Most nights I woke up choking back a scream, every time I closed my eyes I would see fanged beasts. They were stalking me in the darkness, chasing me through the woods. The continuous nightmares made sleep hard to come by. The truth was It didn't matter if I was awake or I was asleep, I was terrified. What I had witnessed at the Vanderville's home should have been an impossibility. Humans who weren't entirely human, It defied all the rational and logical thinking that I had been taught in school. Magic wasn't real. It was something that every child wished to exist but as we all grew older we understood that it was just a figment of our imaginations.
Except what I had seen, while it had been beyond terrifying it had been an act of magic. It was the only true explanation that I could come with it. The more I thought about what I had seen, the more I began to question the reality I lived in. If such creatures could exist than what else was hidden in the world around me, vampires? Witches? Zombies? Fairies? I mean I was going to have to pull out all old fiction novels and make a list.
Mary-beth snapped her fingers in front of my face, pulling me from my internal struggle. I met her gaze through the rising steam of the hot tea that was positioned between us, "I'm heading to school now. Not that you care..." She mumbled the last part to herself, as she spun away from me.
I frowned as I grabbed my mug, trailing after her toward the front door, "Look, I know that this isn't exactly where you want to be but do you think you could try a little harder for me to make things work? I really don't want anymore calls from the school about you not showing up to class. I'd feel much better knowing you were in class learning something useful and not running around the street like some kind of delinquent." It felt weird trying to set boundaries for her as if I were our father. Of course I doubt our father would have been asking her as nicely as I was. He would have never let her get away with anything like this but I wasn't him.
Mary-Beth held my gaze for a moment, and I felt a shiver of awareness. It was like there was something staring back at me from behind my sister's eyes, something more than human. It only lasted for a moment before she lowered her eyes with a snort, adjusting her beanie, "I'll make sure you don't get another call, Luce."
A horn honked as a car pulled to the edge of our driveway. We both turned to see a girl with bright pink hair sticking her head out the window, "Come on, Beth! I believe we had a date with the american education system this morning."
I sucked in a breath at the sight of her, immediately reaching out for Mary-Beth. That girl had been at the Vanderville's party. She had been standing with Callum. She was one of them. She was one of those beast. My sister stiffened up under my touch, sending me a meaningful glare, "What the hell, Luce?"
I released her quickly, swallowing back the terror building in my throat, "Who is that? How do you know her?"
Mary-Beth rolled her eyes, "That's just a girl from school, Roxie. Can I go now or do you want me to invite her up here for an interrogation?"
There was no where that was safe from these people. They walked around in human skin, there true nature's hidden just beneath the surface. They could be anyone, a neighbor, a cashier at the grocery store or the mayor of a town. I forced myself to give Mary-Beth a tight lipped smile, "Just remember what I told you. Stay in school, no more wandering off."
"Yeah. I got it." She snipped before she waltzed off the porch and into the snow, casting one more look in my direction before shaking her head. Roxie gave me a sly looking smile as Mary-Beth got into the car. I had a sinking suspicion that she somehow knew that I knew, perhaps Callum hadn't kept things between the two of us. Maybe it was only a matter of time before they dragged me off into the woods to join there freaky little world. I shivered as I watched them drive away, staring into the trees warily before I hesitantly returned inside, locking the door behind me.
I spent the next hour pacing back and forth in my living room like a person in a jail cell, which is exactly what the town had become for me. I couldn't leave even though every fiber of my being was screaming at me to take Mary-beth and run far away. I knew though deep in my bones if I ran now that we would always be running. That is why I had to pretend to be like nothing in my reality had changed, when in fact everything had changed in a blink of an eye.
I was having a mental breakdown. A familiar feeling of panic was sizzling in my veins. When I was a young girl I used to get panic attacks all the time. I took medicine for it and everything but eventually I learned to control them--mind over matter. I sucked in a deep breath as a loud knock echoed through my house.
My heart froze in my chest and I stood still in the center of my living room. I was afraid to answer my door but I knew that I needed to. I had to act normal. I had to play the game for my sister's and I's sake. I padded my way to the front door, taking in a shaky breath before opening it.
Casey Jones stood wrapped up tight in a fluffy purple parka, a large thermos in her left hand. She flashed me a friendly smile, "Hello dear, I thought you might like some company and maybe some soup for your flu?"
I stepped further outside, "How did you know I was sick?" I couldn't help but wonder. I eyed her suspiciously as I closed the door, was she human or was she something more? It seemed like a crazy thing to find myself questioning but I knew I would never be able to not ask that question. My world had been so abruptly and severely altered that there was no way for it to not leave me in a state of doubt and distrust.
She didn't seem to disgruntled over my question or the fact that I hadn't invited her into my home, "I ran into Helena at the store yesterday. Â She told me you went and got yourself caught up with some kind of bug. Not surprised, probably got it from one of the kids...they are cesspools of disease. God, I love my children...but they get me sick at least once a month."
I had tried to do as Cal had instructed me to do but when Helena Vanderville called me monday morning to say she wanted to hire me, wondering when I could come by to discuss things--Well I had lied. I had told her that caught the flu and I would have to get back to her. The truth was I had been avoiding any contact with them, afraid I would give myself away.
"Thank you, Mrs. Jones. I appreciate the gift..." I was about to decline the offering but she held it out towards me with a dazzling smile, reluctantly I took it from her.
"Please call me Casey. Mrs. Jones makes me seem old...reminds me of my husbands mother. That woman was as ornery as a bull in springtime." She shivered as if recalling old memories. It was hard to imagine that this woman could be anything but human the more I was around her. She didn't leave me feeling uneasy in her company like some of the other townsfolk. Still, I couldn't be too safe.
I gave her a more relaxed smile, pulling the thermos up to my face and unscrewing the cap. I took in a sniff of the contents inside and quickly reeled back, coughing. Casey let out a hearty laugh, "It's an old family recipe. It don't taste too good but it will burn the sickness right out of you. Works on the kids every time." I gave her a quick look as I quickly screwed the cap back on whatever hellish concoction she had mixed up for me.
Casey and I were standing on the porch together when my truck pulled up the driveway. I tensed at the sight of it, and the man driving it. It had been a week since the party. A week since we had our conversation about the fact that I needed to keep my lips sealed and my head down, go about business as if nothing had ever changed.
"Looks like someone else has come to call on the lady." Casey whispered to me under her breath in a flirty tone that made me feel like I should tell her that nothing like that was ever going to happen between Cal and I but I held my tongue as he jumped out of the truck and made his way towards us. I couldn't help the heat that rose in my cheeks as I was once again taken in by his rugged features.My heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest with how frantic he had it beating. The man was a determent to my good health.
"Hello..." I greeted him with a tense smile.
Cal stopped at the bottom of the stairs, tipping an invisible hat in our direction, "Good afternoon ladies. I was in town and Auggie told me he had finished up with your truck...I thought you might like it back, considering how attached to it you seemed." To anyone else it would have seemed as though he was was simply being thoughtful, but I could tell from the gleam in his eyes that he had hidden motives for doing what he had done.
"It was my fathers..." I supplied as justification to my attachment to what I'm sure he thought was a hunk of junk. His brow lifted slightly and my cheeks flushed again. I cleared my throat as I ducked my head, letting my hair fall over my shoulder as a shield, "I'll just go get the keys to the loaner. Hold on a sec."
"Why not have Mr. Wolfe take a look at your water heater while he's feeling helpful." She suggested as I turned to leave. I suddenly wished that I hadn't called her asking her for numbers to plumbers in the area last week. It had definitely come back to bite me in the ass. I had no intention of inviting Cal into my house, in case that weird vampire rule applied to whatever the hell he was as well. I didn't want to give him anymore of chance to possibly harm me if that was his true reason for showing up today.
"I mean I don't see a problem with looking at it, if it's giving you trouble." He replied in an even tone.
I spun back around with a tight smile, meeting his gaze, "Oh no. It's fine. I planned to call someone to look at it. You've already done more than enough for me." I wanted him to decline the offer, and I hoped my eyes conveyed the desperation I had to see him go.
Cal shrugged his shoulders, placing a foot on the lowest step, bringing himself closer, "Don't be silly Miss. Cartwright. I'm already here." He wasn't going to leave.
I took a small step back, wrapping my arms around myself as if to up another barrier between the two of us, "Wonderful...I appreciate the help." Though my tone was quite contrary to the words that I was speaking. I noticed the way his lips turned up slightly in the corners, greens eyes sparkling with dark amusement.
I looked to Casey to see her grinning like the cat who ate the cannary, "Well, I better get back to it. I got other errands to run. I hope the soup cures you, dear." She gave me a wink as if the soup was a not so hidden metaphor for something else entirely. She gave Cal a big smile before she strutted away back to her car.
Cal walked up the steps casually but the air between us was filled with so much tension that I could feel it like an elephant sitting on my chest. For every step that brought him closer to me, I took a step backwards, reaching behind myself for the door knob. I turned the knob and stumbled back into the house, hoping that the threshold would create some kind of barrier between the two of us.
"Are you still afraid of me, Lucinda?"
His question stopped my backpedalling, "Isn't that a normal reaction, a human reaction?" I licked my lips, clutching the thermos close to my chest, ready to use it as a weapon if I needed to.
He lifted a brow at me before stepping over the threshold of my house. My mouth went dry and I took a small step back feeling like there was not nearly enough distance between our two bodies, "I guess that rules out the fact that you need to be invited in to enter my house." I mumbled aloud.
His lips twitched, tongue swiping over his bottom lip, "You have a lot to learn about us, Lucinda. First and most important thing to remember, never run away. We love to chase." The way he said the words in his husky tone had my stomach fluttering. I swallowed hard as he took a step in my direction, "Now do you mind if I get to work on this water heater or do you want to continue to eye fuck me?"
The harshness of his words, had my cheeks heating and I sucked in a breath, "The basement..."
"I know where it is." He gave me a taunting smirk before he walked out of the room, leaving me feeling slightly humiliated and cold.