On a windswept hill
by a billowing sea,
my destiny sits
and waits for me.
~Robert Brault
The day the letter arrived, I was lounging on the third floor of the Sullivan Library listening to my iPod, reading a battered copy of Hamlet, and trying to ignore Judith and my other cousins Macey, Jacqueline, Lilith, and Johanna prattle on and on about the pros and cons of a Ferrari 458 Italia.
"Then interior is ok, but--"
"Ok?" Johanna screeched, gesturing incredulously to the car magazine in her hand. "The interior is like the main thing! Aerodynamics! Speed, high performance specifications, top of the line gps, a 4,499 cc V8 engine producing 570 PS at 9,000 rpm! You call that ok? Well I've got news for you, cous! You have absolutely no taste!"
I giggled despite myself and Judith flung a lap pillow at me.
"She's right though." Macey laughed, slightly chiding. "The car's been listed as number seven in the August issue of Motor Trend."
That shut everyone up.
"Whatever." Judith crossed her arms and leaned back into the couch. I resumed reading.
"Wait. Guys! Listen to this!" Lilith shot up and grinned madly over last week's issue of European Cars. "It says here: 'New Veyron to the winner of this month's essay competition. Write and submit an essay on your favorite place of travel and enter in a chance to win a brand new Bugatti Veyron SS!'"
"WHERE?" Macey, Johanna, Jacqueline and I shrieked at the same time and lunged for the magazine. Macey and I tried to wrestle it away from Johanna's steel like grip but Lilith and Jacqueline started pulling it in the opposite direction. I jammed my foot into the crevice underneath the coffee table and tugged harder, my hands clawing at the slippery page. Macey and Lilith tried to copy me and between the five of us, the magazine ripped and the momentum sent us crashing in different directions.
"Ow!" Lilith complained, rubbing the back of her neck. "Why'd you have to do that?"
"This is all your fault!" I glared at Johanna and threw my shred of the magazine on the floor. Lilith and Macey did the same while Jacqueline held on to hers like it was the winning lottery ticket. Meanwhile, Judith remained coiled up on the couch watching us with disgust.
"You guys are ridiculous." she sneered.
"Oh, shut up." Lily said and plopped down on the seat next to her.
I re-did my messed-up braid and climbed back on to my recliner, shoving the headphones into my ears, and picking up Hamlet.
The girls went back to admiring the cars quietly, and a few minutes passed by in comfortable silence.
I tried to focus on the book but my mind kept wandering, drifting like the lines of the play. Coming to a rest on the one detail that had been haunting me all day...
Today was the one week anniversary of the cruise ship incident.
It had only been a week.
One week, but it felt like years.
Many, many years...
The Oasis of the Seas, on the night of that cursed day, had been carrying approximately 6104 passengers, out of which, 6104 were hunters. (Yes, even the corpulent, body crushing beach goers and the ruddy, foot smashing macho men) Turns out my father and some of the other big shot hunters were the lead organizers of this Caribbean soirée (I would like to take a moment and thank Judith for giving me all this awesome information) and no one had a clue how three vampires got on board. In fact, my parents were the only two people who'd been aware of the invaders. But alas, before they could get to the trio, I'd finished them off. Well, at least two of them.
