by ID Johnson
Lucy stood up and hugged me before I headed toward the door. “Be careful, Cass.”
I hugged her back. “I will.”
I knew things were serious when Emma hugged us, too. Emma is not a fan of hugs. “I really hope your sister doesn’t kill you.”
Chapter 14
On the ride home, my mom was pretty quiet. She said the funeral was as nice as could be expected and that lots of people had gone over to Drew’s parents’ house after the service, which is where Cadence was now. I studied my mom carefully, trying to see if it was possible to see any changes in her demeanor that might indicate what was going on, but she seemed herself, only a little more tired than usual.
I sat pondering Lucy’s advice not to say anything to my parents. It seemed like every time I broached the topic of what was going on with Cadence, they changed the subject anyway, so I decided not to ask any of the questions burning in my head, though I’d resolved to call Grandma Janette when I got a chance. And hopefully I’d have another chance to talk to Cadence.
“Do you have any homework?” my mom asked as we passed through the garage into the house.
“No, I already did it,” I assured her.
“Okay, just don’t forget to lay out your clothes for school tomorrow.”
It was a little odd that my mom was concerned I’d forget that I had school the next day, but I figured she was just trying to keep things as normal as possible. “Where’s dad?” I asked, noticing his truck wasn’t in the drive or the garage.
“He decided to spend the rest of the day at work.” My dad is an engineer, and even though he’s close to retirement, I know that he would prefer to think about work most of the time rather than problems at home. Not that we had a lot of those, but I think if we’d ever had one before, this one took the cake.
“Okay,” I repeated. I kept my backpack on and headed up the stairs.
“Did you eat lunch at Lucy’s?” my mom called after me.
“Yes,” I replied, even though it wasn’t true. I didn’t feel like eating anything. If I got hungry later, I’d find something.
I heard my mom pad off toward the kitchen and supposed she would try to get back to normal herself, though it couldn’t be easy. It had to be unsettling to watch them lower a child younger than your oldest into the ground. I wondered if Drew’s casket had been open or closed. I wondered if Drew had actually been inside of it.
Once I reached my bedroom, I slipped my backpack off onto the ground and took a deep breath. After the conversation I’d had with my friends, it seemed odd to be sitting in my room all alone, like maybe this whole thing was just a figment of my imagination, and I was starting to lose it myself. What if Cadence was perfectly fine and I was the one who had a problem?
I decided to move my chair over by the window so I could hear when my sister got home. I knew it seemed like I was becoming just as paranoid as Jack, but I wanted to listen. I peeked through the blinds and noticed nothing unusual. Satisfied that we were not being spied on or infiltrated by vampires, I pulled my cell phone out of my back pocket and flipped through my contacts until I saw my grandma’s name and pressed it.
My grandma’s phone was so old, when I pictured her rushing to answer it, I imagined it was one of those big, black rotary phones you see in old movies. I knew it wasn’t quite that old, but that’s what it reminded me of. It did have push buttons, and it was red, but it was still very old. If my grandma owned a cell phone, I didn’t have the number, and I imagined it was a basic Jitterbug or something like that. She wasn’t one for technology. Sometimes I noticed that she would try to change the channel on the TV with her calculator.
The phone rang about eight times before she picked it up, and I assumed she must’ve been in the kitchen. That’s where she was most of the day. “Hello?” She had to ask who was there because she didn’t have caller ID.
“Hi, Grandma. It’s Cassidy.” I took a few deep breaths, wondering how I was going to ask her any of the questions burning in my head without sounding like I was digging for information.
“Well, hello there, sweetheart,” Grandma Janette said, her voice brightening. “How are you?”
“I’m okay.” I heard the sadness in my own voice and hoped that she could pick up on it, too. Not that I wanted her to know how all of this was affecting me, but because being sad about Drew was better than being curious about Cadence.
“Did you know Drew, too, honey?” My grandmother’s voice sounded just as sympathetic as my mother’s had all week long.
“Yes. She was on the Varsity cheerleading squad, and sometimes my squad practiced with hers. She was such a nice girl, Grandma.” I didn’t think there was any reason to let my grandma know that wasn’t necessarily true. No reason to speak ill of the dead—or the undead.
“I know, sweetie. Your sister said the same thing. Such a terrible tragedy. You didn’t go to the funeral though, did you?”
“No, Mom and Dad thought it would be better if I stayed home.”
“That’s probably for the better, honey. Funerals are not fun.”
“Right.” I was doing my best to try and bring up something connected to the true reason for my call, but so far, I hadn’t seen an opportunity. Until now. It was a stretch, but I was hopeful. “They did bring in a doctor to talk to me, though. I think he’s going to come back in a day or two.”
“Oh, well, that seems like a good idea. Is he a psychiatrist?”
“I’m not sure.” This was true. For all I knew, Dr. Elliott Sanderson was actually a vegetable doctor. “I think you might know him. His name is Elliott Sanderson.”
My grandma’s breath was sharp enough for me to distinguish even through the phone that my comment had caught her off-guard. I assumed she knew that I was talking about Dr. Sanderson when I first mentioned a doctor, but she must not have known that I knew she knows him. “Oh? Why would you think that?” she asked, her voice stretched thin with innocence.
“I don’t know. I just thought you might. He was here at the same time as Aaron. And you know him, right? Dad said you used to work together or something.”
“Aaron?” My grandmother repeated his name like she’d never heard those sounds strung together before. Finally, having likely weighed the option of not agreeing with my dad versus giving me some information, she said, “I know him. Are you ready for school to start tomorrow? It’s been a week or so hasn’t it?”
The fluidity with which my grandmother attempted to change the conversation was impressive. “I think I’m ready to get back to normal,” I replied. “Do you think that’s possible, Grandma?” My question sounded almost as innocent as her attitude when I’d inquired about her connection to the strange people in black. “Do you think we will ever be normal again?”
She could take that however she wanted, but my grandmother needed another moment to prepare an answer. “I hope so,” she said. “You’re far too young to have to be thinking about… all this.”
I wanted to ask what “all this” was but I heard a car out front. Peeking through the blinds, I saw my sister pull into the driveway and decided it was time to stop interrogating my poor grandmother. She’d likely already grown suspicious of me anyway. “I guess I should go,” I said. “Thanks, Grandma. I love you.” I was in a rush now. I wanted to see if I could beat my sister to the entryway.
“I love you, too, Cass,” she said. “Take care.”
Already out of my chair, I hung up as I ran to the stairs, taking them two at a time, careful not to accidentally toss my phone down the steps as I flew. My sister would have to wait for the garage door to open, park her car, get out, shut her door, cross to the door that led to the foyer, open it, and close it behind her. I should have been able to beat her because I was really trying.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs where the door to the garage was located, I heard my sister’s voice. In the kitchen.
That was not humanly possible.
Slipping my phone into the pocket of my jeans, I hea
ded into the other room. My sister was talking to my mom, and as soon as I entered the kitchen, they stopped talking, but I did hear my mom say, “Maybe he’s just having trouble coping with Drew’s death.” I didn’t know who they were talking about, but I assumed it was Jack.
“Hey, Cass,” Cadence said, turning to face me. She was wearing a long black dress, and I noticed she’d somehow also had time to take her coat off and hang it up in the amount of time it took me to run down the stairs.
“Hi,” I said, eying her carefully. She didn’t look the same to me. Her arms were so muscular now, I could see her biceps through the sleeves of her dress. Her calves looked similar to an Olympic athlete’s. There was a sheen about her hair that I’d never noticed before, and her brown eyes seemed a bit more sparkly than what I was used to. I decided it was fine for her to hug me, and she didn’t feel cold like Jack had, but I was still a little leery.
She must’ve noticed. “Are you okay, Cass?”
“I’m fine,” I replied. “I’m just… sad.” I’d learned that explanation worked for just about everything.
“Me, too,” she replied, letting me go. She patted my cheek like she was my mother. “It’ll be okay.”
“That reminds me,” my mother said, stepping over from whatever she was putting in the oven, “Dr. Sanderson will be stopping by tomorrow after school to speak with you.”
“Oh, okay,” I replied, a little surprised. I was glad, though. I’d been wanting to talk to Elliott again to see if I could unravel exactly what he had done to make me forget everything before.
“Hmmm,” Cadence muttered, her forehead puckering. “Why is Elliott coming to talk to Cassidy?” she asked, staring at my mother’s retreating back.
“Oh, Aaron brought him over the other day,” Mom replied, without turning around. “It seemed to help answer some of Cassidy’s questions.”
“I asked to see him again,” I said, waiting to see if Cadence would give me anything with her reaction.
She didn’t. “Oh.” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Well, I’m really tired. I think I’m going to go take a nap.”
I considered pointing out that sleeping would be a lot easier if she stopped letting Aaron into her room late at night, but I held my tongue. Cadence patted me on the arm and headed out of the room. I wondered if it was difficult for her to keep her footsteps so natural looking or if she wanted to take off at breakneck speed.
My mom was baking cookies, and I suddenly realized I was starving. “How long until those are done?” I asked, breathing in the aroma of sugar and chocolate.
“A few minutes. You hungry?”
I nodded, and my mom smiled at me. “Have a seat, and when they’re done, you’ll be the first to know.”
Pulling out a chair at the table in the corner of the kitchen, I sat down. I realized I was sitting on my phone so I grabbed it out of my back pocket and thought about updating my girls, but I didn’t want Mom to ask what we were talking about, so I decided to wait until later. “Mom,” I said, thinking of a question that might seem pretty normal, “where will Cadence be working at? I mean, I know you said she might be traveling, or whatever, but does she have a headquarters or something?”
“She does,” my mom nodded. She was still standing by the oven. “It’s in Kansas City.”
My eyes grew wide. “So, she’ll be moving?”
“I’m afraid so,” my mom replied as she exhaled. “And it might be soon. I think Aaron is anxious to get her started.”
“I bet he is.” The words were out of my mouth before I stopped to think about them. My mom raised both eyebrows. “I mean… he seems like the sort of person who has a plan.”
“Cassidy, you don’t need to worry about your sister’s job.” Suddenly, my mom’s voice sounded foreign to me. It was almost monotone, like she was trying to brainwash me, too. “Don’t worry about Cadence’s job. Everything is just fine.”
I nodded, and for a moment, I was completely content to believe the lie my mom had just fed me about everything being just fine. I was brought back to the few moments I’d spent in the living room the other day with Elliott and how he’d convinced me everything was all right. My mom was trying to trigger that for me, like I’d done with Jack. I plastered a smile on my face, and my mom let out a deep breath. Why would my mother want to have her daughter brainwashed by some psychiatrist from Oklahoma?
The oven timer beeped, and my mom got up, patting me on the head like I was a good dog as she went. “These will need to cool,” she said as she began to pull the cookie sheet out of the oven.
They still smelled delicious, but suddenly I wasn’t as hungry as I had been before. It wasn’t easy to stomach the idea that your own mother wanted you to forget and not ask any questions about what was going on with the rest of your family….
Chapter 15
I went to my room early that night under the pretense that I was tired and wanted to get a good night’s sleep before returning to school the next day, but I lay awake staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. My sister and I had carried on a meaningless conversation earlier in the day, and I went back over every detail, trying to figure out if there was anything at all that could be a clue as to what might be going on with her. There was nothing. I even attempted to take her pulse at one point, pretending just to want to hold on to her arm, but her heartbeat seemed normal. If she was on some sort of illicit drugs, wouldn’t her heart be racing?
Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was almost 11:00 and groaned. The alarm would be going off way too soon. I closed my eyes and tried to think of nothing, but that was difficult when visions of vampires filled my brain, and I had so many conversations replaying.
A few minutes later, I heard my sister’s window open and close very quickly again. Cadence said something I didn’t understand, and Aaron replied. Whatever he said must’ve been hilarious because Cadence was giggling. Her bed squeaked, and then I heard footsteps over by the window. I assumed they were sitting in her chairs again and wondered how long this conversation might take and if I would hear a single word that made any sense to me.
The answers were “a long time,” and essentially, “no.” There wasn’t much to be heard through the wall this time. It was as if they both thought I might be listening in so they kept their voices down. I made out an odd word here and there, nothing too important, though I did catch Eliza’s name more than once, and I thought I heard Cadence say something about shopping. Eliza seemed like the kinda girl who’d like to do a little shopping, I thought.
It was well past midnight when Aaron finally left. I didn’t really hear the window open or close this time, but I did hear him hit the ground outside. I would’ve liked to run over to the window to see if he dashed away the same as he had the first time, but the distant sound of an engine confirmed he’d done the same thing as he had before. No one could cover that much ground that quickly, regardless of what kind of drugs they might be taking. That left little doubt in my mind that the sickening scenario Lucy and I had come up with had to be about the only answer.
I heard my sister let out a loud sigh and thought she was definitely smitten with that guy. It seemed to me like the feeling must be mutual, though I couldn’t be sure. I still thought there was a chance he was batting for the other team, and Cadence was just trying to make a conversion.
None of that really mattered, however, if he was a vampire. Especially if my sister was one, too. I needed to talk to Lucy to see if she’d come up with anything. Maybe there was a chance vampires weren’t really what I thought they were and there was some coven of helpful vampires. My mind returned to Twilight. Maybe I needed to watch that movie again. I’d read the books, too, but I didn’t have time to go back through all of that again, not when my sister could be leaving any day.
There was also the matter that I’d have to talk to Dr. Sanderson again the next day. I knew he’d do his best to make sure I was thinking what everyone else wanted me to be. I hoped I’d
be powerful enough to fight him off and maybe get some answers myself. Was there a possibility I could be honest with him? He was a professional after all, wasn’t he?
I rolled over again. At least with all of this craziness going on, I didn’t have time to worry about what everyone at school the next day might think of me and my sister. Hopefully, the rest of the student body would be so distraught about Drew, no one would think to ask me about Cadence.
First period. I didn’t even make it through first period before I was asked a ton of questions about my sister. Our teacher, Mrs. Neally, allowed us a few minutes at the end of the period to “chat quietly” while she graded a pop quiz she’d given us first thing on the day back from a long break, which was just awesome by itself, and as soon as they had the opportunity, everyone in the two rows on either side of me turned, staring.
“So… how’s your sister?” Bridgette Turner, a girl on my cheerleading squad, asked, her green eyes narrow like she was digging for dirt.
“She’s sad,” I replied with a shrug.
“I heard they made her drop out of college because she’s on the brink of a nervous breakdown.” Dustin Pollard is such a goon. I turned and glared at him.
“You heard wrong. She decided to take a little break, that’s all. She’ll go back.”
“I heard Jack Cook is a basket case,” Lloyd Tulley proclaimed loud enough to get a shush from Mrs. Neally who was puzzling over our quizzes. In a somewhat quieter voice, he added, “At least he was able to go back to school today, though.”
I opened my mouth to say something in Jack’s defense, but before I could get a single word out, a familiar voice from right behind me said, “Hey, why don’t you guys just leave Cassidy alone, huh? This can’t be easy on her either.”
I turned to smile at Liam, hoping my cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. He nodded at me, his blue eyes twinkling, and as his head shifted, his long, blond bangs fluttered in the breeze. I took a deep breath. Perfection in a pair of blue jeans. “Thanks, Liam.”