Chapter 30-Saying Goodbye

Hey guys, i know it's been forever, so i hope this makes up for it!!! xoxo, Kira

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Dear Great Aunt Harriet,

I know you don’t like me. I get it. But I know that Katherine did something to you, and though I’m not sure what it is, I’m sure that it was bad. The only thing I can really do is apologize for her and move on. I’m planning to trick her, if that helps. I’d kill her, but we’re kind of connected, so killing her would kill me. She’s given me a book on doppelgangers, and I’m planning to read it later. Who knows, maybe it’ll have something I can use against her! Anyways, I truly am sorry and hope that we can start again.

                                                                                  Sincerely,

                                                                                   Kieyra Gordon

I put  the letter in an envelope addressed to Harriet Pierce and slipped it into the mail box at the Post Office.

“Kieyra, hurry up! We’re going to be late for the wedding!” Sarah called from her car window. Sydney was in the passenger seat, texting, and Anna and Katie were in the backseats, which left me, about to be sandwiched in between them. As I got in the car, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the book on doppelgangers Katherine had given me. I opened to the first page and started reading.

Chapter One-The Basics

If you’re reading this, you’re either a), a hapless doppelganger trying to figure out how to live with your evil shadow double, b), a skeptic who’s been forced by a friend to learn about doppelgangers, c), someone reading this for a good laugh thinking it’s fiction, or d), all of the above. If you’re one of the aforementioned readers, and either bored to death or in a rush, you should probably just stick to reading the first chapter. This chapter is filled with the basic things you’ll need to know to survive living with an evil double of yourself.

The first thing you’ll need to know is that you cannot kill your doppelganger. As much as we all know you’d like to, you are connected to your doppelganger in numerous ways, and killing them would kill you, and, therefore, would not be in your favor. You can, however, disconnect yourself from the doppelganger, but there are only records of one person ever succeeding in doing so.

Secondly, your doppelganger can feel your feelings, and you can feel theirs. This can be an asset as well as a weakness. Your doppelganger will therefore feel when you are most vulnerable and use your vulnerability to manipulate you, but you can also use this against them.

If for some odd reason you wish to turn evil and get along with your doppelganger, there are some assets you will obtain such as being able to send each other messages with your mind and sensing when your doppelganger is in danger.

“What’s this book about?” Anna asked, ripping the book from my hands.

“Stuff.” I snatched it back quickly enough that Anna couldn’t read the front cover.

“Fine then, don’t tell me. But just remember, you still owe me for letting you-know-who out of the you-know-what.” Anna said quietly.

“Voldemort?” Sarah asked.

“Not that you-know-who, you airhead.” Katie said, sighing.  

“Hey! I’m smart!” Sarah defended.

“Yeah, okay. You just keep on thinking that, sis.” Anna said, rolling her eyes.

“Hey.” Jade whispered as I took my seat in between her and Alec.

“Hi.” I said even quieter. I wasn’t exactly in the mood for wedding small talk.

“Are you okay? You look worried.” Alec asked.

“Well, I wonder why.” I said a little too harshly. I was about to tell him that I was sorry and didn’t mean it when we heard the classic wedding march.

I watched as the bridesmaids came down the aisle in their pretty purple dresses, followed by Nathen carrying the ring and Farrah throwing flower petals. Then came my mom and Grandpa, my mom looking all pretty and happy and my grandpa just smiling as he walked his daughter down the aisle.

When I was first turned into a vampire-when I woke up that morning in the dungeons and realized what I had become-I had about a million questions ringing around in my head all at once, like “what’ll I do if I accidentally bite my brother?” or “will I ever get out of here?” and “how long will it be before my vampire hunting father realizes what I am and drives a stake through my heart?”-all generally normal questions. There was only one question that I hadn’t thought of, and as I sat in the front row of chairs next to my best friends and boyfriend it was the only thing on my mind.

I guess I started to think about this when they gave us the option sheets for High School. When I first got them, I had literally no idea what to do. I figured that as a vampire it wouldn’t matter what classes I took-it wasn’t like I was going to University or College anyways. When I told my mom about the options sheets, she sat down with me and asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I told her I didn’t know, so she said, “Then why close any doors? Why take easier classes and lose the opportunities to do what you’ll want to do later? I know you’re young, but it’s never too early to plan for your future.” That got me thinking. What kind of future would I have? What kind of future could I have? I mean, even if my plan did succeed and no one but Damien and his minions had to die-I’d still be thirteen forever. I would never be able to get a driver’s license, drink, get a decent job or-now that I thought about it- get married. Plus, how long until my family and everyone in town realized I wasn’t aging? How long until they sent in doctors and I had to run away? When I ran away, who would come with me? Of course, I wanted Alec to be part of my future, but whom else? I couldn’t exactly ask my friends to throw their futures away just so I wouldn’t have to spend an eternity alone with Alec, Katherine and Dave’s family. How long until Dave had to break it off with my mom? I mean, it’s not like their relationship could last, right? Would I go with the Wilkins’ or would I leave with Katherine and Alec? Just thinking about living on my own with the two of them made me even more anxious.

“What’s wrong? And don’t lie to me this time.” Alec asked, barely even whispering. I was about to say “Nothing” when I realized that, overall, I’d lied too much to him. I tried to remember the last time I’d told him the truth and couldn’t think of a single thing. So I decided to let him in on what I really thought for once. I tried not to think about what I was about to do too much-if I thought about it I’d realize how incredibly risky it was and talk myself out of it. I slipped my charm bracelet off of my wrist and into my lap, repeating the abridged version of what I’d been thinking about-leaving out anything that involved my plans with Katherine. Then I quickly slid the bracelet back on and looked at Alec with a look that reminded me slightly of Bambi after his mom died.

“It’s alright-everything will work out, I promise.” He reassured, entwining his fingers in mine just as my Mom and Dave finished saying “I do” and the Priest said “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” I wondered if Alec would ever kiss me. I wondered if anyone would ever kiss me. I could have sworn I was the only one in my grade who’d never been kissed. I turned and looked at Alec longingly.

“The timing has to be perfect. It has to be the right moment.” He said. Really? The perfect timing? The right moment? I could think of plenty of moments that were perfect, like when I told him I loved him, or on Valentines Day, or even when I told him I was going to sacrifice myself to Damien. Even right then and there would have been okay. Quite frankly, timing wasn’t important to me, or anyone else in the world for that matter.

After the wedding was the wedding dinner, and then the wedding reception, where mom and Dave had their first dance, which basically means they were too involved in their dancing to care what Nathen or I did. After the first dance there were a bunch of fast songs that I danced with Jade and Tegan to (and badly, I might add), and then a slow song. Tegan found one of my strange cousins to dance with and Jade and I (awkwardly) danced together until I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around.

“May I interrupt?” asked Alec, smiling.

“Of course.” Jade said. She went to go get some punch, leaving me and Alec alone.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Nothing, I just wanted to dance with you. Is that so bad?”  I smiled, shaking my head.

“Fine. I’ll dance with you, but only this once.” I said.

“That’s all I get? One dance?”

“Until I figure out exactly what mood I’m in. Then possibly a second.”

“Oh? How are you feeling, then?”

“Well…It’s complicated. Happy, because my mom finally put herself out there and got re-married, sad, because I know that their relationship is doomed to end, scared, because we’re leaving tonight, anxious, because I have no idea how this will turn out, and a little mad because you won’t kiss me. But only a little.” He chuckled.

“I told you, it has to be the right moment.”

“What’s a better moment than slow dancing to a romantic song?”  I suggest. He rolls his eyes and kisses my cheek.

“Okay, you know that’s not what I meant.” I growled.

“Like I said, not the right moment.”  He smirked.

After the slow song was over, I went over to my mom and told her that my friends and I volunteered to help clean up after the reception was over, and suggested that Tegan and Jade sleep over. She, of course, was delighted that I actually wanted to help out with something and didn’t even think about it before she said yes.

                                                     ***************

“Goodnight girls, time to go to bed!” My mom said, opening my bedroom door. All three of us were tucked snugly in our fluorescently colored sleeping bags on my floor, in our pajamas.

“Goodnight mom.” I said.

“Goodnight Mrs. Gordon!” said Tegan and Jade.

“I love you, Kieyra.”

“Love you, mom.”  My mom smiled and closed my door. We waited for fifteen minutes, just lying there, until we heard loud snoring.

“Is operation Gordon-Wilkins House Sneak-Out ago?” asked Tegan

“Couldn’t we have shortened the name?” asked Jade.

“Yes and yes.” I said. We put all of our bags on my bed and tied them all to a rope, which we then lowered down through my window. Then, I tied the rope around my waist and stood in front of my window as Tegan and Jade lowered themselves down. Then, I turned out my light, untied the rope, hid it under my bed and jumped out the window.

“You kids going somewhere?” I froze at the sound of Dave’s voice.

“No, we were just…um…” I failed to think of a plausible excuse for why we were leaving.

“Relax, I know all about you guys’ plan to help Kieyra escape Damien, and I’m okay with it.” Mariana appeared in front of us with Katie and Anna.

“Kieyra, I’m officially forgiving you for the Katherine thing.” Anna said.

“Thanks, Anna.”

“I’ll stay behind and text or call you if I see anything happening with the hole-Katie and I will keep watch.” Katie nodded in agreement with her sister.

“I have a few things, too.” Mariana said, “Come with me for a second.” I followed Mariana to the side of the house.

“First is magical dust that lets you see anywhere you want to see in the world if you put it in water.” Mariana handed me a beige leather pouch that I put directly into my pocket.

“Second is for the thing we talked about earlier.” Mariana winked, handing me a small, black rectangular box.

“Inside is a necklace that will render whoever touches it unconscious for two hours. And don’t worry-if someone who used it happened to have a doppelganger, it wouldn’t affect the doppelganger in the slightest.” She added.

“Thanks.” I said. We went back to where my friends were.

“Dave, make sure my mom knows I love her. Nathen too.” He nodded. Anna handed me my duffel bag.

“It’s been nice knowing you, Kieyra. I was wrong about you. You’re not like Katherine at all in the slightest. If you make it out alive, we could actually have a chance at friendship.” She said.

“Thanks…I think.” Anna laughed.

“You better get going now.” Dave said.

“Thanks for all your help.” I said, hugging him for the first time.  

“No problem, kiddo.”

The walk to my dad’s house was over an hour long-two hours including the time it took for Elena to catch up to us after we forgot her, plus all of the rest stops my friends had to take. When we got there, we were surprised to see that the lights were still on.

“That’s funny. My dad’s usually in bed by 9:30, and it’s almost midnight.” I said. We heard moaning from inside.

“Is that your dad or a bear?” asked Jade.

“My dad. Bears are more pleasant.”

“Do I really have to go in there?” Tegan asked.

“Yes!” yelled Elena, Jade and I.

“Fine.” She grumbled. The door was locked, so I made her climb in an open window. I looked in and saw my dad-along with ten empty beer bottles-on a rampage around his house, knocking over stuff.

“Why did she have to go and marry that stupid accountant???? Why, why??? I’m not the crazy one!!! I was a good husband!!!!” I heard my dad groan, taking another sip of his beer. Tegan tiptoed across the room, avoiding my dad’s constant throwing of books off of his bookshelf.

“Five bucks on the crazy old guy.” said Sam. Wait-SAM!? We turned around to find Sam and Ryan standing there, looking through the window.

“Where did you guys come from?” Jade asked.

“We’ve been trailing you for the past hour, when you passed Sam’s house.” Ryan said.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“We were bored!” Sam said. I heard Alec’s car going down the road about a mile away.

“Hurry up Tegan!” I whined to myself.|

“Got it!” Tegan said as she crawled back through the window.

“Ha, you owe me five bucks.” Said Ryan.

“What are they doing here?” Tegan asked.

“We have no idea.” Said Jade. I took the keys from Tegan and started loading our stuff into the van.

“Hey.” I heard Alec’s voice behind me.

“Hey.” I turned around and handed him the keys.

“What are the guys doing here?”

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling they have no idea how to get home. I’d suggest we drop them off on the way, but we can’t really go back into town.” Alec nodded.

“We’ll have to take them.” He said as I followed him to the driver’s side.

“I guess so.” He started the engine and the car roared to life. I heard my dad’s moaning stop for a second-he was trying to decipher the noise we’d just made.

“Everyone get in!” Jade yelled.

“I call shotgun!” I said.

“Aw, man!” said Ryan. Tegan, Jade and Elena took the middle and Ryan and Sam sat in the back with all of our luggage.

“Is everyone ready?” Alec asked. There was a chorus of “yeah”s from the backseats. He turned to me.

“Are you ready?” I thought about it. I was just about to execute a very-poorly devised plan that may or may not have worked. Was I ready? I sucked in all my fear and put on my seatbelt.
"Let's go."

Not Another Vampire Love Story(i'm sharing this straight from quibblo)

Not Another Vampire Love Story: "Hey guys! I just really wanted to share this. Really badly. Because i've been working on it for two years and i want to know what people think. Oh, and"

Chapter 29- Last Minute Changes

It was finally June.

The month I’d dreaded for nearly a year, and it was here. It was the day before the wedding, and I had woken up to a piece of neatly folded paper sitting on my pillow.

Dear Kieyra,

We have to leave town after the wedding tomorrow. It’d help us if you brought a few friends with you so we won’t look suspicious. You’ll need to pack today-if it’s not too much trouble. I’m really sorry.

                                                           Love,

                                                             Alec

I swear my heart stopped for a moment. It was so soon-too soon. Tomorrow. Out of anger, I ripped the note into confetti-sized pieces and threw them out the window.

Tomorrow.

 I went back onto my bed and screamed into my pillow. Of course, that didn’t do much but get my pillowcase wet, so I began to pack. I went under my bed and got out my emergency duffel bag (god only knows why the hell I had that) and started to fill it with my clothes. I mean, the sacrifice was at the end of the month. I might have been gone for at most four weeks! While going through my sock drawer, I felt a hard lump in one of my socks. I reached my hand in the sock and pulled out a smooth, blue rock.

It was the Lapis Lazuli stone Katherine had given me.

I wondered if it possessed any magical qualities. It just looked like an ordinary rock to me. I wondered if it was a “spinney rock” like the ones in The Last Mimzy (you can Google it), but after twenty spins of the rock I decided enough was enough. What was so special about it, then? After half an hour of pacing around my room, I decided that I’d put it in my pocket and add it to my list of things I needed to ask Katherine tonight.

I was planning on texting Katherine and telling her to meet me somewhere later so that we could talk. Of course, I was still going to trick her, but she needed to know when we were leaving and where we were planning on stopping first to meet Cecile in New York. She needed to think I was on her side if my plan was going to work.

It’s a genius plan, really. I don’t understand how it took me six months to figure it out. I would go with Katherine’s plan and go run away with her, except instead of just running to, like, Texas with her, I’d insist we kill Alec’s “friends” first. We would be “unknowingly” following Alec, and then when we finally got to Florida, I’d run back to Alec and kill Damien. If that failed, I don’t know what I’d do. I wasn’t the type to make a plan B (and besides, I didn’t exactly have much time).

I was in the middle of packing clothes when I received a very worried call from Jade.

“Jade, what’s wrong?” all I heard from the other end of the line was more sobbing and incomprehensible words.

“I don’t understand. What happened?”

“Drake’s missing.”

“Your older brother Drake?”

“Yes! Last night, this girl came in and just took him away. I can’t remember what she looked like. I mean, I keep trying and trying, but…it’s like she took my memory of her face away or something. I just don’t understand! Kieyra, what’s going on?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Well, I was babysitting Elena, and we heard someone come in the house. I knew it couldn’t have been my parents ‘cause they had just called and said they’d be home late. I told Elena to hide and went downstairs to see who it was. There was this girl in a black cloak holding an unconscious Drake. Then…I don’t remember what happened after that. It’s like my memory’s got holes in it.” I paused for a second.

“I think someone compelled you, Jade. Someone like me.” I said as calmly as possible, but Alec’s words echoed in my mind. The blood of the family of the storyteller. That’s one of the things Damien needed to complete the sacrifice. Of course they couldn’t use Elena, who could heal herself easily. It was either Drake or Jade, and I guessed that an oblivious male teenager would be the easiest target of the two. The “girl in a black cloak” was probably either Ophelia or Ana-most likely Ana, as Ana and Alec seemed to have been the messengers, or at least I thought so.  

“Kieyra? Kieyra? Kieyra, are you still there?” Jade asked.

“What?” I asked, snapping out of my haze.

“Um, my brother’s missing, I was compelled, and there was a vampire in my house!”

“Oh…right, yeah. I’ll…call you back.” I hung up the phone. Just as I put the phone down, I heard my mom coming up the stairs. I quickly hid my duffel bag back under my bed.
”Kieyra, are you ready?” she asked as she barged into my room without even knocking.

“Ready for what?” I asked, confused. My mom sighed.

“The wedding rehearsal! You forgot?”

“Oh my god, mom, I’m so sorry! It’s just, I’ve had a lot of things on my mind lately, and…and…”

“Whatever, Kieyra, just be ready in five minutes.”

When I got to the wedding rehearsal (which was greatly cutting back on my packing and planning time), Jade, Tegan, and Alec were there, along with Dave’s kids, of course. Mariana Wilkins was also in town. The “official wedding planner”, mom’s friend Joanna, stood at the altar, telling everyone what to do and where to do it. She directed me to stand at the front with Anna, Katie and Sarah, and sent Jade, Tegan and Alec to the very back row of chairs in the “friends of the family” section, along with little Farrah and Sarah’s friend Sydney. I was told to just stand at the back of the line of the bridesmaids holding a bouquet of purple flowers. After Joanna decided that there were far too many bridesmaids, she told me, Anna, Katie and Sarah to sit at the front and then told our friends to come sit with us. Did I forget to mention that Joanna can be a very indecisive person? After that she switched the flower colors five times before going back to purple, and (with my mom and Dave’s permission) brought me in and out of the line of bridesmaids at least six times before deciding on the bride and groom’s children being out of the wedding ceremony. Nathen, being the favorite of the family, was chosen to be the ring bearer. Even Farrah got to play a part in the wedding as the flower girl alongside my cousin Alexa. Sarah and Sydney spent the whole three hours we were sitting there texting and chatting, which eventually drove Joanna to send them away from the golf course where the wedding was taking place. I didn’t bother talking to any of my friends until after it was over. Jade was still shaken up over Drake’s disappearance, so she didn’t talk much. I talked to Tegan for a few minutes about an end of school trip later that month, and, even though neither of us would be able to go on that trip if Tegan joined us to escape Damien, I thought it would be better to tell her later. Just before Tegan left, I told her to meet me at the library at 7 o’clock tonight, and then told Jade the same thing. I waited to talk to Alec until all of my friends had left.

“Did you get my note?” he asked quietly, refusing to make any eye contact with me.

“Yeah. Why so soon?”

“One of my friends told me that Damien was planning to leave earlier to get the “capture of the doppelganger over with”. We’ll have to get a head start.” He said.

“Oh. Okay. Hey, can you-”

“Meet at the library at 7? I know, I read your friends’ minds.”

“You know, that mind reading thing you have is kind of rude.”

“I can’t read your mind anymore, so what does it matter?”

“I have a bracelet. I got it to prevent creepers like you from hearing my thoughts.” I said jokingly, grinning at him. He laughed.

“So I’m a creeper now?”

“Yes, but not a very good one. The best creepers have crazy pedostaches.”

“What the hell’s a pedostache?”

“Pedophile moustache. Obviously.” My mom came running towards me.

“Kieyra! Kieyra I need you to-Oh, am I interrupting something?” she asked, looking at Alec.

“No, I was just leaving. Goodbye, Kieyra.” Alec left.

“Well he seems nice.” My mom said, smiling. “Anyways, I wanted to know if you could babysit Nathen for me. Dave and I need to go over a few more last minute changes about the wedding.”

“How many fricking last minute changes do you need to make?”

“Oh, Kieyra, saying “fricking” is not lady-like.” I rolled my eyes.

“I’ll babysit if you stop criticizing the words I use. And be home by six thirty.” I said, knowing that, in her mind, six thirty meant seven.

“Deal.”

I’ll admit it, babysitting Nathen was definitely going to reduce my packing time, but I wasn’t going to see him for awhile. Come to think of it, there was a fifteen percent chance I would never see him again (yes, I’m making that number up. I don’t feel like making another tree diagram to, as my math teacher would say, “organize all possible outcomes for the situation”, thank you).  

                                             ………………………..

“Kieyra, come play Mario Kart with me!” Nathen whined, tugging at my shirt.

“No, Nathen, I can’t! I’m busy!” it was already seven fifteen, and Dave and Mom still weren’t home. I was scrambling around, packing my stuff, and Nathen kept whining and bugging me to play Mario Kart with him.

“What are you packing for, anyways?” he asked.

“I’m…um…packing an emergency bag. Just in case Earth gets taken over by aliens and I need to run away.” I said, knowing that Nathen was gullible enough to believe anything I told him.

“Oh.” He said. I tried calling Alec and Jade’s phones again for the fifth time, and, just like before, it went straight to message. I started panicking and paced the house like a crazy person.

“Kieyra, can you play Mario Kart now?”

“I said no, Nathen!” I yelled. Finally, Mom and Dave’s car pulled into the driveway and I ran out, desperately trying to get to the library.

“Kieyra, where are you going?” my mom asked, grabbing me by the shoulder.

“Library!” I said quickly, running off.

“BE BACK IN AN HOUR OR YOU’RE GROUNDED!!!!!!!!!” My mom called after me, but I didn’t even look back. I just ran. Just as I got to the library, I saw Tegan, Jade and Alec leaving. Great. The one time I actually wanted Alec to know what I was thinking, he couldn’t because I was wearing that stupid goddamn bracelet.

“Guys, wait!” I screamed from down the street. They didn’t hear me, so I tried screaming louder.

“Guys! I’m here!” they turned around. “I’m sorry I was late! My mom made me babysit, and I told her I had to be here at seven, and…and…” I caught up with my friends and stopped to catch my breath.

“It’s okay, Kieyra. We have time.” Jade said.

“Speak for yourself! I have to be home at eight!” Tegan said.

“Let’s just go inside.” Alec said. We went into the library conference room where I used to go to an extremely boring day camp when I was younger.

“Okay, we’re in the library; now whaddaya want?” Tegan asked.

“Well, did I tell you guys about the curse?”
Tegan and Jade exchanged confused looks.

“I guess not.” I said.

“Wait- my Aunt Lisa told me about a curse once…the Petrova curse. The one that involved my family.” Said Jade.

“That’s the one.” I said. “It involves my family too. Well, really, it just involves me. Long story short, I’m the ‘vampire Petrova doppelganger’ that Damien wants. Anyways, because of this curse thingy, I kind of need to get the hell outta town. With you guys.”

“Why do you need to get outta town?” Tegan asked.

“Because I need to hide.”
”Isn’t the curse supposed to happen on the summer solstice?” Jade asked.

“Damien’s impatient and wants his doppelganger.” Alec said.

“And why do you need us?” Tegan asked, still confused.

“To avoid suspicion.” Alec said impatiently.

“Suspicion of what?”

“Well, if you saw two teenagers wandering the continent, alone, wouldn’t you be suspicious?” Alec asked Tegan.

“Maybe…but where do we play into this?”

“She never stops asking questions, does she?” Alec asked, turning to me. Tegan frowned.

“No, sadly she doesn’t” I sighed.

“Just answer my question!” Tegan snapped.

“Okay, okay. Well, I’ve seen these things before where people from our country get to take a few people from a foreign country here on tours. You guys could pretend you’re from, like, France or something.”

“I can’t speak French.” Tegan said.

“Who cares?” I asked, annoyed. Tegan made a “pouty face” and sat down.

“If I come, I’ll have to bring Elena. I can’t leave her here unprotected.” Jade said.

“That’s okay; the bigger the group, the better.” Alec said. Tegan looked at me uncertainly.

“Kieyra, I don’t know. I’ll get in too much trouble.”

“Tegan, it’ll be fun. Haven’t you always wanted a vacation away from your family?”

“Well…yeah…but still, it’s different.”

“You know I’d do it for you. And you owe me for tying me up to a tree.” I reminded her, remembering that day when the bus crashed and Tegan vervained me.

“Ugh, fine.” Tegan finally agreed.

“How are we supposed to sneak out?” Jade asked.

“We could volunteer to clean up after the wedding.” Tegan said. We all looked at her, confused.

“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.

“Well, parents love it when we volunteer to do jobs we don’t wanna do, right? So Jade, Kieyra and I could volunteer to clean up, and then in return ask if we can sleep over at Kieyra’s house afterwards. Then we could sneak out of Kieyra’s house and go.”

“Tegan, that’s…that’s actually a good idea.” We were all surprised-Tegan was never the one with the good ideas. This was probably the first time one of her ideas was actually logical. Well, you know, as logical as a plan to run away to escape an evil British vampire could be.

“Great! Then I could meet you guys at Kieyra’s dad’s house where we’ll get the van. Kieyra, you did get the keys to the van, right?” Alec asked, looking back at me. Dammit! That’s what I forgot! I thought. In all of the madness that had happened when I went to my dad’s for Christmas, I had forgotten to get the keys to his van.

“Um…well…I sort of forgot.” I said. Everyone groaned.

“I can’t go back in there- I don’t have a key, and my dad’s got all sorts of vampire traps.”

“I’d go in, but I’ve never been to your dad’s house, so I wouldn’t know where to look.” Jade said. We all looked at Tegan.

“What?” she asked, with a puzzled expression.

“You’ve been to my dad’s house. You know where the keys are.”

“Oh no, no no no no no. No! No way in hell am I going in there!”Tegan exclaimed.

“But you went in there when you figured out what I was. You got the vervain dart from him.”

“Kieyra, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but your dad’s kind of crazy.” Tegan said.

“Relax, he’ll be sleeping. He goes to bed at, like, 8:30 now.” Tegan looked at her watch.

“Speaking of eight thirty, that’s what time it’ll be when I get home! I’m so dead! I gotta go!” Tegan dashed out of the library.

“I should get going too.” Jade said, following Tegan out. I was left alone in the conference room with Alec. I started to leave, but Alec stopped me.

“Kieyra?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s been a change in plans. Instead of going to all of the safe houses, we’re only going to the one in Florida. Nathaniel, Cecile, and Brannen will meet us there.”

“Okay.” There wasn’t really much to say to that. It’s not like it affected my plan that much.

When I got home and went into my room, I found Katherine sitting on my bed. Instead of flipping out on her like I usually would have, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had forgotten to text her, so her being here saved me a lot of time.

“My friend told me that Damien was collecting his sacrifice early.” Katherine said.

“What’s the plan?”

“Original plan still stands.” I said.

“Okay. I have a friend in New York that’s agreed to hide us. Her name’s Annalyn. She used to work for Damien; she’s the one who told me that Alec’s friends were working for Damien. Oh, and I brought you something.” Katherine handed me a book with “How To Handle Living With Your Evil Doppelganger” written on the front. In smaller letters, it said “Ellie M. Wilkinson”.

“This might explain a lot.” She said. Then she hopped out of the window and vanished into the night.

Chapter 28- Now I Know Why They Tell You To Focus.

“Clear your mind of all thoughts completely. Picture the animal in your mind. Now feel it. Be it. Now get a running start at it and feel yourself transforming, and you will. Like this.” Alec ran for a few meters down the deserted road and suddenly transformed into a crow.

It was Spring Break, and Alec had decided to finally teach me animal transformation.

“You make it look so easy.” I said, sighing as Alec transformed back into his human form.

“It’s not that hard. It only took me an hour to master it.” Alec shrugged.

“Well, that’s cause you don’t have the attention span of a squirrel. ‘Clear your mind’ isn’t exactly an easy task for me.”

“We’re in the middle of nowhere with no distractions.”

“Well, you’re here. That’s distracting.” I sat down against a tree and sighed.

“I’m hopeless.”

“No you’re not. Don’t say that.”

“I am. And you know it.”

“You’re not entirely hopeless.” Alec said, which I think was supposed to be reassuring, but with Alec you never know.

“What’s the point of this anyway? What’s so cool about turning into an animal?”

“When we’re in animal form we can communicate with each other through thought.” “Oh. Yay.” I said in the most sarcastic tone possible.

“It’ll be fun. Besides, you’ll need the practice if we’re going to kill Damien.” He had a good point there. I got up.

“Fine then. I’ll try. But only one more time, and then I’m giving up.”

“Deal.” I went out onto the road and stood there with my eyes closed, replaying Alec’s instructions mentally.

Clear your mind of all thoughts completely. I tried as hard as I possibly could to clear my mind, despite all of the problems I had to worry about.

Picture the animal in your mind. What animal? What would help me win a fight? A lion? A tiger? I decided to go for the tiger, as tigers had always scared me.

Feel it. Be it. I figured that one would be easy as long as I felt like ripping someone’s head off, so I pictured Nathen reading my diary aloud to my entire school.

Get a running start. Feel yourself transforming and you will. How was I supposed to do that? I started running and kept running for about five miles before I realized that nothing was happening and I was just running down the road with my eyes closed like an idiot. I stopped and opened my eyes. I was in front of an old church that was evidently big on peace; they had about a million different peace signs on the door. Right above the door was a picture of a dove carrying an olive branch, which according to Google was a big peace symbol in the 18^th century.

Suddenly, I heard a growl coming from the forest. I spun around. About six or seven feet away from me stood a big brown bear, staring right at me. Oh my god! What should I do? I thought, panicking. I decided to make a run for it; I guessed that I was probably faster and would outrun it. As I started running I closed my eyes in hopes that Alec was somewhat right and I could turn into an animal. I just wanted to get away; I didn’t exactly care what I turned into anymore. And then suddenly, I was flying.

I’d never imagined what flying was like. I’d always been afraid of planes, and I never really had wished for the ability to fly. I’d never liked the idea of being so far off of the ground. And yet…it was amazing. I was gliding over trees with no fear of falling at all whatsoever. I could see everything-including the bear, which had given up on me and decided to go for a raspberry bush. In the corner of my eye I saw a crow approaching me.

Copycat, I heard Alec’s voice in my head mock.

It’s not my fault. I didn’t mean to. I honestly had no idea how I was a bird. I’d wanted to be a tiger. A tiger that could rip heads off. Not a useless bird. I’d always hated birds; I was always afraid they’d poop on me or something. I felt strange and disoriented though, it was weird being so small, and having eyes on the sides of your head and holes for ears would take some getting used to. I swooped down over a pond and looked at my reflection in the water. I had transformed into a small white dove, like the one on the hippie church. Well, that’ll teach me to focus more when making important decisions.

Um, Alec? How do I change back? I asked.

Same way you changed the first time. Yeah, like that helped. If I had trouble changing into an animal, how was I expected to easily change back?

It took me about fifteen minutes, but I finally figured out how to change back into human form. It was nice to have my feet firmly planted on the ground again.

“What am I supposed to do as a bird? Poop on Sylvie’s grave?” I asked Alec. He laughed.

“You could do that. You could also go Hitchcock on people and peck their eyes out. By the way, you make a pretty bird.” I rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to punch Alec in the face.

“You really can’t just take a compliment, can you?”

“Nope, not really.” I went to the tree where I hung up my mind-shield bracelet and put the bracelet back on my wrist. Alec frowned.

“Why do you have to wear that thing?” he asked.

“Because I like my thoughts private, thank you.” I smirked, walking to Alec’s car and getting in.

“What’re you waiting for? Drive me home!” Alec rolled his eyes, got in the car, started the engine and drove away.

Chapter 27- Sylvie’s Last Stand

It had been a few weeks since Mariana’s appearance, and I hadn’t seen Katherine at all (thankfully). I decided not to tell Alec about Mariana. In all honesty, I needed to practice my lying. Dave had proposed to my mom (aww!) and they were planning an early June wedding, which I would probably still be in town for (sacrifice is at the END of June, remember?). My mom said I could bring three friends, so I chose Jade, Tegan and Alec-no surprises there- and Nathen got to bring his little friend Farrah, who I constantly teased was his girlfriend.

Maybe I should stop here. Maybe I should just lead you to believe that everything went great after that. Maybe I should tell you that my mom married Dave, I tricked Katherine and killed Damien, and everyone was happy and Alec and I grew up and had seven children all named Joe. I mean, I’m already on a roll of deception, so why not? But, I’m sorry to say that even though I’d like all that to happen, this is NOT the ending, and what happened wasn’t exactly as I just said (especially the seven kids named Joe). But if you’re looking for a happy ending, you might as well stop here and believe that there is one. But if you want to know the real ending, get some coffee and get comfy, ‘cause there’s a whole lot more that happened. Starting with Valentine’s Day.

You know how Valentine’s Day is supposed to be the most romantic day of the year? Well, there’s never really been a lot of romance in my life. I’ve never even gotten a card from anyone but my mom and Nathen. Alec was the only boyfriend I’d ever had, being a thirteen year old girl and everything. I spent the entire day at school watching everyone in my class getting valentines and candy grams from their secret admirers and listening to my friends babble on about how some guy likes them but they don’t know who. Even  Jade got a candy gram from Paul Mills, who claimed he didn’t like girls yet. As if. That night, I was helping Nathen sort his Valentine’s Day candy he got in cards from his friends after school when I heard a knock at the door. I ignored it and stayed with Nathen; I figured it was probably Ned down the street who was in love with my mom, or maybe one of Sarah’s friends. So, when my mom called out “Kieyra, someone’s here for you!” I was completely confused as to who could be looking for me.

“I’m busy.” I yelled. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone right now. Valentine’s Day depressed me.

“He says it’s important.” He? What guy would be here? I ran to the door and saw Alec standing in the doorway, smiling.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

 “Isn’t it kind of an American tradition to spend Valentine’s Day with the one you love?” I blushed.

“Yeah, I guess…” I turned to my mom.

“Go. Have fun.” She rolled her eyes. “Be back before ten.”

“Thank you!” I squealed, hugging my mom. I guess maybe I was a little too excited, but I had reason to be. I’d never really been on a date before, except if you counted when I was the third wheel on Tegan’s date with Damon Jensen. And since that was one of the worst days of my life, I didn’t know what to expect on a real date. Alec took me by the hand and led me outside, closing the front door behind me.

“I bought flowers, but my neighbor’s dog ate them.” I laughed.

“It’s okay. It’s the thought that counts, right?”

“Right.” I opened the door to Alec’s car and slid into the passenger’s seat.

He drove for about half an hour before pulling into the parking lot of a restaurant. I knew just from the outdoor décor and the five stars on the sign that I was pretty underdressed-jeans and a t-shirt- but then again, so was Alec.

“If you’d told me where we were going, I would have dressed a little nicer.” I said.

“Well, personally, I think you look beautiful.” I rolled my eyes.

“Well, you’re not a restaurant owner with the power to create a dress code, now are you?”

“Don’t worry, he knows me.” When we went in and sat down, the waitress looked at us as if there was some sort of prank being pulled on her.

“Um…may I help you kids?” she asked.

“Yes, I’ll have the lobster.” Alec said to her, his smug grin never fading.

“You do realize that they’re a hundred dollars a piece, right?” she raised her eyebrow in disbelief.

“In which case, I’ll have five. Kieyra?”

“Um, I’m good, thanks.” The waitress just shook her head and left, mumbling “they don’t pay me enough for this”.

“Five lobsters? Are you out of your mind?” Alec shrugged.

“Like I said, the owner knows me.”

An hour (and SEVEN lobsters) later, Alec had explained that the owner of the restaurant was a warlock he’d met about ten years ago and became friends with. Since Alec had saved the guy’s life once, he’d always said that eventually he’d make it up to him. Apparently, this is what Alec had asked for (aw, how sweet!).

After we left, Alec took me to the movie theater back in town, where we saw some incredibly cheesy movie that neither of us really watched. Honestly, I think he might have been paying more attention to the movie than I was. After the movie was over and we were leaving the theater, I spotted a familiar head of ginger colored curls and my blood turned to ice, as it usually did when I saw Sylvie French.

“It can’t be. She promised.” I said to myself under my breath.

“What?” asked Alec.

“Sylvie.” At the mention of her name, she turned around and smiled.

“Oh, hey Kieyra!” the way Sylvie said it made it sound like we were old friends or something.

“Um…Hi?”

“Come here, I want to show you something.” Even though there were a million voices in my head yelling “It’s a trap! Don’t go!” I did a stupid horror movie sorority girl move and followed Sylvie out of the theater.

When I went behind the theater with Sylvie, not only did I realize that, yes, this was a trap, but I was also quickly reminded of Sylvie’s power to send people to the ground in agonizing pain, not without a rather painful demonstration of course.

“What are you doing here?” I managed to ask between screams and gasps for air.

“Damien wanted me to deliver a message.”

“What?”

“That if you’re a smart girl you’ll give him what he wants.”

“Then what if I’m not smart?”

“Then Damien will kill everyone you’ve ever loved and make you watch them slowly die.” I looked around. There was nothing back behind the theater except for a bunch of trash and a broken table leg. Wait-tables are made of wood, right? Wood was harmful to vampires. I’d never seen it happen before, but I was near certain that a wooden stake through the heart would kill one of us. I managed to stop squirming enough so that I could use my powers to lift the table leg and cause it to come flying towards us, piercing Sylvie in the chest. She fell to the ground and the pain I was feeling stopped immediately. Sylvie just lay there, unmoving. It took me a few minutes for reality to sink in.

I…Killed…Sylvie French!

Was it wrong to be happy? I did a little three-second happy dance over Sylvie’s body, then checked her pulse just to make sure she was really dead (which she was). Alec came running back behind the theater.

“Hey, I heard screaming, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine.” I said, still grinning. Alec glanced at Sylvie.

“Is she…dead?” he asked.

“Kind of? Is that such a bad thing?” I asked, kind of worried that Alec wouldn’t be as happy about my killings as I was.

“Not at all. It’s just…I thought you were opposed to murder.” He smirked. I rolled my eyes.

“Come on, let’s hide the body before the authorities find it.”

Chapter 26-Outsmarting The Smartest

Mariana Wilkins. The woman Alec had been looking for in London, the vampire who had turned Dave and his children. The one he thought knew something about me and Katherine.

And she was standing in my kitchen.

I thought about the things I could do. Call Alec? No, he’d been around me too much today. I needed to give him some space. Talk to Katherine? No, I didn’t trust Katherine much anymore. Then there was Great Aunt Harriet, but I didn’t think she’d appreciate my visits any more than she had before I was turned into a vampire. My only option left seemed to be to confront Mariana.

Well, that should be simple. Not. I’d known the woman for, what, two minutes? Not even. The look in her eyes told me that she had already figured out who I was, and something told me that she and Katherine had never got along very well.

“I’m hungry.” Nathen said, finally breaking the silence.

“Well, there’s ice cream in the freezer down in the basement. I’ll go get it.” Mariana said.

“I’ll help.” I followed Mariana downstairs.

“You must be the doppelganger.” She said with a forced smile.

“And you must be the original Wilkins vampire.” I said, not being able to think of anything better to say.

“So you’ve heard of me. I’m assuming you’ve met Katerina?”

“Mmhm.”

“Of course. How else would you have known about me?” she chuckled to herself. “Dave doesn’t like to talk about me much. I make him think of Isobel too much. Why, though, I don’t understand. I look nothing like my sister.” It was true. I’d seen pictures of Isobel, and she’d had darker blonde hair and hazel eyes. No one ever would have thought they were sisters. Cousins, maybe, but not sisters.

“Met any of the others?”

“What others?”

“You know. The people in the hole. Those others.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

“Figures. They turned you, right?”

“Yes.”

“I heard that the youngest one, Alec, stopped working for Damien. You ever met him?” How did she know about Alec? Again, was there some sort of secret network that vampires used to talk to each other and gossip? I didn’t say anything, but because of the fact that I was blushing like crazy and trying not to make direct eye contact with her, she could tell that I had, in fact, met Alec.

“How cute.” Mariana rolled her eyes and started walking up the old wooden stairs. I watched Mariana closely; I wasn’t sure whether I could trust her yet. The only thing I saw her do that was remotely strange was feed Nathen ice cream when it was already past his bedtime, which I guess was okay because it was Christmas.

After Nathen was in bed, I overheard Dave talking to Mariana about me.

“How could you betray my sister like this, Dave? Fall in love with a descendant of the woman who killed your ex wife, who’s daughter happens to be her doppelganger? Are you out of your mind? She could be spying on our family, reporting everything to Katherine and plotting to kill me too!”

“She’s just a kid, Mari. Calm down. She wouldn’t do that. She seems to have her head on straight, not possessed by the devil. You don’t need to call an exorcist.”

“What if I do? And now that she’s been invited into this house, Katherine is too. You know how it works!”

“Yes, I do. I was there. But that doesn’t mean Kieyra is the same as Katherine. It’s just…seeing her reminds me of Katherine, which reminds me of Isobel, which is kind of sending me off the deep end.”

“Great! We can work with that! Now, take all of that bottled up rage and use it to-”

“We’re not killing her!” It was then that I realized that maybe Dave wasn’t the bad guy. He was just afraid to trust me. Afraid that I was too much like Katherine to be his step-daughter.

“And why not!” They were yelling now, and I was surprised that it didn’t wake up Nathen or my mom, who’d fallen asleep in Nate’s bed.

“Because how would Janette like to marry the man who killed her daughter?!” Dave pulled a silver diamond ring out of his pocket and twirled it around in his fingers.

“It’s funny how fast you move on.” Mariana said angrily.

“She’s not like Katherine.” Dave mumbled.

“Oh, right, we’re trusting the thirteen year old now. I forgot.” Mariana rolled her eyes.

“I’m not like her.” Whoops. There goes my cover.

“Oh, really? Prove it.” Mariana snapped.

“I…well, I don’t know how. All I can say is Katherine’s a manipulative liar, and I need help with a plan to fool her.” I wasn’t sure that they would help me, but it was worth a try. Mariana seemed to relax slightly.

“Go on.”

“Well, you see…you guys know about the sacrifice, right?”

“Ah, the only revenge my sister got on Katherine.” Mariana smiled.

“And about how all of Damien and his minions at the time would die if the sacrifice didn’t happen unless Damien died?”

“Yes.” Dave and Mariana said in unison.

“Well, Katherine was going to hide me until the summer solstice when Damien and the minions died.”

“That’s the first thing Katherine’s said in three hundred years that’s made sense. What’s wrong with that?”
”Um…well…it’s hard to explain.” Mariana was completely puzzled, but it only took Dave a few seconds to understand.

“Alec. I should have known.” Dave grumbled.

“Oh, doppelganger’s got a crush on the kid?”

“Yeah. Um. Sure. Okay.” I said. As if I was about to tell Mariana that he was in love with me and we were dating. I exchanged a “don’t you dare tell her” look with Dave, that he thankfully understood and didn’t mention anything to Mariana.

“Anyways, I need some way that I can kill Damien without Katherine knowing I know her plans.”

“Outsmart the smartest.” Mariana said, shrugging.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Well, Katherine’s smart, right? And since you and Katherine are pretty much the same, I’m guessing you think the same. So, if you know how she thinks, figure out how you would fool yourself and apply the same concept to her.”

“That’s…That’s actually not a bad idea.” I thought about it for a second. The only way to outsmart Katherine seemed to be to think like her…and if I could think like Katherine, I could figure out how to deceive her. Use her own tactics against her.

“Hmm. Maybe you actually are more trustworthy than I thought.” Mariana turned to Dave.

“Fine, you have my permission to marry Janette. Just know that if this ends badly, it’s on you.” With that, Mariana stormed out of the house. I turned to Dave.

“Thanks for not telling her about Alec.” I said.

“It was for the best. Even though I’m not your father, I’ll still treat you like one of my own. Isobel would have wanted that.” Dave sighed.

“Tell me about her. Isobel, I mean. What was she like?”

“Well, she was beautiful, for one thing. Blonde, green-eyed, tall. She could have been a model. She was kind-a little too kind. Forgave all of Katherine’s mistakes and selfishness. She was…real. Don’t get me wrong-I love your mom very much. But she’ll never take the place of Isobel.”

“If you want to marry my mom, you can. I’m sure she’ll like that. You have my blessings. Just don’t make the mistakes my dad did, okay?” Dave chuckled.

“He is a bit loony, isn’t he.”

“Very much so.” I smiled. I guess this was the first time I’d ever really talked to Dave-he’d always been the enemy in my eyes. Now I realized that all he’d ever wanted was my mom-it was never a ploy to get revenge on Katherine. He actually cared. As I started up the stairs to go to bed, Dave tapped my shoulder lightly.

“Yes?” I asked. Dave sighed.

“As hard as it is for me to say this, if you want to be with that Alec kid you can.”

“Who are you and what have you done with Dave?” Dave laughed.

“It seems only fair that if you’re willing to get along with me for your mom’s sake, I’ll at least try to get along with him.” I smiled.

“Thanks.”

Chapter 25- Sure Didn’t See That One Coming

When I got home from my dad’s, no cars were in the driveway, and there was a note taped to the door. I ripped the note off of the door and read it.

Dear Kieyra,

We’re out to dinner with one of Dave’s relatives. I tried calling you, but you left your cell at home. We’ll be home before nine.

                                                                    Love,

                                                                        Mom

I ripped the note up and threw it out of the open window in the living room. It was just like my mom to go somewhere fancy without me and not tell me. Usually, I would get mad and trash the house, but today I felt like taking this as an invitation to dance around in my room with the music cranked up as loud as it could go.

As I was dancing in my room, I noticed that my calendar had fallen off of the hook on my wall and fallen onto my desk. When I picked it up, I looked at it and wanted to kick myself. Right in the middle of the calendar was the date December 21^st circled in a bright red sharpie marker. Alec’s birthday. Four days ago. How could I have forgotten? I quickly dialed his phone number, and was angry when it went straight to voicemail. I searched my room  for the piece of paper he had written his home phone number on, which took me fifteen minutes to find. There was still no answer. I did a reverse lookup search on his home phone number and found out that he lived in an apartment building a few blocks away from my house. I looked at my clock. It was 7:30, which gave me about an hour to look for Alec.

At first I considered sneaking out my window, but then I decided that there was no point and just went out the front door without even locking the door. It wasn’t hard to find the apartment building; there was only one near where I lived, and it was right down the street from my school. I must have walked past it about fifty times walking to the elementary school down the street to read to the kindergarteners with my class. On the way there, I spotted Mrs. Stewart walking to her car, looking completely exhausted.

The thing about Mrs. Stewart was, well…she wasn’t really our teacher. We had a teacher for English (Mrs. Saunders), a teacher for math and science, (Mr. G), and a teacher for religion, geography, history and all that (Miss. Sanchez), but Mrs. Stewart was our grade seven teacher who just came into our Phys. Ed. Class to teach us sports and went on field trips with us. That was about it. I kind of felt sorry for her, though. She hated working with high schools; she liked teaching my class a lot better. I wished she could teach my class all the time, so she wouldn’t be so sad all of the time… No, Kieyra, I told myself, you can’t afford to feel anyone else’s emotions right now.  I got about five feet down the street before I realized that I had no idea which apartment was Alec’s. I knocked on the first door I saw. An old lady answered the door.

“Why hello, dear. Why is a young girl like you out so late on a night like this?” It was true, it was pretty cold outside, and it was starting to rain a little, but I didn’t mind.

“I’m looking for...er…I’m looking for my boyfriend.” It felt weird saying boyfriend aloud for the first time in the same sentence as the word my. Well, unless I was saying “my friend’s boyfriend”, which, quite frankly, I tended to say more often. I realized that that didn’t give the woman much description of Alec, so I continued.

“His name’s Alec. He’s about four inches taller than me and has dark hair and blue eyes. He told me he lived in one of these apartment buildings.”

“Oh, the boy? He lives in the apartment next to mine. He left a few hours ago to do something though. You can go in, if you want. He never locks the door.” Wow. I wondered what kind of neighborhood this woman grew up in. Probably a very friendly one. I mean, who tells someone that? I started walking towards the next door, but hesitated. If Alec hadn’t invited me in, I couldn’t go in.

“Don’t be afraid, dear. Besides, I own these apartments, so I’m allowed to let you in.” I slowly opened the door.

Alec’s apartment wasn’t at all like I expected. I’d expected…well, I’d expected all expensive furniture and wide-screen TVs, and, well…not what I saw. His walls were a rather ugly shade of beige, and the only thing that was in the front hall was a hook with an ugly brown jacket on it. I went into the next room. There was an old yellowy-brown colored couch that smelled faintly of cigarette smoke. Sitting on a small table across the room from the couch was an old TV with “rabbit ear” antennas. I guess Alec really didn’t need more than a few channels-he didn’t really seem to be the type to entertain himself electronically. Connected to this room was the kitchen, in which was simply a small white dining table with old white chairs that had most of the paint scratched off, a toaster oven that was covered in a layer of dust, and a fridge that was a faded shade of white. I was curious to know exactly what he kept in his fridge, but instead of looking I headed back to the front hallway and went up the old, creaky, wooden staircase. At the top of the stairs, I saw two doors; one was open and one was closed. The open door led to a small bathroom, which, judging by the condition of the rest of the house, I was kind of afraid to see. I reached out to open the second door but stopped. The thought of being in Alec’s house alone without him knowing made me feel uneasy. You’re invading his privacy, Kieyra, I thought. Then again, Alec read my mind all the time before Katherine gave me the bracelet.

“It’s only fair.” I said aloud to myself, as I turned the door knob and pushed open the door. This room was different than the others-and not just because of its surprising cleanliness. It was evidently a bedroom-there was a king sized bed with an elegantly carved chestnut-colored headboard in the far corner of the room. It was-unquestionably-the largest room in the entire house. Bookshelves lined the walls (filled with books, of course) and there was a dresser beside the bed with a picture of me and him on it.

“Ahem.” I froze. Busted. I spun around, my face turning bright red. Alec stood in the doorway, a smug smile on his face.

“I didn’t…I mean…I…you didn’t answer your phone.”

“People’s phones run out of battery sometimes, Kieyra.”

“Well, I know, it’s just…I just …I forgot your birthday.” Alec laughed.

“I’ll have about a million more. It’s okay. And besides, I never said happy birthday to you on your birthday.” That much was true.

“It wasn’t exactly very happy.” I said, remembering my fight with Sylvie.

“True.”

“So…we’re even?” I asked. The reason I was here seemed silly now.

“We’re even.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. 8:17. My mom would surely be home soon.

“I have to be home, like, now. My mom doesn’t know I left, and Dave…well, Dave tends to overreact sometimes.” Alec nodded in agreement and smiled.

“I’ll walk you.”

The moment I saw my mom and Dave’s cars in the driveway, I knew I was in deep trouble. I said a quick goodbye to Alec before walking into my house, passing my mom nonchalantly and starting upstairs.

“Kieyra Mary Lynn Gordon…” uh oh. Full name. That couldn’t be good at all.

“Yes?” I asked coolly

“Where were you?”

“I took a walk.” I said, which was true.

“Where?”

“Near the school. Just around that general area.” I shrugged. I was relieved to find that lying was a lot easier if there was some truth to your lies.

“Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? You could have been dead, for all I knew!”

“I’m sorry mom. I should have left a note. It won’t happen again.” My mom seemed to be considering it for a second. I didn’t do anything wrong, not really. She couldn’t punish me just for getting some healthy exercise. And besides, I was thirteen, definitely old enough to take a short walk around the block after dark.

“Don’t let it happen again.” She said, sighing.

“I won’t.” I could hear Dave and his daughters talking in the kitchen. It was the usual post-dinnertime conversation-stories about weird stuff that happened at school, getting good grades on science projects, sports that were going to be covered in P.E. after the Christmas Break, but I could hear another voice. A woman’s voice. I walked into the kitchen to find Dave, Sarah, Anna, Katie and Nathen sitting around the table, listening to the woman-who I thought must’ve been Dave’s relative-talk about when she spent the summer in Paris, France.

The woman was tall and thin, and though I knew she must have been, she looked no older than 23. She had long, strawberry blonde hair and green eyes like Sarah’s. She could have passed for a supermodel. When the woman saw me, she stopped talking immediately. She had a confused expression on her face, which quickly turned from confusion to understanding to…well…kind of intimidating.

“This is my sister Kieyra.” Nathen said, but none of us were paying attention. The woman just kept staring at me.

“Nice to meet you, Kieyra.” She finally said, but she didn’t sound like she was so happy.

“I’m Mariana, Mariana Wilkins.”