At lunch I made my way to the cafeteria. I saw The Lézard kids head down as well with their mother. The oldest was from their mother’s first marriage then the twins were from the second marriage. I hung back from them. As they entered the cafeteria the kids ran up and picked up their trays while Nancy and Heidi helped them load their trays. I collected my lunch then sat down at a table by the window. I watched people eat away from me and I pulled out my book while I ate my pizza, salad and vanilla pudding lunch with chocolate milk. My fashion glasses were on the tip of my nose as I read about a vampire romance. The low volume of the lunch hour was rudely interrupted by the wolf boys again. I groaned then took another bite of my pizza and turned the page. This was getting ridiculous. I looked over my book and saw them getting food. I got a mischievous glint in my eyes and concentrated on the ground in front of them. With a slide of my foot the blond haired boy who splashed me tripped and landed face first into his food.

His friends laughed and so did I. The boy got up and wiped his face.

“Shut up guys!” I couldn’t stop laughing. I felt a presence behind me and I turned around. There was Peter and I nearly swooned. He was the most gorgeous boy in the entire school. And he looked like Mako from The Legends of Korra the new Nickelodeon TV show. His short dark hair and golden eyes. His sharp features would make any girl faint at the sight of his beauty. At that moment all I could see was him, he was smiling at me and I couldn’t help but blush. Just then one of my favorite quotes ran through my head. I couldn’t remember who it was by but it was from No Sweetness Here. The quote said: He was beautiful, but that was not important. Beauty does not play such a vital role in a man’s life as it does in a woman’s or so people think. If a man’s beauty is so ill-mannered as to be noticeable, people discreetly ignore its existence. Only an immodest girl like me would dare comment on a boy’s beauty.

“Claire.” My name rolled of his tongue so sweetly.

“Hi.” He had a tray in his hands and wore jeans with a form fitting tee shirt.

“Can I sit with you?”

“Uh…” I was shocked. He never really talked to me ever. “Sure.” I moved over and he sat down.

“So what are you reading?”

“Nothing.” I went to put it away in my bag.

“I’d like to know. Is it good?”

“Um,” I straightened from my bag. “Yeah, so far. It’s a vampire romance so…”

“Is it Twilight?” I smiled.

“No, have you read Twilight?”

“Actually,” He leaned close. “Don’t tell anyone but I’m on Team Alice.”

“Really?” I gasped. He sat up straight and nodded.

“I’ve read all of them and I’ve seen all the movies.”

“Me too. I can’t wait to see Breaking Dawn Part Two.”

“I’d like to see it.” He looked at the wolf boys. “So what’d I miss?”

“One of them tripped and landed face first into their food.”

“Too bad I missed it.”

“Yeah. So how are you doing?” It surprised me how easy it was to talk to Peter.

“Pretty good. How are you adjusting to all this?”

“I’m doing okay I guess. I mean I’m grateful Griffon and Alisa took me in. But I never knew that all this existed.”

“I know, when my parents told me it was a shock but then I grew up with all of this.” We surveyed the lunch room and continued to eat in a compatible silence. As I ate I remembered how all this happened.


I awoke when I heard swords clashing and battle cries. I was lying on something hard and by the smell of it it was wet grass. The air was cold and when I breathed it hurt. My body hurt especially my neck. My eyes were heavy but I managed to open them. It was dark at first but my eyes adjusted. The moon was bright and I saw Lacy, my Bernese mountain dog, sleeping beside me. I was relieved when I saw Lacy’s body moving with each breath then carefully looked around me. There were two people guarding me and I recognized them from the party that had attacked me back home. I carefully moved my wrists to see how tight I was bound. Apparently not very tight since I could easily slip one wrist free then I moved my knees up to reach my cowboy boots. My feet were another thing and I pulled up my jean leg and pulled out the knife I had. I sawed at the ropes while I watched the guards and strangely they didn’t move. Did they know I was freeing myself? Were there more people to ensure that I wouldn’t escape? I took a hand and shook Lacy. When the dog opened her eyes I was relived. I started to get up slowly and grimaced as how cold my wet clothes made me from lying on the grass. I stood and saw lacy stand too. We backed away from the two guards and made our escape. The sound of a battle drew my attention now that I was partly free. Maybe someone could help me. I made it to the edge of a clearing and hid behind a bush. On the other side raged a mini-war. The air smelled like sweat and blood and when I opened my mouth to breathe it seemed like dust was coating my tongue. There were people with swords in kilts and animals like wolves, panthers and a tiger. Everything was moving at super speed and I didn’t know how people could move that fast.

I figured that the kilted figures were the good guys since they were beating the people who had kidnapped me. I saw a sword being knocked out of a man’s hand and it landed in front of the bush. The man drew another sword and the fallen one was forgotten. The same kilted man didn’t see another person coming up behind him and I wanted to shout out to him but didn’t want to alert that I had escaped. I felt a sudden surge of bravery and picked up the sword and rushed out into the field to help the kilted man. I ran forward and stood right behind the kilted man just as the bad guy thrust his sword.

My world went still. My gasp seemed to echo and all around me the world slowed. The battles were in slow motion and the bad guy who attacked me was killed by a wolf. I heard my heart in my ears…bump bump…bump bump. My hands felt clammy as I looked down at the broadsword embed in my body. Somewhere Lacy barked and was at my side. I looked up at another kilted figure. He was tall with dark hair and striking blue eyes. My eyes rolled back into my head and I fell to my knees and the blue eyed man caught me.
“Ye’ll be alright…” He said with a Scottish accent. “Ye’ll be alright.” Everything went black and I figure I fainted when I woke up and was in a clinic in the blue eyed man’s arms as he ran down a hall. The sword was gone from my body and I wanted to scream in pain but couldn’t find my voice. We went through a door and I was placed on a hospital gurney. I could feel the blood soaking my clothes and the makeshift bandage that was around me. The man was joined by others and the last thing I saw was a bright light.

“Death is peaceful…easy…Life is harder.” That quote haunted me for a while afterwards. My dog Lacy had died that night and I didn’t have anyone from my past life at all. It had shocked me when I woke up the next day. It had been a while now and I wanted the leader of the group that attacked me and my dog dead. I didn’t know how to find her and that made it harder for me.

“So what are you doing this weekend?” Peter’s question brought me back to the present.

“Um, it’s already Friday.”

“I know, we have a three day weekend remember?”

“I know. I guess I’m going to Scotland then I’ll be brought back.”

“How are things over there?”

“They’re good. Alisa was going to decorate my new room. So I’ve been here while she does that. She wanted to make my adjustment a little easier.”

“Has it worked?”

“Yeah. So why do you want to know what I’m doing?”

“Just wondering? I figured you might like to do something rather than stay in a big castle.”

“What’s wrong with feeling like a Princess?”

“Nothing.”

“So what do you have in mind?” I smiled at him and he looked shocked for a moment before regaining his wits.

“I thought we could catch a movie or hang out?”

“I’d like that.” I nodded. “So how do you intend to get to Scotland?”

“Call you. I can teleport by focusing on your voice.” I looked at him suspicious, I knew that was a way to teleport but I was wondering if I should play stupid so I could give him my number. Yeah, I’ll go with playing stupid.

“Then I’ll give you my number.” He looked shocked at this too. I was laughing so hard on the inside. I extended my hand. “Can I see your phone?” He fished it out of his pocket then placed it in my hand. I programed my number in then handed back his phone. He looked at it.

“One seven one five, five seven six one zero three two?”

“Yep.”

“May I get a picture?” Peter asked seeming more relaxed and I nodded. I posed and let him take my picture. “Thank you.” I brushed my hair behind my ear and blushed.

“You’re welcome.” My phone rang and I pulled it out. Unknown number. “Excuse me a moment.” I said to Peter before answering the call. “Hello?”

“I had to make sure you didn’t give me a fake number.” I turned around and saw Peter smiling on his phone and my jaw dropped.

“You’re…you’re…”

“What?”

“Ridiculous!” I laughed then hung up my phone. “Really?” I asked him.

“Of course.” He laughed.

“Of course,” I echoed. “You’re part French.” We smiled and I grabbed my bag then my empty tray. The lunch room had still had a few people and was relatively empty then I had work to do.

“Where are you going?” Peter was following me with his tray in his hands.

“Believe it or not I have work to do.” I put down my tray on the counter then began to walk out. Nevertheless, Peter kept pace with me easily with his longer legs.

“So what work will you be working on?”

“Homework, work, stuff.”

“Can I join you?” I mentally shook my head. The usually quiet Peter was now being a persistent little bugger. His hands were behind his back and he was leaning forward in a sort of bowing way. I considered letting him work with me as I walked down the hall with him by me.

“Actually, you can’t.” I stopped and turned to him. “I’m sorry but I need peace when I work.” Peter straightened to his full height with made my head come to the tip of his nose.

“Okay.” He said. “Can I call you tomorrow?”

“How about I call you? I am five or six hours ahead of Texas.”

“Very well.” Peter bowed like an eighteenth century English gentleman, well French in his case, would, then straightened. “I shall await your call.” And like a true girl I giggled.

“Bye Peter.”

“Good-bye Claire Irene Wallace.” He smiled then walked away. How did he know my full name? I never told anyone my whole name or much of my history. But then Griffon did own a security and investigation company. MacDermond Security and Investigation. I sighed and moved past a pair of double doors and into the gigantic library. I walked up the stairs and moved to my favorite section. I saw the book I wanted on the top shelf and huffed a breath. Why was everything I needed on the top shelf? Damn, I shook my head; life was out to get me. I stretched as high as I could but I was still half a shelf short. I thought about jumping but then remembered I was in a knee length dress that brought out my eyes so I was told by Alisa and other adults in this giant family I now belonged to. A quick look around proved to be useful when I saw the shelf ladder. It rolled over easily and I soon began to climb to light colored, polished wood. I reached over the dark colored shelves and plucked the book I wanted from the shelf. As I was stepping down, I don’t know if it was the hem of my dress or a loose shoe lace, something got caught and I began to fall back. I would’ve had a hard landing on the green carpeted floor but someone had already caught me.

I saw Peter again and my arms were wrapped around his neck.

“Do you have a habit of being a damsel in distress?”

“Peter…” I looked at him. “Um…” He leaned closer to me. Our lips were an inch apart.

“Claire!” My eyes flew open and Peter set me down. He bent down and grasped my book then handed it to me. I pushed my hair behind my ears again and took the book. “Claire!” The voice was closer.

“Coming!” I shouted. I looked at Peter. “Thank you.” I then took off toward the person calling my name.

I was in my room in my new Scotland castle. Alisa had done a wonderful job in decorating it. The room was in shades of blue, dark and light ones and it made me feel like a princess. A king size canopy bed, a great writing desk, vanity, a huge closet with beautiful clothes and a complete tiled bathroom with a French tub and shower with three heads.

I even had a balcony with flowers along the railing. I was dressed in a new set of pajamas. The pant legs belled out before closing in around my ankles. The robe that went with it looked like a calf length dress that buttons that held the two sides of blue fabric together at my bust line. The sleeves were like the pants, belling out before closing in around my wrists. They kept my arms warm against the cold night air when the tank top couldn’t.

I leaned against the railing of my long balcony that looked over the gardens and wilderness of Scotland. The moon was full and looked slightly blue. Tonight was beautiful and I gazed at the stars thinking of my family. I had three older triplet brothers. Dark hair and green eyes. Jesse, the oldest, Kyle, the middle triplet, then James who was the youngest. I had a blond haired blue eyed seven year old sister Emma. Then a five year old brother who looked like our dad. Danny. And they were all…

Dead.

Tears filled my eyes and I wondered if I would be better off without the memories of them. I wiped my eyes then moved back inside my room shutting the French doors slash windows behind me. I drew on my slippers then left my room. The castle was huge, made of stone but looked like a royal palace with its rich colors and fine furnishings. It was so big I didn’t run into anyone and I went out the back door of the kitchen deciding a nice little walk would clear my head. Everything was silent except for crickets chirping, the wind whispering past the hedges and trees and the water fountains giggling.

I walked into the maze and birds scattered off the marble path. I coughed into my arm as I turned a corner. I turned another corner mindless of where I was turning because I suddenly I didn’t care. What was the worst that could happen to me? I wondered if I could get lost forever in this maze. When I finally stopped I was in front of a stone bench that was under an arch over taken over by flowers clinging to the arch for dear life. The moon was full and I sat down on the bench looking at it. I sighed and closed my eyes. I couldn’t do it anymore. It was getting harder every day. It was spreading like black goo and I could feel it suffocate me.

“Do you always get lost in mazes?”

“I always enjoy a midnight stroll.” I didn’t turn around. I knew who it was. I didn’t call him on purpose because I knew he would call anyways.

“Mind if I join you?” I shook my head and he sat down next to me. “Beautiful.”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen the moon so big.”

“I wasn’t talking about the moon.” I opened my eyes and looked to my right. He was looking at me and I was hypnotized by his golden eyes. “I don’t know how,” He whispered. “But every time I see you you’re even more beautiful than the last time I saw you.”

“Peter.” He moved closer and I did the same. His hand cupped my cheek. This time I knew we were going to kiss.

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here.” I knew that voice, it was her. Peter and I looked behind us. The woman who killed my family stood there with her guard. I faced her with a steel expression.

“You’re not welcome here.”

“Nonsense a Queen is always welcomed in her kingdom.” The woman was blond and arrogant. She wore an evening gown and a tiara upon her head. If I didn’t know her for who she was I would say she was gorgeous. But then I did know her and she was evil. Her guards were in all black.

“Well you’re not here. What do you want?”

“You, my dear. Just think of the things we could accomplish together. Nothing will be beyond our reach!”

“Fame?” I asked.

“Claire,” Peter said. “What are you doing?” I ignored him.

“Fortune?”

“Beyond your wildest dreams!” I smiled.

“Claire!” Peter shook my shoulders. “You’re not thinking clearly.” I looked at him.

“No for the first time I am thinking clearly.” I turned to the Queen. “We can’t exactly trust him not to tell on us now can we?”

“No,” The Queen said. “You’re a very clever girl. I knew you were the right one.” I smiled.


“Handcuffs?” A guard tossed some to me and I grasped Peter’s wrists. This was a plan, a very flawed plan but I hoped that the Queen was happy enough that I was ‘joining’ her side that she wouldn’t notice that Peter wasn’t a whole vampire and could easily break out of the handcuffs.

“Now be a good boy and stay.”

“Claire-”

“Confío en min.” Trust me. I whispered handcuffing him hoping to hell she didn’t know Galician. I had a plan and I was trusting my gut that it would work.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.” He finished. Looks like he didn’t know what I said either. I turned to the Queen.

“Now you can get me anything?”

“Anything you heart desires and more.” I walked towards her. She held out her arms. I stopped.

“I want my family back.” I moved my arms and a giant wave of water came down over the woman who killed my family and her guard. The cuffs on Peter broke loose with his strength and he joined in on the fighting. The woman took off and I chased after her. I jumped and kicked a stream of fire towards her running form and she screamed. I chased her and I twisted my body to command the maze around us to block her current path but she turned a corner.

“Come back and fight me!” It was silent and I could hear Peter and backup fighting the guards. I was panting and I wanted to burn down the entire gardens to find her but I didn’t. That wouldn’t exactly go well with my new guardians. I listened then took off my slippers to feel the ground. The marble was cold and made me shiver. I smiled when I felt her running. The pounding of her footsteps pulsated through the ground and I felt them with my feet. It was like sonar to me. I waited till she stopped then I made my move again. My foot slid forward and I moved my arms to the Tai Chi I knew. Then with a swift stomp of my foot the ground shook and the Queen went shooting up into the sky because my kick had caused the ground beneath her to jump.

She was falling back and landing right in front of me. “Now that you’re back. You can face me.”

“I don’t think so.” She said and started to shimmer.

“No!” I plucked the silver chain from around my neck and tied it around hers. Red welts began to form on her skin. Her skin was burning and she screamed. I moved and caused the water from the fountain next to us to come up and splash down on her. I had the earth crumble and put her in a pit. I had the air keep her down and just as I was about to cast her in a pit of fire she jumped up and tackled me to the ground. She growled at me and made a snap for my neck but I kicked her and she groaned. I was counting on the silver to weaken her and it was doing its job or so I thought when she ripped it off her neck. Now the odds weren’t so in my favor as they were a few seconds ago. I was hitting her with everything I had. Earth air water fire but she was dodging every one.

I was told never to let your guard down when battling a vampire. And I did just that for one second.

With a blast of earth she was laying on the ground still as death as I approached her. I couldn’t see her chest moving. Her eyes were closed and even in death she managed to land in a graceful position. I was a lamb approaching a lion. Quicker than my eyes could follow she sprang back up with a growl. Her fist pulled my head to the side painfully and I screamed just as she mauled my neck with her fangs. I was trapped in her vice like grip and I couldn’t move my limbs to bend.

Somewhere I could hear Peter and back up coming to my rescue. With the last of my strength I shot fire at the woman who killed my family and she pulled back from my neck screaming as she turned into ash. I pressed my hand to my neck as I felt wobbly and fell to the ground.

“Claire!” Peter, I thought. I smiled and looked up at him when he picked me up. We were on the ground and everyone looked on at us from a distance as they came. “Claire, don’t leave me please.” My hand had fallen away from my neck and her pressed his against the bleeding holes. “You have to stay with me. You’re going to be alright. I promise.”

“Peter…” He was starting to cry and was shaking. I was so cold. “Peter…” He looked at me. “Can I get that kiss now?” He choked out a laugh then moved his lips to mine. It was sweet like I knew it would be. He pulled back and my eyelids were getting heavy.

“I love you.” I told him.

“I love you too.”

Then my world was engulfed in darkness.






I
’ve never prayed before. So here goes…

God…please let me live.