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I got dressed quickly and
picked out my hair, towel dried it some more and put some mascara
on – Tori told me the least I should do is put mascara and color on
my lips. It's not so bad, I found myself doing it more around Jett.
I went back down the hall and the bathroom door was open. I peeked
in and Jett was in a towel in front of the mirror brushing his
teeth. I leaned against the wall across from the bathroom and
watched him. He rinsed and turned around, leaned against the sink
putting his arms on the counter on either side of him. They were
flexed you could see all the ridges of muscle he had, I let my eyes
glide over each one of them.

By the time I looked back
up at his face he was smiling, he knew I was checking him out. I
quickly looked at the floor and scuffed it with my foot. He made a
sudden movement and was in front me with his shorts back
on.

I kept looking at the
floor, “You know as much as I ah, liked my dream,” I stammered “I
just don't think I am ready for
“it”
to come true.” After my last
word I looked up at him to see what his reaction was. He didn't
seem to have one. He touched my forehead and caressed my face
downward pushing my hair away from my face. “I understand.” he
said.

“You sound tired.” I
said.

“I am, I feel a little odd
almost like I’m getting sick again. It’s a tiredness I have a hard
time fighting.”

He led me over to the
couch, he sat down and I sat in his lap, and put my head on his
shoulder, he put his arms around me. We sat in silence for a while.
It was nice, he was warm and I could hear his heartbeat. I closed
my eyes, before I knew it I found myself kissing his chest - I
stopped suddenly and moved to sit next to him.

He turned and kissed me on
the lips pushing me back on the couch. My legs wrapped around his.
My heart was beating so loud I could no longer hear his. I felt
warmth run all over my body. He kissed my cheek and then my neck.
“Stop” I whispered I couldn’t move. He was kissing my breast bone
and started moving toward my neck, where he bit me lightly and it
sent chills all the way down my left side. “Please stop.” I
whispered again and pushed on him gently. Yet my head fell slightly
back and he bit me again. This time I felt a searing pain in my
neck, I released my legs from him trying to push him up “Stop” I
yelled, trying to push him from underneath.

He pulled up his face, it
was veiny and pale his eyes dark as night and he was panting, out
of breath. He rolled off me quickly and ran into the bathroom. I
just laid there holding my neck, frozen, not knowing what just
happened. I was trying to put a logical thought together; he turns
into whatever he turns into when he gets excited or mad...I looked
at my hand there was blood, I felt a warm sensation roll to the
back of my neck and put my hand back on it.

There I was in the middle of a cabin I didn’t
belong to, far away from home, holding my neck tightly, I felt an
icy quake go through my entire body, a bitter sensation like no
other. I could feel the warm blood spreading underneath my clammy
trembling hand and it seeping through my fingers and spreading. I
jumped up petrified with bare feet that were now rooted to the
floor, not knowing if I should move, hide or even try to run. I
just stood there in shock; the flames of the fire warmed one side
of me and the other remained ice cold from fright.

I was so distracted, being in love not seeing
all the signs of danger. But now I could see them all, I was
finally having my moment of clarity, like I was seeing everything
for the first time.

Cale is the monster who has been following me
and trying to capture me, not sure why he wasn’t successful, but I
now know why he’s after me; for a cure which had something to do
with my blood, whether it be to change himself back to his human
state or into a full monster I’m not sure, but I have a sneaky
suspicion it is the latter.

Poor Jett, my first love, my protector, my
soul mate got himself caught in the middle trying to protect me and
now his life will be forever changed and not for the good either.
I’m sure he blames me for what he is and what he is becoming, I
know I would.

I tried moving again and my
feet carried me shakily to the hall; the bathroom door wasn't
completely shut. I walked over to it and pushed it open cautiously.
He was sitting on the toilet, the lights were off and his head in
his hands, “I'm sorry” he said in a very sympathetic and weakened
state. “I'm not sure what I was thinking or what just happened”
still not looking up. I could see all the veins in his arms
protruding.

I leaned over the sink and
slowly moved my hand away. My neck was stained red with a couple of
small dark puncture marks. I turned on the sink to rinse it all
away, when I was done I turned toward Jett, “If you left a
permanent mark on my neck you are in so much trouble, my dad will
have a fit!”

He let out a snicker
“that’s what you are worried about?” I went over to him and put my
hand on his shoulder slid down and gave him a hug. He grabbed hold
of me desperately and didn't let go. I think he may have been
crying. I felt so bad for him. “We'll figure this out.” I said
hoping I sounded confident. I couldn't tell if he was the one
trembling or me. I laughed a little and then pushed back from our
embrace, “You made a mark” I said showing him my neck.

He caressed my neck with his
index finger sliding it down my neck.

“Stop that!” I said
excitedly and slapping his hand away. He stopped cold.

“I didn't mean to….” He
remarked. “Aren’t you afraid of me?” There was pause “Of what's
happening to me or that I could hurt you?” He asked.

I got up and leaned against
the bathroom sink and crossed my arms. “Na” I said. “You aren't
scary yet, but just so you know I can drop your ass anytime I want,
I got moves.”

He really laughed at me “You
are something else you know that Addie.”

“I know. At least you're as
big of a pain in the ass as I am now – creating so much drama I
don't know if I can stand it.”

He swung in for a kiss, I
turned my cheek and we hugged.

He led me to 'my' bedroom
and said good night. I went and crawled on top of the covers. He
turned off my light on his way out leaving my door slightly ajar. I
couldn't sleep I was restless, I couldn't stop thinking. I started
counting….

I woke up screaming, or did
I? I glanced around until they landed on the clock, I got that
awful eerie feeling creeping thru me. It was 3:17a.m. My neck was
wet. I ran to the window to see if it was locked. I checked Jett’s
room; he was asleep, I tried to wake him, nothing. I tiptoed into
the family room and then the kitchen, t
he
door was wide open. I creeped up to it, Cale was standing in the
driveway. I walked outside cautiously. Hi
s
arms were to his sides but restless, his eyes glowed like the wolf
in my dream. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans that were
distressed and ripped, a button down shirt with only a couple
buttoned in the middle the rest were missing, it was splattered and
stained of what I assumed to be blood. He was tanned from the sun
but his veins still protruded all over his body, he had dark
circles under his eyes that were crimson red and dark. No shoes. He
shifted his weight. I moved back.

“We tried turning him you
know. I'm sorry but some of them go bad. Bryce was trying to cure
us. There’s nothing you can do about that....Logan was a bad seed
to start.... I wish to this day I would have jumped through that
window and saved you sooner…” My breath caught and hitched in my
throat. “But your brother, thank goodness for him right?” He was
almost talking too calmly for me and in a low voice unlike him.
“I'm sorry. I just wanted to tell you that..... and I haven't
killed anyone, I don't know what's happening to the people around
me, but I'm not hurting them. If I could have transfixed you, this
would have been easier, but you're special Addie, I knew the moment
I laid eyes on you.”

I was frozen with fear, but
I had a feeling he wasn’t there to kill me because he would have
already. I concentrated on watching and listening to him. A breeze
came by blowing his hair and opened his shirt and revealed a nasty
cut, it seemed to calm him, his fingers relaxed. The veins on him
began to disappear. “What are you?” I asked hesitantly.

“Whatever we are Addie,
there’s no words for it, monsters. We crave blood, get violently
ill and almost change at the full moon; almost a vampire, almost a
werewolf but neither. Maybe …” he stated as if in deep thought and
then continued. “My father’s journals state but don’t elaborate
that we are multifarious inbreeds with sanguinary tendencies and
Bryce agrees….. Bryce and I have very different personalities, I am
more,
good
” he
hesitated, his brilliant eyes began to fade “and he’s more…” He
didn’t finish that sentence took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
“We are stuck in limbo” he mumbled “an experiment my father didn’t
finish.” I could tell he was starting to get tired. “He also thinks
we could be hybrids, maybe a mix of both vampire and werewolf, but
we aren’t complete. That’s what he’s trying to figure out and he’s
close. We've been sick since we were kids and my father had tried
curing us but gave us something else instead... more sickness. We
ran out of the serum that kept us well and now we don’t have all my
father’s journals to reproduce it. That’s why we need you, to help
us.”

I cleared my throat “What
did you do to Jett?”

“I didn't do anything to
him” he said plain as day.

“I don't believe you Cale,
when he changes he looks like you and why would anybody else hurt
Jett, you're the only one that would…..”

“That's not true, I really
need you to believe me…” He backed up until he was in the shadows
his eyes fired back up. I wanted to call out to him and ask him
more questions but didn't after my consciousness kicked in. Last
minute Cale added “You were right to break it off with me you know,
I had ulterior motives… another thing I didn’t expect from you, to
really see me.” He tapped his chest and contorted and yelped, fell
to the ground on all fours. He looked up at me and growled, “it’s
working” he said under his breath. I heard bones crunching and
things breaking and he said “you better run” in a growl. His eyes
were ravage red and mirror like in the center. I ran back in the
house locked the door and yelled for Jett, checked all the other
windows and doors and locked them tight. Looked back outside for
Cale, he was nowhere in sight. His shredded clothes lay on the
ground.

Jett didn’t come, I walked
down the dark hall leading to his room cautiously wondering why
Jett hadn’t heard any of this. His door was ajar, I pushed it open
all the way. He was laying there motionless, frozen in place I
watched him intently not daring to blink and finally saw his chest
rise and fall. I felt a rush of relief come over me. “Jett?” I said
softly “Jett?” he didn’t reply or move as if he was comatose. I
tiptoed over, I didn’t know what to do, I gave him a little shake
but nothing. Exhausted I gave up and laid next to him and pulled
his arm over me like a blanket.

The next morning when I
woke, Jett had his packed bag by the kitchen door, some turkey
sandwiches and coffee made. He was reading the paper.
I went
back to get dressed and pack and I started to try and recall
everything Cale told me. I should really find my pad of paper. It
felt like it was all a dream. But it wasn’t.

I had to leave my hair down to cover both
sides of my neck, although the marks from Jett were barely visible.
I threw my stuff in my bag and put it next to
Jett's. Took a turkey sandwich and sat on the chair next to him and
hugged my legs. “Good combination.” I told him.

“Beggars can't be choosers”
he responded turning the paper.

“True.”

I blurted out “So what
happened to your teeth? I thought you had to glue them in…didn’t
feel that way last night.” He knew what I was talking about because
he pushed the paper down and looked at me. He put the paper back up
and mumbled something. I said “What?” He put the paper down and
walked back to his room, and then I realized that he said
“they grew back.”

I followed him but he closed
the door behind him. “What do you mean they grew back? You have new
teeth?” I questioned him through the door. I knocked on the door
and opened it haltingly as he was going through one of the
drawers.

He turned to me “you get
privacy but I don't?”

“I didn’t get it so you
don’t either, besides you don't want privacy. Let me see your
teeth.”

“Ah, No.”

“Why not?”
He
shrugged. So I pushed him onto the bed and sat next to him. “Open
up!”

“No, it’s none of your
business.”

“Sure it is, you already bit
me no secrets there. Besides if you didn't want me to see you would
have walked away by now. Are you embarrassed, you read my journal
that was just as…”

“Good point.” he said. “It's
just weird.”

“Open up.” 

He did and I looked really
close, “Which ones are they? Your eye teeth?”

“Yeah, they feel weird in
the back,” he replied softly.