Chapter 71
Once I was in my room, I took a deep breath and looked out the window. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I didn’t see anything. No one on the roof across the street, no noise on ours. It actually sort of made me sad. It had been comforting to know that Elliott was up there sometimes, but he wasn’t right now, and it was just as well since it was bitterly cold outside.
I sat down at my desk and took a moment to reflect. I’d learned a lot from this short visit. I was no longer concerned about Elliott taking my thoughts and memories from me, but there was plenty that was still unclear to me, and sometimes writing things down helped me to organize my thoughts.
Even though I hadn’t opened the notebook I’d been recording my experiences in since that night at Lucy’s house, the night that Hannah came in and stripped their memories, made Emma and Lucy tear up all of their own notes and delete everything vampire related off of their computers, I decided to go ahead and get it out now. I thought writing down all the information I’d gleaned might help me sort through it.
It took me almost a half an hour to get it all down, starting with the conversation I’d had with Elliott the night before about his family and ending with what my parents had just disclosed without even realizing it. I was slowly beginning to put all of the pieces together, but making these notes made me feel depressed, not satisfied at my efforts.
My eyes fluttered to the picture in the corner of my desk, and I couldn’t help but drop my pen and pick it up. Next to a family portrait I kept on my nightstand, this was the most important framed photograph I owned. It was taken on my birthday last year, outside of a movie theater, and I absolutely loved it. I was standing in the middle with my arms around Lucy’s and Emma’s shoulders. Lucy had her arm draped around my waist, and Em had her arms crossed in front of her, with her hands extended down like she was the most uncomfortable person in the world because I was touching her. But I knew I was one of less than a half-dozen people on the planet she would tolerate standing that close to. And that was one of the many reasons why I loved them so very much. Lucy and Emma were more than my best friends; they were like sisters to me.
And I was essentially lying to them because I was keeping the truth from them. I remembered Lucy’s enthusiasm when she was working with me, trying to figure out if Cadence was a vampire, how Emma had argued that it wasn’t possible but then found enough information online to change her own mind. Not only did I need their deductive reasoning skills and their research capabilities, I needed them. I needed to know I wasn’t alone in this, that I had other people to share the craziness around me with who would believe me even when I couldn’t believe myself.
With a sigh, I set the picture aside and the ring on my finger caught my attention. Elliott had been more than accommodating with his disclosure of information, and I knew I wasn’t being fair to him. I shouldn’t have kept pushing him to the point where he might end up in trouble because of me. I had no idea why Aaron was involved in my last “brainwashing” session. I assumed Cadence hadn’t contacted her boss to tell him I was being a problem when she likely wasn’t even speaking to him, but there was no way for me to know how what had transpired. Perhaps Aaron had just randomly been checking in to see how things were going and realized I knew too much. Sadly, I couldn’t even ask Elliott about it.
I needed to stop asking him things altogether. I really didn’t want him to get in trouble. It seemed like he and Aaron were good friends, so maybe that would keep Elliott from getting reprimanded, but I had no way to know the true nature of their relationship. I had a feeling, though, with Elliott, there was no in-between. He either loved you or hated you, so despite what had happened between Aaron and Cadence, Elliott still must’ve been pretty fond of their leader or else I would’ve been able to tell from his attitude.
So… I needed to let it go. Any more information I gleaned needed to come from Internet research or parental slip-ups. That would be easier said than done since CHENRY77 seemed to take everything down as soon as it was posted, and I couldn’t be online constantly checking for information about vampires all day long every day, especially when I had school. But then, I had more than a week off in front of me, so maybe I could accomplish some searching in that time.
And I remembered what Elliott had said about the news, as well. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I figured I’d better start monitoring the headlines a little more closely.
I sighed and pushed my chair back. Another glance at my notebook had me feeling overwhelmed. It seemed ridiculous that I was spending so much time and energy trying to unravel a mystery that the people who allegedly loved me most already knew all there was to know about. Part of me wanted to go downstairs and demand my parents tell me everything, but I figured that would get me nowhere, except possibly brainwashed for real again, and this time Lucy wouldn’t know enough to pull me back out of it. How awful of a friend was I that I couldn’t do the same for her now?
I tossed myself onto the bed, landing on my back with a bounce. Maybe I would tell them again, or at least think of a way to enlist their help without telling them the truth, that my sister is a vampire hunter. I had no idea how to go about it, but I didn’t think I’d last too much longer locked inside my own head. Maybe it would be better just to let Elliott brainwash me again. Maybe I would be better off not knowing what I don’t know.
