Golden Blood (4 page)

“Gemma, what are you up to sweetheart?”

“I’m going to the movies.”

“With friends?” Penelope looked hopeful.

“Uhh…” Gemma sighed and shook her head.

“Gemma. When we moved up to Ponte Vedra Beach
last year you begged us not to pull you out of St. Augustine High.
Remember?”

She nodded.

“You said you found it hard enough to make
friends and you didn’t want to be the new kid again.”

“It wasn’t just for me. Dom and Ruby didn’t
want to leave either.”

“Yes, but you were the only one who convinced
your father to buy you that wretched bike to commute with.”

Gemma blushed. Her one triumph. She still
couldn’t believe her father had said yes.

“The point is, you’ve been at the same school
for nearly three years now and your status remains the same.”
Penelope placed a delicate hand on her shoulder. “You stand out
when you’re friendless. People think you’re weird.”

“I’ll go to one of those end of the run arty
movies tonight. No one else will even be in the theater.”

Her mother shook her head. “All I’m asking is
that you make a few casual acquaintances. Isn’t there anyone you
can call?”

Gemma’s brow wrinkled as she shook her head.
A look of sympathy flickered over Penelope’s face as she reached
for her daughter’s chin.

“You don’t need to be afraid. We’ve raised
you to trust your instincts. You can lie as well as the rest of us.
We know you won’t break the oath.”

“That’s not what happened last time.”

Her mother smiled. “We put out those
fires.”

“We moved to the other side of the country
and I was grounded for two months.”

“Which I still think was way harsh, it’s not
like she told on purpose.” Ruby examined her complete effect in the
full-length mirror.

Penelope frowned, but let the comment slide.
“Gemma, that was three years ago. You’ve matured a lot since then.
Now stop punishing yourself.”

“I’m not punishing myself, I just don’t want
to screw up again.”

“You won’t. If anything, you’re screwing up
by not making any friends. Unless you have aspirations of becoming
a hermit, you need to start engaging in human interactions
now.”

Gemma frowned.

“We trust you.”

“I don’t want to lie to my friends.”

“Well, you don’t have any, so that’s
okay.”

“Ruby! Shhh.” Her mother’s stern expression
dropped away as she turned back to face Gemma.

“Please, Mom, I’m happier this way.”

“Your father and I are not. We want to see a
little more effort. You’re not doing us any favors by being the
school freak. People just gossip about you and then they get
curious.”

“I hardly think anyone’s going to guess the
truth.”

“That’s not the point, Ruby. If the truth
gets out, it puts our family in a very dangerous position. Now
Gemma, next time you head off to the movies, I want you to be going
with a friend.”

“Yes ma’am.” She pasted on that good girl
smile that always made her mother nod with satisfaction. It
worked.

Chapter Four

St. Augustine, Florida
- 2011 AD

It was seven o’clock when Harrison entered
the mall. Most of the stores were closed for the night, bar the
eateries. He walked past Antonio’s and sniffed, wishing he’d
stopped there instead of grabbing a cheeseburger and coke at Burger
King. A thick slice of Italian pizza with the works would have gone
down nicely.

Next time.

Stepping onto the escalator, he rode it to
the top, enjoying the art of people watching. Behind him, there was
a young couple with their hands in each other’s back pockets,
giggling over a shared milkshake. There was a frazzled father with
three exuberant children in front of him. They were all talking at
once and squabbling over which movie to see. Harrison didn’t bother
hiding his grin as he stepped past the man and headed to the ticket
counter.

As usual, he had beaten Darren and the girls.
He decided to go ahead and buy everyone’s tickets so they could at
least get good seats. Stepping into line, he scanned the times and
titles. Death’s Doorway was playing hourly over the weekend.
Checking his watch, he decided to go for the seven-thirty session;
everyone should have arrived by then.

He pulled out his wallet and grabbed some
cash then glanced up and felt his insides jolt. Two ahead of him in
the line was the girl he’d been thinking about all day. He
subconsciously rubbed his fingers together as he watched her.

Gemma smoothed back her hair and ran a hand
down her long, braided ponytail. It swung down her back like a
pendulum. Clearing her throat, she stepped up to the ticket counter
and spoke too softly for Harrison to hear.

Please be Death’s Doorway.

She gave the teller a shy smile then took her
bottled water and headed towards the theaters. Harrison strained to
see which way she was heading, annoyed that she disappeared out of
sight before his turn.

Changing his mind, he bought just one ticket
and raced towards the theaters. There were six doorways to choose
from. He’d check everyone if he had to. Harrison opened the first
door to a loud scream and squeal of tires. Racing up the ramp, he
checked the screen to make sure it wasn’t a preview and was happy
to eliminate the movie so quickly.

He got lucky in the second theater as well,
although glimpsed the end of Death’s Doorway. Darren would not be
impressed. He had already predicted the ending and he was totally
wrong.

Harrison paused outside the third theater and
saw it was some foreign film. He nearly skipped over it, but knew
it would only take a second to check.

Racing up the ramp, he saw the opening titles
were just beginning so popped his head around the corner. Gemma was
sitting near the back, her slender legs perched on the seat in
front of her. She had the theater to herself.

Harrison ran his hands through his hair and
smiled. Taking a breath, he thought casual and sauntered up the
steps. She spotted him immediately. Her eyes narrowed with
suspicion then popped wide with recognition.

“Hey.” He sidled down the row and plopped
down beside her.

She jerked away when he leant against their
shared armrest.

“Are you… Are you stalking me?”

His laughter was rich as he lifted his hands.
“Hey, I like…” he gazed at the screen and squinted. “Rice… dis…
him… him…”

“Risse des Himmels. It means Tears of
Heaven.”

“Of course it does.” He adjusted his jacket
and shuffled down in his seat, stretching his legs out like
Gemma’s.

She brought her legs down and sat up
straight. He responded to her sidelong frown with a broad
smile.

Her lips twitched. “I never pegged you for
the foreign film type.”

“We’ve spoken less than fifty words to each
other, you have no idea what my type is.”

She looked skeptical then took a long swig
from her water bottle, no doubt trying to hide her expression.

“Okay, fine.” Harrison sat up and leaned
towards her. “Truth is, I was supposed to be seeing Death’s
Doorway, but when I saw you ahead of me in the line I realized I’d
rather hang with you.”

Her skepticism morphed to pain.

“Not a line, I swear.” He shuffled around in
his chair again, striving for casualness. “So why are you in
here?”

“Because I like depressing German love
stories.”

He shot her a dry look.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Because it’s
two hours in a dark room where no one is looking at me or expecting
anything from me. It’s uninterrupted peace.”

His bottom lip popped out in thoughtfulness
as he nodded. “I get that.”

“Really?”

“Having the movie theater to yourself must
help.”

“Yeah, it
usually
does.”

He chuckled at her derisive expression then
turned back to the screen. He wasn’t sure why it felt so good to be
near her. Maybe it was the fact she smelled like Apple Blossom
shampoo. Or maybe it was the fact he could see how perfect her skin
was or pick up on the way her nose twitched and her eyes blinked
when she was trying to concentrate but failing.

She turned to speak to him a couple of times,
but chickened out. He tried not to laugh. Her awkwardness was
endearing. For reasons he didn’t understand, he remained quiet and
focused on reading the subtitles.

The movie could be easily classed as tedious.
The dialogue was lengthy and the action sparse. From what he could
tell the blonde chick was in love with a tall Jewish man, but World
War II was eminent. Would their love survive against these
impossible odds? He cringed. If Gemma didn’t talk soon, this was
going to be the longest two hours of his life.

The blonde was stealing a forbidden kiss when
the brunette beside him finally spoke up.

“So, I see you managed to make it safely back
to your car this morning.”

“Yeah, I saw you speeding away.”

“Jordan and his apes went the opposite
direction to the parking lot. Lucky for you.”

Harrison smiled.

“Why was he after you?”

“Ugh! He thinks I like his sister.”

“Dana? You do hang out with her a lot.”

“Only because she won’t leave me alone.”

The screen lit with a sunshine shot letting
Harrison glimpse Gemma’s brief smile.

“Well, unless she does, Jordan’s going to
keep coming after you. He won’t do it at school. He can’t afford to
get into any more fights, but if you see him out in public again,
walk the other way.”

“Or…” Harrison sat up straight. “You could
show me some moves.”

Gemma laughed at his comical expression. The
melodic sound was swallowed down when she caught herself. She
cleared her throat and looked back to the screen.

“Come on, please.” Harrison tugged on her
sleeve. “Nothing much, just enough to slow him down.”

Gemma nibbled on her lip, smoothed back her
hair then stood and inched passed him.

“Oh come on, don’t go.”

“I’m not.” She turned back with a frown.
Shuffling out to the aisle, she descended the stairs and stood in
the open floor space in front of the screen. “Are you coming?”

He jumped from his seat and trotted down to
meet her. She took off her hoody and stood before him, feet apart,
stance strong.

Taking off his jacket, he threw it on the
floor and tried not to stare at how divine she looked in her tight
jeans and fitted black tee.

“Okay, what do you know?”

“What do you mean?”

Her eyebrow arched and she tipped her head as
if to say, “Are you stupid?”

“Oh. Um…” Harrison shook out his arms, then
bunched his fists and raised them up like a boxer. “I know I have
to protect my upper body.”

“Your face.” Gemma pushed his elbows up so
his hands hovered in front of his face. “Now punch me.”

“What?” Harrison dropped his hands and shook
his head.

“You won’t hurt me. I’ll block you.” She
pulled his hands back up to his face. Her eyes flickered as the
fire feeling no doubt raced through her digits as well.

Bunching his fists, he winced a little then
drove his right hand towards her.

She flicked it away with a pitying frown.
“Would you try, please. Come on.” She slapped him hard on the arm
then raised her own fists. “Hit me.”

He took a short breath and punched hard. She
grabbed his fist in a vice grip and pushed his hand away.

“Harder. Bring the force through your body.”
She ran her hand up his torso and down the length of his arm to
demonstrate.

Narrowing his eyes, he tried again. She
blocked the right hand blow with her forearm, twisting it around to
lock his hand by her side. He was totally exposed. He tried to pull
away, but she held him fast.

“Now I have a few options here.” Her eyes
sparked with amusement. “I could either pull you towards me and
head butt you, which is effective, but a little brutal. And if you
get it wrong it hurts like hell.”

He grinned.

“I could also punch you in the face or
throat. Or I could grab your shoulder and pull you forward to knee
you in the groin. But most likely, I’d go for your gut, it’s soft,
my hand stays unharmed and you get winded.” She demonstrated the
move in slow motion. Their breath mingled as they turned to look at
each other and she jerked back, releasing him.

Clearing her throat, she took a step away and
swung her long braid over her shoulder to cover her collarbone.
“It’s your best option with Jordan, because of his height and
build. Once he’s bent over holding his gut, you can bring your knee
up to his face. That’ll daze him enough for you to get away.”

“And if his buddies are with him?”

Her eyes went wide. “Don’t you dare try this
if his buddies are with him! You run like you did this morning. I’m
not teaching you this stuff so you can be a hero. The best option
is to run. These basics will just give you a chance to do
that.”

“Okay, okay.” He raised his hands and
smiled.

The theater was pretty dark, but he was sure
he spotted a faint blush as she bent her head.

“So, I don’t suppose you mind running through
that again, do you?”

She looked up at the screen, nibbled on her
lip as if fighting a smile then gave a small shrug.

“Arms up, soldier.”

He did as commanded. They practiced and
laughed their way through the passionate love scene, the tearful
argument and the screaming separation of the characters on
screen.

Gemma corrected Harrison’s technique with
each hit, forcing the best from him. He could sense she was holding
back. By the ease in which she taught him and the fluid movement of
her body it was clear she was an expert fighter. He wondered how
long she had been doing this kind of thing.

The image of a pint sized Gemma dressed in
karate gear at the age of five made him smile and nearly scored him
a fist in the face.