Chapter 14

Abigail woke up the next morning and checked her phone to see what time it was. She couldn't believe what she saw. She sat there just staring at her phone, until Nicholas walked in.

"Love, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing is wrong, I just checked my phone to see what time it was, and I have a missed call and a message from Alaina." she said. "I'm just shocked, I can't believe she called."

"Is everything ok?"

"I guess so. Her message just says to call her when I get a chance, she just wants to talk." Abigail told him.

Nicholas smiled. "Call her."

"I will." She said, still sitting on the bed staring at her phone. She still couldn't believe it. She figured Arianna would be the first one to reach out. She never thought it would have been Alaina. She dialed Alaina's number, after a few rings she answered. Abigail listened to her sister break down in tears as she told her what had happened with a human and how Arianna wouldn't speak to her because of it. Abigail's heart broke for her sister, if only Alaina had turned him to start with, she wouldn't be dealing with this.

"Alaina, why didn't you just change him?" Abigail asked Alaina.

"Cain didn't give us a choice, I didn't want to take away Caleb's. This life isn't easy for us. I care about him enough to not want him to have to live like this, always having to be so careful not to be discovered." Alaina told her.

"I understand that, but you are leaving a human alive that knows about us. More importantly, you are breaking his heart. You can't leave him alone. Either way, he is a danger to us. It's better to have him close to you, than away from you. It's either that, or..." Abigail trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence.

"I know. He has to die. And I don't want that either. But I don't want to put Arianna in harm's way." Alaina told her.

"You are endangering her worse by letting him go. You have to find him and bring him back and keep him close."

Abigail heard Alaina sigh through the speaker.

"Alright. If that is what you think I should do. But I want to talk to Arianna about it first and make sure she is ok with it."

"Of course, and Alaina, I'm glad you called. Thank you for letting me be there for you."

"I understand how you feel now. With Arianna shutting me out, it gave me perspective. I'm not going to shut you out anymore. I forgive you and I hope you can forgive me. You have been dealing with this pain a lot longer than I have, and I'm truly grateful that you had someone with you to help you deal with everything." Alaina told her sister.

"Yes, I have, and that makes me hurt for you even worse that you don't. If you need me, I can come there, I can be there for you." Abigail said hopefully.

"Let me talk to Ari, and then we can go from there, and I appreciate you willing to be here. This is my mess, and I need to clean it up on my own." Alaina replied.

"Ok, but if you need me, I'm only a phone call away, and if you need me to come, I will be there."

"Thank you, and I will let you know what happens after I talk to Ari. I love you dear sister. Talk to you soon."

"I love you too." and with that Abigail was about to hang up the phone.

"Abby, wait." she heard Alaina say, Abigail put the phone back to her ear.

"What is it, Alaina?" she said.

"Can I talk to Nicholas?" Alaina asked.

"Sure, hang on a sec." Abigail told her and turned and looked at Nicholas, handing him the phone.

"Alaina wants to talk to you." She told him.

Nicholas looked confused but took the phone.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hi, Nicholas. I just want to apologize for how Arianna and I acted towards you at the airport. We were shocked, confused, and hurt, but that is no excuse for our behavior." she apologized to him.

"Alaina, it's ok. Really." he told her.

"No, it's not. I feel really horrible."

"Don't feel horrible. I really understand why you and Arianna were upset, and if the situation had been reversed and I had been in your shoes, I would have felt and acted the same way." he said sympathetically.

"I also want to thank you for being there for our sister when we weren't. I am really glad that she had you there. I would really hate to think how lonely she would have been if she hadn't of had you." she said.

"I am glad she found me. It took a while to get adjusted to this kind of life, but being with her is worth every bit of it. I love her more than my own life." he said while looking at Abigail with love.

"Aww. She deserves to be happy and to be loved, and honestly, it's about time." Alaina said and laughed.

"I will always be there for her, and I will also always be there for you and Arianna. Hey, hang on one second." he told her.

"Ok."

Nicholas pulled the phone away from his ear.

"Abs, I need to talk to Alaina alone for a minute please. Can you go outside. I don't want you trying to eavesdrop." He said and winked at her.

Abigail rolled her eyes and smiled. "Fine, I will go outside."

"And go out to the backyard where I can see you." Nicholas said joking.

"Do you not trust me?" she said with a pouty look on her face.

"Nope. Not in the least little bit." he told her, smiling.

Abigail kissed him and then left to go to the back yard. As soon as Nicholas saw her in the yard, he put the phone back to his ear.

"Sorry, I just needed to talk to you about something without her listening." he told Alaina.

"Ok. What is it?" Alaina asked.

"I want to marry your sister." He said.

"Wow. Ok. Wow. Um. Wow." Alaina didn't know what to say.

"Would that be ok with you and Arianna?" he asked.

"Are you asking me for permission?" asked Alaina.

"Yes, I am. Your's and Arianna's. I love her more than anything and I couldn't imagine having anyone else by my side but her, and I want her to be by my side forever, as my wife."

"Aww. Well, I can't speak for Arianna, but I will ask her and let you know what she says. As far as me, yes, you have my permission and my blessing."

Nicholas was smiling from ear to ear. "Thank you so much, Alaina. There is also one other thing I would like to ask of you and Arianna." he said.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Well, you and Arianna are her sisters. And I know Abby and I haven't known each other as long as you three have. So, you and Arianna know a lot more about her taste in rings, and honestly, I have no clue what she would like. Whenever we can get together, I would really love it if you and Arianna would help me pick out a ring for her."

"Yes! Absolutely!" Alaina exclaimed. "We would love to help! Oh, I can't wait! This is going to be so much fun. We will help plan the wedding too!"

Nicholas was beaming. "I am looking forward to seeing you and Arianna. I hope we can see you soon. And don't say anything to Abby about this, I want it to be a surprise."

"Of course, we won't say a word, and I am looking forward to seeing you and Abby too. Let me get this situation I have going on handled, and then we can get together."

"Is everything ok?" he asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Abby can fill you in on what is going on." she told him.

Nicholas opened the window and stuck his head out.

"You can come back in now." He hollered down to Abigail.

She was by his side in under a second.

"I hope to see you soon Alaina. Here is Abby." Nicholas said to Alaina and handed the phone back to Abigail.

"Hey." Abigail said to Alaina.

"Hey. I am so happy for you. You deserve to be happy. I am really glad that you found him, he seems really great."

"You deserve to be happy to Laina. Would being with Caleb make you happy?"

"Yes, I would be happy with him, but I was happy before. I didn't need him to make me happy." she told her sister.

"But you were lonely. Just like me and Arianna was, and we were going to continue to be until we found someone to complete us, someone to fill that void. Someone that we could give our hearts to and to love. I have that now, and you could have it too, if you truly believe that he is the one that you want to spend eternity with." she told Alaina.

Alaina sighed and was quiet for a minute.

"Yes, I do believe he is." Alaina said.

"Then go get him, change him, and keep him by your side. And most important of all, be happy." Abigail said.

"I won't change him unless he wants to be, I won't force him. But I will go get him and keep him by my side, for as long as he wants to be."

"He would be stupid if he didn't want to be." she told her.

"Yeah, maybe." Alaina said.

Abigail could hear the sadness in Alaina's voice.

"Everything will work out Alaina. I love you."

"I love you too. I will talk to you later."

"Keep me updated on what's going on, ok?" Abigail told her.

"I will. Bye."

"Bye." Abigail hung up the phone.

She looked up at Nicholas with a look of concern on her face.

"They are in trouble. Alaina fell for a human. He knows what she is but she won't change him and she has sent him away. She is trying to protect Arianna but she's making a mistake. Arianna knows this too and she isn't speaking to Alaina." she explains to him.

"Do you want to go to them?" he asked her.

"Alaina wants me to wait, so I will wait. But if things go bad, we need to be ready. I won't let them face this alone. Especially if the council finds out."

Nicholas nodded his head. "If she won't change him, then what?"

"He will have to die, one way or another. Whether he wakes up from it or not is up to Alaina. It's going to break her either way."

"I'll go get us a few things packed that way we can be ready to go whenever we need to be."

Abigail stood up and wrapped her arms around Nicholas's neck and kissed him deeply.

"Thank you. I don't know how I would have been able to handle this alone."

"I'm always here for you." Nicholas gave her another kiss before he left to go pack.

Abigail knew she was going to have to go to her sisters, she didn't want to wait, but she would respect Alaina's wishes. For now.