Newborn

PART FIFTEEN

Darien jumped out of the car and ordered me to stay put, but I debated until he rolled his eyes and allowed me to tag along. He demanded I stayed quiet and didn't interfere with his date. I reluctantly agreed, despite how boring that meant the night would be for me. We continued inside the bleak cemetery, and even though I was already technically, well, dead, I still got a little spooked out as we walked through the graveyard. It was later now, meaning that the sun had set, and the entire place was covered by shadows. Worse, there were barely any lights surrounding us, meaning that the stars and the full moon were all we had to guide us. I followed Darien along a dirt track, staring aimlessly at the old gravestones. Flowers and photographs covered most. Then he came to a sudden halt, but I wasn't paying attention. I was too busy staring at the scenery, so I ran straight into him and knocked him forward a few paces.

He glared in response.

"What is it?" I asked, glancing around.

"A vamp—"

His words were interrupted when someone tackled him to the ground. Instinctively, I squealed and jumped back as I watched the squabble. At first, he wrestled against his attacker, which appeared to be a young woman, and then they started . . . kissing.

I stared in amazement.

Was I meant to do something? Hit her?

Should I run?

Is this like some twisted kiss of death thing?

I folded my arms as I stood next to them, awkwardly. As things got hotter, I figured that his mysterious attacker was, in fact, his date and that this was some weird type of greeting. He managed to pin her to the ground. She smiled up at him before her eyes flickered toward me. Instantly, that smitten facial expression flattened.

"Who's she?" she asked. "You didn't tell me that this was going to be a double date."

Perhaps I should have waited in the car after all.

Apparently, having me there killed the mood because she hastily released him. It was clear on his face that he wished she hadn't.

They both stood and brushed the dirt from their clothes. Darien sparked up a cigarette, and, with a lot of effort on his part, he managed to stop staring at her and remembered my existence.

"Oh, right, that's Helena," he said. "And Helena this is, er . . . ." His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. His expression scrunched and then he scratched the back of his head, messing his dark hair. Evidentially, he had forgotten her name.

She didn't look at all impressed as she glared at him.

"Rosalyn." She sneered.

"And what a beautiful name that is," Darien commented with a faint smile.

Ever so subtly, I did a once over on Rosalyn. She was pretty. Really pretty. Her hair was long and cascaded around her English rose complexion in a sea of endless, flaming red curls that made her golden-brown eyes and long lashes all the more extravagant. Along with her amazing hair, eyes, high cheekbones and perfectly symmetrical facial features was her killer body. Rosalyn was curvy in all the right areas and her revealing red dress made damn sure he noticed. And he did notice. In fact, he hadn't stopped staring. I folded my arms over my chest, feeling inferior in the purple, frilly dress that I had borrowed from Roxanne.

"So where is your date then?" asked Rosalyn, glancing around.

"She has no date," Darien stated. "It's just us three."

Something about that seemed to make Rosalyn uncomfortable. I noticed that she was now eyeing me in a similar way to how I did with her. She smiled at me when I noticed her staring, but it wasn't a genuine smile. It was one of those fake smiles girls sometimes did that mostly seemed to say, 'stay away from my man.' With a lot of effort, I refrained from rolling my eyes. I wouldn't want to be near him regardless. In fact, the second this week was up and I was confident with my new vampiric self, I would fly to Hawaii just so I wouldn't have to see his annoyingly apathetic face again.