Mary-Lynnette

Sometimes I hated him. I watched Ash bound to his sisters as they unraveled the supplies from the truck. I could make out his shadow in the headlights, but the rest of my surroundings were drenched in darkness. I did feel renewed, however. Maybe I didn't sleep as well as I thought back at home – my dream still a vibrant presence in my memory.

"Uh, where are we?" Mark looked out the car window, mouth agape. I shuttered out a breath, feeling just as lost.

"The woods. I'm guessing California." The trees were raised, thick and statuesque. They embodied legs of a well-built giant.

"Nice detective work there, Sherlock. I could have told you that." Mark adjusted himself in the seat, nestling his feet back into his shoes. "I mean, why are we in the middle of the woods?" Mark opened the door. Four glowing eyes snapped to look at him, the Redferns aware of the slightest of movement. They looked like hunters then, thriving in the darkness like a pack of wolves. It reminded me of when we discovered the sisters in the woods for the first time – their bloodthirsty eyes blazing as they carved into their prey. I scrambled out the car after my brother, nervous he was about to be pounced on.

"Get ready to walk." Ash demanded.

"I think a mile in should be good." Rowan suggested.

"A mile?" Mark whined like a seventh grader in gym class.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Jade skipped around her boyfriend, her hair a silvery web. I wasn't sure if she was joking. Mark buffed up his shoulders and straightened his back, attempting to prove his heroism. The sisters wore backpacks, tied up with supplies. Ash started to rummage through his car's trunk, stuffing everything in bags. I felt isolated with the wind streaming past me, raising goosebumps on my arms.

Ash came back to me, I could see the glint in his eyes, but not the color. He reached out without hesitation and grasped onto my hand. The sparks stung in our palms, but we linked fingers to embrace the intensity of the electricity. He led me through the forest, helping me weave through the brush and the camouflaged branches. Rowan and Kestrel blew ahead of us, the sound of their footsteps like light patters against the fallen leaves. Jade hung back with Mark, they walked together – both exact opposites of each other. Mark's eyes trailed the ground in a panic, blind within the trees. Jade strode effortlessly, bobbing her head like she had a song stuck in it.

I just held onto Ash, his hand encompassing mine. At times I felt like he was lifting me with just the strength of his hand, hovering me over the dead branches and mud. The space before me felt wide, barren. I knew nothing would touch me with my hand placed in his.

Rowan was right. About a mile in, we reached a clearing. The sisters set up tents within minutes while Ash set up lanterns around the open space. I tore through my bag that he had put in one of the tents, scrambling for a sweater to drape over my frozen arms. Rowan found me in the tent, her smile warm. "We have to hunt." Something told me Ash sent her in here, that the words were too hard for him to say out loud.

I nodded, understanding. She continued, "We'll still be keeping watch, even if you can't see us." She grabbed my hand and placed her delicate fingers over mine. When she vanished, I could still feel the presence of her hand on mine. Mark entered the tent after her, his face twisted with exhaustion.

"He didn't even pack any supplies to make s'mores." Mark voice raised with the feeling of honest betrayal. I dug into my bag and found a granola bar and threw it at him. He fumbled with it, catching it with two hands. "Not the same. What about you?"

"I'm not hungry." I twisted my arms around my middle. My brother scarfed down the bar without even raveling the foil down.

The tent had the tiniest window at the peak of the triangle. It was smaller than the size of my hand and laced with netting. I could still see the ring of lights around us and the barren woods that stretched out beyond. I felt like a nomad – a refugee. This was more than just a field trip, more than riding with my eighth grade class to camp in a lodge outside of Portland; this was so rouge and real. How long will I be in this clearing? In this state? It was a strange feeling to feel liberated and terrified at the same time.

I thought about throwing my graduation cap at the ceremony, signifying the end of high school. Freedom to an eighteen-year-old meant dorm rooms and meal plans. My friends were still at home for the summer, getting advice from their parents about what classes to take. None of them were actually diving into the real world right away. I felt like I had taken the dive – and now my head is only slightly above water.

Jade flew into the tent behind Mark, looking alive. Her cheeks were flushed, but still pale and smooth. Her eyes were a fierce green, practically lighting up the tent on their own. I expected to see blood seeping at the sides of her mouth, but she was wiped clean. The only aspect I noticed was the soil underneath her fingers. "We actually came across a family of deer. They're not as sparse as they are in Oregon, you know? The younger ones are just so... fresh." She was actually gabbing on like it was her first experience to the mall. I looked sternly at Mark, awaiting some sort of mortified reaction. Instead, he nodded with such obedience, as if he had a lot of experience with fawn blood.

Mark had become so quickly subdued to the vampire phenomenon. It easily turned into a daily routine to him. I could see him and Jane like an old married couple. She would be out for a morning feed while he read the early paper. She would be killing for dinner while he shuffled through the prime time channels. He failed to see the graphic seriousness of the life of the lamia – the brutality. I, on the other hand, had nightmares about it. Vivid, all too real nightmares reminding me that there are human hunters out there. I had to shake my thoughts before my mind went back to the dream of the funeral.

"You should bottle the stuff." Mark suggested thoughtfully. "Sell it by the species."

"It's been done." Kestrel answered, poking her head through the tent entrance. "But there's only one species we care about." The arc in her eyebrow made her look sinister. She reached for Jane, twisting at her wrist. "Well, we are heading off to sleep. You both are used to sleeping under the same roof, right?" Without waiting for a response, Kestrel pulled Jane straight through the parting to the tent.

I peeked through the tent window, watching the Redferns converse outside their own tent. Each one of them seemed to glow with some sort of luminescence. They spoke quietly and quickly to each other, the lips moving seamlessly. I assumed they were planning the next phase, leaving Mark and I clueless. Ash was highlighted in the line of the moonlight, his hair ashen. I could tell his sisters were combative, their ideas torn down by his stubbornness. They retreated to their tents, their heads shaking with lack of purpose for our little escapade. Only Ash stood out there now, stiff and facing the light. His profile emanated a silvery light, a perfect midnight statue.

"Do you like the left side or the right?" Mark pulled together a heap of blankets, thick wool ones that I've seen in the sisters' house. His beds had no reason, just random piles of plush and thread. I wasn't tired, having slept for hours. I furrowed my brow, thinking that the last time I slept in the same room as my brother was when we were twelve. Dad insisted on only getting one hotel room when we went anywhere. The concept was preposterous to the two of us, thus we spent the entire trip pushing the other to the floor. Mark still has a quarter inch scar on his chin from hitting a bedside table.

Instead of answering him, I hopped over him and climbed out of the tent. Peeling aside the flap, my eyes widened in attempt to adjust to the darkness. The moonlight was spectacular, it's reach glinting off the tree branches and poured on the ground in patches like spilled milk. Mark stayed silent, in either respect of my need for the night or simply because he preferred having the entire tent to himself. Ash stood in a small clearing of light, bathing in the streams like they were meant for just him. I could only assume I looked quite the opposite, shrouded in the dark. After two days of untimely sleep and hair tousled and in serious need of a comb, I knew I looked laughable compared to the Adonis before me. I walked forward anyway, my presence obvious.

"It feels like forever ago." He spoke without turning, his voice hushed.

"What's that?" I asked although I knew what he was referring to. I felt the same way. Every hour felt like it had more minutes, every week felt like it had more days. I was on the verge of marking off days on a calendar as if it was an achievement that I managed to make it through.

He tilted his head back giving me a profile view of his face. I wanted to faint like a fan from old Beatles footage. My mouth dropped and I quickly sucked in breath in attempt to look nonchalant. How can that smile be over a hundred years old? Maybe a vampire's face just gets better with time like wine.

"You."

"I started eighteen years ago." I could have kicked myself for pulling off a lame quip. He laughed anyway, but it wasn't because it was funny. I think it was because the concept that I have only lived eighteen years was hysterical to him. I felt suddenly infantile.

"If only I knew." He reflected in his own thought.

"I hope you know I don't usually go to parties like that..." I trailed off, realizing I was more concerned about the college party than my own fate. I think I know more for my age than most, but I still had the tendency to think like a teenager. "I mean, I don't go looking for trouble."

"I never meant for you to miss out on a regular teenage life, Mare." He faced me now, looking perplexed. So many words we needed to exchange yet we paced ourselves. "But your safety means everything to me."

"Am I in danger?" I said after a pause. His face remained dormant as his eyes flickered to an icy blue.

"I won't let you be." He said it so casually. As if he was letting me know he prefers cream in his coffee. It sounded like a feigned defense, an attempt to hide how strongly he felt.

I jumped when he moved past me to the car. He rummaged through the trunk, pulling out a long sheath that was invisible in the dark. He stood it up inches from me and I knew exactly what it was. I gasped and rested my fingers on the lens, tracing the curve of the glass. I looked up at Ash, his eyes were looking over me cautiously.

"You brought my telescope?" My voice cracked, but I didn't mind.

"How could I let you miss a beautiful night like this?" He sounded carefree, alive. Like despite the intensity of the dangers surrounding us, he still found importance in the simpler parts of my life. "So what are we looking at tonight?"

I smiled and found my mind racing. I have been slacking at my constellation tracking. I even missed a recent meteor shower, something completely uncharacteristic of me. "Well we might be able to see Virgo at this time, but May is also a good month to try and find Saturn because it shines as bright as Vega and Arcturus." Stay cool, I warned myself, shielding my inner nerd.

"Right, you can see the rings even." He tilted his neck up and I was reminded that the telescope was for me, not him. I fidgeted with the lens and eyepiece, taking reference from Ash's directions and the sky to get the right direction. Ash guided the telescope as my memory failed me, helping me find southeast-south and the guiding constellations. When I finally scoped out the glowing orb of Saturn I reached out and grasped his wrist to keep him from moving. I realized my mistake as a slight zing went up and down my arm. He just flexed his fist, his tendons shifting against the pads of my fingers. He didn't flinch the same way I did, but instead stood his ground like someone choosing the stick their fingers in an electrical socket because he enjoys danger.

"It's there." I felt invigorated. Tiny silvery strands elegantly formed around the tiny planet like raindrop necklaces. I had never seen them before, always failing with timing. A planet's moons – maybe. But there was something about the strands of rings that halo a planet, like I discovered something brilliant for the first time. Like witnessing a miracle in a non biblical sense. Maybe it was the touch of Ash's arm, but I felt safe. As safe as I would be if I lived on those rings, far from the truth and the harshness that is now my life.

I looked up from the eyepiece and looked up at my soulmate as we shared a similar experience. Then everything moved in double time as the telescope crashed to the ground and we were reaching for each other. His fingers tangled in my hair and I wrapped my arms around the trunk of his neck. Our mouths met and a could feel the heat of his breath. My heart pounded against my rib cage as if it was trying to be next to his own. My fingers worked their way from his neck to his bobbing jawline as he matched his mouth with mine. I felt his need matching my own as we lost all space between us. My knees lost their strength and his support brought me to the ground. The leaves rustled as he braced himself above me, holding my back to create an arc. We were sinking together.

I could feel the smile of his lips as we snapped twigs and tossed aside brush, caring little of the dirt scuffling up our pants. "Oh, Mare." He managed to whisper, his voice expressing the ache that I shared. The turmoil of separation I could only summarize even to myself. I was aware of how inexperienced I was, but I also knew exactly what I wanted from him.

Our connection broke when the trilling of his phone vibrated in his pocket. Ash growled, the sound was genuinely animistic, slightly bringing me to the edge of fear. I found myself breathless as we detached, I had to gasp to regain oxygen. He reached for his phone faster than I could see. His hand remained on my back, supplying support. "What?" His voice was venomous.

His head tilted toward the sky, his eyes dark now. "When?" He lifted me up with just the strength of his wrist and I was abruptly standing. He locked eyes with me and I knew the call was about me. I threw my hands up and combed through my hair with my fingers. "Damnit. I figured we had at least a couple days." He hung up his phone without a goodbye. The air around us hung still and silent. He struggled with what to say, unsure of what I was ready to know.

"People are looking for us."

"How do you know?"

He brushed his hand through his hair. "Because there was an attack at Briar Creek."