The aeroplane ride home was reasonably comfortable. We weren't attacked by anyone and I didn't get airsick so life was good. And Dean was several rows behind Cam and me. Who am I kidding? That was probably about all that was positive about the trip. And Cam caused half of the problems.
"He looks hungover," mused my friend turning back around for the hundredth time that flight. I rolled my eyes, not for the first time either.
"Why do you keep turning around to look at him?" I mumbled. "And I really don't care if he's got a hangover." Hell! I didn't even think he'd ever drink enough to get one. The list of 'Things Rose doesn't know about Dean' was piling up hard and fast.
"He likes you," Cam insisted. "And he's not gonna let you go easily." A brief moment of silence ensued. "It's kind of cute that you have the power to make him drink himself silly." I rolled my eyes again. I could almost hear Mum chiding me. 'Hope they don't get stuck up there.'
"It is not cute," I retorted, "He is not cute. And I don't give a damn about whom or what he likes." My friend shifted again in her seat.
"Okay, Rose," she sighed. "But you're killing the guy. You know that, right?" I turned my head out the window ignoring her. Like hell I knew I was hurting him; I could hear his emotions even from four rows away. His mood resembled that of 'Largo' from Shostakovich's 5th Symphony with clashing, off beat chords thrown in randomly. The sound would have had any musician writhing in frustration. He was sad, unbalanced and in pain; just like he should be.
After what felt like an eternity the plane touched down again on solid ground. Cam and I made our way through security to the front of the airport where we were met by Zoe.
"C'mon you two," she beckoned, "Let's get goin' before Steph and Sal wreck my car." Cam sent me a mischievous look before following. 'Don't get too ahead of yourself, Cam' I thought.
When we arrived at the car Salvatore and Steph were deadly quiet but I swear the Jaws theme was emanating from the latter. My mother's friend was sitting in the passenger seat ignoring us and her husband was in the backseat behind the driver staring out the window. Zoe opened the door for us and we slid in; Cam went first. Zoe fired up the engine and we headed to the warehouse in almost complete silence. For the whole ride Cam was drumming her fingers on her knee or bouncing her leg with nervous energy. We pulled up at our destination and slunk inside. As soon as the front door closed Steph exploded.
"What possessed you to do that?" she fired, "What half-brained reason do you have for tripping off to New York without telling anyone? We were all scared half-to-death with worry until Josephine called us up. Of all the conceited and impertinent things to do, you decided to go off with no proper protection to one of the deadliest cities for your kind without any sort of warning. Do you realise the trouble you have caused us all and what kind of a name you've made for yourself in the Grigori community? More importantly, the stress you put your parents through? We informed your mother as soon as we realise you were missing; she was distraught. Do you have any care of anybody else's wellbeing other than your own?" I didn't answer but I kept firm eye contact. I was not letting Steph think she could frighten me.
"Well?" she questioned hotly, "Do you?" Cam, who had apparently had more experience than me at this sort of thing, took centre stage. She later informed me that the whole silent-defiance thing that I had been going for never worked and usually just made the person look a little bit stupid. Like a Japanese fighting fish, she'd said. All the hell she'd put me through on the plane was all paying off now. Cameron D'Arcy: part-time antagonist, part-time saviour, fulltime best friend.
"Of course she does!" my friend piped up, "We went to New York using our own pocket money to go and make sure Griffin was okay. Unless Griffin and Rose's welfare has suddenly become the same thing I believe your accusations are mistaken." Until that moment Steph had been successfully ignoring Cam but now she couldn't help but stare.
"The choice was selfish," retorted the older woman. "Rose should have put more thought into her actions." My friend scoffed, crossing her arms and shaking her red curls impatiently.
"Next time you hear that one of the most important people in your life is on death's doors," she countered coldly, "Think back on this moment and hopefully you'll realise what a dumbass comment you just made."
"There were other ways she could have gone about it," Steph shut down. "Other more adult ways, Cameron." My friend's eyes darkened.
"More adult ways!" she laughed such that a chill went down my spine. "If she came and asked the rest of you Rose's plan would have been almost certainly rejected. In the slight chance that you actually agreed to it you would have to have sent word to Mr and Mrs Wood and in the case they agreed they'd have to apply to the Assembly for them to be able to come. It's a bureaucratic minefield with you people. We would have had to go behind your backs anyway, Stephanie." This resulted in an angry stand-off between Steph and my friend. The older woman looking furious and lost for words and Cam like she should have auditioned for Mean Girls.
Salvatore tried his best to diffuse the tension but in the end Zoe sent Cam and I to stay the night at the D'Arcy's. We were met by Cam's enthusiastic mother at the front door.
"Girls!" she squeaked, "You're back! How was the party? You didn't end up in bed with someone, did you? You'll have to tell me everything. Maybe I'll be able to make a book out of it. I can just imagine it; two friends head out of a dull little town to a party in New York. They get drunk, have sex with handsome strangers and spend the following days trying to find their lovers. Rose, do you prefer dark or light hair? Ooh! It's perfect! Cam, I'll be in the study if you need me!" With that Mrs D'Arcy dashed off slamming a door behind her. The sound of smashing ceramics clattered in her wake. Cam winced.
"That was Tobee's Grade Four sculpture titled 'the Authentic Author'," she sighed sadly, "It was an abstract. So good." With a frown she marched into the kitchen to get the dustpan and brush.
The next day it was decided that I should stay away from Cam except for school. That was code for 'banned from seeing my best friend unless inevitable', Steph code. Salvatore and Zoe were in charge of the city so they couldn't look after me and Steph couldn't stand the sight of me at that moment so one way or another I ended up at Nyla's place; Griffin's Grigori partner.
"This will be your room," she smiled softly, "Chloe is next door. And Spence is across the hall. If he causes you any trouble just call out, okay." I nodded.
"Thanks so much, Nyla," I acknowledged. "I get that I'm not too popular at the moment." My host shrugged.
"It's no biggie for me," she replied, gently. "Griffin is my partner and normally you would stay with him. It's only natural that I fill his place while he's away." I look down at my feet hiding my tears.
"You make it sound like he's gone on holiday," I whispered. Seeing my weakness, Nyla hesitated only a moment before embracing me.
"Maybe he is," she murmured. "Maybe he's going to just waltz on in and ask why you're not staying at his place." I leant against her basking in her strength. She was a beautiful cello solo, strong and proud. Full, legato bowing. Calm, sure and secure.
"But for now," she continued, removing herself from the embrace, "You're going to have a shower and go to bed. I've picked up your uniform and you're going to school tomorrow. You've missed enough of this year as it is and we really can't have you failing. Now shoo."
The shower was refreshing and Nyla had gone through my stuff and washed my pyjamas while I soaked. My faded blue cotton tee and matching red shorts were fresh and clean against my skin. Once I'd snuggled into the crisp white sheets it didn't take long until I was sound asleep.
. . .
I managed to bumble through school the next day without too much trouble; mainly because all eyes were on Cameron D'Arcy. Out of the blue Miss Straight-A's-Never-Miss-A-Class had taken her second extended school skip trip; a very rare occasion. To make matters worse for my friend, Mrs D'Arcy has phoned the school to inform them that the reason for her daughter's absence was that she was at a party in New York, which was apparently our alibi to the D'Arcy's. Naturally the Headmaster's daughter, Susan Gataway, had overheard the conversation and had tattled to the entire school. So, for me at least, the day was pretty relaxing and made all the more so as Mr Grahams was away avoiding any uncomfortable conversations with him. I returned home to Nyla's where we promptly ate dinner before I excused myself so I could go Skype Cam; not that I told Nyla that. Someone else, however, had other plans.
I had scarcely turned on my laptop before a knock at my window almost sent me crashing into the roof. I twisted around at break-neck speed to see Alec sitting perched on the window sill. Making sure I'd closed the door I wandered over to the window and gently opened it.
"What the hell are you doing there?" I whispered stepping back so he could come inside. "You could have fallen." My visitor shook his head.
"I wanted to talk," he explained in hushed tones. "Do you have a minute to come up onto the roof?" I nodded, a little flustered. My shorts were hitting a bit too high for me to be comfortable in the presence of others and he'd previously had the view from behind. Talk about embarrassed.
"You seem to be better than last I saw you," I commented once we'd been settled for a few minutes. Alec nodded.
"Yes," he breathed out heavily. "I wanted to talk to you about that . . ." He shifted uncomfortably as if he didn't really want to talk about it at all.
"No," I decided seeing his hesitance. "Let's talk about that later. Recently I've found that I don't know much about the men in my life so let's talk about you." Alec's first reaction was relief but he quickly guarded himself again.
"What is it that you want to know?" he questioned offering me a small smile.
"Well," I replied. "For starters what's your name?"
"When I am with my mother I am Alecto DeCassa," he explained gently. "With others I am Alec, as you know me." I grinned.
"Alecto," I rolled his name on my tongue. "Very nice. And when's your birthday? I'm guessing you're a few years older than me seeing as you've been stalking me since I was one."
"I am thirty-four," he winced as I gasped slightly. This guy was twice my age for goodness sake! Recovering slightly I managed to follow up my question.
"So your actual birth date?" I wheezed.
"The eighteenth of March," he murmured, blushing. Yep, I'd been so subtle. "Two Thousand." I nodded quickly thinking up my next question.
"So you were born before your dad was human," I stated. "So you inherited some powers, right? What are they?"
"I have some similar powers, yes," Alec listed. "I can move as the wind but not always. I melt into darkness. My age is not so clearly shown. I mean, it is slow. To say, uh..."
"I understand." He smiled apologetically before continuing.
"I can heal humans' wounds also." I nodded taking it in.
"And English?" I queried, "Is it your first language?" I caught the hints of a grin at the edges of his mouth.
"No," he answered simply. "I was born in Spain. It is not my second language either. A fourth, maybe?" It made sense now, his lack of conjunctions and the cute way he formed his words. How many languages did he know?
"So what was it like," I continued to interview, "Growing up with an exile for a father for the first fourteen years of your life?" Alec shrugged.
"He was not around for many years," he sighed. "I do not know much of what he has done. We would see him at least twice a year but that was enough for my mother. After he became a human he visited a lot more. He began properly teaching me how to use my talents. One day he had me follow him to a Grigori meeting he was invited to, just to see if I could go unnoticed; no-one even batted an eyelid." Alec paused and drew in a shaky breath.
"That was the first time I saw you," he whispered gently staring into my eyes. "And I fell in love with you as soon as I heard you giggle from your baby-carrier." What followed, in hindsight, was terribly cliché but perfect and incredibly right all the same. We gazed into each other's eyes for a long while in warm and peaceful silence. I let his words siphon through my brain, locking them away safely as the first real conversation I'd ever had with Alec. The first time I met Alecto DeCassa. A pulse of happiness and warmth flowered in my chest.
"You know what?" I whispered breaking the quiet. "I think I love you."
. . .
Well there you are. Comment! Criticise! Do that stuff readers do! I'm putting another page up tonight but it's not a chapter. It's a voting page. Please follow the directions. The sooner I get enough votes to make a convincing argument the sooner the plot can climax. I will attempt to keep the story rolling in the meantime. Until then.
~SpanishFox
P.s. Hahaha. Just realised Alec is from Spain. So's my name. Hahaha. (Sorry)