Grey Eyes: Book One of the Forever Trilogy

Chapter Thirteen

“You came,” he said from the balcony doorway. The room was dark and his silhouette was all that I could see.

“W-who are you?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“Tristan,” he answered.  “Do you remember anything about me?”

“I…I know that I went to meet you last night, but I don’t know why… and I feel that I know you somehow—I felt it when you came to my room last night and again at school today.  But they’ve done something to make me forget who you are.”

He nodded to himself.  “If you come with me, I can take you to a place that will answer all of your questions.”

Despite the overwhelming sense of familiarity I felt for him, the thought of being alone with him scared me.  “Are you a vampire?” I asked him flatly.

“I am,” he replied.  “But please, don’t be afraid of me—I won’t hurt you.  Can you trust me?”

His reply made me shiver.  Shaking, I turned to Helena, who took up a spot on the end of my bed.  Her face was damp with tears and without my having to ask, she answered my question.  “You can trust him, dear.  More than anyone else in this world.”

I looked at him again.  Who was this boy?  I had to know.  I swallowed.  “I’ll come with you.”

 He started toward me.  “I’m going to pick you up, is that alright?”

I glanced at Helena once more, and then nodded.

At his touch, I jerked away from him. As much as I tried to convince myself that this was okay, my body still remembered being trapped under that bed with that monster.  What he was, terrified me.

“Look into my eyes, Ana.  You know me.  There’s a reason you agreed to meet with me—to leave with me.  I would never hurt you.”

 There was just enough light from the hall that I could see the intensity in his eyes.  It took me a moment to speak. “I believe you, it’s just—“

In a flash, he’d taken me into his arms and started for the balcony.  How anything could move so fast, I didn’t know.  I closed my eyes and felt him leap; the wind was rushing against my face, blowing through my hair…  I stole a peek and saw the ground rushing up to meet us.  I closed my eyes again, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck until I felt the impact of his feet meeting the earth.  There was something reassuring about being in his arms, like that feeling you get from returning to something familiar and comfy—like home after a long trip.  This felt so normal to me, as if I had been here a thousand times before.  His scent was sweeter than anything I’d known.  I laid my head against his chest, and felt the tension ease from my limbs.

“You can open your eyes now, Ana.”

First, I’d been terrified of him, and now I couldn’t let go.

“Please,” he spoke softly.  “We have to hurry.”

He dropped his right arm, allowing my legs to drop beneath me.  The sun was setting and we were in front of a wide lake, I’d seen it from my balcony but it always looked so far away then…  I whipped my head around to find the house was now the thing that was off in the distance.  We’d covered what had to be a mile in a matter of seconds.

“Follow me,” he said next.

I followed him around the lake, watching the lightning bugs twinkling around us like tiny stars.  He pulled an old wooden rowboat from behind some tall grass and dragged it down to the shore.  As I watched the grass sway back into place, an image of a leather-bound book flashed in my head.