Growing Wildflowers | WLW

Sunflower

"Don't ever say my daughter's name again." Mrs. Vanderbilt is pressing the stake into my chest, sending a ripple of hot pain pulsing through my body.

"Ma'am, please," I beg. "Please. Let me explain."

But she's not listening to me anymore. Instead, she's holding a hand out to the woman I'm assuming is Jamie's sister. They exchange something I can't see, and Mrs. Vanderbilt is pulling the cork out of a small bottle with her teeth. She splashes the water against my face like she's trying to exorcise a demon. I blink the water from my eyes. She throws the bottle to the side, leaving drops of lukewarm water dripping down my cheeks.

"May Source Intelligence have mercy for the atrocities you've committed," she says, wrapping both hands around the stake. Her face is so close, I can see the wrinkles around her lips as she says, "May Goddess grant you the ability to right your wrongs in another life."

I turn my face away, close my eyes tight and wait for the pain, wait for the darkness to take over, hoping to God this doesn't hurt John as badly as it's about to hurt me. I hope he knows I forgive him for turning me, hope Aurora knows I never blamed her for keeping secrets from me.

My mind races to Jamie. The missed calls. Our first kiss. The way she put her body between me and Liam when he cut himself. The beach. Jumping from the dock to keep her safe. To protect her. I'd do anything to protect her, even when I barely knew her and now it'll be my downfall.

Mrs. Vanderbilt takes a deep breath, readying herself to dig the stake through my sternum but when her forearm rests against my collarbone, her eyes go distant, her expression drained as if the anger is being sucked from her body through a funnel. Blood goes icy in my veins and when I force my eyes open, I'm at the beach with Jamie again.

I take a slow step to get a better view around the group of bystanders and find Jamie and Kelsey in the middle along with... Me? A clone of me? Am I dead? Did Mrs. Vanderbilt stake me, and this is the afterlife? Maybe this is the universe's cruel way of teaching me a lesson, showing me where I could have changed my fate. If I'd just let Jamie jump from the pier after her bag. How different things would be now.

I look down at my own hands, try to snap my fingers but there's no sound. I look back to the scene playing out in front of me as I push through the crowd. Everything is the same as I remember it. Kelsey grabs Jamie's arm. The initial fight. The lost bag. The way Jamie stares over the edge of the pier, tears streaming down her cheeks. My clone pushes Kelsey, pulls Jamie away from the edge but Jamie's taking her sweatshirt off, muttering something about her best friend and even though I know what's going to happen, I can't help but hold my breath as my clone jumps from the pier.

There's a collective gasp and everyone rushes forward to see if the past version of myself is going to survive. Then... I see her. Mrs. Vanderbilt.

She's standing back with me, a single tear stuck in her eyelashes, her jaw clenched, lipstick smudged. She catches me watching her and charges me.

"What are you doing to me?" she screams but nobody turns. I'm the only one who can hear her. "What are you doing in my head?" She tries to grab the collar of my shirt, but her hands slide through my body like I'm a ghost. "Get out of my head!"

"Mrs. Vanderbilt, I'm not—"

Before I can finish my sentence, we're sucked back to reality. I'm restrained to the chair in the dim lighting of Jamie's vampire slaying dungeon and Mrs. Vanderbilt is thrown backwards. Glass shatters as her body hits the display case on the other side of the room. I don't have time to think about what just happened. This is my chance. My only chance at survival.

I pull hard against the restraints around my wrists, but they're latched tight and my hands are shaking, my body heavy. I try to shake the feeling, but it doesn't matter. If I could lie my head back, I'd fall asleep. Am I dying? Did Mrs. Vanderbilt stake me, and this is my descent to the unknown?