Midnight Blood (Born Immortal) Read online

  “So am I,” she confessed, “Hopefully they’re helpful.”

  This woman, Aunt Mill, picked up the books and read the titles, she quickly gave Shayna a suspicious look, and then smiled, “I’m sure they will be, dear, I’m sure.” The woman looked like joy had overcome her. Shayna was a little confused, “Please, come back and see me soon,” she told Shayna, and handed her the change. Maybe she is just happy to have a customer, Shayna thought.

  “I will,” she said truthfully, and she would especially if the two books proved to be helpful. She put the books in her backpack and hoped Cain would come back out before she left. “Thank you,” she said to Aunt Mill, and turned toward the door. Cain didn’t return. She turnedback to Aunt Mill, “Tell Cain I will see him tomorrow.”

  “Sure thing dear,” the old woman’s smile grew larger.

  “Bye,” Shayna said, and opened the door and walked out. She liked Aunt Mill, she thought she was very sweet, even if a little odd.

  Cain watched Shayna leave from the back. He came out when she was out of sight, and walked to the counter.

  “I can’t believe she came in here,” he said to Aunt Mill, who stood at the window watching Shayna walk down the road.

  The woman looked at Cain with the same joy Shayna had seen, “She is magnificent Cain,” she stated, “Did you see what she purchased?” she asked him.

  “No,” he recalled, and laughed, “She hid them behind her back as soon as she saw me. Huh, if she only knew.”

  “She knows, Cain,” Aunt Mill couldn’t stop smiling.

  Cain looked at her trying to reach into her mind. “Knows what?” he finally asked.

  The old woman narrowed her wrinkled eyes, “She knows what she is, and after she reads that book, she might just know what you are too,” she answered him, and then said, “Not who you are, but what you are. If you really feel as strongly as you say you do about her, than you’re are going to need to be honest with her. Don’t hold back” she said.

  Cain thought of Marcus Verona. He frowned. He didn’t like the feeling of regret.

  After leaving the book store, Shayna continued down Long Lake Road. She had wanted to stay and talk with Cain, but she also didn’t want to push her luck. The book store had just opened, and she refused to let him think she was as desperate as the other girls at the academy.

  She thought about the books in her backpack. She knew she had found what she needed. Her father had left her with very little information regarding her transformation. He had only told her what they both were, and that she was very special. He had also said that he would return for her by her eighteenth birthday, and that only true death would stop him.

  Shayna thought of Cain. She needed more of him. Their encounters were too brief. She became frustrated. She turned onto Innwood, and something above caught her eye. The hawk was high above her, soaring in circles. Beautiful! she thought. She tried to ignore the creature when he seemed to be following her.

  She thought of Cain again, and back to the bookstore. She remembered something she had seen on his hand, a ring with a very familiar looking gemstone in it. She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t realized it earlier. She had the same type of stone tucked away under a floorboard in her closet, it was dark green, with spots of red. It was there with the rest of her father’s belongings, that she had found in the attic, the day she decided to go snooping. She needed to find out what kind of gemstone it was. He father had dozens of the stones, a ring and a beautiful necklace. The gemstone on the necklace had been faceted and cut into a large one and a half inch heart shape, with a small red tear drop carnelia, hanging from the bottom of the gemstone. It was accented by a pure silver chain, that Shayna was certain was at least five hundred years old, give or take a couple hundred years. It was absolutely gorgeous.

  Her attempts at ignoring the hawk worked, while she was deep in thought about this precious gemstone, the hawk disappeared. She approached her house, and walked in to find Melina laying on the couch with a heating pad on her abdomen.

  “Ha! Just as I suspected,” Shayna had never seen anyone miss so much school because of ‘cramps’.

  “Just wait Shayna,” she smiled conivingly, “Yours is coming.”

  “Whatever,” Shayna wondered if she should tell her sister. Now or never. She decided. “Mel, I have to talk to you.”

  “What?” Melina said nervously, and then, “I didn’t do it!”

  “No,” Shayna sat down in a big over stuffed olive green chair, “You didn’t do anything,” she looked at Melina, “It’s about me.”

  Melina sat straight up, “Ooh, I love gossip.”

  “Nevermind,” Shayna said ready to stand up and forget the whole thing.

  “No Shay,” Melina pleaded, “I’ll be serious, don’t go.”

  Shayna relaxed a little, “Okay, you have to think about what I’m saying before you respond.”

  Melina agreed, “Okay.”

  Twisting her hair, Shayna added, “And you can’t tell anybody, not yet anyway.”

  “Okay,” she agreed again, “What it is?”

  Shayna took a deep breath, “It’s about the new boy Cain,” she confessed. Melina raised her eyebrows, Shayna continued, “I think I am very attracted to him,” She stopped and waited for a response, she could see Melina process the information, and grin.

  “Go for it,” she said leaning back, onto the couch again.

  “What?” Shayna was surprised that it was that easy, “Really?”

  “Well,” she started, “Being home all day I realized that, I agree with Maria, he’s out of our league,” Melina looked at her twin, fascinated, “But, if you like him, I say go for it.” Melina was shocked at her sister’s confession. “How did this happen?” she asked. Shayna seemed so dull and boring to Melina, but, if anybody can catch this boy’s interest it’s Shayna, Melina thought.

  “I don’t know, I saw him yesterday, and he has been the center of my mind ever since, even my dreams,” Shayna was embarassed telling Melina this. She scratched at the chair with her finger. “I keep bumping into him too. Like, really bumping into him. I don’t mean to, it’s just happening,” Shayna laughed in her head when she thought of it, but continued anyway, “The way I feel inside is making me crazy,” she was talking without taking breaths in between now, “When I think about him, my knees get weak and my stomach flutters all over,” she couldn’t stop, “Is this normal? Am I okay? Wh—“

  “Shay!” Melina interrupted her, “Calm down,” she sat up again. “Take a deep breath, you’re fine,” Melina laughed, “This is great.”

  “Please,” Shayna used her eyes to plead with her sister, “Don’t say a word, I want him to find out from me. Not through gossip,” she thought of Cain, “He’s too sophisticated for that.”

  Melina held out a hooked little finger to Shayna, “I pinky swear, I won’t tell anyone,” the girls locked pinky fingers and kissed their thumbs, to seal the deal.

  “Thanks Melina.”

  “One question,” Melina started, “Why did you tell me? You never tell me anything,” She thought for a second, then said, “That kinda offends me, by the way.”

  “I told you because I thought you liked him, and I didn’t want a problem,” she lowered her eyes, Shayna hated confrontation, but believed being honest was more important, “At least I cared.”

  “Seriously Shayna,” Melina was a little hurt, “I’m not shallow, and I do have a brain, being clueless is just a role I like to play, I know when I’m in over my head, and I do care too,” she smiled at her sister, leaned back, and readjusted the heating pad, “If you would have told me you liked him, I would have backed off, nothing would make me happier than to see you finally hook up with somebody.”

  “Whatever,” Shayna stood up, “We good then?” she asked.

  “You bet,” she picked the remote control up off the of coffee table, “Good luck, but I think if anyone can catch his eye, it’s you.

  You’re a dork,” Shayna said, walking
out of the living room, and hoping she had already caught his eye.

  Shayna dropped her backpack on her bedroom floor, and went to her computer. She sat down at the desk, turned the computer on, and connected to the internet. On her Google bar she typed the words:

  GEMSTONE GREEN STONE RED SPOTS

  It was called a Bloodstone, her eyes widened, she clicked on the link to the Encyclopedia of Gems, and read the description.

  Bloodstone is a dark green jasper stone that is dotted with iron oxide. The iron oxide resembling drops of blood. Also called Heliotrope, a greek word meaning sun and turning, a polished bloodstone was thought by ancients to reflect the sun. Bloodstone is said to be a very magical stone, it is said to strengthen blood purifying organs, and improve blood circulation.

  Shayna shut down her computer, and leaned back in her chair. Sun and turning. She thought. She got up from the desk and locked the door. She looked around the room for her backpack, finding it on the bed. She sat on her bed and took the book Sunlight out of her backpack. She took in a deep breath and opened it.

  Chapter 3

  Shayna stepped into the meadow in awe of how captivating it was. She knew the meadow well, it was near the waterfall. The daisies were blooming, and the setting sun gave a purple glow behind the towering maple trees.

  She looked down at herself, and gasped. She was dressed in a magnificent white gown, that was trimmed in silver, and sparkled in the dimming sunlight, like glitter. It flowed so beautifully to the ground, it reminded her of the waterfall. She thought it was definitely from a different time period.

  She felt something touch her shoulder, and she spun around. She felt no fear. It’s him. She wished she knew his name.

  “My name is not important,” he said and took her hand.

  Puzzled, she narrowed her eyes and said, “How did you do that?”

  He smiled, his eyes like sapphires, and led her to a downed tree at the edge of the meadow, “I’m getting closer to you now, Shayna.”

  She was still confused, she sat down on the tree, and asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Well,” he said, “The closer I get to you, the stronger I am in your dreams, and your dreams tell me, that you want to know my name.”

  “I still don’t understand,” Shayna said, and picked up a daisy. The petals were like silk, and the center looked like gold glitter.

  “Let me exp—“

  “Shayna. No!” someone was yelling on the other side of the meadow, Shayna looked past the boy, and saw Cain running toward them. He was getting closer. The boy turned quickly, and ran at Cain, and in a rainbow of colors, transformed into a hawk, a very large hawk, and was in the air soaring over Cain’s head. Cain lunged at the hawk. He lunged high, but the hawk was gone.

  Shayna stared in awe, speechless. She couldn’t believe how high Cain had jumped, he hit the ground hard but gracefully, and walked toward her.

  “I told you that I’m here for you now,” he said as he approached her, “But, I’m not the only one.”

  She didn’t know whether to be scared, or inquisitive.

  “Who is he?” she asked and reached for his hand, she felt comfortable doing it, it felt right to her. “Is he real?”

  He took her hand and looked into her eyes. Her knees weakened, and gave out. He caught her in his arms, and lifted her up, their eyes still locked.

  “I’m real,” he said.

  “Shayna, what are you doing in there?” the doorknob on Shayna’s door rattled, “Open up,” Melina was calling to Shayna from the other side.

  Shayna sat up, the room was dark. She looked at the clock on her nightstand, and turned on the lamp. It was 6:33pm.

  “Shay,” Melina said again.

  “Hold on, I was sleeping,” Shayna found her books on the bed, and shoved them into her backpack, and opened the door.

  “Noah called,” Melina said as soon as the door was open, “He said he called your phone but you didn’t answer,” she stood on her tiptoes trying to peek into the room, “What are you doing?”

  “I told you, I was sleeping,” Shayna answered, “What are you doing, faker?”

  “I’m not faking,” Melina said with a smirk, “I’m better now.”

  “Whatever,” Shayna was getting impatient, “Did Noah say what he wanted?”

  “No, he just said to have you call him,” Melina said, and turned to head down the stairs, “I’m warming up last nights spaghetti, if you’re hungry,” she added, over her shoulder.

  Shayna waited until she could hear Melina was downstairs, then closed and locked her door again. She got the books out of her backpack, and found a flat head screwdriver in her desk, and went to her closet. She knelt down to the right corner and pried up the floorboard. She placed the books in the small space in the closet floor. She pulled out a silver box, opened it and took out a velvet pouch. She replaced the board and and went back to her bed. She held the velvet pouch tight in her hand and closed her eyes.

  When she woke up the next morning, Melina was jumping on her bed.

  “Shay, wake up,” she said with excitement. “Look outside.”

  “Come on,” Shayna said, and tried to roll Melina off of her. “Get off of me!”

  Melina removed herself from her sister, jumped off the bed, and opened the dark purple sun and moon patterned drapes, that were concealing the day.

  “Look.”

  Shayna sat up and peered out the window, everything was white. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped in a sarcastic way.

  “Is that snow?” She asked.

  “Can you believe it?” Melina had a grin from ear to ear, she loved snow days, and missing school, but she didn’t like the cold. “I was starting to think that it wasn’t going to snow this year.”

  Shayna got out of bed and went to the window. The hardwood floor of her bedroom was cold on her bare feet. She peered out. Everything was covered, it wasn’t just a light dusting that the weathermen had called for, there was a thick blanket over everything, and it was still coming down.

  “It’s so beautiful, and silent,” Shayna whispered, and watched the snow fall.

  “There’s no school,” Melina told her interrupting Shayna’s moment, “Apparently everyone forgot how to drive in this stuff. Idiots.”

  Shayna shot a look of disappointment at Melina, “What? We have to miss school for this?” she really didn’t mind missing school, but she was missing Cain.

  “Don’t worry Miss Perfect,” Melina said to her, rolling her eyes, “Your perfect attendance record won’t be shattered, you can make it up at the end of the year.” with a smirk, Melina walked out of the room.

  Shayna didn’t care if Melina thought her attendance record was the reason she didn’t want to miss school. She really didn’t want Melina to know how strongly she was feeling for Cain. She had already told Melina too much. Now that she knew why he would wear a bloodstone ring, she really didn’t want Melina to know too much. She sighed, she wanted to see Cain, she needed to see him.

  She put on a plush pink robe, and went downstairs. Melina was on the phone, probably with Maria or Delany, on the couch. Shayna went to the big picture window in the living room, and looked out at the neighborhood. She didn’t want to be cooped up all day. She wasn’t going to let a couple inches of snow keep her inside. She went to the kitchen and had a bowl of cereal, and a bagel, then went upstairs to take a bath, and decide what to do with the snow day.

  When she was out of the bath she went back to her room, she dug through her closet, wrapped in a towel, for the warmest clothes she could find. Buried way in the back, she found a box she hadn’t seen in two years. Her grandmother had sent it to her. Somehow it had gotten shoved to the back of her closet, to be forgotten about. She grabbed the box and a pair of jeans, and sat down on the bed with them.

  “Perfect,” she said to herself.

  Inside was a pair of brown, almost knee high, leather lace up boots, that were lined with thick wool, and a matching hooded coat. I can’t beli
eve I forgot about these. She thought.

  Once dressed she looked in the mirror. She looked like an eskimo princess. Like she was dressed for a frozen tundra. The coat hugged her body, and hung just over her buttocks. Along with the thermal pants she wore under her clothes, and the two pairs of socks she had on, she knew she would be plenty warm enough.

  She went downstairs to the kitchen and found a water bottle, and filled it. Melina was still veged out on the couch when Shayna came into the living room to talk to her.

  “I’m going for a walk to the meadow,” she told Melina, “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

  “You’re crazy,” Melina said, and looked at her sister. “Look at you!” she exclaimed, “You look hot. Are you meeting Cain in the meadow?”

  Shayna glared at Melina, “I’m going for a walk.” Although, she did wish she was meeting Cain at the meadow, “Can’t I be warm and look good too?”

  “Well have fun,” Melina looked outside and frowned, “I’m going to stay right here.” She said pointing to the couch.

  “See ya, then,” Shayna said and whirled around on her heels, and went through the kitchen and out the backdoor, grabbing a pair of gloves out of the seat of the bench as she passed.

  The cold air hit her face hard, almost taking her breath away. She pulled the hood of the coat over her head, the wool lining doing a good job of keeping snow flakes out of her face. She hugged herself and shivered.

  “What am I doing?” she said under her breath.

  She put on the gloves, and stepped off the porch. She carried the water bottle by it’s strap and,headed in the direction of the path, which had disappeared under the snow, even though she couldn’t see it, she knew where it was.

  She used the trees that she knew very well, to guide her way through, and it payed off. She got to the waterfall about forty five minutes later. She followed the path past, thinking she should have brought her sketch book with her. The way the weather had been lately, who knew when it would snow again. She trudged through the snow in the direction of the meadow for another hour before she finally stepped into the clearing. She had came because of something she had seen in her dream, something that wasn’t what she remembered of the meadow. The fallen tree. She knew there wasn’t a tree down the last time she had been there, but she also knew to pay attention to her dreams.