The rest of the week flew by pretty quickly, and I didn’t really have too much of a chance to talk to my friends about what was going on except for at lunch. Since that was a public space, we had to be careful what we talked about, too. It wasn’t until Saturday that Emma and I met over at Lucy’s house so she could show us all the stuff she’d found on why people thought vampires might be real.
We were sprawled out on her sofa in her bedroom, Emma in the recliner nearby, and while the TV was on, no one was watching it. Each of us had our laptops. I had my notebook, too, and Lucy had hers.
“Okay, go to this website,” Lucy said, rattling off a web address. Emma and I both typed it in.
“Dark Shadows?” Emma said as the page loaded in front of each of us. “How did you find this?”
“I did a bunch of digging, and I found some forums where people talk about their experiences with vampires,” Lucy
“I wonder if it’s possible….” Emma stopped talking as she started typing. Lucy and I both waited for her to say more, but whatever train of thought she was on, it was concentrated on her laptop and not on what she was saying to us.“What?” Lucy asked, her voice screechy. “You wonder if what is possible?”Emma continued to be silent for a few moments. She shook her head. “Not finding anything.” She raised her eyes off of the screen and looked at Lucy before she said, “What if the reason there aren’t millions of vampires killing all of us mere humans is because they’re held in check by something, a force, or a group of people who keep them at bay?”“You mean like, Buffy the Vampire Slayer?” I asked, finally getting back into the conversation.“Or President Lincoln?” Lucy laughed, remembering how silly that movie was.Emma’s face
My phone was ringing again. With a sigh I looked down at it and then held my breath for a second before I managed to pick it up and swipe. “Hello?”“Cassidy?”“Hi, Dr. Sanderson,” I said, mostly for my friends’ benefits. They both froze and put their laptops aside again.“I was just calling to check on you, lil girl. How are you doing?”“Fine,” I muttered. What are the chances he would be calling to check in on me just a few minutes after my sister told me about Jack and that she’s going to Paris? I didn’t think this was a coincidence.“You been leavin’ well enough alone?” he asked. I glanced down at my computer, which was currently pulled up to the vampire website.“Uh, yeah,” I said, glancing over my shoulder out Lucy’s window. Could he see me?“Good.” His tone conveyed that he might possibly believe me. &ldq
My mind was so full of questions, I wasn’t sure which to ask. I knew there were certain things he wouldn’t be able to tell me, and I didn’t want to waste my one question on something he couldn’t reveal. After careful consideration, I took a deep breath and asked, “How old are you?”“Cassidy, if I tell you that, it’s just going to open a whole ‘nother can of worms and lots more questions.”“That’s okay,” I said, feeling like his non-answer was actually good information to have. “I won’t ask you anything else today, and I’ll wait for you to call me again before I ask you anything more. Come on, Elliott. Aaron can’t get mad at you for telling me how old you are, can he? I mean… it’s a simple question. Like, you can ask me, and I’ll tell you I’m fifteen.”“Yes, he can get mad at me,” Elliott replied. “He can get very
There was just about a week before school got out for Christmas break, and we all should’ve been excited about the upcoming holidays, but something thick hung in the air around my school and even at home. Whispers in the hallway between classes told me Jack Cook wasn’t getting any better. My parents didn’t know when I could overhear their solemn conversations about Cadence and if she was getting in over her head. I continued to worry, to take notes, to discuss with my friends, but I still had no idea what was going on with Cadence.I was at Lucy’s studying for a biology test we’d be having on Friday, which happened to be the last day before Christmas break, when my mom called. I knew it had to be important because she never called me when I was studying. “Hello?” I asked, bracing myself against the fear that began to grow inside of me each time my phone rang.“Cass, honey, something’s happened. I’m on my way o
School was cancelled for the rest of the week, which was just as well because no one would be going anyway. We would have our finals when we returned from our two-week Christmas break, and the little kids would have a winter party instead of a Christmas party upon their return. Plans were adjusted, schedules were changed, people did what needed to be done to get by since our small community had lost a second young life inside of a month’s time.I’d slept late into the morning, which was unusual for me, but despite my nap, I was completely exhausted in every way imaginable. The night before, my parents had gotten me out of bed long enough to pick at a piece of chicken, but the last thing I wanted to do was eat. By the time I’d checked my phone, everyone already knew, so I didn’t bother to text anything back except for to let Lucy, Emma, Milo, and Wes know that I was okay. If that was the case, it didn’t feel like it, but I could hardly tell them h
My eyes flickered to Elliott, and I silently wondered if this was because he had not done a very good job of helping me “deal” with my “grief.” He smiled at me, a small reassuring gesture, and I quickly put my attention elsewhere, back to Hannah. “Thanks,” was about all I could manage.“How are the rest of your friends?” my dad asked. He looked at me, and for a moment I thought he might send me out of the room, like all of this was also top-secret, but he didn’t.Cadence replied, “Okay. They spoke to Elliott and Hannah, and I think that helped.”My parents nodded, and I pretended like I had no idea what that meant, like I was supposed to think Elliott and Hannah were just good at talking to people instead of knowing what Cadence really meant was that her new friend had brainwashed her gang from high school, and Hannah had used her emotional manipulation, the same good juju I was feeling right now.
I did know he could. I knew Elliott could do a lot of things to hurt me, even if he wasn’t a vampire. He’s a big dude. But I also knew that he wouldn’t harm a hair on my head. Because he liked me. I didn’t know why, but I knew that he did. And I liked him, too. For some reason, I felt like I’d known him a lot longer than a few days. He seemed familiar in the way the sun or the moon feel like old friends, like he’d always been there in the background, part of my life I’d never noticed before.Part of me wanted to respect his wishes and not tell my friends anything, but I knew they deserved to know as much as I did. I called Lucy and Emma on three-way and waited for them both to answer before I began to recite what I’d learned from Cadence. I hadn’t really spoken to them since I’d left Lucy’s the day before, when my mom picked me up to tell me about Jack, though we’d sent a few texts about how we couldn&rsq
I went to bed a little earlier than usual that night after updating my notes and going over a few things. Lucy had sent me more information about vampire infections, and Emma sent some links to sites that talked about telepathy, but I didn’t have the energy to look at them right then. Wes’s birthday party was still on for the next day, and even though part of me didn’t want to go, my parents thought it was a good idea. And I thought maybe I needed a little more normal. I closed my notebook and my eyes, shutting off the light on my phone, which was already plugged in to charge.Maybe half an hour passed before I heard my sister’s voice. At first, I wasn’t sure what was happening, but then I realized she was on the phone, though it sounded brief. I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but by her tone, I got the impression all was not well. She sounded stressed. I considered getting up and going next door to check on her, but then I heard