Bite, p.26
Bite, page 26
“So for him to be coming back must mean he’s found a way to control himself,” Evan adds.
Charlie nods in agreement as he says, “Apparently so.”
My father was dangerous? I’ve heard so many stories about what a newborn vampire would be like but I don’t want to believe that my own father would hurt me. Joseph must have read what is on my face because he says, “Don’t worry Gina; we’ll help your father and make sure he doesn’t try to do anything to you. It’s just going to take some time for him to adjust. Even some of us who’s lived this life for some time still have a hard time now and then.”
Sam’s grip on my hand tightened a little and a low growl is growing in his throat. I look at him in surprise and wonder if he sees Joseph as a threat towards me. “I hope not,” he quietly says to me and it catches me off guard that he heard that thought.
“Okay, so how much time do we have before Harry comes knocking on our door,” David asks.
“Four days,” Charlie answers and I let out a gasp that makes them all tense up. I ask, “Are you sure he’s coming in four days?”
“Positive. I haven’t been wrong with any of my visions yet.”
With worry clouding his face Sam asks, “Gina, what’s in four days?”
“My mom’s birthday,” I softly reply.
Harry is coming back for her birthday? That gives me hope. What if he remembers a lot of his human life; maybe then he won’t want to try to kill us. The thought gets me a little excited but when I look around the room, the others still appear to be troubled. I quickly ask, “He remembers my mom’s birthday. Isn’t that a good thing?”
Sam answers, “We’re not sure. We don’t really know why he elected that day to return. It could purely be coincidence but until we know for sure we are going to be cautious with this.”
“What other explanation could there be Sam? Out of all the days to pick, he chooses that day to come back. That’s not a coincidence; that’s him remembering what’s special about that day!”
I didn’t mean to yell but Sam is killing my joy. I want to hold onto the chance that my father has kept a piece of his humanity without Sam or any of them knocking that theory down. I have to hope. After all this is my father we’re talking about.
Sam says softly, “You’re right. Maybe he does remember. But we just want to prepare you for the other option as well.”
“I know. I’m sorry for yelling,” I say while fighting back tears.
“It’s okay Gina. We dropped another major bomb on you. I’m actually surprised you’re this calm about it.”
I sigh as I say, “I’m still trying to process everything.”
“We understand. Come on, I’ll take you home.”
“Okay.”
The four days went by in a blur but it didn’t surprise me since Sam dropped the news to me, it’s all I could think about. I did my best to try to go about my normal routine but I was too distracted to concentrate. But I have to keep pushing forward, which is why I’m sitting in the car with Sam who is driving us to my mom’s house. I keep my eyes on the huge wrapped gift for my mom that is resting on my lap. My thoughts are a million miles away and with good reason; today I will see my father. The man I thought was dead is now a vampire and I am going to see him today. Part of me is excited; the rest of me want to throw up.
“You’re nervous aren’t you,” Sam asks. I just nod my head and he says, “If you want, you can wait to see him another day. Maybe that will be better. It will give us time to prepare him for you.”
Is he serious? Sam wants me to wait to see my father? That is definitely not going to happen and I stubbornly shake my head as I respond, “No I waited this long and I’m not going to wait another day. I want to see him”
He’s quiet for a moment and then he says, “You know it’s going to be okay right? Once he recognizes you, things should work out fine. Just don’t get mad if I stay in front of you though or restrain him where to you it might appear that I’m hurting him. We have to do what we can to keep him away from you. Even though he’s your dad, he’s a vampire first and your blood is going to drive him crazy.”
I’m picturing my father as a crazed newborn vampire trying to get to my throat as Sam fights to hold him back. As the image pops into my head I envision him with crazed red eyes and long fangs snarling as he fights to get to my blood and the image alone gives me the chills. I feel Sam grab my hand and he brings it to his lips to kiss it all while his eyes never look away from the road. “Relax love; I won’t let him hurt you. If he somehow gets past us to get to you, it would devastate him as well as me.”
We pull up to my mom’s house where I see Tiffany’s car is already parked. I unbuckle my seat belt but make no effort to move. Sam leans over and turns my head so I can look at him.
“Try not to think about it until later. Right now it’s about your mother and her birthday.”
“I know. It’s just my nerves; I’ll be okay,” I say while taking a deep breath. “I’m just worried that he’ll be angry at me because I’ll accept him as a vampire or he won’t want to see me.”
Sam has a grim expression as he says, “It won’t be you that he’ll be angry with.”
“What are you talking about,” I ask with confusion heavy in my voice.
The front door opens and Tiffany is peeking out at us so he says, “We’ll talk about that later. I think we’re being watched. We should go inside.”
I sigh with frustration but I know our conversation will have to wait until we get back to the house. We get out the car and as we walk towards the door, Tiffany says, “About time y’all decide to join us. I thought y’all were gonna try to sneak in a quickie in the car before coming inside the house.”
She starts to giggle as I roll my eyes. “Tiff, why would we do that in front of the house where my mother could come out and catch us? Kind of strange don’t you think?”
“Um, the windows are seriously tinted. Who the hell can see inside?”
I feel myself blushing and Sam replies, “Well we were going to do a little something until your nosiness had to interrupt.”
She laughs as she says, “Whatever. Get inside so we can eat. I’m starving.”
I playfully punch her arm as Tiffany goes inside the house. Sara comes from the kitchen and when she reaches the door I hug her as I shout with excitement, “Hey Mom, Happy Birthday!”
She kisses my cheek as she says, “Thank you Mija. Hello Sam.”
“Hello Sara, Happy Birthday,” Sam says while she hugs him.
She shivers a little as she says, “Whew it’s chilly outside. Won’t you come in and relax so you can warm up.”
“Thank you.” I close the door when he crosses the threshold and with a smile he says, “Here, these are for you.”
He hands her a bouquet of flowers and a gift bag that contains a very expensive bottle of wine from his personal collection. It still bugs me out that they’re the kind of vampires that love a good glass of wine. Charlie especially had to point out that the cheapest wine they have is seventy-five dollars. Show off!
“Thank you Sam, the flowers are beautiful.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“Never mind flowers, let’s crack open the bottle so we can have it with dinner,” Tiffany exclaims while taking the bottle from Sara’s hand.
I wanted to suggest we take her out to dinner so she wouldn’t have to spend her birthday in the kitchen but the aroma coming from the kitchen has me horrified that Sara did indeed cook. I let out a hard groan as I ask, “Mom you didn’t cook on your birthday did you?”
“Nope. Tiffany had dinner catered for us. The guys just dropped the food off about ten minutes ago.”
“Yeah and we were waiting for you two to get here so we could eat. Now come on, dinner is served.”
I’m relieved that Sara didn’t cook but a new fear creeps into my brain. As we walk towards the dining room, I nervously look at Sam but he gives me a wink and whispers, “Relax, dinner is going to be fine.”
“But how are you gonna eat when you really can’t?”
He smiles as he replies quietly; “My venom will dissolve it as soon as I put the food in my mouth. They won’t even notice anything out of place. It fooled you right?”
I gnaw on my bottom lip while replying, “Yeah I guess you’re right.”
“See everything will be fine. Don’t worry Gina.”
I give a little smile of relief as we all sit at the table. Tiffany did a great job on ordering dinner from the caterer. We dine on beef Wellington garlic roasted potatoes and veggies. Everything is delicious but I am too busy watching Sam to really notice. Since this is the first time I’m watching him eat since discovering he is a vampire, I’m trying to see how he is able to do it. Every time he put a bite into his mouth, my eyes follow hoping to see how his venom helps him eat. He chews a couple times and just like that the food is gone. He catches me peeking at him and when no one is watching, he sticks his tongue out and I watch as some potato dissolve right before my eyes. I stifle a giggle as he shows me a piece of meat also disappearing and I have to admit that is freaking awesome.
As for the birthday cake, Tiffany got strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped butter cream frosting and the biggest strawberries I’ve ever seen. We do my mom a favor and spare her from the singing (after she begged us not to sing that is) and dive right in. Now it’s presents time.
I had no clue what to get my mom. I went through vast number of different ideas for gifts and I settled on an article of clothing for her. And that created a whole new dilemma for me. Being a nurse limits a lot because her uniform is her main wardrobe. Plus things I did consider were way too expensive. But when Sam gave me that money when I went shopping with my friends, I decided to use some of it to buy her a gift.
I hand her my gift and she looks a bit skeptical as she unwraps the huge box. Once she gets the top off, Sara says, “Gina, wow these are great.”
I see my mother as someone who is beautiful but I feel her casual wardrobe could use a little spice so I decided to get her a pair of high-heeled leather boots as a birthday present. “Do you like them?”
“I do but where the hell am I going to where stiletto boots to?”
Tiffany chimes in, “The real question you need to be asking Sara is where am I gonna wear my stiletto boots and Michael Kors bag to?” On her arm was a beautiful handbag where even my eyes grew wide. She extends her arm out as Sara takes the bag and actually giggles with delight as Tiffany says, “Enjoy Sara.” Yep, my mom is being treated like a queen.
We stay for another hour chatting away and enjoying each other’s company until we’re ready to go. Tiffany is babbling about this club that she and the girls are hitting that night and she invites Sam and I to join them. As much I would love a night out with the girls, I’m not passing up my meeting with Harry for anything. I simply tell her we’ll go another time since I didn’t think she would handle hearing I’m meeting my dead/undead father very well. Tiffany gives us all one more hug and then stroll out the door.
Sam and I are putting on our coats as Sara says, “Thank you both. I can safely say I had a wonderful birthday.”
I see the tears that are building up in her eyes and I give her a hug as I respond, “I’m glad you did Mom. I love you.”
“I love you too Mija. Sam, you drive carefully now. There’s a lot of snow and ice on the roads so take your time and don’t rush to get home.”
“Yes ma’am I’ll take my time,” he says while giving me a wink. I guess he sees the pleading look in my eyes, which are screaming please, take your time!
We say our goodbyes and then hop into the car and minutes later, we are on our way. I sit quietly while Sam drives and I feel my breath quicken as the car pushes on. I don’t think nervous can describe how I feel. Every minute that passes brings me closer to meeting my father and now my nerves start to hit me so bad that it literally feels like my stomach is in knots. My head is a little light headed and any moment I worry that I’m going to faint.
“Gina, you got to relax. The way your heart is beating it’s making me very nervous.”
I put my hand to my chest and it did feel like my heart is about to jump out. “Sorry.”
Sam looks at me with concern and while turning his eyes back to the road he asks, “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“Yes,” I answer quickly. “I want to see my dad.”
He softly laughs. “Okay then please calm down and relax. You’re making me anxious.”
“Sorry. I forgot that you could hear things that I can’t.”
We sit in silence for a moment until he asks, “What are you thinking?”
I sigh as I reply, “A whole bunch of things but mainly one in particular.”
“Which is,” he asks while raising an eyebrow.
“I was thinking what if my dad doesn’t recognize me. What if no matter how hard we try he still doesn’t see me as his daughter and he still tries to get to my blood?”
I glance over at Sam and see him trying to answer my question but he’s afraid to say it out loud. Would they hurt Harry if he tries to get to me? Or worse, would they kill him? I see that we have turned onto the driveway and once we stop in front of the house, he finally says, “If that was to happen then I will get you out of the house quickly. I’ll cover my tracks so your scent won’t lead him to you. Then we’ll figure out how to deal with Harry.”
I stare at him in horror as I realize what his final statement means. “You would kill him wouldn’t you?” Without answering, he gets out the car and he’s quickly at my side to open the door. I don’t hold anything back as I jump out and start yelling, “You can’t! Sam that is my father! Please you can’t kill him! I won’t let you hurt him!”
His face grows angry but he takes a few deep breaths to control his temper. He stares me and while trying not to scare me, he says with a low growl, “Gina, you must understand something. As much as you love Harry, you have to remember he is a vampire first and your dad second. The moment you enter the same room as him, he’s going to smell your blood and yes he will try to attack you. He’s still a young vampire so he will think of nothing else but of his thirst. So if he refuses to remember who you are and tries to bite you to kill you, I will stop him! I will not just idly watch as the woman I love dies even if it’s by her own father!”
I let his words sink in and I know deep down in my heart he is right. If Harry can’t remember that I’m his daughter, he will try to hurt me. And I know, as much as it would upset him, Sam will do whatever he has to so I will be protected.
“Sam I’m sorry. I…I just,” I trail off unable to finish my sentence since I don’t know what to say.
He pulls me close to him and murmurs, “No I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose my temper with you.”
“I guess I have to accept the fact that my dad will not be the same man like how I remember him.”
“I promise, we will do everything we can so this will not be a disaster. I know how much you love him so I give you my word that I will not hurt him unless I have no choice.”
That sounds like a fair deal and I’m able to accept that. I give him a hug and smile as I say, “Okay.”
He leads me inside and the others are just hanging around the living room appearing just as nervous as I am. I really start to feel bad because I feel everyone is on edge due to my father and me. David flips the TV on and we kill time watching a movie although I doubt anyone is really paying attention. We just use the sound to fill the room to pass the time and I even start dozing off on the couch until Charlie suddenly announces, “He’s here.”
I freeze. This is it. Sam flies to my side and quickly says, “Do you have a nickname for Harry? You know something that only you would say to him?” I nod as he continues, “Good. When I tell you, say it out loud. It should help him remember you.”
“Okay no problem,” I say and take a deep breath. Here we go I thought and I had to stop myself from fainting.
I Guess I Can’t Date
Your Daughter
(Sam)
Gina is doing what she can to make herself relax but my nerves are on edge. I silently ask Charlie is this going to work out okay and he shrugs while mentally answering it could go either way. That doesn’t make me feel better.
Joseph and Evan are by the glass back doors looking out where Harry will be entering the house. After a few moments, Evan tenses up and says, “Be ready.”
I stand so Gina is behind me and quickly say, “Remember what I told you.” She just nods her head and my attention immediately goes to the back doors where my whole body goes on alert.
Harry enters and the first thing I notice is his eyes are no longer black from the last time I saw him almost a year ago. They settled into the ice blue like Charlie’s so it makes him appear ghostly white. His hair is light brown but it now has golden highlights sprinkled throughout. If it weren’t for the fact that we know him, I would never have known that Harry is a man in his forties since the transformation seems to have taken at least ten years off his looks. Harry smiles and says, “Hey boys, how’s it going?”
We say our hellos and I feel Gina fidgeting behind me. I know she is anxious to take a peek but I still need to prep Harry first. I reach behind my back to take her hands and give them a gentle squeeze as I say, “Harry, it’s good to see you. We do have something to discuss with you and you’re not going to be happy.”
Before I can mention Gina, Harry sniffs the air and his smile grows wider as he says, “You guys brought me a welcome home meal. How thoughtful of you. It smells heavenly.”
