Author’s Note: Hey guys. Sorry if I got your hopes up but this is not an update. Shortly after posting I realized that posting chapter six was sheer laziness on my part and unfair to you guys reading out there. It was rushed, it was ragged and I didn’t like it. So I’ve spent the last few weeks editing the chapter and this is what I’ve come up with. I don’t think there’s any new information or anything—wait, sorry, I just lied. I put in some information about the origins of the war and stuff when Kaeden and Genesis are in the car. Aside from that, scattered throughout the chapter are some revisions and some thinking so Kaeden doesn’t suddenly seem perfectly alright with the state of the world (Thanks Fatum). You can read the revisions if you’d like but I won’t hold it against you if you don’t. Just check back in in a few weeks; I should be updating soon. Thanks guys and sorry again.

Other Plans

Kaeden stood in the huge room now empty save for himself, wondering what to do now. “Stay away from humans,” Caleb had said. As a favor to himself. What type of command was that?! Humans were all he knew. Maybe all he wanted to know. And then there was his sister. His sense of time may have been somewhat convoluted but he was certain he hadn’t been home in at least two days, leaving Natalie home alone for the time. She was a responsible fifteen-year-old but still. Anything could happen and he wasn’t there. He had to get to her but how? He didn’t know his way around this place. He didn’t even know where this place was. “Ugh,” he groaned. “What a mess.”

He suddenly heard the elevator coming up and froze, unsure of what to do. He wasn’t certain he was ready to talk to another vampire yet and especially not alone. He was still reeling from Nicholai and he wasn’t very ready to face anyone else who may have wanted him dead, no matter how much had changed. On the other side of the room there was a doorway but he didn’t know where it went and wasn’t sure who might be in there, if anyone. He finally settled for shielding as best he could and waited.

The doors slid open but he only saw a blur before a second later he felt something—someone—on his back and his vision went dark.

He would’ve panicked if it hadn’t been for the scent. He could recognize it anywhere, even without the heightened sense of smell and it was all around him, something sweet and indescribable, unlike any other fragrance in the world. It made him smile.

“Hey Gen.” He heard her distinct musical laugh as she pressed her lips beneath his ear and moved her hand away from his eyes.

“How did you know it was me?” she asked laughingly.

Kaeden twisted his head around to see Genesis smiling happily at him. She loosed her emotions and they whirled around Kaeden, pure, sweet not-smells, some he couldn’t identify, but all telling him the same thing: she was happy and downright delighted to see him. He realized right then looking at her that no matter what he’d learned about her these past couple of days, he still loved her and couldn’t imagine it any other way.

“The question,” he said, “is how could I not know.” He kissed her then and she smiled.

“Someone’s mood,” she said, marginally surprised, “has greatly improved.”

He shrugged, an awkward movement with her practically perched on his shoulder. She climbed down. “I guess it has.”

“I’m glad,” she said, leaning against his shoulder. “A cranky Kaeden is no fun.”

“Me? Cranky? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He smiled and Genesis laughed softly.

“Sure you don’t. So what would you like to do?”

“Well,” Kaeden said carefully, “I’d actually like to go home.”

Genesis tensed. She was ecstatic that Kaeden was acting so normally and didn’t want to bring him down but… “I don’t know Kaeden; I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“But Gen, look,” he said. “I haven’t been home, my sister’s there by herself, there’s no telling if my mom’s back yet, I don’t have my phone, and I’ve got a paper to start.”

Genesis almost laughed at that but she decided against it. “Um, Kaeden?” she said delicately. “How exactly do you plan on going to school? When there are humans around? During the day? When the sun is up?”

Kaeden swore. He hadn’t thought of that.

“Oh, it’s not so bad.” She said it in a soothing, coercive manner but Kaeden wasn’t buying it.

“I have plans for my life Gen,” he said. “And they require a high school diploma.”

“I could have one forged for you if you’d like,” she offered.

“It’s not the same.”

“Why?”

He sighed. In that moment when she’d come up behind him and covered his eyes, things had seemed to be as they were before all the complications in their relationship, and in the normalcy of the moment, he’d almost forgotten why he’d been so angry with her. Almost. He remembered all too well now. “You know what I’ve just realized?” he said. “There’s a lot we don’t know about each other.”

Genesis was quiet for a moment. “…I guess you’re right.”

Kaeden nodded. “Exactly. So let’s fix that. I’ll go first. My mom, my sister, and I are very close and our greatest fear is losing one of us. My sister is currently home alone in a house that according to you smells like vampires in the middle of a territory supposedly claimed by dryyds who, in addition to being at war with vampires, apparently have a near incontrollable preoccupation with eating human hearts. Are you seeing the problem I have with this situation yet?” Kaeden marveled at the things that had just come out of his mouth. If he hadn’t been so worried, he might have been mindblown.

“Yes,” Gen answered. “I do, but—” She stopped, torn. On the one hand, she thought this was a really bad idea. On the other, however, she desperately wanted Kaeden to be okay with this. To see that really not that much had changed. More than that though, she didn’t want to fight anymore; she’d done her best to stay calm under every circumstance—and failed miserably the day before—but she really hated it when they argued. “…Alright,” she finally conceded. “Let’s go.” She’d be there, she figured, to help him if things got too tough or if anything attacked, so hopefully she would not end up regretting this.

Kaeden smiled, relieved. “Thanks.” He would have found a way to get home even if she’d said no but still, that she cared enough about what he wanted to say yes was something. After all, for all of her talk of turning him because she loved him, Kaeden wasn’t certain how sure he was that she really cared. And if he was ever going to be certain of anything else, he needed to be certain of that. His perception of the world had been very much disproved, and right now he needed something from back when things still made sense to root him in reality and keep him from floating off into the depths of psychosis.

Genesis smiled, trying to convince herself that she’d made the right choice. “Don’t mention it. Now, onward!” She took his hand and they walked together into the elevator. Genesis pressed P1 and the doors shut.

There was thankfully no elevator music—listening to it had always been a source of irritation for Kaeden whenever the occasion arose—so the only sounds were the hum of the elevator and the breathing of the two vampires.

Vampires.

Kaeden leaned his head back against the wall of the elevator and closed his eyes. Now that he didn’t feel like he was dying of starvation and thirst—though a shadow of the thirst was still lurking within him—he couldn’t say he felt terribly different than he had three days ago. He did feel oddly still—he hadn’t realized just how strongly a heart beat until his had stopped—but aside from that… He wondered vaguely if he would miss the stillness when he was back to normal. Humans could be weird like that.

Human.

He would become human again once he got the shard of Anima as promised from Rhiam. It seemed a rather long time since he’d talked to the fallen angel. An angel who’d fallen from heaven…an angel who now worked for Hell? It suddenly occurred to him to wonder why he trusted Rhiam, whom he’d talked to for a grand total of forty-five minutes and wished for thirty of those that he’d let the dryyd have him, more than he trusted Genesis, the girl currently nestling against his arm who he’d dated and loved for almost two years. Sure, she’d made it so that he would never be able to see the sun again, needed blood to survive, and almost completely doused his hopes for his future vocation, but…Oh wait, that was why. Still though—

“Do you have your keys?” Genesis suddenly asked him, breaking off his thoughts.

Kaeden could feel them pressing against his leg in his pocket. They’d stabbed him a couple of times during his and Caleb’s sparring match. “Yes,” he said. “Why, do you have my car?”

She nodded, surprising him. “I had a friend go get it just after sunset. She’s very adept at hotwiring cars.”

“Wow,” Kaeden said in slight disbelief. “Thanks.”

“I know. I’ll tell her you say so. It wasn’t that big a deal, though. You only left it about ten miles outside of town.”

“Where are we anyway?”

“Eastern Spoons.”

“We’re behind that big wall?”

“Bingo.”

Huh. Kaeden knew exactly where he was. The extreme eastern region of Spoons was where all the rich people lived. Homes six hundred thousand dollars and up were everywhere and during Christmas, the place boasted more lights than Paris. Up until he was seven, he and his family would go looking at Christmas lights in these neighborhoods. The houses all surrounded an impressive wall that separated them from the largest of all. Or at least Kaeden had always assumed it was the largest of all; the wall made it impossible to see much of anything.

“This way,” Gen said, pulling him off to the left when the elevator doors slid open. As they walked in that direction, Kaeden found himself in something of a parking garage housing scores of cars, most of them really, really nice. He gaped for a moment. In his immediate field of view, there was a black Bentley, a burnt orange Mustang, a cherry red Lamborghini, and a… hunter green Jeep Grand Cherokee. Hmm.

“Kaeden…Kaeden…” Genesis gently pushed his jaw up, smiling at him affectionately. “Your car’s that way.”

Kaeden nodded. “Right…car…that way.” He continued in the way she had indicated and eventually found his car; it was sandwiched between a Ferrari and a Porsche, looking a little shabby in the present company. Whatever. His Sentra was his baby; he’d bought it himself, and would love it no matter what.

They got in the car, Kaeden having to move his phone so he wouldn’t sit on it. The battery was dead. He wondered how many times Natalie had called.

“So now you tell me something,” Kaeden said, starting the car.

“Hmm? Something like what?”

“Like how old you are?”

She looked at him innocently. “Exit’s that way.”

He turned and drove up a ramp until he was greeted by the night sky. It was unbelievably bright, even without the moon. Now in front of the mansion, Kaeden would get a better idea of what it was like.

Huge was what it was like. It was a six story, post-modern looking structure with a brick exterior and bay windows, surrounded by well-trimmed hedges, rose bushes, and wisteria. Kaeden rolled down the windows, allowing the sweet night air to permeate the car.

As he’d found out earlier, the grounds were surrounded by a wall and as far as he could see, the only way in or out was a tall, wrought iron gate. Genesis reached over him and hit a button on a remote Kaeden hadn’t noticed clipped to his visor. The gate opened and he drove through. He immediately knew where he was.

“I was turned in 1945 when I was seventeen after spending three years in the Manzanar concentration camp after Pearl Harbor.” She said it all in one breath, as if she didn’t want to spend more time than necessary articulating the words.

Kaeden had prepared himself for a shock so he didn’t run off the road as Genesis had been expecting. He was also careful to keep anything condemning out of the air, though that was a rather difficult feat; this was, after all, very weird. That would make Gen close off to eighty years old. He was suddenly struck by the notion that he could be dating his grandmother’s best friend. Ew. He pushed that thought away quickly before it could escape him and glanced at her, his gaze met by a beautiful seventeen year old’s face. Nah, he thought decisively. No way. Genesis was looking at his face expectantly.

“Well?” she asked. “Does that change anything?”

Kaeden shook his head firmly, even though he’d only decided the answer an hour ago. “Of course not,” he said, doing the math once more, almost unable to believe he had it right. “It’s just a bit weird. Pearl Harbor, huh? Wow.”

“Wow what?” she asked, still afraid he might begin looking at her as if she were a pedophile or something.

“Nothing,” he said. “It’s just that…well, you’re a survivor of World War II. It’s kind of bizarre.” And it was bizarre; he felt utterly ridiculous saying that to the teenage girl he was dating.

She laughed hollowly. “Nothing wow about it. I spent the period of American involvement in that rat hole of camp.” Kaeden was curious but she waved off his questioning look. “What does it matter? It was ages ago. And besides, it’s your turn to answer a question.”

“Alright,” Kaeden said, yielding to her comprehensible disinclination to reliving what couldn’t have been a pleasant experience. “But there’s not much to tell. I’ve always told you the truth.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Gen asked, somewhat huffily. “I’ve never once lied to you Kaeden.”

“Uh-huh. Gen, you kept me from knowing the existence of vampires, dryyds, demons, angels… I’m sure there’s some lying in there somewhere.”

“Nope. There isn’t. You just never asked the right questions. “

“I specifically asked how old you were around our second meeting.”

“And I said I turned seventeen in March. I didn’t say March of what year. Then you asked me why you’d never seen me around school but always saw me around the bookstore and I told you I was homeschooled, which I was…back in the 1930s and early 40s.”

“And what if I had for some reason asked you flat out if you were a vampire?”

“I would have distracted you,” she said smiling sweetly at him, “which is not the same thing as lying to you.”

“Alright, alright,” Kaeden said, knowing he’d been beaten. Vaguely, somewhere in the more obscure recesses of his mind he thought, Beaten? What type of game am I playing here anyway? When it came down to it though, in the grand scheme of things, the whole exchange wasn’t that big of a deal in the first place. “What do you want to know?”

“Why is school such a huge deal to you?”

Kaeden exhaled before answering. “Well aside from the fact that becoming a high school drop-out just isn’t my thing, I’ve also planned my life around becoming a doctor since I was ten. I kind of need a high school degree and basic knowledge of biology and chem. for that.”

“Hmm? What happened when you were ten?”

Kaeden paused and then said, “That was how old I was when I finally stopped blaming myself for my dad’s murder.” He’d become quiet and a thin layer of sadness enclosed the car.

“He was…? I didn’t…know that.”

“You never asked.”

“You always seemed so sad whenever he was mentioned, so I refrained from doing so.”

He granted her a brief smile. “That’s sweet but I would’ve been okay. It happened almost ten years ago.” He could feel Genesis looking at him with curiosity. “I’d been sick that day so my father stayed home with me. Some guy broke in. I guess he thought we were all gone and planned to just rob us. Well when we heard the door forced open, Dad told me to stay in bed and that he’d be back in a second. He left the room and closed the door, and, me being me, eight years old and inquisitive—or shall we say nosy—I waited a moment and then crept out. Nothing like this had ever happened before and I was curious. When I got to the living room I saw a man—a teenager actually; now that I’m older, I realize he wasn’t much older than I am now—frozen with his hands on the television staring at my father who was holding the phone in one hand and a knife in the other. ‘Stop right there son,’ he’d said. It was so stupid. I thought he was talking to me and mindlessly jumped in surprise and replied, ‘Right. Sorry Dad.’ Idiot child. He was distracted then and glanced at me, worried or maybe angry. The guy didn’t care about me, though; he used my distraction as an opportunity to catch my father off guard. He tackled him trying to wrestle the knife out of my dad’s hand. I was scared and fascinated as they fought over it. It was like a movie to me…

“And then…suddenly… it was like a nightmare. The guy got the knife and, I guess in the heat of it all, he stabbed him. Stabbed my father. I couldn’t believe it. I’d always thought of my father as forever. The guy ran out after that and I ran over to my Dad. He’d fallen and was heaving blood, the knife still in his stomach.

“You have no idea what it was like, watching him dying right there in front of me. I felt so stupid and useless. I wanted to help him. I needed to help him, but what could I do? I was eight, unintelligent, and having a panic attack. It was in that state that I made the decision to pull out the knife.” He shook his head, muttering stupid repeatedly under his breath like a chant. When he stopped, he took a deep breath and continued.

“I’d never heard my father yell before; he’d never even raised his voice before as far as I knew. He screamed then, though. I thought he was screaming at me. And do you know,” Kaeden said, “that his blood splattered on my face.” He laughed wryly. The car had been filled with bitter regret but now there was nothing. He’d subconsciously repressed the feelings but that had nothing to do with Caleb or practice; he may have been over it, but the memories and the feelings he’d been pushing away anyway since he was eight. He could do without of revisiting them. “Eventually I managed to convince myself it wasn’t my fault, that I’d just been trying to help, and that as a kid, I couldn’t have done anything or have been expected to do anything. Still, I want to have been able to save him. That’s why I’ve always planned on becoming a doctor. So that I can at least save others.”

His eyes were fixed on the road, even though they were at a stoplight.

“Kaeden…” Genesis said. “I’m…sorry.”

He shrugged dully. What was he supposed to say? It’s okay, I don’t mind?

Genesis stared at his blank face feeling absolutely horrible and for the first time wondered if what she’d done really was for the best. How could it be when Kaeden was so upset? She’d had no idea about his Dad or the extent of his determination to become a doctor. She’d know he planned on going into medicine but hadn’t realized the significance of the goal. Who was she to stomp out his dream? But what else could she have done? The only other option was killing him. Surely he’d rather be a vampire than dead, right. …Right? Yes, of course he does, she thought hurriedly. Still though, she couldn’t dislodge a nagging doubt that maybe she was wrong. Wrong about everything. She’d told Kaeden that she’d tried to stay away from him but how true was that? She’d known what shift he worked; there had been no reason for her to go to the bookstore while he was there. But she had. Had she really only convinced herself that she’d done her best to stay away from him so that she could do the exact opposite without feeling guilty? Was his unhappiness a direct result of what could be considered her selfishness? Had she been selfish? And if he ended up hurting himself, would it all be her fault?

“…Kaeden?”

“…Yeah?”

She bit her lip. “…Nothing.” She couldn’t ask him. She was afraid of how he might answer. She needed to fix this. She had to fix this. Somehow. “Ask me another question.”

Kaeden’s next question was not about Gen, but about the war. It was high time he knew what was going on. Apparently, dryyds and vampires had never liked each other. In general, dryyds resented vampires because they still had hearts yet didn’t value them and most vampires disliked dryyds because there was so little to them besides their hunger for hearts. Kaeden thought this was a crass generalization and had issues believing that all dryyds were like that, but when he said this, Genesis gave him a funny look, and said only, “You’d be surprised.”

The mutual aversion meant that tensions were already high and each side expected the worse from the other. Vampires especially disliked being so close to dryyds because dryyd victims were so much more obvious than their own. Scores of heartless bodies drew unwanted attention and not to the dryyds. If anything were ever discovered, it would be the vampires. After all, to humans dryyds were less than myths; they weren’t even stories anymore. For this reason, vampires hated when dryyds killed on their territory; there’d been boundary disputes for as long as anyone could remember. Still, somehow no one really knew how those clashes had come to such a peak. One day vampire representatives met with dryyd representatives about the boundary and they all ended up dead. It’d never been agreed upon exactly what happened at that meeting, but the general consensus was that strife from the territory encroachments had spread and gotten out of hand, resulting in the war that was now raging. The vampires attacked out of vengeance, the dryyds responded with their own vengeful attacks, and back and forth and back and forth until the reasons behind the war became a rather obscure idea at best.

“You mean all this is just the result of a…of a territory scuffle?!” exclaimed Kaeden. “All this for a few square miles of land?! Spoons isn’t even that cool!” Kaeden couldn’t believe it. Everyone—though granted that really only included Genesis and Caleb—had been going on and on about how this war was so major and how slipping up could spell certain disaster which was why it fad been necessary to turn him but now he found out that it was something as trivial as a boundary dispute? How brainless was that? It might as well have been over the last bowl of Rice Krispies. Or maybe he just didn’t like the idea of having his hopes and aspirations being sacrificed for anything less than nuclear warfare.

Genesis shook her head emphatically. “No Kaeden. It’s not a ‘scuffle’. Not by a long shot. I’ll admit the war’s origins do very much resemble a brawl gotten out of hand—I guess in truth that’s exactly what happened—but now it’s become more than that. It’s about protecting ourselves from exposure and avenging those we’ve lost; and we’ve lost many. Dryyds are a danger to us and to vampires in general. More than that, they’re killers.” She fell silent for a moment as if reflecting. “And besides,” she said, continuing once she’d snapped herself out of her reverie, “even if the dryyds and vampires both decide to call it quits, if one of us isn’t driven out of this city, the fighting will continue, just at a later date. The problem won’t just go away. Not to mention that somehow dryyds have gotten fallen angels to sympathize with their cause. Fallen angels don’t sympathize with anyone; they’ve obviously been promised something but what I can’t guess. All I know is that they definitely won’t go away even if we all do decide to just let everything go…which we won’t.”

Kaeden nodded reluctantly; he guessed he could see some of her points though he was positive she was biased to an almost ridiculous extent, and he told her so. After all, he knew first hand that vampires weren’t saints either.

“Maybe I am,” she said placidly, “but not unjustifiably.”

“What’s your justification then?” he asked. Genesis didn’t answer. Taking a chance he asked, “Is it because they killed someone you cared about?”

When Genesis looked at him, it was with a wry smile on her face. “That’s more than one question, Saiai,” she said. “It’s my turn.” But she didn’t ask another question. Instead, she stared out the window as if deep in thought, her brow slightly furrowed. Kaeden sighed.

Neither spoke for the next fifteen minutes as they drove to the Parish family’s town house, each wrapped in their own thoughts. The silence wasn’t broken until after they arrived.

“Oh no,” Kaeden said as he got out of the car. “Tell me that’s not coming from my house.”

Genesis tensed. “What is it?”

“Do you smell that?”

She sniffed the air, expecting to catch the scent of a dryyd or something but the air was surprisingly clear of anything like that. “Um…blueberries?”

“Blueberry muffins,” he said solemnly.

“O-kay… Are you going to ask me if I know the Muffin Man now?”

“Natalie only bakes when she’s upset,” he explained. “I think I’ve worried her.” He smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head before heading toward the house.

At that moment, Gen’s cell phone rang. “Wait,” she said. Kaeden looked at her curiously. “Hey,” she answered. “Yes, of course.” She sounded confused. “Shouldn’t I be?” The other person was speaking. “Yes, we are.” Kaeden heard a sharp tone from the other end. Genesis flinched and now looked nervous and confused. “Me and Kaeden.” The other person said something that changed her expression to something akin to rebelliousness. She looked like a typical teenaged girl who didn’t feel it was necessary to explain herself to her father though she was being forced to. “I’ve never done so before.” The caller said something and the look faded. “Why? …What?! …I understand.” She hesitated, glancing at Kaeden. “But Kaeden… I can’t do that, he could… Still… Here? Alone? Its westside, he could get killed. Her entire body suddenly went rigid. “Alright,” she said, through gritted teeth and hung up.

“What is it?” Kaeden asked, concerned by her sudden distress.

She looked at him, face drawn, eyes pained, back rigid. “I can’t…explain,” she panted. “Not enough time. Commanded—” She stopped, swallowed, and then rushed on, as if trying to get the sentence out in one breath. “Listen, you’ve got to get out of here.”

“Why?” he asked, a little panicked. “Gen, what’s wrong?” He grabbed her arms, trying to calm her down but she pulled away from him as if his touch burned her.

She took a deep breath; she was sweating now. “I’m sorry Kaeden,” she gasped, “but there’s no time. You’ve got…you’ve got to get out of here. You can’t go where I’m going but you can’t…stay here either. It’s not…not safe.” Kaeden could see her eyes focusing and unfocusing. “Please, just go. Go back to the manor, or at least eastside, just get out of here. Please.” She took a few steps back and her face cleared a little.

Kaeden went to close the distance, but Genesis backed away quickly even farther and held up her hands. “Please Kaeden, no, don’t follow me. It’ll hurt me if you do.”

“Gen, please tell me what’s happening.”

“I’m sorry,” she said and turned away and ran.

Author’s Note Part II: And for anyone who cares I got a 74 on my comparative essay for World Lit. What sort of cruel joke is this?! Writing is my thing; it’s what I’m good at! Why can’t I get at least a C on a written composition? GAH!! Alright, that’s the end of my rant. I know that seems random but I say it to let you know that I’ll be spending the weekend doing a rewrite so don’t expect an update. Sorry. But I hope you guys have a better one than I do. May your swords stay sharp and all that. Ciao.