Blood Moon

2

When I got to the arcade, the first person I noticed was Tate. He was practicing his haunt on a few fairies. They didn't look too impressed with him. He picked up one of their hats and threw it into nearby weeds. I was impressed. He must have been doing well in Mrs. Hudson's class. She was our living dead teacher. He had gotten so much better at picking things up. I wanted to play a game with him.

Before Tate died, he was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, 17-year-old kid. He had a natural olive skin tone. Tate was a farmhand, so he was also muscular. He wore the same white baggy T-shirt and overalls in death. He tried on a pair of my jeans once, but they just fell off his transparent body.

I walked up to the front of the arcade and looked inside. I was upset because there were humans in the arcade. When I was in wolf form, a few humans threw sticks at me for no reason. That's why I hated them so much. Tate finally saw me and started to float over to me.

"It's about time, Emily. I feel like I have been waiting for hours." Tate's eyes were on the ground, and he was frowning. It was his standard look.

"What have you been up to while waiting?"

"I have been practicing my haunt and possession. I was able to haunt this couple who bought a new house down the road. I was planning on returning to see if I could do better, maybe possess one of them," he replied. Tate wasn't the nicest of ghosts, but he was all right with me.

Before I was able to respond to him, I was grabbed by the hand and pulled into a hard chest. I knew instantly that it was Silas. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it gently. A small smile was on his face until we locked eyes, and then it grew.

"Hello, Emily. I smelled you coming," Silas said as I pulled my hand from his.

"Hello, Silas. It's nice to see you," I replied. I never intended to hurt Silas, but something minor, like pulling my hand away, caused his smile to fade. I felt guilty for it.

He cheered himself up quickly and smiled at me again. "Want to play a game of minigolf with me, Baby."

I never wanted to give Silas such false hope. It just happened. He was too sweet to ignore. I had a line that he couldn't cross, even if it was a relatively thin line. "I'm sorry, Silas. I was going to play a game with Tate."

"That's okay, Babe. I'm a vampire and have all the time in the world," he said with a smile.

He turned around and went back to hang out with his friends. Silas was so handsome and polite. He was charming but not the man for me. I had a mate that I had to wait for. It was rare for creatures to hang out outside their kind, but Silas' best friends were a centaur named Max and a witch named Evee.

"So," I said, turning my attention back to Tate. "What would you like to do?"

"I have been working on picking up small objects and throwing them; maybe we can play skeeball."

I nodded and walked over to the skeeball table. I put in a few coins and stood back, watching Tate struggle to pick up a ball. We took turns, and soon, there was a war going on. We decided to make a bet. If I won, Tate would have to haunt Silas for the rest of the day. If Tate won, I would have to spend the day with him. Tate liked Silas for me. He thought that Silas would be the best person for me to be with. Tate didn't believe in mates. Tate had won our little bet and went over to tell Silas he had won him a whole day hanging out with me.

I wouldn't hang out with him today because the day was almost over, but a day in my future belongs to Silas. When Tate told Silas about it, Silas just looked at me and flashed me his perfect smile. My heart fluttered. It wouldn't be so bad to spend a day with him.

We all ended up at the basketball game. Silas planted his arms around me, and I was busy killing it at the game. Tate was frustrated with the game as he couldn't pick up the ball. It was heavier, and he was struggling. I knew his frustration wasn't going to help him any.

"I can't get it, Emily," he whined. I felt so bad for him. If only he were alive.

"What did Mrs. Hudson tell you to do in this situation?

"She told me to concentrate, but I'm too frustrated. She also said that anger would help me pick things up, but I don't want always to be angry. I was doing so well today," Tate said as tears started to run down his transparent cheeks.

Max tried to help Tate by picking up the ball and handing it to him, but even then, it fell through his fragile hands. Tate threw a fit, disappearing entirely before anyone could stop him. Sometimes, he would get so mad that he couldn't focus to keep himself seen. He would show back up when he felt better. Now it was just me, Silas, and his friends Max and Evee.

Silas waved to Max and Evee to go away and then turned to me. He smiled. "So, Baby. Since Tate is gone, do you want to play a game with me?" I knew that if I let myself, I could fall in love with Silas easily. It was hard not to love someone that was all about you and only you. But I just couldn't.

"I'm sorry, Silas. I don't want to give you false hope. I don't think that is a good idea," I replied sadly.

"I already have false hope. There is no stopping that. I love you, Emily. I can't help it," he said, grabbing my hand. I looked down at my hand in his and let out a breath. I had to stay strong.

"I will be meeting my mate here shortly, Silas. I can't be with you."

"Mates are stupid. They only love you when you're near them. If you let me turn you, I can show you that an obsession is better and stronger than some mate bond."

"That would take away my wolf, power, and entire being. I can't let that happen, and they love us when we're not close, but the bond calms down, so it doesn't drive us nuts, like what's happening to you."

Silas let out a huff. He knew he wasn't going to win this argument. I had done a lot of digging since I discovered I was a vampire's obsession, and it never turns out good for the werewolf. We already have a high prey drive; add in constant hunger, and we are dangerous. Silas leaned down and kissed my hand, chilling my arm and back. I loved the feeling.

"I am going to try to sneak in another run before my birthday."

"I bet I could outrun you, Baby," he challenged. As a vampire, he was faster than me.

"I know you could, but I want to relieve some stress."

His face turned sad, but he quickly covered it up. There was no beef between the vampires and werewolves, but if my mate found out I had a vampire on the side, there was bound to be some soon. My mate would want to make sure I had no one else.