Alex Mazzola
I couldn't sleep.
I couldn't sleep which was weird because I always enjoyed my beauty sleep but after today's eventful day, sleeping didn't seem to be part of tonight's plan.
I considered calling Seth but it was 2:46 a.m. and he was probably dozed off by now
So instead of just mopping around all night long, I decided to grab something to eat from the refrigerator and as I was about to head into the TV room, I saw that the room my aunt was in was still on.
I took a bite out of my drumstick chicken before heading over to my aunt's bedroom where I found her sprawled across her bed, polishing her knives from her dagger collection.
"Hey there, my favorite niece!" She greeted without taking one look my way.
I smiled. "I'm your only niece, Sandy." I said to her.
She smiled as she finally looked at me.
"You can't sleep?" She asked me.
I nodded my head, ashamed. She chuckled.
"Come here! You can help me polish my dagger collection." She gestured as she moved to the other side of the bed.
I giggled as I ran up to her bed and hopped in beside her.
"Okay, take these." She said as she handed me a set of knives. "Just use this cloth and be careful! And I mean be careful! They're my pride and joy."
"Okay," I laughed as I placed some on my lap and began polishing one of her daggers. "Why are you up this late anyway?"
"I couldn't sleep with your folks bickering every two seconds upstairs. I think I lost my sleeping appetite." She said.
I chuckled.
My Aunt Sandy and I had been working on her daggers for over thirty minutes. But we did more talking and laughing than anything else. Sandy had always been the hilarious member –to me at least. I mean, sure, my uncle Anthony would have taken the title but he has more of an idiotic sense of humor whilst my aunt's was dry and direct which I loved.
I thought Sandy as more of the sister I never had rather than my aunt and it's always been that way.
"So, how's that boy you told me about? Is he treating you right? Should I knock his teeth out? Or have you already done that?" She asked me with a nudge of the arm.
I chuckled, blushing a little as I thought about Seth.
"No, he's great. I mean, I wanna knock his teeth out because he's just so freaking lovable and cute." I laughed, rolling my eyes.
She hummed as she blew air onto her long steak/vampire-neck-slash knife.
"Well, when do I get to meet this mystery lovable young man?" She asked.
I smiled. "I don't think that'll happen in this town."
If anyone saw me and Seth together, one of us would be heading to prison for pedophilic acts with a minor which is messed up by the way.
It's not like Seth looked like a teacher per se –there's no such thing as a teacher look – and after I found out he was a werewolf, I noticed that he didn't particularly look like a man in his twenties either. I think his size and height makes him seem older but he looked like any guy my age. But this town was small and word got out quick so if anybody from school saw him and me together there would be a lot of explaining to do to the courts.
She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I shook my head.
"Nothing." I said with a sigh. "What about you, Ms. I-Don't-Date? Why isn't there any special person in your life?"
"That's because not all the states in our country legalize gay/lesbian marriages." She told me.
"Well, that's not supposed to hinder you from finding love." I told her.
Wow! I've never been the girly-girl, softy, lovey-dovey type and neither was Sandy but it was nice to give/tap into our girl side at least once in our lives and paint our toes and nails –although this time we're carving and polishing her knife collections instead.
"What happened to Stacy? I liked her."
Stacy was my aunt's first, steady love from college when she came out to the family. Ever since then, she had to constantly be chastised or told off for her sexuality. I think that's one of the reasons why my father's relationship with her was rocky over the years because he didn't like that his younger sister loved making out with women.
Anyway, Sandy had a girlfriend who I loved. Stacy was so sweet and really loved my aunt. She
"We broke up a year ago because I decided to come back here. I didn't want her to be worried about me if I ever get caught in a mess with the enemies." She told me.
"Does she know you're a vampire hunter?"
"That's another reason why we broke up. I couldn't tell her about the other side of my life no matter how much I wanted to and that threw her off because she didn't trust me. She actually got to the point where she thought I was cheating on her." Sandy said with a chuckle.
"I'm sorry," I said sympathetically.
It's a bummer. They were so in love.
She shrugged. "Yeah, well, you can't choose between love and family."
I thought about what she said.
I didn't believe that.
I think we all had a choice and the best choice we choose would be the one that made us the most happy. And usually, true love sometimes conquers love of family.
And then a thought came into my head.
If I had to choose my family over Seth.
Would I do it?
"If it's meant to be, she'll come back to you." I told her.
She forced a smile but I knew she was still hurting inside.
"How's college hunting going?" She decided to initiate a change of topic.
"I-I don't think college is in the cards for me." I told her.
She gasped. "Why not? You told me how much you couldn't wait to go to dance school when you were a teeny-weeny-Bernini."
I chuckled. "I don't know. Alessandro and Margareta don't support my dreams of going to dance school because they believe I can never make a career out of it. They said I should think of doing something with sustenance and even then they wouldn't allow it. Alessandro wants me here."
When I was around my aunt, I never used the formalities of calling my parents by mom and dad but instead called them what I was more comfortable with. Their names.
"That is ridiculous!" She said as she dropped her daggers to face me.
I frowned.
"Listen to me!" She urged as she took my hands.
"You're going to apply to a dance school of your choice. Don't care what anybody else says. I'm with you every step of the way. Your folks will have to deal with it some other way but you're going to college…if I have to drag you down to the school, I will."
I laughed, glancing at the bedsheets before looking up at my aunt.
"Thanks," I said. She smiled as she stroked my head before sitting back and continuing her carving.
"Boston Conservatory of the Performing Arts." I stated.
"What?"
"That's where I want to go." I told her.
She smiled at me. "Then that's where we're going."
"We're?"
"I told you that you're not doing this alone. I'll be right there with you." She said to me.
I grinned widely.
I didn't give her enough credit as an aunt because that's not what she was. She was my sister but also a second mom to me. She's been more of a mom to me than my actual mom ever was.
"Connor's back in town." I blurted out abruptly.
Sandy fell silent as she continued carving the daggers.
"Uh huh," She finally managed to say after a long while.
"I heard." She added as she intensified the sound of the steel and metal being carved.
I flinched at the disrupting sound.
"How do you feel about that?" Sandy asked me.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Nothing. I know I'm supposed to feel something but I can't. I'm more emotionless than anything."
"I wouldn't think that douche-bag would show his face again in this town but he sure does have balls to even try to approach you." Sandy told me.
My aunt was a motor mouth like me. I think that's where I developed my smart, blunt mouth. Because of her.
"Do you want to put a restraining order against him?" She asked me.
I shook my head. "It didn't help the last time."
"Do you want me to take care of him?"
I fell silent.
"Or do you feel that you are ready to confront him?" She asked me.
I looked up.
I don't know. Was I?
"Look, kiddo. You're probably the strongest girl I have ever met and you're only just seventeen. You can do a lot more things than you ever knew you could. You have the power." She said as she took a dagger and placed it in my hands, closing my hand firmly shut.
I stared at the dagger engulfed in my hand as she enclosed it.
"Use that power." She told me.
Use that power.
Use that power.
Use that power, Alex.
… …
Felicity Stone
Today's the day.
Today's the day I had been dreading for a very long time.
I was going to visit my father in the hospital.
After a long five month period, I actually pushed myself to actually visit my dad who was tied down to a hospital bed in a coma.
I wasn't ready to see the man who took care of me for seventeen years of my life in that state but I had to be ready. I needed to be strong. At least for him.
And at this very moment, I was only minutes away from seeing the man who raised me. I felt like a terrible daughter for not even paying him one visit in this critical time in his life –which he was barely holding onto.
"Are you ready?" My grandmother asked me after signing something and talking to the doctor who sent in a nurse to assist us.
I nodded my head, not trusting my words.
"Right this way," The nurse said to us as she gestured to the hallways of the ICU.
My nana wrapped her arm around mine as the nurse directed us to my dad's room. My nana was the one slowing us down what with her walking with her cane but I didn't mind. The longer I get to see my dad in pain, the better.
"Priscilla Darcy Stone, is it?" The nurse asked.
My grandmother nodded her head.
I've always wondered why my dad took the Stone last name. His birth name was Geoffrey Miller but after he met my birth mom many years ago –who I never got to hear from that often – he adopted the Stone last name so a lot of people confused him as my grandmother's actual son but my grandmother only had one child in her life.
"Your son is doing a lot better this month." The nurse said.
"Oh that's good." Nana Priscilla said.
"But I'll have to warn you, he is critical but stable but if you talk to him, don't expect a response of any kind. We're not certain when he will wake up but you can keep on encouraging him." The nurse told us.
When we reached room 121, I immediately gasped when I saw my father's lifeless body through the glass window of the room. He was entangled and buried under a lot of tubes and machines. It was a gruesome sight.
"We have a slight timeframe on the duration of family visits to the ICU, ma'am." The nurse said.
I realized then and there that the nurse was in fact Justin's mom. She had a pretty face. Her face was young, it was hard to believe she was a mother to a teenage boy but the slight grey hairs on her silky black hair gave it away.
"Don't worry, we won't be long." My grandmother assured her.
Nurse Sofia nodded her head before meeting with my eyes.
"You'll be okay, Felicity?" She asked.
I nodded my head.
She smiled before walking away.
I nervously placed my hand on the door handles and opened the door where the sound of the machines and heart monitor were clear as chimes in my ears.
It wasn't pleasant.
As my grandmother and I entered, I helped her take a seat on the chair.
"Thank you, dear." She replied as she placed her cane gently on her lap.
I looked at my father laid on the bed, unmovable.
I slowly sauntered my way to the bed and placed my hands on either side of the bars.
I couldn't form words as I stared at my dad's essentially lifeless body.
He was so pale.
He was so drained.
His body was so skinny.
The rounds of his eyes were dark.
"Hi, dad." I managed to say but it came out as a low whisper.
Beep.
"Um…It's me, Felicity! Your favorite guinea pig/peaches!" I joked as I used the pet-names he gave me as kid.
Beep.
"I don't know if you can hear me." I said. "I read once that people in comas hear what people around them say but can't interpret it."
Beep.
I felt myself exhale heavily.
"Dad, I'm sorry!" I said, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me the most. I just didn't know –or have the power to see you like this. I wasn't ready. But I feel guilty. Guilty for not being able to do anything…"
The fresh, warm tears descended my cheeks.
"Today's your and mom's anniversary. She would've been beautiful in the outfit she and I picked out for your fifteen year anniversary last year. But now she's gone. Composed out of pure light…"
"Felicity," My nana warned.
I nodded my head, fighting myself from sobbing.
"The therapist says that feeling emotion, such as guilt and grief is good for me. She says they're mature emotions." I told him.
Beep.
"But…I don't think it will be good if you die, dad." I said to him, my voice breaking. "I can't-I can't go on without you, dad. Please? Please? Hold on for me! Come back to me! Come back for mom!"
As I pleaded, I felt something building up in me. A kind of feeling I never felt before in my life.
"I need you." I said as I pressed my hand against his cold hand.
The minute my hand touched his, a gasp escaped his lips as his chest raised up.
My eyes widened as I heard the sound of his machines beeping uncontrollably.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Dad!" I exclaimed.
"Felicity! Get away!" My nana shouted as she got up and pulled me away.
As my hand left his, I watched as my father's body began trembling irrepressibly.
Suddenly, a team of nurses and doctors came rushing into the room.
"He's going into cardiac arrest! He's breaking down!" One of the doctors confirmed as the team tried to stop him from shaking but it just kept getting worse.
"Nana!" I said to my grams, sobbing heavily as she held me.
"Get them out of here!" The head doctor called to the nurses.
The nurses pushed us out of the room and closed the door, with me crying but not fighting as I was still in shock.
"Calm down! Shh! Shh! It's okay!" She whispered.
"Is he dying?" I wept.
"I-I swear I just touched him and he just –No! Daddy!" I sobbed harder.
"Felicity. Let's get you home. We need to talk." My grams said.
I frowned, still crying viciously.
What?
… …
Luke Fitzpatrick
It was Saturday. Oh, Saturday. I usually spent it either causing trouble with my best bro Justin where we'd always find ourselves getting a trip to my dad's office at the station for reckless civilian acts. Whatever! If they call hanging out at an old hideout, rundown house trespassing then they shouldn't call swimming in someone's backyard a crime! Which I love doing by the way. Don't you ever find swimming in another person's pool a lot better than your own?
Well I wouldn't know since I don't have a pool but…you know what I mean.
Dude! It's weird arguing with your own head.
No it's not! It's weird talking back to your own head.
And people say I'm a geek.
That's a whole load of bull! I'm not geeky! I just love quantum physics.
That's whack!
I scoffed.
Anywho-tee-loo, my Saturdays can also be spent watching reruns of the best TV shows in the world… Saved by the Bell, Baywatch –smoking hot babes – or even re-watch the best movie franchise in history…Star Wars!
Which reminds me, I needed to get my old Stormtrooper outfit fixed.
But you know how expensive those things are? Damn! It cost me my whole year's allowance to get the latest light-saber.
Eating two-week-old leftover pizza with milk and watching The Breakfast Club was also a nice way to chill on Saturdays with just my boxers on.
Don't you…forget about me! Don't you…forget me! When you walk away.
That song's my jam!
Sometimes on Saturdays I peep through the bushes of Felicity Stone's backyard to see her wake up every morning and sleep at night. I know! Stalker right?! 'A creepy, pervert is in my neighbors' backyard! Call the popo!'
But hey! I've done a lot worse!
But this Saturday morning was different, I was dedicating my morning to pay a certain someone a visit.
I was elevated in the elevator for an excruciatingly long one minute before the doors opened and I was met with a large, sliding apartment door.
I puckered a brow as I smelt the nasty smell of sewage water as I saw a pathway of water leading up to a broken pipe.
I'm totally lost. I totally didn't just end up in a serial killer's playground, did I?
As I was about to step forward, the stupid elevator doors collided with my body. I shrieked as I felt the doors close against my leg and head.
"Dammit! Not again." I groaned as I tried wiggling out but finding it a hassle.
This happened to me at the mall's elevator before! Seventeen times to be exact.
Just my luck!
I was trapped.
I sighed as I felt my hand dangle around behind me, searching for one of the buttons and after a long while, I found the button I was looking for and pressed it and the doors automatically opened.
I groaned in pain as I clutched my leg and face as I began limping over to the apartment door.
I knocked on the large, wooden door of this sketchy building.
Knock. Knock.
Knock. Knock.
Knock. Knock.
No answer on all three accounts.
I frowned as I noticed the door was slightly open.
I glided the door open to see a large open plan space of this loft with pillars acting as the only thing close to separating the living room, bedroom, and kitchen from each other.
"Hello!" I heard my voice echo throughout the entire, empty loft.
There was no answer.
I smirked as I took a step forward.
I scoffed.
This wasn't such a bad place come to think of it.
It really wasn't all bad.
I expected it to be a ditchy, shady, dark moat or something.
I could throw great imaginary parties in here.
I walked around the empty apartment and laughed.
"I'm awesome!" I exclaimed out and began throwing 'Woohoos' and movie references.
"Luke, I am your father!" I said in an attempted deep voice as I impersonated Darth Vader.
"Wax on, Wax off." I said in my Miyagi accent as I waved my hands around.
"You've had me at hello." I said, pretending to cry as I impersonated Renee Zellwegger –whatever her name was– in that stupid romcom my sister, Hanna loved watching when she was still alive.
"Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting!" I said as I began kicking in the air and throwing imaginary punches, making those martial arts sounds before jumping onto a Michael Jackson impression.
I felt so free here.
"Hey! Hey! What's the matter with your hair?" I began singing along to the Redbone hit song.
"Come and get your love! Come and get your love! Come and get your love now? Come and get your love –"
"What the hell are you doing?" I heard the deepest, brooding voice pull me back to earth.
I flinched in fright and jumped up and turned around to see Ray Parker dropping down from the ceiling and onto the ground ever so effortlessly, emerging in only a tight tank top that showcased his large, and protruding muscles and a dirty pair of sweatpants and dark sneakers.
"Hey!" I exclaimed before clutching my shirt. "I literally just peed in my pants right now."
He didn't look amused as he pulled out a small towel from his waistband and wiped his sweaty body.
I gulped.
"What are you doing here?"
"What the hell are you doing up in the ceiling, dude? It's creepy."
"You're in my apartment." He growled.
"Well…" I tried to argue my statement but thought of it.
Yeah. My case wasn't any good.
"Where's Justin? Isn't he supposed to be with you?" The salty werewolf said to me.
"Yes! But he can't." I told him.
"Why?" He demanded.
"Because he doesn't want to." I said with a emphatic, nervous smile. "He said, and I quote, 'I'm not going to waste my time on a guy who's 100% a dick'."
He snarled. "What are you doing then?"
"Because I don't think you're 100% a dick. In fact, I think you're borderline 99.9%." He didn't same fazed. "At least it's better than 100%?"
"Get out." He growled.
"Okay!" I replied, following his barky order.
Haha! Barky.
Like a dog.
It's funny because he's a wolf that turns every full moon so technically he is a dog.
I stopped mid-turn to face him again.
"Before I go, Ray…I just –" I paused myself as I watched him pull off his shirt.
Whoa!
He has a ten pack?
Man! I've been trying to barely gain a four pack with my skinny little teenage-boy self!
I didn't know ten-pack abs even existed.
Maybe it did in werewolf world.
This just made this conversation a lot more awkward.
"I-I-I just wanted to ask you something." I said nervously as I watched him absorb all the greasy sweat all over his body.
He frowned as he looked at me. "Ask me what?"
"Um…about last time…well, last week at the woods." I paused, hoping he'd catch onto what I was saying. "When you…I mean…when I…um…"
"When you kissed me." He mentioned bluntly.
Oh! Well! Okay! So clearly that didn't seem awkward for him to say! He was not nervous at all!
Dammit! I was pissing my pants right now.
"Yeah…" I said, staring at the ground ashamed. "I-I just, I just wanted to let you know that that wasn't me. I mean, I was definitely drunk that night and I didn't know what I was doing."
"Why are you bothered by it?" he asked me nonchalantly.
"Um…well, for one, I'm a guy and you're a guy and also it's…you!" I stated, gesturing to him.
He looked at me with a vacant yet killer look in his eyes.
"I mean, I'm not saying you're bad looking or necessarily a bad kisser but…ugh! That doesn't matter!" I said, shaking my head. "I like girls! I don't like any girls, I like Felicity!"
He dropped his towel.
"And I'm sorry, I don't know what happened to me that night."
"What's wrong with guys?" He asked me.
I gulped, feeling my forehead and palms sweating heavily. My knees buckled. Dammit!
"There's nothing wrong with guys it's just…I'm not attracted to them." I said nervously.
He smirked slyly.
I felt my insides burn.
"I guess that night totally gave off something different but I just…I don't know. I've never had sex before, you know! And god, do I want to have sex! I'm a seventeen year old virgin! I'm a geek and virgin at seventeen! Perfect Lifetime movie. Heck, I'm the only virgin in the Hurling team. It's embarrassing and a lot of pressure you know!" I stated.
"Mhmm," He said, folding his arms together.
I felt my knees turn jelly.
Wait!
Why was I pouring out my feelings to Ray Parker?
Ray Parker of all people!
"And I always dreamed of Felicity being my first time. I guess I saved myself up for if ever she wanted to consider dating me. That's why I didn't drop the v-card. I mean, there were opportunities though." I said.
"There's a lot of people lining up to have sex with you?"
"No!" I quickly replied.
Now you make me sound like a pervert!
"Of course not." I said. Dear Jeepers! "You know what, just forget it!"
"So tell me again why you decided to kiss me when you were so drunk that night?" He questioned. "I mean, you know where Felicity is so why didn't you kiss her?"
Ugh!
"Because you were the closest person there!" I stated.
He sniggered.
He actually sniggered!
I've never heard him do that before.
"Or…" He said as he took a step forward, inching closer to me. "You have deep-seated feelings that are confusing you and you're trying to deny them from ever existing in the first place."
I scoffed. "Pfft! No!" I stated.
He was ridiculous.
"That is ridiculous!"
"Oh, is it?" He smiled, showcasing his perfect white teeth as he took a step forward.
His large muscles seemed bigger with each step he moved closer to me.
My stomach churned.
"You know, it's okay to feel how you feel. You may love someone else but want something else too." He said to me.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said nervously.
"I can help you find who you really are, Luke. All you have to do is ask. That's why you came, so that you can find answers. I can give them to you. Just ask." He said to me.
I felt my breathing hitch as he assessed me.
Wasn't he married to a woman before? I mean before his family died, he was married and had a daughter.
"I thought you were straight?" I said.
"We're talking about you, Luke." He growled.
I gulped.
I didn't say a word.
"I'd like to think of myself as fluid." He finally answered me. "Some werewolves mate with whatever gender that's around. We don't pay much attention to what's in between their thighs."
I nodded. "That's good to know. Well this has been fun." I dismissed as I spun around.
In a blinding flash, Ray Parker was in front of me. His green eyes were piercing down to mine, boring into them.
Suddenly I felt his lips press against mine in powerful, body-dropping kiss. I felt my legs wobble as I felt the intensity of his lips on mine, his hot breath exhaling into mine as our tongues danced together in synchronization.
"Luke!" I heard him snarl.
I shook myself from my fantasy.
Wait! No! It wasn't a fantasy!
But it wasn't real either!
Blurgh! No! I don't kiss guys!
"B-bye, dude!" I exclaimed before running out of the apartment.
… …
A/N: Some of you have requested and even predicted that Luke and Ray may have the hots for each other and so here is a little something for you guys. I don't know if I want to make them canon because I have a lot planned for them with other people but if you think otherwise please tell me.