I didn’t know which one she was referring to, but it didn’t matter. I was planning to stay clear of them both. I returned her hug and we parted ways, heading in opposite directions.
Chapter 5 - Mudslide
Molly’s words cluttered my head the rest of the day. The fact that kids from two of the most important families in Jefferson were even aware of my existence made my stomach feel like a washing machine. The Andersons and the Holsteins were well connected with the First Families. The Firsts were vampire royalty. They went back to the beginning, when our kind was created. Nobody knew how far back that was. They’d just always been here. And you did not want to get on their bad side.
It was even more upsetting that one of these two kids was a gorgeous boy with sea-green eyes. A boy with compassion, who thought I had a beautiful name. For the briefest of moments, I’d allowed myself to hope something could come of our encounter. But that dream was crushed now.
I walked into Camouflage having no idea what to expect. In my head, I pictured people painted like trees and hiding in shadows. Afraid of what I might see when I opened the door to the room, I was pleasantly surprised. It looked just like any other classroom, not a can of paint or war makeup to be seen. Half giggling to myself about my rampant imagination, I found a seat and sat down.
Just as the bell rang, a petite woman walked into the room and went directly to the chalkboard. She wrote her name with a flourish, before spinning around and eying the class, somehow looking down her nose at us despite her tiny stature.
“My name is Claire Lourde. I am not married, so please do not call me Mrs. or Ma’am. I am your instructor for this class and I’m warning you now, I have high expectations. If you listen and take my instruction to heart, you will do fine. Otherwise, this will be a very unpleasant year for you.”
I blinked. Was I the only one who saw the irony in her statement? Her dramatic flair would stand out in any species, and she was going to teach us how to blend in?
Some of the other kids in the room must have been thinking the same thing because I heard muffled giggling all around me. Grateful that, for once, it didn’t seem to be aimed at me, I allowed myself a tiny smile.
However, Ms. Lourde didn’t see the amusement in it. She picked up a stack of papers from her desk and walked to the nearest student. Slamming them down on the startled girl’s notebook, she looked her directly in the eye while speaking to the room.
“This is the class syllabus. You’ll notice it is packed with assignments and projects you’ll be expected to do. I’m sure once you’ve absorbed what is expected of you in here, you may not find it quite as funny.”
The girl’s face… I think her name was Claudia… turned white. She took one from the stack and passed it back to the next person. I noted the looks of dismay as people started reading the paper and my stomach plummeted. By the time it made it to me, half the class looked as if they’d been punched in the gut. I quickly looked it over and saw exactly what everyone was reacting to. There was homework every night, followed by a group project every two weeks. Not one to be excited about working with others in any capacity, I silently moaned. As Ms. Lourde had predicted, this was going to be one hell of a difficult year with her.
Rather than start her instruction, Ms. Lourde had us copy the syllabus by hand into our own notebooks. I think it was punishment for laughing at her earlier. All I knew was that getting out of this class with a decent grade was going to take some serious work. And probably a miracle. I definitely needed to pick Nate’s brain about how to get on her good side.
By the time my last class of the day rolled around, I was anxious to get the nightmare over with but hopeful I would at least get to end my days on a high note. Moderation was the only class on my schedule I was pretty confident about because, obviously, I didn’t have to worry about learning to control myself when feeding on a human. My revulsion to blood was a reflex… completely uncontrollable.
My first memory was throwing up after drinking from a Feeder. My parents and caretakers at The Nursery thought it was an anomaly and kept giving it to me, thinking it was something I’d outgrow. But I never did. In order to circumvent the never-ending mess of vomit, and also to prevent the illness my body would succumb to without blood, they changed tactics and started giving it to me through an IV. But even that was time-consuming and messy, so eventually, my mom began making the blood capsules.
When I was about eight years old, I began to do my own research about it. I started by devouring everything I could find in books and on the Internet about vampires. Most of it was made-up myths and other fallacies humans thought they knew about us. The majority of it made me laugh. We aren’t weakened by garlic or holy water and we don’t sleep in coffins. And to my personal great relief, we do have reflections in mirrors and eat food besides blood.
But the real information was in the vampire libraries. Each city or town with a large vampire population had a library that held copies of our historical documents. It was also home to our own literary works. Everyone in our community was allowed access, though the sections with our histories were held under lock and key. Authorization from the librarian was required to retrieve those books. After much pleading, I persuaded my dad to help me get permission. Desperation to find somebody with the same affliction fueled me, and for months it was the only thing I did. But my searches kept coming up empty and I eventually gave up. Realizing I may never understand why I was so different, I stuffed down my feelings of inadequacy as much as possible and pretended to be a carefree kid whose only concerns were making it through the homeschooling day and playing with friends.
The class was on the top floor of the main building. I found a seat and dug a book out of my bag to settle in and read for the last few minutes before the bell rang. Somebody brushed past my arm as they took the seat next to me, but I didn’t look up.
“So, I get to start and end my day with you.” I looked up and was immediately lost in the now-familiar sea-green eyes staring at me. Gazing into them, I could almost feel the sand between my toes and the warmth of the sun’s rays on my skin.
Shaking myself out of the daydream, I suddenly realized the situation I was in. A ripple of panic made my throat constrict, and I couldn’t think of what to say or do. I guess he could read it on my face because a frown replaced the smile.
“Sadie? Are you okay?”
My throat squeezed tighter and I looked wildly around the room for something to focus on. Anything other than him. “Yes,” I finally squeaked. “I’m fine.”
But I wasn’t. It dawned on me that every conversation we’d had so far had begun something like this. Humiliation joined the panic and my self-control started to slip.
Oh my God, oh my God, stop it, Sadie!
He watched as I did my deep breathing exercise—the one reserved for situations just like this—and his face crinkled. I didn’t blame him. I’d be confused, too, if the situation was reversed.
Once my breathing was under control, I tried to smile at him. “Um, I’m sorry about that.” I didn’t know what else to say. In all honesty, there wasn’t anything else to say. I’d made a fool of myself in front of him twice today, and I was beginning to run out of excuses. Not that I needed to help him understand. In fact, I needed to get as far away from him as possible.
His look of concern slid back into a smile. “Hey, it’s okay. As long as you’re okay. I guess you’re having a pretty rough day, huh?”
That was putting it mildly. “Something like that.”
I wanted to continue talking to him, but my mind knew better. Trying to ignore his intoxicating presence, I picked my book back up and started flipping pages to where I’d left off. A tiny piece of my heart broke when I saw his disappointed look out of the corner of my eye.
Just then, a woman glided into the room. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties and wore a tight white dress that showcased her curves and ended just at her knees. Three-inch heels hugged her feet, making her close to six foo
t tall. Her long dark hair was held back from her face with small diamond clips as the rest cascaded down her back in a mess of curls. Her eyes were a brilliant sapphire blue. In a word, she was stunning. She moved gracefully around the room as she spoke, our heads swiveling to keep her in our line of sight. To be honest, I think we were all a little in awe of her.
“Good afternoon. My name is Ms. Stratha, and I am pleased to be your teacher this year. In here, my goal is simple. We must feed on blood to survive. Once you have graduated and entered the real world as adults, you will most likely feed from the vein almost exclusively. Therefore, it is my job to teach you how to do that without killing your prey and calling unwelcome attention to yourself.”
She stopped at my desk and raked her eyes over me. I blushed under her gaze. “Sadie Criswel,” she said, consulting her seating chart. “I know your father. Doesn’t he work at The Nursery?”
I tried to look confident. “Yes, he does.”
“Hmm,” she said. “Did you like The Nursery while you were there?”
Why is she asking me this? It felt strange like she was probing for a certain answer, but I didn’t know what. Something inside was telling me to lie, though.
“Sure, it was okay.”
She looked like she wanted to say something else but didn’t. Instead, she made a few notes on her chart and moved farther down the aisle.
I felt uneasy. This whole day had been one big bundle of weird, and I was ready for it to be over. She continued speaking, and I tried to concentrate on her, but in reality, it took all my strength not to glance over at Kade. I wondered what he thought of Ms. Stratha. I wondered what he thought of me. My head swirled with questions and an ache formed over my right eye. The stress was getting to me.
When the final bell rang, I jumped out of my seat. Part of me wanted to get the hell out of there before Ms. Stratha could ask more uncomfortable questions, but another part wanted to stay and linger in conversation with Kade. Knowing which one was the best idea, I shot out of the room before Kade even had a chance to stand up.
I half walked and half ran to the parking lot to wait for Nathan. I was anxious to get home and lock myself in the safe haven of my room. I needed to relax and just be unashamedly me for a while. As I waited by the car, trying to ignore the whispers and giggles from a group of girls climbing into a giant black SUV, my brother finally came strolling up.
“Hey, mudslide. Ready?”
Mudslide? Mudslide! Oh, hell no.
“I’m not sure who you’re referring to, but if you’re asking me if I’m ready to go home, the answer is yes.” I tried to keep my voice level, though I ached to unleash all my frustrations on him. Getting into a shouting match with my brother on campus wasn’t going to help my situation any.
“I’m referring to you, little sis. The guys couldn’t stop talking about you at lunch. Taking a roll in the mud and sneaking into the boys’ locker room all in one morning. Couldn’t you try to keep it together? At least for the first day?” The undertone of annoyance in his voice washed over me like a wave.
Losing patience, I snapped. “What’s your problem, Nathan? I’m the one who has to worry about looking like an idiot. You think I like being a misfit and having the whole school laugh at me?”
“My problem, mudslide, is you’re giving me a bad rep. It’s not like this stuff is hard. You just have to try.”
That did it. “Stop calling me mudslide,” I screamed. To my dismay, tears threatened behind my eyes and I wished with all my might they’d stay away until I was behind closed doors.
Nathan unlocked the car and swung the door open so fast it hit him in the shins. He cursed under his breath, anger and irritation causing the tips of his fangs to descend. They glistened in the bright moonlight and I could see the jagged, serrated edges. His veins turned black, a mass of crisscrossing pathways pulsing beneath his pale skin.
“Get in the car,” he growled.
“Don’t tell me what to do.” I was being stubborn.
“You wanna walk home? Fine with me.”
Before I could respond, he slid behind the wheel and drove off, tires squealing on the pavement.
He left me! He’d actually left me. Outrage pooled in my gut and the sharp points of my own fangs dug into my bottom lip. Just you wait until I get home. Mom and Dad are going to have a fit.
I hitched my bag higher on my shoulder and started walking.
Chapter 6 - The Makeover
By the time I slammed through the front door, the sun was threatening to peek over the horizon’s edge and I was seething.
“Nathan!” I screamed.
Mom came around the corner, a frown creasing her face.
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
“Where’s Nathan? He left me at school! I had to walk home.”
“He left about ten minutes ago to go to Jax’s house for a few hours. Wait, you said he left you at school?” To my satisfaction, she was using her mom voice, something that hardly ever came out when Nathan was involved. It was usually saved for me.
“Yeah. Luckily, it’s still cloudy, or I would have been ashes on the side of the road halfway here.” I watched my mom’s face growing darker by the second, and helpfully added, “I kept thinking he was joking and would turn around and pick me up, but he never did.” There. That oughta do it.
“Michael,” Mom yelled into the living room where my dad was watching the morning news. “Call Nathan and tell him to get his butt home immediately.”
Dad walked into the hallway, his glasses perched on top of his head and a glass of Scotch in hand. “What’s going on? Why am I calling Nathan? He’s probably having a good time with Jax.”
“I don’t care what kind of time he’s having. He left Sadie at school and she had to walk home! She just got here.”
Suddenly, I started to see a bigger picture. “Wait a minute, Mom.” Suspicion made my voice quiver and I tried to hide it. “You mean, you didn’t notice I wasn’t here?”
“Well, I heard Nathan come in and I just assumed—”
“You just assumed that I was home, but didn’t bother to come ask how my first day was or anything.”
“Now, honey, don’t be upset. I was on the phone with Aunt Delia when I heard the front door open, and you know how she talks on and on. By the time I got off the phone, I figured you were lost in your headphones or whatever you do up there.”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“Sadie—”
“I’ll be in my room,” I said, cutting off whatever platitude she was about to offer.
I started up the stairs, half wishing she’d stop me, but all I heard was soft murmuring from my dad followed by her heated response. Walking into my room, I slammed the door shut with my foot and dropped my bag where I stood. With a loud moan, I collapsed on my bed and lay in the comfortable softness facedown.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hurt by my parents’ lack of attention to my whereabouts. Even though it had been this way for as long as I could remember, it still stung. As a kid, I’d often pretend I was adopted and that one day my real parents would come find me. In my fantasies, I was an only child, compared to no one else and loved for all my quirks. But, after I hit my teens, I stopped thinking that way. They were the dreams of a kid and I was solidly rooted in the real world.
A soft tapping on my door interrupted my thoughts, but I ignored it. Either it was my parents coming to console me or one of the twins looking for mischief. I wasn’t interested in either. But it persisted.
“Go away!”
“It’s me, Sadie. Open up.”
Nathan. He was the last person I wanted to see. I picked up a heavy boot from under my bed and threw it as hard as I could at the door. It hit with a resounding thump. There was a startled oath from the hallway followed by silence. Satisfied I’d made my point, I put my earbuds in and turned the music up as loud as it would go. I drifted off to sleep with Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert singing their warning that something bad was abo
ut to happen.
***
The sun was just setting when I woke up. A string of drool slid down my chin onto the bed, and when I moved my arms and legs, the muscles ached with stiffness. I fumbled around for my phone and noticed it was still early. I also had four missed calls from Molly and about a dozen texts. Reading through the text string, my stomach flipped and alarm raced through my veins. Dialing her number, I impatiently waited for her to answer.
“‘Lo,” she mumbled. I’d obviously woken her up.
“Molly, it’s me.”
“Sadie? Why the hell are you calling me so early? I was just having the loveliest dream. Leonardo DiCaprio was proposing and—”
“Shhh, you can tell me about that later. I want to know what you were talking about in your texts last night.”
“Really? This couldn’t wait until we got to school?”
“I’m not sure I’m going back to that hellhole, so no, it can’t wait.” I paused. “What did you mean that Kade was asking about me?”
She yawned and my fingers wanted to reach through the phone and throttle her. I took a deep breath and tried to wait while she finished waking up. Finally, she started talking.
“He’s in my fourth period. I guess he could tell we’re friends since we came to orientation together and everything. Anyway, he was asking if I’d seen you and how you were doing. He seemed truly concerned.”
Questions swirled in my head and it felt like a swarm of butterflies had taken up residence in my stomach. Kade was asking Molly about me. I shouldn’t be excited about that. I should be worried. But… Kade.
Molly’s voice broke through my reverie and I tried to focus on what she was saying.
“I told him we had lunch together and that you were having a rough morning.”
“You told him that? Why would you tell him that? Especially since you were warning me to keep my distance! I’d think that would mean you wouldn’t be sharing any details about me.” My voice turned shrill. “Now it sounds like I’m a weakling and can’t handle even one day at University!”
Caught in Between Page 4