Page 24 of This Blood that Bonds Us

Everything I need.The thought snapped me back, and I pulled the quilt up and over my shoulders. Suddenly, the room felt a few degrees colder than it had before. There was no knock on the door this time. It was just me and the silence and a night-light that looked strangely like Mr. Bear. I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a few photos I had left. A lot of Zach flipping off the camera. Luke always smiled in his. I held the one of us at the Halloween party in our costumes. Pictures were cruel in that way. They held a moment that was nice to remember, but you couldn’t go back.

I rubbed my chest again where the hole grew bigger and bigger by the minute.

We were finally safe, like they’d wanted, but why did it feel like I was missing something? Something I vitally needed.

My coat still smelled like smoke. I wouldn’t wash it, but I might hide it so Mom wouldn’t do it by accident. As I hauled it from the bag and straightened it out, something crinkled, and I pulled a piece of paper from the pocket.

The ink was smudged, making the zeros look like sixes.

It was a phone number signed off with–A.

The only A-named person I knew now was Aaron, and he didn’t do things like leave little notes in my pockets. I guess there was one more . . .

Akira.My stomach sank at the reminder.

The note could be from Akira. Killer vampire cult Akira. Akira,I’m really dead nowAkira. He must have slipped it in my jacket at some point. But why?

Hope fluttered in chest. The sick kind you feel when you’re on a rollercoaster and then it bottoms out. Whose phone did the number go to? What if it was Luke’s or Zach’s phone? Did they have phones? Probably not, or they would have called.

Second thought, they didn’t have my number.Duh.

But maybe I had theirs . . .

I picked up my tragic little flip phone, then paused because that could be the worst idea ever. Luke specifically said to be good, but what did that even mean? Be good as in help little old ladies cross the street? Or be good as in listen to everything Aaron said? I needed specifics, dammit. He should have leftmea note.

What if the person on the other end of the line ended up being my brothers? I gave it one more second before I dialed the number, then paced the room as it rang.

“Hello?” a male voice answered. Not my brother’s.

“Is Zach or Luke there?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“Is this Presley?”

“Uh.”

“He told me you’d call.”

“Who? My brothers?”

“No. Akira.”

I hung up and threw my phone onto the bed.Shit.

My heart raced and I paced again.Bad. Bad. Bad.It was fine. They couldn’t track my phone that fast or anything.Right.Everything was fine. I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at the wall till my heart stopped throbbing in my ears.

It wasn’t a big deal. It changed nothing. Akira gave me this number and told some guy I’d call him. No. Not important at all. The phone vibrated on the bed, and I jumped. They could call all they wanted, but I wouldn’t answer because I was going to be good like Luke said. That was the correct thing to do . . . right?

Ten

Kimberly

The blanket of snow numbed my senses as we arrived at a little square cabin with a baby blue door. The porch light was dim, but I could make out the 222 on the front post. It was less than a three-minute walk from Vera’s cabin.

Cold rushed in as Aaron opened the door. The room was cast in a blue light shining from the kitchen. It was small compared to Vera’s, with only a sink, a miniature camping stove, and a mini fridge on one end of the room. However, it was large compared to anything else that had ever been mine. I placed the sheets and blankets on the couch and got to work on the fire. The smell of cedar overwhelmed the modest space.