Unraveling Mathias by Marisa Maichel (reading women TXT) 📕

"Watch it, bloodsucker." Mason and I looked at each other, then back at the snooty redhead. I took a deep breath. Rouge definitely smelled like a fairy. She looked like a fairy. She had the attitude of a fairy. Why hang onto Noah?

Sure, he wasn't bad-looking, with long brown hair and a goatee. He was nice and smart. But he was also a human. Fairies almost never get involved with humans because they want to remain "pure".

"Who knows, maybe I'm just that good-looking," Noah joked. Duke rolled his eyes. He was normally the one who made an ass of himself, but lately, Noah took that role upon himself.

I glanced back at Sarah. She was focused on her lunch. I turned back to my own group which was silent.

"Why Noah?" I asked Rouge.

"Why not Noah?" she countered. "He's hot!"

"Oh? What about your leader, Puck?" Mason quipped.

"What are you guys flapping your gums about now?" Duke flared up.

I looked at Mason. "Should we tell them?"

"I think we should," he said cautiously, "but not now, in the cafeteria. The mall or Bean?"

"Either one works for me," I replied. "You know I won't eat or drink anything except water unless I'm forced to."

"He never eats," Amara said grubbily. "Wait, you guys need to tell us something?"

"Yeah, we do," Mason said. "It's kind of important." He looked at Noah. "I know you're my best friend and all, but I couldn't tell you for privacy and safety reasons. But now we're in high school, and I think you have the right to know."

"Damn straight."

"Which Reese is not," Duke said with a shit-eating grin. I gave him the finger. He pretended to be offended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Saturday after my morning shift at the store, I met the group at the food court in the mall. All of them bought tacos except for me. Luckily, Rouge had a hair appointment and decided not to come.

"Okay, what's the big surprise?" Noah asked.

"I'll start," Mason said. "I...am a warlock." Noah and Duke guffawed while Amara cracked a smile. "I'm serious, guys. I practice magic, I'm immortal, and my parents are a warlock and a witch."

They realized he was serious and stopped laughing.

"Seriously?" Noah said.

"Pff. Let's see some magic then," Duke sarcasted.

"All right." Mason gave a wave of his hand, and my water turned green.

"Food coloring," Duke said. "Or powder." The water slowly rose out of the cup.

"Holy Hera," Noah said in awe. Amara's mouth opened, and Duke, for once, was speechless. "You mean to tell me," Noah began, "that my best friend has magical powers and he felt like he couldn't tell me?!" He got angrier as he went on.

"I know you're mad," Mason postulated, "and I don't blame you. I'd be mad at me, too. Now, Reese has something to say." He dropped the water in the cup. They all looked at me.

"I'm a vampire." More shock accompanied this statement.

"Don't eat me!" Duke simpered.

"Dude, I'm not going to eat you," I snapped. "I only drink blood that is either donated or from those that deserve it."

"Do you hunt?" Amara asked. I nodded.

"Yes, I hunt. I also drink bagged blood."

"Do you turn into a bat?" Noah asked.

"No, I don't turn into animals, too much sunlight makes me nauseous, crosses don't affect me, and neither does running water. I enjoy my morning showers."

"You've done this before, haven't you?" Amara said.

"Yes. Only Ariella, Sarah, and Mason know, though. And now you know as well."

Noah glared at Mason. "Hey, I promised him I wouldn't tell. What was I supposed to do, go back on my word? He has fangs!" They looked at me again. I slowly let my fangs grow. Duke paled, Amara dropped her fork, and Noah stared. I pulled my fangs back in.

They asked more questions, and I answered them truthfully. They also asked about werewolves, which I answered truthfully.

"Are they like the werewolves from the Twilight Saga?" Amara asked.

"They're uglier, bigger, stinkier, and they are actual monsters," I replied. "Eric Martin is one."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had to head back to the store for my afternoon shift. I heard Sarah's voice in my father's voice. I drafted toward the voice. She was in a chair, talking to him.

"Do you mind?" he said grouchily.

"Hey, Sarah."

"Hey, Reese," she said, teeth gleaming.

"Hey, baby. What's up?"

"I was just talking to Sarah about giving her her job back," Father explained.

"Give her her job back," I told him.

"I'm going to, silly Reese. She's one of our best employees. She sells more than you do, and you're my son."

"That's because she's prettier than I am," I said. I heard Delia cursing. "Damn. Delia's here."

"Still?" Father's nose wrinkled. Sarah frowned.

"She called me fat once." Father looked at her.

"Okay, that is just unacceptable. I'm firing her myself. You can go, Sarah. You can start again anytime you want. I never bothered to take your name off the clock."

Sarah went and clocked in, then went out to the front.

"Oh, you're still here?" Delia said snottily.

"Yeah, I'm still here. Deal with it," Sarah retorted.

"Please. You're only here because you're banging Reese."

"Delia, in my office," Father said. Delia stomped into his office, stepping on my toe with her ridiculously high stiletto in the process.

"Finally," Sarah said.

"Exactly my thoughts," I agreed. A minute later, we heard a scream.

"YOU CAN'T FIRE ME! I NEED THIS JOB! MY PARENTS STOPPED GIVING ME ALLOWANCE! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SHOP NOW?!"

"Right, because shopping is more important than say, lunch," I said. Sarah looked at me like I'd lost my mind. I had already clocked in and was overviewing the store. Louis had quit at his job here and Father had promoted me to manager. He had no choice. Richard was still new, Delia couldn't be trusted, and Sarah was busier than I was.

"YOU WILL REGRET THIS! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? I'LL DO ANYTHING TO KEEP THIS JOB!"

Delia stepped out of Father's office, face red. She grabbed her purse, whacked me on the shoulder with it, and left.

The day progressed normally until an hour before closing time. Sarah was leaning on the counter, clutching her head.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. Then she fell. "FATHER!" Father rushed out, and when he saw Sarah, he whipped out his cell phone, but a customer beat him to it.

"Yeah, a girl fainted. I don't know her name. I don't know if she has any illnesses...."

I turned Sarah over, and her eyes fluttered under her eyelids. Then she started seizing.

"No, not again!" I cried. "Baby, look at me! Father, do something!"

"We can't move her," he said.

"What do I do?!"

"Just stay with her. I'll call her mother. Hopefully, Alicia is sober."

The paramedics arrived ten minutes later. By then, Sarah had stopped seizing, and was mumbling nonsense. They took her away in the ambulance. I went into the back room and grabbed her purse and keys.

I drove her car to the hospital. There, they were waiting for her. Alicia and Sabine were already there, along with Mother.

"Not my baby," Alicia said. She was tipsy. "Hey, Reese. You just get here?" I nodded. Mother enveloped me in her cold embrace. A lot of people, especially men, were looking at her. Her hair was less wild, a bit straighter, and she wore a clingy dark blue dress and gold gladiator heels.

"What were you doing?" I asked her.

"I was on a date with Alexander," she said, her Greek accent heavier than usual. "He is contacting her main doctor. Why now, especially with her burden?"

"Last time, they said it was because her mind is too active," I said. "I wonder what they'll say now?"

Alexander arrived half an hour later. He put an arm around Mother and an arm around my waist.

"Our baby will be fine, Marina," he said.

"I am more worried about Sarah," she admitted. "She is my..." She glanced at me, then whispered in Alexander's ear. I heard the term "souldaughter". I wondered what that meant. I'd heard it before, but had not paid much attention when Father explained the concept.

"Like Reese and myself," Alexander said. He looked at me. "My soulson." I blinked. What did that mean?

"He looks confused," Mother noted.

"I doubt he knows what we're talking about," Alexander said.

I sat down beside Sabine. "How are you?" I asked her.

"Is she going to be okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, she's strong. She'll survive," I told her. My own worries were not abated. I pulled out my phone and checked social media. Nothing caught my interest, not even a story about a psychic cat.

Father came in, followed by Uncle Soren and Grandfather. An hour later, a doctor came in.

"Are you the family of Sarah Cresley?" she asked. "I'm Dr. Carmichael. She's doing fine now, she's sleeping. You can see her anytime."

Only Alicia, Mother, and I went into the room. We didn't want to overwhelm her. She saw me first.

"You saved me," she said. I didn't know what to say. She looked up. "Mom?"

"Yes?" Both Alicia and Mother said this in unison.

"I have a headache."

"I will ask the nurse to fetch you something," Mother said, heading out of the room.

"She's an odd one," Alicia said, staring at my mother as she left. Mother soon returned with Dr. Carmichael.

"Headaches are normal after a seizure," Dr. Carmichael was saying. "Sarah? Do you know where you are?"

"Hospital."

"Mmm. Are under a lot of stress?"

"Yes," she said. I looked at her in surprise. I'd thought that things were getting better for her. "I was raped back in November and now I'm pregnant. I've been having nightmares about it."

"Ah. And this is your second seizure?"

"Third." More shock. "I didn't tell anyone about the second one."

"Well, I'd like to do a CAT scan. Are you okay with that?" Dr. Carmichael asked Alicia.

"Absolutely," Alicia said, now sober. "Do anything you have to do. Just fix my baby."

Sarah was wheeled out, and we were told we could go.

"All of us may leave except for Alicia," Mother said. "But Alexander, I want to stay." Alexander nodded.

"I'm staying, too," I said. Father nodded.

"Come home before ten."

Sarah was kept for another two hours. She was released around nine. Dr. Carmichael recommended a few prescription medicines for seizures and anxiety. Sarah and Alicia left only after thanking Dr. Carmichael.

I arrived home a little before ten. Father looked irritated, but said nothing. He knew what he'd said.

"Well, Toby took a leave of absence," Uncle Soren was telling Grandfather. "And he needs it. He needs a vacation."

I stayed in bed all of Sunday. I called and texted Sarah about her incident and her stress levels. She confessed that her nightmares had gotten worse, and that she was almost always stressed, and that her grades had suffered because of it. I glanced at the calendar on my phone. Eight more weeks until school would end, and then we'd be free.

I offered to help her, and she declined my help. She needed to do this on her own, she said. I told her she was being silly and ended the conversation. Then my phone rang Ariella's ringtone.

"What the hell happened last night?" she asked. I explained what had happened, and she reacted appropriately. She hung up when my story was done, likely to harass Sarah.

My undead heart felt for Sarah. I loved her more than anything, and she needed me, yet I help her. I wondered if I was partly to blame for her stress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah had to stay home for a few days, so she was gone all week. I had to settle for talking on the phone. I had to stay away, because it was apparent that the cause of her stress was me. At least to me. She said she missed me, and I told her that I missed her.

One night, I climbed through her bedroom window. She was sleeping in bed, wearing Hello Kitty pajama pants and a white tank, sprawled on her bed in a strange position. I adjusted her so that she lay on her side correctly, and covered her with the sheets and comforters. I turned off the light and put her phone on its charger, then I