Moonlight Denial: Shades of Moonlight Book One

“My family. They’re coming here.”

The lead to Nicoli’s pencil tapped repeatedly against his school desk as Ethan’s words swirled about his head like a miniature tornado. For the past couple of days it was all he could think about. Ethan’s family was coming to Whixton. His vampire family. Butterflies erupted in Nicoli’s stomach every time he thought about it.

Up to this point Ethan and Felix were the only supernatural creatures he had met, but now a whole pack of them were coming to check out the discovery the trio had made. To say Nicoli was nervous would be an understatement. He had become used to Ethan, in a begrudging sort of way, but used to him nevertheless, but getting used to an onslaught of new vampires? What if they didn’t like him? It was one thing if a normal friend’s parents’ didn’t like him, but having a vampire parent not like him would be an entirely different problem. At least that was Nicoli’s take on it.

His nerves were hardly quelled when he remembered the discussion he had with Felix in his bathroom when the specter had brought up Ethan’s sire. The one named Conrad.

“And once Conrad finds out about Ethan trying to bring you, a human, into his business, I’m more than certain Conrad will have more than a few things to say about it.”

The words caused the hairs to stand up on the back of Nicoli’s neck and goose bumps break out over his skin. He was almost certain this Conrad wasn’t going to approve of him. A small part of him hoped Felix was just pulling his leg, but it seemed unlikely. It made the boy feel anxious and nauseas waiting for the day that Ethan would pop up and tell him that the family had arrived.

Nicoli hated the vampire for that. He could hardly contain his restlessness and it hadn’t gone unnoticed by his red headed friend. The boy glanced at Amelia who was sitting at the desk next to his. She had been commenting about his strange behavior and she seemed to be becoming just as fretful and concerned as he felt. He wasn’t sure if it was because she was having anxiety sympathy or what, but as long as Amelia never figured out the reason for his behavior she could have as much sympathy feelings as she wanted.

Nicoli was brought out of his obsessive worrying when something bounced off his head and down to the floor. He scowled. He didn’t even have to look to know that the projectile was a crumbled up piece of paper. The quiet snickering he heard behind him just confirmed it.

It was Trevor, of course. The bully and his friends seemed to be getting steadily frustrated since Nicoli and Amelia eluded their capture at every turn so, Trevor tormented Nicoli in the only place he was in close enough proximity. English class.

Nicoli winced when something harder hit his head. Definitely not paper. Most likely a bit of eraser or something to the extent, but the boy still made no move to acknowledge it. Amelia, though, was another matter. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the girl turning back to glare darkly at Trevor before she began fiddling with something in her lap.

In a weird kind of way it didn’t bother Nicoli to be continuously berated on by Trevor. Oddly enough, it was like some twisted kind of relief. He was in school being picked on by the school bully. He wasn’t out gathering information about three legendary vampire hearts or being almost decapitated or skewered with arrows by some psychopathic vampire hunter. It made Nicoli feel normal, which was something he was beginning to miss as he hung around Ethan and Felix more and more. Not that he could really complain. It was his decision after all to go along with all this, but still…

Nicoli grunted and covered his head with his hands as a pen hit him next. It wasn’t as hard as the eraser, but it had been the pointed end that had struck its mark. Even though Nicoli was enjoying feeling even remotely ordinary that didn’t mean he wanted pain to go along with it.

He was brought out of his scowling by a movement out of the corner of his eye. Amelia was now turned around in her desk as she finished the construction of what she had been fiddling with before. Nicoli’s brows rose in surprise when he saw it was a makeshift slingshot. The girl had a rubber band around two of her fingers and as she pulled it back Nicoli saw she had a dark blue marble nestled in the curve of the band.

In the blink of an eye Amelia released her weapon and the projectile went flying and struck Trevor’s forehead. Before anyone could comprehend what had just took place, the red head was turned back around in her seat as a cry cut through the air,

“Ow!”

The marker the teacher was using to write paused and he turned around to look at Trevor curiously.

“Is something the matter, Mr. Fritz?” he asked him.

Trevor glared at the back of Amelia’s head as he rubbed the spot where the marble hit him.

“Yeah, there’s a problem. Little Miss Freak over here just…” Trevor trailed off and his expression went strangely blank.

The teacher, Mr. Keir, rose an eyebrow and took a few steps closer to the class.

“Excuse me, Mr. Fritz? Who are you calling a freak, which, might I point out I do not condone name calling of any kind in my classroom, and what are you saying they did?” he asked and his tone held a great deal of firmness in it.

Most of the students had either turned around in their desks or craned their necks forward to stare at Trevor and see what he would say, but no one saw a dark, gray mist cross his pupils for the merest of seconds. A moment later his absent expression vanished and he blinked repeatedly, as if he had just woken up.

“Uh…nothing, Mr. Keir. I…I must have been mistaken,” Trevor murmured and he looked confused, as if he wasn’t even sure what he had been saying.

The teacher studied him for a moment, debating whether or not to let it go, but, in the end he simply nodded and turned back to the whiteboard.

“All right, now back to what I was saying…”

As Mr. Keir continued his lecture, Nicoli couldn’t help but stare at his classmate, just as many others were doing. Most had seen what Amelia had done, but none could figure out why Trevor hadn’t ratted her out. It was so peculiar many of the other students doubted what they saw had actually happened. Perhaps their imaginations had been carried away in their boredom.

Nicoli, on the other hand, knowing what he had seen was as real as the nose on his face, turned toward Amelia. He jerked back his thumb in Trevor’s direction and his face clearly held the question of, “What the hell just happened?”

Amelia simply shrugged and shook her head. The boy continued to look perplexed even when he faced the front of the classroom once more to watch the teacher write on the board. With his eyes elsewhere he didn’t see the knowing smirk that appeared on Amelia’s face.

Her cherry red lips spoke silent words and the marble that had rolled across the tiled floor quivered before spinning in place then disappearing all together. Under Amelia’s desk she had her hand palm side up and hazel eyes glanced down at it. In her palm rested the blue marble that twinkled as if it was filled with tiny, miniscule stars. With a smile her fingers closed around the marble before she tucked it away safely in the pocket of her jacket. At least there was one fiend she could protect Nicoli from.

************************************************************************

“It’s not that big of a deal, really,” Amelia insisted for the thousandth time as the two settled into the line to get their lunches.

“Not that big of a deal? Amelia, you whacked my assailant in the head with a marble, of all things. That has to be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen you do.”

“You think so?” Amelia asked in surprise as she turned to look back at the boy, who nodded vigorously.

“I mean, I know you’re pretty fearless and in your face sometimes, but just the way you pulled that off was, well…incredibly!” Nicoli continued excitedly. “It just shot off and pow! Your aiming was spot on,” he said and reenacted Trevor getting pegged with the marble, which made Amelia giggle.

“Weeell, I guess it was pretty cool, wasn’t it?” Amelia purred, stroking her own ego as she turned forward and a smug smile upturned her lips. It amused her, though, how Nicoli considered her little trick the coolest thing she could do. He had no idea.

“Yeah, it was, though it was a little weird,” Nicoli said as they grabbed their desired trays of food. He didn’t see how his comment made Amelia’s smile falter ever so slightly.

“Weird, how do you mean?” the girl asked as they took out money to pay for their food.

“Well, it’s just you’ve been so bent on helping me avoid Trevor at all costs so to steer clear of a confrontation. This is the first time I’ve seen you retaliate. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

There was a brief pause as the line moved slowly towards the man they had to pay.

“I suppose that’s true,” Amelia said finally, her back still to Nicoli. “I guess you can say I’m just tired of him picking on you. I’m sure he doesn’t even remember why he’s doing it anymore. Today in class I just had enough and wanted to make him stop.”

Nicoli absorbed her words. A smile then broke out on his face and he patted her shoulder.

“Well, no matter the reason I owe you a big one, Amelia. Thanks.”

“No problem,” she said, but she made sure the boy couldn’t see her sad smile. She was lying, of course. That wasn’t the reason she had done it. Trevor was just the victim of her ever growing frustration. Nicoli was acting weird again and it made her worry renew now that she knew what the boy was dappling in, even if she didn’t know exactly what the circumstances were.

It all boiled down to the golden haired vampire. He was the cause of Nicoli’s stress, Amelia was sure of it, and she felt helpless since she didn’t know what to do for him. He wouldn’t believe her if she told him he was in cahoots with a vampire and not knowing what the undead creature was making the boy do was driving her crazy. It was for that reason she had attacked Trevor. She was helpless to protect Nicoli from Ethan, but she wasn’t about to sit there and do nothing while someone else tried to make the boy miserable.

“Well, I guess we better scurry off to our hiding spot,” Nicoli said as they broke free from the line and entered the cafeteria. Amelia and he now had a system going. They would use the blueprints that the girl had obtained – though she still refused to say how – and would map out each hiding spot they’d use throughout the week in order to escape Trevor and his packs clutches.

“Actually, let’s not today. Let’s just find a table here.”

Nicoli’s sneakers squeaked as he abruptly stopped and he stared at Amelia in disbelief.

“What? Are you serious?” he asked. It was one of the absurdist things to ever come from here mouth and it had caused the poor boy’s brain to spiral in confusion. “Why the hell would we do that? After what you did Trevor’s going to be as pissed as pissed can be. He’ll kill us for sure.”

Amelia just rolled her eyes at his dramatics and slipped her arm around one of his and began to lead him to a vacant table.

“Nicoli, really, just trust me on this, will you?” she told him. “You did say you owed me, so all I’m asking is for you to have a little faith in me.”

Nicoli grumbled under his breath. He wanted to trust her. She was the only one in school he could trust, but at the moment he wasn’t sure the girl was in her right mind. There was no way Trevor was just going to let Amelia’s little assault go unpunished, he was sure of it and it only helped to increase his level of anxiety. But the dark haired teen just couldn’t get himself to tell Amelia no. She seemed so sure and he didn’t want her to think he didn’t trust her. So, Nicoli let himself be pulled along and made no noise of protest.

Trays clattered as the two teens settled at a table and just as Nicoli was about to sit down he happened to glance up and he froze on the spot. Amelia noticed this after she had fully sat down and she stared at him curiously.

“What’s the matter, Nicoli?” she asked and she followed his line of sight. He didn’t have to answer for her to know what the problem was.

At the entrance to the cafeteria stood Trevor and his gang of friends. His eyes sparked with fury as he held Nicoli’s gaze, but the red welt on his forehead looked angrier than he was.

Amelia didn’t seem worried, though, as she leaned over to pull a jar out of her backpack that contained a mixture of honey and relish she would use for her tacos.

“Oh, sit down, will you?” she chided Nicoli as she began to apply her concoction to her food.

Nicoli didn’t move. How could he? Trevor was going to kill them for sure and she was acting as if he wasn’t there. It was then Nicoli saw something miraculous happen.

One of Trevor’s friends whispered something in his ear, possibly asking how they should go about delivering Nicoli’s doom, but Trevor didn’t respond right away. Instead the anger slowly trickled out of his features to be replaced with that vacant look he had during class. Trevor then shook his head and muttered something to the others that caused the other boys’ to gawk at him. Then they did something unexpected…they walked away.

“What…what just happened?” Nicoli asked as he watched their retreating backs.

“I told you to trust me, didn’t I?” Amelia said as she grabbed a handful of Nicoli’s shirt and yanked him down in his seat.

“But, I don’t get it. Why did he just walk away?” he questioned, still gaping at the spot the bully had been.

Amelia just shrugged her shoulders.

“Maybe he didn’t feel like doing anything after he got put in his place.”

That made no sense to Nicoli. If anything he was sure Trevor would come after him with even more vigor…but he hadn’t. What perplexed the teen more was how Amelia knew that was going to be the outcome. It was almost suspicious, but, when Nicoli thought about it, maybe it did make sense. She had known Trevor since they were kids, so maybe she knew just how he’d react to Amelia’s assault. It seemed farfetched, but to Nicoli it was the only explanation. Besides, what did he have to complain about? For once he would be able to eat in peace in the cafeteria instead of jammed in a closet or in the ventilation shafts – that was an experience he could live without doing again –.

“Hey, if you hitting him in the head will make him leave us alone do you think you could do it everyday?” Nicoli asked with a grin as he began chomping away on his hamburger.

“Um, I don’t think so. There’s only so many times I’d be able to get away with that without being caught and I’m sure people would begin to notice all the bumps that would appear on his head,” she said with a chuckle.

It was a good enough excuse, but it wasn’t the true reason she couldn’t do it on a regular basis. It was a major rule in her house. Never use magic against magicless people unless her life was in danger. Her family, especially Aunt Hailey, would be furious if they ever learned about what the girl had done.

She reasoned the spell she had used wouldn’t be too bad since it wasn’t harmful in the least and would wear off by the end of the day. Amelia had imbued the marble with a simple charm that would just influence Trevor’s thoughts concerning Nicoli. If he felt the need to pick on or hurt Nicoli then the charm activated and he would “decidedly” change his mind. It was too bad it was the only time she would be able to use it since it had worked so nicely, but she knew by tomorrow Trevor would be back to his old self and there was nothing Amelia could do about it unless she wanted to get into trouble.

“Hey, Amelia, I have a question for you,” Nicoli said as they ate.

“What?” the girl murmured as she licked some of her honey-relish off her hand that had spilled out from her taco.

“You know Mrs. Relo, right?”

“The math teacher? Of course I do. Why do you want to know?” Amelia asked curiously, finding the subject odd.

“Good, I was hoping you’d say that. Well, we’re going to have a test on Thursday and I figured that wouldn’t be so bad, but I keep hearing everyone mutter about how hard her tests are. That’s just talk…isn’t it?” he inquired, but the look that on Amelia’s face told him otherwise.

“You’ve never taken one of Mrs. Relo’s tests before?” she asked incredulously and the boy shook his head.

“No, apparently she only gives tests once a month and, since I haven’t been here long, I missed the one for last month…are they really that bad?” he asked worriedly.

“Ooooooooh, Nicoli, you have no idea. She may only give them once a month, but it’s like ten tests in one. Easy is not in Mrs. Relo’s dictionary.”

Nicoli gaped at her in horror before slouching in his chair and covering his face with his hand.

“I’m screwed…”

Nicoli excelled in only a few area’s in his life: Sports, English, and having charisma in front of a camera. Math was on the bottom of the list on what he was good at. So far down it hardly existed. His only hope would be for Mrs. Relo to go easy on him because he was new, though he doubted that was happen.

“Hey, Nicoli.”

The boy was dragged out of the thoughts of his impending doom and he glanced at Amelia.

“Yeah?”

“I just realized something. In a few days, we’ll have known each other for an entire month. How crazy is that?” she said with a bright smile, just the thought made her happy.

Nicoli blinked at her.

“A month? Really?”

When he thought about it he realized she was right. It almost had been a month since he’d known Amelia…and also how long he’d known Ethan. It seemed like much more time had passed and yet seemed like no time at all. It left conflicting feelings in him, ones he couldn’t describe at that moment, but, for what it was worth, he was at least happy for having Amelia by his side through it all. He felt that if he didn’t have her, and had no one to rely on while he was going through his troubles, he’d have been worse off than ever.

“Yeah, you’re right. Wow that really is crazy.” Then, in a move that didn’t seem like Nicoli at all, the boy reached over and pulled the girl into a hug.

To say Amelia was surprised would be an understatement. Usually she was the one to dish out the hugs, but Nicoli’s actions had thrown her completely off guard.

“Uh, Nicoli? What’s this for? People are staring,” she mumbled, feeling her face flush.

“Who cares about them? Let them stare,” Nicoli said. “I just want to say, well, thanks for appearing out of the blue that day and pestering me everyday since. You don’t know how much it means to me to be able to call you my friend. You saved me from completely moping around about moving and losing Zack and Brittany. I owe you a lot more than for just smacking Trevor in the face with a marble.”

Nicoli’s words were unexpected and struck a chord in Amelia that almost had tears glazing over her eyes. Instead she busied herself by wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging back.

“I feel the same way, Nicoli. I’m glad I forced my presence on you. It was the best decision I’ve made in a long time.” The girl then pulled back enough to look at Nicoli and chuckle. “Damn, when you want to be sentimental, you really know how, you big lug.”

They both laughed and after a few moments Amelia finally let go and sat back in her seat. Even though their friendship was built on the fact Amelia was only curious about the mysterious aura around Nicoli, not Nicoli himself, it had become a solid bond both of them could lean on. And even though they each were keeping their secrets under carefully crafted lies, their friendship still shined through with such intensity it surprised them both.

If anything, discovering Nicoli’s true thoughts about their freshly formed friendship only invigorated Amelia’s resolve. She would protect him from whatever trouble he had found himself in, protect him from the charismatic vampire, and, most importantly, protect him from himself. No matter how long it took, Amelia would find a way to do all that and more, she just had to. If not for Nicoli’s sake then for her own.

******************************************************************

The last bell rang and the halls flooded with students seeking freedom. Nicoli went along with the current, trying hard not to get jostled and pushed, until he abruptly broke away to stand at a cluster of lockers.

“Jeeze, if I’m not careful I’m gonna get trampled one of these days,” he muttered as he readjusted his backpack and straightened his clothes. He then proceeded to gaze into the throng of people still going by, searching for one particular head of red hair. “Hmm, usually doesn’t take her this–”

“Boo!”

Nicoli cried out and jumped as something grabbed his sides in a tickling grip. He scowled at Amelia who was laughing at his reaction.

“Ha ha, very funny,” he said and his face flushed in embarrassment.

“I thought so,” Amelia said with a cheeky grin as she went about opening her locker. “So, what are your plans for this fine afternoon?”

Nicoli sighed as he leaned against the lockers next to her.

“Unfortunately, my mother has had this sudden urge to garden and she’s roping me in to help her. Soooo she told me to come right home after school today to jump to work with her,” he grumbled.

Amelia stared at him in disbelief.

“She wants to garden? But…it’s November. Shouldn’t she wait till spring to do that?”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly,” Nicoli replied as Amelia finished up and closed her locker. The two then began walking towards the exit of the school. “But she’s not going to actually plant anything. She says she just wants to get all the flowerbeds and stuff ready for when she can really garden.”

As ridiculous as it sounded, Nicoli was telling the truth. The “mysterious” disappearance of Laura’s gardening gloves hadn’t gone unnoticed and while his mother went out to buy new ones the gardening bug bit her and she had the sudden urge to redo the garden to prepare for when the coming winter would turn into spring. Then, thinking her son needed some hands-on activity, forced Nicoli into agreeing to help her. He didn’t resist as much as he would have since it was his fault that her gloves had become ruined and disposed of. He didn’t mind it too much, though, since the labor would help get his mind off things.

“Your mom sounds so quirky. I really need to sit down and actually talk with her one of these days,” Amelia said as they went down the stairs to the sidewalk that ran along the outside of the school.

“You met her on Sunday, believe me, you’re not missing much,” Nicoli said and yelped when the girl punched him in the arm.

“Stop dissing your mom, Jerk. You’re a horrible son.”

Nicoli stuck out his tongue at her as he rubbed his aching arm.

“Well, you know, I still need to meet your mom, too,” he pointed out, realizing he still had three Fairbrooke’s to meet: Amelia’s mother, Preston’s mother, and Hailey and Lloyd’s daughter Nicole. He thought it would be interesting to meet the woman that gave life to his spastic friend.

“Oh, that’s right. We need to arrange a get together one of these days so everyone can just meet everyone. Get it all done in one fell swoop,” Amelia suggested.

“Hmmm, I guess we can do something like that, buuut,” Nicoli said as he checked his watch. “I have to go, so I shall see you tomorrow,” he said with a salute before turning on his heel and sprinting off towards home.

“All right, bye! And make sure to study for that math test!” Amelia called after him and laughed when she heard a distant, distraught groan. When he disappeared from sight a frown overtook her smile. She felt horrible. The moment Nicoli had told her he had to go home to help his mother with gardening doubt instantly swelled in her chest. She had a nagging, pestering thought telling her he was probably running off to go meet Ethan. She didn’t want to start thinking that everything that came out of his mouth was a lie, especially after what had happened at lunch. She wanted to trust Nicoli with all of her heart, but it was hard to.

It didn’t help that she was doing the exact same thing. Sure she wasn’t lying straight to his face, but she was still keeping the secret of what she really was. In that respect was she any better?

Amelia was brought out of her thoughts when a car honked. She turned and smiled when she recognized the car and she ran to it. She easily slipped into the familiar passenger sit and then grinned at the driver as the car door slammed.

“Hey, Mom.”

********************************************************************

Nicoli traveled on the Whixton sidewalks that were becoming more and more familiar to him as the days past. Since his house was on the outskirts of town it was a pretty good trek from school, but nothing like the walks home in San Francisco.

As he walked a light hum trailed after him and, after awhile, the boy began to sing the words that were on the tips of his lips, begging to be released.

“Who killed Cock Robin? “I,” said the Sparrow, “With my bow and arrow, I killed Cock Robin. Who saw him die? “I,” said the Fly, “With my little eye, I saw him die.” Who caught his blood? “I,” said the Fish, “With my little dish, I caught his blood.””

It was odd. The little nursery rhyme had been getting stuck in his head quite frequently as of late. He couldn’t say why. He hadn’t thought about the song for years and now he couldn’t get rid of it, which he would have liked to do since he didn’t like the song at all. It gave him the creeps, but there was little he could do about it once it was stuck in his head.

“Who’ll be chief mourner? “I,” said the Dove, “I mourn for my love, I’ll be chief mourner.” Who’ll carry the coff…in?” It was there Nicoli stopped and he began scratching his head. It had become very itchy for some reason, but as he kept scratching he realized it wasn’t his head that was itching. A tickling sensation felt like it was running along his brain over and over. Coming to that conclusion was odd enough. Who ever heard of their brain being ticklish?

It was then Nicoli begun looking around and, with an idea, he took a shot in the dark.

“Ethan?” he called out questioningly through the mind link.

“At your service.”

Nicoli jumped in alarm and tilted his head back since the voice had sounded right above him. Sure enough there was the vampire, sitting in a branch to a tree right over his head.

“What the hell are you doing up there?” Nicoli asked, angry that he had been surprised.

“Waiting for you. You come by this way everyday after school so I figured I’d just wait for you here,” Ethan replied with a grin. A moment later he slipped from the branch and landed gracefully beside the boy.

Nicoli noticed that Ethan was in his protective gear once more. His piercing eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses once more and he was wearing the leather jacket from the Halloween party that was zipped up to protect his torso. His lower half was clothed by his black slacks and his gloves were back on his hands. Then the black umbrella was folded up and hanging from his arm. Since the tree was providing enough shade he didn’t need it at the moment.

“So, how’s it going?” Ethan asked casually, as he lifted his sunglasses to rest atop his head.

“You don’t just pop out of nowhere and say, “Hey, what’s up?” That’s extremely creepy. Not to mention how you know what I do everyday you freakin’ stalker,” Nicoli snapped. “And what the heck were you doing to my brain just now?” he asked, scratching his scalp again.

“Well, you did say you didn’t want me just talking out of the blue anymore, so, I was giving you a heads up,” Ethan replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

“God, the mind link never ceases to feel peculiar in one way or another,” Nicoli muttered. “So, why were you waiting for me?” he then asked.

“I just wanted to talk with you about something,” Ethan said as he placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder and nudged him forward to continue walking. As they began to walk side by side the vampire opened his umbrella to protect his sensitive skin from the sunlight.

“So, what do you want to talk to me about?” Nicoli prodded.

“About your jittery nerves,” Ethan said and continued when the boy stared at him with wide eyes. “I know you’re nervous about my family coming, heck, I’d say you’re downright scared.”

“I’m not scared,” Nicoli huffed, offended by the assumption. No matter how close that assumption was, but the vampire ignored the comment.

“I just wanted to let you know you have no reason to be. No matter what they think or how they feel about you helping me, it’s not going to change anything, I promise you that. Besides, you have nothing to worry about. They’re going to love you.”

Nicoli was skeptical, and for good reason, but he kept that to himself and instead brought up a question he had.

“How did you know I’ve been so nervous about meeting your family?” he asked.

“Do you even have to ask anymore?” Ethan asked with a light chuckle. “Through the mind link, of course. I’ve been getting small bursts of your anxiety filled thoughts ever since I told you and I just thought I’d come soothe them before you work yourself into a panic.”

Nicoli scowled at the scenery ahead of him. Of course it was because of the mind link. He kept forgetting he had no privacy.

“You need to stop reading my thoughts when I don’t want you to,” he grumbled.

“Then you need to learn to block them better,” the man rebuked. “But, I know you don’t really know how to do that just yet. We can always work on that later.”

“Yeah, yeah…you know, you say they’ll love me, but…what if one in particular doesn’t?” he asked softly, that chill licking up his spine again as Felix’s ghostly words whispered in his ear again.

“You mean Conrad?” Ethan asked, making Nicoli stop dead in his tracks. The vampire also stopped and turned toward the shocked boy. “You don’t have to worry about him. I’ll deal with my sire when the time comes. Don’t let anything that Felix told you about Conrad scare you,” he said soothingly and he had to resist the urge to run his fingers comfortingly through the human’s hair.

“How…How do you know what Felix–”

“The mind link again, I’m afraid,” Ethan said with a grin. “When it was first constructed I saw his secret rendezvous with you and how he tried to talk you out of joining us. He looked just as surprised as you when I confronted him about it.”

“Oh…” Nicoli wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He had fully intended to keep that meeting between them a secret, but Ethan had known all along.

“But really, Nicoli,” the vampire said, making the boy look back up at him. “I just want you to know that, no matter what happens, we’re in this together, and if some of the members of my family don’t like it, well, tough.”

Nicoli stared at him for a moment before continuing on his way home.

“But will you really have any sort of power to sway what they say or do?” he asked worriedly as the vampire followed.

“Of course, it’s hard for my father to say no to me for anything. I am the baby of the family, after all,” Ethan said jokingly, hoping to lighten the mood a little, but he could see it wasn’t working. “Look, trust me, okay, as far as I’m concerned you’re a vital part of this team now. If it wasn’t for you we may never have found that secret room, which means we never would have found that book. No one can make me think differently about how important you are in this. Not Felix and not my father. You have my word on that.”

Nicoli didn’t look at him, but, slowly, a small, almost sheepish, smile upturned his lips.

“Thanks, Ethan,” he said softly, but the man was still able to hear it and he smiled himself.

“You’re welcome. But that’s not the only reason I wanted to see you today.”

“What else do you want?” Nicoli asked, a teasing air in his tone.

“I wanted to thank you for that night at Deloris’ house.”

Nicoli looked at him oddly.

“Thank me? Thank me for what? Finding the book?” he asked in confusion.

“Well, also for that, but what I’m mainly thanking you for is saving my life with that chandelier trick you did,” the vampire told him and didn’t miss the surprised look the boy sported.

“Saving your life?” Nicoli echoed before looking away and shaking his head. “I didn’t save your life. You would have beaten the snot out of Omen sooner or later, I just…sped things along.”

“No, you saved my life, Nicoli. You really did. Omen may be human, but he would have had all of our heads if that fight had lasted any longer. It shames me to admit it, but even though I’m a vampire I don’t practice my fighting as much as I should, while Omen has been trained since he was a child and hones his skills everyday. If you hadn’t of done what you did, well, I think things would have turned out a little differently for us.”

Nicoli stayed silent, but he was secretly beaming with pride on the inside. It was nice to know he wasn’t as completely useless as he felt most of the time.

“Why did you quit?”

The question was so abrupt Nicoli almost stumbled as he walked.

“Quit what?” he asked in bewilderment.

“Baseball. From what I saw during the transferring process and what happened that night, you’re very skilled at it.”

At that Nicoli let a wide grin spread across his face.

“One of the top players on my team, and, not to toot my own horn, but I was also the best pitcher out of the lot.”

“Then why did you give it up?” Ethan asked.

Nicoli shrugged.

“I love baseball. It’s one of my favorite sports, but, nah, it’s just something I did for fun. I never saw it as something I’d do for a career or anything, so when I turned fifteen and the games became more of a business than just fun, I decided to bow out,” the boy explained. He had a far off look on his face, as if old memories were playing across his eyes. He then turned to the vampire and smiled brightly at him. “Besides, my face was made for the TV, not the pitchers mound.”

Ethan held a soft smile in response to Nicoli’s. It made sense. If you started something for the fun of it, why continue when it stops being fun?

“I agree,” the man said. “Everyone deserves to see your face lit up on the screen, but I suppose this is where we part ways,” he said as he stopped.

“What?” Nicoli said as he also stopped and stared at the vampire in confusion.

“Well, I just came to try and calm you of your fears, and it seems I accomplished that. That and I still have some arrangements to make before my family arrives.”

With the mention of the family doubt clouded Nicoli’s features once more. Ethan may have made him feel better, but he didn’t soothe all of the boy’s fears.

“Ethan, do you really think–” Nicoli was cut off when Ethan placed a gloved finger on the boy’s lips. The vampire then took Nicoli’s chin in his hand and tilted his face to look up at him.

“No more of that, Nicoli,” Ethan told him. “Everything is going to be fine. I trusted you when you asked me to back in that house, so I’m asking you to trust me now when I say it’s going to be okay.”

Nicoli stared at him for a few moments before averting his gaze and nodding.

“Okay, Ethan, I trust you.”

“Good, I’m glad,” Ethan said then, without warning, he leaned down towards the human.

Nicoli’s eyes widened in surprise when the vampire’s lips found his. After what happened in the maze, Nicoli should have been used to Ethan’s kisses, but the way this one was, it was unlike any kiss he had received from the man. His kisses had been hot, demanding, and aggressive. This one, however, was soft, sensual, and gentle. Just lips lightly pressed against lips. It made Nicoli’s mind reel at the difference.

Maybe the surprise at how tender the vampire could be was the reason Nicoli didn’t resist. He should have. He knew he should have if he was going to keep up his defiant persona, but he didn’t. He neither pulled away nor encouraged the kiss. Blue eyes just slid closed and Nicoli savored the contact. He didn’t know why. He would never know why.

Then it was over. Nicoli opened his eyes as Ethan pulled away just enough so they could look at each other.

“What was that for?” Nicoli asked, though his voice was soft and breathy.

The vampire simply smiled and pressed his lips against the human’s once more then again on the corner of Nicoli’s mouth before he stood up completely.

“You just looked like you needed a kiss,” Ethan said as his sunglasses sunk down to hide his eyes. “I’ll see you again soon, Nicoli. Take care.” Then the vampire was on his way and Nicoli was left watching his retreating back.

After awhile the boy remembered where he was going and started up his trek again. As he walked his hand gradually made its way up until his fingertips touched his lips. He could still feel the pressure of Ethan’s lips on his own and blood rose in his face, staining his cheeks red.

“Shit, Felix was right,” Nicoli murmured.

Ethan was a very charismatic man. If Nicoli wasn’t careful, he would soon find himself completely charmed by him. If the kiss was any indication, it was already starting to happen.

****************************************************************

The next day passed without incident. It was a normal day of school filled with classes and Trevor seemed to be back to his old self and continued to pester Nicoli like he did everyday – though that day he seemed to do it with a bit more aggression than normal –. Then, once home, Nicoli continued to help his mother renovate the garden to her liking. In all, it was a very mellow day.

As the sun sank below the horizon Nicoli was in his room, sitting at his desk trying to study for his math test that would take place the next day. To say he felt less than confident that he was going to pass it was an understatement.

Finally, with an exasperated sigh, Nicoli’s head fell onto his math book and he let out a defeated groan.

“This is impossible. None of it is sticking in my damn brain,” he grumbled as he then banged his head repeatedly against the pages of the book. His hope was dwindling fast. There was no way he was going to memorize everything he needed to know by tomorrow. That’s what he got for being a slacker.

Just as Nicoli was about to close the book and throw it against the nearest wall, something happened that made Nicoli sit upright and blink repeatedly. His brain had begun to tickle.

“Ethan?” he called out hesitantly through the link.

The only answered he received was a creak coming from his window behind him. He turned around just in time to see it opening on its own and a moment later the golden haired vampire was sitting on his window sill.

“Hey, Nicoli,” Ethan greeted with a grin and before the boy could form a response Felix appeared in the window and lay across the vampire’s lap.

“Yo,” he muttered with a wave.

Nicoli gawked at them for a moment before scowling.

“What the heck do you two want now?” he asked, glancing at his door to make sure it was closed.

“You. Come with us. Now,” Ethan said, pointing at the boy, then himself, then out the window.

Nicoli stared at him oddly before getting up from his chair and crossing his arms.

“All right, I’ll bite. Why?” he asked. The next thing Felix said chilled Nicoli to his very bones.

“The family has arrived.”

==========================================Ch. 21 End