Part 5 (1/2)

”You could have picked up the phone and called me yourself.”

”Oh, I didn't want to bother you. I knew you'd be settling in, meeting new friends. I didn't want to ruin your street-cred.”

I cringed at my mother's choice of words. ”Don't be silly. I did tell you'd I'd wait until Dad was up before I called.”

”I know you did, but still ... I was worried you might have had a car accident or something.”

I rolled my eyes. That was my mother-the constant worrier. I guess after everything we'd been through it was only to be expected. I'd almost died as a child, something they never spoke to me about and thought I couldn't remember, so it was only natural for her to be overprotective. Even so, her overprotective nature was definitely one of my reasons for wanting to get away from home. I loved her more than anything, but I needed my own s.p.a.ce. I had no intention of telling her about the incident with the fallen wire on my drive into town, and that my car was in the shop.

”So you're okay, then?” she continued. ”You've made some friends?”

”Yes,” I said, thinking of Brooke and how I didn't think I'd ever be cla.s.sed as a friend.' But then I remembered Flynn, Laurel, and even Dana. ”I've made some friends,” I told her. ”Everyone has been great, and a group of us went out this evening.”

I sensed her relax on the other end of the line. ”That's wonderful, sweetie. Sounds like fun. I can't believe my baby-girl is all grown up and living away from home.” She gave a sniff.

”I'm hardly a baby anymore, Mom.”

”No, I know you're not. I'm just going to spend the next few months having to remember that you're not in the house anymore.” She lowered her voice, though if my dad was anywhere in the vicinity he'd have heard her anyway. ”The daytimes are going to be very lonely.”

”So sleep in the day and spend time with Sebastian at night. Isn't that what you've been looking forward to all these years?”

She sighed. ”I lose one of you, but gain the other. I just wish I could have both.”

”You've still got me, Mom. I'm only at college.”

I heard a muttered voice beyond my mother's. ”Your father is hovering,” she said. ”I'd better pa.s.s you over.”

”Sure, Mom. I love you.”

”I love you too, sweetie. Stay safe.”

There was a shuffling as she handed the phone to my father.

His deep voice came down the line, ”Hey, kiddo.” I pictured him standing in our hallway, with his pale skin and dark hair, still looking no more than mid-thirties, despite being hundreds of years old.

”Hi, Sebastian,” I said with a grin, knowing my habit of using his first name irked him. ”Sleep well?”

I felt the smile in the tone of his voice. ”Like the dead. How are things with you? I a.s.sume by your mother's lack of panic that you made the rest of your trip safely.”

I laughed. ”Yeah, no twenty car pile-up on the freeway, or freak aircraft cras.h.i.+ng into the school.”

Just a freak electrical wire and a runaway carnival ride.

”Glad to hear it, though the way your mother has been acting, you'd think that's exactly what had happened.”

”You've only been awake about ten minutes.”

”Good thing, too. At least she only had herself to drive insane.”

”You don't mean that.”

It was his turn to laugh. ”Of course not.”

Despite his teasing, I didn't have any doubts that my father would always be there for my mom, Serenity. They'd been through so much together and regularly embarra.s.sed me with their very public displays of affection. Okay, maybe not public, but certainly around the house, and that was enough for me. The last thing any kid wants to see is their parents making out on the couch.

”And how's everything else,” Sebastian asked me. ”How are you getting on with ... things?”

I knew what he was asking me. Both my parents were aware of my precognitive abilities, though my mom liked to pretend I'd gotten a handle on everything. My dad, who had lived with his own abilities for hundreds of years and still struggled to fit in, understood a bit more.

”There have been a couple of weird moments, but nothing I can't handle.”

No breathing came down the end of the line, I could have been speaking into a dead connection, but I knew I wasn't. ”That's great. You know any time you need us, just shout and we'll be there.”

”I don't need you coming to my rescue now, Dad. I'm a grownup. I want to handle things my own way.”

”Too independent,” he grumbled. ”You always were.”

”I think my genes have something to do with that.” I paused. ”Look, Dad, I really have to go. Some people are waiting for me.”

”Okay, no problem, sweetheart, as long as we know you're okay. Shall I put your mom back on?”

”No, don't. You know what she's like, she won't let me go.”

”Okay, we'll say bye to you together.”

There was a m.u.f.fled sc.r.a.pe and jointly their voices came down the line, ”Bye sweetie, we love you!” I could picture them with their faces pressed close together as they both tried to use the phone simultaneously. The image made me feel strangely homesick, even though I'd been so desperate to escape all this time.

”I love you too, guys. I'll call soon, I promise.”

I forced myself to hang up before the repet.i.tions of I love you' came down the line.

As awkward as I felt heading back to our room, knowing Brooke would most likely be there, I had nowhere else to go. I could always go and sleep in my rental car, but not only would it be super uncomfortable, I also didn't want to be a coward. Hiding from Brooke because she'd gotten an insight into my dirty little secret made me look pathetic.

I took a deep breath, forced my feet to move, and went back to our room. She was lying on her stomach, reading a book, and only glanced in my direction before turning back to it, a scowl narrowing her eyes.

I shrugged out of my jeans and undid my bra, slipping it out from beneath my top. I probably should have changed, but I only wore a camisole and panties to bed, and I didn't want to expose my skin to the other girl any more than I already had. Slipping beneath the bedcovers, I turned my back on Brooke, facing the wall. I pressed my face into the pillow I'd brought from home, wanting to be comforted by the feel and smells of home. Instead, the pillow only served to cause a huge wave of homesickness to rise up and crash over me.

Even though I had come to Sage Springs in order to escape the vampirism that had shadowed my entire life, right then I would have given anything to be at home with my mom and dad, Serenity and Sebastian.

Chapter.

8.

I stood on a road on the outskirts of town. Pine forests bordered both sides of the road, but, beyond the bend ahead, I could just make out the lights of town glowing into the night sky.