He laughed at my comment as we continued driving through the sea of sequoias. Eventually, we pulled into the campground. The trees encroached on our car as we drove under a canopy of the majestic, red-barked monoliths. I could see ragged scratches along some of the trunks, reminding me that we humans, and one vampire, weren't the only inhabitants of the forest.
We drove over the pine strewn road to a lot in the back, where Ben must have told Teren our reserved space was. Pulling up next to Ben's gray Honda Pilot, we parked and stepped out of the car. The sunlight hazily filtered through the massive limbs high in the air above us, and the distinctive smell of the pine trees, interspersed among the redwoods, hit my nose and made me smile. I glanced over the top of the car at Teren, who had a smile similar to mine plastered on his face. Nature could be so beautiful.
We walked a few feet into our camp and I smiled at Tracey, who was helping Ben set up their tent. And by helping, I mean she was idly holding a pole in her hand while he figured out which way the X pattern was supposed to line up. Spotting me, she waved, giggled, and dropped the pole. Ben frowned at her while every piece of the tent fell apart. Teren laughed and went over to help him while Tracey came over to me.
"Cute pants," she exclaimed, as she flicked a pocket flap on my side. I laughed as I looked down at her cargo pants; they were the exact same as mine, only khaki, not sage. Apparently, we had both shopped the same fifty percent off rack at Macy's last week.
"You too."
She adjusted her t-shirt and ran a hand back through her loose hair. "Thanks. Shall we make lunch while the boys work?" She nodded her head back to where the guys were struggling with the tent. I grinned as Ben lost a pole somewhere in the fabric, and the entire half that they'd managed to erect fell down. Ben ran a hand through his highlighted hair and sighed, while Teren laughed at his misfortune.
"Yeah...good idea."
We rummaged through the coolers in the cars and made up some sandwiches for everyone. We found a bag of chips and some sodas, and then packed the coolers into the provided bear-proof food lockers. There was nothing about having our food locked away in a 33x45 inch metal locker that made me feel any better. Just the fact that bears roaming around the campground was so commonplace that they'd felt the need to install these lockers gave me pause. That was a little closer to nature than I wanted to be.
Coming up behind me, Teren laced his arms around my waist and whispered in my ear, "Don't worry...I think I can take a bear." I looked at him over my shoulder as he opened his mouth and flicked his tongue over his canines. I laughed at the implied gesture, and felt a little better about the situation. No matter what, my pit bull would protect me.
Turning in his arms, I slung mine around his waist. "I'm sure you could," I whispered. "And what a treat that would be for you-better than a chicken."
He laughed at my comment, and I hugged him. Over his shoulder, I could see the successfully raised tent. My eyes slid over to where Teren had also set up our smaller, and more easily put together tent. It was a few feet from Ben and Tracey's and back a bit from the fire ring. Breaking apart from Teren, I searched his eyes. The campground was well shaded with the towering trees around us, and while there was still plenty of light, it wasn't the same as being directly under the sun. I was attuned to Teren's glow, so I clearly saw it in the whites of his eyes, but no one else would notice...until nightfall.
I sighed and he smiled. "It's fine, Emma...don't worry."
Ben came up behind us and clapped Teren's back. "Worry about what?"
Teren smiled and casually said, "Bears."
I blinked my eyes at him in surprise. It was so easy for him to lie. Although, it wasn't really a lie. I was a little concerned over that, too.
Hot Ben gave us a glorious smile as Tracey came up and wrapped a hand around his toned stomach. "Don't worry, I've been coming here for years and I've never seen one. It will be fine." He patted Tracey's hand while he spoke, and I wondered if she'd had the same concerns that I'd had. Knowing Tracey, I was sure she had.
We contently ate our little lunch. Well, everyone except Teren was content. He eyed his sandwich a little grumpily, and I wondered if maybe we should have found a way to sneak in some blood to keep him satisfied. Oh well, he'd have to deal with it until bedtime...then he could get a nibble off me. After our meal, we debated what to do, while we removed all traces of food and put away the rest of our stuff.
Since it was only just after one in the afternoon, we decided to hike the Upper Yosemite Falls trail to Columbia Rock; it didn't go to the top of the falls, but it was a much less strenuous climb, although still a pretty good workout. We all got into our hiking shoes, shoved some water, trail mix and a digital camera into Ben's backpack, and drove to the trailhead to park our car for the couple hour hike.
The first thing I noticed was that there weren't a lot of people on the trail. Most of the visitors also seemed to be doing the lower trail; there were plenty of couples with young children and older grandmas and grandpas shuffling along those paths, taking pictures of the vista around them. Ben explained that it was because the famous falls were dry for another month or so, until the winter snows fed them again. He said he liked coming here this time of year, because it was quieter, less touristy.
I agreed as we neared our destination of Columbia Rock and no one seemed to be around us. Tracey and Hot Ben were on the edge of the rock, snapping photos of the trickling falls, the granite mountains surrounding them, and the valley of green trees nestled between them, when I heard a sound behind me that made me forget every worry I'd ever had about Teren's eyes. In a flash, I was reminded of the real fear I should have been worrying about all along.
Teren and I had been standing quite a ways back from the edge, away from Tracey and Ben, as we caught our breaths from the hike and looked at the majesty before us. The noise I'd heard, was him dropping to his knees, clutching his chest, and groaning in pain. Tracey and Ben hadn't noticed yet, and I immediately dropped to his side.
"Teren...what's wrong?" I frantically whispered.
He looked up at me, his face contorted in agony as he clutched his hand over his heart, like an old man having a heart attack. That was when it hit me. He was having a heart attack. He was about to die at the top of an hour long hike up a mountainside, and at least a four hour drive from the ranch. He was about to die in a place that I couldn't possibly even begin to remove his limp body from on my own. He was about to die, and reawaken, in a place where currently only me, Tracey and Ben were present. He was about to wake monstrously hungry and one, if not all of us, were about to die, too. And then, a still hungry vampire would be loose among the crowds of men, women and children that we'd passed on the way up to this slope.
I immediately realized how foolish this trip was. Now was not the time to be in the middle of nowhere, and hours away from the safety and solitude of the ranch. My earlier concern of exposure was near silly now. That had never been the real issue. This was the real issue. And it was happening now...
His eyes tightened in pain as his hand reached out for me. I had no idea what to do, no idea how to help him. Should we start down to the car now, while he was still conscious? Do we clue in Ben and Tracey, or just quietly leave while they were snapping scenic photos. I wanted to scream at him to give me answers. I wanted to comfort him as he was dying. I wanted to cry. I was too scared to do anything though. I just watched his hand slowly snake up to my neck.
Then that hand grasped my neck and jerked me forward, until my lips crashed into his. His mouth found mine and hungrily pressed against me. Confused, I started to push him away. He laughed and pulled me closer, parting my lips to sneak his tongue inside. That was when my second startling revelation hit me. He was faking.
I jerked away from him and smacked him soundly across the head. He frowned and rubbed his ear. "Ow, Emma," he pouted...the jerk actually pouted.
In a harsh whisper, I screeched, "Don't you ever joke about that again, Teren! I was scared shitless!" I smacked him again on the head. "I had no idea what to do!" I tried to smack him again, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me into his lap. "I'm supposed to take care of you, and I had no idea what to do!" He brought his hands to my cheeks, his eyes showing genuine remorse for his stupid joke. I could feel frustrated tears forming, and I tried to blink them back. "I had no idea what to do..."
I couldn't hold back the sob and he quickly pulled me into his shoulder and scooted us to the far side of a large boulder, where Tracey and Ben wouldn't be able to see us. Rocking me back and forth on his lap, he rubbed a hand up and down my back.
"I'm sorry, Emma. I'm so sorry. That was a stupid joke. I'm sorry." He kept repeating it over and over, as he rubbed my skin under my light jacket.
Eventually, my fear subsided and my tears dwindled. Feeling a little stupid over my reaction, I pulled back to glare at him. "That. Was. Not. Funny." He sheepishly held my eyes as I stated, "Do not ever tease about that again."
Cringing, he solemnly nodded. He helped me fix my face, and then we stood up and joined a still oblivious Tracey and Ben in viewing the glorious beauty before us. It felt a little less majestic to me with a small river of fear still flowing through my system. Yes, he had been stupidly messing around with me, but that didn't change the fact that we shouldn't be here right now. If that had been real...
I couldn't even finish that thought.
Chapter 13 - The New Plan
"We shouldn't be here, Teren," I whispered. The breath needed to make speech barely passed my lips, but he heard me. His lips compressed into a tight line and his jaw clenched with the restraint to not answer me.
This was the fourth time I'd uttered that since our descent down the mountainside back to the car. Each time Teren had ignored my near imperceptible speech, but I knew his abilities, I knew his stubborn, vampire ass could hear me. We were driving back to the campsite, with Tracey and Ben chatting away in the back seat about all the miraculous things we'd seen-eagles, deer, rabbits, claw marks from bears on trees, what Ben swore was a mountain lion paw print and of course, the stunning view. Teren and I nodded and smiled every once and a while, but neither one of us were really listening. We were having a near silent argument. One I was determined to win.
"Tell them you are feeling ill and we have to go home." I spoke so low, I couldn't even hear me.
His eyes not leaving the road, his jaw not unclenching, he slowly shook his head no.
I suppressed a sigh. "You're being stupid. We shouldn't be way out in the middle of nowhere. We should be closer to home."
He closed his eyes for a second, and then reopened them and looked in the rearview mirror. "Hey, Ben," he said casually, like he wasn't as irritated as I was. "Want to do a little fishing when we get back?"
I turned in my seat to give him an icy glare. Really. Was he just going to run off and ignore how irritated I was?
Hot Ben glanced at Tracey, who dreamily nodded at her bleach-blond highlighted fisherman. His chiseled face returned to Teren's in the mirror. "Sure, man...sounds great! We'll catch us some dinner."
"Perfect," Teren said happily. He gave me a pointed look. "That's the most perfect plan I've heard in a while."