Chapter 87

Sitting through church had been more than a little excruciating. My parents had been a little late to the service, so we sat in the back—right behind Jack’s parents. It was an hour of torture, watching his mother wipe at her eyes and his father hold back sobs as the pastor talked to us about not questioning God’s plan. How could they do anything but that when they’d lost their son to what they believed to be some sort of horrible disease? As far as I knew, that’s what had claimed Jack, but I had my suspicions it was something even worse, though I did my best to push those thoughts aside.

It was all I could do to fall asleep the night before. I was up thinking about Jack, what it must be like to realize one day that you’re not who you used to be. Had he been bitten by a vampire? Did it hurt? Did they drain him and leave him for dead? Had my sister and her friends swooped in in an attempt to save him but been too late? My mind was running wil