You Fight For All The Wrong Reasons

The rest of the summer went by in a blur. My 16th birthday had come and gone. When I wasn’t with the pack, I was with Cam or Stella, who had introduced me to Lark and Adalia. They welcomed me with overwhelming kindness, as if I were a vampire myself.

But with every new vampire I acquainted myself with, the more I felt a traitor to the pack.

I still couldn’t fathom the idea that Cam and Eli were brothers. It was impossible. My affectionate Cameron couldn’t possibly be related to that blood-sucking monster.

But you can’t hide from the truth.

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

It was a week before school started, and Christina, Julia, Jess, Alicia and I were all at Christina’s house for a sleepover to mourn the start of school.

Alicia is another member of the pack.

And Mitch absolutely adores her. I don’t blame him. She’s beautiful, with her warm, dark eyes and coffee-colored skin, long legs, and midnight hair that swishes along her waist. She’s charming, sweet, and amorous, and I think they would be the cutest couple. Mitch has only told me, Christina, and Ryan about his “deepest darkest secret”, as he runs to us for advice, calling us his “love gurus.” Ryan is rather embarrassed by his new stereotype.

But I think the rest of the pack is slowly catching on.

We were all determined to pull an all-nighter. It was already 4:00 am, but Julia was starting to slip. “More Red Bull, anyone?” Christina sang, tossing one at Julia. “Stay awake!”

Julia murmured something under her breath but took a huge swig of Red Bull anyways.

I shuffled the deck of cards in my hands. “Who’s ready to be demolished at Spit?”

“You’re on!” Alicia sat down in front of me and set up her cards.

Midway through our heated round of Spit, a loud squeaking noise echoed through the house. My breath caught in my throat and I saw Alicia’s eyes widen. “What was that?” she whispered.

“I’m sure it’s nothing…probably my parents going to get something,” Christina said. But her expression told me that she doubted her own words. “I’ll go check.”

“Let’s hope it’s all of those scary movies getting to us,” I told Alicia.

She grinned. “Yeah, I’m a sucker for psychological thrillers.”

A minute later, the door flew open and in ran Christina, pale and breathless. She was shaking as she closed the door as quietly as possible.

“There’s someone in the house!” she whispered, her voice jumping two octaves. “I think…I think it’s a vampire.”

Eli. Eli and company. I shook my head. “Oh no.” My heart was pounding. “What are we going to do?”

It was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know,” Christina said, her voice trembled just as much as the rest of her body.

“I think we should go out and fight it,” Julia suggested bravely.

If I didn’t know the story behind how Cam had become a vampire, I would have gone along with that. But I liked my eyes the way they were. I didn’t want to take any chances right now.

Alicia gasped. “It’s coming! I hear it! Outside in the hallway!” She slid under Christina’s bed and draped the sheets over the side.

“Coward,” Julia muttered.

But I could hear the leech’s footsteps as clear as day. It definitely was coming closer.

“We’re in no position to attack it,” I whispered my plan to Jess, Christina, and Julia. “Our best bet is to hide and hope for the best.” I followed Alicia under the bed, and the others squeezed under as well.

The hinges on the door screamed as the door was opened.

Christina grabbed my hand. Her skin was clammy and cold.

Footsteps.

And the stench. It was awful. Our culprit was definitely a vampire.

The footsteps stopped. Two shoes pivoted right at the center of the bed. Oh God My mind started racing. We should’ve attacked, we should’ve attacked! We could have at least phased. We are dead now.

A ghost-white hand reached down and pulled up the sheets that were hiding us.

It took everything in me not to scream. I was frozen, paralyzed, by Eli’s burning eyes. How the hell did he find us? I could do nothing but return his fiery, hungry stare.

At least we were all going to die together.

And miraculously, he dropped the covers. Jess’s mouth fell open. I found myself doing the same thing, gaping at the place where Eli’s face had been mere minutes ago. I lifted the sheets up the slightest bit, so we could all see what was going on outside.

Eli walked over to the window, blond hair shining in the moonlight. He unlocked the window, and leaped out.

I stared at the open window, then at Christina. Finally, after a moment of shocked silence, I felt tears of pure fear start to roll down my face. The aftershock after the earthquake. “That’s him,” I told her.

And she knew exactly what I meant.

That’s him, the vampire who tried to kill me on the Fourth of July.

That’s him, one of Cam’s kind.

That’s him; do you recognize him from the attack in the woods?

That’s him, who wants us all dead, but for some reason didn’t kill us.

That’s him, who is not after one of us five, but something we have, or one of our own.