My eyes flew open in a sudden realization of where I was, what I was doing, and whose shoulder I was asleep on. I hoped I hadn’t startled him, but as I checked the corner of my mouth for drool, I realized that Brandon was smiling at me, and my hand automatically went to my hair in an attempt to straighten it as he stared.
“Hey there, sunshine,” he smiled. “How was your nap?”
I leaned away from him, stretching as I did so in hopes that I wouldn’t look as embarrassed as I felt. I briefly remembered having thought of the fact that my head was on his shoulder as I’d slipped into oblivion, but I was more conscious of that fact now for certain. “Fine. I guess. What time is it?” I tried to keep my voice down as it looked like a few other people around us had also opted not to find sleeping cars.
Brandon glanced at his watch before saying, “It’s about 3:30.”
“In the morning?” I as
Brandon didn’t say anything, only nodded slowly, his eyes focused on the back of the seat in front of him.I continued, wondering if it would help him to hear more about his dad or if he wished I’d just stop talking. I figured he’d let me know if he wanted me to stop. “A few weeks before he… before Sierraville, I was having trouble with this guy at school. He was such a ….”Brandon offered a word I wouldn’t have said myself, so even though I giggled, I completed my sentence myself. “I was going to say dirt bag, but okay. We can use your word. Anyway, he kept asking me for help with his homework. He’d pretend like he liked me, you know? Flirt with me and stuff. And we’d hang out in groups, and he’d pay extra attention to me. So, right after I helped him study for this big test, he asked Lucy to the homecoming dance.”“Lucy? Your friend? Wow.”“I know, right?&r
I had made the mistake of drinking some orange juice with breakfast and a Dr. Pepper with lunch. At the time, I felt like it was no big deal, like I could easily make it another few hours, but by the time we were nearing the station, I knew I’d made a huge mistake. Nevertheless, I really didn’t want to use the restroom on the train again. Even if it was stupid to feel that way. I decided to ignore the call of nature and tried to get Brandon to tell me a story to take my mind off of things. He obliged, telling me all about a trip he’d taken to the Tulsa Zoo with his grandparents when he was little.By the time the train pulled into the station, I was in a huge hurry. I pushed past people who were leisurely going about gathering their bags and rushed through the doors. Brandon was right behind me, and he looked around him, inhaling deeply, as if we were outside at the beach instead of in a smelly, cramped train station.I didn’t have much of a cha
Nevertheless, I was so proud of Brandon, of what he had become already. I had no doubt Brandon would dispatch that stalker, and he’d catch up to us soon. As Zabrina began to drag me down another hallway, I tried to dig my heels in, praying my sister would get there soon. If I was going to Resurrect, I didn’t want to do it alone. I knew I could be compliant. I didn’t want to turn into a monster like the woman who had me by the throat.Having never been here before I didn’t know where she was dragging me to, though I saw a sign that said “Cira Center” and another that said “Pedestrian Bridge.” I thought maybe she was taking me to a second location. I’d seen on lots of talk shows that you should never let an assailant take you to a second location, though I had no idea why she was taking me anywhere at all or what I could do about it.My mind wandered back to the note, the one Giovani had left. “Miss me, miss me&
“No!” Brandon shouted. I couldn’t help but let the whimpers I’d been holding back escape my throat. Zabrina had a glimmer in her eye, like she couldn’t wait to get me home to play. “Take me instead!” Brandon begged. I shifted my eyes to look at him, wishing I could speak to try to tell him not to say such things.It didn’t matter. “You?” Giovani laughed. “I don’t want you. I can’t do anything with you. You’re already—invincible.” The Vampire had a point. Zabrina had two of them, and they were very shiny.“But I’m not.”Never in my life have I been so happy to hear my sister’s voice. I couldn’t see her, but I thought she was behind Eliza. The entire congregation became quiet as my sister and Aaron approached. Finally, I could see her, and while I was doing my best to stay calm, I realized I was sobbing. I had created this mess. Now, my sis
Over the sound of my own sobs, I heard Giovani say something about their ride and titanium bullets. A moment later, there was a roaring sound that reminded me a bit of the train and then the sound of shattering glass. Brandon’s hands went up and I instinctively covered my head, too. I looked up in time to see my sister disappearing through the ceiling, attached to a black grappling hook. She was being sucked through a hole in the glass, swallowed up by a helicopter. Something told me that one didn’t belong to Cale. Cadence was gone, and a few seconds later, chaos broke out around us.The Vampires were still standing there, their bargaining chip having just disappeared through the ceiling. It turned out my sister’s friends were sneakier than Giovani had given them credit for. Around me, I heard hidden weapons come flying out, and the Vampires opened fire as LIGHTS began to take aim at their assailants. Brandon scooped me up into a ball and threw himself betwe
I’ve never believed any of those people who had out-of-body experiences, or those who claim they went to Heaven for a visit. It all seemed a little ridiculous to me. Why were they so special the Big Guy would want to have a one-on-one chat with them? But then, until recently, I didn’t think Vampires were real either. Now that I’d had a face-to-face encounter with a couple of them, I wished I could go back to before, back when Vampires were monsters one only read about in books or saw in tragic, Gothic love stories.I can also now testify that coming back to your body once you’ve left it feels a little bit like slamming into a brick wall. Not in the sense of pain but in the breathlessness it causes. The jar is unbelievable, especially when you don’t realize you’ve been gone.Once I collided with my exterior again, it took me a moment to open my eyes. I could hear voices first, feel someone’s hand on my arm. I felt warm, like I w
“Thank you,” I said, handing my sister her phone. I took three calming breaths before I turned to Jamie. “What am I?”He cleared his throat and sat down next to me on the edge of the bed, Brandon scooting his chair out of the way. “I’m not sure. But… I would guess we were able to stop the Resurrection process in time to prevent you from becoming a full-fledged Vampire. I would say… some sort of hybrid.”“A Hunter, Vampire hybrid?” I questioned.“That is my best guess,” the doctor nodded.“Have you ever…?” I couldn’t finish the question.“No,” Jamie said, clearly reading my mind. “I’ve never seen anything like it. So, we won’t know what you’ll be able to do until we give it some time.”“Do you feel any burning in your throat?” Aaron asked, still the calmest of all, though Jamie didn&rsq
“Yeah, he is. But we’ll get him. Right now, don’t worry about any of that. You need to regain your strength, and then we’ll have to figure things out. No one on our team got seriously hurt, thank God. And Brandon told us about the Vampire that had trailed you from KC.”“You know, then, that the poem Giovani left was about me?” I asked.Cadence nodded. “We figured it out just a few minutes too late.”I dropped my eyes. “Cadence, I know I shouldn’t have ever gotten on that train. It was reckless and stupid. Someone could’ve ended up dead because of me.”“Yeah, they could’ve,” she agreed. “And it was almost you.”“It could’ve been you, too,” I reminded her. “I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.”She leaned forward and brushed my hair back from my face. “I told you. Don’t worry abou