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He sat down at the island while I rummaged through the cabinets for something that I could eat and not get sick. I finally settled on some crackers. I sat down next to Gabriel and he eyed my package of crackers warily.
“That’s what you’re eating? It looks like fish food,” he commented.
I found myself laughing. “Well, I wouldn’t normally eat something like this but I don’t think I can stomach much else,” I said lightly.
Diana walked in to the kitchen, “Hey, Kylie. I didn’t know you were down here. Oh my God what’s on your shirt?” she asked her eyes bugging out.
I looked down to inspect the stain. I blushed, “Oh, um, it’s my blood. Jonathon woke up.”
“Oh,” she said. “Let me get you a clean shirt,” she said before disappearing back the way she came.
I shook my head. Diana. Despite what we had all just been through fashion was still on the forefront of her mind.
Gabriel chuckled, “She’s something isn’t she.”
“She’s a girl,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow, “And you are not?”
I nibbled on a cracker, “I’m a girl too but I’m not quite as concerned with how I look. Well, at least not anymore. I know now that there are more important things. I guess seeing people murdered does that to you,” I said and shrugged my shoulders.
He leaned back in the stool. “Do you think that you’ll ever be okay?” he said. He looked sad which surprised me.
I tucked a piece of brown hair back that had fallen out of my pony tail. “Honestly, no. I lost my mom. I saw my dad and my best friend killed. And I’ve seen plenty of other people’s deaths simply because they died for me. I know that I have to put it behind me and move on but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen. I mean, look at the girl who was killed at the hotel, her family will never know what happened to her. It hurts to know that I caused that. I know that I have to go on and live my life and find some sort of happiness but, no, I won’t ever be okay.”
Gabriel sighed, “I was afraid you were going to say that. You remind me so much of myself. I can’t put the past to rest either and I’ve had thousands of years.”
“Maybe we can help each other Gabriel,” I whispered hesitantly. I didn’t want to push him away when he was making such progress.
“Maybe we can,” he sighed as Diana came back in with a new shirt.
“Thanks, Di,” I said.
“No problem. No one wants to go around with a bloody shirt on,” she smiled. “Do you need anything else?” she asked.
“No,” I said.
“Okay,” she smiled and disappeared.
I nibbled on my last cracker while Gabriel and I sat in companionable silence. I was suddenly very tired and desperately wanted to go to bed and never have to leave. Jonathon had taken more of my blood than he had before and it had left me feeling weak and tired.
Gabriel seemed to sense this and said, “You look tired. Are you ready to go to bed?”
“Yeah,” I said, depositing the cracker wrapper in the trash can.
The living room was starting to clear out but the ones with the most serious injuries still lingered. Isobel was still unconscious and I saw Diana tending to a young man in a darkened corner. Her movements were soft and hesitant like a butterfly. I could see the boy was whispering to her and I swear I saw her blush. I told myself that I would have to ask her about it later but for now I needed sleep. Hopefully a prophetic-dream free sleep. Gabriel walked with me. I wasn’t sure if he was just meeting the others or making sure I didn’t fall over. I couldn’t believe how sleepy was since I was sure I had slept for a while but when I looked at a clock I saw that I had hardly slept an hour before Jonathon’s convulsions awoke me.
Patrick and Joseph were sitting by Jonathon’s bed in chairs they had pulled over. They both looked tired and strained. It was strange seeing the normally energetic, full of life, vampires so exhausted and run down. I knew they needed rest but I also knew they wouldn’t get any until Jonathon woke up and was okay again. I saw that they had managed to get clean sheets and bed covers on and even Jonathon was wearing clean clothes. Jonathon was still asleep, or in hibernation, and it didn’t look like he would be waking up anytime soon.
“Do you know anything about what happened to him?” I asked quietly.
“No,” said Patrick, “We’re just going to have to keep an eye on him and hope that there is nothing seriously wrong with him.”
“Okay,” I said a nodded my head. It wasn’t the answer I wanted but it was the only one I was going to get.
Joseph and Gabriel left but Patrick lingered. “We’ll be checking in periodically to make sure you’re both okay.”
“Okay,” I said, “but be sure and get some rest yourself. You have to be drained.”
