Chapter 6

Scotland 2020

It was another one of those days where all it did was rain. The clouds hung low and dark and promised nothing other than more rain, maybe even a little bit of snow. She would like some snow, Arianna thought to herself. It would be a nice change to the rain. She stared out of her bedroom window, for miles and miles all there was to see was trees and hills. 

And rain. Frustrated she spun out of her room and down the stairs. She could hear the tv on in the living room. Alaina had to be just as bored as she was. Maybe enough to leave and find another place to live for a while, she was ready to go back to the states. She loved living there and the only reason she left was because Alaina came back from a run one day and was upset saying they needed to leave.

She hadn’t tried to argue with her because ever since their older sister had left them there, it just didn’t seem the same. Truth to be told she had been ready to leave as well, she just didn’t want to say anything. Alaina had never told her why she had been upset that day, even though she had asked a million times about it. She eventually stopped asking.

Alaina was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels when she walked in. She sat down next to her and prepared herself to ask her sister if they could leave. A minute seemed to take an hour, she couldn’t figure out why she couldn’t just ask her. It’s not like she was afraid of her sister. Just ask her already, she told herself, and get a grip!

“Alaina, can I talk to you about something?”

“Hmmm” was her reply.

“I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and this place is really boring. There is absolutely nothing to do here and all it does is rain! Can we please, please, please, go somewhere else for a while?”

Alaina turned to look at her and she gave her the best pleading look she could muster up. She looked thoughtful for a minute before she smiled.

“Let’s go.”

“YES!!!” Arianna shouted out and Alaina laughed at her.

“Since I picked to come here, you pick where we go next.”

“Really? I can pick?” Arianna looked at her sister with surprise.

“All up to you.”

Arianna knew she wanted to go back to the states, but didn’t know exactly where she wanted to go. Somewhere close to the city, but somewhere that had enough of an animal population that they wouldn’t be tempted to hunt humans. Either that or a good blood bank.

“I want to go back to the states Laina…I’m not sure where I want to go, but I love the states.”

Alaina stood there and thought about what her sister was saying. She had been thinking about heading back to the states for some time herself. Not back to Devil’s Lake though, definitely not back there. She didn’t think she could handle seeing him again. It almost killed her to leave him to begin with. She didn’t understand how he could have had such an impact on her in such a short little time. She sure as hell hadn’t known what to do about it, except leave. She had thought about that kiss way more than she should have over the past eleven years. So much time had passed but yet it seemed just like yesterday. But there was little that past in their life that seemed so long ago, all except for their creation.

I still can’t believe I told him!! She thought. The same thought crossed her mind a hundred thousand times. I wonder if he told anyone about us, he promised he wouldn’t though. She just hoped that he kept his promise and didn’t. She shook her head to clear the babbling that was going on in her mind. She looked at Arianna, she looked like she was close to begging. “Oh, all right. We will go back to the states. Just stop looking at me like that.” She told her. Arianna jumped up and made a whooping sound. Alaina just laughed at her sister, frozen in time at just 21 years and looked every bit of it. Alaina was 22, her 23rd birthday had only been a week away, but Cain had changed them first. There I go with my mind babble again, she thought to herself.

“We better go pack a few things to take with us. It would look suspicious if we were leaving the country without any bags or anything.”

“Yeah, you are right. It wouldn’t look normal. Give me five minutes and I will be ready.”

“Five? I can be ready in three.” They both laughed and ran off to their rooms to get some stuff ready. It only took them four minutes to have bags packed, showered, changed, and they even managed to eat something. Car loaded up and Alaina on the phone with the airlines arranging a flight. They had decided to go to New York to do some shopping, then to LA. They weren’t ready to settle down in one place just yet. They would stay in New York for a few weeks and then LA for another few weeks and then they would decide where to go from there.

It only took Alaina a few minutes to get a flight that would leave in three hours. The airport was almost two hours away but it only took them 45 minutes to get there. They got their bags checked and went through the security check point. By the time they got to the terminal they still had an hour left to wait before they would finally start to board. They sat there talking quickly and quietly to themselves about which stores they were going to shop at and what they were going to do while they were in the cities. They were so wrapped up in their conversation and making plans that they didn’t see the passengers that got off the plane that had just landed. One woman, and the man with her, stood out of the crowd. She was tall and had long, blonde hair with sparkling blue eyes. He was tall, dark, and lean and had dark hair and green eyes.

Abigail spotted her sisters on the other side of the terminal. They were talking and weren’t paying any attention to the people around them. She was tempted to just walk by them and not say anything. But she missed them terribly. She walked up behind them and put her hands on their shoulders. Their reactions were so quick that nobody even noticed that they even moved. They had stood up and turned around and when they seen their sister, their eyes got big. Arianna jumped into her sister’s arms. She was so happy to see her that she was crying. Alaina had started crying too, but she didn’t rush to her. She was still upset that she ran off on them.

Abigail pulled Arianna out of her arms so she could look at her. She looked exactly the same as she did when she left. But then again, she didn’t expect her to look any different. She looked at Alaina and started towards her. She could see the hesitation in her sister’s face so she stopped. She didn’t blame her, all she could do was ask for her forgiveness.

“Alaina, I’m so sorry. I really am. Please don’t hate me. I don’t think I could bear it.” At that Alaina broke and hugged her sister. “I don’t hate you. I just don’t understand why you left.”

“I just had to be alone for a while. I just started to feel a little too crowded and I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m really sorry. I should have talked to you and explained everything before I left instead of just taking off like that. But I knew I needed to leave and I was scared that if I tried to explain things then I would end up changing my mind.” Abigail couldn’t hold back the tears that she had built up. They flowed freely down her cheeks as she wiped them off.

Alaina sighed. “You are right, you probably would have changed your mind. I’ve been so mad and upset with you. Who is that?” she asked as she finally noticed the man standing a few feet away. He looked to be trying to give them their privacy. But man seemed to be the wrong word, vampire, he was a vampire.

“That is my new friend Nicholas. After I left, I found him camping on our land in Ireland. He was human and I was going to kill him, but I found him intriguing. I ended up changing him instead. I’ve been trying to teach him how we do things. He has been doing really well.”

Alaina pulled away from her sister and glared at her. “You just said that you left to be alone. Then you go and changed a human. How could you do that to us?”

“I did leave to be alone. I was there for a little while and I decided to go hunting. I didn’t expect to come across a human. My thirst just took over. I’m so sorry, please forgive me.”

“I’m not sure how we could,” this time it was Arianna that spoke. Abigail looked at her with shock. “You left us, I understood that you needed to be alone. But you haven’t been alone. Eleven years you have been away from us, you didn’t even pick up a phone to call and tell us you were even alive. You don’t even care about us, do you?” she just glared at her sister. “Let’s go Alaina.” Arianna grabbed her sister and pulled her down the terminal and left her other sister standing there speechless. Arianna had never spoken to her like that. Usually, it was Alaina that argued with her. She was crying, tears streaming down her checks as they walked away. Nicholas walked up behind her and put his arms around her. She turned and buried her face in his chest and just cried. She didn’t want her sisters to hate her, and now they do.

Arianna never took her hand from Alaina as they walked down the terminal. She finally turned and looked at her sister. Both of their eyes were red from crying. Their sister had betrayed them. She walked over to a row of seats and sat down. She put her face in her hands and cried. Alaina sat next to her and put her arm around her. They didn’t speak, there weren’t any words that could be said to make the pain go away.

They sat there for what seemed like an eternity when they heard the announcer call for people to start boarding their flight. They walked back down to the gate and waited with their tickets. On the plane Arianna took the window seat and closed her eyes. The flight didn’t seem to take long. Next thing they knew the pilot was announcing they were landing and to fasten their seat belts. They moved in a daze, their movements were mechanical as they walked to baggage claim. Once they got their luggage, they got a rental car and left to find a hotel. They didn’t take in the sights of the skyscrapers or notice any of the stores they wanted to shop in.

They just pulled up to a random hotel that looked suitable. They didn’t even bother getting anything out of the car, they just handed the keys to the valet and walked in. The concierge reached the check-in counter at the moment they did.

“Good evening ladies. How can I help you?” he asked politely.

Alaina looked up at him and spoke for the first time since they left the airport in Scotland. “We need a deluxe suite. We will be staying for two weeks.”

“Let me check the computer and see if we have commendations to suit two lovely ladies.” He started typing on the computer. He smiled “We have a presidential suite that is available if you would like.”

“That’s fine.” She said and gave him the information required and handed him a credit card and ID. He took the card and swiped it, thinking that it might have been stolen for they didn’t even ask how much the room would cost. But it was her name on the card and she matched her ID. The computer flashed that the card was approved and he decided that they were just spoiled and called the bellhop to get their luggage out of the car and take it to their room. He showed them to their room and once the door was shut, they went to their rooms and shut the doors. They didn’t even stop to look at the room. It wasn’t long before they were both asleep.