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CHAPTER 41
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Marked CHAPTER 42
I checked my phone again. It was one a.m., and I had just texted Jonah. No response. He was probably asleep. Or if awake, he probably wouldn’t even want to hear from me. But it was the only thing that I could think of doing.As I walked away from the Cloisters, in the fresh, night air, my head started to clear. The further I got from that place, the better I felt. Caleb’s presence, his energy, slowly lifted from me, and I began to feel like I could think clearly again.When I had been with him, for some reason I’d been unable to think clearly for myself. His presence had been all-consuming. I’d found it impossible to think of anything, or anyone, else.Now that I was on my own again, and away from him, thoughts of Jonah flooded back to me. I felt guilty for liking Caleb at all—felt like somehow I had betrayed Jonah. Jonah had been so kind to me in school, so good to me on our date. I wondered how he felt about me now, running out like that. He probably hated me.I walked through Fo
Marked CHAPTER 43
When I woke, it was morning. I could feel more than see the sunlight striking me, and I groggily raised my head to get my bearings. I felt cold stone touching the skin of my arms and forehead. Where was I?As I raised my head and looked around, I realized I was in Central Park. I remembered now that I had stopped along the way, sometime during the night, to take a rest. I had been so tired, so weary. I must have fallen asleep sitting up, leaning over and resting my arms and head on the marble railing.It was already mid-morning, and people streamed through the park. One lady, with her young daughter, walked by and gave me a strange look. She pulled her daughter close as they passed.I sat up straighter, and looked around. A few people stared at me, and I wondered what they must have thought. I looked down at my dirty clothes. They were covered in grime. At this point, I didn’t really care. I just wanted to get out this city, this place which I associated with everything going wrong.
Marked CHAPTER 44
I slowly lowered my arms, turned, and placed my arms behind my back. I could feel the cop grab me tightly around one wrist, then the other, jerking my arms behind me too roughly, too high, using unnecessary force. How petty. I felt the cold clasp of the handcuffs, and could feel the metal cut into my skin.The cop grabbed me by the back of head, squeezed my hair, way too tight, and leaned in close, putting his mouth beside my ear. He whispered, “You’re going to fry.”And then it happened.The agony returned.My body stretched and pulled, and before I knew it, the smell kicked in.And then came my primal roar.I was a wolf now.The cops stood there, and stared. All in horror.And then, just as quickly, I felt my body change back.To human.But a million times more powerful.Before I knew what was happening, there was a sickening noise of crunching bone, followed by the splatter of blood—and the feel and smell of warm blood all over my face.I heard shouting, and screaming, a
Marked CHAPTER 45
He’s gorgeous.I sat on the straw floor in the barn, feeling so relaxed, and was overwhelmed with feelings as I stared at the sleeping Caleb.He reclined across from me, about fifteen feet away, so perfectly still. He was sleeping, and I took the opportunity to study his face, his perfect features, his pale, translucent skin. I had never seen features so perfectly chiseled. It was surreal, like staring at a sculpture. I couldn’t fathom how he had been alive for 3,000 years.At 18, I already looked older than he did.But it was more than his features. There was an air about him, a subtle energy that he exuded. A great sense of peace. When I was around him, I knew that everything would be all right.For the first time in weeks, I felt relaxed. Sitting comfortably on the floor of the small barn in the Hudson Valley, I leaned back against a bale of hay, and exhaled. A small fire raged in the stone fireplace about ten feet away. Tonight had been especially cold. Outside, the snow fell.
Marked CHAPTER 46
Caleb rested a hand gently on my shoulder. He smiled down and looked at me.I braced myself for bad news.“I think you fell asleep,” he said.I sighed, so relieved. He wasn’t leaving after all.I looked around, saw my open journal on my lap and snapped it closed. I felt my cheeks flush, hoping he hadn’t read any of it. Especially the part about my feelings for him.I sat up and rubbed my eyes. It was still night, and the fire was still going, although it was down to embers. He must have just woken, too. I wondered how long I had been asleep. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s the first I’ve slept in days.”He stood there, staring down at the fire, and his smile slowly faded as he seemed to become lost in his thoughts. As he looked into the flames, his face was lit with a warm glow, making him look even more attractive, if that were possible. His large, light brown eyes opened wide, and as I watched him, they changed color to a light green.I sat up straighter, and saw that my glass of red
Marked CHAPTER 47
My worry deepened as he furrowed his brow and didn’t say anything.“Why do I want to feed sometimes, but not others?” I pressed.He sighed. “I’m not sure. It is different with you. You are a half breed. And perhaps…part wolf. It is a very rare thing….I do know that you are coming-of-age. With others, they are turned overnight. For you, it is a process. It may take time for you to settle, to go through whatever changes you will. And there is the fact that it seems you are also part….wolf.”I thought back and remembered my hunger pangs, how they’d overwhelmed me out of nowhere. How they’d made me unable to think of anything but feeding. It was horrible. I dreaded it happening again.“But how do I know when it will happen again?”He looked at her. “You don’t.”“But I never want to kill a human,” I said. “Ever.”“You don’t have to. You can feed on animals.”“But what if it happens when I’m stuck somewhere?”“You will need to learn to control it. It takes practice. And willpower.
Marked CHAPTER 48
My heart fell to see that Caleb had already turned away. He was leaning gently back against the hay, eyes closed, asleep, a gentle smile on his face, lit by the firelight.I slid closer to him and leaned back, resting my head inches away from his shoulder. We were almost touching.And almost was enough for me.I slid back the door to the barn and squinted at a world covered in snow. White sunlight bounced off of everything. I brought my hands to my eyes, feeling a pain I had never quite experienced: my eyes were absolutely killing me.Caleb stepped out beside me, as he was finishing wrapping his arms and neck in a thin, clear material. It almost looked like Saran wrap, but it seemed to dissolve in his skin as he put it on. I couldn’t even tell it was there. “What’s that?”“Skin wrap,” he said, looking down as he wrapped it carefully again and again over his arms and shoulders. “It’s what allows us to go out in the sunlight. Otherwise, our skin would burn.” He looked her over. “Y
Marked CHAPTER 49
I turned and saw Luisa standing there, one of the girls I’d been friends with before I moved.“Oh my God!” Luisa added excitedly, throwing her arms wide for a hug. Before I could react, Luisa was embracing me. I hugged her back. It felt good to see a familiar face.“What happened to you?” Luisa asked, speaking in an excited rush, as she always did, her slight Hispanic accent coming through, as she had only moved here from Puerto Rico a few years before. “I’m so confused! I thought you moved!? I texted and IM-ed you, but you never responded –”“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I lost my phone, and I haven’t been near any computers, and–”Luisa wasn’t listening. She had just noticed Caleb, and she was staring, mesmerized. Her mouth literally dropped open.“Who’s your friend?” she finally asked, almost in a whisper. I smiled; I had never seen my friend so flustered before.“Luisa, this is Caleb,” I said.“A pleasure,” Caleb said, smiling down, extending his hand.Luisa just kept staring. S
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