A Shade of Blood (A Shade of Vampire 2)

CHAPTER 27: SOFIA

The stadium was beginning to fill up with people. A collective sense of excitement could be felt throughout the bleachers. On one side, several of the school’s alumni – former football players themselves – were men being men, screaming and hollering, rooting for their team. The cheerleaders were doing what they did best and pulling off a brand new and rather impressive routine. On the bleachers above us, more than a dozen or so conversations were being exchanged – one of which was Lyle and Amelia’s as they gushed over how wonderful it was that Ben was once again back in the game.

Ben was the only reason I was there. I never was a fan of the game and didn’t really take the time to understand it. For the most part, I only understood what was going on during games because of the very helpful information the scoreboard provided.

While others around me were getting impatient for the game to start, I was looking forward to it ending – hopefully with Ben’s team coming out as the winners, so that I wouldn’t have to deal with him being a sore loser.

“Where’s Abby?” Amelia tugged on the sleeve of my cardigan.

“I thought she was with Lyle…” Lyle, after all, was the one who carried her to our seats.

“He went out for food. He told me Abby was with you. You were supposed to be watching her.”

I looked at the seat beside me. Abby’s stuffed elephant, Colin, was seated where the five-year-old was supposed to be. I felt panic bubble up inside me. “I’ll look for her.” I assured Amelia, before leaving my seat and weaving through the bleachers in search of the little girl. “Abby!”

“Sofia!” A male voice called out.

I whipped around to see where the voice was coming from. I sighed with relief when I saw Abby seated on the lap of Kendra James. Her husband, Mike, was calling my name. They were Connor’s parents and close friends of the Hudsons.

“Abby, you scared us to death!” I exclaimed as I neared them.

“I thought you said you asked permission before coming to us,” Kendra scolded Abby in a tone that was too light and sweet to make the kid take it seriously.

Abby flashed her winning smile, her curly blonde ponytail bobbing up and down as she began bouncing on Kendra’s lap. She fluttered her eyelashes in a way that reminded me of her older brother. She then shrugged and giggled. “I did. Sofia just didn’t hear me.”

I rolled my eyes. The kid could get away with murder if she got any cuter. Mike and Kendra were particularly fond of Abby, largely because they had four sons, of whom Connor was the youngest, and no daughters. Kendra was thrilled when Amelia asked her to become Abby’s godmother. They adored the cute little runt and I couldn’t blame them. Abby was a charmer just like Ben.

“I think we ought to go back to our seats before your mother has a heart attack, Abby,” I coaxed.

“Sorry, Sofia,” Mike said. “She saw us and came over. We didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“Oh, it’s fine.” I smiled. Of course, the look on Amelia’s face when she asked me about Abby was far from alright. Amelia and I weren’t exactly on the best of terms. She hadn’t spoken much to me since Ben and I got back. I extended my hand toward Abby and she begrudgingly took it, but not before receiving a lollipop from Kendra.

“Say thank you, Abby,” I said.

Abby tilted her head to the side, some of her curls falling over her face. “Thank you, Kendra.”

Of course, the couple found that absolutely “awwww”-worthy. I half-pulled, half-dragged Abby back to our seats, because she kept making friends with the strangers we passed by. She was one of those kids who would be easy to kidnap, because she was so friendly and comfortable around strangers. Amelia’s gonna have to keep a close eye on you, Abby. You’re setting yourself up for trouble.

“Where was she?” Amelia’s voice was flat and cold.

“With Mike and Kendra,” I responded.

“I don’t know what it is with you, Sofia, but my kids have a way of getting into trouble whenever they’re around you.” It wasn’t meant to be a spiteful comment, just a careless one, caused by her worry over her daughter’s well-being. She began checking on her little girl to make sure she was alright.

“It’s not Sofia’s fault, mommy,” Abby stood in my defense. “I didn’t ask her if I could go.”

I couldn’t really blame Amelia for her concern. I should’ve paid attention to Abby. The truth was that I was slightly jealous of Ben and Abby for having a mother fawning all over them. The only distinct memories I had of my mother was her locking me up in the closet when I was being particularly naughty. Amelia was nothing like that with her children. She loved them dearly and it showed. It was clear to see through her actions that she kept their best interests at heart. I still found it heart-breaking whenever I caught her looking at Ben, her blue eyes glistening with tears. She never showed it to her son, but what happened to him was tearing her apart.

“The game is about to start in a few minutes.” Lyle came to my rescue. “Settle down. It’s fine, Sofia.”

I smiled and got on my seat. My phone vibrated in my purse and I fished it out to check. I found several text messages from Ben, expressing how anxious he felt. It was a big game after all. I messaged him saying I thought he was going to do great.

The teams were called out into the field and as Ben ran out, his eyes caught me amongst the crowd. He winked.

I gave him my best smile and blew him a kiss, hoping that Amelia wouldn’t make anything out of it. It was getting harder to hide from Amelia that Ben and I were dating. I knew she noticed the slight differences in the way Ben and I treated each other around the house. Truth be told, I was beginning to believe that perhaps it was for the best that she didn’t know.

After what he tried to pull off at the hotel room after prom, I began to take a serious look at what I had going on with Ben. It felt right and yet it felt wrong at the same time. It felt right because after everything we’d been through, it felt as if we owed it to each other to give the romance a chance. It felt wrong for the same reason. Sometimes, I felt as if I was with him because I somehow owed it to him to try and make the relationship work.

I knew he felt something for me. He was, after all, outspoken about it and never really backed away from showing his affections. I, on the other hand, knew that I loved him, but I was still unsure if that love could span anything more than just friendship.

In spite of everything Ben was doing for me, Derek was still the last person on my mind before I drifted off to sleep at night and the first person I thought about when I woke up. I wanted to get him off my mind, but he haunted my every waking moment, and every time I kissed Ben, guilt over the fact that Derek was on my mind would begin eating at me.

That same pang of shame and guilt caught up with me as I watched my boyfriend run to the center of the field. I was the envy of the whole cheerleading squad and a bunch of other school girls pining over him, but gone were the days when that actually mattered to me.

I’d now finally got what I wanted all throughout high school. I was with Ben and yet something about being together as a couple didn’t feel right and I wondered if he sensed it too.

The games began and I checked on Abby to make sure she was okay. She was seated on Lyle’s lap, clutching Colin the Elephant in her small arms. She seemed to be having the time of her life, her bright eyes sparkling as she watched the game. Amelia looked a lot more relaxed too. I thought it did her well to see Ben back in his game, back in his element.

I leaned back in my seat, not quite sure about what was happening on the field, but a quick look at the scoreboard revealed that no one was winning – not yet.

“Hello, Sofia. May I have a word with you in private?”

I turned my head to the side. I felt my face drain of all blood. Sitting on the seat to my right – Abby’s spare seat - was Vivienne Novak.

I wasn’t able to fight the urge to scream, but my reaction was drowned out by a loud cheer suddenly erupting throughout the bleachers. The scoreboard revealed that Ben’s team was now in the lead. I had reason to rejoice, but how could I when a vampire was sitting right beside me?

I completely froze. Try as I might, I couldn’t pry my eyes away from her. My ability to breathe seemed to have stopped, I could neither inhale nor exhale. The crowd began to settle down all around us.

She grabbed my hand and I flinched at her coldness. “Don’t be afraid. I mean you no harm, Sofia. I don’t have much time… Please. May we talk?”

Beyond the sincerity in her blue-violet eyes, I was moved by an emotion I never thought I would see in the princess of The Shade. It was betrayed by how her hand was trembling over mine and how her lower lip had the slightest quiver. Fear. She was afraid, and I couldn’t help but wonder what force someone like her could possibly be afraid of.

For some reason, her fear calmed me, enabling me to breathe again. She was in human territory, my turf. She had no power over me here. I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere alone with you, Vivienne.”

“Sofia, is everything alright?” Lyle spoke from behind me, his hand resting on my shoulder.

“Please…” Vivienne’s hand clasped tighter around mine and her facial expression gave way to a whole new emotion: desperation.

I slightly turned my head in order to address Lyle. “It’s fine. She’s a girl from school. She came to ask about college applications.”

Lyle eyed Vivienne warily, but nodded. “Okay.”

I returned my focus on Vivienne. “There’s a coffee shop right outside the west exit. I’ll meet you there in five minutes.”

She nodded and quickly let go of my hand before leaving. It was as if she couldn’t wait to get out of there. I watched as she left, observing how she was able to make a pair of jeans, a loose checkered button-down blouse and a baseball cap on her head look sexy and feminine.

A modeling agency could make a fortune out of her. I shook the thought away before giving way to concerns of greater matter. What is she doing here and what could she possibly want from me?

Five minutes later, after begging a quick leave from Lyle and Amelia, I was fully expecting to get an answer to that question as I sat across Vivienne inside a crowded coffee shop. I held the cup of latte with both my hands, savoring the heat, before taking a sip. I just agreed to have coffee with a vampire. Do you have a death wish or something, Sofia?

I found it unnerving how strange Vivienne was acting. Her eyes were darting from one corner of the room to the other, as if she suspected that someone was following her. She eventually managed to stop fidgeting – enough so that she could speak to me. “Thanks for agreeing to have a word with me.” Her voice was hoarse, almost as if she hadn’t had a drink for a while.

The thought that she was thirsty did little to bring me comfort. I laid down my mug of coffee on the table between us. “What’s going on, Vivienne? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

She clasped her palms together and laid them on her lap. She shut her eyes for a few seconds and took a couple of deep breaths before opening them again. She appeared to be a lot calmer after that. “It’s nothing. It’s just that I haven’t been out of The Shade for hundreds of years. I’m a little on edge. Anyway, I don’t know how much time I have, but I’m going to answer all the questions you may have for as long as I am able.”

Questions about what? I had no idea what she was talking about. She’s speaking like she’s going to keel over and die any time now… Back at The Shade, Vivienne always seemed calm and poised. She had this all-knowing look about her that made me feel antsy around her, like she could see right through my soul. Seeing her act like a basket of nerves was definitely an interesting sight to see.

“Could you just tell me why you’re here? Get straight to the point. You’re acting weird and it’s making me nervous.”

A flicker of interest crossed the stunning hues of her eyes. “No wonder he was so enamored by you…”

The statement took me aback, but I had no chance to respond because she then paid heed to my request and got straight to the point.

“I came to ask you to come back to The Shade.”

My jaw dropped, a dry chuckle coming out of my lips. It was madness. “You have got to be joking…" I exclaimed before motioning to rise from my seat.

“Wait… Please… Hear me out.”

Vivienne had something about her that caught my attention… She still reeked of fear and desperation, but there was something more… something I couldn’t place.

I settled back on the couch, but not without letting her know that I was keeping her on a short leash. “This better be good.”

She fidgeted on her seat and wrinkled her nose as if she was weighing her words very carefully. I began drumming my fingers over the table as I waited for her to say something. She certainly was taking her precious time.

“Well? I’m waiting…”

She blew out a deep sigh before finally finding words. “I didn’t expect you to live, Sofia.”

My eyes widened. “That’s not exactly a great way to start, Vivienne…”

“Maybe so…” she agreed “but it’s the truth.” She then lowered her voice so that only I could hear. “That night… when you and the girls were brought to Derek, just after he woke up, I wasn’t expecting him to be able to command enough self-control to keep himself from devouring each and every one of you.”

I remembered that night well. How scared I was… How I held Gwen’s hand in hopes of both giving and drawing comfort from her… How I somehow caught his attention… How he pinned me against a marble pillar…

“If that’s what you thought, why then would you have brought us to him? You just led us to our slaughter… That’s sick, Vivienne.”

“It’s the way of The Shade.”

“Again… not a very convincing argument for me to go back. What’s your point?”

She stared at me for a few seconds before speaking. Desperate. “A prophecy has been spoken about Derek a long time ago. The prophecy says that he will rule and that he will bring our kind true sanctuary.”

“Your kind? You mean vampires?” I didn’t care to lower my voice. It didn’t matter to me who heard. Vivienne really wasn’t giving me much reason to feel a need to protect her.

The surprised expression on her face showed that she was nowhere near used to my audacity, but she quickly recovered. “Yes. Our kind. Derek asked Cora, a great witch – Corrine’s ancestor – to put him under a sleeping spell. He wanted to escape all the things we did in order to keep The Shade safe. The guilt was killing him.”

“Why? What exactly did your kind do to make him feel so guilty?” I interrupted.

Vivienne shifted in her seat, showing her discomfort. Still, she maintained her posture and set her eyes on me. “That’s a question you’d have to ask him yourself.”

My shoulders sagged. It took me by surprise how much her statement made me ache with longing. I smiled bitterly and slightly shook my head. “Go ahead. What were you saying?”

She gave me a lingering gaze, before proceeding with her story. “Derek thought he’d already fulfilled the prophecy when we established The Shade. The island, he thought, was our true sanctuary. Cora knew otherwise. She knew that he wasn’t done, so without his knowledge, she tacked on an end to her spell. Derek was to wake once it was time to find the girl who would help him fulfill his destiny.”

She paused and looked to me for a reaction, but the words were still sinking in and I couldn’t find a proper way to respond.

Thus, she continued, “It was Corrine who signaled that he was about to wake and she made it very clear that the girls taken on a certain night were to be reserved for him.”

“My birthday…” I threw the words out there, remembering the way I felt that night. Ben forgot my birthday and spent most of the day wooing Tanya.

“Yes… Your birthday…” She said the words as if she found it amazing that Lucas abducted me and brought me to The Shade on that particular day. “Derek hadn’t fed on human blood for four centuries. You couldn’t possibly understand how difficult it was for him not to feed on you. When he slammed you against that pillar, I thought you were done for.”

I remembered what it felt like to have Derek’s large, virile form pressed against mine, his strong arms holding me up against the pillar, his breath chilling the skin on my neck… I was terrified.

“But he spared you. I don’t know what you told him, but you got to him in a way no other person was ever able to. Not our father or our brother or myself or even Cora was able to get through to him the way you did…”

I swallowed hard as I tried to make sense of what she was trying to tell me. I couldn’t bring myself to accept what she was implying. “I am not the girl Cora was speaking of, Vivienne.”

Vivienne gazed at me with what could almost pass as affection. “Sofia, look me straight in the eye and tell me that you don’t feel anything for my twin.”

My lips pursed and my jaw twitched. Even if I tried to lie, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to fool her. There hadn’t been a day that passed since I left The Shade that I haven’t thought of Derek in one way or another.

Vivienne’s smile was bitter as she understood clearly what my silence meant. “I thought so.”

I clutched the armrests of the couch I was seated on and steadied myself over its edge. I wasn’t about to let her win just like that. “I care about Derek, Vivienne, but that doesn’t really mean anything. That doesn’t prove that I’m some girl destined to help him fulfill some sort of prophecy.” A wry, sarcastic laugh escaped my lips. “Besides, why on earth would I help Derek save your kind? After everything you put me through, after everything you put Ben and so many others through…”

“Because as you said, Sofia, you care about him…” Her blue-violet eyes glistened as she spoke. “He needs you.”

It was impossible for her to say something like that without it meaning anything to me. She was his twin… she knew him better than I ever did… Her words had weight, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around someone like Derek needing someone like me. Who am I? Still, her words were enough to trigger all the pent-up longing I had to be with him again, and I found myself asking, “How is he?”

“The darkness came for him the moment you left. It’s taking away the man that he became when you were there.”

I could feel my face lose color, and my lips parted as I drew a breath. “The darkness is coming…” I muttered under my breath.

It seemed the words meant something to Vivienne, because her eyes flickered with recognition.

“What did you say?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.” I wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of revealing to her all the nightmares I’d been having. My phone began to vibrate over the coffee table. I glanced at it, but decided not to check the message. I took another sip of my not-so-hot-anymore latte. I found myself overcome with worry for Derek. If my nightmares held any meaning, then… I gulped.

“How are the girls?” Guilt claimed me the moment I thought of Ashley, Paige and Rosa. They were my friends and I just abandoned them, did nothing even to help rescue them from The Shade.

When Vivienne told me that Derek attacked Ashley in the Sun Room, that he drank her blood almost enough to kill her, I had no idea how to recover from both the guilt and the shock. I felt like it was partially my fault, because I never did anything to get Ashley and the other girls out of The Shade, but I was always secure that Derek would keep them safe. I couldn’t even wrap my mind around the idea that Derek could be capable of something like that.

That’s nothing like the Derek I knew.

“I don’t know how long my brother can keep himself from hunting her,” Vivienne kept clasping and unclasping her fingers. “Now that he’s had a taste of her blood, I’m pretty sure he’s craving her. Even though she’s living with Kyle now, she’s still too close. He would still be able to sense her.”

The news she brought was more than I knew how to handle. “Why are you telling me all this, Vivienne?” Tears were threatening to spill down my cheeks.

“Remember the night when you arrived? When you were in the dungeon? I told you that you were nothing but a pawn.”

I could still remember her exact words and how mortified she made me feel: "Understand, girl, that you are nothing here. You’re nothing but a pawn, a piece used to make the board move. Your best chance at survival and proving your significance is to win Derek’s affections. Considering everything I know about my brother, I’m not sure that’s even possible."

I smiled bitterly. “How could I forget?”

“I was wrong.” Vivienne, in all her grace and beauty, looked me in the eye and said, “You’re not a pawn, Sofia. You’re the queen.”

Before I could fully make sense of the words, the vampire’s eyes widened with horror, as if she had just seen something behind me that gave her cause for terror. I looked back and saw nothing but a group of people having their coffee.

“Vivienne, what’s wrong? You’ve been acting strange ever since…”

“It doesn’t matter.” She cut me off. “The hunters are here. You need to go back to The Shade, Sofia. There’s no other way. You can stay at my home. You won’t go back as a slave. I’m going to give you some of my memories along with instructions on how you’re going to get to The Shade. They’ll know I sent you.”

“What are you saying?! How on earth are you going to give me your mem –“

She grabbed both my hands and I had to shut my eyes as a deluge of images flooded my brain, channeling from her to me. Vampires being burned at the stakes… A smile and a kiss on the hand from a handsome young man… The same man screaming as he was tortured… A symbol of a hawk branded with burning iron on Derek’s bare back… Imagery – some sweet, others confusing, most of it horrifying – flashed through my mind in one wave after another until finally, I saw a way back to The Shade and found myself once again engulfed by darkness.

Snapping out of the sudden influx of memories that didn’t belong to me, I opened my eyes to find Lyle in front of me, holding my face with both hands. “Are you alright, Sofia?” I heard panic in his voice. “What did she do to you?”

Behind him, I could make out Vivienne’s unconscious form on the couch across from me. Two men, who looked like paramedics, rushed to her. One of them stabbed her in the arm with a syringe before they carried her out of the coffee shop.

Where are they taking her? I wanted to ask, but realized that Lyle was moving his lips and I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. Then my vision began to betray me, blurring before everything around me faded into black.