Vampires Rule // Colby Brock

~| 48 |~

Tyler's still asleep when I wake up. I peer across at him dressed in a long-sleeved shirt, sweatpants and even socks, and I wonder what's possessing him to go through all of this just for me. He's gone so far as to put a wall of pillows between us to ensure we don't touch during our sleep, which I appreciate but also hate. What's the point in him sleeping in my bed if we can't sleep next to each other?

Pushing aside my frustration, I slip out from the covers and into the living room, where I grab my phone and check for notifications. I see a message from Eliza asking to come over, which I accept, then I go into the kitchen to make myself some breakfast.

A couple of seconds later, my front door opens to a portal and Eliza walks through dressed in shorts and a crop top. I can't help the surprised look on my face, causing her to chuckle. "It's really hot today," she explains. "Is Tyler here?"

"In bed."

"In clothes? I bet he's dying." Eliza shivers as she takes a seat at the island, and I pretend as though her words don't bother me. Like I don't already know he's doing too much just because he wants to be with me. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," I mutter, searching for breakfast meats.

"You sure?" I nod without turning around. "I wanted to talk about what happened yesterday with Colby's clan."

My hip shoves sideways into the refrigerator door to close it, then I put bacon down on my counter and turn to face Eliza. "Do you actually know something?" I demand.

She sighs. "I know a little, but... not much more than what they said. From my understanding, you've been to their house a few times, had some sort of troubles, then you left. I don't know what actually happened, just the rumours."

"Anything else?" I ask hopefully. By now, I'm listening to the sizzle of bacon. It isn't enough to calm me down.

"No, but I did go to Mama to figure something out for you." I cock my head to the side. "She said the reason you have a blackout period is because you must have been stabbed by the same dagger again. You would have woken up at nine, lived whatever life you lived, then got stabbed again and you've returned to the person you were before the first stabbing. Does that make sense?"

"Of course." Not at all.

Eliza gets up from her stool and comes over to me, placing her hands over the top of my clothed shoulders. She rests her chin on me, too, and whispers, "You're the real you now, so whatever happened in that blackout period was a different person."

"That doesn't mean I don't want the memories back," I point out, aggressively shifting the pan around the stovetop.

"I can't say I've ever been in your position, so I can't empathise with you. I wish I could." She goes back to the stool. "The only way you might be able to get the memories back is if you get stabbed again, but that'll erase the real you again."

"It's all so frustrating," I complain just as my bedroom door opens. Both Eliza and I look up to see Tyler coming out now wearing just his sweatpants, his skin glistening.

"Hey, Eliza... Wait-" He blinks and realises Eliza is here, then looks at me and back to her. He was clearly half-asleep two seconds ago. "Oh, hi Eliza. What are you..."

Eliza smiles, masking her amusement. "Sorry, Ty, I was just visiting Lydia. I wanted to talk to her about last night—you know, her past? We haven't gotten very far so I might as well leave you guys to it." She slides down from the stool and walks toward my front door, her energy radiating toward me. "Wish I could be of more help, Lydia."

"I know, it's okay," I assure her. "See you."

"Bye."

"Bye, Eliza." She waves on the way through the portal, then the door is shut and we're alone. "Are you making breakfast?" Tyler asks.

"Yeah, want some? I was gonna keep it allllll to myself, but I might be able to share a single piece."

He laughs. "I'd love some."

We pretend for the rest of the morning as though nothing is wrong. It's easy to do that when you're both determined, especially since we keep to ourselves in my apartment until lunch, when we go out for a short walk. A double date with Lilly and Andy ends up becoming a coven meeting at the coven house.

There is so much to distract us from what's happening, but no amount of laughter, conversation or people could take away from me my drive to figure out why my fingers tingle and spark because of Colby, or why I feel like I'm missing something, even more so as I stand in front of the clan of vampires.

My hands run slowly along a railing, desperate to find a distraction from my own thoughts. I'm not sure how long I've been standing at the beach staring out at the water again, but I'm too lost in the view to really care.

I left the coven house after a short meeting saying I wanted to get some air, which Tyler definitely looked at me weirdly for. I walked for a while, all the way to this very spot where I now stand. I've been so lost lately, so completely lost. Something inside of me is missing and I don't know what it is or why it's got worse, only that it's killing me.

And as I begin to feel the frustration creeping up my neck, I see pink hair out of the corner of my eye. I stay completely still, allowing the person to walk up to me then take their own place staring out at the water. We stand there silently for a couple of long, painful seconds before a manicured hand wraps around the same railing I'm holding.

Just in case, I let go.

"Pretty view," the woman says softly, standing much too close. "Are you here to think?"

I glance at her shortly. "I guess."

"What about?"

"It's... personal."

"Of course, sorry." She brings her hands back to herself and claps them behind her back, twisting toward me. "Do you know me?"

"The news of your change was everywhere, so of course I do. You're Katrina Stuart, Sam Golbach's soulmate."

She smiles widely at the sound of that, a light in her eyes I know I'll never have in mine. "That's right," she tells me. "I came to tell you that I remember you a little better than the other guys. You were very different."

My interest piques so I look at her eyes, which are still lit up. Pushing aside the tinge of jealousy in my chest, I say, "How?"

"Well, I think you were quite ordinary. You had a job—two, in some ways—and you were human with no knowledge of our world."

"What was my job?" I ask.

"I don't know, you just talked about your boss telling you to do shifts and a performance at the same time." I startle when she says that, spinning entirely to face her. "I do know for certain that you played guitar and sang."

"What?" I breathe. My chest feels tight just at the thought of singing in front of other people, or even looking at a guitar. It's something I've avoided since waking up because it has too many terrible memories attached to it.

Unaware, Katrina's still smiling when she assures me, "Yeah, you were amazing. I only got to see you once. You didn't like me at your performances. Anyway-"

"No." I shake my head. "I don't want to hear anymore. I'm... I'll survive with just that, thank you. I appreciate it."

She frowns as I turn to hurry away from her, my heart pounding in my chest. I'm reliving my childhood a hundred times over in my head, making anything else impossible but walking. In my mind, I'm walking away from all of my memories altogether. I don't want them.

Except, when I get home, all it takes is picturing a guitar once for my mind to suffer the worst red flashes I've ever had, and I end up on the floor with nothing but pain soaring through every part of my body.