Each of the items surrounding me brought a smile to my face. We were making every effort to lighten up, find a reason to smile or laugh or try to make a connection to our former selves. We wanted to forget even though we knew how impossible that was. Still, it was worth the effort to try – if only to hear my best friend laugh and see that dashing smile on his face again.

I turned my gaze toward him and found that he was already emerging from the water and headed my way. I couldn’t ignore how hot he looked or how several ladies nearby were openly gawking at his handsome face and lean, well-built physique. With the sun shining down on him, making the beads of ocean water clinging to his body glisten, he looked like he’d just walked right out of a swimsuit catalogue.

Of course, I knew better. Beneath the white shirt he had on, his upper torso was still covered with layer upon layer of scars, evidence of what he went through at The Shade. My gut clenched as I shook away the thought, refusing to sink back to negative thoughts.

I shifted my attention back to Ben, trying to go back to those days when I would lose myself in daydreams about being with him. Strangely enough, I was quick to realize that he didn’t take my breath away like he used to. He looked incredible, but he no longer had the same effect he had on me before.

It didn’t take long for him to reach me and plunk himself right on top of my beautiful sandcastle.

“Ben!” I screeched.

He laughed. “Sandcastles always fall, Sofia. I thought you might as well bid it farewell sooner rather than later.”

I found myself transfixed by the smile on his face. I realized how much I missed him – the old him.

“What?”

I shook my head. “You seem happy.”

The smile on his face remained, but his eyes betrayed a concoction of varied emotions – none of them happiness. I reached out for his hand. I wanted him to know that I was there for him, but he withdrew from my touch. It was a harsh reminder that I could never fully understand what he went through at The Shade.

I wanted to ask him about what he was going through, about what was going on inside him, but Ben wasn’t the kind of person who talked much about feelings. Most of the time, we handled whatever issues we had by finding a diversion. If things were the other way around, Ben would’ve already found a way to make me laugh or divert my attention elsewhere. I wondered if I should do just that – throw a shell at him or something – but the brokenness in his appearance made it seem insensitive. So I just sat there, hoping that my presence would somehow bring him consolation.

“I feel numb.” He confessed a few minutes later. “Just numb.”

My gut clenched. What did she do to him? Images of Claudia, the gorgeous blonde female vampire who held Ben captive, flashed through my mind. Back at Derek’s penthouse, after Derek asked Claudia to give him Ben for my sake, Ben had already told me about how Claudia tortured him, healed him by forcing him to drink her blood and then tortured him all over again. It was punishment for trying to escape. Something told me however that it was just a glimpse of what Claudia had put my best friend through.

“What happened to you, Ben? Back at The Shade?”

I could never forget the look on his face the moment he heard me mention the island. All traces of the charismatic charmer that my best friend used to be disappeared. In his place existed a dark and broken character, whose features were openly screaming bloody murder.

“Do you really want to know?”

I hesitated. Do I? Still, the question had already been asked, so I tentatively nodded. “Tell me everything.”

“You asked for it.” He stood up and held out his hand to me. “Let’s take a walk then.”

I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up. As his story unfolded, I found myself wishing – for his sake – that I had never asked.

CHAPTER 8: BEN

As we strolled over the white sands beautifully complementing the clear blue ocean water, I told Sofia my story, not bothering to mention that by making me recount my tale, she was forcing me to live out the horrors of The Shade all over again.

I was distraught. I once again let Sofia down. Ditching her on her birthday for Tanya – total babe that she was – was on top of my growing list of screw ups when it came to the best friend I always managed to take for granted. It felt awful to see the hurt look in Sofia’s eyes, but I figured she’d take a walk and get over it. After all, I knew that sooner or later, she would forgive me. She always did.

I sneaked into her hotel room just before the break of dawn the next day, fully expecting her to still be in bed, with my five-year-old sister, Abby, snuggled against her. I was disappointed to find my mom lying beside Abby. It was clear to see that my mom was pissed off about something, because even while asleep, she had a firm scowl on her face.

I shook her awake. “Mom, where’s Sofia?”

She blinked several times and frowned at me. “I have no idea where she is. What time is it? She was supposed to be here. Abby was terrified about having to sleep here alone.”

“Perhaps she just went out for a walk or something…”

“At this hour? What’s gotten into her?”

“I’ll find her,” I responded, starting to feel worse about what I did – or didn’t do – to Sofia the night before. It was unlike her to just run off. Between the two of us, she’d always been the more responsible one.

Worried sick and knowing that I’d been a complete jerk to her, I set out to the beach to look for her. I walked about half a mile down the shore line before realizing that I was wasting my time. If Sofia wanted to be found, I would find her. I kept trying to call her phone, but just kept getting her voice mail. I was ready to turn back when I bumped into a gorgeous blonde girl, wearing – of all things – a black leather jumpsuit.

She approached me, looking at me from head to foot, a sultry look in her eyes.

“I’m Claudia. You are?”

Distracted by how beautiful she was, I forgot about my quest to find Sofia. I flashed my best smile, all of a sudden also forgetting my obsession with Tanya.

“I’m Ben.”

To my surprise, she grabbed my neck and pulled my head down as she faced me for a kiss. It was arguably the best kiss I’d ever had. When our lips parted, she smiled. It was that smile that told me something was wrong, because aside from the fact that everything about her smile hinted madness, fangs suddenly protruded from both sides of her upper lip.

“You’re perfect,” she hissed before stabbing me in the neck with a sharp syringe. It took mere seconds for me to fall to the ground, unconscious. The last sound that registered in my mind from that early morning was the laughter and childlike quality in her voice when she said, “I’m going to have so much fun playing with you, Ben.”

When I came to, I found myself in a large bed, my wrists cuffed to the bedposts. She was on top of me, kissing my neck, my shoulders… I was so much larger than her, and yet I felt helpless and completely at her mercy.

“What are you doing? Who are you? Where am I?”

She chuckled.

“Ohh … So many questions, my pet.”

I grimaced at the word she used, turning my mouth away from her when she tried to kiss me. Obviously irritated, she grabbed my head with both her hands before forcing a kiss on me. When our lips parted, she cocked her head to the side and pouted.

“You ought to be thankful that I’m in such a nice mood, because I’ve decided to answer your questions … What am I doing? I’m kissing you. Who am I? I’m Claudia, your mistress. Where are you? You’re in my bedroom.”

Her lips and her hands were all over me and all I could think about was the way she smiled at me back at the beach before I lost consciousness. “You’re a vampire.” Saying the words out loud made me feel absolutely insane.

“Smart boy…” she straddled my waist and propped herself up over my chest as she looked down at me, the same manic smile on her face. “Now, I want you to shut up.” She gagged me, and then she sank her teeth down my neck, drinking my blood for the first time.

Once satiated, she lifted her head, my blood dripping from the corners of her lips. “You’re as sweet as he was. The Duke…” Claws protruded from her fingers and she began to trace one of them over my torso. “Do you have any idea what he put me through?”

Of course not, you insane bitch… I fought the urge to scream when her claws sank into my skin, drawing blood. The way her eyes lit up with delight at the sight of my blood was sickening.

“My mother was a whore you know… We were so poor and she was so sick, so she decided to sell me to The Duke. I was only six years old.” She began running her hand through my hair before gripping a clump of it with a tight fist. “You remind me so much of him.”

My heart sank at this revelation.

I felt myself inside her, every fiber of my being urged back, struggling against the restraints she kept me in, struggling against the degradation she was putting me through. All of it for nothing.

She slapped me with the back of her hand as she chuckled. “I struggled too you know. I screamed and clawed and fought back, but he had his way with me still. He always got his way. I’m going to have my way with you too.”

And she did. Everything about her made my stomach turn. Her moans, the things she was saying… When she collapsed over my body, panting, I wanted to murder her.

“When I turned into a vampire, I made him pay dearly for what he did to me.” Her eyes lit up at the memory. “You should’ve heard him cry and scream. He was weak,” she said. “Just like you. I hold the power now and no one will ever be able to harm me the way he did again.”

By the time she was done with me that first night at The Shade, I was battered, bruised, bleeding and exhausted. She left me still cuffed to the bed, gag in my mouth. It took hours before someone entered the room. At first, I thought it was her. I flinched just at the sound of the door creaking open. I couldn’t stand the thought of her touching me again. Thus, I was relieved when I found a pretty girl with raven hair motioning for me to be quiet. She took the gag out of my mouth before beginning to pick the lock of the cuffs holding me to the bed.