That response felt almost as much like a punch to the gut as the revelation that Elliott was gone. It just didn’t make any sense. Guardians were there to protect vampire hunters. "But why would a vampire hunter want to kill a guardian?" I asked, shaking my head slowly, thinking there couldn’t be a logical answer.
My sister sighed loudly. She must’ve been just as puzzled as I was because she replied, "If I knew the answer to that, maybe these last few days wouldn't have been hell on Earth, but I honestly have no idea."
That left only one logical conclusion. "So, it was a vampire hunter that killed Elliott?"
"Yes."
Rage began to well up inside of me again as I tried to keep my voice calm and asked, "And is this vampire hunter still alive?"
"Yes--for the time being."
I could tell Cadence didn’t like that answer any more than I did. "But you're going to get ‘em?" It was more a statement than a question.
The a
Somehow, I managed to force a smile of satisfaction. Looking him in the eyes, I said, "Thank you," and he nodded at me. Thinking there might be a small chance at getting some more information, I probed on. "So, Aaron, what are you?"That made him laugh, and I imagined there must be some sort of an inside joke I wasn’t privy to as he exchanged glances with my sister. Returning his attention to me, he replied, "I'm a Guardian.”Cadence looked at him like he’d just proclaimed that he was the last unicorn. "A Guardian?" He shrugged at her, and she threw a pillow at him. It didn’t take much effort for him to dodge out of the way. She shook her head and turned back to me, and I imagine my eyes were like saucers as I tried to figure out what they were going on about. "He's the Guardian Leader, Cass. He's in charge of every Guardian in the world."Somehow, my eyes managed to widen even more. This whole time, I’d thought he was just in charg
There are defining moments in our lives where we can look back later and think, “That was when everything changed,” or “that’s when I knew.” For me, that moment came shortly after my sister told me the man I thought of as an older brother, Elliott, had been killed by a Vampire Hunter. Even though I’d known for the last several months that I would go through the Transformation process like my sister Cadence had as soon as I turned seventeen and was considered old enough, when I found out that Elliott was dead, that I’d never turn around to find him standing just over my shoulder again, or watch in surprise as he snuck into my bedroom window to talk to me in private so as not to alert my parents, or look up into a crowd and see his smile, that’s when I knew what I would do with my life, the path I would choose.It's too bad fate had other plans, ones I would’ve never seen coming that sweltering June day when Cadence told me
After dinner, my mom and sister began to clear the table, and I thought it was nice that Aaron at least volunteered to help, though my mom sent him off with my dad to the living room. I assumed this was so she could ask Cadence the questions she couldn’t ask in front of Aaron--questions about him—and I excused myself. I just wanted to go back to sleep. I still hadn’t called my friends, though, and since Lucy and Emma also knew Elliott, I felt like they needed to know what was happening.I trudged through the living room and only glanced in my dad and Aaron’s direction as I headed for the stairs. My dad called, “Are you going back to bed, honey?”“Yeah,” I replied, not bothering to explain the truth about what I was about to do. I didn’t know if Elliott’s demise meant no one would be listening in on me anymore, and since Cadence had told me I wasn’t allowed to talk to Lucy and Emma about any of this, I re
My friends’ gaping mouths told me I’d just unleashed a whole new line of questioning with my revelation that Elliott wasn’t a Vampire Hunter. “A what?” Emma asked.“Are you serious?” Lucy was shaking her head. “Just when we think we have everything figured out.”“I know. Listen, I will actually be at her headquarters tomorrow, which would be great if it was for any other reason in the world than a funeral, but it will give me a little bit of a chance to see what I can figure out. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to talk to Cadence, too. Maybe by the next time I talk to you guys I’ll have more information.”“Okay,” Lucy nodded, “but we’ll understand if you don’t.” She had tears in her eyes again, and I assumed she’d probably be mourning the loss of Dr. Sanderson as soon as we disconnected, too. In fact, if the student body of Shenandoah High School
Having never been in a plane smaller than an airliner before, I had no idea what to expect, but the plane we took from Shenandoah to Kansas City was actually a lot bigger and nicer than I was expecting. My mom and dad and I sat in the back, and Cadence sat up front with Aaron—who was flying. I had no idea he knew how to fly a plane, and when I told Cadence that was cool, she said she hadn’t known either until a few days before. I took some pictures for Emma of the plane on the inside and outside, as well as a few aerial shots. If nothing else, it gave me a chance to keep my mind off of what was happening and where we were going.Cadence recommended we wear something comfortable on the plane and said we’d get to her headquarters in time to change, so I had packed the pink dress I’d finally decided to wear to the memorial, as well as a couple other outfits, although I secretly wanted to pack everything I owned. I wondered if Cadence would notice if I hap
Jamie drives almost as crazy as Elliot did, though a few minutes in, after my mom made her “oh, my” comment for the third or fourth time, he must’ve remembered that there were some regular humans in the car because he stopped taking corners so quickly. I absently wondered how they could remember to walk slowly but not to drive like the other cars surrounding them on the road, but I kept my comments to myself.The drive to headquarters took about fifteen minutes, and we went out of town a little way, into the countryside. Eventually, we got to a gate that automatically opened, I imagined because of a device somewhere in the SUV, and headed back down a winding lane, past a few buildings that seemed to increase in height until we reached the two tallest buildings of all.It seemed like everyone else had been here before, including my mom. We got out of the car and some man who seemed to work there started grabbing our bags out of the back. I thought it m
My sister pointed my parents to the guest room, and my dad reminded her that he used to live here, so she shook her head and kept walking. I wasn’t sure if she thought that was as odd as I did or not.Her bedroom was equally nice, decorated in blues and silvers. “This place is super nice, Cadence,” I said as she disappeared into a walk-in closet. “Did you pick all this stuff out yourself?” It was a far cry from the bubble gum pink bedroom she’d lived in for the first nineteen years of her life.“Thanks,” she called. “No, Aaron had it remodeled and redecorated for me before I got here.” She came out with two dress choices, one in dark purple and one in a red color. “What do you think?” she asked, holding them both up in front of her.“Definitely the purple,” I replied. “Under the circumstances, I think red would be… not cool.”She raised an eyebrow at me
“Don’t you both look beautiful,” my mom said, standing and hugging Cadence and then me.“Thanks, Mom,” she said. “I’m heading out. See you guys there.” She smiled at us all sympathetically, and I hoped that she would make it through the service without messing up her makeup. I wondered if Hannah could or would help my sister. I wondered if she would use her emotional manipulation to make me feel better. I knew I needed to grieve, but right about now, I could use a shortcut.I took a seat on the sofa near my dad, and my mom asked if I wanted her to fix me a sandwich before she sat back down, but I just shook my head. I wondered how many times Elliott had sat here on this sofa and watched TV with my sister. Probably a lot. They had been good friends. My dad was telling a story about tripping and hitting his head on the raised brick around the fireplace when he was little, but I wasn’t really listening.Then a t
Cadence was glowing, holding both of her babies, one in each arm. I smiled at her and then focused on Josephina. She wasn’t crying now, but her little face was wrinkled as if she might burst into tears at any moment. Aaron had his hand on her back, beaming with pride as he looked at his little family. Jamie and another Healer, Ona, were cleaning up a tray table, but I caught his eye, and he winked at me. I hoped he could tell how grateful I was. If it wasn’t for him and his life saving blue magical healing powers, not to mention his medical skills, Cadence never would’ve come back to life.“Where’s my new favorite lil girl?” Elliott asked beside me.“Hey! I’m your lil girl. You’re going to have to think of something else to call her.” I threw an elbow at him.“Oh, I’m just teasing,” Elliott assured me. “Still, she is definitely lil. And she is my girl.”“I&rsqu
I’ll never forget the day my sister died. Even now, eight months later, sitting outside of Jamie’s operating room with Brandon’s hand in mine, every time I think about what happened that day, I get tears in my eyes. So many things could’ve gone differently, if only one of us would’ve made a different choice. I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on what I could’ve done differently myself that day, and even though everyone tells me there’s no point in dwelling on it, what’s done is done, it still haunts me sometimes when I’m trying to fall asleep at night, when I can so vividly see Cadence hanging there in the air before she plummeted to the ground, the whoosh of power that left my hand just missing its mark.The new Hunter Leader is a guy named Daniel Bower. He came in from California a few months ago. He’s awesome. I’ve known him for a while. He’s the one who helped capture Professor Stewart after th
I continued to beg and plead with her to come back to us. At fifteen minutes, Scarlet’s whispers were loud enough for me to detect what she was saying to Cale. “How long will he give it?”“I don’t know.” Cale seemed agitated and upset, certainly more connected to my sister than Scarlet. “Not yet.”“Please... Cadey, please.” I felt as far and as deep as I could, thinking about how I’d had to go so very far into her brain to plant that dream. The clock continued to tick. Cadence still wasn’t breathing, and Jamie began to sound desperate. At twenty-five minutes, when Jamie said “thirty,” his voice broke. He knew that the chances of her coming back to us now, after this long, were minute at best. He couldn’t give up, though. We couldn’t give up.Aaron blew two breaths of air into my sister’s lungs, and Jamie started counting again.Something was diff
After Aaron finally moved forward, I followed, staying back a little bit. I didn’t want to see her like that. I had never seen a person’s body after they’ve fallen that far, but I could imagine what it was like.Only when I finally did take a few hesitant steps around the trees, Brandon’s hands on my shoulders, she didn’t look like I expected her to at all.Cadence was lying flat on the ground with her hands folded over her abdomen, sort of like Snow White. Her feet were out straight, and her hair was blown out around her. She looked absolutely beautiful. And still. So very, very still.Jamie was doing chest compressions, and when it was time to breathe, Aaron did that for my sister. Some sort of automatic pilot must’ve turned on for him because his movements were very robotic. Jamie would say thirty, and Aaron would breathe into my sister’s open mouth twice before Jamie started counting again.Tears were rolling
“No!” My scream echoed across the mountainside as I watched in horror as my sister fell. I cannot guide what I cannot see, and I didn’t have a chance to get a grip on her before she plummeted. My hands shot out in her direction, but the surge of power I’d sent to grab her went over her head. I saw a streak of blue do the same and knew Jamie had missed as well.Fumbling through Cadence’s stream of consciousness, I tried again, hoping I’d be able to figure out how to get my powers around her before she hit the ground, but she was moving too fast, and without my eyes on her, I wouldn’t be able to get a grip.Part of me wanted to at least jump into her head, to be with her, to let her know she was okay, but then, the thought of what she was about to endure, when she hit the tops of the trees and then cascaded down through them to the earth, I couldn’t bear the thought, and I knew she wouldn’t want me to see it.I
“Brandon!” I shouted, floating over to where he had disappeared. He didn’t answer, and I realized he must’ve fallen all the way in. “Dang it.” I looked around the battlefield. I knew he was safe down there, but I hated that he was in that miserable place. Cadence was firing at Daunator now while Christian moved in, to place the grenade, I assumed, so I thought perhaps she’d be safe for a few minutes. I decided to help Brandon.“Are you all right?” I asked, using my telepathy.“Thank goodness,” he thought, probably not even to me. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just really dark in here.”“I know. Hold on, and I’ll get you out.”“If I hold on, won’t it be harder for you to get me out?”“All right smarty pants.” I needed to focus all of my energy if I was going to do this
“You okay?” Brandon shouted to me as he moved a little closer to where I was standing. The holes in the ground were not shaking now as much as they had been before, but they were still an obstacle we had to consider. I didn’t want him to get too close because of my tornadoes, but I was glad he was nearby.“Great,” I called back, sending another pile of creatures over the side of the mountain.Aaron was fighting his way through the crowd of black creatures, working his way to Cadence. The path was getting clearer, as far as the minions were concerned, but once he got within about a hundred yards of Cadence’s location, one of the Vampires that had been engaged with our forces closer to the top of the mountain broke off, clearly on his way to intercept the Guardian Leader.Whether he liked it or not, Aaron wasn’t alone now. I wasn’t sure where she’d come from, but Eliza was running parallel to him, fighting off
Moving the black creatures off of the ledge worked well, and I was just starting my second round when I realized my sister had taken off running toward Daunator. Christian had reached him already, a grenade in his hand. I prayed he didn’t get sucked down into another hole. The fact that Cadence was so far away from Aaron was worrisome, but he was busy with the creatures. While Cadence was slowed a few times by the minions sinking their teeth into her arm or grabbing at her heels, for the most part, they seemed to be letting her through, which seemed like a bad sign to me. Did Daunator want her to fight him?A blast of light illuminated the mountain, and then a wave of smoke obscured my view of Christian and Daunator. He’d thrown a grenade, the old kind, the ones he knew wouldn’t work. When the smoke cleared, Daunator’s laughter echoed through the air, and Christian went flying twenty feet in the air.Paul’s voice came over the IAC as I tos
Christian’s eyes widened. “Get out of here? We can’t. We have to get Daunator.”“We will. But for now, we need to go back and regroup. The most important thing is that you’re safe now,” Cadence explained to him.Christian was starting to freak out again. “No, Cadence, you don’t understand. We can’t just leave from here! We can’t just let him go!” His eyes were wild, and he reached forward and grabbed my sister’s shoulders. That lasted about half a second before Aaron grabbed him and pulled him off.“Listen, Christian, I agree. It’s important we come back and end this, but you need medical attention. And a good visit with Hannah.”And a shower, I thought to myself. But I was staying out of this one for the moment. I felt a stirring in the ground and a shift in energy somewhere further up the mountain. The argument was about to be moot.“No,