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It was finally the Christmas holidays, and I was on my skiing trip with Tegan and Jade. It was supposed to be fun; I’d been looking forward to it since the beginning of December. The only thing that was stopping me from enjoying myself was Sylvie’s words pounding in my head. Game on. What was that supposed to mean? I had told Alec about it, and he got all concerned and way overprotective, and wouldn’t let me go anywhere without him for two weeks. Can you imagine showering knowing that there’s a guy outside the door if anything goes wrong? I mean, what goes wrong in the fricking shower? I slip and fall, crack my head open, it heals, but then some dude who works for Damien gets past Alec and takes me away while I’m still wet and naked? Who would do that? It’s sick and twisted. I mean, I don’t even like the thought of a rubber duck looking at me while I’m bathing, let alone a twisted weirdo who works for Damien. On the bright side, at least Alec was on the outside of the bathroom…
Anyways, we had been skiing for two hours and were taking a break in “The Lodge” when my phone rang. It was Alec.
“Hey.”
“Hi, um, is there any chance you could get to the abandoned house on Young Street in 30 minutes?”
“Alec…” I groaned.
“It’s really important.”
“Fine then.” I got off the phone.
“Who was that?” Jade asked.
“Alec. Listen, I have to go meet him back in Carleton Place. Apparently, it’s important. So can you tell Tegan that I had to go?”
“Say no more. I’ll cover for you.”
The abandoned house on Young Street was nice; tall and white with a Victorian-style wooden door and flower beds with roses surrounding the concrete front steps. I slowly turned the doorknob. The door was unlocked, so I just walked in.
“Hello?” No answer. I started walking down the hallway, looking around.
“Is anyone here? Alec?” Someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“Nope.” Katherine smiled as she circled around me.
“What are you doing here? Where’s Alec?”
“Here.” He came out from another room.
“What is she doing here?” I snapped.
“I can explain-”
“I’m here to help.” Katherine danced around a coffee table in the next room.
“Okay, so what’s the real reason?”
“I am honestly here to help. Is that so hard to believe?”
“Yes, yes it is.” She rolled her eyes and started walking upstairs. Alec and I followed her into a room with a couch and a bunch of bookshelves; probably the last owner’s private library. He sat down on the edge of the coffee table.
“So, what was so important that I had to leave a well-deserved ski trip with my best friends?”
“We’re planning what’ll happen in the summer when Damien comes for you.”
“Oh.” Up until now, I’d never really thought about the sacrifice, because it just made me scared. It had seemed like some sort of ghost story you told at a summer camp or just an old wives tale meant to scare people. But now that it was getting closer and closer, it became more and more real. It’s sort of like when your teacher gives you an assignment due in a week, and you don’t do it because you think you have loads of time, but then it comes to the night before the assignment’s due, and you start freaking out because you haven’t done anything, except about ten times worse. Katherine gave me a look of sympathy, but I wasn’t sure if it was really sympathy or just a realization that when I died, so would she.
“Are you okay?” Alec asked, and it was then that I realized that I had been sitting on the window seat staring blankly at him and Katherine for the past five minutes.
“Oh, um, yeah. Never better.” Hell no, you idiot. I’m about to get used as a human-er, vampire- sacrifice. The moment I thought it I regretted it, because Alec shifted in his seat and gave me an apologetic look. He was obviously concerned about the sacrifice too.
“What’s with all the sorrowful looks and tension in this room?” Katherine asked. Alec rolled his eyes.
“Could you be serious for, like, five minutes?” he asked.
“Nope.” Katherine smirked.
“You know what, if you’re not even going to help, if you don’t care, then-”
“Guys!” I stood up abruptly. “We’re not going to accomplish anything if you two keep bickering.”
“She’s got a point.” Katherine added. I turned to Alec. Please stop, I thought.
“Fine.” He grumbled. “Okay, back on the subject of Damien. I’ve arranged with a few of my friends who’ve quit working for Damien to provide safe houses across the US. Their names are Nathaniel, Cecile, and Brannen. Cecile is going to meet us in New York, and Nathaniel and Brannen are going to meet us along the way. We’ll end up in Florida, and we’ll hide there. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“That’s not exactly-”
“You’re not allowed to talk.” I snapped, a little too harshly. Katherine sighed, picked a book off of the shelf, lied down on the couch, and began to read.
“Anyways, we’re gonna need an unrecognizable vehicle. Damien knows what car I have, so we’ll need another one.”
“My dad has an old van. Its performance is…er…rather iffy, but it’s a car.” I said.
“Great. You’ll have to get a key from him, though. Do you think you could do that?”
“Um…Maybe?” I said, more like a question than a statement.
“Maybe?”
“My dad’s a vampire hunter.” Katherine burst out laughing.
“Your dad hunts vampires? When was the last time you physically saw him?”
“Um…a few months. Before I went camping with my mom and Dave. Before I turned.”
“Well, good luck with getting that car.” Katherine chuckled, flipping the page in her book.
“Just ignore her.” Alec said.
“Just ignore her.” Katherine mimicked quietly, rolling her eyes.
“Remember what I said about fighting?”
“You said bickering.” Katherine corrected.
“Whatever. Fighting, bickering, same diff. Either way, it’s not going to accomplish anything.” Just then, my cell phone beeped.
From: Jade
Where are you???? Tegan’s wondering and her parents are worried sick! I’ll tell them that you’re still out on the slopes, but it’ll only be so long before they find out you’re not there!
I slid my phone back into my pocket.
“That was Jade. I need to get back soon.” I said, giving Alec a look that said Get on with it already! I must have thought it too, because he rolled his eyes at me and chuckled silently.
“Fine. We’ll finish this some other time. I have things to do, anyways.” Alec came closer to me.
“Will you be okay?” he asked for the millionth time.
“Yes, I think I can manage to get back to a ski hill without being kidnapped by an evil goon.” He rolled his eyes at me again.
“We also have to work on your animal transformation later.” I had completely forgotten about that until now.
“Is that important?”
“Is it important?” Katherine chortled, “If you want to have any chance of surviving, then yes, it is important.” She shook her head, chuckling, as if I were a kindergartener who’d just asked how important it was to breathe. I went downstairs and Alec followed. I hugged him, inhaling his fragrant scent.
“Try to just ignore her.” He said.
“She’s more annoying than Nathen.” I said, recalling a time when Nathen was the only thing in the world that got on my nerves so much. Alec chuckled. As he left, my phone beeped again. I suspected it was probably Jade, as I hadn’t replied to her last message, but it wasn’t.
From: Katherine P.
Meet me back here later tonight. It’s very important. No joke. Don’t tell Alec.
Katherine came down the stairs, looked at me briefly, winked, and then left. A few seconds later I got another text.
From:Katherine P.
Don’t tell anyone.
