Chapter 188
“So who is going to come show you how to use it?” I asked, thinking the more time we spent talking about him, the less time we’d have to spend talking about me.
“I’m not sure. Your sister said she’d come check on me later, so maybe her. They said I’d have a mentor. I don’t know who that is yet.”
“A mentor? That sounds good.” I wondered who mine would be. I hoped not Cadence. She wouldn’t know how to talk to me in a way that was productive.
“Yeah, I think so. As long as it’s not Techy Long Stockings.”
I burst out laughing. “What did you say?”
“Didn’t they wear those really high socks back then, the white ones? With their breeches?”
“Oh, yeah. I guess so. I thought you meant stalkings as in stalker.”
“Well, if the nickname fits…. Anyway, how have you been? Are you all rested up? Ready for school tomorrow?”
“I guess so,” I replied solemnly, all traces of humor gone from my voice. “I’m nervous though.”
“About what? I doubt you’ve ever been the victim of bullying, but if you have, tomorrow is not gonna be a good day for the person who has crossed you in the past.”
“No, I haven’t been,” I said, though that didn’t mean I didn’t know who the bullies in our school were. “I’m just afraid something will happen while I’m at school, and everyone will know what has happened to me.”
“Like, you’re afraid in gym class you might accidentally kick the little red ball out of the hemisphere?” Brandon asked, surely trying to amuse me.
It sort of worked. I did smile. “No, I’m afraid that my contact will come out, or everyone will see that there’s something weird with my teeth,” I admitted. That wasn’t all, but that was all I was willing to voice at the moment.
“That contact looks exactly like your other eye, Cass, and your teeth are perfectly fine. Believe me. I was really staring at them.”
“Why is that?” I asked, chuckling a little bit at his conviction.
“Hey, I saw those suckers a little more closely than I wanted to when Zabrina had hers out, and though you were a lot more up close and personal with them than I was, I saw enough to know the last thing I want is to take a puncture wound from a set of those puppies.”
I thought he was trying to make light of the situation again, but he probably didn’t realize he’d just pointed out that I was exactly like the monster who’d kidnapped me, the one who would technically be known as my mother in the Vampire world. And honestly, I’d been thinking about Zabrina a lot lately. I knew very little about her, except for that she was incredibly strong and didn’t seem to be afraid of anything. “Brandon, have you heard anyone talk much about her—about Zabrina?” I asked, hoping to keep my tone as nonchalant as possible.
“No, not really,” he said, and I could almost hear him shrugging. “Why?”
“Just curious. I just wondered… how old she is. What she was before—before she was turned.” I knew that Holland had turned her, though I wasn’t quite sure how I had that knowledge. And I knew that Holland was dead. Giovani had also been turned by Holland. It seemed to me that Holland was one bad bloodsucker, and I was glad I’d never have to face her.
“Do you want me to ask some questions? Jamie or someone might tell me.”
It was nice of him to offer, but it wasn’t necessary. “That’s okay. Just curious. No big deal.”
We were quiet for a few minutes, and I was content just to know he was there, even if there were hours of distance between us. Finally he said, “Have you told Lucy and Emma yet?”
It was a valid question. “Not yet,” I said. I was dreading that conversation. There was so much to tell them. I was sure Emma would need to see my eye to believe it all. “I will soon.” I also hadn’t told anyone about my other condition—the voices. I was afraid that telling Brandon or anyone else would make this more real than it was right now, and I hoped I’d learn to ignore them or control them, but so far, it was just like static on a radio that registered a few words now and again, most of the time not even coherent ones.
“I’m sure they’ll be very supportive. They seem to want to be involved almost as badly as you do.”
“Yeah, they do,” I agreed. And it wouldn’t be too awfully much longer before Lucy would be seventeen and could Transform, though she’d mentioned finishing high school. I wondered if she’d still do that once she knew what was up with me.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve got stuff to do. Hopefully, your sister will come and show me how to use this thing soon.”
I could tell he really just didn’t know what else to say to me, and that was okay because I didn’t know what else to say either. “All right. Let me know how it goes. With training, too.” Part of me was glad he’d go through all of that first so I would have an idea of what to expect, but then, I’d also been happy he went through the Transformation process first, and it turns out it didn’t make any difference at all that I’d witnessed that because, when it was my turn, it was completely different.
“I will let you know,” he said optimistically. I thought about asking if he had called his mom, but he seemed to want to go. Before I could even say more, he said, “I’ll talk to you soon, Cass.”
“Bye, Brandon.”
I hung up and set my phone aside, taking in deep breaths, trying not to let the overwhelming loneliness I suddenly felt eat away at me. I decided to go back to my sitcom, but this time the voices inside of my head were all mine, and each of them was reminding me no one else in the world was like me.
