by Reed, Zoe
“I’m sorry,” I said promptly, desperately trying to ease the tension. “That was too soon.”
“It’s okay,” Kyla said almost inaudibly, still looking terribly uneasy.
Stupid, I scolded myself, wishing so badly that I could take it back and save it for a more appropriate time. But it was too late, and now I just wanted to hide in a hole. It looked as though Kyla was still trying to find something to say, and not wanting her to feel obligated to repeat the words if it wasn’t true, I shook my head.
“You don’t have to say anything. I’ll see you later.” So stupid. I just hoped this wouldn’t scare her away. Wouldn’t ruin everything.
Kyla nodded awkwardly and turned for the door handle. Stopping when she got halfway, she turned back and planted a small peck on my cheek, only a slight comfort in the thick of the tension, before heading out the door without a word. I watched her walk all the way into the house before heading back home, trying hard to forget about the blunder. The last thing I wanted to think about now was how embarrassing that was.
Will, David and Carter returned home shortly after I got back, and just as I had thought, Jonathan was nowhere to be found. With that, the rest of the weekend passed leisurely. I didn’t call or text Kyla, since I figured I should give her a little time to get over the shock of my declaration. Aside from mine and Julian’s wounds it was pretty much like before Jonathan and his goons showed up, even a little more boring. Eli and the other Pack members left Sunday night, seeing as Jonathan was the only one left. They assured my family that they’d keep looking for him, but now we had nothing else to worry about. There was no way he’d be coming back to challenge my whole family on his own.
***
“Miss Walters,” I smiled, albeit somewhat uncomfortably, as I took a seat next to Kyla in sixth period that Monday. After not having heard from her all weekend, I was a little worried about how things would be between us now.
“Hey,” Kyla smiled back and watched as I sat down beside her. “How’s your side?”
“It’s good. My dad took out the stitches this morning, should be completely gone by Thursday.” I shrugged as I read over the assignment our teacher had passed out and sighed. So far, even though Kyla seemed a little tense, things weren’t too uncomfortable. But I couldn’t be sure if it was really her, or if I was just projecting my own unease. “This is the last thing I want to be doing.” As Kyla mumbled her agreement my phone buzzed in my pocket and I took it out to check my messages.
Luna: Going to a friend’s house. Be home at six.
I reread the message curiously. While Luna did have friends at our school it was unusual for her to go to their houses, but I shrugged it off seeing as she had a way of being unpredictable. Kyla and I worked on the assignment for the rest of the period, getting distracted once or twice to talk about something unrelated to school, but most the time the assignment kept things from getting too awkward. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the bell rang and relieved us for the day.
“Are you coming over?” I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans and asked as we walked out the front doors of the school.
Kyla frowned and shook her head. “No, I got a lecture the other day about how I’m spending too much time at your house and still slacking on my chores. I’m supposed to clean and stuff the second I get home.” I gave an exaggerated scowl, while I tried not to let on how disappointed I really was. A part of me was afraid it was just an excuse, that maybe I really had ruined things by admitting my feelings too soon. “But I’ll call you tonight, after dinner.”
We reached Kyla’s car, and after she gave me a somewhat comforting peck on the cheek I opened the door for her to get in, closing it once she slid into the driver’s seat. I said bye and after watching her drive away met Niko at our car. When I got home, for lack of anything better to do, I made a snack and sprawled out on the couch. I couldn’t deny that after running patrol for weeks, night and day, it was nice to be able to be lazy. Lying there on the couch it wasn’t long until I dozed off, waking up a few hours later to Niko poking at my forehead.
“Camille.” He continued to poke until I sat up. “What time did you say Luna was coming home?”
I yawned and smacked his finger away as I sat up. “She said six. Why?”
“It’s six-thirty, and she hasn’t called or anything.” Now that my eyes were fully open I could see that Niko’s face was etched with worry. It was unlike Luna to be late without calling.
Taking a deep breath to keep from worrying too much, I reached over and grabbed the phone off the coffee table. I called Luna’s cell. No answer. I scrunched my eyebrows and tapped my foot, waiting a minute before calling again. Every ring caused my heart to beat faster. As Luna’s voicemail kicked in, I remembered what Julian had said. Jonathan was ruthless, and unstable.
He wouldn’t take on my whole family, but we’d killed his father. If he were crazy enough, he would get his revenge. I called again. Voicemail. A deep, icy knot started to form in the pit of my stomach, and I forced back the rising nausea and with shaking fingers dialed again. Still, no answer. I stood up and started pacing in front of the couch, Niko watching me worriedly.
I handed the phone to him and had him call. And the longer he sat there without her picking up, the bigger and colder the icy knot. I was starting to panic. Impatiently I grabbed the phone from Niko and dialed Luna’s number one last time. Hearing the click of someone answering, my heart stopped.
Then the voice came on. His voice. All I could hear was the pounding of my pulse in my ears and him. Everything else around me stopped.
“Luna’s cell phone. Can I ask who’s calling?” Jonathan’s sadistic voice rang over the other end. He was practically singing his triumph.
“I want my sister back you son-of-a-bitch,” I growled into the phone. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Niko’s jaw drop, his face going white with fear for our sister.
“Umm,” he pretended to think about it. “No. Camille, did you know that I absolutely, one hundred percent, with every fiber of my being, hate you? And since you guys killed my father, I think I’ll just keep Luna.”
I started to spew out a long list of profanities, but got cut off by the dial tone. I made a motion to throw the phone but stopped before I released it. Kyla. I had to call her, make sure she was safe. Niko was no longer on the couch. I could faintly hear him upstairs talking to our parents.
I dialed Kyla’s number, which just like Luna’s, rang until it went to voicemail. “Fuck!”
My knees started to go weak, and I could feel myself getting lightheaded. I sat on the couch and called again. Once again, voicemail. I sat there, frozen with panic. Now my entire body was shaking violently and I had to tap my foot to keep some part of my body under control. I couldn’t lose either of them, especially in the same night. The ringing of the phone in my hand made me jump. I checked the caller ID. It was Kyla.
“Kyla, I’ve been calling. I’ve been worried,” I said quickly and waited for her to respond. I could hear breathing on the other end, but she didn’t say anything. “Kyla?”
Another moment of silence before I heard her voice. “Camille, I can’t do this anymore.”
The simple sentence hit me in the gut like a ton of bricks. “What do you mean?”
“Us. I can’t do us. It was a mistake.” Her voice was quiet, a near whisper. “I’m not–” But she stopped. She didn’t need to finish. I knew what she was going to say. I knew I ruined it.
Now my mind was going blank. I couldn’t handle this, especially not when I had Luna to worry about. It was all too much. Through shallow, labored breaths I tried to get out a whole sentence. “Kyla please. Not now. Any time but now.”
She was silent for almost a minute. “I’m so sorry. Don’t call back.”
And then the dial tone. I could feel my throat closing up. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. I bit back a flood of tears that stung my eyes, and desperately held back the nausea threatening to releas
e. My mom and dad came down with Niko. I could faintly hear them speaking to me. Asking what happened? I couldn’t hear, couldn’t understand anything but the pain that threatened to crumble me like a broken statue.
On wobbly legs I stood up, nearly buckling over. Everything was falling apart. My fingertips started to tingle, and then itch. It was spreading too fast for me to control, but I didn’t care to control it. A split second later I Changed, taking off toward the living room window. As I shattered through it I could hear everyone inside yelling after me, but it was done. Nothing I did now was of my own accord, but I knew exactly where my limbs were taking me.
To get my sister back.
I finally finished all my chores later Monday afternoon. Aside from cleaning my room I had to exercise the horses and clean the stables. My family was going out to dinner, but being too exhausted and still having chores left they told me they’d bring me back some food. When I’d reentered the house from being in the barn I trudged up to my room. It took a little while for me to fall asleep though, with Camille on my mind.
I hadn’t had any contact with her since she’d used that four-letter word, except for today during class, and she was obviously still embarrassed about it. I felt a little awkward too, though not because it had been said. On the contrary, I was quite aware Camille’s feelings for me were that strong. I just didn’t think she would actually admit it so soon. So when the time came, I just couldn’t say it back. My feelings for Camille went deeper than they’d ever been for anyone, and I was almost positive that I was in love with the werewolf.
But I had never said those words to anyone before, and our relationship was so new the thought of saying it scared me. Especially with everything that was happening. Especially when the same day Camille had come home needing stitches because of a fight. When every day I was reminded that I was in danger because I was only human. When there was a chance Camille could be ripped away from me at any second. If I’d repeated those words to her and made it even more real, then if something happened to her I was sure my heart wouldn’t survive it. I tried to say it back, but I was too afraid of what it would mean.
Eventually thinking exhausted my mind too much to stay awake, and what seemed like minutes later, Brandy and Blue woke me up. I tried to ignore the barking, but after ten minutes of nonstop noise I grumpily rolled off the bed. Not a second after my feet hit the floor did the dogs stop barking.
“Oh Lord,” I grumbled, glancing from the bed to the door, eventually making up my mind to go downstairs anyway.
As I stumbled through the dark and into the kitchen I nearly tripped over something someone had left on the floor. I stepped over it and maneuvered my way to the light switch on the other side of the kitchen. After flicking it on I turned to walk to the refrigerator, freezing in my tracks.
“Hey sleepy head.” Jonathan stood leaning in the corner with his arms folded across his chest. I made a move to run to the phone but he agilely caught my arm, yanking me back. “You’re not happy to see me?”
My eyes darted every direction, searching for any possible escape route. My gaze dropped to the floor, the thing I almost tripped over. Blue. “What did you do?” I raised my voice as loud as I could, yelling in anger, but it cracked as I held back a horrified sob.
“Don’t worry about that. Poisoned meat. Your family will think they got in to something.” He stood there, watching me carefully.
His body was tense, as every second he waited for me to bolt. I wouldn’t give him an excuse to hurt me, or the satisfaction of thinking I was afraid of him.
“What do you want?” As much as I tried not to be afraid, I was terrified. I leaned against the counter for support as the fear started sinking into my weakening limbs.
“You’re going to call Camille and break up with her.” He re-crossed his arms over his chest, daring me to defy him.
Fear turned to fury, and I glared at him. “Go to hell.”
Jonathan smirked, clearly taking pleasure in the fact that he’d get to do things the hard way. “You’re going to do it Kyla. Now whether or not you want to put your family in danger is up to you.”
I clenched my jaw as my heartbeat quickened. I didn’t doubt for one second he was crazy enough to do anything that he said. I couldn’t put my family in danger, but I couldn’t break Camille’s heart. I just shook my head.
“No? Too worried about hurting her feelings?” he teased sadistically. “How about this, you call her now. Or I’ll snap your neck. Which one do you think would hurt her feelings more? You breaking up with her, or her having to live for the rest of her life with being responsible for your death?” He practically spat the word ‘death’ at me. A threat I knew he would live up to.
The sound of my own heart pounding in my ears was so loud I could barely think. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a slight glimmer of metal. The knife rack. I impulsively reached over and pulled out the biggest knife I could, holding it toward Jonathan. As I slowly backed out of the kitchen and toward the front door, he didn’t even seem to care. And seconds later, as I hit a hot, solid wall of a large man, I understood why. I hadn’t even heard the huge, bald, tattooed guy standing there.
Jumping with shock as my back hit him, I turned on my heels and pulled my arm back to stab. He reached out with a quick, fluid motion and grabbed my wrist, squeezing harder and harder until I dropped the knife. When it clattered to the floor I expected him to turn me loose, but instead he stared me down, a smile spreading across his lips as he continued to squeeze. He squeezed until we both heard my bones snap.
As I fell to the floor screaming in agony, Jonathan let out a whooping laugh, cut off by the ringing of my cell phone on the countertop. He earnestly checked the caller ID and grinned. “Ah, just who we wanted to talk to. Are you ready to talk to her?”
Gasping for air in between excruciating sobs of pain, there was no way I could answer. The phone stopped ringing and Jonathan carried it over to me, digging his hand into my shoulder to lift me off the floor and sitting me on a stool at the island. Again the phone started ringing, but I was in pain, too shocked and overwhelmed to form a sentence.
“You better compose yourself quick.” He waited a couple seconds for me to slow my breathing and force the pain out of my mind. Then he thrust the phone in my face. “Call, and don’t give a damned thing away. Or we’ll break every other bone in that fragile human body.”
I picked up the phone, dialed Camille’s number and put it to my ear. It rang once. Rang twice. “Kyla, I’ve been calling. I’ve been worried.” Her voice sounded shaky, frantic. Camille, I need help! I yelled mentally as I held on to the thought of the pain in my arm, trying to convince myself a broken bone hurts far more than what I was about to do. “Kyla?” I looked over at Jonathan who glanced up from a note he was writing and glared at me, telling me to speak.
I took a deep breath. I didn’t have a choice. He’d kill my entire family. “Camille, I can’t do this anymore.” I could practically hear the breaking of her heart as it echoed in my own. I’m in love with you!
“What do you mean?”
I wiped away the tears that now started rolling down my cheeks. I had to whisper so she wouldn’t hear that I was about to lose it, that I was about to break down in sobs. “Us. I can’t do us. It was a mistake.” I looked to Jonathan who nodded, urging me on by sliding his index finger across his throat. “I’m not–” I couldn’t even finish the sentence. It was wrong. Everything was so wrong, and now I wished more than anything I’d told her how I felt.
“Kyla please. Not now. Anytime but now.” Camille was begging me, and the pain in her voice made me wish I’d chosen the broken bones. I loved the feeling in my wrist compared to this. But the damage was done. I had to follow through with it.
Don’t fall for this Camille! I didn’t know what to say. Ask me if he’s here! Tell me you’ll come and save me! But as I realized she wouldn’t figure it out, I couldn’t just hang up. Everywhere I’d been, everything that had happened since
I’d met Camille, I didn’t think I’d end up here. Jonathan was probably going to kill me anyway, and I wasn’t ready to go. Not leaving Camille this way. I’m so sorry. I hope you can forgive me. I winced as I clenched the fist of my broken arm, using the pain to suppress the desolate sob forming in my throat. I had to just hang up.
“I’m so sorry. Don’t call back.”
I hung up and let the tears flow down my cheeks. Jonathan stood there grinning, wider than I’d ever seen. In that moment, I wished a death on him that I’d never wish on anyone else. I hated him. Wanted him dead and wanted to do it myself. As I glared at him he continued to grin, watching me closely with a strange look in his eyes.
No, it wasn’t strange. I’d seen it before. It was the same look when I knew he was checking me out during chemistry. Only now it was worse. We were alone. We hated each other, and the carnal look had gained a fiery tint of malice.
“Let’s go,” he said, snapping his fingers for added emphasis. “If she goes looking for her sister first we’ve got about three hours until she finds the barn.”
My head snapped up. “You took Luna?” That’s why Camille sounded frantic, and Jonathan had just used me to add torture to agony. I was furious. “Take me instead. Let Luna go and take me!”
“I’m taking both of you!” Jonathan shouted angrily, and as he turned he led with his hand, the back of it catching me in the cheek. “You could have avoided all of this, Kyla.” He stepped closer to me and lifted my chin with his hand – so gentle it was hard to believe he’d really just hit me. “I made my desire for you perfectly clear.”
“Don’t touch me.” I pulled my face away from his hand, refusing to look at him.
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want. Do you understand me?” He raised his voice again, and this time he grabbed me by the shirt collar, pulling me up out of the chair and close to him.