Chapter 37
37
Ashley
“ T here.” Ashley stuck the last notecard to the wall with washi tape and wiped her hands together. The color-coordinated cards and cheerfully contrasting tape really brightened up the room. As long as she only looked at this one wall. Not even her extensive collection of office supplies could fix all the chipped plaster and dusty cobwebs.
The door to the basement opened. Before the creak of the top step, Ashley had pulled shut the curtain she’d rigged across her card wall and taken to her designated hiding box.
“It’s just me,” called Cynthia.
Ashley sighed. This whole setup was very demoralizing. When she’d texted Cynthia for help, Ashley hadn’t considered that she’d be spending her days in the basement, a few feet below everyone she was hiding from. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand it down here. But that was what her card wall was for.
“I have something for you.” Cynthia held up a small piece of folded paper.
Ashley eyed it suspiciously. She was always waiting for the other shoe to fall with Cynthia. When Ashley’s mom had suggested calling another vampire, her first thought was Claribel. While her stories may be all over the place and her mind two hundred years in the past, Claribel was at least reliable. Cynthia, on the other hand, could ditch Ashley at any moment with the smallest excuse. But Claribel was closer to Hannah, and it was Hannah—and John—that Ashley was hiding from.
“Your girlfriend was here,” Cynthia said.
Electricity zinged down Ashley’s spine at the mention of Esther, despite everything that had happened a week ago.
“She left you something.”
“What?” Ashley was out of the box and in front of Cynthia. “I’ll take that, thank you.”
Cynthia laughed as she passed the note. “Way to play it cool, chickee.”
Ashley sat on her hiding box and picked at the folded corners of the note while Cynthia pulled back the curtain to Ashley’s card wall.
“Careful with that,” Ashley called. “I ran out of tape, so some of the cards aren’t as secure as I’d like them to be.”
“What is this anyway?” Cynthia poked at a card. Ashley joined her at the wall, too nervous to leave Cynthia with it unsupervised. “A flow chart?”
“This”—Ashley gestured grandly—“is my life plan.”
Cynthia nodded, eyeing the cards appreciatively. “What do the colors indicate?”
“Those are different life courses, so I can visually follow each flow.”
“Sure, sure. I can see the accessibility benefit from it.” Cynthia was studying the wall like this was an art exhibit. “Does it come with a color key?”
“Of course it comes with a color key.” Ashley hadn’t expected an appreciative audience. Maybe she could have been bonding with Cynthia over charts and lists this whole time instead of just using her as a party buddy.
“But I’m going to…” Ashley lifted the half-opened note again.
“Right. Go on ahead.” Cynthia brushed her off. “I’m going to look at this a little longer.”
Ashley sat back on her hiding box—an embarrassing designation but apt—and opened the folded envelope. She was pleased to see the art of folded notes hadn’t dissolved with the rise of cell phones and texting.
A flash of silver fell out.
Ashley caught it before it hit the floor. It was her necklace from Claribel. Ashley covered her mouth, holding in a sob. The exchanging of things meant they were really over. But would Esther really have bothered going back to the witches just to get Ashley her necklace back?
She scanned the letter. It was an apology.
“Anything good?” Cynthia sat down on the box next to her.
Ashley didn’t answer. She read in silence then read the whole thing again before looking at the necklace in her shaking hand. “This is the yellow cards?”
“Yellowcard? Like the band?”
“Not the band.” Ashley paused. “Wait. How have you heard of Yellowcard?”
Cynthia rolled her eyes. “I’m not dead. Well, no, technically I am. But I still listen to music. Just because I died in the seventies doesn’t mean that’s the only music I’m allowed to listen to forever.”
That was another fascinating subject Ashley didn’t have time to dig deeper into right now. “Whatever, I’m not talking about the band.” She pointed to the colorful wall. “The cards. Yellow is the life plan I’d take if I were human. Yellow for sunshine. I don’t even need my color key for that one.”
“Why would you even make that plan?”
She shrugged. “I had a lot of free time this week.”
Really, she couldn’t get the comment August made that day on the beach about a cure out of her head. She thought she’d misheard him. But it looked like it really was what she’d thought. That was why she’d made the yellow cards. Once she’d started on the plan, she couldn’t stop. It was the easiest of the card choices. She walked over to the board and followed the yellow blocks.
She’d get a teaching degree—her hands trembling at the thought of creating lesson plans, of buying school supplies—and maybe get a position coaching cheer at the local high school while she was at it. The idea of organizing while being part of a team, a community, where she didn’t have to prove herself by hiding who she was, was everything and more than she hoped for. This was the ultimate life plan. Everything else was a patchwork of making do with what she had. She held the necklace in her hand, the key to her happily ever after. She could take it right now and get everything.
“So that necklace will make you not a vampire? How do you know it’ll work?” Cynthia’s words pulled Ashley back to the present.
This potion was the work of witches. Witches, who were out to end vampires. Despite knowing that witchcraft didn’t kill Konstantine, Ashley didn’t trust them. A decade in the vampire world had given her a lifetime of distrust. And how could she take a potion made by people she couldn’t trust? But this was coming from Esther. And despite everything that had happened, she still trusted her and valued Esther’s opinion.
“I don’t.” Ashley considered the wall. “I’ll have to make another list.”
Cynthia nodded in agreement, and Ashley returned her attention to the wall. Maybe if she made a points system to rank the pros and cons of each choice, she’d have tangible evidence if the rewards outweigh the risks.
“I’d love to see what you come up with.” Cynthia headed for the stairs. “But I have a phone call I need to make. Text me when you’re done.”
This shouldn’t take too long . Ashley pulled out her colored pens.
Only an hour later, Ashley had the numbers tallied and beautifully organized in her notebook. She pulled out her phone and texted Cynthia.
Ashley
It’s ready!!!
Cynthia
just finished my call. omw
Ashley reread the figures while she waited, but the numbers didn’t lie. The rewards of possibly becoming human again far outweighed the risk of potential death, which she had designated as the worst possible outcome of taking the potion.
The door to the basement creaked open, and Ashley tensed to hide. She needed to get out of this basement.
Cynthia closed the door behind her. “What did you decide?”
“I’m taking the potion. I’m going to be human. Or maybe dead. It’s not clear. But I did the math, and the numbers don’t lie.”
Cynthia gazed thoughtfully and nodded along with Ashley’s words. “Right on.”
Ashley lifted the vial to her lips.
“Wait.” Cynthia held out a hand, stopping her. “Should we do a toast or something? This feels big.”
“Sure.” Ashley paused to think. “I’m not sure what to say. Cheers?”
Cynthia pulled a flask out of her back pocket. “May this moment bring you a new awakening. With the morning comes your new life.”
Ashley smiled. “Thanks, Cynthia. That was beautiful.”
They clinked glasses or did their best. Ashley’s tiny vial was rather difficult to handle.
“Cheers then.” Ashley shot it all in one go.
They waited.
“Any idea how long it takes?”
Ashley shrugged and shook her head.
They waited a little longer.
“I don’t feel any different. Do I look different?” Ashley looked at her hands, flipping them back and forth, but everything looked the same. She consulted her risk-and-reward notebook. She hadn’t considered an option for the potion to do nothing.
“Well, I guess I can tell you my news.” Cynthia lifted her flask. “I’m leaving the Family.” She took another swig.
“What?” Ashley dropped her notebook. “What do you mean you’re leaving? Why? Where will you go?”
“That was the phone call I just left for. Remember that person I was texting earlier? That chick that used to live here.”
Ashley’s skin tingled. “Konstantine?”
“Yeah, that’s her.” Cynthia screwed her flask shut and stuck it back in her pocket. “We’ve been talking lately. She’s on the ground floor of this tech startup in Seattle and wants me to join her team. I’m flying out tonight. Just finished confirming the details.”
“I-I don’t know if that’s such a great idea. What will you even do?”
Cynthia tilted her head. “I’ve been studying UX design since the dawn of home computers. She wants me on her design team.”
“Oh.” There went that excuse to keep her from leaving. Why did Cynthia have to become so interesting the second she decided to leave? “But are you sure? It’s dangerous out there. And you’ll have to start in a new Family.”
Cynthia placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let me tell you a secret. Some vampires get stuck in their ways, and that’s fine. We should all do what brings us joy. Hannah still lives in the town she grew up in, Claribel hasn’t changed her fashion sense in centuries, and you’re still listening to music from 2001 and wearing skinny jeans, even though I hear they’re on the outs.”
“Skinny jeans are not out! Kids these days just don’t know what they’re—” Gasp . Ashley wasn’t ready to pick any further at that revelation.
“But that’s not me. I have enough experience to know what I’m doing. It’s time to spread my wings and move on to the next adventure. If you want to tag along while you’re figuring stuff out, you’re welcome to.”
“But you’re leaving tonight? I need to recalibrate my numbers and find the next option in my queue.” Ashley grabbed her notebook, comparing the color key to the cards on the wall.
“I’m heading out now actually.” Cynthia threw a thumb over her shoulder toward the window. “I have a long way to go and don’t want to waste night hours. Text me if you want to catch up.” She opened the window, and before Ashley could reply, Cynthia poofed into a bat and fluttered out into the night.
Ashley sat back on her box. There it was. Just when she thought maybe she could build a stronger relationship with Cynthia, she was gone. Ashley was on her own.
And that was when she puked blood all over her card wall.