Vampire’s Second Chance

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Oh my God! He’s done it, he’s actually done it!” Honor wails as she tugs Travis toward their homes.

“Slow down, Hon.” Travis pulls her back, intertwining their fingers comfortably once more. “Your dad did not call the cops because we’re five minutes late.”

“Travis, those lights are in front of our houses, I’m telling you, they are,” Honor protests stubbornly.

“They’re at least three house down from ours,” Travis assures her, “maybe they finally decided to raid the Pruitt’s house.”

“Don’t laugh about this Travis!” Honor chides. “I have a really bad feeling.”

“Your dad is not going to be pissed that we’re a few minutes late,” Travis confirms, shaking back his hair and grinning, the way she likes, the way that makes her smile.

Honor can’t ignore the pit in her stomach. “Travis, please, something is wrong.”

They pass the elementary school and cross Garfield Street. Their houses sit like mirror images at the end of the block, just before Blaine Street. As they close in, Honor squeezes Travis’s hand. She’s right about the flashing lights – but which house, his or hers? They exchange a meaningful look and run the last five houses.

Honor and Travis skid to a halt as the EMTs wheel a stretcher out of Travis’s house. Honor reaches for him but Travis is already racing toward the stretcher. His mom emerges from their house, wrapped in the familiar terry robe that Travis bought her for Christmas six years ago.

Honor must have patched that robe for her at least a dozen times but Victoria refuses to be rid of it. Victoria collapses into her son’s arms, sobs audible from where Honor stands, frozen. She watches her own mother, Carrie, cross their lawn to help Travis usher his mom back in the house.

“Hon?” Her dad appears at her side, wraps an arm about her shoulders, and escorts Honor out of the shadows toward the homes as the ambulance pulls away.

“Is he dead?” Honor whispers, not tearing her eyes away from Travis’s front door.

“No,” her dad affirms, “Paul is young and strong. He will be fine.”

“What happened?” Honor squeaks out as they shuffle toward home.

“They think he had a stroke, Hon.” Bill Chamberlain doesn’t pull punches with his youngest daughter. He’s told her dozens of times that he lied to and even manipulated his older children but decided to do things different with Honor. She loves him all the more for it. “I’m going to take Victoria to the hospital, and Travis if he wants. You should get some sleep, though.”

“But he’s gonna be okay?” Honor asks.

“I would think so, kiddo,” Bill answers, “but only time will tell.”

Turns out, time does tell. Time gave Paul DuMonde exactly three days to suffer.

Honor stands beside Travis as he greets people. She smiles when somebody acknowledges her. Most of Travis’s family knows of her relationship with him by now. That’s what happens when you live next door to each other and spend nearly every waking minute of ten years together.

Honor accepts the smelly kisses from Travis’s Great-aunt Irene and ignores the not-so-subtle pick-up lines from his cousin Jeremy. She makes sure Travis eats by sneaking away to make his favorite peanut butter and banana sandwich since all of the catered food smells like dirty feet or rotting sushi.

“Can we get out of here, Hon?” Travis whispers in her ear after he destroys the sandwich.

“Sure, let me tell my Mom so somebody knows,” Honor agrees. She catches her mom’s eye and gestures first to Travis, then herself, then the door. Carrie nods, knowing where they are going.

Honor grabs Travis by the arm and guides him through the mourners to the back door. They slip out, surprisingly without being stopped, and sneak back to their old tree house. She’s thankful their Dads made it big when they were six because at sixteen they barely fit in it together. Honor scrambles up the steps on Travis’s side of the massive maple tree in their back yard.

She glances at the matching wood slats on her side of the tree. How many times have they raced up their respective sides to the little wooden house? Honor wonders if this will be the last time. She pushes the hatch open and shimmies inside. Travis follows and they lay there, nose to nose, knees tucked bent so they can fit. He wraps his arms around her; a feat, given their cramped space, but she accommodates him.

“I love you, Honor Chamberlain.” Travis breathes into the space between them. His eyes flare with emotions – pain, loss, love, longing.

“I love you, too, Travis DuMonde.” Honor answers, tears pricking at her eyelids, though she doesn’t really understand why.

“No matter what happens, I promise, I will always come for you.” Travis murmurs. “It’s you and me, Hon. Always and forever.”

She nods. Her mouth can’t form the right words. They haven’t spoken about the conversation they overheard the night before. She knows it weighs on him. Her parents tried to convince Victoria to stay in Seattle. They offered all the assistance she could need. She told them she needed time to think.

Travis and Honor were in the kitchen doing the dishes but they’d heard. Every word. Victoria wanted to return to New Orleans, to their families. It had been a family scandal when Paul accepted the transfer to Seattle and swept his wife and six-year-old son away from their family. Honor had overheard a lot lately. Great-aunt Irene had told Victoria that the Gods were finally punishing Paul for leaving.

Uncle Philip shushed his mother but didn’t apologize or dispute her claim. There had actually been a lot of whispers about Paul being cursed for leaving New Orleans like he did. Honor knew they believed in that stuff down there. They believed in a lot of things according to Travis. Honor decided not to tell Travis about all the things she heard over the past few days.

“I think she means it, Hon.” Travis mutters bitterly, breaking Honor’s train of thought. “I think she’s gonna cave.”

“Mom and Dad are still working on her. They aren’t going to let you go without a fight.”

“It doesn’t matter, does it? I can come back here for college. What’s two years? We can write and maybe we could visit a few times?”

“Of course.” Honor agrees, though her stomach is in knots.

Travis slants his mouth over hers. Familiar tingles radiate from her lips to her toes. Her stomach fills with butterflies instead of doubts. His fingers trace her spine. She loves him.

“I will always come back for you. We will be together, Honor,” Travis promises.

Honor watches from her porch as Travis and Victoria pull away in the Orange Cab. She does her best to stand upright but her tear-stained face betrays her pain as she waves good-bye to her boyfriend, her best friend. Victoria wouldn’t let Honor and her parents take them to the airport. Or maybe she feared that Travis and Honor would make a scene. They probably would have.

“You’ll see each other soon, right?” Carrie Chamberlain gives her daughter a squeeze. She’s hopeful but she’ll miss her friend too. Ten years of cookouts, ball games, and PTO meetings brought Victoria and Carrie closer than if they were sisters.

Honor nods numbly but can’t make her lips work. Tears flow freely now.

“Ah, kiddo, we’ll figure something out.” Her dad leans in and kisses the crown of her head lightly. “This isn’t the end for you two. It really isn’t.”