Pandora taped her foot impatiently looking at her watch. Oh, this was annoying! She sat on one of the bleachers on the football field waiting for Drayton. Only thing was Drayton should have shown up half an hour ago. She'd tried calling him telepathically, but he wasn't answering. The last time she had tried was two minutes ago - she had come up against walls in his mind. Walla! He always let her in, he had nothing to hide from her.
She sighed miserably and stood up, picking up her backpack trying to decide where to start her search. Where would Drayton be? He was with her most o the time, either at his place or hers. Using the payphone in the parking lot she called his place, but only got an answering machine. She then called her house. He hadn't left a message for her or anything.
"You want to know what your loser boyfriend is doing?"
The voice belonged to Ellen, the Daybreak girl who for some reason seemed to utterly despise her. Pandora turned around, concerned when she saw Ellen's face - barely concealed glee. "What do you mean?" Pandora asked.
"Come with me." Ellen reached out her arm and pulled her along without even bothering to wait for Pandora to reply. Pandora let herself be towed along wondering where Ellen was taking her. They were rounding the school building coming to a side entrance.
"Look," Ellen said with almost manic cheer.
Pandora looked, jerking her arm free - and her mouth dropped open in shock. No wonder Drayton hadn't come to meet her - he was locked in a passionate embrace and kissing Genesis!
"Well, I'll leave you guys to it then," Ellen said, waving and turning. "Damn that soulmate thing, huh?" She walked off, practically dancing away.
Pandora wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with herself now. What had Ellen meant with that soulmate jibe? Drayton was her soulmate. True, she had ever experienced either lightning shocks or pink sparks as she had heard the connection described by some of her friends. Nor had she felt or seen blinding white light and been pulled into his mind and been kissed by a silver cord, the other way the soulmate connection was talked about.
But Pandora had always truly believed that Drayton was her soulmate - if you really loved a person as she loved him then you didn't need a mystical link to tell you who your soulmate was - you just knew. Just as she had known Drayton always belonged to her in all her past lives.
"I hope you two can explain yourselves," she said bitterly, hot tears stinging her eyes. It hurt to swallow. Her throat had gone dry.
Drayton and Genesis broke apart. Genesis at least, had guilt in her expression. "I don't know what to tell you. It just - sort of happened," Genesis said.
Pandora just stood there, staring at them. As if that crappy explanation would make everything better! "Fuck you both," Pandora hissed, turning around and running off.
She blinked away the tears that were blinding her vision. Her heart hurt, her entire body ached with the pain of rejection. Why bother living now? She thought. She had been so in love with Drayton that Pandora had never even really thought about anyone else. She was falling into emptiness and black dispair. And was jerked out of it by a violent touch which shook her to the core.
Pandora blinked - this time pink dots out her eyes rather than tears, staring blankly, trying to focus on the boy in front of her. His expression was one of absolute horror. Pandora shook her head; dumbfounded, trying desperately to clear the pink haze and maybe regain some of her sanity.
"I-"
"It's pretty obvious," he said angrily. "It's the soulmate connection."
Pandora felt sick. Could this day get any worse, she thought miserably. "Oh. Who are you?"
"Carey Oldham," he answered. "You're the vampire bitch who killed Amber."
Pandora shrugged, sniffling. "I thought she was going to take Drayton away from me." She laughed hollowly. "Turns out it wasn't Amber I should have been afraid of."
There was a hiatus. Just typical of my luck today, Pandora thought, wishing the ground would open and swallow her whole. I get a vampire hunter for a soulmate.
"You might as well just stake me now," she told him. "I've got nothing to live for anymore."
Carey just stared at her. Pandora's eyes closed and she braced herself, waiting for the pain of wood entering her body.
But the pain never came.
Instead, she felt his lips on hers.