Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

Oliver’s house was in front of me. I thought back to the last meeting we had. Why was I here? Nothing was going to change; he still hated me with all of his being. I saw that all the cars were gone in his driveway except one: his.
I slowly walked up to the door, holding my breath. I knocked on the door hesitantly. When the door swung open, I nearly cried.
“Jade? What are YOU doing here?” he asked, venom coating his words.
“I came to…I don’t know…to talk. Oliver, you’re my best friend and--”
“I WAS your best friend. WAS, Jade.” He interjected.
I shook my head back and forth. “Oliver, please. Why are you being like this?”
“You’re back with Gabriel, Jade! You USED me! You’re one of THEM, now! You don’t NEED me anymore! Get out of my life and get away from me!” he shouted.
“Oliver, please, I still love you!”
He snorted. “Oh, please, as if you know what love is, Jade. All you know is how to love yourself. That’s all you’ve ever known.”
That was it. “That’s why I risked my ass for you, isn’t it?” I asked with silent fury.
“You risked your ass for Gabriel. Not me.”
“I left the freaking state for YOU, Oliver. To keep YOU safe. YOU, a weak human. I was protecting YOU.” My voice stayed quiet but the fury was making it waver.
Oliver was shaking his head and I could see tears glistening in the sunlight.
“Oliver, listen, I need you in my life. I NEED you, Oliver. I especially need you now. I wouldn’t be able to stand it if I died without you in my life.”
Oliver’s head snapped over to look into my eyes. Finally, all his resentment was gone. It was the same raw Oliver I had always known.
“You’re dying?” he whispered.
I sighed and looked at the ground. “I don’t know, to be honest.” I lifted my head up and pointed to the patch of skin that was returning to a normal color. “This is a little concerning to Gabriel.”
Oliver stepped forward and inspected it. “So what? It’s a different color. How is that significant?”
“I don’t know. To Gabriel, Alec, and Jagger, it seems to be.”
“Jagger?”
I sighed heavily. “We have a lot of catching up to do…that is, if you forgive me.”
Oliver looked into my eyes. Something flashed before my own. A memory of his. With me. I wanted to look away but I couldn’t. It was powerful. I was seeing myself through the eyes of Oliver. An overwhelming warmth surged through my veins and I had never felt so alive. I saw Oliver and me kissing and something seemed to explode in my chest. I gasped and fell to my knees.
“Jade? Are you okay?” Oliver asked grabbing my arm.
I shook my head back and forth, the warmth subsiding.
“I’m fine.” I breathed.
“What happened?” he inquired, helping me to my feet.
“I forgot about my power.” I said as my vision began to come back.
“What power?”
I laughed despite my swirl of emotions. “Like I said, we have a lot to catch up on.”
“Sounds like it.” Oliver muttered then opened the door for me, allowing me inside.
The familiarity of the house was almost haunting. It felt so welcoming to be back in his house again.
“So, what’s been going on?” I asked, flopping down on the couch.
He looked at me curiously. “I should be asking YOU that. My life isn’t that interesting.” He joked.
It felt good to see him being humorous about all of this.
“So much has happened, Oliver.” I paused and looked into his deep sea green eyes. I felt a stab of pain in my chest. “I’m so sorry for hurting you.”
Oliver smiles. “Jade, I know you are. I’m sorry for the cruel things I said to you. I may not ever understand your love for vampires but I still love you no matter what kind of crazy creature you are.”
He punched my shoulder gently and laughs. It was hard to believe that just five minutes ago he was calling me selfish and an awful person.
“Jade, I didn’t mean what I said.” He told me as if reading my mind.
“Yeah, I know.” I sighed heavily.
“Are you going to tell me about this awesome power of yours?” he asked me.
I smiled and started from point A, where I became a vampire, up until point B, where we were at the time. It was amusing to watch Oliver’s face twist from all the different emotions from me telling him the story so far of my immortality. When I finished, Oliver sat back and whistled.
“That is some story. Did you expect that moving to Calhoun Falls would lead to this?”
I shook my head. “Definitely not. I never would have expected anything like what I have right now. The thing is, Jagger and I are on the same side now, but he warned me that he’s not the only dangerous vampire out there. What do you think that means?”
“I think it means that as much as he’d like to believe it, he’s not the strongest vampire out there. I think it means he’s warning you to be careful. I think it means you need to be careful, especially since you don’t know what that skin hullabaloo is about.”
“I can’t imagine being in danger again, Oliver. I can’t believe I’ve made it this far. There were so many times that I could have died…that I almost did but every single time, Gabriel bailed me out.”
Oliver put his hand on his shoulder then recoiled as if I had slapped him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked worriedly.
“Your cold.” He mumbled sadly.
“Oh. Well, I’m dead.”
Oliver cringed and I realized that I shouldn’t be so blunt around him, at least not until he adjusted to all the changes.
“I should go, Oliver. Can I come over again tomorrow?”
He nodded and touched my hand. His face twisted momentarily but he didn’t let go. I looked outside to see that it was dark.
“Do you want me to take you home?” Oliver offered.
“No, I’ll be fine. I’m a predator now, remember?”
Oliver cringed again and I cursed myself for not sticking to my new plan. I hugged him and walked out the front door smelling the fresh night air for the first time as a happy vampire. I felt like dancing through the streets and embracing myself. It was an amazing feeling. Maybe being a vampire wouldn’t be so bad if I could have felt like this all the time. I was about to literally dance when something hit the back of my knee and I fell to the ground. I rolled around to my back see crimson eyes staring down on me with hatred. I couldn’t see the face because my vision was fading in and out. I began to panic but I couldn’t voice this panic. I was frozen on the ground with nowhere to run.
“Jade, you should have listened to Jagger.”
The voice was menacing and it taunted me. I recognized it from somewhere but I couldn’t place where I had heard it before, and since I couldn’t get my eyes to focus, I had no hope of seeing him. I was suddenly unconscious, peculiar for a vampire.

It was a struggle to open my eyes but I could see fire surrounding me. I wondered what was going on. My vision was blurry and my body felt like lead.
“Rise and shine, Jade. Welcome to my home.”
I sat up slowly, trying to steady my swaying body. I looked around. I was out in the middle of the woods in God knows where and there was a fire in front of me. I looked at the person who spoke to me.
Leo.
“What do you want?!” I demanded, standing up, my fists clenched.
“Just a chance to be with you, sweetie. I hear you’re special. I hear you’re not like other vampires.” He taunted.
“Who told you that? Tell me!” I exclaimed.
“Who else would tell me that but Jagger? You thought he was your friend, didn’t you? You thought you were playing on the same side. No, he still wants you dead. Now that we know your weaknesses, it will be so much easier.”
I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. Why would Jagger do that? What happened to us being on the same side now? Was it truly all a lie? I should have known…I should have expected that from Jagger. I shouldn’t have believed that just because I was a vampire that it meant I was off of his radar. I could be so stupid sometimes.
“What do you want with me, though?” I asked stupidly.
“Just to spend some time with the most peculiar vampire out there.” He replied with a smirk.
“Did you ever consider that maybe she doesn’t want the same?” I retorted.
“Of course, I did, but that doesn’t matter. You’re here now and you have nowhere to run to. You have no idea where you are.”
“I’m a vampire. I can figure it out.”
Leo gave a small laugh and came up to me. He stood only centimeters from my face. He reached up and gently pushed a strand of hair out of my face then caressed my cheek. I shoved his hand away and growled. It was a deep, rumbling sound in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t expect it to happen but it felt good to express my anger in that manner. Leo laughed softly again then pulled me to him.
“You are so much more gorgeous now that you are a vampire, Jade. You are finally up to my standards.”
“Get your hands off of me!” I shouted shoving him to the ground.
“Be careful, little Jade. You don’t know who you are messing with.”
“And what are YOU going to do about it, Leo?” I spat.
He stood up and brushed himself off.
“Nothing for now.” He replied, hinting at something soon to come.
He walked away from me, laughing at what seemed to be some hidden joke. I watched the flames dance in front of me and wondered what to do. I could try to run but Leo would follow me. Why was I getting a sense of déjà vu?
I reached into my pocket to see that I still had my cell phone. I decided to call up Gabriel just to let him know that I was safe...well, safe-ish.
“Jade?” Alexander answered.
“Yeah, um, hi. Is Gabriel around?” I asked.
“No, he went out looking for you. Where are you?”
“I have no clue. I’m with…I’m with Leo.”
“Leo? What the hell are you doing with him?!” he demanded.
“He brought me here when I was unconscious…I can’t explain right now. I’m still confused by it all. All I know is that Jagger told him that I’m ‘different’. They both still want me dead. I don’t know what’s going on, Alexander, but stay away from all of this. That goes for Alec and Gabriel too, okay? Just stay out of this.” I explained.
“Jade, you know that’s not possible. It is for me but not for Gabriel. You know he’s going to come after Leo and come to your rescue, the idiot.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Well, no offense Jade, but you do seem to be a magnet for bad luck. I would rather not get caught up in the battle between my brother and you.”
I sighed and heard movement in the woods.
“I’ve got to go. Remember what I said.”
I quickly hung up and turned off my phone, then shoved it into my back pocket. A woman emerged from the woods. She was beautiful. She had long blonde hair with beautiful silver eyes. She appeared to be about six feet and had soft, chalk-white skin. She wore a pair of blue jeans and a tight, form-fitting silver sweater.
“Hello. I am Helena.” She said to me.
I didn’t respond. I just stared at her. I couldn’t figure out if she was a friend or an enemy. Her voice was soft and inviting, but so was Leo’s when he wanted it to be.
“You are Jade, correct?” she asked.
She took a step towards me and I took a step back.
“Do not fear me, Jade. I am here to help you.”
“I’m not afraid of you!” I exclaimed.
She pushed a strand of blonde hair from her eyes.
“Helena? What are you doing here?”
I turned to see Leo standing behind me, a look of longing in his eyes. There was also a hint of pain. Part of me wanted to stare into his eyes and figure out the emotions but I wouldn’t dare attempt that. There was no telling how Leo would react. I looked back at Helena who was standing like stone now, a deep frown on his face, but not wrinkling her forehead. It was quiet in the air. They appeared to be silently exchanging words.
“Jade, this is Helena in case she hasn’t already told you. She’s my…friend.” He said slowly.
I sensed that something more was between the two, but I didn’t dare ask questions.
“We once were friends.” Helena corrected, a slight tone of bitterness in her voice.
An awkward silence fell into the air. Leo put a hand on my shoulder.
“Well, we must be off. It was nice talking to you again, Helena.” Leo announced.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the woods. I glanced over my shoulder to see Helena standing in the same place, a troubled expression on her face. I wondered if she was going to follow, but then she turned and walked in the opposite direction.