CHAPTER FIVE

Throughout dinner, Beth is talking about how awesome it was the way I threw everyone on their back with just a burst of energy. However, I don’t feel so good.

I know nothing about my abilities as the Blood Moon Hybrid.

Kathleen is eyeing me, but she doesn’t say anything.

The fact is that normal vampires should not be able to do something like this. It’s only a matter of time until the people around me, my own friends, realize that I am different from them. And I’m worried about what is going to happen when that day comes.

The idea of being abandoned terrifies me.

Knowing that there is a possibility that my own friends might walk away from me, leaving me all alone, is making a tiny part of me shrivel in fear. This is the first time in my life that I have had friends, somebody to talk to, somebody to let my guard down around. I don’t want to lose this. I don’t want to go back to being alone and bitter.

As the conversation goes on, I abruptly get to my feet. “I’m going to head to bed.”

“You okay?” Beth glances at me.

“Yeah,” I say and give her a tight smile. “Just a headache.”

She gives me a strange look, and Quill studies me. “You sure? You look weird.”

“I can’t help how I look.” I give him an irritable look, and he grins.

Not up to getting into any sort of friendly banter with him, I grab my bag and begin to walk out. I cross Anderson’s table and see Isabel sitting with him. He’s smiling, and I shudder.

However, if I thought that Quill would let me leave like this, I’m proven wrong. As I exit the mess hall, he runs after me. “I’ll go with you!”

His bag is with him, and I look over his shoulder. “I thought you were still eating.”

He flushes. “I’m full.”

“You just said—”

“Taylor!” His voice is frustrated, and I force myself to stop and stare up at him.

The silence between us is stretched out, and he shuffles his feet, an awkward expression on his face. “Why can’t you just let me do things for you? I don’t want you to walk back alone.”

I search his face and then give him a small smile. “Thanks.”

He throws his arm around my shoulder in a casual manner, and I find myself leaning into his side. Quill feels safe. He feels like home.

“You doing okay?” Quill murmurs. “With this whole Jesse thing?”

I shrug. “I won’t cry over him.”

“But you want to.”

I glance at him, and he almost looks sad.

“I trusted him,” I struggle to get the words out. “A lot.”

“Why did he break up with you, Taylor?” Quill asks bluntly.

I want to lie, but as we walk back, just the two of us, I can’t find that strength to lie to Quill. “He found out something about me.”

Quill doesn’t skip a beat before saying, “Is this something I know?”

“No.”

When he’s silent, I admit after a few long seconds, “Finding out drove him away, Quill. I don’t want to lose you and Beth.”

His arm tightens around my shoulder. “You know that will never happen, right?”

“I’m just scared.”

He’s quiet for a bit. “You don’t trust us?”

“I do,” I begin, struggling to be this vulnerable, “but I don’t want to be alone again.”

“I get it,” he murmurs. “Then we’ll wait ‘till you’re ready to tell us.”

My eyes burn with this open, unlimited acceptance. “And what if my secret is that I’m some sort of monster?”

“We’ll never be scared of you.” Quill just grins down at me. “I’m supposed to have alpha werewolf blood in my veins. It would be embarrassing if I let myself be intimidated so easily.”

My lips twitch as he adds, “I’m team monster all the way.”

By the team we reach the barracks, Quill pauses, facing me. He’s wearing a strange expression on his face. “Look, whatever your secret is, Taylor, just know that we won’t walk away from you. You’re important to me. It’s not that easy to scare me off. I promise.”

When he leans down to kiss my cheek, there’s a flutter in my chest. It’s not the same flutter as when Jesse would approach me, but it’s almost like a lighter version of that. Confused, shaken, I watch him leave.

I stand there for a few long moments once he’s gone, contemplating his words and actions. Maybe I will be able to trust the bond I have with my friends, one day. But not yet. Not when my own wounds are still so raw.

As I turn around to go inside, I see someone standing near the woods. For a second, I think I see Jesse. But when I blink, he’s gone.

Did I imagine him?

Staring at the spot for a while, I decide to retreat.

***

When Beth and the others come in, I pretend to be asleep.

However, sleep eludes me, and as the clock strikes one in the morning, I’m staring at the ceiling, my eyes tired and my mind busy. Everyone else is fast asleep.

I turn over on my back, trying to sleep, only to hear a strange sound in the silence of the night. Normally, it wouldn’t bother me, but in a night so quiet, this particular sound stands out to me.

I don’t know what it is. I can’t place it. But I do know it doesn’t belong here.

“Beth?” I look over at where my best friend is sleeping.

“Ya,” she mumbles in her sleep.

“You hear that?”

She makes a sound of dissent and turns over with a snore.

Pulling the blankets around me, I strain my ears, but I don’t hear anything.

Did I imagine it?

Maybe I’m just so tired—

There it is again!

I sit up, my ears perked up.

It’s faint but not that faint.

Voices.

Scraping.

Squelching, as if somebody is moving through wet mud.

Getting to my feet, I grab my jacket, tossing it on. Slipping out, I look around.

It’s hard to see anything in this thick fog, but when I squint my eyes, I make out a shape.

Someone is walking.

At this hour?

Quietly, I trail after them. Why would anybody be out at this hour? Maybe it’s some student going to meet a boyfriend or something? But instinct tells me to follow. There is something odd about this. For one, the figure is far too bulky to be a student.

I only realize that the person is reaching the bridge that connects the Level Two island to the Level Three island when I nearly walk into the sign board.

I follow after the person, wondering what he is up to.

The fog doesn’t let up, which makes it hard to distinguish what the person looks like. However, I only realize that he’s stopped when his form becomes larger as I approach it. A prickle of fear forms within the base of my spine as his figure looms larger and larger even when I stop walking.

He’s coming towards me!

An unbridled fear chokes me, and I look around, desperately, not knowing where to hide. Suddenly, a hand clamps around my mouth from behind, and I’m dragged into the forest.

“Ssh!” I hear a familiar voice say.

Jesse?!

His breathing is labored as he hisses, “Are you crazy?!”

However, he’s not looking at me; his eyes are trained on something in distance. He looks worried.

I pull his hand away from my mouth. “What the heck is going on?!”

My voice is low as I glare at him, trying to ignore my own pounding heartbeat.

“They’ve disengaged the alarm for my island,” Jesse says, his voice tight. “Go back to your island. I’ll distract them.”

“Who?!” I’m trying to wrap my head around what’s happening. “What alarm?!”

Jesse looks at me now, grabbing me by the upper arm and giving me a shake. “The camp has been infiltrated, Taylor! I’ll distract them—”

“No!” I give him a panicked look. “You come with me!”

“I can’t!” Jesse says, sharply, letting me go abruptly almost as if he can’t bear the thought of touching me any more than necessary. “Just do what I said! Go straight to your barrack. There is a glass case with a black button. Open it, press it! Go!”

I don’t want to leave him, and I try to hold his hand, but he jerks his hand away.

Another slice on my heart.

But I bear the pain and turn around.

As soon as I run, I hear a snarl from behind me, and I know Jesse is already implementing his distraction plan.

I run without looking back, without stopping. Reaching the barrack, I throw open the door with a bang, startling everyone awake. Uncaring of the shocked cries, I look for the button that is so inconspicuous that I never paid much attention to it before. Pulling open the glass door, I press it.

Almost instantly, the entire island is flooded with bright lights and a wailing siren. It’s so loud that I have to cover my ears, as do we all. And that’s when I realize that the siren is blaring on all the islands.

I hear footsteps outside and panicked voices as students and counselors alike exit their cabins, with the counselors trying to gather the students together. I hurry out to see Counselor Levi shouting out some orders. I rush towards him, filling him in. He listens without interrupting, and once I’m done, he brings up a wireless radio, “Intruders detected on Level Three!”

To us, he says harshly, “Stay together. Do not move. This is not the time to play hero. Am I understood?”

Everyone is too scared and shaken to even consider that.

We have no choice but to do so. Beth, Quill, and the others surround me as I tell them what happened.

“Why did you go alone like that?!” Quill demands, furiously. “What if they had done something to you?!”

He’s right. I don’t have an answer.

We just stick together.

I keep looking in the direction of the bridge, worry for Jesse eating at me.

I don’t know how long we stay there for, but finally, the counselors approach us. “They’ve escaped. Verify headcounts.”

“Level One is complete.”

“So is Level Two.”

“Level Four is all here.”

“Level Three is,” there’s a hesitation from the radio, “hang on. We’re missing someone. One of the students is missing!”

Jesse!