Wilder: The Guardian Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

over for
the walkie-talkie on her bedside table and replied, “I hear you loud and clear
Brian – go ahead…”
    “I’m coming over, so let me in!”
    Celeste got out of bed, splashed some water on her face and
went downstairs to let Brian in, who she found waiting impatiently on the other
side of the door.
    “Thank God you’re finally awake,” said Brian as he walked
right in and plopped down on the couch. “You’ve got to help me out, I don’t
know what to do.”
    “What’s wrong?” asked Celeste.
    “Natalie called me and asked me to be her date to senior
prom,” he answered, his copper flecked brows creased in concern.
    Celeste took a breath to hold back the laughter that was
bubbling up inside of her. “So what are you so worried about?” she asked,
trying to keep her face serious.
    “I don’t know! I totally panicked and said that my mom was
calling me, and I had to call her back, and I practically hung up on her. That
was two hours ago, and now I don’t know what to say.”
      “Well, Natalie is
a lot of fun, she’s beautiful, and I think you would have a great time going
with her. Why wouldn’t you say yes?” she asked.
    “I don’t know, honestly, I guess I had always figured we
would go together,” Brian answered sheepishly, looking up to catch Celeste’s
eye.
    Celeste had to stop and think about that for a few seconds.
It’s true; she had always thought they would end up going to prom together too.
For so many years there had never been any other boy in her life besides Brian.
But she knew that Natalie really liked him, in a way that she didn’t think she
ever would, and Brian deserved that. She wanted Brian to be happy more than
anything else. She wouldn’t be selfish with him, not when she cared so much
about his happiness. So with a slight twinge of wistfulness, she said, “Aw,
come on Brian, we can still hang out together while we’re there. I’ll even save
you a dance. I really think you should go with her.”
    Brian looked at her for a moment with serious eyes. “Yeah I
guess you’re right.” He was quiet for a second, and then he added, “So who are you going to take then?”
    Celeste shrugged off the question. “I wasn’t planning on
taking anyone.”
     

Chapter
4
     
     
     
     
    Roman stared at the computer as his mind wandered remembering
the last time he was in Oak Bluffs. It had been so long ago, and yet sometimes
it felt like it was just yesterday. His parents had been with him and his
brother back then, when they first came to live in this small town, and perhaps
that’s what drew him here again. Well, that and finding out about Celeste
Wilder, of course. At the thought of her, he felt a twinge of hunger; he walked
over to the mini fridge hidden in his closet. Bottles of deep red liquid filled
the refrigerator, and with a displeased look on his face, Roman gulped one
down. After centuries of suppressing his nature, he still found it difficult,
but he had promised his mother that he would not become the thing he
hated—that he would not give in to the monster inside of him. His
beautiful mother, who had always felt so guilty for what had befallen their
family because of what she had done. She never gave up on them. She was the one
that insisted they were better; they were not like the rest because they were
the first of their kind.
     
    Roman could remember everything so clearly, walking into
their home, which was normally so neat, everything in its place and that time
it looked like it had been ransacked by some supernatural force. The door had
been taken off of its hinges; there was furniture upturned and broken shards of
glass strewn across the floor. And the blood… There was so much blood
everywhere. All of the myths about vampires being killed by a stake through the
heart seemed so trite, and yet there laid his beloved parents with wooden
stakes protruding from their chests. Roman had taken their bodies and buried
them with the utmost care in the