Considering she’s at least a foot shorter than me, I believe her. She helps me sit up, although she does most of the pulling to get me there.
We pause to catch our breath. A green towel is wrapped around my arm with blood soaking through it. I glance away before I faint again, but I can’t stop my thoughts.
My blood. My life is flowing out of me. The emergency Aunt Kate and I have prepared for and avoided at all costs is here.
Does it look any different than other people’s blood?
I glance back at the towel, but the rusty red looks the same as Mom’s, as Brandon’s, as Kyle’s… The list continues in my head, although I don’t want to recall the names.
Once it runs out, my life will stop. Basic biology tells us blood is life. Without it, the body cannot function.
With blood, there is a chance of life. Without blood, there is only death.
And my blood is much more precious. That’s what Aunt Kate said until I corrected her by saying I knew that precious meant different and unavailable.
“It will be okay,” Aunt Kate repeats, trying to pull me out of my thoughts. “We’re prepared for this. Come on. Let’s get you to your feet.”
I obey even though I’m dazed. We stand up, and the world whirls around me so much I think I’m going to pass out. Aunt Kate wiggles around so my good arm is over her shoulders.
“Take a step,” she says.
I take one small step. The pain in my arm rushes over me. I can feel it throbbing an angry beat. And, with every thud, more blood is gushing out.
How much have I lost?
I know through studying about blood that there’s about two gallons of it in my body. As we stumble around the corner of the garage, I try not to think about how much is gone.
“Drat!” Aunt Kate exclaims. “Ryan’s still working on my car. We’ll have to take the truck. Stay here!”
Aunt Kate leans me against the side of the garage and pulls the truck out so I can get in it. She manages to heft me in and pulls the seatbelt across me. She slams into my stomach as she reaches to fasten the buckle.
“Really?” I say after I get my breath back. “Is a seatbelt necessary?”
She gives me an angry look. “We’re going to be driving fast.”
“Can you?” I quip, trying to be funny although I don’t feel like laughing. “I don’t remember you going over twenty in this thing.”
“Watch me.” She runs around and jumps into the seat in a smooth motion like she’s done this often. Her seatbelt clicks, and we’re peeling out of the driveway.
I’m impressed, even with my woozy head and excruciating pain. She clicks on the turn signal, and we’re on the main road. She speeds past first gear, jams it into second, and then transitions into third like a pro.
The trees speeding past me give me a headache. I lean back and close my eyes.
“What happened?” Aunt Kate asks a bit too loudly.
“I tripped.”
How many times did I hear that excuse from Mom before she was killed?
I never saw Aunt Kate believe the excuse when Mom tried it, but I never saw Aunt Kate say anything or do anything other than press her lips tightly with worry lines around her eyes. Maybe she would think I really did trip.
“And landed on the axe?” Aunt Kate speeds up to fourth gear once we reach the pavement.
She doesn’t believe me.
“Yes,” I say. I want to avoid the questions, and I don’t want to talk. All I can think about is how much blood I’m losing. My blood is running down my elbow and dripping off my fingers.
“Odd.” Aunt Kate says just one word, but it’s filled with skepticism.
She must be terrified for me. I open my eyes and see we’re out of the trees and racing up and over the hills that lead to Grangeville.
The hospital is on the other side of town. We have to slow down and cross the one street light. For the first time since we got here, I’m glad this town is so small.
I shift in my seat, thinking about the lie I just told Aunt Kate about how I injured my arm. It wasn’t the greatest lie, but I’m not a good liar at the best of times, and this is a very bad time. My hands and feet are cold, and the dizziness is increasing. I put my head back again.
When I open my eyes, the Chinese restaurant flashes by as we turn on the side street right before the hospital. The sign for the ER flashes past me, and I take off my seatbelt. Aunt Kate stops in front of the doors.
“Stay here!” she orders and leaps out. She sprints toward the ER to get some help, but the nurses are already coming out with a stretcher.
She points at me, and they spring into action. I try to remain awake, but the dizziness is increasing. I relax and feel the pull to drift away. Their hands guide me out of the truck and lay me down on the stretcher.
“He has blood banked here.” Aunt Kate is almost yelling. “Don’t give him just anything. He needs his own blood!”
I see a bright light even with my eyes closed.
Is this Heaven?
I search for Mom. Surely she would be waiting for me, but I don’t see anything as I lose consciousness.
No blood.
No life.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rock Star
I hear the voices before I open my eyes. I decide to lay still and listen, sorting out what happened. Instead of pain, I feel nothing.
I am lying on an unfamiliar bed. My right arm feels stiff. I try to open my eyes, but it seems like too much work. Besides, I don’t want to face anything yet. The voices are louder now like I’m coming out of a tunnel. I keep my eyes closed.
“He said he tripped and fell on the axe.” Aunt Kate’s words are filled with anger. “I’ve heard that stupid excuse of tripping many times. He learned it from his mom.”
“Maybe he did trip on the axe.”
What’s Ryan doing here? He was still at the crime scene near Florence. How long have I been out?
Aunt Kate snorts. “Yeah, right.”
“I left the axe close to the deck. He was probably running to get the wood. Maybe he fell down the stairs and landed on it,” Ryan replies quietly.
“I’ve heard maybe too much, and I’ve had enough,” Aunt Kate says louder. “I watched that word parade past me for years. I’d see a bruise and think that maybe she did fall down the stairs or maybe she did trip in the yard. The list goes on. And then I lost her. I could’ve said something, but I didn’t. I’m not doing the same with Nic. I’m not losing him, too. I won’t take another maybe or another fake accident.”
“But what else could it be? There’s no one here to hurt him, and you know it,” Ryan protests. “That’s one of the main reasons we moved here.”
“Could you call our attorney and ask if his dad escaped or has been let out early?” Aunt Kate asks.
“I will, but I’m sure they would have let us know if that happened,” Ryan soothes. “I don’t really think they will let him out early. He still has a lot of years to serve with no possibility of parole.”
“Maybe it was another kitchen knife incident,” she continues. “Could it have happened again?”
“He was sleepwalking then,” Ryan says. “This was just an accident, sweetie. Come on. Let’s get some coffee.”
Aunt Kate must have agreed because the room falls silent. I don’t try to fight it as sleep descends on me again like a blanket being spread over a bed.
I don’t know how long I sleep, but I groan, and my eyes open. I’m lying on a hospital bed. An old box TV hanging off the ceiling. A bit of sunlight filters through the thin curtains.
Ryan is stretched out on a small couch by the window across the room. He has a blanket, although most of it is on the floor. His snores fill the room. He’s still dressed in the clothes he wore at the campsite, but his hiking boots are on the floor.
Aunt Kate is in a recliner close to my bed. She’s covered up with several blankets and has a pillow. She faces me, but she’s not awake. Her hair has been pulled back int
o a braid, but pieces of it have fallen loose. Beside her, a tray sits on an end table with two empty coffee cups next to some empty, crumpled up wrappers of food.
I glance down at my right arm. Bandages cover my arm from the elbow to my shoulder. IVs pierce my hand, and a trail of red leads from a bag on a pole to my hand.
Blood.
I stare at it, horrified and fascinated at the same time. I still hate it, especially mine.
Aunt Kate shifts. “You’re awake!” she exclaims and leaps out of the chair, tripping over the blankets.
Ryan stirs and props up on an elbow. “Hey, man! How are you feeling?”
Aunt Kate starts fussing over me, feeling my forehead, tucking blankets around me.
“What happened, Nic? I want the truth.” She re-tucks the blankets, clearly not happy how they are stretched across the bed.
“Easy, Kate,” Ryan protests. “Give the guy a chance to get his bearings. How are you feeling?”
“All right, I guess,” I answer. “Like I’m floating some.”
“It’s the drugs,” Aunt Kate explains. “And I’m serious. That excuse was used by...”
A knock on the door interrupts her. An older man in a doctor’s coat enters the room with a smile.
“Good morning!” he says. His booming voice isn’t at all what I expected. “Nic, we haven’t officially met yet. I’m Doctor Roberts. How are you today?”
“I’m okay.” I’m getting tired of all the attention and questions.
“I must admit I’ve never met anyone with the Hh blood type,” Doctor Roberts says. He pulls up a stool and sits down. “It’s pretty cool, like meeting a rock star.”
I raise an eyebrow.
My blood is cool? No one says that. Everyone who hears about my blood type is only sorry for me.
Doctor Roberts shrugs. “Hey, I’m a doctor. We get excited about dumb stuff. You are literally one in a million. I’m tempted to get your autograph!” His smile is genuine.
Aunt Kate sits back in her chair. “Nic was just about to tell us what really happened.”
She looks exhausted but determined. I bet she didn’t sleep much last night. She deserves the truth. I don’t want to hide it from her, but it terrifies me to think about it.
If she knows, she will panic. She won’t sleep. She’ll fret every single minute.
She worried every day I went back to school after that horrible day. I know when I was gone, she jumped a foot every time the phone rang, waiting to hear more bad news.
I won’t let that happen to you again, Aunt Kate.
I make my decision. I’ll deal with whatever is happening without her knowing.
If I don’t tell you, I can protect you. And that’s all I want to do.
“I already told you.” I can’t keep the frustration out of my voice. “I tripped and fell on the dumb axe. What else do you think happened?”
Doctor Roberts starts changing the bandage. I feel woozy again, so I look away. Before Aunt Kate can say anything, Doctor Roberts keeps talking like we never interrupted him.
“Did you know your blood type was first discovered in India? Then it was found in Europe and beyond. Only a few hundred people in the whole world have Hh blood, and that’s why you’re a rock star.”
I know all this. Doctors explained all of this to me with charts and diagrams of blood. My blood doesn’t express H antigen, at least that’s what the doctors told me. I can donate blood to others, but I can’t receive blood from any of the other types–A, B, or O.
When Aunt Kate and I found this out, we banked blood and contacted all the hospitals around us to have some on hand if I needed it. Until now, I haven’t.
Doctor Roberts may think it’s cool. I think it’s a huge headache.
It forces me to always think about blood. I try to be careful about not cutting myself or doing things that might cause any harm. It always comes back to blood. No matter what I do, I am always forced to face it.
Can’t I be normal in one aspect?
I’ve seen far too much of blood, and I hate every time I’ve seen it.
Aunt Kate interrupts Doctor Roberts. “I don’t need all those textbooks you are always reading to know when you’re not telling me the truth, Nic. I don’t need to know that liars fidget or avoid eye contact. I know you, and you’re not telling me everything.”
Ryan stands up. “Okay, I think we need some coffee and breakfast. Is that all right, Doc?”
Doctor Roberts nods. “Go for it. I’ll be just a second, and then the nurses will be in to get him up and going.”
Ryan firmly takes Aunt Kate by the elbow and steers her out of the room. She looks like she wants to punch him, but she caves and goes with him.
I’m suddenly terrified Doctor Roberts is going to push to find answers like Aunt Kate. I start on the only subject I can think about right now. Blood.
“Did I need that?” I wave my good hand at the IV and the blood that’s trickling into me.
“Probably not,” Doctor Roberts admits. “But after you passed out, we decided it wasn’t a bad idea to give you some. I want you to come back after a while, and we’ll bank some more for you.”
I nod. Maybe that will make Aunt Kate happier. She likes to know there’s plenty available.
Doctor Roberts finishes up. “Your aunt loves you a lot.”
I nod.
I know. I love her a lot, too. That’s why I’ll never ever tell her what happened with the axe.
“You’re going home.” Doctor Roberts shakes my hand again. “Great to meet you!”
Then he’s gone. Nurses descend on me in the process of getting me up and ready to go. They pull IVs out of my arm as they bustle around with their tasks. Ryan and Aunt Kate come back. She’s mad at me, but she doesn’t say anything. Nothing at all. That hurts more than anything, more than my arm.
I want to tell her I’m doing this for her. I’m protecting her and keeping her safe. It’s not because I’m trying to lie to her or distance her out of my life.
She is right. I am hiding something. But it’s not something she can do anything about. She can’t hide from it, fight it, or wish it away.
But I can’t say any of those things. We get into Ryan’s truck and make our way back to the house. We should be excited that we’re out of the hospital, but we’re not.
Ryan studies the road with his brow wrinkled as he drives. Is it about me or the murders? Aunt Kate stares out the window, watching the small town slip by as we drive away from the town and up into the mountains.
I will do anything to protect both of them and keep them safe.
But will you ever forgive me for what I have to do?
Chapter Twenty-Four
Messages
The next few days go by while Aunt Kate and I settle into an uneasy stalemate. She waits two days until she asks again what happened with the axe.
I lie.
Then I change the subject with a list of common annoyances, some that are true. I miss Chicago and my friends. I miss having my own transportation. I miss my phone. I don’t want to go to school.
My control over my temper slips, and I yell as I recite my list. When I’m done, I stomp to my room, slam the door, and don’t come out until Ryan is home and I’ve cooled off.
She never asks me again what happened with the axe. We retreat into our rooms and stop talking. Ryan pulls us together when he’s home, but the house descends into silence while he’s at work.
Normally I love being alone. I can think and sort out what is going on in my mind. But I find no comfort in this eerie silence.
I spend most of my time in my room. I’ve already worked through all of Ryan’s psychology books and his fantasy collection several times. I have nothing left to read that interests me.
There’s the library in Grangeville down the street from the church, but I’d have to ask Aunt Kate to take me, and that would break the silence. That’s something neither of us will do.
The sheer boredom drives me to start
kung fu again. I was too slow in my fight with Liam. I’m sure that bloodsucker is going to be back, and I’m going to be ready. My muscles ache from the new exercise, but I push harder.
Nothing distracts me from thinking about everything that happened since we went camping. And then there’s the mystery of Catherine.
What does she know about me? Where does she fit into all this? Surely Rob is wrong. She can’t be one of them.
Out of sheer boredom, I begin to straighten my room. I pick up my jacket, and I hear a crackle in the pocket. I pull out the page and picture I found in that cabin.
I flop on my bed, trying to decipher the cursive words that look more like an elfish language than English. I mutter the words out loud as I decode the writing.
“Can evil spirits walk around like men? For truly, I know of one such man that cannot have any human decency in him. Surely he is a demon.”
I shudder.
Who is this talking about?
Whoever it is, I don’t want to meet him. I keep reading quietly.
“They say that the Devil lives at the center of the earth. Perhaps there are pathways up to the surface where he can reach, bringing his demons and evil spirits with him when he comes.”
My hopes crash. No hidden gold for me to find. The mention of demons and the Devil makes me nervous.
I jump at a soft knock on the door. I shove the paper under the blankets on my bed and grab the closest book to me. Aunt Kate hasn’t knocked on my door since we got back from the hospital.
“Come in.”
The door opens, and Ryan stands in the doorway. I sigh in relief that it’s not Aunt Kate.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” he asks with a grin.
“Better, I guess.”
“It will be sore for a while, I imagine.” Ryan pauses and comes in. “Tolkien again, huh?”
“What?” I glance at the book in my hand. “Uh, yep. Nothing like Middle Earth.”
“I know.” Ryan leans on the door frame. “Listen, I got off work early, and I’d like to take Kate out for dinner. I know it’s not fair to you, but I think we need a date. We could bring you something. If you’re not up to being alone, it’s fine. We can order a pizza and eat here.”
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