Eternally Blue (Sunset Cliffs Vampire #1) (Paranormal Teen Romance) (3 page)

“
well I better be going, I have a lot to do, I’ll pick you up tomorrow. Any last requests?”

“
You know where to find me” I grinned and nodded back at the entrance to my sunning area. With that she was gone. I watched her hurry away, she really is likeable. She talks enough to fill the void of my talking, but is lost enough in her busy mind to not notice or pressure me for more. I can only hope her family is as receiving of me.

Now that I was alone I didn’t really know what to do with myself to prepare to leave so I lay on the bed with the TV on waiting and thinking. I’ve learned quickly that laying around staring at nothing brought on worried nurses but I just can’t see the point in TV, it’s always for me been just something that makes me unhappy with my own life, either I want to be prettier, or expect a perfect love life, or a perfect family in a perfect house. That is not a vampire trait by the way, plenty of vamps watch TV and enjoy it immensely; in fact several of Hollywood’s shining stars have disappeared that way. Next time someone claims sightings of a dead icon, ask was it at night? Some stars though just get eaten for looking too yummy. So I keep the TV on but tuned out and let myself think about what I would tell my mother about my experiences.

Like any mother would be worried for her child, my mother didn’t want me to come here. The potion is relatively new and by the time it was perfected her and my father had already had my brother and I. My dad is perfectly happy with his place on the council and my mom is too scared to do anything without him. Maybe she is afraid he would eat her if she changed without him. My brother, well my brother has always been a follower of Nikolai’s gang of friends, being that he is the youngest male in our clan. He was always doing things to prove his worth to them for some reason, as if he didn’t think he was good enough to be a part of their group which is silly considering that age as a vampire is really a non factor, plus my family’s position in the clan’s hierarchy should not leave his worth to be questioned. I asked him once if he would ever try to change, even if just for a little while and he laughed and said that he loved blood too much, and why would he want to be prey when he could be a predator? He said predator slowly and then attacked me, both of us laughing all the way to the ground.

My thoughts of home were interrupted by the hospitals evening shift manager clearing her throat in my doorway. I looked up and she asked “May I?” gesturing in my room. I sat upright on my bed and patted the empty area next to me; she smiled gratefully and sat down. “It’s been a pleasure to have you here Blue, we’ve gotten approval for you to leave tomorrow, the floor has put together a ‘surprise’ party for you tonight to wish you well and give you a present.

“
Really, A party?!” She seemed shocked at my excited response which is reasonable. I’ve been I think friendly but withdrawn somewhat.

“
Well yeah, we weren’t sure if you would be ok with that, but they already bought the cake so I’m glad you sound excited, I was getting worried it was going to make you uncomfortable. Well it’s settled then; see you in the cafeteria at six”. She popped up off the bed and left me to contemplate that, or so I thought. A second later she came back in with clothes on hangers with tags still on them. “You get some of your presents early so you’ll have something to wear!” She hung them up and just like that she was gone again. I looked down at myself and admitted the hand-me-down’s I was wearing, probably from dead people, weren’t flattering.

I got up to check out my new clothes, and settled on a blue sundress. I glanced at the clock and realized I had just enough time to shower and put a tiny boring touch of makeup on. After I finished getting ready I studied myself in the mirror. The dress fit perfectly and the blue brought out my blue eyes, even without my normal ‘eye extravagance’, as Sue called it.

After such a short time tanning I decided my skin looked radiant, and my long brown hair hung perfectly straight thanks in part to the great shampoo the nurses pitched in and bought me earlier this week. I recall them saying ‘hair like that can’t be washed with hospital shampoo’. At first I took offense, thinking my hair needed something extra but then I realized they were all admiring it shamelessly.

After one last glance, I rushed out and was halfway down the hall before I realized I forgot shoes, so I hurried back to get them. Humans really don't seem to appreciate being barefoot enough I mumbled to myself. I showed up for my party only a minute late and didn't even have to pretend to be shocked at my surprise party.

The drab cafeteria had been transformed by balloons, a boom box, and a glittery banner that said not ‘Goodbye’ like I would have thought but ‘Good Luck Blue’. It was so gorgeous I couldn’t help but stare and that’s when Sue came up and nudged me. “This is my daughter Stacey; I told you about her handiwork right?” With that she smiled up at the banner. Oh right, her daughter and the pep squad hobby.

I look down and see Stacey, a cute tiny blonde, grinning at me. “I can’t wait for us to be sisters! I already convinced mom to let me take you shopping tomorrow instead of her. Her taste is questionable. My friends and I got excused from afternoon classes to make you this. They are SO jealous; you’re all anyone at school has talked about since I mentioned you were probably going to stay with us. We’ve all seen your picture on the news, the boys are especially jealous ‘why can’t my mom be her nurse’”, and with that she rolled her eyes and smiled expectantly at me.

I smiled shyly but before I could respond, a shift nurse had half whisked me away reminding me this is my party and I have a lot of well wishers to get through so we could cut the cake and open presents before the cafeteria closed up.

The rest of the night was a blur of excitement, cake and gifts, which apparently mostly meant one giant lump of cash. “We would have written a check, it’s safer” the shift manager apologized “but there is that problem of getting you a bank account” she trailed off awkwardly.

Stacey slid next to me smiling and chipped in “noooo problem, I’ll help her spend this in the right place.” I gave her a thankful look and everyone laughed. She seems easy to get along with too. I wonder if all humans are this friendly. Unlike vampires who for the most part seem so self serving, you learned to suspect they had something on their agenda if they aren’t family and they are offering to help you.

After the party wrapped up with nurses going back to work, wheeling other patients back to bed or un-decorating the room, Sue and Stacey walked me back to my room.

“
Last night here!” Sue stated enthusiastically.

“
Thank you for coming, I wasn’t expecting to see you until tomorrow. Where is your husband?”

“
I didn’t want to ruin your surprise and have you under the nurses feet all day while they were setting everything up for your party”. She laughed and nudged me playfully before continuing, “my husband works nights on a rotating basis at our sister hospital, that’s how he was able to work on your room all day, you’ll meet him tomorrow, he is excited too. You better go rest up before I get us both in trouble for keeping you past lights out.” She winked, “there’s no lights out at my house”.

After a few more goodbyes all around, and some hesitating to leave by Stacey, I was alone again. As I tucked in to bed I struggled to stay awake, nervously thinking about the next day, but as an immortal I’m more susceptible to how much the party could wear a person out and I quickly fell asleep.

That was the first night I dreamt about Nikolai. Nothing I was able to recall clearly in the morning, but just even having to think of it bothered me. I wanted the thought of him out of my mind as quickly as possible so even though it was only 6:30 I jumped out of bed and got ready to start my day.

I picked the more casual of my remaining two outfits and went to jump in the shower; mornings are so chilly I’ve learned that warming the clothes up by the shower steam is necessary. I’m not sure why they keep it so cold in here, cold was never something I felt before and now I worry that all buildings will feel this way. This time I remembered my sandals, I thank the cold floor as a reminder, and head down for breakfast.

Another thing I’ve been warned I have to do: Eat and eat frequently. I will admit food does not taste bad, the texture is what I have a problem with; I’m slowly coming around to enjoying it though. That and remembering to eat at all have been my food related issues. As a vampire I ate usually once a week. The elders warned me that if I forgot I’d pass out or the humans around me would think I had an eating problem and that is no way to spend what short time you’re given here.

Since I’m so early for breakfast the line is short and I’m able to grab some quick muffins and milk and sit down in an empty corner without too much of a wait. Usually I don't mind talking to other people in line but today I’m so excited I can hardly sort out my thoughts without wanting to worry about adding the thoughts of other people to my own.

Before I even start eating I feel Sues hand on my shoulder and I jump. “Good morning dear, I’m sorry I scared you. I couldn’t sleep so I got here early to get coffee and wait for you but” she flicked her watch around on her wrist to look at it “looks like you couldn’t sleep either. She sighed and sat down next to me but by then I was halfway up with my tray. “I’m not hungry, we can go!” With a laugh she pulled me back down. “Eat; it’s still too early to go home. My husband was laying down to sleep as I left, he just got off working night shift, and if he’s able to get into a deep sleep before we get home we won’t wake him”.

I reluctantly sit back down and nibble at my muffins until she looks satisfied. “I already check you out of the hospital this morning so we can go get your stuff and go home”.

After a few tearful goodbyes and hugs by the nursing staff Sue and I managed to pack up everything I would want to take with me, leaving behind the dead people’s clothes for someone else to wear. Soon I would have a whole new wardrobe thanks to my going away party.

My legs felt like lead as we walked outside. Getting in a car with a human during daylight, this is surreal. Everything about my new life so far has been surreal though so it shouldn’t really surprise me so much. We got to her house pretty quickly so I didn't have much time to worry about that part too much. I could see a large garage but she didn't pull into it and instead parks in the driveway and gestures at the house and says “We’re home”.

It is a nice house, it looks large and roomy but without that cookie-cutter rich house look that a lot of the houses around here we passed look like. This definitely looks like a happy home, complete with a porch swing and well manicured lawn with those little lady bug decorations sticking out the grass near the mailbox. As we approach the side entrance (humans love avoiding using the front entrance at all costs, I’ve observed them plenty of times in my past, I’m not really sure why they do that) she mentions something about the dog, and not to let her scare me. Oh no, I’d forgotten about the dog situation. Dogs can sense something if different with us and hate it.

I groaned, I was going to get kicked out of here quicker than I imagined, this dog is never going to stop growling at me, but as we make our way into the house, the dog, or Sam as they call it, a big yellow short haired retriever type dog, went from eagerly trying to jump all over Sue, to whining and laying down on the floor wagging its tail and looking up at me with its head resting on its paws.

“
Well that’s interesting!” Sue laughed, “Usually Sam loves trying to jump all over guests to see what she can get away with, here she looks like we just brought her home from obedience school! Here, let’s set down your bag and I’ll get you a treat for her”.

While she ran off to a cabinet to get a treat I got my first glimpse around my temporary home. I was in a bright open, cliché yellow painted kitchen, which led to an open walkway into an even more airy looking dining room. Both had minimal decoration which I found refreshing; not too much to distract the eye from the architecture. I can’t help but to wonder who in this family has such good taste, and if it’s Sue or her husband or an interior decorator.

Before I get too far in the walkway on my journey to look around Sue comes back with a treat for the dog which she hands me silently since she is chattering away on the phone. I slowly make my way in the dog’s direction expecting her to growl but she quickly lies down again. What a funny little creature. Still I take no chance of her biting my hand and instead toss her the treat, which she catches and appears to swallow whole. Hrm, maybe I can try that to get rid of the weird textured food feeling.

Sue was off the phone now and pardoned herself for her rudeness, which I found confusing, but before I could ask she had scooped up my bag and told me we were going on the tour. We went by a fancy room I recognized as the no-sitting-unless-elders-are-here room, a living room with a huge soft couch and a lot of movies on DVD, and up a flight of stairs with a lot of pictures arranged neatly on the wall. Not pictures of family, but of rocks, beaches, flowers close up, one of a dogs nose all in black and white, it was neat how someone took an everyday object and focusing on just a piece of it, or at a different angle, could make it into a work of art. Sue saw me studying them “Those are amazing right?”