Page 42
“So, you are both werewolves?” I say, the words sounding insane as they leave my lips.
“No, I am different,” Cyrus replies, making me look at him.
“How so?” I ask.
To me, they both looked human until one started sprouting fur and growling. I kind of wished I didn’t know. It seems easier being oblivious to what they are; now, my head is swimming with questions and fear for my life.
“He is a vampire,” Eli says like it is no big deal.
“I would say that is crazy, but after what I just saw…” I shake my head, losing my train of thought. They both watch me, making me feel uncomfortable.
“Wait, so you kill people?” I ask, suddenly creeped out. I have seen Dracula, and him saying that now just makes me more terrified than being ripped apart by Eli.
“No, I get blood from Eli,” he says, cocking his head to the side, watching my face. I let his words register.
“Does it hurt?” I ask him.
Eli smiles. “Of all the questions, you wonder if it hurts to be bitten by a vampire? No, Addie, it doesn’t hurt, the opposite actually.”
“Any more questions?” Cyrus asks.
I do have one, but it feels kind of childish to ask. I look at Eli, and he rolls his eyes like he knows what I am going to ask.
“Go on, spit it out.”
“What?”
“You’re too embarrassed to ask something, so I am assuming it’s something I will find hilarious,” he says.
“How do you know, though?” I ask, and he rolls his eyes.
“That mark on your neck, I feel what you feel,” he says, and my hands instinctively go to it.
“Like everything I feel?”
“Yes, Addie, everything. I could even feel you with Sam this afternoon,” he says, his eyes darkening slightly, making goosebumps rise on my skin.
Fear courses through me, worry nagging at me, and my head is starting to hurt from everything it is trying to process.
“You don’t need to fear us,” Eli says.
“You say that, but I am not allowed to leave.”
“We let you leave, you will run,” Cyrus says.
I shake my head when Eli growls, making my eyes dart to him.
“I can feel what you feel, Addie, even before you know what you’re feeling. And one thing I am certain of is, you will run,” Eli says.
He is right. I have every intention of running, but now I wonder if I will ever get the chance. But what will happen to my family? Will they kill them if I run? But then what will happen to Maya and my mother if they don’t? No doubt my sister will leave again; I have given up on thinking she will ever recover from her addictions. Though we’ve tried, it is always the same result; she stays clean, then spirals again.
“What are you thinking?” Cyrus asks.
“Nothing, it doesn’t matter,” I tell them.
“Then why do you feel worried? We have told you we won’t hurt you,” Eli says.
“I want to go home,” I tell him, and he sighs.
