The image changed. I watched myself grab her violently. I shook her as she fought me. She slapped my face, and I bared fangs at her. She said something then, something almost inaudible though I heard it as if she had shouted.
“You know you have to do it,” she whispered. “It’s ok. I’m ready.”
I wanted to shout at my future self, to beg him to stop. I watched myself pull her close and bite into her exposed neck. I watched myself kill her.
“No!” I stood up so fast the chair I’d been sitting in flipped over. In a sudden rage, I grabbed the mirror and smashed it on the floor. Then I lunged at Alice.
It was over rather quickly. I left Alice strewn across the table in a bloody heap. I should never have gone there. I should never have come back from Europe. I’m horrified by the vision in the mirror. What does it mean? Surely, nothing can be predestined for certain. Can it? I won’t let it happen. Alice’s vision will not come to pass. There has to be a way to alter the future. And, I will find it.
My pulsed pounded through my veins. Reading his journal had brought memories of Arys’s life to the surface, even the memories that I had buried deepest in my subconscious. I looked up from the last entry in Arys’s journal to study him.
He sat across from me on his favorite recliner. A sketchpad sat on his lap; with pencil in hand, he was immersed in his drawing.
I didn’t want to interrupt him with questions or comments on what I’d just read. His artistic flare had been just as surprising as everything else about Arys. Spending so much time at his house had allowed me to witness it for myself. I was content just to watch him work.
He was shirtless, clad in soft blue cotton pajama pants with his hair damp from a recent shower and an expression of deep concentration, Arys was a treat for the eyes. I strained to see what he was drawing but couldn’t make it out from where I sat on the couch.
“So you’ve finally finished reading that damn thing, huh?” He didn’t look up from his work, but a grin played about his lips. “I was starting to think you never would. I imagine you have something to say about it.”
“I do. I understand why you didn’t tell me about our connection sooner.” I stroked the old, yellowed pages of the journal, holding it protectively. “You hoped you’d find a way to change what you saw. If you did, I’d never have to know the truth. Too bad things didn’t work that way.”
Arys did look up then; wearing a pensive expression, his smile vanished. “Yes… too bad. That’s why I dragged you to Lena for answers. I was praying she would tell me something different, something to prove Alice wrong somehow. Instead she confirmed what I already knew, for the most part.”
Seeing the shadows in his eyes, I knew I could never tell Arys about the strange certainty I’d had in the past that I would die at his hand. Never.
“We can’t make assumptions. You saw one thing in that vision. There has to be more to it. Things change, and even if they don’t, there’s a reason for them. All we can do is take it a day at a time. We have a purpose, Arys. There is a reason for what lies ahead. Whatever that may be.”
Sure, I was afraid of what Alice had shown Arys, afraid because I felt it to be true. However, it was what came after that frightened me more. When I would rise as a vampire and become another insatiable menace of the night. That’s when the balance we shared would tip. That’s what Shya wanted.
“Right,” he sneered. “We just have to try not to destroy each other in the meantime. No big deal.”
I laughed, trying not to share his dark outlook. Someone had to keep things light. “So far so good. Lena and Alice knew things about us. They can’t be the only ones. Maybe there’s someone else, someone who can clarify things. There is so much we don’t know yet.”
“Perhaps it’s better that way.”
“All I know is that I’m ready for a few low key days of lying around, doing absolutely nothing. I just want to enjoy the here and now.” I set the journal aside and stretched languorously, hoping to change the subject. “I’d like to spend the next two days in bed.”
That brought back the sexy smile that lit a fire in my belly. Arys raised a dark brow and gave me a suggestive look. “Meet you there.”
I held his gaze for a moment, wondering if I could make it down the hall before him. I sprang off the couch and darted from the room. Arys was faster, springing ahead to block my path. I tried to playfully body check him out of my way, but he grabbed me around the waist and tugged me off balance. We both tumbled to the floor in a giggling heap.
A bit of rough wrestling on the carpet resulted in burns on my knees that were not nearly as fun to receive as one might think. I knocked him down and made as if to run away, when he caught my ankle and sent me sprawling. I laughed until I cried, needing the rejuvenation that came from a cleansing laugh.