Talisman 01 - The Emerald Talisman

after Nicholas finally decimated the rest of his coven. But how was I going to do that when they hated each other? Phil would continue to pursue me, and Nicholas would never allow further interaction, especially if he knew Phil’s intentions. I’d be forced to pick between the two of them.
    Well, it didn’t matter. Neither would make me choose. They’d have to grow up and accept my decision. I’d set stricter boundaries with Phil and not allow his powers to take over my senses. And Nicholas would have to allow me a friendship with another not-so-dangerous vampire, like himself.
    But most important, I did need to tell Nicholas about the gang, and quickly, before anyone else turned up missing or dead. I reached in my pocket for my cell phone, then remembered it was still in my car.
    Frustrated at my forgetfulness, I jumped off my bed and went back downstairs to fetch it. I opened the front door cautiously before sprinting across the lawn to the car. Only after I slid into the front seat did I feel strangely safe, though I knew I was alone. But the phone wasn’t in the console like I thought.
    Where is it?
    After checking in the door pocket and under the seat, I went back inside to try to call it with the house phone. But the call rolled directly over to voicemail, which meant it was off.
    Crap!
    Even still, I needed to talk to Nicholas, so I dialed his number instead. The silence before the first ring increased my nervousness. I planned to tell him the pertinent information and deflect the questions until later, but the call went straight to his voicemail greeting too.
    “Hey, it’s Julia. Call me when you get this,” I said quickly after the beep and hung up.
    Why is his phone off? Is he still mad at me?
    I decided to worry about it after I checked my calling record online. If anyone stole the phone, I’d need to stop the service. From my dad’s computer in his office, I discovered all the calls were ones I actually remembered making.
    But then my eye caught a recent outgoing text message made just thirty minutes prior. I clicked the details and read to my shock:
    - I need your help. I’m in trouble. Please come get me at 223 Front Street.
    Nicholas’ number appeared as the recipient. A lump formed in my throat. I googled the address. It was only two blocks away from the coven’s hideout. Nicholas was being lured into a trap—one I allowed to be set. My indignation towards Phil began to smolder.
    When I see Phil, he’s going to be so dead.
    Moving as quickly as possible, I printed off the map, swiped my keys and headed out the door. I needed to stop them before someone got hurt. And if things couldn’t get any worse, the clouds broke open, pouring down buckets of rain. I splashed across the wet ground towards my car when I noticed my broken stake floating in a puddle. Instinct told me to pick up one of the halves and put it in my back pocket just in case.
    My heart pounded as I drove like a wild woman through the city, trying to see out my windshield. I hadn’t cleared out my latest text messages from Nicholas and frantically tried to remember what they said.
    They came during the interaction at the supermarket. Phil would know how we planned to handle his situation just by reading the texts with the date and times. It would confirm his suspicions that Nicholas and I were cohorts.
    Why didn’t you clear those out, Julia? I chided myself, clutching tightly to my steering wheel.
    The rain continued to pummel the desolate streets as I sped to the address, the ink-smeared map in my hand shaking violently from my nerves. I kept a close eye on the road and used my emotional radar for cocky cops who’d love to pull me over. My dad didn’t need a long-distance midnight call to bail me out of jail for being out after curfew.
    My mind raced as I tried to anticipate what I would find when I got there. What if the other vampires were posted as look-outs or worse? I couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to him. I stomped on the gas, but my car wouldn’t move any faster.
    I had no idea what I could do to stop the fight, but I had to try. Maybe this was the time when I would use my hidden secret talent. But I wasn’t prepared to do real battle. All I wanted was to stop them before something really horrible happened.
    My tiny tires lost traction in the rain and screeched as I took the last corner, finally arriving at the address on Front Street. My body shook when I spotted Nicholas’ car parked in