in the Second Titan War.
"Hayley... You know what happened to my dad, right?" I asked thickly, tears brimming in my eyes. She told me I'd never have to see an Empousai with her around ever again.
"Of course. But Alice doesn't kill humans." Hayley said calmly, examining her fingernails.
"A-and Alec?" I said, barely above a hoarse whisper.
"Alec... is a special case..." Hayley said, choosing her words carefully, as though they had been stolen from her mouth.
"Special case? He kills people, doesn't he?" I snarled, a tear betraying me as it fell down my face. Alec returned to the table as Hayley opened her mouth to deny the truth, but I cut her off.
"You lied to me! You said I would never have to see an Empousai again! Forget this, I'm leaving." I said angrily, throwing my cup away and storming out the door. I taxi whistled as loud as I could, the whistle coming out much shriller than I expected it to. A yellow taxi pulled to the corner, and I threw myself in. "Where to?" The driver asked, and I spat the address to Camp Half-Blood in reply. A couple of beeps on the GPS that was secured to the dash, and the taxi sped off. It felt like there was a ball of hate in my stomach, burning and snapping. So it was no suprise that when I got to the Camp, I practically kissed the dirt getting out of the car so fast.
(An:/ She fell getting out of the taxi.)
I had only stomped halfway up the hill when a shrill car horn sounded, and I turned to see the bright yellow Porsche that I knew Alice was driving. Turning my back to the car, I sprinted the rest of the way over the hill and to my cabin.
I flung myself on my bunk and reached under to grab the photo album I kept under a floorboard. I turned the first page to the picture of my dad and I back home in Colorado. My dad, John, used to be a farmer on the Suzuki family farm in Nebraska, the only Asain-American family in the town of Alliance. When he was 19, he went to college to teach Agriculture and/or American History. I still don't know how he did it, but he moved to Colorado and met Demeter at some convention, had me, and taught Ag. in Burlington, Colorado until he was killed by an Empousai at his school. They said that it was murder and the killer was still at large, but Hayley had already killed an Empousai who was boasting about how she had killed an Asain Ag. Teacher in Colorado. Maybe she wasn't the right one, but how much more specific could you get?
As the coach horn sounded for dinner, I realized that the wedding was a week away.
And I'd have to watch Hayley marry a killer.