That night, I lay in my sister’s guest room listening to the silence around me, gripping my stuffed Grumpy Bear to my chest, thinking about the conversation I’d had with Cadence. It was weird being in her apartment without her here. The remodel was done, and now the penthouse was one ginormous apartment—which wasn’t my business, though I’d remembered my mother’s face when she’d visited at Christmas and realized what was going on. She’d said, “Well, it’s nice to have a roommate, I suppose….”
That wasn’t what was really on my mind, though, as I stared up at a freshly painted white ceiling. It was the idea that I would have to do my best to eavesdrop on the enemy without being detected. Part of me found it a bit exciting, sort of like being a spy in the middle of a war. Part of me found it revolting, like listening to demons talk about picking apart their prey. I didn’t want to end up a target a
Cadence still wasn’t back by Sunday afternoon, the day that Aaron was due back—the day that I would have to leave. Brandon and I both decided we didn’t want to be anywhere near him when he returned since we didn’t have any answers for him, so as soon as Aurora was done kicking our booties, we hit the showers and loaded up the car to head back to Iowa. I hoped I got there before Aaron arrived at headquarters. It was hard for me to imagine him angry, but I was sure it wouldn’t be pleasant to be on the other end of that conversation.“He’s scary when he’s mad,” Brandon said as we headed down the highway. “Because he’s still relatively calm. So the whole time he’s ‘yelling’ at you,” he did air quotes with one hand, not letting go of the wheel, thankfully, “you’re just waiting for him to lose it. It could happen at any moment.”“And does it?”&ldquo
Mom and Dad both greeted us at the door. “We thought you were never coming in,” she joked, hugging me and then Brandon. My dad hugged me and shook Brandon’s hand.“Sorry,” I said. “Aaron was asking us about something, and it’s always easier for me to do one thing at a time.”“Everything okay?” she asked.“I think so,” I shrugged, moving into the foyer. “It wasn’t something we could really help him with. But he did say that Brandon can stay here tonight and skip his training tomorrow since he did it today, if that’s all right with you.”“Of course he can stay,” my mom said, patting him on the arm. “That’s what guest rooms are for.”“Thanks,” Brandon said, flashing her that smile that so reminds me of his father. “Sure beats turning around and driving right back.”“Did you have a good time?
Pre-AP History is definitely my easiest class—unlike pre-AP Algebra, which makes me want to make a hole in my other eye with my pencil. So, while Mr. Nelson was talking about three obvious reasons that led to the American Civil War, I decided to try a little experiment. Since I was sitting in class, it was a little risky. There was a chance something might happen, but I was willing to take my chances.“Who can tell me what the term ‘states’ rights’ means?” he asked, pacing in front of us like he always does. Seeing that he wasn’t calling on me, I stared at a spot on the floor near his patrolling feet, and tried concentrating as hard as I could, reaching out with my mind in an attempt to contact any Vampires that might be nearby.What nearby even meant, I had no idea, since I didn’t know if my range was a block or a thousand miles. As Mr. Nelson began to discuss the motivation of the Southern states, the sound of static fi
Council Bluffs is not exactly a metropolis, but they do have one thing we don’t—a mall. When I asked my mom to take me shoe shopping after school on Tuesday, she almost died, she was so excited. It was the first time I’d done anything “normal” since my Transformation, at least in her opinion, so I did my best not to be the depressed angsty teen I’d recently turned into and even forced a smile on my face as I tagged along beside my overly chipper mom as we hunted for the perfect pair of Converse.Mom said I could pick out whatever I wanted, which made me think perhaps becoming a Hybrid was worth it, but then I realized I didn’t even really care about getting a new pair of sneakers, not that I couldn’t find a pair I liked. Why bother, though? I don’t think Vampire Hunters wear tennis shoes, do they? Seems like my sister usually had on heavy black boots in the videos I watched, and I know that’s what she was wearing whe
Something very strange was going on with my sister. I know I’ve been saying that for over a year now, but there was something else weird going on with Cadence on the day of the blue moon. And even though I didn’t buy Brandon’s theory at all, I thought it was something major.After school on Wednesday, I contacted her to let her know what I’d discovered. She was very complimentary of my sleuthing techniques and seemed to welcome the information, but she was definitely distracted. I tried to ask her about the blue moon, but she sort of played it off, only telling me that she did think the Vampires’ odd discussions might have something to do with that, and now we could have a baseline of their topics of discussion to check against after the blue moon.I spent Wednesday evening in my room, listening to the world. I know it sounds silly, but that’s what I was doing. I wasn’t necessarily trying to tune into the Vampire chatter so muc
The familiar sound of my dad’s engine in the driveway brought me back to the room. My mom got up to meet him at the door, but I didn’t move. I tried my sister on the IAC, wondering if she would tell me when she might get there, but she was completely off. I tried Aaron, too. No dice.“Hi, honey,” my dad said, coming into the living room. “Try not to be too upset until we know what’s going on.”I smiled but otherwise didn’t respond. I wondered if this had something to do with whatever Cadence had been up to.I didn’t have to wait too long to find out. We heard another engine outside not long after, and my parents stood up to greet Cadence and Aaron at the door. I assumed there was no one else with them but didn’t know for sure since I had no idea what was going on.Mom opened the door and hugged my sister, asking, “What in the world could possibly be the matter to bring us all together on a
I sat stoic, staring at a spot on the carpet a few feet in front of me. I felt Brandon shift so that his arm was around me, but I didn’t look up. I didn’t know what to think or feel. The number four popped into my head. Four people dead now. Four people gone. I supposed that number would just keep growing.“Well, that is… shocking,” Mom muttered, as she handed the letter to Dad, who had tears in his eyes. I could see them twinkling when I finally pulled my eyes off the carpet long enough to look at him. I dropped my eyes again. My dad didn’t cry often, but I couldn’t blame him for shedding some tears over his own mother.“I know it’s all very surreal. I am having a little trouble accepting it myself.” Cadence said, sniffling. I glanced over at her, wondering what it had been like to walk into Grandma’s house. I still didn’t know where Cadence had been before that, when she’d met up with Aaro
Before I could spout off the argument I had poised on the edge of my lips, Cadence’s arm shot out in front of me, like she was trying to protect me when she hit the brakes too fast. “However, I disagreed.”“What’s that?” I asked, slowly turning to look at my sister. I couldn’t help but notice she had used past tense. What was she implying?Cadence turned and looked me in the eyes as she continued. “I disagreed. I found out about the portal because Elliott left me a letter at Grandma’s. When I read the letter, Grandma told me about the portal. I didn’t think that the risk was too great to take the chance.” At that moment, Aaron removed his arm from around my sister and folded his arms across his chest. I suddenly realized what all of the secrets were about. Cadence had gone behind Aaron’s back to test the portal! That’s where she’d been, and that’s why he was so upset that she was