Nothing like that had ever happened to me before, and I wasn’t sure where the power even came from. Intending to just pound my fist on the table as I had a million times, as my sister had a few minutes ago, I dropped my right hand onto the table as I shouted, “Let me!” Only I didn’t just hit the table. I splintered it. A perfect circle of wood dropped through a jagged hole and landed near my boot.
I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I could see the whole table breaking in half perhaps. But this was different. It was controlled madness. I stared at my own hand like I’d never seen it before as I muttered to myself, “What…?” I couldn’t finish the question because I didn’t even know what to think.
The rest of the occupants of the room were staring at me wide-eyed, and I couldn’t blame them. It always stuns me when they see something that shocks them because of all the crazy things they’ve
There was nothing remotely good about that night, not for me anyway. I lay awake in my bed staring at the ceiling for hours, until the sun was completely up, and I thought I should go ahead and start getting ready for training. But around 7:00, Aurora messaged all of us that she’d postponed training until the afternoon since everyone was still exhausted. And most of the Guardians were still up looking at Xs and pondering anomalies.I tucked my arm under my chin and tried to go to sleep, but I kept thinking about Mina and Bonnie. That poor little girl was over there across campus now, missing her mother. I hoped Mina was somewhere in a better place, but I had no idea how that worked for Vampires, and my weary mind couldn’t make sense of religion for the undead.At 8:00, I hauled myself out of bed. I might’ve dozed off for a few minutes, but I’d basically gotten no sleep. I had some schoolwork to do that I thought I could manage on a cup of coffee
The run didn’t make me feel any better, but by the time I had showered and eaten lunch, I decided it was time to just get this all over with, even though it was a little early. I was about to message Brandon to tell him I was ready to go, but for some reason, I didn’t. I’m not sure what it was, but I decided I needed to talk to someone about this whole situation first, and since my sister wasn’t going to be of any use, and I couldn’t talk to Elliott about his own son, I found myself heading to Jamie’s office hoping he had a few minutes to chat before he put me under.I’d packed a duffel bag with an extra set of clothes. I had no idea what I’d be wearing for this procedure, and for a second, it felt like I was running away again, though as soon as I opened the door to the building where Jamie and Christian’s labs are, I felt silly for letting the thought cross my mind. He was sitting behind his desk with the door open, and
It was Jamie’s turn to sigh. It was as if he knew he wasn’t going to want to answer me, no matter what my “one more thing” was. “What?”“Why don’t you have a girlfriend now? Or a wife or something? I mean—you’re a great guy. And don’t tell me you’re too busy either. If Aaron has time for a woman in his life no one on earth can claim to be too busy.”He studied me for a long moment, and I imagined he was trying to come up with another excuse. Eventually, he exhaled and said, “I don’t know, Cass. I guess I’m just not ready yet. I know that sounds—to use your word from earlier—stupid. But when you love someone the way that I loved Ellie, you don’t just get back on the horse. I’ve dated a few girls, but nothing ever stuck.”I could appreciate that. I nodded. “Well, I hope you meet someone soon. Maybe in the next decade or two.” I
Before I came completely conscious, I had a little trouble remembering where I was or what had happened. For a moment, I thought when I opened my eyes, I should be back in my bedroom in Shenandoah. I was hopeful it was Saturday and I didn’t have to go to school, and that my alarm wasn’t about to go off. But while my eyes were still closed, it all came back to me, and I took an inventory to make sure I was okay. My arm felt normal, like nothing had happened to it at all, which was a relief. I knew I could trust Jamie, but in that sort of situation, you just never know what to expect.Like how I wasn’t expecting to see Brandon standing next to me when I finally did open my eyes. I was confused again, and I blinked several times, staring at him, wondering why he was there.“Hey, there,” he said quietly, a smile on his face. I could tell he was relieved I was awake.I hadn’t forgotten that I was angry with him or why, but I certai
I had just about dozed off when I heard a knock on the apartment door and decided I needed to investigate. Part of me hoped it was Brandon because I missed him and just wanted to get the conversation over with, but when I saw it was Elliott, I was relieved. I let him in and fell into one of his bear hugs before he even said anything.It was all I could do not to cry. Not just about Brandon, but about everything. I knew he would listen to all of it and probably even have some wisdom to impart about most of it, but I still didn’t feel right talking to him about his own son, so I fought back my tears and let him think that the hug was necessary because of the procedure. At least that’s what I told myself. I’m sure he could probably see past that if he wanted to, but he seemed just fine holding me for as long as I needed him to, like any good big brother would, and I think it had to have been at least five minutes with me in his arms and the pair of us just stan
We were almost to the gym, and I was hopeful Dax and I wouldn’t be late after all, even though I’d left my apartment later than usual. I still needed to change into my workout clothes, though. I didn’t think that should take too long.“How long have you been here?” Dax asked, a step behind me now.“Well, it’s a little different for me.” I checked both ways before darting across the street that runs in front of the gym. “Cadence is my sister. So I started coming before I Transformed. But I started my training program in November.” A glance at his face told me he was lost. I don’t think he even knew who Cadence was. But I didn’t have time to explain at the moment.“Cool. Do you like it?”We were right in front of the gym now, but I couldn’t easily answer that question. So I stopped and turned to look at him. “Honestly,” I began, letting my feelings from the
I looked around and saw Dax hanging out in the back of a group of boys, behind Antonio and another guy named Kip. Maybe he thought he could just blend in, but Aurora hadn’t even finished with her greeting when she said, “Oh, yeah, and some of you may have noticed we have a new member.” Her smile was friendly, but when I looked at him, I could tell he was intimidated. He ran his hand across his cheek and then down his chin, like he was searching for something that wasn’t there. “You guys, this is Dax. He’s a Guardian. Please welcome him, help him out, and don’t be a bunch of punks. It’s hard melting into a group that’s already established.”Everyone smiled in his direction, and I’m pretty sure I saw Addy actually lick her lips. Poor Dax. He was the best looking guy here since Brandon… wasn’t. He was going to have even more attention because of that than the fact that he was new.Aurora sent u
I closed my mouth and looked around. A few other people were staring at me wide-eyed, but for the most part, no one had noticed my hissing at Shane somehow, except for the trainer himself. Luckily, Addy and Gabbi were still licking their own wounds over having gotten yelled at by Shane, and they hadn’t seen what I’d done.Shane was mortified, though. He stammered his way through the rest of his little speech and sent us to the locker room. As soon as I could, I turned to Dax and said, “Sorry. I don’t… that’s never happened before.”“No, it’s fine,” he assured me, but he didn’t get any closer. I could tell he thought maybe he could, but he’d only seen one other Vampire before, and I was under the impression that situation was not pleasant. I couldn’t blame him for doubting he could trust me. “Are you all right? You looked upset.”To put it mildly… “I’ll b