Blood Moon

“Oh my God, yes, yes!” Kayla’s voice bounced off the stone walls as she shouted the house down.

Stephan and Scarlet ran out of their room and practically flew down the stairs. They found Kayla jumping up and down while Solara watched with an amused look on his face.

“What’s going on?” Stephan asked Solara while Scarlet tried to get Kayla to calm down.

Kayla showed her left hand and the rock that rested snug on her ring finger and Scarlet joined in the bouncing and screaming.

“I asked her to marry me.” Solara leaned towards Stephan so that he wouldn’t have to talk above all the screaming.

“That’s awesome. Welcome to the club.” Stephan gave him a congratulatory hug.

“Another vampire visiting the hangman,” Vincent put in as he, his brother, and SJ joined the other men in watching the women.

“Congratulations Solara.” Victor shook his hand, not sharing his brother’s sentiments on marriage.

“It took you long enough,” Scarlet said when they finally stood still. She took her friend's adorned finger in her hand and admired the ring, twisting it to view it from different angles.

“I was waiting for the right time.”

“Right time? Solara it’s been four years since you guys started dating; about three and a half years since you moved in together, when exactly was the right time?” Scarlet jested.

“If you can recall a lot has happened in that time. And honestly, I wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment.” He pulled Kayla in his arms, “But now I am.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’m getting married.” Her eyes were fixed on the diamond as she began squealing again.

SJ brought his hands up to cover his ears, “Women,” he huffed then walked toward the television room.

“What does he know about women?” Scarlet gasped as she snuggled closer to Stephan.

“Besides what he sees on television, nothing,” Vincent teased. “You guys need to let him go out of the house sometimes. He is old enough.”

“He can pass for a teenager, a thirteen-year-old at best, which doesn’t make him old enough. He literary, just turned three years old four months ago.” Scarlet thought of how grown her baby looked. She had missed the chance of easing herself into being a teenage mother when she decided to have a baby with an immortal. But she took comfort in the knowledge that her son was strong and not easily breakable.

On his birthday, they didn’t have a big celebration like when he turned one. This time he was more mature and settled for a hunting trip with his father and the boys. He and Stephan had grown closer and were inseparable. Scarlet was the only one who could come between them; they both had a soft spot for her.

SJ had sprouted and was almost as tall as the twins. He was already five feet tall, and apart from his height and his robust body he hadn’t changed much. He still wore his hair long just as his father did. But his hung over his forehead.

He had begun taking care of himself six months back and Stephan had explained things to SJ. She thought back to the day Stephan had ‘the talk’ with him. But a different kind of talk. Instead of the facts of life and reproduction, they told SJ the facts of the supernatural world.

He showed a great understanding of everything he was told; it helped that he had a good memory. At times he told them of what he heard them say or what he heard back at the beast compound.

“Is that why Susanna wanted me to stay?” SJ asked.

“Yes, but you don’t need them to teach you anything. Your father and uncle are right here to do that,” Scarlet responded.

“What is important for you to know and learn is how to control your thirst and to be responsible about it,” Stephan put in.

“Will I be able to phase into any animal I want?” SJ was excited about the capabilities he hoped to have. His father was his hero and he wanted to be like him in every way.

Stephan had phased into a jaguar once more to show him the things he might be capable of doing. He had also shown him how he used his shield. SJ hadn’t shown any sign that he could radiate his shield from his mind to his surroundings. He also couldn’t phase into anything just yet.

“I suppose. I’m not quite sure. It took me a while to phase, at first it would only happen when I was angry.”

“Ok.”

Scarlet wasn’t sure how he was handling it all because he went back to business as usual. She still thought of him as her baby, and each time he grew an inch she realized she would have to stop coddling him. She didn’t want him to grow as fast but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

“Well, soon he will be shaving,” Solara added to her torment.

“Don’t tease her like that,” Stephan warned.

“I’m glad he’s growing. He won’t be getting away with anything just because he is cute,” Kayla declared. “Anyway, we have a wedding to plan.” She pulled Scarlet out of Stephan’s arms.

“And what do we do?” Stephan asked. He was always with Scarlet or SJ.

“We could go watch the sports center with SJ,” Solara suggested.

They had taken up watching sports, now that they didn’t have anything dangerous to handle.

Since Stephan killed Salvatore, their lives had become boring and uneventful. There were no incidents that would call Stephan back to Rio or that would have them on guard. Marquis hadn’t shown up as they had suspected, and Stephan was elated about it.

“Solara,” Kayla called up from the top of the stairs, “We are getting married in a month. I thought I would let you know.”

“It’s good to know nothing will change,” Victor teased.

They usually teased him by making whip sounds every time Kayla said something to Solara and he did it without question.

“I’d rather she does everything, that way if it gets messed up, she doesn’t have anyone but herself to blame,” Solara defended himself.

“Smart,” Stephan supported, “Victor until you get married or have a girlfriend you won’t be able to understand.”

Stephan took a seat beside his son.

“Hey, dad.”

“Hey, what are you watching?”

“The highlights. So, are you and mom still going away this weekend?”

It was their anniversary and they planned to spend it in San Francisco, just as they had their first. SJ wanted to go along but they wouldn’t take him yet again.

“Yes, and you still can’t come. Sorry.” He ruffled his hair.

“That’s not fair.” He pouted. “I need to get a change of scenery. I promise you won’t even know I’m there.” He held his hands together as if in prayer.

“Your mom and I will be locking lips the whole time.” Stephan went silent, letting it sink in.

“Maybe after your anniversary weekend.” SJ gave in.

“Ask your mom.”

“Seriously?” SJ was excited; it was too easy to get what he wanted from his mother. She never turned him down; her weakness was giving in to whatever he wanted. But when Kayla was around, he could never convince her. “I’ll just wait for Aunt Kayla to be done with her then I’ll ask.”

***

“So how are you feeling?” They sat on Kayla’s bed that was never used for sleeping.

“Like my cold dead heart just got a beat.” Kayla was elated. Ever since Scarlet got married, she wanted to get married, but it was never the right time. The last year had been quiet and uneventful, so she always hoped and expected him to propose.

“I just wish my family could be here for this.” Kayla’s excited tone turned somber. “Could you check on them when you go back?”

Scarlet wasn’t so sure about going to San Jose. She had planned to go to the beach and nowhere else. She didn’t even want to go back to the diner or their former house, there were too many memories. She would also have to go to the cemetery; she was avoiding it since she hadn’t been there for the past three years. But how could she tell her best friend no?

Kayla had seen her through all the pain and sorrow she had encountered ever since they met. And her request was featherweight compared to what she had helped her through.

“Ok,” she nodded, “I’ll go as soon as the week rolls in.”

“Thank you,” she hugged her tightly. “Tell them I miss them.”

“Sure.” She was going to lie again and was sure that Kayla would have her coached and ready before the weekend.

“Now let’s plan my wedding.” She giggled.

“This is going to be fun, considering that I never got to plan my wedding.”

Scarlet thought back to her ambush wedding. She, Stephan, and SJ had just come back from their family getaway in San Francisco. Stephan led her to the backyard where she found everyone she knew dressed in white, with white roses littered everywhere.

“That was awesome. You should have seen your face. And when you took off, it was just priceless,” Kayla teased.

Scarlet remembered how she dashed back into the house, Stephan staring after her speechless.

“It was an eventful day. So is Solara also getting tattooed?”

“He’d better. I want my name etched on his back forever. He’s mine and I want everyone to know it.” A cheeky grin crept across her face.

“At least you’ll know what’s happening.”

Scarlet hadn’t known what was going on until she heard his groans of pain and begged Kayla to show her. It was terrifying and after the anger and fear had subsided, she found it romantic.

Each night when they made love, she would run her fingers over the seven-letter word on his back. He called it a scar for ‘Scar.’

Scarlet was excited about getting back to the beach, she waited with their bags as Stephan rented a car for them to use that weekend. She was excited, tomorrow was going to be the third anniversary of her marriage to Stephan.

She had a feeling of novelty when she thought about her anniversary. It was starting afresh, a chance for her to get to know her husband all over again, a chance to fall in love once more.

She missed her son, but she knew in two days she would be seeing him. He had managed to corner her when Kayla wasn’t around and had said yes to hundreds of things, one of which was a trip to San Francisco. SJ would be joining them on Monday.

She thought it would be a good chance for her to take him to her parents’ grave. He had never had to deal with death before and wouldn’t, considering everyone he knew was immortal. He was going to fly with the twins; she didn’t think it would be wise to leave him unsupervised, although Vincent wasn’t much of an authoritarian.

“Ready to go?” Stephan picked up both their bags.

“Sure. Where to?” She held on to his arm as they walked out of the airport.

“To pick up the car at their garage, then to the beach.” The thought of being alone with her, under the swirling lights of the moon and the stars and the ocean air, made him giddy.

“I reserved the tickets for the boys; I booked them in first class. Fewer people around, I don’t want SJ to be uncomfortable.” Scarlet was still thinking about her son’s second trip without her.

The first was when he flew to Argentina with Solara to stop his father from destroying a whole race of beasts.

“He’ll be fine.” He could sense her nervousness. “Solara and Kayla are happy about having the house to themselves.”

“I know what that means.” Scarlet giggled. “I was thinking that maybe after visiting Iris we could take SJ to my parents’ graves.”

“That’s a great idea. I wish I had something to show him of his heritage.” Stephan had nothing from his past except his memories.

“He doesn’t need anything old; he’s already got you,” Scarlet joked.

“I thought his jaw would drop when we told him I was over three hundred years old.” Stephan laughed at the memory.

That day SJ stared at him as if he had just landed from another planet. He kept on asking him if he was sure of his birth year.

Scarlet laughed, “It was incredible how he kept on looking at you. It took a while before he stopped calling you an old man.”

“I am an old man.”

They got into the jeep and drove towards the bay area. The scenery as they sped towards the bridge brought back memories. Stephan suggested that they dropped by Joany’s and she refused, just as she had the previous year.

She was determined to put the past behind her to allow her new life a chance to survive. She never went back to DC as it reminded her of Archie’s death and the diner reminded her of Marcie’s death.

Archie’s body parts had been found floating in the river two months after Solara had disposed of them. The murder cases had gone unsolved; they were cold cases and all the information about them was stacked in boxes on a shelf in a storage room.

Scarlet got out of the car and the ocean scent and the sounds of the crashing waves welcomed her to her second home. She took off her shoes and tossed them in the back of the jeep; she wasn’t going to need them this weekend.

She let Stephan set up the tent on his own while she soaked her toes in the ocean water. The sun was setting, and the orange flame-like color was beautiful as it ducked under the ocean’s horizon.

“It’s beautiful,” she said as she heard Stephan’s footsteps approaching.

“She is.” He brushed her hair to the side revealing the bare skin at the back of her neck. He kissed it before pulling her back into his arms.

“I meant the sunset.” Scarlet chortled, knowing he was referring to her and not the view.

“That’s exactly what I was referring to,” he teased.

She slapped his arm. “It is beautiful, Mother Nature’s gold.”

“Want to take a swim with me before it completely disappears?” he was asking her while he slowly took off her clothes.

“Why not?” He had already rid them of their clothes.

They swam deep into the ocean taking advantage of how long they could hold their breath underwater. They swam in each other’s arms, taking breaks to kiss. It was nighttime when they went back to shore. The light of the sun was replaced by the swirling twinkle of the stars and the moon at the center of it all.

“I thought we could do something different tonight. Something more…human,” Stephan said as he toweled her hair dry.

“Human? I don’t know if you know this already, but you stopped being human three centuries ago.”

“But you were human three years ago and I know you miss that part of your life.” He wrapped the towel around her body.

“Well, I have a new life, a new world.” Scarlet had missed the human things of life. The one thing she missed the most was a Big Mac. She was now on a liquid diet and hadn’t used her jaws in a while.

“Fine. I understand that and there is no one as happy as I am to know that you have made peace with that. But if there is one thing you would have, what would it be?”

“Anything?” She already knew what she wanted. “But you also have to have it too.”

“Sure, whatever you want.” Stephan wasn’t sure what he was agreeing to, but this was Scarlet; it wasn’t going to be anything radical or insane.

“Let’s go then.”

Scarlet drove, she didn’t want Stephan to know where they were going just in case he chickened out. He hadn’t had a solid diet in ages. She took them to the nearest drive-thru McDonald's she could find.

“Are you serious?” Stephan’s eyes were wide with shock. “The one thing you miss and could have is a Big Mac?” he asked as she handed him the two big meals.

“That and we are going to a drive-in movie.” Scarlet was giddy with excitement. She had never gone to see a movie at a drive-in before but had always wanted to. 

She followed the directions the teller had given her and soon they were at the park. She parked further back from where the other cars were, just in case they got bored and wanted to leave.

It was an old black and white movie, not what she expected but it was the romantic type, so it had to do.

“I remember this,” Stephan said as he cautiously stuffed a chip in his mouth. “Judy Garland was the most beautiful woman at that time.”

“Huh?” she turned to look at him, shock crisscrossed all over her face.

“What? I was there during that time remember?”

“That is not why I’m surprised. I can’t believe you had the time to watch movies with your previous lifestyle.” Stephan was a hunter; he spent most of his time torching vampires if not slaughtering humans. She never thought he had a romantic bone in his body before her, let alone the patience to sit through two hours of mushy loving.

“Uh, Marquis loved movies,” Stephan stammered through his answer.

“Oh.” Scarlet pushed her face out of her mind, “Now you can watch them with me. I love romantic movies, but Kayla is the action, horror movie type. She would never go to the movies with me.”

“Now you have me, and I will persevere through it if you want to watch it.” He kissed her temple.

“Persevere? Thanks that makes me glad.” She could see he was having a much more difficult time watching the movie than he was eating the burger. “Do you want to go?”

“No, we can stay and watch. If you want to that is?” Stephan wanted to leave, he was ready to run out of there, but this was Scarlet’s night of human activities, and romance movies were one of them.

“Ok, let’s go. But you have to drive because I’m not done with my burger.”

“How do you eat this stuff?” He handed her his meal when he was done slaving through it.

“I guess the human part of me dominates the vampire part.”

The night wasn’t as successful as he would have wanted it to be, but she still loved him for trying.

“Thank you for trying,” she said as they pulled up to the beach.

“The night wasn’t a total loss.” He picked up the empty pack of chips, “I can’t believe you ate all of this.”

“And I can eat more; it’s a good thing I don’t grow.”

“I don’t know about that. It seems you have gotten a bit rounder.” Stephan chewed on his lower lip to stifle a laugh.

“I can’t believe you said that. You have not dated any humans; you don’t comment on a girl’s weight. And besides, you’re talking utter rubbish.” She opened the door to step out, but before her foot touched the ground Stephan was there.

“Let’s see.” He dragged her legs out of the car and caught the rest of her body in his right arm. He lifted her then jostled her side to side. “Yup! I’m right you have put on some weight.”

“Stephan!” Scarlet slapped his broad chest; she was sure if she was still a human it would have hurt her more than it did him.

“I can’t be sure until I do a complete analysis of your body.” His tone lowered. His deep baritone voice made him sound like he was humming more than talking.

“How are you going to do that exactly?” Scarlet already knew the answer. His naughty grin always sold him out whenever he wanted to make love to her.

“As I said a full body search; every inch of your body must be inspected.” He carried her to the tent and lowered her on the blanket.

“Don’t I need to sign a consent form or something?”

He lifted her left hand and showed her her wedding ring. “This is all the consent I need. Happy anniversary, Mrs. Jeraldi.”

Scarlet was enjoying the time she was spending with her husband; she didn’t realize that it was already the twentieth.

“Happy anniversary, Mr. Jeraldi.”

***

Stephan watched the sunrise as Scarlet slept. Ever since he went back home, he appreciated and cherished every sunrise and sunset he had spent with his family. This one marked a new year with his wife, a whole year he had to love her.

He had done everything he knew Scarlet would want to be done. He had called home and checked on their son and Kayla’s wedding preparations.

Once he had made sure everything was fine and that Scarlet was still sound asleep, he dove into the ocean for a swim. He swam as far as he could, but always made sure he wasn’t that far in case she needed him.

Stephan enjoyed being with other animals because in some strange ludicrous way he felt like he was one of them. He swam down to the ocean bed, not minding the sea predators that were more afraid of him than he was of them.

***

Scarlet woke up when the sun was at its highest point. She couldn’t find Stephan, so she sat under the tent and waited, looking towards the ocean. She loved it there, and she loved it even more knowing that this was their special place. She had nothing but happy memories of the oceans. Scarlet had pushed aside her encounter with Zen, eliminating all the bad and leaving the good.

She got up when she saw Stephan emerging from the water, at the shore. She walked towards him, her hair fluttering in the cool breeze.

“I missed you. Where did you go?” She wrapped her arms around his cool wet body.

“You were asleep, so I decided to take a swim. It’s beautiful down there.” He planted a kiss on her forehead. “What do you want to do today? Seeing that you have already wasted half the day sleeping.”

“Hey!” She slapped his chest, “Whose fault is that? You had me awake all night.”

“Not all night. Early morning until dawn.” He corrected her timeline. “And I believe you wanted to be awake.” A cheeky grin spread across his face.

“I was too distracted to check the time, so I admit it was partially my fault.” Scarlet looked down to the ground. Each time she saw that smile, her cheeks pinked up. 

She hated how obvious she was at times, but when it came to Stephan her body betrayed her. Its allegiance was always to him.

“By the way, I already called home, our son is fine, and Kayla is doing what she does best.”

“That is?”

“Keeping everything in order. She should have joined the army or something. Her talents are being wasted on us mere immortals,” he joked.

“Stephan, stand-up comedy is not your thing.”

“You don’t think I’m funny?”

“No.” Scarlet dropped her arm from his waist and took a few steps away from him.

“I don’t make you laugh?” Stephan advanced towards her slowly, a smile on his face.

“No, not really.” Although she was only teasing him, she was right. Stephan was anything and could be anything he wanted to be, but one thing he was not, was funny.

“What if I tickle you?”

This was her cue to run; she couldn’t take anyone tickling her. It made her feel like her insides were vibrating and she could never catch her breath while she laughed; not that she would need to. But still, she couldn’t bear anyone tickling her. 

She turned around and ran, not as fast as she was capable of but fast enough. She couldn’t risk being careless, they were on a public beach and anyone could see them.

Stephan chased after her, letting her be a few steps ahead of her. He could easily catch her, but he didn’t want to ruin the thrill for her. He chased her around the beach and into the water. And when he had enough of running, he swiped her feet and threw her over his shoulders.

“Hey, this is the twenty-first century; men don’t put women on their shoulders and drag them to their caves.” Scarlet giggled, as she bobbled up and down with every stride he took.

“But you are forgetting something; I wasn’t born in this century.” He laid her down on the blanket as gently as he could.

Scarlet put her hands over her head and looked up at him, her eyes fixed on the swirling silver in his.

“Now that you have me here, what are we going to do?” her eyes were wide with excitement, a huge contrast to his.

Stephan’s eyes were narrow as if he was squinting to look at her. But even in their slim form, she could still see the fire that burnt in them. It was desire. 

She often wondered how they had managed to get to that point. She wondered what would have happened if she had decided to keep living in her deceased parents’ house; if she never worked at the diner or if she and Kayla had never gone into the garage that day.

But she only had one answer: fate. As corny or as cheesy as it sounded, he was her fate. The previous year had been proof of that. She reached out her hand and stroked his loose hair, tucking it behind his ear.

“I wish my parents were still alive.” She smiled up at him as a tear rolled down her temple. “Even for a second, so that they could meet their grandson. So that they could meet you and see how happy you make me.”

He leaned into the palm of her hand as she stroked his face. “When I was made into what I am today, I started to believe in a lot of things that seemed unreasonable to me.” He kissed her palm. “So as crazy as it may sound, I know they are watching over you and our son. Not agreeing with every decision you are making but still supporting you.”

Scarlet cleared her throat, trying to swallow the emotion that had built up in it, “That’s not crazy. Us, being here together is. Against all odds, we are still here, in each other's arms.”

“As we should be.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I think that is enough communication for today.”

“Communication is very important in a marriage.” She knew where he was heading and she thought she should get them there faster, “Now that we have done the verbal, how about we get to the physical?”

“Do I have your permission to please you?”

“Get to it.”

Scarlet watched as he ran his hands along the outline of her body. She could feel herself shiver in pleasure, she wanted more, and she knew he would give her more than she could handle.