Chapter 30
30
Esther
T he sun sparkled off the ocean, and Esther thought of how radiant Ashley was at the carnival last night.
What followed was a burglary.
A precious moment forever tainted by violence and fear.
She’d tried to get Ashley to talk about it that morning. Just a check-in to make sure she was okay. But how could she possibly be okay after something like that?
“It’s just something that happens.” Ashley had shrugged. Shrugged. Like a crossbow through her leg was the least of her worries. “It’s not like I can do anything about it. This is my life. Even if I wanted to, I can’t take it back.”
If Esther was honest, a thought had rooted in her mind for months, slowly digging deeper. The way Ashley’s energy doubled when she was in a crowd, her college acceptance letter and room of trophies, the way Ashley kept failing to join the Family because she couldn’t help being human, the mix of terror and frustration on her face when the witches appeared, ready to hunt her like an animal.
Ashley regretted becoming a vampire.
The thought continued to pop up at the smallest provocation. Uther would tell a joke or she’d happen upon a pearlescent shell and she’d turn to Ashley, hungry for her reaction, her thoughts, only to remember Ashley wasn’t there. Or when they were back at the beach house in the evening, winding down while watching a movie, and next thing she knew Ashley was helping her back to bed while the credits rolled and she couldn’t recall what they’d been watching. It snuck in like a whisper, and what followed was a growing itch of a thought.
Ashley regrets becoming a vampire .
It remained a floating thought. A brief cloud drifting across the blue skies of her week, and when it passed, Esther nearly forgot the thought had happened until it popped up again.
“Did you hear another Plattsburgh tourist went missing?” Uther lay on a towel next to her, the two of them sharing the beach umbrella. While neither was a vampire, they were still too pale to handle direct sunlight.
She rotated her head to see his face. “I didn’t. What do you mean another ?”
He turned his head to her as well, his cheek resting on the sea foam-and-clam-spotted beach towel they’d found in the house because he forgot to pack one. “Just people reported missing. The only connection they’ve found is they were all last seen at the Plattsburgh City Beach.”
“But it’s March. What are people doing at the beach in March?”
“There was a recent and supposedly very credible Champ sighting, so all the cryptid hunters are coming out hoping to spot him.” Uther adjusted his sunglasses, turning to face the underside of the umbrella.
Esther had only recently learned about the mythical sea creature, Champy, that lived in Lake Champlain from Uther— Plattsburgh’s own Nessie. But if vampires were real, who was to say a freshwater dinosaur wasn’t swimming around upstate New York?
“The rumor I’ve heard, so far, is that a couple poor swimmers underestimated the icy waters,” Uther said. “I was planning on going to the beach when we get back and taking some photos for my photojournalism class. Maybe talk to some people. If there really are any people on the beach in March.”
“Hey, Uther, Esther. Get in here,” August called from the water.
Simultaneously, Esther and Uther sat up and lifted their shades as August rose from the ocean, water catching the light as it dripped from his sun-bronzed body. With both hands, he brushed his shoulder-length hair back from his face, his biceps flexing from the movement and the ocean sparkling around him.
“Holy Mary,” whispered Esther. “This never gets old.”
“This man is going to wreck me.” Uther fanned himself with his hand.
August jogged up the beach to them, water glistening off his body. By the time he made it to their umbrella, both Esther and Uther were perspiring.
“Hey, love.” He dropped onto Uther’s towel, taking his chin and giving him a quick kiss.
In their two seconds of contact, Esther’s mind raced to Ashley, wishing she was there on the beach with her.
Ashley regrets becoming a vampire .
Uther and August parted, and Esther shook her head, clearing the wayward thought.
“So, how’s your lady love, Esther?” August’s eyes creased at the corners, fighting off the sun. “Is she doing all right after…”
“She didn’t say much this morning.” Other than requesting Esther stop fussing over her and go to the beach. “Her leg looked better.”
He grunted like he knew there was more to it. “Maybe I’ll check in on her tonight and bother her while she packs. Lord knows I owe her a headache.”
“Hey, what about me?” Uther pouted.
“I have other evening plans for you.” August pressed his forehead to Uther’s.
They stayed that way for several seconds, and Esther looked back at the ocean, uncomfortable in their private moment. Being the surprise third wheel on a romantic getaway was not always fun. The moment dragged until she decided she wouldn’t be missed and got up and walked to the ocean.
It was still in the lower seventies. Too cold to be in the ocean. She didn’t know how August could stand it. But Esther waded in to her knees, not willing to miss a chance to be in the water. The waves tugged her in farther, but she held her ground, letting the receding water erode the sand around her feet, sucking them into the ocean floor.
“I was hoping I’d get a chance to talk to you.” August was back in the water.
She hadn’t heard him over the crashing waves. She looked back at the shore to see Uther lounging, a book in hand and his hair slightly more ruffled than before. She looked back to the blue horizon. There was something entrancing about the ocean. The rhythmic give and take of the swells, the silent spark of the sun dancing on its surface. The way the breeze gently pulled at her hair, pushing the heat of the sun from her shoulders.
“I know she’s asked you.” August didn’t have to elaborate. There was only one she and only one question. “And I know it’s not my business…” He trailed off, as though expecting her to stop him.
The corner of Esther’s mouth lifted at that. He was used to talking to Ashley. Ashley regrets becoming a vampire .
August continued. “Don’t. Don’t do it.”
“What a shocking opinion coming from a witch.”
“It’s coming from a friend.” August rested a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to look at him. Even his concerned face reminded her of Ashley. The way they both knit their brows and looked down at you in the sternest of ways. It was almost parental. A sure kind of concern. “If I had been there when she was asked, I would have said the same thing.”
Ashley regrets becoming a vampire .
“But you weren’t.” Esther turned to face him fully, and his hand slid from her shoulder. “You weren’t there, and I wasn’t there. And now…”
Looking at him was a mistake. He was too focused when he was like this. Like this was the only conversation that mattered. She looked back to the horizon, doing her best to ignore the feel of his stare, and reached for her earlobe to caress a cross that wasn’t there.
“I love her. And we both know what that means. Either I join her or it’s over.” Except that Ashley regretted becoming a vampire. Would she grow to regret Esther changing as well?
“What if there’s another way?”
“I can’t even begin to wade through the social stigma of what our relationship would look like if I continue to age and she doesn’t, how that would leach into our daily lives. It’d erode our trust. Me, worried I’m not what she asked for, getting tired, and losing mobility. And her young as always and getting bored with the choice she made but feeling obligated to stay. If she didn’t change her mind on her own, I’d end up pushing her away.”
“And you think an eternity together is a better solution? Humans are lucky to manage a lifetime of love together. What are you going to do if fifty, a hundred, two hundred years down the line, one or both of you decide to call it quits? What then? You’ll still be a vampire.”
“It would be worth it.” Esther scooped water into her hand, watching it spill through her fingers before she balled it into a fist. “She would be worth it.”
“Esther.”
“Look, I don’t have an eternity of life goals. The plan was just to lie low and carry on, and then Ashley…” Esther trailed off, the words, her feelings, impossible to pin down.
“And then Ashley,” August said with a huffed laugh. “I love her too, Esther.”
Esther reached under the waves and took his hand. She knew he did, and Ashley in her way loved him too. It wasn’t a romantic love, like the way Esther felt for her, but they had built a sort of family, the four of them, and it struck Esther how painful it would be to lose August and Uther.
The horizon wavered as her eyes watered. “I don’t want to lose you. Either of you. Any of you. I just… I don’t know what else to do.”
“There’s another option.” He was animated now. Not in movement necessarily—he stayed in the same spot, and his hand still held hers—but there was an energy about him like every atom in his body was vibrating with the need to express this thought. “We could cure her.”
“What?” Esther took her hand back and stepped away. She’d never seen a fire like this in August’s eyes, and something about it scared her.
He continued, using his hands to shape his words and freeing small drops of water back to the ocean. “There’s a cure. We could turn her human again.”
“What are you talking about? What cure?” She was getting all of her vampire knowledge from pop culture, but there was one common denominator: Vampirism was permanent. Her body chose fear over hope—the safer of the two options.
“That page we got from the vampires,” His words came in quick bursts, like a horse pulling at its tethers. “Do you remember? The missing page from the grimoire. It describes a potion that can reverse the effects of the vampire curse. It can return her to before. We just need one more ingredient.”
“We? You mean the witches.” Esther was backing away, but August continued to follow. He probably didn’t even notice they were moving, he was so engrossed in the topic. “The witches that hate vampires. The witches that were looking for this book before you even knew Ashley.”
But August wasn’t listening to her.
“And you happen to have that final ingredient.” His gaze dipped to the chain around her neck, and a hungry look she didn’t recognize crossed his face.
Without thinking, she grabbed the charm, blocking it from his view. “It’s a weapon, August. You have to see that. Those witches don’t care about curing Ashley. They just want to be rid of vampires.”
“And a cure would do that.”
“No.”
“Esther,” he said. They were barely in the water, enough to cover their feet. “Just think about it. Think about Ashley as a human, here on the beach with us.” He opened his arms wide, taking in the sun and waves. “Think about growing old together. Never having to drink blood or lie about your age.”
No. There had to be a catch to this. The offer sounded too good.
She couldn’t trust those witches. But now that the words were out, she couldn’t block the picture of Ashley splashing in the waves, her hair whipping in the wind, and her smile lighting up Esther’s heart. She could be free.
“All we need is that vial of blood,” he said, “and you two can live happily ever after.”
“No.” Esther shook her head and stepped fully out of the water.
August didn’t follow her, but his shoulders slumped.
“I can’t betray her like that. This vial is a symbol, and you want me to give it to people who actively hate her. I would never hurt her like that, and I can’t believe you would ask me to.”
“The choice is yours, Esther. But I think you’ve known for a while now that Ashley shouldn’t be a vampire.”
“Is that how you rationalize your friendship?” She stomped back into the water. “You can’t like vampires; therefore, Ashley shouldn’t be a vampire. Is that how this works? You love her despite what she is?”
“That’s not what I mean.”
They were both yelling, and an external part of Esther acknowledged that it was ridiculous to be in a shouting match with her friend over who loved Ashley the “right” way.
“Are you two all right?” Uther walked over with a look of concern.
They were loud enough to reach him up the beach. Or he had seen them fighting. Either way, Esther didn’t want to make a scene.
“We’re fine, Uther. Just a disagreement. I’m going to go back and check on Ashley. I’ll see you two for dinner.” She padded off to grab her towel and head back to the house.
“Esther,” August called. “Just think about it.”
She continued walking. Not responding or even giving him a parting glance, but the vision of Ashley laughing under a sunny sky was forever burned into her mind.