Only One Way

Only One Way
Alice

I watch Molly leave, and she practically runs to her car. I must admit that I felt the same way about Duskmoore when I first arrived, so I cannot blame her for her fear and skepticism. But I have come to love this house and the people in it. 

As her car pulls away, I turn back toward the house and look up, admiring the details of its solid stone construction, from the archways at ground level to the piercing spires at the top that point toward the sky.

Thunder roars in the distance, so I hold up my skirt and sprint toward the front entrance, just missing the first sprinkles of rain, their tiny beads freckling the stone steps behind me. Thankful to have missed it, I hurry inside.

I don’t wish to see Rhys, not yet. I don’t know if he’ll speak to me if I do come upon him, but all I can envision is that look in his eyes while he yelled at me yesterday, and I don’t want to risk it. So, I slip off my shoes, which tend to click with an echo against the stone foyer flooring, pick them up, and make my way toward the stairs.

He’s a vampire, and no doubt he will hear me regardless. But still, my attempt at being stealth calms me while I rush up to my room, latching the door securely behind me. 

I take a deep breath, all the words Molly said to me running through my mind. I did promise her that I’d think about leaving. Of course, that topic spills over into my every thought these days. Despite Rhys’s apology, he continues to refuse to listen to me, and every conversation seems to evolve into an argument. 

That kind of stress cannot be good for the baby. A vampire baby—I have enough to worry about now that I know the child I carry isn’t human. I don’t see how I can carry a baby to term who craves human blood. Perhaps that only happens once the child is born, but I have no way of knowing if that’s the case. 

I hope that Dr. Lombardi can find someone who knows about this situation soon so I can put my mind at ease. 

I drop my shoes and step across the room to my chair by the window, the place of solace that clears my mind enough to think. I settle into it, fanning out my skirt, noticing that it caught a few of the raindrops I thought I’d escaped. 

Breathing in, I force the air to fully fill my lungs, exhaling slowly, blowing out with pursed lips, the way my mother always did when she needed to calm herself. Closing my eyes, I repeat the process until my nerves aren’t quite as rattled. It’s the best I can hope for. I’m not going to feel calm until Dr. Lombardi returns with news. 

So, I open my eyes to gaze out onto the ocean, letting the steady rhythm of the waves add to the small sense of peace I can grasp for at the moment.  

First, I need to address the question of leaving Duskmoore. I’d promised Molly, after all. But she will not like my answer because I know in my heart that I have already decided to stay, at least for now. It’s a surprisingly easy decision, but the love I have for this place and these people guides me. 

The next consideration is not so easy. I need to find a way to persuade Rhys to finally listen to me and to respect my independence as a person. When he came to apologize, I’d thought that would be enough. But it spiraled into a cold, vicious argument so quickly that I was blindsided. 

I tried to explain, but all he could speak of was Sam. Yet, the man means nothing to me!

Rhys treated me cruelly in the library, but with the others around me, I felt I had some support. Alone in my room, my own needs and opinions seemed to just vanish into the air. He overpowers me when there is no one around but us. 

There’s only one solution. I won’t speak to him alone anymore. Someone must always be here when we have a discussion. 

With that settled, I take a few more deep cleansing breaths and close my eyes, listening to the endless rhythm of the waves. The ocean never surrenders. It never lets anyone push it beyond its boundaries. Someday, I’ll have the strength to make Rhys listen to me, but right now, I need to keep as much stress at bay as I can, for me and the baby. 

A firm knock on the door brings me out of my thoughts. It’s too direct and demanding to be Naomi or Dr. Lombardi. My heart leaps a bit when I realize who is there. 

Rhys.

I ignore it at first, trying to direct all my attention to the ocean outside. But as usual, he is relentless, and he raps on the door again. 

“Alice, I need to speak to you,” he calls. “It’s important.”

A sigh escapes my lips, and I let it go with an exaggerated huff. He’s not going to quit, but I’m not going to let him in, not if he’s alone. I must stand my ground. 

I step over to the door as he knocks again, this time with rough impatience. 

“Alice....”

“You don’t need to pound on my door,” I tell him, standing near it. “I can hear you.”

“Please let me in,” he says. “I have something very important to tell you.”

“Then say it.”

He scoffs. “I’m not going to yell it through the door, Alice.”

“Well, I’m not letting you in if you’re alone,” I insist. “If it’s important, bring Tiberius or Dr. Lombardi.”

“What? No.”

“Then you’re not coming in.” I place my palm on the doorknob, fighting my desire to turn it. But I stand firm and continue to insist that he not enter alone. 

“Alice…” he says and then pauses for a moment. “Fine,” he adds with exasperation. “I’ll be right back.”

I stay beside the door as his footsteps fade away. Several minutes pass, enough that I begin to wonder whether he will return. But eventually, I hear multiple footsteps at the door.

“I’m back,” he says impatiently.

I open the door wide, happy to see Dr. Lombardi next to him. I don’t believe he will allow Rhys to upset me given the pregnancy. I gesture for them to enter, and they do so, but none of us take a seat. 

“I understand you not wanting me to be in here with you alone given the last time we talked,” Rhys begins. “But now isn’t the time for us to discuss that last argument. We have something important to talk to you about.”

I gaze back and forth between them, waiting. I can see by their eyes that they have grave news to report. I fear the worst. “Is the baby going to live?” I ask, my hands shaking.

“It’s not the baby,” Rhys tells me. He pauses, looks at the doctor, then turns back to me. “Alice, you—” He shakes his head, turning to Dr. Lombardi. “I can’t say it.”

The doctor turns to me. “Alice, perhaps you should sit.” 

“All right,” I say, moving to my chair by the window. 

Dr. Lombardi sits in the other chair and leans forward. “Alice, I heard from the other vampire doctor. I’m afraid this news is not easy to share. But he was aware of two other human women who became pregnant with vampires.”

I nod, catching the sorrow in his eyes. I wait for him to speak, my nerves rattling with fear. 

“There’s no easy way to say this,” he continues. “Neither of those women survived.”

It takes a moment for the words to assemble in my mind, but then it strikes me, and my heart drops with a thud. “I’m going to die?” I ask. “This baby will kill me?”

He nods ever so slightly. “I’m afraid so.” His voice is soft and sorrowful. 

I turn my gaze to Rhys, who looks at me with fear. I swallow back a thick lump in my throat. “When?” I ask. 

“The other women passed away at the beginning of their third month,” he explains quietly. 

Three months—I calculate the weeks he’d told me in my mind. I have only two weeks left! “No,” I say in a hoarse whisper, my heart thumping wildly against my chest. My baby—I’ll never see him or her. Rhys—we’ll only have two weeks to make the best of our time. My friends, my life, my music—all of it will be gone in the matter of just days.

No! I can’t die, not so soon. At this young stage, the baby will perish with me!

Panicked, I turn to Rhys. He will lose both of us!

Rhys dives down toward me, enveloping me in his embrace. I have no time to worry about arguments or the way he treats me or whether we speak alone or whether I stay in Duskmoore. This—all of this—is almost over for me. Every nerve in my body screams against the horror of it. 

Rhys squeezes me tight as I wet his shoulder with unrestrained tears. 

I don’t want to die. Please, don’t let me die!

“There’s a way,” he whispers in my ear, then he pulls back to meet my eyes. 

“What?” I flick my gaze between both of them, my heart still pounding. “What do you mean? Is there a treatment?”

“Not exactly,” Dr. Lombardi admits. “But there is a way you can carry the baby without dying.”

I look at him with wide and hopeful eyes. “What? What do I need to do?”

He glances down at the floor and back up before answering, “There is only one way. You need to become a vampire.”