Chapter 247
Adults tend to think that teenagers are too impatient, that we want what we want when we want it, and that we just keep complaining until we get it. And I guess that’s true, for the most part. I mean, it had been for me anyway. I had wanted to be a Vampire Hunter so bad that I ended up doing the most dangerous thing possible and almost got myself killed in the process. That was four months ago, and even though I tried to go back to school and my normal life, with everything that had happened to me, I just couldn’t adjust. How could I keep going to high school with a bunch of kids who had no idea what they didn’t know? So… I found a way to get what I wanted. Only, now that I’m here at LIGHTS (Lincoln International Guardian and Hunter Training Station) I’m not really sure this is what I want either. Perhaps it’s because there is no one else like me in the world—not another Vampire Hunter/Vampire Hybrid. Or perhaps I am just one of those people who will never be happy. I had thought ever since I first heard about this place, about a year ago, that once I got here, everything would be just perfect. But here I am—and it’s not perfect. Not at all.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great things about being at LIGHTS, especially since my dad ended up having to stay at his job a little bit longer than we anticipated. So my parents still live in tiny Shenandoah, Idaho, and I live in Kansas City with my sister, Cadence, and her fiancé, Aaron McReynolds, both of whom just happen to run this operation. How they manage to coordinate the movements of thousands of Hunters and Guardians all around the world is beyond me, but I’ve been impressed with how my sister has stepped in and taken over the position our Grandma Janette vacated back when Grandpa Jordan died before we were even born. Cadence has her own way of doing things, which I think maybe drives Aaron crazy sometimes, but in a way, I think he welcomes a little bit of madness. It must be hard for him to live in a world that’s out of sync when so much about him demands order and structure.
I’m sure I’ve added to that chaos. Their apartment is huge since they renovated and made two suits into one. My room is all the way on the opposite side of the building from the master bedroom, and I like it that way. It’s close to the door, so I can come and go as I please, and it’s super quiet. I thought maybe my sister would try to keep a leash on me since she’s filling in for Mom and Dad, but so far she’s treated me like a responsible teenager, and I’ve tried not to do anything to jeopardize that—well, anything else. I mean, other than running off to Philadelphia and getting myself scratched by a Vampire. But that was back in October, and I’m good now.
It’s also very strange having my friend Elliott Sanderson back. He was dead for about eight months, and I had no idea we could actually call him back to us through the use of the Blue Moon Portal. Apparently, only a couple of people did, and they weren’t saying anything. I guess the blue moon Cadence used to bring him back in January was the first one we could’ve tried anyway. I’m really happy she went behind Aaron’s back and did that, but I think he would’ve stayed mad at her for a long time if Grandma Janette hadn’t used the same portal to cross over and be with Grandpa Jordan again. Aaron can be a jerk sometimes, but I don’t think he was capable of being rude to my sister right after our grandma essentially died. Also, he was afraid something terrible would come through the portal in exchange for Elliott’s return—like a demon vampire or something. He says Dracula came back the last time the portal was opened. I guess there’s a chance he’s right, but so far, nothing crazy has happened.
Well, except for this dream I had a few nights after we returned from Philadelphia. I don’t really remember it at all. But I fell asleep in the living room while my sister and Aaron were making wedding plans, and apparently I said, “The time is now!” whatever that means. When I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t recall much of it at all. Just something about a desert and a woman and a man I sort of recognized but knew I’d never seen before. I assured them both it was nothing, but Aaron seemed to think perhaps it was more important than even I knew. Maybe it is, but so far, I don’t feel any different than I did before the portal, except the guy I thought of as an older brother is back.
And he’s my boyfriend’s dad, which is super weird. I mean, I go to Brandon’s apartment to hang out, and Elliott is there. It’s cool—we’re great friends. But then I think, is he going to tell Brandon to take out the trash or something? Elliott’s been more like a friend to Brandon than a dad. I think he’s trying to figure out what he’s supposed to do. He hasn’t been a dad in a really long time, and I guess he feels like he screwed it up pretty bad the first time around. He doesn’t really talk much about that. He also doesn’t really talk about Brandon’s mom, Amanda Keen, whom I’ve never met but don’t care for. She’s an alcoholic, and I’m not exactly sure what went on between her and Brandon because he doesn’t like to talk about it, but I think she may have been at least a little abusive. Elliott is gone right now, on his way to Pryor, Oklahoma, to visit Amanda. It’ll be the first time he’s seen her since before Brandon was born (something he knew nothing about, by the way), and Brandon really doesn’t want him to go. But Elliott said it’s just something he has to do. There’s a pretty good chance this isn’t going to end well.
I’m not exactly sure what it is that’s holding me back from all of the happiness I thought would be mine the second I moved to Kansas City, but there’s just something unsettling still. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe I’ll just always be an angsty teen. Or maybe it’s something else. Maybe once I complete my training and become a full-fledged member of the team, I’ll feel better about the whole thing, but I did more than anyone to catch Gibbon in Philadelphia, and I still don’t feel like I quite belong. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a Hybrid, and no one else is. If I could talk our Healer, Dr. Jamie Joplin, or our tech guy, Christian Henry, into creating more Hybrids, maybe then I’d feel like this was the life—but I don’t think that’s an option.
So, I’ll just go about my training, trying to take it one step at a time. It’s hard being the only one like me, but most days, everyone around me seems to forget. Thanks to the colored contact I wear that disguises my gray Vampire eye, I look like everyone else. No one can tell I’m not all Hunter. I think a lot of the new recruits don’t even know, which is a good thing, too, because soon they will all be spread out into the world. I like some of them; others, I’ll be happy to see them go. Mostly, I’ll just be relieved when I’ve completed my training so I don’t have to haul my rear end out of bed so early in the morning to be tortured by Aurora Howe, my coach. She’s awesome, and I’m so glad she’s the one who’s training me instead of my sister, but unlike most Guardians and Hunters, I still need my sleep. They don’t seem to care about that.
