Eleven years ago…

Under the twinkling tea lights hung in Micah’s apple tree, Micah and I sat on picnic rug watching the full moon and stars. Tonight was supposed to be a metor shower and Micah was desparate for me to come and watch it with him.

“I thought stargazing wasn’t your thing.” I said to Micah who would probably rather be inside watching a sport game than waiting for a bunch of shooting stars.

“Astrology has always been a hobby of mine,” He said casually pointing to a constellation, “Those stars over there are known as the happy turtle.”

“It’s astronomy, Micah and those stars make up the constellation of Cassiopeia .”

“Yeah, Cassie the happy turtle.”

“Cassiopeia was a woman-not a turtle.”

“According to some schools of thought.”

Suddenly above us a star darted across the sky leaving a bright white trail that soon dissolved into the midnight sky.

“Close your eyes and make a wish.” Micah whispered.

I closed my eyes and felt something being pressed into my hand. When I opened my eyes to see silver diamond ring laid in my palm and Micah bent on one knee. I blinked. We had only known each other less than a year, we were both far too young and Micah had a problem with drink just recently had got really bad. Micah read my expression of confusion and sadness and instantly knew he would not be getting the yes he wanted. Snatching the ring from my hand he stuffed it back into the box.

“Fine, whatever. I must love you more than you love me.” Micah snapped.

Like flipping a coin Micah could turn from perfect boyfriend to an awful nightmare. When he was good it was so easy to forget all the bad stuff that happened between us and I could quickly forgive and forget every nasty word he ever said to me. I could even ignore the stink of alcohol on his breathe.

Micah reached for the bottle of whiskey he had hidden under a cushion on the picnic rug. I recognised the bottle from this afternoon when he had brought it with fake ID from the liquor store. The bottle was now almost empty. Furious, I grabbed the bottle from him and tipped the contents onto the flowerbed. He jumped up and walked towards his house.

“You can’t hide behind this everytime life gets difficult, Micah!” I yelled after him.

“Who died and made you Mother Superior.” Micah flung over his shoulder as he stormed back into the house. I followed him into the house and heard glass smashing and breaking. In the kitchen Micah was venting his frustration on the dirty pile of dishes. When he saw me he took the ring in its blue velvet box and threw it into the garbage disposal.

“Micah stop!” I yelled but it was too late there was an awful noise as the box and ring was mangled.

“There,” he said picking up a bottle of vodka, “That’s destroyed that stupid idea. God forbid someone might want to marry you.”

His words hurt but I put on a brave face trying not to crack and cry my heart out.

“Micah, we’re just kids.” I said rationally.

“We’re in love, Lorna. Love overcomes everything even fucking age.”

“And what about alcohol?” I asked nodding at the bottle of vodka.

Micah lit a cigarette and took a drag,

“Fuck you. Everyone told me you were a cold heartless-”

“Fine. I’m leaving. You can stay here by yourself with whatever booze you are hiding from me and your parents Micah. I hope it brings you as much happiness.” I said.

Storming out the house I slammed his front door shut and ran down the street. Within a few minutes my pocket buzzed, Micah sent me a text message: pls come back I don’t want to be alone

I hesitated but then gave in and turned round. I went back into his house and found him balled up on the kitchen floor crying.

“Please, don’t leave me.” He sobbed.

My heart was breaking for him. I reached out and stroked his hair. He caught my hand and held it tightly.

“You’re the only thing that’s right in my life. Please don’t go. I swear I’ll give the alcohol up,” He said, “I love you.”

Sometimes when Micah said nasty words to me, I would quickly forget them as soon as he said I love you. Sitting next to him I held his hand and together we watched the rest of the metoer shower from his kitchen window.

The Present.

When it good, it was good.

When it was bad, it was awful.

That was my relationship with Micah and for my own peace of mind I desparately wanted to know what happened to him after I ‘died’. For two years I had been a crutch to that boy supporting him and giving him love when his friends and family had left him. So what happened after the vampires tore us apart, how did Micah pull himself out of that black hole of alcohol abuse and depression. I wanted to know because deep down I still felt responsible for Micah. I was going to see Micah again, he knew me better than any vampire and I know he’d help me make sense of this crazy life…

The blonde scratched his head muttering, “Ah, hell no.”

Sheldon coughed awkwardly and grabbed my arm, “Come with me.” He said keeping his voice low.

Stephen ushered me and the blonde through a door into a large luxury apartment similar to my own. He flicked the switch revealing warm vivid walls, fabulous tiled floors and vibrant art. The place looked like the inside of a Spanish villa. Around the walls there were pictures of a think pale, lanky, Sheldon hidden under folds of clothes with a stunningly tanned man and woman stood on a red carpet. Sheldon listened for a moment then sighed,

“Come in Lorna, don’t mind the mess? Would you like a tequila?”

“A tequila?”

“Me mam and dad are Mexican- they think I am too but I’m really from Dublin.” Sheldon chirped.

“Who’s your friend?” I asked nodding towards the blonde.

“That’s Stephen, he’s from your neck of the woods.”

“I don’t know, America is a pretty big place.” Stephen said.

“Well every where is pretty much the same nowadays, same shops, same restaurants, same music. I spend a lot of time in LA, have you ever been there Lorna?” Sheldon sighed dumping the computer components on the dining room table.

“No, I always wanted to go though.”

“You should, it lives up to its name of La-La land. You can stay at my parents apartment in Beverly Hills. They own a movie studio there. You can rub shoulders with all the big stars there.” Sheldon began picking through the laptop parts and examining each piece.

“That’s really nice of you Sheldon but I’m kinda of preoccupied with wondering why you have Emma’s laptop?” I said.

“Isn’t that a curious coincidence because I’m wondering why you knew this was Emma’s laptop?” Sheldon replied.

He got me there. I didn’t want to show him all my cards but I knew I was going to have to to show him a couple to get him to play ball. Licking my lips I said,

“Maybe some tequila wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

The edge of Sheldon mouth tugged into a smile and he nodded to Stephen who disappeared into the kitchen. Abandoning the pieces of laptop Sheldon leaned back in the chair eyeing me up and down.

“Blue eyes,” he said pointing at my own eyes, “Magda’s daughter, aren’t you.”

“I’m my human parent’s daughter.” I said instantly.

Sheldon held his hands up and said, “No, offense intended.”

I felt suddenly very silly and petty and awkwardly apologized for my out burst. Sheldon shrugged.

“I know how you feel, I’m constantly reminded of my Latino heritage but I can’t really take it seriously. I’m Irish not bloody Mexican but try telling my parents that.”

Stephen came in with a tray of salted rim glasses, limes, tequila and a small pot of what looked like glitter. Sheldon prepared the drinks as a person normal would but at the end he took a tiny spoon and sprinkled a tiny amount of silver glitter into the drink. I heard of gold leaf vodka and other drinks that sparkled but I’ve never seen a person sprinkle glitter into their drinks. Sheldon handed me a glass which I took, then handed one to Sheldon. Chinking the glasses together Sheldon said,

“Bottoms up!”

And we downed the tequila in one shot. Fire burned in my mouth and I gasped as the tequila worked it’s magic. Alcohol had no effect on vampires so I wasn’t worried about getting drunk although I did think it was a bit weird to be drink alcohol when it didn’t really have any effect on you.

We put our glasses down and Sheldon poured another shot,

“So tell me Lorna, what has Emma’s laptop got to do with you?”

“Duncan asked me to help him find out some information.” I replied.

Stephen raised an eyebrow, “Duncan doesn’t usually ask.” He said.

I nodded, “You’re right. He blackmailed me. Duncan is after a man who I once knew as a human. He wants me to find this man and talk to him. If I don’t then someone who is very important to me will get killed.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Duncan, mean old bastard. Who are you looking for?”

“A man by the name of Micah Roberts, he and Emma were emailing each other before he died.”

“The name doesn’t ring a bell at the moment.” Sheldon sighed.

“So what’s your story, why do you have Emma’s laptop?” I asked.

“Ebay.” Stephen said dryily.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“An auction site, Sheldon is somewhat of a scavenger. ” Stephen said.

I stared at Sheldon speechless. He had stolen Emma’s laptop to sell the parts.

Sheldon held up his hands, “Now wait one moment before you jump to conclusion,” he said, “I’m forced to do this. My parents, they stopped my allowance after I hacked into a few government websites.”

“So that gives you the right to rob a poor dead girl’s house.”

“Aw, don’t be like that Lorna. She won’t need it anymore.”

“That’s not the point, Sheldon.”

“God Lorna, who died and made you mother superior.” Sheldon snapped.

Micah’s face immediately sprang to mind as I remembered that night he drunkenly proposed to me. I close my eyes and pushed away those bad memories. He wasn’t like that anymore. Micah had changed- at least I hope.

“So you understand this stuff?” I said pointing at the computer pieces on the table.

“Well,” Sheldon shrugged, “I don’t like to brag but I am kind of a techno celebrity guru on the internet.”

“So you could fix this computer, right?”

“I need to look at the components and honestly who broke it, broke it pretty good. I can probably retrieve files providing the memory isn’t damaged.”

“I’ve already got the files. What I need is an email contact of a man who had been in touch with Emma.”

“Oh, that’s a different ballgame entirely.” Sheldon sighed.

“But can you do it?”

“Hmmm… what’s in it for me?”

“Sheldon, you would be helping us to catch Emma’s killer. Isn’t that enough?”

“Oh, I think you have mistaken me for the sentimental type.”

“How about if you do this I won’t tell Duncan that you went and looted his beloved dead daughters apartment?”

“You’re a heartless bitch, Lorna. I thought you were above blackmail.”

“Now, I think you have mistaken me for the sentimental type.”

A humourless smile fell across Sheldon’s face as he poured another round of tequila and handed me a shot. Raising our glasses we chinked them in a toast and Sheldon said,

“To family.”

I laughed and god did it feel empty. We downed the shots and slammed the glasses on the table making the computer components jump. Sheldon ran his fingers through his hair.

“Give me two nights to work on it. Emma’s email was probably a government one and hacking into the government is not an easy task. Do you know the name of the contact you’re looking for?”

“Micah, but his username was ‘Zero’.”

“Right, you got that Stevey boy? Micah Zero.” Sheldon asked.

“Yeah I got it- Shelley.” Stephen snapped.

“Good,” Sheldon replied, turning back to me he continued. “I would ask for you to stay and enjoy our hospitality a little longer but I’m afraid your little job can’t wait missy.”

“Great, I’ll see you in two days.” I said.

I left the Mediterranean styled villa where Michael was waiting for me outside the door looking really pissed. He had no idea how he destroyed me inside last night after smashing that laptop. Blanking him I turned down the corridor and walked straight into the elevator. Michael followed staying completely silent until the elevator doors pinged shut.

“If you want to get some air, I can take you for a walk.” He said cooley.

“I can walk by myself just fine Michael.” I replied.

“Magda and Francesca say that you are not allowed to leave the hotel without a chaperone.”

“Okay, I’ll take Sasha’s sister, Tasha.”

“The chaperone has to be an adult vamp, Tasha is still a baby like you.”

“We are not babies, Michael.” I finally snapped. Michael grabbed my shoulders forcing me to look at him. He gave a little shake and yelled.

“Lorna, stop fighting me. I’m only trying to protect you. I understand you’re pissed off with me about Micah but if you could just see the bigger picture-”

“I do see the ‘bigger picture’ Michael. You are jealous of Micah.”

“Me? Jealous of that alcoholic nut job.”

“Don’t you dare talk about him like that!”

“Lorna, you haven’t seen him ten years!”

“You’re jealous because he didn’t need some weird blood bond to make me want him every time he touched me.” I retorted.

A hand flew past my head slamming against the wall. I could taste the dark anger now brewing behind Michael calm façade. His eyes hardened and he said raggedly,

“Now you are trying to provoke me.”

Yes, I was. I wanted him to lose it. I wanted him to feel the pain chipping away at his heart like little daggers chipping away at his heart and feel the internal agony that has plagued me since I first woke up and realised I had lost everything. The elevator door pinged opened and I stepped out leaving him behind. He waited only a few moment before following me. Michael knew he couldn’t acknowledge me in public so I decided to hurt him the only way I knew how. I was going to go the bar and give myself over to that sleaze ball Sasha.

Sasha wasn’t hard to find, he was grinding on the floor with two pretty models but he soon pushed them away when he saw me. Coming over he grabbed my hand and dragged me to the middle of the dance floor.

“I never thought I would see you hear again.” He said.

“Neither did I.” I replied.

He called to a waiter who was hovering on the edge of the dance floor with some bottle of beer. Sasha grabbed to bottles and gave me one. I noticed little flakes of glitter like I had in the tequila floating around.

“What is that stuff?” I asked.

“That my love is flakes of the finest silver.” Sasha said twirling me around.

“I thought silver was poisonous.”

“Silver makes us weak, the flakes of sliver in your drink will stop your body from purging the alcohol allowing you to enjoy the pleasures of being wonderfully intoxicated. Although strictly between me and you it is vampire contraband.”

Drink numbed the pain, I remembered how Micah spent hours in the company of a crate of beer slowly drinking himself into a stupor. Sometimes life becomes so hard you hit a point where you no longer give a damn about what happens to you. I remember once finding Micah passed out in a pool of vomit and being so mad I tipped all the alcohol I could find down the sink. When finally sobered up he and realized there was no alcohol in the house he went and found some lighter fluid to drink. He didn’t seem to care that it might kill him. The only person he valued was me and he clung to me. At first I wanted to save him but slowly I realised he didn’t want to be saved and that’s when I got angry. That night I broke up with Micah I had given up on him and now ten years later he’s back and sober. Did he manage to save himself or did someone achieve what I couldn’t?

The music began to grate against my ears and I felt light headed and dizzy. Sasha was holding me up for support.

“Light weight.” He teased pulling me up close as the music slowed to a steady soft pace.

My head rested against his chest and I felt my eyes becoming heavy and tired. Sasha whispered in my ear,

“How do you feel being so close to me?”

“I don’t feel anything much.” I confessed.

“You’re not feeling sick when I touch you.”

“No,” I said realising what he was getting at, when Michael touched me it was bliss but when another man so much as got too close to me I felt sick as dog. “This silver is pretty awesome.”

“Do you wanna know what else is awesome?” Sasha said.

“What?”

“Look over my right shoulder towards the bar.”

Lifting my head my gaze collided with the dark violent stare of Michael. Leaning against the bar dressed in his suit he watched as Sasha and I danced together. Usually I could sense when Michael was near but all my sense felt dull and subdued. I stared back at him for a moment happy Michael couldn’t confront me in the crowd or attack Sasha so he would have to sit there and watch while I messed around with Sasha and endure the agony. God I wanted to make him so jealous.

“I want to make him so mad.” I whispered under my breath.

“I can do that.” Sasha said abruptly leaning forward to kiss.

It happened so fast I didn’t have time to think logically what to do. I just saw lips and stubble coming towards me, I turned my head and stepped out of Sasha support and into the path of some drunk dancers. In a matter of seconds I had knocked into them sending their drinks flying while throwing myself off balance. I felt myself falling but before I hit the floor I heard the sound of the drinks hitting the floor and the glass smashing. I screamed as I fell on the broken glass, it cut into my thigh and my wrist. I looked down at my hand and saw the blood gushing from a massive cut in the inside of my wrist. Before anyone could offer help Michael appeared and gathered me up from the floor. The crowd parted and he ran through the bar out into a back room where boxes of soda were kept. An angry bar keeper ran in behind us yelling,

“You can’t take her in there! It’s a heath safety hazard!”

Michael lay me on boxes of soda and began to tear parts of strips of his shirt off. Blood was pooling around me and I felt really sick. The bar keeper was still yelling and hollering about something but I wasn’t really paying attention. Michael pointed a gun at him and told him to get out, poor Michael he looked so pale. In my drunken haze I wondered if he was squeamish of blood. In truth I was surprised I was still bleeding. Why hadn’t my supernatural healing abilities kicked in and dealt with this? Turning to Michael I asked.

“Why aren’t my cuts healing?”

Michael didn’t answer at first, he was too busy assessing the wounds on body. His fingers gently probed around the embedded shards of glass in my thigh. Pulling out what looked like a swiss army knife he used the pliers to quickly pull out the glass pieces. Pain tore through me and I bit the back of my hand to stop myself from screaming in agony.

“Michael, it hurts.” I cried.

Michael ashen faced gave a short curt answer of, “I know.”

He pulled the last shard out and started and tied the last bandage. The bleeding hadn’t stopped entirely but I was pretty certain I wasn’t going to die of a haemorrhage any time soon. Maybe now the glass was out my skin would heal. Michael perched on a box of soda opposite me, he looked really rattled.

“I guess we are going to sit tight until my skin heals,” I said examining the small amount of blood seeping through the bandage, “I don’t understand why my skin won’t hurry up and heal.”

“Because you drank that god damn silver!” Michael yelled.