Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Enrique Reyes

 

In the morning things got a bit more interesting.  Max knocked on the door before he entered Alex’s room.

“Anna we need to talk.” Max said quietly motioning me to follow him down the hallway.  I nodded and followed him, Alex was right behind us.  When we entered the kitchen, everyone else was there waiting for us.  Max motioned us to sit down.

“Anna, you need to know that there is a problem,” Max said quietly.

I watched him and the others intently as he started to explain.

“This is going to be a harder fight than any of us had suspected as your father has some unexpected connections that we did not know about.  Apparently, your father has connections with an old Vampire clan.  They’re sending a few reinforcements to help him, which will complicate things.  Our sources told us they are mainly coming to witness, but if he needs help they will not hesitate to intervene,” Max stated.

“What do we do?” I whispered feeling dread settle into my belly.

“We will set a time to meet with your father and we will try to stop this,” Katie stated simply.  I looked at all of them seriously.

“He won’t stop.  He made that clear with my mother’s death.  The only thing to do is face him on my birthday.  We can only try to keep him at bay until then.  Have you found a place that we can meet him where no one else might be hurt?” I asked.  I was coming up with a plan.  I could see it forming in my head.  Alex put a hand on my shoulder looking at me questioningly.

“Yes, we have. Why Anna?  What are you thinking?” George asked.  He always seemed to know when I was hatching a plan; it was rather strange.                         

“I’m going to call him,” I stated, knowing it was the right thing to do.

“Are you out of your mind?” Alex spun me to face him, his eyes frantic.

“No, I’m not out of my mind.  If wants me then he’ll have me but on my terms, and my terms only,” I said smiling reassuringly at him.

“You can’t mean that!” Alex and Lizzy exclaimed, confusion in their eyes.

“Yes, I can.  I will tell him where and when we will meet so that everyone at school or elsewhere will be safe.  That way he can make all the plans he wants while we’re listening.  All I have to do is tell him when and where,” I looked at everyone confidently.  “Don’t worry, we’ll be ready, my birthday is only two and a half months away.  It’s June now, I think he can wait a bit longer,” I stated, trying to hide my fear, but also, strangely certain this would work.

“She’s crazy” Cassy said quietly.

I smiled at her, “Not crazy Cassy, realistic.  He’ll find me one way or another, but if I give him a specific time and place he’ll wait, he’ll plan, and he’ll get cocky.” I was sure of this.  I didn’t know why, but I was.

“Wow! She’s amazingly clever, she’s figured more out in a few minutes than we did in months,” Stephan said admiringly.

“Well, I’ve been running most of my life, so I kinda know how he thinks,” I replied grinning.

“When do you want to make the call?” asked Katie.

“Do you have an untraceable phone?” I looked at Max.

“Yes,” He pulled a phone from his pocket and tossed it to me.

“Well then, let’s get this over with,” I said confidently.

“Anna, you don’t have to do this right now,” Alex said, concerned.

“There’s no point in procrastinating Alex.  This is the only way I can protect everyone.” I looked at him squarely.  He had not seen this side of me before and I could see the turmoil in his eyes.

“Anna, please be reasonable,” Alex’s eyes were pleading.

“No, this is the way it’s going to be.  It’s got to by my way Alex.  I want to face this head on and give us some time to prepare.”

“You won’t be able to stop her Alex, her mind is made up.  She’s right though, things will work out.  I’m not exactly sure how, but they will,” Cassy said confidently, she had a sense that what I was doing was right.

I looked into Alex’s eyes asking him to trust me, and he finally gave in.

George handed me a piece of paper with the phone number I needed.  I dialled the number quickly not wanting to prolong this any longer than necessary.

“Hello?” a deep voice with a Spanish accent answered.

“Hello Enrique, this is Anastasia.”

“How did you get my number?” he asked, surprised.

“I have my ways, now listen up.  You want me. Correct?” I stated confidently.

“Yes, I want you to come home.  I want you to be with your family,” he cajoled trying to make me believe that was all he wanted.  He was extremely manipulative and shrewd .

“Let me make one thing perfectly clear.  YOU killed the only family I had.  I have no family. I have no home. YOU took that away from me. You have nothing that I want,” I said flatly.

“Then why the phone call, my daughter?” he asked sarcastically, any hint of niceness gone.

“Because I don’t want anyone to get hurt.  I will meet you, but only on my terms.  You will do what I say or I will disappear and you will never find me; not even with your vampire friends,” I stated matter of factly.

“You’re very well informed for a seventeen year old girl,” he seethed, his anger palpable through the phone.

“You have no idea.  We will meet on August eighteenth at a place of my choosing.  I know I don’t care who you bring with you, I don’t care how many weapons you bring, but if you go near the town or the school again you will never find me.  Am I Clear?”

“Quite. Where is this place you want to meet?”

“It’s a clearing about the size of the sky dome.  I’ll text you the coordinates exactly one month from now.”

“Why not give me the coordinates now?” he asked curiously.

“You need to earn that trust.  One wrong move and I’ll know about it.  By the way, I can tell you’re trying to trace this call.  Bad boy, now you won’t get the coordinates until August.  Cross me again and you’ll be sorry.” I laughed without humour.

“I will have you Anastasia, you belong to ME!” he yelled , trying to claim me.  I laughed into the phone.

“I belong to NO ONE!  You’ll find that out soon enough though.  By the way, the only time a claiming can happen is on the eighteenth of August.  If you knew anything about the legend at all you would have known that.  But I guess you don’t know your history that well after all.  Bye, Enrique,” I said sweetly, snapping the phone shut.

Only then did I take a deep breath and slide to the floor shaking.  Lizzy and Alex were immediately at my side comforting me with their presence. 

“You’ve got guts.  I’ll give you that,” Alex said shaking his head admiringly.

“She’s as stubborn as hell.  She’s worse than us at Christmas,” Lizzy laughed.

My brain was still going like a roller coaster so I got to my feet slowly and walked out to the deck.  Suddenly it dawned on me: I needed to see that prediction, I needed a copy to study.  The answer to my problem could be in the prediction itself.

“Max,” I spun around running back into the kitchen.

He looked at me bewildered.

“Is it possible to get a copy of the prediction?” I asked, breathless.

“Your father might have a copy with him. Why do you ask?” He took in my eagerness.

“I need to see it in its original form so that we can translate it literally and figuratively.  I’m not sure, but I think the answer is in the prediction itself,” I was so excited that I was almost bouncing. 

“Well, we could see what we can find.  The original version as far as I know, is still in Spain.  George, do you want to take a little vacation?” Max grinned.  George grinned back.

“Hmm, that is indeed an interesting thought.  Cassy and I haven’t been there in a while.  This could be a graduation present perhaps.”   George enjoyed a challenge that was obvious.

Cassy and George walked out of the room to start planning their trip.  Stephan watched me for a moment, his expression unreadable.

“I’ll go to your father’s room at the hotel and see what I can find.  Anna, I hope you’re right about this,” Stephan was hopeful but still cautious.

“Thank you, Stephan.” I looked at him warmly.

“Well, all we can do is get back to normal for the next little bit,” Lizzy said as she walked to the window. 

“You cause an awful lot of excitement Anna, I’m not sure I’ll make it to our birthday let alone yours.” She shook her head as she gazed across the back yard.

“You didn’t tell me your birthday was coming up,” I looked at her and then to Alex.

“It’s the day of the pool party silly.  That’s how we celebrate.” Lizzy grinned.

“Well now I need to go shopping again.” I mockingly complained.

“Oh no, you don’t!” they all said in unison.

“What do you mean?  I have to get you both a birthday present.” I looked at them in astonishment.

“No. You’re not going anywhere. You’ll just have to make do with whatever is here,” Alex said sternly, his arms crossed over his chest as he glared down at me.

“Oh really?  And you’re going to stop me?” I stated defiantly crossing my arms across my chest and glaring back at him.

“Yes I will.  You’ve done enough for one day to almost drive me over the edge,” he growled, something I had never heard before.  It made my heart race; I wasn’t scared, but I couldn’t explain the reaction I was having to his commanding tone.  But I was still angry at being told what I could and could not do.

“OOoo! Scary Alex, you can growl,” I snipped sarcastically, rolling my eyes at him.  I turned and walked out onto the deck. 

I heard the growling sound intensify, Alex was clearly annoyed.  I half smiled to myself with the revelation that I could provoke him.  Whatever, I thought. I do what I want. I shook my head and headed down the stairs to the lawn.  Just as I stepped onto the grass I found myself in the air with Alex wrapped around me.  He had come out of nowhere.  We tumbled to the ground as he crushed me to his chest for a few seconds before pinning me to the ground beneath him.  My eyes were wide with wonder and astonishment, but there was no fear.

“You were saying?” he growled menacingly into my ear.  He almost did scare me when he sounded like that.  But, although his face was stern with anger, his eyes were full of love.  I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me, ever.

“You still aren’t that scary.  You put on a good show but your eyes gave you away,” I smirked.

He leaned forward until he was just an inch from my face, his eyes taking on a cruel edge and he smirked knowingly.  Then he was tickling my side and I burst into laughter as I squirmed trying to get away from him.

“Please stop!  I give in,” I begged giggling.

“NO.”

“Please, please I’ll do whatever you want, just stop.  Please.” I was almost breathless with laughter, tears trickling from my eyes.  He looked at me and could not hide his feeling for me.

“No presents and no shopping until after this mess is over with in August,” Alex demanded seriously.

“No fair,” I complained.  With that he flipped me onto my stomach in such a swift movement I was helpless to defend myself as he got my shoes and socks off and began tickling my feet.  That sent me over the edge.  I could hardly contain myself. 

“OKAY, I PROMISE!  NOW STOP IT OR I”LL THROW YOU OFF!” I yelled squirming.

Alex flipped me back over and sat on my hips, grabbing my wrists and pinning them over my head.  He leaned in and brushed his cheek against mine as he whispered, smiling seductively, “I win.”  His lips lightly traced under my jaw and down my neck where he kissed the base of my throat and then placed his ear to my chest so that he could listen to my pounding heart.  He chuckled quietly.

“What’s so funny?” I asked breathlessly.

“It was so easy to get you to cave,” he purred.  “I guess I now have a weapon against you and now I can get you to do whatever I want, within reason of course,” he grinned.

“Hey now! Tickling is unfair.  That’s clearly taking advantage,” I pouted.

“Anna, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you stay right here.” He looked into my eyes and smiled softly, then brushed his lips to mine.

I was amazed that he had successfully distracted me out of my bad mood.  Of course I found his kisses intoxicating, my heart was pounding and I had butterflies in my stomach.

“I hope you really mean that,” I said in an almost inaudible whisper.

Max and Katie had been watching us play fight from the patio and wisely broke out intensifying romantic spell, bringing us back to reality.

“Anna, I thought you could fight?  Are you going to just let him win?” Katie chided.

I looked over Alex’s shoulder at her and winked.   She had distracted Alex perfectly allowing me to hook my foot around his ankle, then I bent my other knee and pushed as I jerked my arms to the side.  I had unbalanced Alex enough to roll him onto his back where I then pinned him to the ground.  He looked at me startled and I giggled.  I heard Lizzy and Will snickering from the kitchen.

“Do you want to play now?” I asked in a teasing tone.

He tried to dislodge me so I shifted my weight slightly pinning him more tightly to the ground.  I couldn’t win a strength contest, they ALL had me beat there but I could use what I knew to my advantage.  He got an evil glint in his eyes as the corner of his mouth twitched upward and I knew I was in trouble.  In one fluid movement he was on his feet and I was over his shoulder as he trotted towards the trees at the back of the yard.  Will was bellowing with laughter as I realized that we were headed for the pool.

“Don’t you dare!” I said worried.

“Don’t do what?” he asked mischievously.

I locked my arms around his waist; I wasn’t going in unless he was.  He rounded the corner and in two strides we were in the air and over the deep end of the massive pool.  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath just in time as we plunged into the sparkly blue cold water.

Lizzy, Will and the others came around the corner as we surfaced.

“I will get you back for this.  You just wait.  I’ll bide my time,” I seethed at him.  He looked at me crinkling those beautiful emerald eyes and laughed heartily.  Everyone else was laughing too, and I had to join in; I could help it.  It really was funny.  The next thing I saw was Will tossing in Lizzy, who landed within inches of Alex. Then Will jumped in before he got thrown in.  Max got tossed in by Katie, and as she reached to help him out he pulled her in.  That was when the water fight started and lasted for a good hour.  Everyone was soaked and laughing.  We all needed a release from the stress of what had already happened today and what we all know was coming.