Stones

Part 9

“But you just met him... You don’t even know him!” I got a sinking feeling. Gabe had a point. The last time I’d fallen for a guy without getting to know him... Well, you know. That was Gabe. I got killed two and a half times in the Underworld.
“So what?” That was all I could think to say.
“So,” He sat down beside me. “I don’t want you to get hurt. You deserve better than COLIN.”
“Aw, Gabe.” I rested my head on his shoulder. “Thanks. I’ll be careful. But really, you shouldn’t worry about me.” In my many years of Hollywood fame and education, I’d seen LOTS of relationships gone wrong. And now that I was fairly experienced with magical creatures, I was sure I could handle a mixture of the two.
“Alex,” he said, just as I was getting up to leave. “I’m sorry I betrayed you. I do love you. But I love Victoria more than anything in the world. For me, she IS the world. I’m so sorry, but she needs someone to get her through these tough times, and I need her.”
“I understand.” I replied in a squeaky voice. I looked away so he wouldn’t see the green tears streaming down my face. I liked it better when I thought he hated me. “You two belong together.”
“You need a shoulder to cry on, too. I know. Hopefully, you’ll find one. If you ever need someone to talk to, come see me.” I nodded solemnly and tip-toed out of the room. I went back to my room to get ready for my date. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what Gabe had said, about not knowing Colin. It could be a trap. I managed to push the thought out of my mind while I picked out a cute outfit: A baby-blue ruffled skirt, soft-pink tank-top, and white sandals. Casual, yet adorable. I lied down on the bed and took a quick nap- or not so quick. I woke up three hours later, to Victoria slapping me in the face and shouting at me to get up, I was gonna make us late. I got up, my hair still all messy, and ran to Colin’s room. When I knocked on the door, I saw my reflection in the window, and hurriedly rearranged my rats-nest of a hairdo.
Colin opened the door and smiled. There was something about his smile that made me uneasy, but I couldn’t place what. He looked handsome as ever, in a black suit with a bright red tie. His hair was combed to the side, glossy and dark. He looked at me first, then Victoria. Where was Gabe? Aha. Gabe poked his head out of Colin’s room, and stared at Victoria for a few seconds before deciding to come out. He was wearing jeans and a black tee-shirt. Totally not the appropriate clothing for the occasion, but I admired his individuality, and his laziness. I knew he’d been too busy playing video games to dress up nicely. He seemed an exact contradiction to Victoria, who was wearing a burgundy, flowing, silk gown, black heels, and enough makeup for a circus clown. But she looked truly beautiful, whereas I was wearing clothes that were just as appropriate as Gabe’s.
Colin slid out of Gabe’s way, and looped his arm through mine. I blushed, and tried not to giggle at the formality of the whole ordeal. I’m not sure why it seemed so ridiculous. After all that had happened recently, I needed some formality. As soon as my father found out about this (and after he sued all these people), I was sure he’d throw a huge party, with important politicians and actresses and actors. I looked forward to THAT formality. Gabe looped his arm through Victoria’s, though hesitantly. He seemed almost afraid of her. Then, we were off. The garden was HUGE, with every kind of flower and tree you could imagine. Birds nested in the trees, all sleeping soundly, taking no notice of us. Colin stopped to pick a dozen roses for me, but got pricked several times. Victoria cringed when she saw his blood drip, and plugged her nose to avoid the smell. But it didn’t do any good. I saw crazy start to fill her eyes, as her almost-blond hair turned black. In a matter of seconds, she was all vamped-up, and Colin was running for his life. But everyone knows you can’t outrun a vampire.
The following day, a small funeral was held, in honor of Colin Kiemel. I didn’t even cry. Neither did Danika. Victoria was trying not to smile the entire time. From the other guards expressions, I guessed Colin wasn’t well-loved. In fact, the entire funeral only lasted about ten to fifteen minutes. Afterwards, Danika held an important meeting about the huge important war. I slept through it. Then, we were assigned missions, and sent to pick out armour. Victoria and I were assigned the job of taking out the guys that came too close to the place (in other words, she wanted us as from Gale as possible). We didn’t even get real armour; we got martial arts training, and black outfit. I felt 100% ninja.