B008317UG0 EBOK

by Amy McClung

  Standing there staring at the waterfall I began thinking about the first time Quinn brought me here and how we made love thinking it may be the last time we ever saw each other because we weren’t sure how the full moon would go, whether I would attack him in my wolf form or not. Thinking about how he told me about the blood moon and he promised we would come back here for another day like that one. Thank goodness things went well that full moon cycle and we were given more chances to be together, except now we were in danger of having that taken away again and this time we couldn’t prepare for it. My phone appeared in front of me, it was in Mitchell’s hand and he was giving it back to me. The call had ended and my chest tightened scared of what he was going to tell me.

  I just stared at the phone at first and finally reached out and took it from him. “What did she say? Where is Quinn and how do I get him back?” Mitchell looked distraught, “She wouldn’t tell me where he is, she just kept talking about how she had so many plans for him and that we should stay tuned and wait for what was to come next. She also said her name is Elizabeth…” I gasped, “what? As in Lizzy, his best friend…didn’t he tell you about her?” Mitchell shook his head, “not a whole lot about her, I knew his best friend is the one who changed him but didn’t know what her name was, do you think she would really hurt him? I mean it sounds like they cared about each other so maybe…” I cut him off, “she blames him for her being changed into a vampire and she told him once that she wanted him to suffer the way she does. She could kill him Mitchell, she may have already done it to punish him for calling me.” Mitchell grabbed my shoulders and made eye contact with me, “he is not dead, she let me speak to him for a minute…he is ok and he wanted you to know he loves you so much.” I threw my arms around him in elation of that news.

  Chapter Seventeen

  We trekked back to the car and headed home, I dropped Mitchell off first and then headed home hoping my parents weren’t still up. Walking in the house, I quietly put my keys on the hook and hung my jacket on the chair. I turn around to head upstairs and my mother is standing there with her hands on her hips and a stern expression. “Where have you been?” she demanded. “I was at Jackie’s, remember, I told you that before I left,” I replied. Her tone grew sterner as she said, “that is a blatant lie, Jackie called here looking for you and said she was worried that you left school earlier.” I huffed and said, “She did that on purpose to get me in trouble! Ugh! I can’t stand her anymore! See mom, she is jealous because she cheated on Mitchell with Will and Mitchell turned to me for friendship and now we are growing close and it is getting to her…so yes I lied, I was with Mitchell tonight, he just needed a friend so we went and had dinner and just talked. I am sorry I lied to you, it won’t happen again.” My mom had removed her hands from her hips and that was a good sign. “Sweetie, I’m sorry about you and Jackie, I didn’t realize things were so bad between you two…you should have said something. She seemed so worried the day she came by to tell us about…” and her words trailed off.

  I waited a minute to see if she would finish and then I asked, “Tell you about…what?” She waved her hands in dismissal and started to fidget with things around the kitchen. “Mom, what are you talking about!?” I asked again with urgency. She smiled and walked toward me and put her hand on my shoulder, “sweetie, I don’t want to bring up bad memories for you, so I promised Jackie I would pretend like he never existed in order to protect you.” She was brushing my hair out of my face and looking at me with much empathy. “Mom…are you telling me that Jackie told you to pretend as though…Quinn never existed?” I asked as I was putting the pieces together in my head. She nodded, “she was only looking out for you honey, I couldn’t believe what Qu…well what HE did to you, I had such high hopes for that boy, he seemed so sweet, a true gentleman…so I thought.” I snapped off without thinking and said, “He is a true gentleman.” I stopped myself from going any further and causing too much confusion for my mother. Stepping back from her I sat down in one of the chairs behind me, “Mom…what did she say he did?” She looked nervous like she didn’t want to bring it up, as though I would break. “She said his best friend from back home came to town and that he dumped you for her and broke your heart…is that not true?” Was Jackie brainwashed or was she working with Elizabeth to keep Quinn and I apart, none of this makes sense to me. I stood up and walked to the window and stared out at the woods. My mom walked up behind me and put her arms around me and told me she loved me. Closing my eyes I told my mom another lie, “Yes, Jackie told the truth, it’s not his fault though,” as tears ran down my face. She patted my hair and said, “Don’t make excuses for him sweetie, he isn’t worth it, not after what he did to you.” Betrayed by my best friend, losing the man I love possibly forever, and having to lie to the only family I have…things could not get any worse.

  When I got to my room I called Mitchell and filled him in on what I learned, he was almost as shocked as I had been. He has lost so much faith in Jackie already that it was hard to be completely shocked at anything she does anymore. “Mitch…why don’t you come over, my parents are in bed and you can climb the trellis up to my window, come hang out, neither of us want to be alone right now.” He was there within a minute, vampire speed is so cool. He tapped on the window so I opened it and let him in. “Hey there Fangs, I’m thinking maybe I should have called you speedy,” I said to him as I greeted him with a hug. He just smiled and let his fangs come out, “Ooh, scary” I said as I faked a shiver, he playfully punched my arm and we both laugh quietly. One of the advantages, of being who we are, is that we both have an increased sense of hearing so that we can still chat but not wake my parents. Plus, at the moment, my dad was dead to the world with the sleeping pills he is taking. All the traveling he does has played hell on his sleeping patterns so when he is home now he has to take pills to sleep. This has been helpful to me because he doesn’t wake up at every little sound anymore.

  There had been something on my mind for a while and now seemed as good a time as any to find out the truth. “I’ve been curious, but I didn’t know how to ask Quinn. Will you tell me what happened when he changed you?” He was hesitant, “Well, I wasn’t expecting that, I don’t know Park, I am not sure that is something you want to hear right now…or ever really. Besides, I am not sure Quinn wants me to tell you that, maybe he should be the one to do it.” That seemed a bit ominous, but I pressed on, “Well he isn’t here and I may never see him again…” my voice cracked and he started to put his hand on mine and I jerked back and straightened myself, “Please, I can take it. It’s not like it will change how I feel about him.” He was uncertain what to do, that was written all over his face. He tried to blow it off with a simple explanation, “I was walking home, and then something attacked me, then he fed me his blood and took me in, simple as that.” Exasperated I said, “Seriously, I can handle the truth Jack.” He snickered, “You have such a way with movie trivia.”

  His chest rose as he went through the motions of taking a deep breath, even though vampires don’t need to breathe, then he began the story, “I was walking home from Jackie’s and I saw a flash of movement to my left and something practically flew out of the woods and hit me knocking me to the ground. There was a sharp stab at my neck and I started to scream out but a hand went over my mouth to block any sound. I tried to struggle but he was so strong that I could barely move at all under his weight. I could feel the blood leaving my body, could feel my pulse slowing. The hunger was engulfing him, it was like a person who hadn’t eaten in weeks suddenly presented with a buffet. He kept holding me down and biting harder the more I struggled.” He stopped, “Are you ok? You are pale as a ghost.” Nodding my head I struggled to say, “Yes, please continue, I’m ok.” “Yeah you look like you are really enthralled with this story. Look, you get my point, it wasn’t Quinn, so you shouldn’t...” I cut in before he could finish, “Mitchell…please, I want to hear the rest.”

  He continued, “Well, just when I thought I w
as dead, he jerked away from me and I saw him bite his wrist and he let the blood drip into my mouth. He held his wrist against my lips and I started to fight drinking it but the taste was…well needless to say, I drank and pulled his wrist harder against my mouth taking as much in as I could. He had to knock me out to get me to stop drinking.” I gulped this was more visual that I really needed. “So, then once I came to, he had me tied to the bed at his cabin. I was ravenous and he had to calm me so that he could explain what I was and how to control it.” He paused for a moment, looked me over to see how I was handling it, which I guess he thought was ok so he continued. “My parents were leaving town that night so Jackie thought I was out of town on summer vacation with them thanks to the text Quinn sent. But I spent a couple of weeks with Quinn trying to make sure I could control my hunger. He wouldn’t let me leave till he tested me a couple of times.” I gasped and said, “He tested you? By using real people as bait?” He was startled when I gasped but seemed a bit relieved at the reason for it, “No, no, of course not. He had human blood that he stole from the hospital and he tempted me with it and once I didn’t even flinch when he placed it under my nose, he knew I was ready. He was really great Parker. I know when he attacked me it was like he was a monster…but it wasn’t who he is…” He was giving me a once over to see how I was going to take all this news in. I wasn’t even sure how to handle it. It was weird to hear a firsthand perspective from someone who saw the monster hidden inside Quinn. Deep down I knew that isn’t who he is, just like the wolf isn’t who I am. The only problem is that neither of us can run from the monster inside.

  He put his hand on my shoulder, “You know that was a momentarily lapse of control, that he isn’t that thing…right? Because if you are scared of him, then you may as well be scared of me. He is truly like a brother to me now, I would trust him with my life.” Nodding I found my voice, “Yes of course, it’s just a side of him I am unfamiliar with. He has told me about feeding on humans before but it was brief and it is different hearing it from perspective of the…victim, for lack of a better word.” The last thing I wanted to do was think about things I couldn’t control right now, and I felt we could both use a distraction. My DVD collection is pretty extensive; I’ve always been a girl that enjoyed buying movies instead of clothes. My closet is filled with shelves of movies and seasons of television shows and I keep my clothes in a dresser. Mitchell asked where I was going when I stood up abruptly and I raised one finger to him to signify give me a minute, stepped in my closet and grabbed a comedy. He stood up and glanced in the closet and said, “Wow, I knew you were a movie buff but damn girl, you are a freaking movie store! Is there a movie you don’t own?” Being silly I said, “A few.”

  To take our mind off things we popped the movie in and chilled for a while. I ran downstairs as quietly as I could and got us some drinks and a bag of popcorn. Mitchell reached for the popcorn and I yanked it away from him teasingly, he smirked and then gave me a pouty face. With baby talk I said, “Aww look at the cute little Mishy pout.” As soon as I said the nickname he snapped, “Don’t ever call me that!” My whole body jumped at the anger in his voice. He stood up and walked to the window looking outside. “I’m sorry, that was stupid of me, I don’t even know why I said that,” I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder, he turned and faced me. “I shouldn’t have snapped Parker, I’m the one that should apologize. It’s just…well that name is what Jackie has called me for what seems like forever now.” He was so sad looking, I felt like such a douche.

  “Jackie was really sick one time, she was on pain pills and all loopy and I was taking care of her because, well we had just started dating and I wanted to be the gentleman and protector.” I smiled, that sounded just like him…and Quinn too. He continued, “She was saying crazy things and couldn’t say my name and it kept coming out as Mishy. We laughed about it later and it just sort of stuck.” His fists clenched and he butted it against his head, “Damnit Parker, what happened to her? I can’t deal with this anymore, not knowing why she turned on us. It’s killing me. It’s like something evil took over her. She never even used to lie; she used to be horrible at it, now she is a freaking pro. And it’s even possible she is working with Elizabeth or Lizzy, in order to destroy all of us. I don’t understand.” His face was scrunched up in pain and grief, I just wrapped my arms around his neck and he leaned his head against mine. “I wish I had the answers Mitchell, I really do. I don’t get any of it myself. I thought I knew Jackie better than anyone, I could read her like a book, but now,” my words trailed off and then I changed the subject, “No, we are not going to do this right now…let’s sit down and watch some more of the movie and just enjoy each other’s company tonight.”

  We lay back down on the bed and started the movie up again. I woke up when the credits were rolling and looked over at Mitchell who had fallen asleep too. He opened his eyes and we looked at each other for a moment, he reached over and gently moved a hair behind my ear and he leaned forward and kissed me softly at first and then it turned a bit more passionate. My arms wrapped around his neck and he put his arms around my waist and pulled me taut against him and my fingers grabbed at his hair pulling his face closer, deepening the kiss between us. Then we came to our senses at the same time and pulled apart abruptly. We both covered our mouths in shock and exclaimed at the same time, “I’m sorry!”

  We sat up at the same time on opposite sides of the bed and did our best to not make eye contact. Neither of us spoke for what seemed like an eternity. Deep down I knew what just happened was wrong, but my body was not thinking that right now. “I’m sorry Parker, I shouldn’t have done that, Quinn is my best friend. I just miss Jackie so much…but that doesn’t excuse it,” he rambled on. Turning around I put my hand over his mouth to stop him. “It’s ok Mitchell, I didn’t exactly resist. It’s natural, we both miss the people we love and so much has been bad lately we just needed to feel something good…wait, I didn’t mean it like that…anyway, it didn’t mean anything, it was just two friends comforting each other, and that is it,” I finished.

  “You know, I have really come to care about you these last few months Park, I mean before you were just Jackie’s friend and we barely spoke to each other. But since Quinn came along, we have gotten to be good friends and I really need that friendship, I just don’t want to mess it up,” he said as he looked down at the ground sadly. “Don’t worry about it, nothing is going to change between us,” I assured him. But I wasn’t so sure that was true, that kiss felt amazing and I felt like a jerk for thinking that when the man I love is in danger. I cleared the thought from my head and decided it was time for Mitchell to go home.

  Chapter Eighteen

  My phone woke me up the next morning and groggily I answered it. At first there was no response to my hello so I said, “Mitchell…is that you?” The voice on the other end finally said, “No, Parker, it’s me…” I sat straight up in bed, suddenly I was wide awake, “Quinn! Are you ok?” It was hard to hear because he had to whisper but I made out, “I’m ok…I’m alive at least. Be careful of Mitchell, you can’t trust him, do you hear me? Baby, I love you and miss you so much…I just want you to be careful…do not trust him at all, he’s working with Elizabeth and she…” the phone cut off at that point. I screamed into the phone, “Quinn! Quinn! Answer me!” I looked at my phone and it said call ended, I didn’t even get to say I love you back.

  My breath caught in my throat. Surely he is mistaken about Mitchell. He cannot be working with Elizabeth, that’s impossible. If I can’t trust Mitchell than I have no one left. Why would Quinn lie to me though? I know he wouldn’t. That means that something has caused Quinn to feel that way and it must be pretty convincing. Anytime I have been in trouble before there is no one he would have trusted to protect me more than Mitchell. I started pacing the room thinking about what happened the night before…the kiss. My hand went to my lips as the memory of his lips on mine, our body’s pressed against each other, the feel of…
ok Parker, get a grip. The big picture, the question of the moment, can you trust Mitchell. Things begin to fall into place though, he spoke to her on the phone and she let him talk to Quinn, but she just played games with me. Mitchell might have kissed me to try and break Quinn and me apart. But that is crazy he loves Jackie, doesn’t he? Not to mention, he was locked in a cave and no one led me to him, I came to the idea to go there on my own. There is no way he would have set it up for me to find him there. Then again, someone has been messing with Will and Jackie’s minds, what if they have messed with mine as well. Flopping down on the bed I took the pillow and placed it over my face as I screamed into it. What am I going to do now?