Chapter 1: The New Family

Chapter 1

The New Family.

-Celena

I walked into Eclipse after a long day and sat down at the bar. There was a new bartender working in here tonight. She was a cute little thing. She wore designer jeans and tank top that hugged her curves. Her short cut hair sported the pink tipped ends just right.

She approached after I settled in, throwing me a wink as she approached. “What can I get you to drink?”

I raised an eyebrow. Very new if she had no clue who I was, since the owner of the bar made a stool just for me and no one sat there except me.

“Gin and tonic,” I said sweetly. No need to scare the new girl, yet. Hmm, what the hell, mess with her! “Actually can you make that a double gin?”

“Rough day?” she flashed a smile. That’s when I noticed her eyes: deep pink with gold lacing. She was once a fey, but had been turned into a vampire. Wonder if she ever got her wings, or if the venom destroyed them? I nodded and she walked away to fix the drink. What Riley don’t know, don’t hurt, right?

“Ray, do not give her that drink,” a male’s voice shouted from the unknown. That’s when Riley came from the back room, aka ‘The Cave’.  He walked over and raised a “what’s up with this shit?!” eyebrow at me. “What are you thinking, Celena?” Riley snagged my drink and handed me my regular of Jack and Coke.

I looked up at Riley, shaking my head. “You need to make sure your bartenders are trained better,” I replied, taking a drink.

“Celena don’t start. It’s Ray’s first night on a full shift,” Riley replied, shaking his head. I sighed, knowing it’s gonna be a long night. I wouldn’t mess with the new girl, just sit and mind my business until closing, as usual.

“I’m going to finish inventory before Ray’s shift ends. Please behave.”

“Fine, I guess.” He walked over to whisper something to Ray. She nodded and Riley went back to the Cave. Great, now I have babysitter. I stayed in my seat and watched over time bar become crowded with people. It was going on midnight, I was on my third drink,  and baby, I was feeling it, which wasn’t normal for me.

Ray came over and gave me a gentle smile. “Do you want me to get Riley? You don’t look too good.”

I shook my head. “Just do me a favor and don’t tell him how much I have had to drink, please?”

She smiled still and walked to the edge of the bar to take orders from a group that had been here for about a half hour. Riley walked out of the back and started helping Ray with orders. She finally was able to leave a half hour later, but seemed skeptical about leaving. She glanced back at one corner of the bar where a large group had gathered, then walked out.

I swirled my glass as I watched Riley cut people off and start sending them home. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander. It was a rough year, and as the days got closer to Halloween, I became depressed and angry, again.

My eyes snapped open as glasses being set down in front of me. Well well, two shot glasses...a Copper Camel and Jolly Rancher. I raised an eyebrow at Riley, who smirked at me.

“The Copper Camel is from the guy at the end of the bar to your left, the Jolly Rancher is from the guy at the other end of the bar.”

I looked down the bar to my left and noticed a gentleman with just above shoulder length messy copper colored hair. He was extremely pale, and couldn’t say he was a vampire until I could make out his eye color. Plus he was a wearing a dark grey Armani suit. Yum! There was a group of men standing just behind him, watching everyone in the bar and trying to blend in by talking with Copperhead.

I rolled my eyes and decided to look to my right to see if this guy was any different, and he was. Where Copperhead was pale, this guy had shoulder length, dark brown hair and skin. He looked Native American. Hmm. I strained my eyes to see if I could tell what color his eyes were, and couldn’t tell. I was too damn drained. This guy also wore an Armani suit, and his was light grey.

“Riley, I can’t drink these,” I sighed and looked down.

“They’re your normal shots of choice, Celena. How much have you had to drink?” I could hear the question in his voice and the worry hidden in it. Not my fault I was heavy drinker and took a lot to get me drunk.

“I’m out,” stating just above a whisper. I didn’t want anyone hearing me.

“Run that by me again?”

Damn, his voiced is raised. “I said, I’m out.” He was pissed. I could tell just by his facial expression changing from calm smile to straight-laced.

“How long?” he questioned in a monotone voice. Shit, now I was in trouble. This could go one of two ways: Riley went off on me without calling anyone, or he called the others and told them.

“A couple of days.” I kept looking down, and knew that it was bad and wasn’t helping me medically.

“Take the shots and you’re staying until after we close.” Riley turned around and went to the register to start closing out tabs.

I sighed and took one shot after another. The alcohol was a nice relief but regretted it. I looked at Riley and saw he was on the phone and glancing back at me. Damn him to hell, he called someone to tell them instead of helping me out! About an hour later everyone was gone except Copperhead and the native. Riley walked over to the native, bent in low to him,  said something, nodded,  then left his group. Ten minutes later, he walked over to Copper head, said something to him, turned and looked at his group of guys, and left as well.

As they walked out, Arra and Seth walked in the club. Arra had her long brown hair pulled back into a braid, making it appear shorter than it was. Her eyes weren’t their normal soft green. Instead, they were hard and dark. She wasn’t happy and I knew it was my fault. Seth wasn’t much different in his eyes. The warm brown I’m used to was darker with just that small hint of worry and pain. His shoulder length, dirty blonde hair was loose and falling around his face.

Arra sat down on the stool to my left, Seth to my right. Arra put a hand on my arm. “Celena, please explain to us why in the hell you didn’t re-up?”

“I have been out of town,” I told her softly. I knew it was no excuse, though.

“You knew you would run out way before this!” Arra  growled at me.

“I’m supposed to be down to three times a week!” 

Seth put a hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me. “Celena, October is an extremely bad month for you.”  

“That’s no excuse! It’s been two years.” Shit, I felt my eyes starting to burn.

“Sweetheart, you’ve done well learning how to control this,” Arra said, wrapping both arms around me. “This month, you should still be taking one to two a day. We don’t want to lose you.” Arra kissed my cheek as she unwrapped her arms from me.

“Cee, this isn’t a sign of weakness.” I watched Riley set a needle and alcohol swab down on the bar. I saw the red liquid in it, and looked at Riley with questioning eyes. “Dad found both fey and vampire. I just mixed them into a nice .”

I nodded, rolling up my right sleeve to give myself the shot. I hated doing it this way, due to the reaction of the cells trying to merge quickly.

Arra took my hand: “You will collapse, and you will see him. I know you always see her. Because you haven’t dealt with the pain that you feel, it will only be him.”

I nodded again before picking the needle up with shaking hands.

 Riley put his hand on mine and looked me in the eyes. “Let me help you this time, cool?” I usually don’t like people helping with this.

“Only this time,” I sighed. Riley smiled and came around the bar, standing next to me.

Seth pulled me on his lap. “You will stay with us tonight. We want to be here in case you need any help.”

I smiled, not trusting my voice. Riley wiped the skin above my vein clean with the swab. Arra pulled my hair back, making a braid as Riley put the needle into my vein and injected the cocktail, which was immediately making me drowsy.

"Let's go home," Seth said picking me up. I strained to keep my eyes open. I didn't want to see him or feel that pain again. I felt myself being sat down in a car, and the drive was short enough that I didn't have a chance to collapse. We pulled up in front of the big old Victorian house that I’ve come to call home. Riley picked me up from the backseat.

"I can walk!" I glared at him.

He raised an eyebrow at me and stood me on my feet, and I steadied myself using the car.

"You sure you can walk?" Riley placed a hand on my shoulder.

I pushed his hand off. "I'm not that weak, Riley!" I growled at him. Riley just smiled and stepped aside. I took a few steps, wincing as I felt the injection taking a stronger hold on me. I was half way up the drive when I collapsed to my knees from the pain. Before hitting the ground, I felt Riley's arms catching my waist.

"Why are you so goddamn stubborn, Cee?" I wish I had an answer for Riley as he held me up. I looked at the door to see Seth standing there waiting for us. He had a small smile on his face, but his eyes were still upset with me. Riley walked me up the drive and inside, with Seth following behind and shutting the door behind him.

"Her room is ready," Arra said as she walked down the stairs. Their house was three stories plus basement; as I said earlier, it’s huge. Seth pulled Arra to him and softly kissed her cheek.

I bowed my head to let them have their private moment, and it occurred to me: I missed seeing them like this, I wanted that with someone.

"Get a room," Riley teased as he started up the stairs. I stayed quiet. I was more drowsy than before and was fighting it still.

Seth and Arra had given me my own room for when I stayed here. It was more like a studio minus the kitchen, though I did have a fridge up here. My room was the third floor or attic pretty much. Once there, Riley laid me down on the queen size bed, then he pulled the drapes over my huge bay window and balcony doors. These curtains made the room darker than the night. "Get some rest, Cee," Riley said, kissing my forehead.

I’m not sure if my head made a nodding motion, but he left, closing the door on his way out. I turned on my side and noticed three photos on the night stand. One was of my mom, dad and I standing in the park. Some random elderly man took the photo of us saying we were such a happy family. The other two were of me and my dad. One was from four years ago when we were outside working on my bike. The other was two years ago right after I came home. I felt tears burning my eyes and wanted them to stop. I did not want to sleep and relive everything. I wanted my dad. I was a daddy's girl. I loved my mom but my dad and always had deep connection.

A couple minutes later there was a quiet knock on the door. "Come in," I said softly.

Seth walked in, closing the door quietly. He walked over to the bed and sat next to me. He brushed my hair aside.

"Celena, if you still don't feel right within eight hours we will have to do a full bag." I closed my eyes and shook my head no. "Sweetheart, there is not another option."

"Seth I can't," I said softly.

Seth sighed. "We will see tomorrow." He kissed my forehead and walked out of the room.

I laid there for several minutes just staring at the picture of my dad and I. My eyes were burning with tears that would not fall. My eyes were getting heavier, I wasn't ready to see him again and feel that pain, but my body had other ideas.

There was a deep breath, my eyes closed, and I surrendered to beautiful darkness.