Two days passed, and I haven't seen Tristan. Julian had been keeping me company for the most part, and Olivia stayed with me if Julian needed to be somewhere else. The Queen wanted him or Tristan with me at all times, but since Tristan won't come near me, Julian took on both shifts. Because the King is holding a meeting about official, royal business today, I had to be babysat by someone else. Just as Julian was leaving to meet with the Vampire King, Celine stepped in, and she didn't look too happy about it.

I couldn't help but wince as she shot daggers at me.

"I'll be back. Try not to kill each other while I'm gone," Julian said, half jokingly. "Seriously though, Celine."

"I don't make promises I can't keep." Celine rolled her eyes as she bumped Julian out of the way and plopped onto the couch.

He let out a small chuckle before he left me with the devil herself. Her eyes burned into me as I made my way across the room to my bed and sat down. I went to open my mouth to break the awkward silence, but Celine cut me off.

"Don't think that just because I'm here, we are friends. I'm only here because my mom made me. You're nothing but food to me."

Ouch.

"I don't know what I did to make you hate me so much, but I'm sorry..." I apologized in a small voice. I couldn't bring my eyes to look in her direction.

Celine suddenly appeared in front of me. "I don't need your apology! I need you to leave here and stay out of my brother's bed! Your presence is like a slap in the face to Eretria's memory!" She seethed, fury dripping from her words like venom.

I could feel her anger radiating off of her in waves, unconsciously causing me to sink back into the bed.

"It wasn't like that. I only slept there because Tristan wanted to make sure Collin stayed away from me. I don't mean any disrespect. I would never..."

Her eyes turned black, and she looked even more heated if that was possible. "Oh, but you do, or you wouldn't be degrading my best friend's memory!"

"Eretria was your best friend? I didn't know that," I spoke softly. "I would never do that. I—She seemed like a good person."

"Don't say her name!" Celine screamed at me. "How would you even know? You know what? I don't care. You might be fooling my brother and Julian, but you don't fool me. Just do us all a favor and leave." She returned to the couch in an instant.

My hands shook as I tried to remain calm. I wasn't sure what to say or do. Celine wasn't just a person; she was a vampire who could easily kill me like Julian killed Nathan at the lake. I know she was hurting like I hurt for my family, but there was no reasoning with her. She was blind from her rage.

I contemplated what to say, but words failed me. The more I thought about it, I began to feel annoyed with Celine.

She doesn't know me, so why does she hate me so much? Eretria died a long time ago, so is Tristan just not going to find love again? Not that it would be with me...

I'm not sure if it was Celine's judgement towards me, or the pressure from everything that's happened the last couple weeks, but I finally snapped.

"Can you just listen? I know you miss your best friend, but Tristan does too! I didn't sleep in your brother's room to hurt you or defile Eretria's memory. If Tristan was fine with it, then you should be too," I scolded her like she was a toddler and not a deadly creature. Her eyes widened in shock. "You don't know me, so you have no right to hate me. You are angry that she died. I get it. Well, I'm angry my family died, and I was forced to endure horrible things at a mental institution! You don't see me acting out at people! Despite how you have been treating me, I don't hate you Celine, but I guess that's the difference between me and you. I may be human, but I am definitely the better person."

Celine stood, slack-jawed, and tears began to flow freely down her toffee-colored cheeks. Immediately, I felt horrible for yelling at her, and I kept telling myself that she deserved it, but that's not what I really thought. She was grieving just as much as me, just in a different way. In all my life, I've never yelled at a person like that. I've always been the type to hold it in. I was snappy with my family sometimes, but what preteen isn't? I've also argued with Tristan, but I've never actually flipped out on anyone before.

"Celine...I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said those things to you," I apologized, carefully stepping towards her.

"Don't," she ordered in a vulnerable tone as she held her hand out to stop me.

Celine turned away, and I immediately regretted blowing up on her. I carefully approached her, but stayed at a safe distance. The silence was deafening. I pondered over what to say, but I was at a loss again. I didn't know how to comfort her.

"I miss her." Celine's whisper was almost too quiet to hear. Her dark hair concealed her face as she slightly looked over her shoulder. "I'm still grieving, but it feels like everyone else just forgot about her. She deserves to be remembered," she sniffed. "My brother loved her, but he won't talk about her. He won't let anyone even speak her name. It's like she never existed. Then, you come and sleep where she slept, and no one seems to see that it's like she has been replaced."

"I...". I sharply exhaled while I fumbled for the words. "I don't want to replace her. I didn't ask to be here, Celine. Julian kind of kidnapped me—saved me? And now, your parents want me to stay to basically be their spokesperson for the human race. As for Tristan, he is hurting as much as you, but he holds it in. He really did love her; he still does, and it seems like when he talks about her, it tears him up inside. For me, I don't like to talk about my family because it hurts too much. It's easier to just block it out. I don't think he even realizes that you feel this way. It wouldn't hurt for you to talk about this with him."

Celine's shoulders slumped forward, and she choked back a sob. The next thing I knew, her arms were around me, and she was crying on my shoulder. The sudden touch surprised me, causing my body to stiffen with my arms at my sides.

"I'm sorry..." Celine's voice cracked. "I took it out on you."

My mouth twitched upwards, and I returned her embrace. "It's okay. You don't have to be sorry."

"I didn't expect a human to be so...nice." A hearty laugh escaped her lips, and she pulled away while wiping the tears from her brown eyes.

I snorted, "I didn't expect a vampire to be so nice."

We broke out into a fit of laughter, and for the next few hours, we sat on the couch and talked to each other about anything and everything. When Celine wasn't trying to rip my head off, she was actually great to talk to. It was nice to have a girl friend. We had a lot more in common than I thought we would, and I think that Celine had never been around humans before because she seemed shocked at a lot of things I said.

"Celine."

"Yeah?"

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your special ability?"

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "I have telekinesis. I can move things with my mind." She demonstrated by lifting her cup in the air.

"Wow! That's really cool! I bet it's great having superpowers."

Celine tucked a loose piece of her dark hair behind her ear and leaned forward. "Well, if you become a vampire, then you will."

My mind was suddenly a battlefield of clashing thoughts. It had never crossed my mind—becoming a vampire. I figured you had to die to become one, and I would rather not experience death anytime soon. But, at the same time, it would be amazing to have super speed and a cool ability. If I ever became one, I would live forever, but I would never see my family again; immorality would make sure of that. And, the thought of having to drink blood to live was repulsive.

Would I want to become a vampire though?

I couldn't answer that question. I tucked my feet underneath me and took a sip from my tea. "I never thought it was a possibility to become one."

"Well, yeah!" Celine laughed at my comment. "Once we out ourselves to the humans, then my parents wouldn't need you to be human anymore. You could be turned."

"Wow..."

"You don't want to become one of us?" She asked, confused. Her brows creased as she cocked her head.

"No, it's not that. I just haven't thought about it until now," I trailed off and sat my drink on the coffee table. "What's it like? To become a vampire?" Although I asked, I wasn't sure if I wanted to know that answer.

"Well, I wouldn't know how it feels to be turned because I was born one. I basically was a human until I turned sixteen. That's when the fangs appeared, and I had all the ablities of a vampire. When you're turned, you have to have vampire blood in your system when you die." She confirmed what I feared.

"So you just stopped aging at sixteen?" I asked.

"No, vampire-born stop aging at 23."

"Lucky you." I grinned.

"Yeah, lucky me," she beamed while flicking her hair. "I don't have to worry about grey hair or wrinkles."

We both giggled.

It got quiet between us, and my thoughts wandered back to Eretria. She had been on my mind a lot lately and in my dreams. The last two nights my dreams haven't been the same. Only images of her pop up instead of me seeing things from her perspective. Something kept tugging at the back of my mind, trying to tell me something, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

My eyes shot down to the coffee table when I heard a noise. Celine was using her ability to lift her glass up to her hand without having to move. It suddenly hit me. I figured out what it was.

"Hey, Celine. What was Eretria's ability?"

She took a sip out of her glass before it magically set itself back down. "She had the ability of astral projection and manipulation. She could cross different planes by separating her soul from her body. It was actually one of the coolest abilities I've ever seen."

"Did she have the ability to project herself into a person's dreams?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

"Uh...". Celine looked up to the ceiling, thinking before she looked back to me. "Yeah, actually. I think she did."