A Vampire's Heart

Lyla POV Every time it rains, I find it relaxing, like every single droplet falling from the sky has a story to tell. I used to think maybe every droplet was a fallen angel. Crazy, I know. But when it rains, it’s a pause in life, a moment to imagine what you want to happ— Knock. Knock. What now? It seems I’m not able to be left alone in this house, my aunt and uncle always want to know what’s going on in my life. I love them for that, they took me in when I was 12 when my parents, Lisa and Mark Jones, mysteriously disappeared on a camping trip. Local police say it was probably an animal attack but no proof. No proof. Those words repeat over in my head, how does an animal attack happen and yet not a single soul has any leads. My Aunt Rene has been the person I go to for everything, she’s always there and always tells me that I can count on her no matter what the situation is.  “Lyla.” My Aunt Rene, she’s only 27, her and my Uncle Christian got married when they were 22, they’re head over heels for each other; a bit annoying at times. ”Lyla, you’re going to be late for school, get up. Breakfast is downstairs.” She said, I could hear her stomping down the stairs to make sure I heard her. I looked at the clock on my phone, 6:47 am, as much as I wish this day would end already, I can’t help but feel that maybe today might actually turn out to be good. I get up, I turn some music on to drown out the thoughts floating in about the first day of school my junior year. I’m an ‘A’ student, haven’t been all my life, but after my parents’ accident books and homework seem to be my escape. I got frustrated with people always asking me day after day “Are you okay?” “If you want to talk, I’m here.” The pressure of having to put this shield of strength up, it’s mentally tiring. I took a quick shower. I ran three miles last night at 8pm, but I did it at a fast time; I’m a cross country runner just like my mom was, I guess it runs in the family. As I got out, I looked in the mirror. I had this birthmark on my lower right hip bone, I always thought it was strange the way it was shaped. It was the shape of a star, but almost like a deformed looking star, it was a light brown color. Every time I went to the pool or river, everybody thought it was a tattoo, so I tried to keep it hidden to avoid staring and questions. In all honesty I was fascinated by my birthmark, I almost felt unique.  I began to brush my long brown hair, I always thought about cutting it but my mom loved my hair long. She used to brush it every night, 100 strokes til midnight stroke, that was her motto. I miss her so much, waking up in the morning to the smell of fresh almond milk pancakes, the radio blasting to country music. I used to come home after cross country practice to both my parents dancing in the kitchen, laughing and kissing. I also wondered if I would ever find my ‘prince charming’, that’s how my mom always referred to my dad. Their love was beautiful.  “Lyla, you’re seriously going to be late on your first day of junior year?” I could hear my Aunt Rene echoing from my room. “Is this my sweater? It is my sweater. Lyla!” “I found it in the laundry room, it was screaming ‘wear me’.” I said as I pranced out the restroom, smiling. “You really shouldn’t leave things lying around.” she just stared at me, I know she wants to laugh. She smiled at me, “Lyla you are something else. Now hurry up and get dressed.” She walked out of my room, taking the sweater I took with her. That was a really nice sweater.  I grabbed my jacket hanging on my desk chair, it was a navy blue with a hoodie, so comfortable I used to fall asleep wearing it in my English class with Mrs.Sandra, she could put you to sleep with her lectures. “English is love”, Mrs.Sandra has this written across her room, everyone knows she divorced her husband because she was too in love with English literature.   I walked down the stairs, grabbed some toast off the table and walked out the door to my car. My silver Toyota Camry, my baby. It may be old but it belonged to my mom and it gets me to where I want to go, can’t really complain about that. I get in my car and drive to school. Anthony’s POV High School. Again. Do I enjoy being immortal? Not always, it’s lonely without a mate, but that’s a vampire’s life. My sister Regina has found her mate, she was ecstatic when she found him, babbling about how she felt the warm tingles that sparked from the very touch they shared. I haven’t found my mate yet, but I will. You see, when a vampire finds their mate, it is said there’s a connection. A connection that will make you feel like whole, an almost ‘complete’ feeling, the urge to do whatever it takes to make them happy, along with the need to be protective. I stopped searching for my mate after 119 years, I'm 127, I was turned by a rogue vampire who thought they had killed me. Little did they know, my father was a vampire who had me and my sister drink his blood to become like him. But things had gone wrong that night.   “Anthony go grab some more firewood.” My father ordered me, it was a colder winter than it was last year. I was nineteen when he told my sister and me he was going to turn us, so we could be a family forever. ‘We would make ourselves known’ is what my father would tell us everyday. He wouldn’t tell us how he became a vampire though, he is friends with a witch.  “Do you have your transfer transcript by chance sweetie.?” A voice from behind the desk brought me back to the present.  “Uh, no. I thought the school had it already.” I lied. I figured my sister would have already compelled the staff by the time I got here. I had no intention of being back here, but it was Regina’s voicemail she left me that made me come back here to Corpus Christi.  I focused on eye contact, “I’m already in the system, you overlooked. Give me a schedule please, dollface.” I said as I saw a smile edge out the side of her lips.  “Oh yes! Of course!” I could hear her heart rate accelerate, she began to blush. She handed me my schedule, and I was out the door. I figured I would see my sister here already, she’s a social addict and has to be at the center of attention. “Tony!” s**t. Speak of the little devil. I turned around and saw my sister striding towards me with her mate wrapped around her arm.  “Tony, you remember my love James.” How could I forget, she wouldn’t stop messaging me about how she missed me and wish I were there to meet him and see how happy she is. She wouldn’t stop talking about him, it was quite annoying. James is a little older than Regina, she’s 120 and he’s 124. “Yes Gina.” I said as I shook James’s hand, he had the look of ‘I’m sorry’. “I feel this is just awkward.” James chuckled. “She dragged me to get introduced to you like this. I told her it would be better if I did it alone. She’s very persuasive.” He was right about that, ever since she was little she was intimidating to a point, you just did what she said, even without using compulsion. I laughed along with James, but my attention turned toward my sister, the question had been roaming around my mind for the past three days. “Gina. Why am I back here?” I asked in a serious tone. Her smile disappeared, she began to frown. “There’s a witch here. She’s the key to unlocking the portal.” she said slowly. “But there’s a rumor,” she paused and looked at me with concern in her eyes. “Apparently, she doesn’t know she’s a witch or her family’s history. Lucy said the girl is friends with a werewolf, so it might be easy to spot her.” Lucy is a witch and happens to be Regina's best friend, but I never have trusted her. “Wait. She’s supposed to be a descendant from one of the strongest witch families but she doesn’t know? How the f**k is she suppose to open the portal then.” I was beginning to get frustrated, we’ve been searching for a descendant from the witch who helped our father for years and just when we find her there’s a downfall.  “Tony --” I cut her off before she could even begin to lecture me.  “Don’t Tony me, Regina this is our only chance to find our mother and you’re telling me this b***h doesn’t know anything!” I growled at her, I could sense James getting tense as he stepped in front of Regina, did he really think I would harm my own sister. “Anthony, you know I feel the same way about this!” I could hear the sadness in her voice as she peeked around behind James arm. “ It was me who told you we should seek out our mother and who portal her to a different realm.” I could see the anger in her eyes now. I turned around wanting to walk away before things could get more heated than they already were. James was beginning to get very defensive. As I turned, this small body walked right into me, I felt this surge of warmth ignite from the touch. It couldn’t be. I found her. I found my mate.