Free Blood-Red Tear by Donna Flynn

woke the next morning with mixed emotions about the night before. I was horrified by what had happened with Scott and yet excited and confused by how it had felt when Aidan kissed me. His kiss had opened a floodgate of emotions within me. I knew I would never forget how it felt to be in his arms and have his lips against mine. To feel as if for the first time in my life I was whole, complete, and exactly where I belonged. As wonderful as it was, though, I realized that it would never be anything more than what it was, a sympathy kiss to me feel better after such a horrible evening. I mean, in all honesty, what would the Prince of the Vampires want with me, a human teenager?
    With a sigh, I climbed out of bed. After looking in the mirror and seeing the blue-black bruise that now graced my cheek from where Scott had slapped me, I hid in my room like a coward for most of the morning. I had applied tons of makeup in an effort to cover the bruising, but it was a useless effort. My parents were vampires and their vision was excellent, so I knew they would note the slightly bluish-green color that still showed through the makeup immediately. They would ask a million questions, which I wasn’t ready to face. I knew at some point that day I had to tell my parents what had happened, but I lost the opportunity to do it my way when Paul came barreling in to my room without knocking.
    “What the hell happened to you?” he growled, his gaze locked on my cheek, fists clenched. His face filled with rage.
    “It’s nothing, just a misunderstanding.” I tried to push him out of the room, but he refused to budge.
    “T his is not a misunderstanding!” He grabbed my wrist and I cried out in pain. He stared at the finger-shaped bruises and snarled angrily. “Where was Aidan? He was supposed be watching over you last night!”
    “What?” I a sked confused by his statement.
    He blanched visibly. “Nothing, forget it. The real question is , how did this happen?”
    “Scott. H e got a little drunk and carried away.”
    T he look of rage on Paul’s face was chilling and I trembled. “I am going to kill that bastard,” he growled, letting go of my wrist and turning to go.
    I grabbed his arm , clinging to him, trying to stop him from leaving. “Please, Paul, do not make this worse,” I begged. “Aidan handled it.” He stopped, but I could feel the war raging inside of him and knew I had to find a way to calm him down before he really did commit murder.
    “What’s going on?” my mother asked, as she and my father raced into the room.
    I knew the moment my father saw the bruising on my cheek by the tightness of his jaw. “What happened?” He looked me over, his eyes stopping at my wrist, his face becoming taut and filled with anger.
    I knew I had to tell them what happened, but I was terrified. I didn’t want to disappoint them and I didn’t want them to kill anyone either.
    My mother came to my side and hugged me close, brushing the hair from my face with a pained look as she gazed at my cheek. “There is nothing you cannot tell us, sweetheart, do not be afraid.”
    R eluctantly, I explained what had happened and how Aidan had come and saved me. Oddly enough, they didn’t seem to find it odd that Aidan had been there at all. In fact, they ignored that part of the conversation and began to discuss the best way to handle Scott. Paul, as was typical, wanted to kill Scott, and my father looked as if he would happily assist him, but my mother as usual was the voice of reason, and made them see that killing him was not an option. She assured them both that Aidan had probably already handled the situation and that Scott would no longer be a problem. I wondered what exactly she meant, but I was so thankful for her calming influence that I didn’t ask any questions. Besides, I was still pondering Paul’s comment about Aidan watching over me .
    “Paul, why don’ t you take Katie out for a little while so your father and I can talk,”