CURSE OF THE BLOOD MOON

Scarlet snuggled into Stephan’s arms, she felt so good in his arms again, she had missed them more than she thought she had. It had taken a while for her to fall asleep, and when she did she submitted to her exhaustion and let the siesta take her.

Stephan loved having her close to him. He combed his fingers through her hair and then twisted a strand of it around his little finger. She looked beautiful and her full body made her even more so. He caressed her round belly, using his index finger to draw circles around it.

“She looks beautiful, doesn’t she?” Kayla cuddled in Solara’s lap on the armchair. “To think that she never thought she wanted kids and now she guards this one with her life.”

“She is as beautiful as she is brave.” Stephan kissed the top of her head and breathed in her scent through her hair.

“That she is.” Solara agreed with him. “So what are you going to name him?”

“We haven’t talked about that yet, but I’m sure Scarlet already picked one out, she had a long time to think about it.”

“She does, I picked it up from her head, Stephan Leonard Jeraldi, after you, and her late father.” Kayla smiled at him, expecting him to be excited about it but he looked troubled.

“I don’t think she should name him after me, I haven’t done anything worth being honored for. Her father, most definitely but me, not at all.” Stephan shook his head as he disagreed with her choice.

“I don’t think you will win that fight, she has made up her mind already. Don’t sell yourself short Stephan, you have done a lot of good things and this child is one of them.” Any man could father a child but he stood by her and understood her, even when she had deceived him.

Scarlet turned and he made sure his arm still supported her head.

“Thanks, but Scarlet is the one doing all the work here.”

“Are you saying we should name the boy after her?” Solara asked a chuckle escaping his lips.

“Who says it’s a boy, maybe it’s a girl.” Stephan wasn’t sure what they were having but Scarlet always referred to it as a boy.

“Scarlet is pretty sure and since they are both connected I’ll take her word for it.” Kayla looked at Scarlet as she turned again. She was worried that she was having a nightmare or the baby was trying something. At this point, she wouldn’t put it past him.

“I have never seen or heard anything like this. It’s like they have the same mind and share all their emotions.” Stephan propped himself on his elbow when she turned again.

“Is she having a bad dream or something?” Solara asked as he also joined the others in examining her motions.

“I don’t know, maybe she’s uncomfortable. I heard it’s difficult to sleep contentedly when you are pregnant.” Kayla moved from Solara’s lap to the side of the bed. “She sweating, but she is barely covered. Stephan, do you mind if I replace you? She needs to cool down.”

Stephan moved his hand from Kayla to cradle Scarlet.

“Solara, please get me a cold towel. I can feel her warm body and that has never happened since I became a vampire.” Kayla said alarmed.

She pressed the cold towel on her forehead, but it didn’t seem to help at all. Her cold skin also didn’t do much to cool her body temperature.

“Something is wrong. Nikki, wake up!” Kayla’s voice was laced with alarm.

“Kayla, what is it?” Stephan took Scarlet’s hand and sat next to her, while Solara hovered over them. Scarlet was tossing and turning, she was all over the bed.

“Nikki!” Kayla shrieked.

“What is it? Why do you have to scream too...” she broke midsentence when she looked at Scarlet.

Her body arched over the bed before slamming back down. She was burking on the bed her limbs sprawled. She looked like a fish out of water or better yet a bull trying to dismount a rider.

Nikki rushed to her side pushing Stephan out of her way. She stared at her for a second before grabbing her arm and pinning it to the bed.

“Hold her down before she hurts herself.”

They each took a limb, making sure they held her down carefully to avoid breaking her bones.

“What’s going on Nikki?” Stephan didn’t take his eyes off Scarlet’s face, which had now turned to a ghostly pale white.

She didn’t answer him, she didn’t know exactly what was happening either. Nikki had never seen anything like this happen before, she was lost for words.

“Nikki!”

“I don’t know!” She shouted out, “I don’t know.” Her voice was now in a low tone. She was confused and had no idea of what to do next.

Kayla could hear the confusion in her thoughts and the panic in her voice. Nikki had been their best bet in surviving this whole ordeal intact and if she didn’t know what was going on they were screwed.

Scarlet’s body slammed once more on the bed, then she didn’t move at all. Her breathing was shallow and her heartbeat could barely be heard. They let go of her and took a step back. Kayla let her hands slid over her body making sure no bones had been broken and she hadn’t gotten any injuries.

“She’s fine, besides her breathing, everything seems normal.” She put her hands over Scarlet’s belly and skimmed around it, she could feel the baby’s slight movements. “The kid seems ok too.”

“What was that?” Stephan pulled Scarlet, who incredibly was still asleep, into his lap. He was afraid of letting her go.

“I don’t know,” Nikki repeated the uncertainty still evident in her voice.

“You said that already.” Kayla was angry, but she wasn’t sure what she was pissed more about.

The fact that Stephan had been careless enough to get her pregnant, that she had supported Scarlet’s crazy idea of having a child or Nikki who kept repeating those dreadful three words, I don’t know. If she didn’t know who else was supposed to.

“Kayla none of those things could be helped, so instead of dwelling on that let’s try and figure this out.” Solara was glad that no one else had heard what she had been thinking. The situation was tense enough without her dishing blame around.

“I’m sorry, I’m just...” she placed Scarlet’s limp hand on her cheeks, “I don’t know what I would do if...” she couldn’t finish the sentence.

She looked at Scarlet wrapped tightly around Stephan’s arms, she looked so peaceful. Her look was borderline ridiculous and beautiful. Scarlet looked like someone had blown air into her body, but the aspect of motherhood made her seem beautiful.

“She’ll be fine, she has to be fine.” Stephan was comforting himself as much as he was reassuring himself. He laid her back on the bed, put her on her side and elevated her head to make breathing much easier, and covered her up to her waist.

Kayla lay down beside her and played with her long brunette hair. She looked at her peaceful face and how relaxed she seemed. A part of her wished that they were just the two of them as they always had been. If they were, they wouldn’t be on this roller coaster ride.

They watched her the whole night. Kayla didn’t give up her spot even when Stephan asked her to, she ignored Solara’s requests to hold her. She was focused on one thing and one thing alone, Scarlet. She stared into her face until morning.

Scarlet flattered her eyes open and the first thing she saw was her best friend staring back at her. She gave her a serene smile and combed her fingers through her curly brown hair.

“Hey, you.” She whispered.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Kayla watched both her face and her thoughts, waiting for any recollection of the previous night.

“I feel great, relaxed. I haven’t felt this good in a long time.”

Her feelings were genuine and they honestly perplexed the other people in the room. Kayla wasn’t going to tell her what had happened the previous night and had mentally warned the others not to.

“So what do you want to do today?” Kayla was determined to make this morning seem as usual and ordinary as possible.

“First on my agenda is to take a bath. Then look for a sack or something, anything that could wrap itself around this enormous body.” She started to get up when Stephan rushed to her side to help her.

“Hey, Hun.” She flashed an adoring smile at him.

“Hey, to you too. Want me to help you in the shower?” he lifted her off the bed and put her on her feet. He was making sure she used the least bit of effort.

“I think you have done enough Stephan.” Kayla tapped Scarlet’s belly and smiled up at him.

Stephan was glad that she could make a joke after last night’s ordeal. Kayla was Scarlet’s support system and if she was fine, Scarlet would be too. He lifted his hands in surrender. Scarlet could feel her face flush, they were all staring at her like they were waiting for the mountain that had formed on her to turn volcanic and erupt. She shuffled her feet quickly and soon they were in the precincts of the four bathroom walls away from the stares.

“You guys need to relax, like Nikki says there isn’t much to it and she isn’t worried you shouldn’t be either.” Scarlet lowered herself into the small bathtub. She didn’t trust her feeble legs to hold up her mammoth body under the shower.

Kayla couldn’t say anything, she just smiled down at her and handed her a bath sponge. What could she say at this point, the events of the previous night had proven that Nikki was just as useless as the rest of them in handling Scarlet’s pregnancy?

Scarlet decided to soak in the tub, she let the warm water manipulate every inch of her body. Kayla sat on the toilet seat, keeping a close eye on her just in case she started convulsing.

“So how are you and Solara doing?” Scarlet thought she should navigate the conversation away from herself.

“We are great, really great.” Kayla realized what she was doing and went with it.

Scarlet was trying to make sure she didn’t worry about her too much. She understood how risky it all seemed to them but she was sure they would be fine.

“I need to get some clothes for the baby. And maybe a tent for me.” Scarlet chuckled when she looked at herself in the mirror. She tried wrapping the towel around herself but it couldn’t reach.

Kayla went into the room and searched her draws, and found some clothes that seemed large enough to fit her.

“This is crazy.” Scarlet slipped on a tank top that managed to cover half of her stomach. She put on the large white shirt and cotton shorts she had on previously.

“Ok, that looks decent enough.” Kayla made her pirouette so that she could take a good look at her.