Chapter 5
As Coal skidded to a stop in front of me, he let the paper drop from his jaws. Picking up the slightly drooled on piece of paper, I opened it and noticed the handwriting right away. 'Can you hang with us tonight?' it said in Slater's scratchy handwriting. Right as I finished reading it, Cassie plucked the note from my hands and when she read it, she frowned.
"Who wants you to hang with them?" she asked, as she crumpled the note and tossed it into the sand.
I motioned for her to follow me into the kitchen, making sure Coal was inside before shutting the door. Watching Coal eat his dinner, I told Cassie everything. I told her about Cal, Slater, Adam, Eric, and Mike; I told her about how I met them. What they were like, and I even told her that we had smoked pot underneath the docks last night. The only thing that I didn't tell her was about the bandages and not remembering anything from after Slater and I had kissed.
"So they are your friends, right?" Cassie said, playing with a strand of her short hair. I nodded.
"Yes, they're my friends." I said, as Coal came over looking for some water. Getting up and grabbing his empty water bowl, I walked over to the sink and filled it with cold water.
"So I guess I'm going to be tagging along with you tonight. While you hang out with your friends, I'll be observing them." Cassie said, chuckling softly. Bending down to place Coal's water bowl on the floor, I replied,
"Guess so. But don't be like an adult. We're all just teenagers; we're going to have fun our way." Cassie nodded and sighed.
"You know we are much more than that, Ivy. Don't deny what gift we have been given. We are much more than teenagers…"she said. I looked at her and nodded.
"I know…" I whispered, picking up my phone and opened my contacts. Scrolling down to Slater's number, I selected it and texted him 'Were we going to hang out'.
"Who did you text?" Cassie asked, suspiciously.
"Slater… I'm asking him where were going to hang out." I said, getting up and walking to my room. Cassie followed silently and when we reached my room, she walked around examining it. I flopped down on the bay window seat as my phone dinged. Opening the new message I read it, 'under the docks, bring your bathing suit too.' it said. 'K and my cousin's visiting for a while so I'm going to have to bring her too.' I sent back.
"Where are we meeting them?" Cass asked, staring at my Black Veil Brides poster.
"Under the docks…and we've got to wear bathing suits too. I told them that you are my cousin so they won't question you too much. If you don't have any clothes with you then you're welcome to borrow some of mine." I said, getting up and walking over to my dresser.
"My clothes are already here…in the guest room down the hall. And I have to borrow one of your bathing suits, because I don't have one." she said, as my phone dinged again. Sighing, I opened the new message. 'Nah, we don't mind. Oh and by the way, Adam said to wear something sexy for him. Lmao. ' it said, and I burst out laughing and put my phone down. Looking through my dresser, I picked out a black bikini that had pink skulls on it and a pair of jean shorts, handing them to Cass.
"Here, wear this." I said as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door, changing. Digging a little farther into my dresser, I pulled out a purple bikini with black hearts and daggers on it. I undressed quickly and finished pulling on my bikini as Cassie walked out of the bathroom, her clothes balled up in her hands.
"I'm going to go put these in my room…" she said, walking out of my room and down the hall. I nodded my head and put on a short, flowing black sundress over my bikini. Checking my Bleach clock for the time, I saw that it was 7:30 p.m. and strapped my black gladiator sandals on and grabbed my phone, heading to the guest room to get Cass.
About twenty-five minutes later we were on our way to the docks. Cassie walked beside me silently, listening to the sounds of people on the boardwalk, dogs barking, and car tires squealing on the roads. She scanned around, looking for anything 'dangerous'.
"You don't have to be so paranoid. We're on earth and we're much stronger than humans so you can relax." I said, seeing the little fire beneath the docks, indicating that Slater and the guys were already there. Cassie let herself relax a little but sighed.
"We're also not the only un human creatures on earth, Ivy. You need to remember that." she said, eyeing the fire and stopping suddenly.
"I can't remember something that I have no physical knowledge of… What's wrong Cass? It's just a fire, Slater and the guys are probably already there." I said, stopping next to her and looking her in the eyes, concerned. Cass just shook her head and let herself relax a little.
"Nothing, just getting ready to 'hang out' with some 'normal' teenagers..." she said, laughing slightly. Shrugging my shoulders I led her closer to the fire, where we could hear mocking laughter. I ran towards Cal and jumped on his back, putting my arms around his neck playfully.
"Hey Cal, hope were not too late." I said as Cal turned his head to see who had just jumped on him.
"Ivy! You're not too late…" he said in a fake, hurt voice, pouting.
"Aw…I'm sorry, Cal. How can I ever make it up to you?" I said, playing along.
"Hmm… you could go and cling on someone else's body?" he said, chuckling. I hopped down from Cal's back and grimaced,
"Nope, I'm good." I said. Looking at Cassie, I saw that she was busy observing everyone.
"Guys, this is my cousin Cassie. Cass this is Slater, Cal, Eric, Adam and Mike." I said, pointing to each person. All of the guys gave Cassie a smile, wave, or both.
"How was your Aunt's last night?" I said, looking at Mike.
"It was horrible, my parents made me wear a suit." he said, and we all started laughing…except for Cassie. Sitting down next to Cal, I motioned for Cassie to sit across from me, in between Adam and Mike. She complied and gave them both a gentle smile as she sat down.
An hour later we were all giggling as we passed the boagie around. Even Cassie, after some coaxing from Adam, took her turn.
"Hey, Ivy didn't pass out this time. Good job!" Cal squealed, enveloping me in a lopsided hug that sent us crashing to the sand.
"Yeah, yeah. Shut up, Cal." I said, sitting upright again. I smiled when I saw Cassie lying next to Adam as they talked in hushed, giggling tones.
"Hey Ivy… Can I talk to you for a minute?" Slater said, standing up and offering me his hand. I nodded and took his hand as he pulled me to my feet. Leading me over to stand on top of a sand dune, he sat down and motioned for me to do so. I sat, but needed his help to keep from falling down the sand dune. Laughing, I looked at him, my vision a little blurry from the pot.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked, my voice sounding warped. Slater looked at me and his fingers brushed my neck absentmindedly.
My eyes were filled with flash backs, their eyes were yellow, teeth sharp. I felt myself slipping down the sand dune, only to be caught by strong arms…Slater's arms. I let out a hushed scream and the flashbacks faded, leaving me struggling in Slater's arms.
"Ivy! Ivy, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly, as I tried to push him away.
"Let go of me. Let go…" I said, overcome with fear. Slater let go and I slid down the sand dune, with Slater walking down after me. I stood up and put my hand out in front of me.
"Don't…don't come any closer. I know…I know what you are. I know what you did to me!" I said, eyes narrowing. I didn't give Slater a chance to reply, as I ran back to where I had left Cassie; in the hands of those monsters.
"Cassie! Cassie! Get up, were leaving. Now!" I said as I hauled her to her feet and almost lost my balance. Cassie pouted,
"Why… I was having a good time." She whined, standing upright and looking at me, confused.
"What's wrong, Ivy?" Cal said, standing up and draping his arm around my shoulders. I pushed him away and stepped back, not seeing him as my friend…seeing him as the monster he truly was.
"She knows, guys…I don't know how a human remembered it…but she did." Slater said eyes yellow. I felt the tension in the air as Cal, Mike, Eric, and Adam stiffened. Before I could react, all of them had surrounded Cassie and me, all of their eyes yellowing and canines lengthening.
"This should help you to forget…" Adam said as he took a handful of my hair and threw me to the ground, pinning me. I couldn't see her, but I heard something heavy drop into the sand next to me and I assumed that it was Cass, someone pinning her too. I tried to struggle, using all of my angelic strength, but nothing worked. Adam was too strong and as he bent his forehead to touch mine, I shivered at his skin…it was cold, corpse like.
When I saw Ivy's eyes go wide and blank as Adam erased her memory again, I bowed my head. I didn't want it to be this way, but she knew…somehow she knew what I, Cal, Adam, Eric, and Mike were. We had done everything to ensure that she wouldn't know what we were. All of the guys, including me, liked Ivy. There was something about her… something that called to us. And for me the other night, it was her blood.
"Almost done…" Adam said as Ivy closed her eyes and blacked out. I nodded and he moved on to Ivy's cousin, Cassie. As he erased her memory, I looked at Cal.
"Do you have any idea how Ivy found out…how she knew?" I asked him, sitting next to him. Cal shook his head,
"No. I don't know how she found out, but I bet it has something to do with this…" he said, pulling Cassie's wrist and turning it over, revealing a tattoo of a pair of wings with horns over it. I narrowed my eyes and looked over to Ivy. Standing up, I walked over to her unconscious body, picking up her wrist and turning it over. I saw a tattoo different from Cassie's; it was a tattoo of a pair of horns, a pair of wings, and a tail with a pointed end. And as I motioned for Cal to look at it, Adam came over.
"It's all done, Slater. They won't remember a thing." he said, and when Cal saw the tattoo on Ivy's wrist, he shrugged.
"I don't know what either of them means, sorry Slater." Cal said as Eric put his arm around Cal and kissed his cheek.
"I think it's time we call it a night, huh Slater." he said and I nodded, watching them turn and leave, Mike following close behind.
"Here, we should get them home before Ivy's brother gets off of work." Adam said, picking up Cassie.
"Yeah..." I said, as I carefully picked Ivy up.
As Adam and I used our in human speed to get us to Ivy's house, I felt Ivy curl against me. I smiled and slowed down when we reached the overhang underneath Ivy's window.
"So this is how you left her the note? Creep in through her window? That's old school, bro." Adam said, laughing. I shrugged and jumped upwards, landing quietly on the overhang that was at least ten feet off the ground. Seeing Adam jump up beside me, I listened for the sound of anyone inside Ivy's house. Hearing nothing but silence and Coal's deep sleep breathing, I opened Ivy's window and climbed inside. Laying Ivy on her bed, Adam climbed through her window and headed towards the guest bedroom were we presumed Cassie was staying. I sat down on Ivy's bed just as Adam came back in.
"Don't stay long okay?" he said before jumping out the window and heading home. I chuckled and looked at Ivy. She looked so peaceful lying there, almost like an angel. I felt my canine teeth lengthen and cursed under my breath. I was hungry again. Before I knew what I was doing, my hand brushed Ivy's hair away from her slender neck. My eyes turned yellow as I bent over by Ivy's neck.
"Forgive me, Ivy…" I whispered before sinking my fangs into her neck.
Groaning, I savored the taste of Ivy's blood. It was so pure, so light, and so delicious. Taking only what I needed, I took one more sip and forced myself to pull away. Licking the two puncture wounds that my fangs had left, healing them, I looked at her serene face and fought back the urge to kiss her. Turning away, I licked the blood from my lips and pulled her shoes off before covering her with her bedspread.
"Sweet dreams…" I whispered before jumping out of her window, shutting the window behind me. Hopping off of the overhang, I took a few strides before jumping onto the side of my house and crawling through my own window. Once inside, I striped out of my clothes and showered, washing the scent of Ivy's delicious blood away. After the hot water had fogged up my bathroom and turned my skin a reddish color, I stepped out and dried myself off. Pulling my boxers on, I picked up my phone. Dialing my fathers' number, I put the phone to my ear and waited.
"I was wondering when you would call…" he said as he picked up.
"Yeah, sorry it's a little late." I said, sitting on my bed.
"How is Ivy?" he said, and I stiffened. I hadn't told him about Ivy.
"She's fine… how did you know what her name is?" I asked, trying not to let my voice waver in surprise. I heard my father chuckle on the other end before he replied.
"Why she is quite popular down here. Her parents are powerful people, Slater. That means she possesses great power, and from what I've heard, great beauty. Do not let that get in the way of your job, my son. If it does He will most likely kill us all…" he said, his voice rising slightly in authority.
"I did not know that, father. But I will not let you or my brothers down…I promised on my warriors oath that I would protect her with my life. And I will uphold that oath." I said. My father uttered words of praise and then said goodbye, hanging up. I put my phone on the table next to my bed and frowned. I would have to have a talk to Ivy, as soon as possible. And I would need to make sure that she is The One.