Page 70 of This Blood That Binds Us

It made the world easier to take. Even the most confusing parts.

“Have you seen William anywhere?” I asked, peeking over my shoulder.

Worry had settled permanently in the pit of my stomach since the dance. I was afraid to go anywhere by myself anymore. I felt delusional again. Nothing indicated that William was our vampire, but I couldn’t shake the fact that we had missed it at the formal. I was having trouble remembering our original plan and why we even thought it was William in the first place.

“Kim, how many times do I have to say it? He’s not the guy.”

Aaron didn’t know, but I noticed his change in demeanor when he came back to find me in the crowd that night. I noticed that, since the dance, he looked particularly more troubled than usual. I noticed the weird shift in his voice every time he recited the same monolog back to me of what happened when he left.

It was the same each time. They went to find William, then something triggered Luke, then he left. Aaron swore he had talked to William and concluded there was nothing to worry about, but when trying to get direct pieces of dialog from him, he’d repeat the same thing back to me.

Yet, I still trusted Aaron’s cloudy judgment. At least I trusted the fact that he felt he was telling the truth.

“I just think there’s something we are missing about the dance. He never came back, remember? And we haven’t seen him since. That’s weird,” I said.

Aaron and I had done a few “covert ops missions,” as Aaron liked to call them. We’d check the swim team schedule posted on the bulletin in the gym and wait for William to show up for practice, but he never did.

I kept replaying the same scene in my head. When I started to feel nervous because William wanted to get me alone, I used the code word. Everything after that wasn’t clear. I remember walking toward the steps, and Aaron looked panicked.

“You’re right. It’s weird. We shouldn’t rule anyone out.” Aaron nodded matter-of-factly.

I loved Aaron’s refusal to gaslight me despite the doubt in his eyes.

“What are we going to do about Presley?” I said.

Aaron shrugged. “He swears he can keep the secret this time.”

“And your brothers—how have they been since the fight?”

“They’re fine,” he said quickly. “Kim, come on! It’s a beautiful day. Can we just go enjoy this glorious day? I’m kind of looking forward to our little getaway, just to have a break from everything.”

Our getaway. The butterflies were back.

“You’re right. Why worry about dangerous, life-altering events when you can ignore all your problems and sleep in the mountains?”

The grin returned to Aaron’s face. “Exactly.”

“Hey, wanna see me climb that tree over there?” Aaron bounced in step with me, pointing to the tallest tree on our horizon.The giant redwoods surrounded us and kept us company on our journey up the trail. It was magical.

“Uh, no, actually.” I laughed.

The wind sang through the trees in the distance and stirred the pollen and petals. I took a deep breath and admired the aroma. There was still a good bit of daylight left.

“Do you need to stop to rest? Tell me if we’re going too far.” Aaron walked beside me, casting a long shadow over my face.

“You’re too worried about me. I’m not made out of glass.”

“I’d say humans are pretty fragile. Hey, I can carry you on my shoulders if you want.” He wiggled his eyebrows, tempting me.

“No thanks, I can walk by myself.” I snickered.

“Suit yourself, then.” He looked up, admiring the sun peeking through the trees.“I didn’t know you liked to hike. I can’t imagine there are many places to hike in Brooklyn.”

“In Brooklyn, no, but my brothers would take us hiking upstate for special occasions when they could.”

“Your brothers were very charming at the dance.” I slid slowly back into a conversation Aaron refused to have with me.

He apologized for how he acted after the dance. I told him he got a pass after spending five minutes being kicked and punched in the head. But I wanted to bring it back up to get a read on Aaron’s true feelings on his brothers.