Eternal Spring A Young Adult Short Story Collection (7 page)

So much for Amber’s sunglasses.

We ran offstage as the applause started to die down. The
festival organizers expected us to change and join the audience to watch the
other schools’ performances, but I had other plans. I needed to find Craig.

I stripped off my tutu and bodice and threw on my “Life
without ballet is pointeless” t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants over my tights.
I would’ve preferred to dress a little more put together, but that’s all I had
in my dance bag, and there wasn’t time to run back to the hotel first. At least
my stage makeup wasn’t streaked, even though it was so cakey you could call me
Betty Crocker.

Just as Craig finished signing, I emerged from the cave-like
makeshift dressing rooms into the late afternoon sunlight. He flashed a
megawatt smile at his adoring masses, put his arm around his costar, and
ushered her towards the exit.

“Craig!” I called. “Wait!”

I ran in their direction, nearly tripping as I scaled the
stadium seating, taking the steps two at a time. Good thing my muscles were
still warm or I might have pulled something. And that would be bad. Very bad.

“Excuse me,” I said as I zipped past audience members,
weaving so as not to barrel into anyone.

“
Cuidado
!”

I guess I did need to be more careful, I thought as I helped
a toddler back to her feet, her mama rattling off a string of what I can only
imagine must have been an entire palette of colorful Spanish curse words.

Oops. I apologized profusely and
grand jetéed
over a row of seats. Almost
there…

Craig and Amber could not leave. Not yet. If this was my
birthday surprise, he was going to have to do a lot better.

“Pardon me,” I said. “If I could just get by--”

“No.”

I looked up and saw a brick wall blocking my path. Well, no,
not literally. It just seemed that way. A beefy guy wearing a black satin
Midnight
cast
jacket crossed his arms and peered down at me.

“I just have to see Craig,” I explained.

“Ms. Alexander and Mr. Walsh are leaving now, so if you’ll
just go back to your seat...”

“But you don’t understand.” I pulled myself up to my full
five-foot-three and tried to look as important as possible. Not easy given my
casual clothes. “Craig’s my…boyfriend.”

“Sure he is.” Security Dude looked me up and down, and then
smirked. “And Ms. Alexander’s my fiancée.”

“But it’s my birth—”

“Dani, let’s go.” Maya came up beside me and took my arm.
“This next group is supposed to be really good. They’re from the Navajo
Nation.”

Analisa appeared on my other side. “We should watch,” she
agreed, leading me away from the big guy. “I saw them last year. They’re
amazing. I think their town is on the other side of the state border with New
Mexico, but I’m not sure.”

“But…” I trailed off when I saw the expression on Analisa’s
face. This obviously wasn’t open for debate. “Fine.”

We climbed back down to a group of Mountain Shadows students
and took seats next to my art student roommate, Bev, as the opening strains of
music wailed and the next group ran onstage to take their positions. “Madame is
watching,” Analisa whispered. “You’ll get in trouble if you don’t stay here and
support the dancers from the other schools.”

Maya nodded. “And after this session is over, we’re supposed
to head over to the art gallery. Then tonight are the one acts from the drama
students.”

“But what about supporting one of our own? Craig’s from our
school and he’s here to act. Why can’t we see him?”

“Chasing after him isn’t exactly supporting him,” Analisa
said. “Besides, you really think that rent-a-cop is going to let you onto the
set? Seriously?”

“Shh!” The dance was starting, and the audience members
wanted to watch. I’m sure the Navajo dancers were amazing, but how could people
be more interested in that than a major motion picture being filmed just down
the street? Not just any motion picture.
Midnight
!

Madame Renaud, our French teacher-slash-chaperone, glared at
me.

Fine. I’ll behave
. I sat back, listened to the beat of the drums,
and let the dancing carry me away.

To be honest, I didn’t really know where I stood with Craig.
Our relationship – if you could call it that – has always been like
a ride on the Coney Island Cyclone. Just when I thought he liked me, something
always came up. It’s not like he’d asked me to prom yet anyway. And I’d texted
him several times and he never responded. I could try calling, but what would
be the point? He seemed to have forgotten my birthday entirely.

Besides, I was enrolled in the summer intensive program at
the Manhattan Ballet Conservatory, and Craig was going to graduate and go off
to Yale, and I’d never see him again. Well, other than on the big screen.

Kissing Amber Alexander.

But he kissed me, too. Me. That had to count for something.

Right?

Robyn’s breath hitched. Jackson and Eric. Fighting over her!

“Stop it!” She ran into the middle of the fray. “Stop! Both of you!”

They ignored her, and continued to tussle, Eric seeming to take control
as he lunged for Jackson’s jugular. Robyn screamed and threw her hands up in
defense.

“I don’t give a damn what you think, Jackson,” Eric growled. “You must
pay.”

“Please!” she yelled.

Eric paused for just a moment, his paws locked around Jackson’s neck,
and looked her way. His eyes contained a vocabulary of their own, but just what
he was trying to convey, Robyn didn’t know.

“You have to choose,” Jackson finally said, struggling to break free of
the werewolf’s powerful grasp.

“I can’t,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “I care about you
both.”

“You must,” Eric agreed, still poised to kill his rival.

“Fine! You want me to choose,” she said. “I’ll choose. If you promise
not to kill each other, I’ll choose.”

Robyn was a Taurus, and like her brothers and sisters of that sign, a
very confused being. Emotions warred inside her, pulling her in both
directions, battering their fists at her until she made the decision that would
break one man’s heart. How could she choose?

But how could she not?

Analisa sighed. “We don’t even know where they’re filming.”

“Sure you do,” Bev said from over on her side of the room
where she was playing a video game on her iPad. “You’ve read that book cover to
cover, Dani. Where do you think it would be?”

It was a few minutes past ten. Lights Out was in about
twenty minutes, but my friends were hanging out in my hotel room, Maya lounging
on my bed while Analisa stretched diligently on the floor over by the bathroom.

I bit my lip as I tried to remember any places Jackson,
Robyn, or Eric had visited in
Midnight
. I hated to admit it, but I hadn’t paid a lot of attention
to the setting. I was way more concerned with finding out which supernatural
being Robyn was going to choose – the vampire or the werewolf. Of course,
Bethany Beyer planned to drag her characters through the whole series and make
us wait until the fourth book. Damn her. “Oh wait, Snoopy Rock?”

“Yes,” Bev said all drawn out slowly, her frustration
showing, like she was talking to a two-year-old. She didn’t have to be so
snippy about it.

An hour later we’d arrived at the Snoopy Rock trailhead.
Sneaking out was surprisingly easy since there were no dorm monitors, and the
hotel staff didn’t seem to care who came or went as long as everyone had a room
key. The chaperones were probably already asleep, so nobody stopped us.

The hard part was getting here without a car but we decided
to walk, using the Sedona map from the hotel’s front desk as a guide. Now once
here, I wasn’t certain what to do. Or where exactly in the vast desert
wilderness they might be filming. It’s not like there was a sign out front that
read ‘
Midnight
set this way.’

“We can turn back,” Analisa said, a slight uptick in her
tone.

Maya laughed. “Don’t be such a wimp, San Miguel.”

“Let’s go,” I said, stepping over a prickly pear cactus onto
the trail, although I was going to hike out to the rock even if they didn’t
come along. We’d already made it this far, so it would be stupid to turn back.
A waste of sneaking out. Besides, even if Craig wasn’t in the cast, I’d still
want to watch them film if I could.
Midnight
was my favoritest book ever!

“Fine,” Analisa grumbled, and fell into step beside me, with
Maya and Bev following right behind.

I couldn’t believe we managed to get my roommate to join
– usually she spent her waking hours doing her very best J.D. Salinger
impression and avoiding the rest of the world – but I think she was just
as eager as I was to see how the director was going to portray the vampires and
werewolves. Bev may pretend to be this cynical urban rebel nonconformist, but I
saw the full set of
Midnight
books loaded on her e-reader app. She wasn’t fooling anyone.

In the distance, a coyote howled. The full moon glowed
brightly overhead, lighting the path and making our flashlights unnecessary. It
looked like a scary Halloween moon, and I almost expected a witch to fly
silhouetted across it on a broomstick at any moment. And to think it was April,
not October! If I hadn’t known Craig was just acting the role of a vampire, I’d
probably be worried.

Vampires aren’t real, vampires aren’t real
, I silently chanted to
the steady beat of our feet crunching in the gravel.

“Yes they are,” Bev said.

Oops, maybe I said that out loud.

“Don’t encourage her,” Analisa said through gritted teeth.

“But vampires are real,” Bev insisted. “The portrayals you
see in the movies or in most books — most of those are poseurs. Fangs?
Not so much.”

“No fangs?” I asked.

“Well, I guess technically they do, and they’re called
canines. All humans have them.”

I scrunched up my forehead. “Then how do they drink blood?”

“Donors,” Bev deadpanned.

“Ew, seriously? So gross.”

“I vant to bite your neck,” Maya said in an over-the-top old
skool Count Dracula accent. Well, actually more like Count Chocula. Or even the
Count from Sesame Street.

But definitely not what Jackson would say.

“That’s full of crap,” Bev insisted. “It’s not like that.”

Analisa sighed. “Let’s just keep going.”

I could see a large outcropping of rocks up ahead, but from
this angle it didn’t quite look like the shape of the famous
Peanuts
dog.
Were we on the wrong track? I didn’t want to hike all night and never get
there.

“They say Sedona is one of the best towns in the country for
vampires,” Bev said a few minutes later.

“There’s no such thing as vampires,” Analisa said.

We fell into an eerie silence as we kept moving forward.
With the full moon overhead and the lunar-like boulders jutting up from the
center of the earth, I could easily imagine vampires living here. Maybe they
could run one of the many crystal shops around town. Ooh, or the
fortune tellers
. Of course, nobody would be able to read
their
minds. I mean, since they’re vampires and all. But
that could end up as a professional advantage.

I was imagining what it would be like to get my aura
cleansed by an immortal bloodsucker when all of a sudden there was a pinch at the
back of my neck. Shivers raced up and down my spine and a chill of terror
settled in my gut as I heard a blood-curdling shriek.

From me.

Bev was right – there were definitely vampires here,
and not of the movie set variety, either. Of the creepy undead variety.
Although if they looked anything like the vampires in
Midnight
, then maybe I wouldn’t be too
upset. I mean, after all, Robyn Bell seemed thrilled to be caught in the middle
of the love triangle between a vampire and a werewolf.

What did she know that I didn’t?

It was only after my friends erupted in giggles that I
noticed Maya standing right behind me, her fingers mere centimeters from my
skin threatening to tickle me.

“What the hell?” I asked.

“Relax,” she said. “You’re way too tense.”

“It’s not funny,” I said through gritted teeth.

“You’re right,” Maya said. “It’s not funny. It’s hilarious.”

Analisa stepped between us, always the moderator. If this
whole dance thing didn’t work out, maybe she could be a judge. “Let’s just keep
going.”

Bev plopped down on a rock. “We need to take a break. I’m
tired.”

“Good call—what the?”

My question was cut off as I tripped. But not over my own
two feet. And not Maya’s, Analisa’s, or Bev’s either.

Over someone else’s feet. Someone who was lying facedown in
the dirt.

One quick glance at her shoes made short work of explaining
how she got there. Or rather, the red soles did. Loubies instead of hiking
boots? Dude. No wonder she fell.

And unless they were the knockoff Oh Deer kind, I had a
sneaking suspicion those telltale red soles also explained who she was even
before turning her face up.

Analisa leaned over. “Oh my God!” She gulped. “It’s –
it’s a person.”

“And she’s not moving.” Yes, that’s me. Captain Obvious for
the win!

“Is she dead?” Bev asked.

“I…don’t think so,” I said, although I had to admit that
despite my previous adventures in amateur sleuthing, I’d never seen a dead
person before.

I bent down to check for a pulse and realized I wasn’t sure
where to find one. I turned her head to the side.

Yup. Those red soles were for walking the red carpet, not
hiking the Red Rocks.

Amber Alexander.

Maya kneeled next to me, cradling Amber’s head in her lap as
I placed two fingers against Amber’s neck. I don’t know. I guess I felt a pulse
– a sort of shallow thump-thump-thump.