A Shade of Vampire 8: A Shade of Novak(21)

We were about to leave when Chloe said, “Hey, why don’t you join us? There’s plenty of room and we haven’t even started eating yet.”

Kristal answered before even consulting me.

“That sounds like a great idea,” she said.

I didn’t argue since it would have been too awkward. I took a seat next to Kristal, opposite Chloe and John across the table.

I tried to convince myself that I was being paranoid. Yes, it was night. And yes, we were sitting right on the beach. But we were near a restaurant, and that was probably the worst kind of place to collect humans, with everybody seated at tables. No way to mingle with drunk crowds.

Still, I failed to relax as we sat for hours on the beachfront, so close to where those girls had been abducted. I found myself looking suspiciously at each person who walked by us.

“Are you all right, Rose?” Kristal asked, squeezing my knee beneath the table. “You’re awfully quiet.”

“Yes, I’m fine,” I muttered. “I’m just a little tired.”

“We can go back home now if you want. We don’t have to stay for dessert.”

“Okay,” I said, nodding and clutching her hand. “Let’s do that.”

Kristal called for the bill and insisted on paying for all of us.

We all got up to leave together and I breathed a sigh of relief as we bade goodbye to the couple and left the beach.

I was so focussed on getting back to our apartment that I didn’t think to check if anyone was following us.

If I had, I would have noticed two tall, dark figures trailing in the shadows behind us.





Chapter 8: Sofia





Walking along that Cancún beach that evening after the sun went down was chilling. It looked uncannily similar to the beach I’d been kidnapped from by Lucas all those years ago.

That evening when it all began.

I fantasized briefly about what might have happened had Benjamin Hudson, my best friend, not forgotten it was my birthday that day.

Would none of this have happened? Would I not be standing next to Derek now?

I smiled bitterly as I felt the sand beneath my bare feet. Memories of Ben came flooding back through my mind. That handsome, perfect, blond blue-eyed boy who had once held my heart within the palm of his hand. I could almost feel the exact emotions I’d felt that evening when he’d let me down on my birthday yet again. All because of that cheerleader, Tanya Wilson.

If only you had known then, Sofia, how stupid those feelings would seem now.

That used to be all my world consisted of—Ben and my pain over his latest girlfriend. My pining for his attention.

Derek must have detected what was going through my mind, because he wrapped an arm around me and placed a tender kiss on my forehead. I looked out at the deep dark ocean, fighting to hold back the tears.

Where are you now, Ben?

If only you could see what a beautiful young woman Abby has blossomed into.

If only you could be here with us now.

If only you could have found a love of your own to give you the strength to fight the battle you could have won…

It still haunted me to this day, the way he had just given up on his life. Had he just allowed us to feed him the blood from Derek’s palm in those crucial few moments that his soul was still one with his body, he might have been with us now. No matter how hard I tried to understand, I still felt defeated by it. He’d had so much to live for. Yet he’d given it all up willingly, without even a struggle.

I still hadn’t forgiven him for it after all these years. And now I doubted that I ever would.

By the time we were halfway along the beach, I’d lost my battle with tears—the memories cutting open my wounds afresh. Wounds that I’d thought had healed years ago.

Derek stopped walking and cradled me against his chest. When Eli and Ibrahim stopped to ask what was wrong, he told them to keep walking.

“I know he’s not coming back,” I breathed. “And I know it’s been years. But, God, it still hurts. It hurts like it was yesterday.”

Derek bent down and kissed my cheek, then brushed his own cool cheek against mine and whispered into my ear, “Some scars just don’t heal, Sofia. You need to accept that.”

I gripped Derek tighter against me.

“Thank you,” I gasped, breaking down into a fresh wave of tears. “I-I needed to hear that.”

I sank to my knees and he sat with me. I stayed there sobbing in his arms until I felt steady enough to get up and continue walking.

We ran to catch up with Ibrahim, Eli and Shadow.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice hoarse.

“The last thing you need to do is apologize, Sofia,” Eli said.

I gave them a watery smile.

“Okay,” I said, drawing in a deep breath. “Let’s get down to business.”

We walked along the length of the beach that night until we reached the area the humans had disappeared from.

We searched all around, scanned the sand, splashed around in the waves looking for any clue that could tell us what had happened. Shadow was finding nothing of interest to us—although he was certainly finding things that were of interest to him. An orange buoy, a dead whale shark and an unholy amount of seaweed.

Of course, we’d expected not to find anything. After all, if these were supernatural creatures, they wouldn’t leave traces.