Blood Rose (Vampire/Ballerina Book 1)

Chapter 16: Shifting

KOTA

"Her location has changed." Odina says from the living room. Kota retreats from his grandfather's bedside and regroups with his parents and sister. His attention goes to the portal which spawned in their living room. The view is very hazy; Kayla can't be seen accurately. Although she saw them as clear as day, their visuals aren't as fortunate.

"Why has it changed...?" Dyani wonders.

"Maybe she sensed us."

"Meaning she ran away?"

"That's possible." Matto stares ahead at the blurry view of Kayla.

"She seemed too young to be on her own. She must have parents." His mother disagrees with her husband. "I think she'll return home."

Kota eyes his father. "Maybe mom is right."

"There's no way to know for sure. There has to be a reason the girl jumped from 12 miles away to 44 in less than an hour."

"We should visit in the morning...her parents may know where she's gone."

Matto looks to his wife with brooding eyes. "There's a flaw in that. We don't have her name."

"We have a fine enough description from the first encounter. I'll sketch a drawing."

Matto ponders, holding his chin. "That would be wise."

"I'll go too." Kota declares.

"No...your mother and I will handle this."

"I don't think she'll help if I'm not there."

Dy nods in agreement with her little brother. "He's right. Kota has to be there, so she knows he's a vampire."

Odina glances between her children, she's somewhat swayed by their reasoning. "They're not wrong, Matto."

"We'll do this our way."

"Please, father...can I go for the ride? This is too important. I can't sit this out." Matto gives a long sigh, debating his answer. "I'll stay in the car, I promise."

"Stay with your grandfather, watch after him. The spell weakened him." He advises Dyani. "I'll allow you to come along." Kota is thankful for this permission...and for his grandad being monitored.

That's true. My mind will be eased if he's watched after. My dread of losing someone else is greater than tagging along. My folks can handle it. Dyani is pissed, I guess she wants to go too. This is a huge update; we'll finally have answers soon. She's just as anxious for a solution as I am. I hope she doesn't get mad over this. She may get over it. Same as hating me.

It seems she's coming around. That's the first time my big sister supported me since the change. Just her siding with me has made me hopeful. Tonight will be a good night. We have a spell bender. Now all we have to do is prepare for the morning.

Kota doesn't sleep. Everyone else does. He roams the house, finding himself examining where the portal once hovered. It's a shame I couldn't see her face. The gateway was fuzzy. Could she see me clearly? I hope so. That'll make tomorrow a success if she did. If she knows my appearance beforehand, maybe she'll see my truth. That I'm not human. 

The sight of green and orange fireworks pop the sky throughout the night. The spooky holiday ends at midnight...yet it still has a lingering presence. Why is that? Is it true that the day holds a supernatural energy?

The sun rises come dawn. Kota will never get used to the feel of it on his flesh. The traumatic burning experience will always haunt him. He watches the pillars of light dance across his forearms. He raise his fingers to catch the light rays in between them. Kota is happy to have some normalcy...regardless of being a monster. I can still live...even if the cure is a dead end. Magic has helped me so far.