Chapter 53
There would be a gathering at Jack’s uncle Mike’s house in a little while. My parents wanted to drop me off at Lucy’s house—her parents had decided she didn’t need to come to Jack’s funeral, and Emma was with her—but I insisted that I wanted to go. I knew that Milo and Wes would be there, and I thought I was just as old and mature as they were, so my parents gave in.
We were about halfway across the field when my mom got a text. “Cadence is riding with Aaron,” my mom said, looking a little worried as she glanced over my head at my dad.
“Okay,” he said. I got the impression whatever it was my mom was concerned about, my dad didn’t get it.
I could see Cadence getting into the Lamborghini in front of us and silently wondered what it would be like to ride in that car. I wondered if I’d ever know….
We went home for a bit because we wanted to give Mike’s family some time and not be the first ones there. I sat on the couch, thinking about everything I knew that I wasn’t supposed to know. I didn’t keep notes anymore. I hadn’t written anything down since the other night at Lucy’s when I’d watched her and Emma destroy everything. I had watched the video I sent myself from Emma’s phone a few times, but I didn’t know anything more now than I did the first time I saw it.
Nor had I been able to find anything else out online. CHenry77 was pretty good at taking things down off of the entire Internet that seemed to provide any sort of realistic proof that vampires existed, other than the fact that I was pretty certain my sister was one.
There were several cars at Mike’s house when we pulled to a stop on the street out front, but none of them were Lamborghinis. I was relieved to see Milo was already there when I walked in, and Wes came in a few minutes after us. We didn’t say much, but standing there with two people I felt like I knew, felt like I could trust, calmed my nerves slightly.
Despite the overwhelming sadness in the air, people were chatting, and occasionally the sound of laughter would ring through the house. I think Jack would’ve liked that. He would want people to be happy, to go on with their lives and remember all of the good times we’d had with him.
“I’m going to go grab some cheese and crackers,” Wes said, always thinking of his stomach. “Want anything?”
“No thank you,” I replied.
“I’ll wait until you get back,” Milo said, and I smiled at him, thankful he wasn’t going to leave me alone.
Wes had only taken a few steps when I swore I heard an odd noise coming from outside. It sounded like gunshots. I looked at Milo, and his forehead crinkled, but he didn’t say anything. I turned to find my parents, who were seated across the room. My mom looked alarmed, and she said something to my dad, but he only shrugged, and I realized the noise likely wasn’t loud enough for him to hear.
Turning back to Milo, I cautiously asked, “Is it hunting season?”
He seemed to relax a little bit. “Oh, yeah. It is,” he nodded. He had to have heard the gunshots, too, and wondered, like I did, if we were in any danger. Regardless of the fact that neither of the two teenagers who had died recently had been shot, we were all a little bit on edge.
It couldn’t have been ten minutes later when I spied my sister on the front porch. She was definitely upset, and before she came in, she turned and buried her face in Elliott’s chest. Without being able to hear what he was saying, I could tell by his expression he was joking around with her, and in a few moments, they both came in the door.
I was slightly jealous that my sister was with Elliott, even though I knew it was dumb. They both smiled and waved at me, but my sister was intercepted lots of times before she even made it to our parents or her friends. Somehow, Elliott managed to get away from her, and I let go a deep breath when he came to stand beside me.
“How you doin’ lil girl?” he asked. The weight of his hand on my shoulder was like a warm blanket, and I felt my shoulders release pent up tension.
“All right,” I said, feeling like I could say more if we were alone. “Milo, Wes, this is my sister’s coworker, Elliott.”
“How you doin’ kids?” He offered his hand and they shook it, though they both looked intimidated by his size. Both of them mumbled something in response about being fine, and thank you, and even called him sir, which almost made me laugh. “You need a drink or somethin’, Cass?”
“I’m okay, thank you.” I glanced around the room and saw my sister standing with her arms crossed, an irritated expression on her face. “What’s the matter with Cadence?”
Elliott let out a sigh. “Can’t say. She’ll be all right.”
I raised an eyebrow and wondered if he’d tell me if my friends weren’t standing right there. But it didn’t matter because they were. I could tell that Milo and Wes weren’t sure what to do or say with Elliott nearby, and I think he sensed it, too. A few minutes later, he excused himself, but instead of heading back to my sister, he walked over to Jack’s parents. I should’ve found that odd, but nothing surprised me anymore.
Milo and Wes and I had started a conversation about Christmas, and I was beginning to feel a little calmer when my sister came over and said, “Hey, Sis. I'm going to head back to the homestead. How you doing?"
I was more than a little ready to get out of there myself. I was so over all of this death and loss. “Not so good. I hate funerals.” It didn’t matter that this was my first one. I had a feeling they were all the same.
