Dark Days (The Childe Series, #2) (9 page)

Later that night, standing on the roof of their two story Victorian house, Cat swayed back and forth on the edge looking out onto Nehalem Avenue. Staring down at the ground, she wondered what would happen if she jumped.
Will I land on my feet? Can vampires even break bones? Maybe I can float like those vampires in Robert Craven’s novels?
She thought, lifting one leg and beginning to step off. Hesitating, she quickly pulled her foot back and sat down, feeling dizzy. “This is absolutely crazy! I can’t be a vampire! They don’t exist,” she murmured under her breath. Running her tongue along her fangs, she groaned at the fact they still hadn’t retracted.

A fat drop of rain landed on the back of Cat’s hand and she looked up at the sky. There were no stars. Dark ominous clouds loomed overhead. She saw a quick flash of lightning in the distance, followed by the light rumbling sound of thunder. The storm had come up suddenly. As the rain began to increase, Cat rushed off the roof and made her way through the open attic bedroom window, closing it behind her.

Cat’s bedside clock registered midnight and she was showing no signs of being tired. She felt that her body was becoming more nocturnal, thus the reason for her slight insomnia. Of course, it didn’t help that she had recently gone through two traumatic revelations. Her mind was restless with more questions than ever before. Wide awake, she gazed out her window at the rain, thinking back to what her Aunt Ròs had said.
I can’t believe there are people out there who want me dead. I mean they don’t even know me, and they want me dead?
Cat remembered the journal that she received while visiting The Purple Door, a unique store in the strange little town of Wedgewick Village. She had only read a couple of entries out of the small and tattered brown journal before it went missing. What she had read, though, made Cat think her current situation eerily mirrored that of the person who wrote it.

Cat gasped as a huge gust of wind blew her bay window wide open and swept through the room. Papers went flying from her desk and were strewn about the floor as rain drenched the cushions of the window seat. Cat struggled to close the window against the strong wind. As she reached to latch the lock, a flash of lightning illuminated the balcony outside. She was startled to see a figure standing in front of her and let out a quick scream before she realized it was Ryan. Quickly covering her mouth, “Ryan, what are you doing? You scared the crap out of me!”

“Sorry, are you going to make me stand out here all night, or are you going to let me in?” Cat opened the window and Ryan stepped in, a puddle of water quickly formed at his feet. She grabbed a towel from the bathroom and threw it to him. He thanked her for the towel as he began to wipe his face.

“What are you doing? I mean it’s after midnight,” Cat whispered while trying to make her hand positioned over her mouth look natural.

“Well, I think it’s perfectly normal for a boyfriend to worry about a girlfriend who doesn’t return his phone calls.”

“Yeah, about that. I’m really sorry. I just needed to be alone for a bit. Figure some stuff out. You know, slay some personal demons and such,” she joked, trying to sound genuine, but instead it sounded hollow to her ears.

“Oh, I see. How did that go?” he asked as he began drying his hair.

“Uh, quite unsuccessful really,” she replied. Moving forward, Ryan brushed a rogue strand of hair dangling in Cat’s face behind her ear. He smiled at her, making her blush. Grabbing her by the waist he pulled her close, the towel now resting around his neck.

“What’s with the hand? Kind of makes it hard to kiss you, don’t ya think?” Cat moved in closer and nestled up to Ryan’s shoulder burying her mouth into the towel.

“Ryan, I’ve really missed you. And it was really sweet of you to come and check on me. But if my parents catch you in here, we’re both dead,” she stated, hugging him closer and getting her clothes wetter in the process.

“Cat, I know what you are,” he said softly into her ear.

“What?” Cat asked absently. Hearing the attic stairs creak slightly, she glanced at her door. “Ryan, you better get out of here, someone’s coming!” Turning back to look at him, her eyes grew wide at the sight before her. Gone were his baby blue eyes, and in their place were jet black ones. Two long fangs framed his mouth as he grinned. Cat screamed involuntarily, and the sound of the creaking stairs grew faster and louder. As her bedroom door flew open, she spun around to see her mom rushing in. Cat turned back quickly to look at Ryan, but he was gone. The window was open and her curtains were billowing in the rain-soaked wind.

“Cat, what’s wrong? I heard you whispering up here, and then you screamed.”

“I thought I saw something outside, but it was nothing,” she replied, as she rushed forward to shut the window, still stunned about what just happened. Rachel raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

“But it sounded like you were talking to someone. Were
they
here? Tell me the truth, Cat,” Rachel demanded.

“No,
they
weren’t, I swear. I just spooked myself. I’m going back to bed now,” she replied, climbing under her covers. Rachel gave Cat one last questioning look, and then closed the door behind her. Cat panicked. “Oh crap, I didn’t cover my mouth!” she said and then felt her teeth. There were no fangs.
How did I make them go away? Did Mom see them? Did Ryan?
Staring at her ceiling, Cat tried to take in all that just happened.
Wait a minute, Ryan’s a vampire too? What the hell’s going on?
She sprang out of bed and grabbed her cell phone from the top drawer of her desk and dialed Ryan’s number. The call failed to go through. She tried to text him, but it wouldn’t send. “No bars, damn storm,” she huffed. Frustrated, Cat tossed the cell phone back onto her desk. She plopped back onto her bed, and shivered, realizing that her gown and the sheet she pulled over her, were soaked. Sighing, she yanked the wet sheet off of her and tossed it into the hamper along with her night gown. She put on a pair of comfy pink and white pajamas and hopped back into bed. Cat picked up the tattered copy of
Red Twilight
, written by her favorite horror author, Robert Craven, and tried unsuccessfully to occupy her mind with reading.

Cat dialed Ryan’s number, and in frustration, threw the phone on her bed when she was immediately sent to voicemail.
So this is what it feels like to be ignored
, she thought. It had been days since the incident where Ryan revealed himself to be a vampire, and Cat had called so many times she lost count. All of her texts went through, but there were no replies
. Maybe this is how my friends feel. I’ve totally shut them out of my life. I can’t keep this up, they don’t deserve this. So what if I’m adopted? They can handle that. The other thing maybe not so much, but I’ll just keep that to myself,
she thought while picking up her phone to call Amanda. Cat wavered, putting the phone down, and groaned at her stubbornness. Wanting to ease her frustration, she decided to go for a drive. She headed downstairs and was stopped by her dad.

“Where are you off to, young lady?”

“Uh, I need to get out of the house, Dad. I think I’m coming down with a case of cabin fever. Just going for a quick drive.”

“Oh, well aren’t you worried you’ll bump into your friends while you’re out? You know the ones you’ve been ignoring for the past couple of weeks?” he asked, frowning at her. Cat didn’t respond. “Honey, you’re going to have to talk to them eventually, you know that, right?”

She looked down at the floor and then back to Sam, her eyes filled with guilt. “I know, Dad, I will,” she sighed. “But right now I need to drive. Is that okay with you?” Sam nodded with slight disappointment on his face, and then headed toward his study to read his daily paper.

“Cat, please be careful,” he said over his shoulder.

“Will do, Dad.”

Cat took the long way to the beach. She needed to clear her head, and driving with the windows down and music blasting did just that. She tried not to think too much about her friends or Ryan and just focused on getting to the beach. When she arrived, it was empty. The sky was overcast and there was a light fog that covered the sand and forest ground. “Not really beach weather,” Cat said to herself as she scanned the lifeless area.

She hurried to the barren clearing and sat on the concrete slab, trying to focus. Looking at the trees surrounding her, she began to wonder what vampire abilities she possessed. Spying a large tree to her right, Cat wondered if she would be able to scale it.
If Bartholomew Drake can do it, I should be able to, right?
She thought as she readied herself. “Alright Cat, you can do this,” she stated confidently, staring up at the huge obstacle.

The thought of being a half-vampire was surreal and scary, but Cat was trying to embrace it. She needed to begin honing her skills to prepare for what Ròs told her was coming her way. As she stared intently at the tree, Cat tried to imagine herself ascending it effortlessly. This was her first attempt, and she was hoping for beginner’s luck.

Bolting toward the tree, Cat leapt into the air, catching her footing on the trunk, and propelled herself upward. Digging her nails into the bark, she pulled herself along. She paused, realizing how high up she was and looked down at the ground. “Holy crap! I did not just do that!” Cat panicked as she started losing her grip and began to slip down the tree, her nails ripping along the trunk. She tried to stop herself, but instead lost her footing and fell to the ground, sending a large dust cloud swirling into the air. Dragging herself to her feet, she began to pick the twigs and leaves out of her hair and dusted off her shirt and jeans. “Okay, one more time!” she announced, determined to do it.

An hour flew by, and after many “one more time” failed attempts, Cat found herself gazing out onto Oldes Bay from the highest branch of the tree. The wind blew through her thick fiery red hair as she sat there taking in the awe-inspiring scene before her. She wished she could share it with Ryan and her friends.

Safely back on the ground, Cat gazed at the concrete foundation and thought back to the nightmare she had about a year ago. Hearing a rustling noise behind her, she quickly turned and collided with something, causing her to fall backward. Looking up, she saw it was Ryan.

“Cat? What are you doing out here?” he asked, reaching down to help her up.

“I could ask you the same thing,” she said, taking his hand as she stood with his assistance. “And why haven’t you returned any of my calls?”

“I guess you know how it feels now, huh, Miss Colvin,” he replied dryly. “Besides, I didn’t know how to approach you after that night.”

“Hey, you can’t just show your fangs to a girl and then expect her to not freak a little. Plus, you ran off without saying a word.”

“It was either that, or deal with your mother, no offense,” he replied with a grin. Ryan noticed Cat’s gaze return to the concrete foundation in the middle of the clearing. “So, back to my original question, what exactly are you doing here?”

“I just came here to think,” she answered distractedly, looking at the foundation.

“Well, I can think of a lot nicer places you can do that instead of this run down bare patch of land, with a shoddy piece of concrete at the center of it.”