Page 11

Ruby

I had to leave town.

Fast.

Any way I thought about it, there was no way I could stay here. As soon as Danny’s body was found, I would be the first suspect. His family would know that he came to fetch me, that he was taking me back to the ranch. If there was any sign of vampire involvement, that would mean even bigger trouble for me. Conspiring with the enemy on top of killing one of our own.

It meant certain death.

I had to get my money first. Everything I had saved up over the past few months, plus what Luc had given me for that night I had to trick Tomás. It was a fair amount, enough to have my mom moved to a facility out of shifter territory. I needed to get to her as soon as possible and arrange for the transfer.

First, I had to get home and find my money. This was going to be tricky. I knew there would probably be people watching the house and I took the long way back, deciding it would probably be best not to use either the front or back door. Instead, I snuck into the side where the bathroom mirror faced the wall. The window was always open and I knew I could slip in. I had entered and left the house many times this way as a teenager.

This was different, though. I couldn’t make a noise and took off my shoes in case. I carefully pulled myself up to the window and pushed my way in, watching where I put my feet inside. I held my breath and listened. I could hear people talking in the living room. They didn’t sound upset, which meant they were looking for Danny but hadn’t found him yet. I carefully climbed down from the window. At the back of the bath, I loosened the tiles and found my hiding spot with the bags of money. I stuffed them into my shirt, replacing the tiles and making my way up to the window as quickly as possible. On my way out, I caught my foot on the handle and a loud clanging noise sounded up.

“What was that?” I heard a voice say. It was Becky, Danny’s sister. I held my breath as I heard her walk into the bathroom. She looked around and called out, “Nothing here. Anyway, as I was saying…”

I slipped on my shoes and snuck out the back again.

I needed a car to get me out of town and I thought Mrs. Anderson from two houses down was my best bet. I snuck onto her porch, risking being seen but there was no other way.

I knocked a few times and then the old lady opened the door.

“Whaddaya want?” she asked through the small opening of the door. She wasn’t taking any chances.

“I need to ask a favor. Please, can I come in?”

The old lady narrowed her eyes, then relented. “Ah, well, all right.”

She closed the door behind us and glared at me.

“Well, what is it?”

I asked if I could borrow her car to get to Burton, where my mom was in the hospital.

“Why do you look like you’re running scared? What have you done?” she demanded to know.

I bit my lip. “There’s been an accident. Danny got hurt. They’ll be coming for me, I ‘ve got to get out of here and get to my mom.”

The old lady considered, “I always liked your mom. She was nice to me. Not a lot of people here are.”

She gave me a look. “What happened to Danny then? Never took to that boy, I’ll tell you.”

I sighed. “He wanted to take me to the ranch, but I didn’t want to go.”

She nodded. “They don’t like us saying no, do they?”

I shook my head.

“And the stories of the vampire? That true? Him coming to see you?”

Of course word had gotten round of a vampire visiting a certain house in Buzzard Creek. But I was surprised to hear that this gossip had even reached her ears.

I looked down, embarrassed, not sure what to say.

“None of my business, sweetheart,” the old lady chuckled. “But I had some fun with fangbanging in my day.”

“Mrs. Anderson!” I was shocked. She had always seemed like such a mild-mannered old lady to me.

“Oh, I was young once too, you know!” she winked at me. She fetched her keys and gave them to me. “You get out of here, darlin’,” she said.

“Can’t I take you somewhere too?” I asked. “Things are probably going to get a whole lot worse soon and it won’t be safe for you here?”

“I’ll be all right, don’t you worry,” she said, pointing to her shotgun propped up against the wall. “You go get your momma and take her somewhere safe.”

I gave her a hug and thanked her, promising I’d get the car back to her somehow.

Then I drove out of Buzzard Creek without looking back.

Burton was about two hours away and the whole time I watched the road, worried about every car passing me. I thought about Luc and regretted the way I’d acted with him. Why had I been so mad at him for saving me? He was only trying to help. Somehow, I had blamed him for me seeming so helpless, for needing him to save me.

Was I really going to slam those scissors in Danny’s eye? Probably not. Despite everything, I had some complicated feelings for Danny. I knew he’d loved me, in his own, damaged way. It was seeing Luc laughing at me like that, that had set me off.

My mother had always said my temper would make life tough for me. Luc probably wouldn’t want to see me again.

Oh well. It was probably for the best this way. It was absurd, being with a vampire. They were other-worldly creatures, not a part of the living world. I loved my beer, my snacks, sitting in the sun on a hot day… dipping my feet in the river down at the creek. Simple pleasures.

When I was a child, my mother and I would go berry picking in the summer. We’d come home and cook blueberry jam, make pies, cordials, and stain our lips blue. We’d laugh at each other’s blue teeth until the tears ran down our faces. That was before she got sick and my dad went to prison.

Before all that.

And now, this war.

By the time I drove into Burton, I felt that what I’d had with Luc, was a few nights of other-worldly joy. The best sex of my life. I didn’t even know it could be that good but, to be fair, it probably was that great because it wasn’t supposed to be. We weren’t meant to be together, the bloodsucker and the human girl. It didn’t make sense. He knew it too, that is why he was laughing at me, acting like such a child with my stupid boyfriend. He was probably having fun with me too, for all I knew he was hoping for a quickie on the stairwell for old times’ sake before going on to torch the town to get rid of the shifters.

I told myself to stop thinking about him, I had to be responsible now.

I was going to think about places where I could take my mother, where I could get away from this war. The hospital was in the middle of the city and I found parking and made my way into the ward where my mother was occupying a bed right by the door.

She looked up when I came in the door and her eyes widened with pleasure, “Ruby!”

I hadn’t seen her in many months as it had been difficult to stop by without transport.

I leaned in for a hug. I felt her thin frame and noted the dark rings under her eyes.

“How are you feeling?” I pulled up a chair and sat down as close as possible to her, holding her hand.

“Bit tired today,” she admitted. “What are you doing here?”

I told her about the war, that there was trouble in town with Danny and a vampire. I was vague with the details, but she got the gist of what I was saying.

“You’re involved with this vampire?” she asked, her tone sharp. “I don’t like that. Shifters are bad, but vampires are worse. You can’t trust them.”

I nodded. “I know. It’s over now.” I wondered if, by saying the words, that would make it true. Did it work that way? Did I really want it to?

I told her I’d spoken to a nurse about moving her to another hospital. They would make some calls to find out if a bed was available. I would have to pay for the transfer and ambulance but if there was a bed, she would be able to continue her treatment there.

“But I like it here,” she said, troubled. “I know the nurses, everyone…” her voice trailed away. “Won’t it be much more expensive?”

“We can’t stay here,” I said. “Tomás will come looking for me. You won’t be safe. I can’t let anything happen to you.” My voice broke and she smiled faintly.

I spent the night at the hospital, sleeping in the chair next to my mother’s bed. It felt good being there with her. When she was awake, she asked me about the war and what I knew about Tomás involvement. She told me of the letters she and my father had exchanged. It sounded like they were getting along better now than ever before.

In the morning, I spoke to a doctor who said my mother could be moved to a hospital near the capital. There was a fee involved and it was more than I’d hoped to pay. All my savings would go into the hospital transfer, I had no idea how I would pay for her stay and treatment at the new hospital after she’d transferred.

Still, it felt good to think about life away from Buzzard Creek.

I couldn’t help thinking that even though I had no idea how I was going to get money or what I would do next, things were going to get better for me and my family. I had gotten away from that shithole.

Things were finally looking up.