Unraveling Sarah Cresley by Marisa Maichel (best summer books .txt) 📕

"Father, I...I don't know what to do. First Sarah, now this. Am I cursed?"

"No, sweet, you are not cursed. Such is life that it creates difficulties for you even before you reach adulthood."

"Those difficulties stress me."

"I know." He began playing with a lock of my hair. Letting out a contented sigh, Father laid back down completely, putting his head on my chest, as if to hear my nonexistent heartbeat.

"Father, I have to talk to Sarah. She's hurting, and I don't fully know why. She mentioned a big secret, then she had a panic attack."

"She had a panic attack?"

"Are you even paying attention?"

"Not really. Where do you think you're going?"

"I need to take a shower," I told him. He reluctantly freed me from his embrace.

As I stepped into the shower, I contemplated how I was going to help Sarah. I was starting to realize that she's more complicated than I imagined. I always knew there were many pieces and puzzles about her. In a way, I was grateful for that party at Caden Cartwright's house. When I thought about what Mike did though...I wanted to rip his heart out.

I realized that Sarah was more involved with that clique than I originally thought. They nearly destroyed her, and would not stop until she hit an all-time low. As soon as I stepped out of the shower and dried myself thoroughly, I called Sarah.

"Sarah, it's Reese. I...please call me back. Let me know that you're all right. I...I'm worried about you. I'm sorry if I did something. Anything. Please call me back. I need to hear your voice." With that message left, I hung up.

There was an ache in my chest. A call to help. Help Sarah. Mate. Help mate. Eventually the ache grew so strong that I simply could not take it anymore.

It was already dark, and I could still see everything. Everything from the herd of deer on the edge of Father's property, to a fox about two hundred yards east. I gazed at the fox for a long time. The fox looked at me, noticed me watching him, and scampered away.

"Father, I'm going out," I said.

"Be back before midnight- wait, what?" He flitted into my bedroom. "You're going out? Why?"

"I got a text from Ariella," I lied. He looked at me for a long time. Then he tweaked my nose.

"You're going to see Sarah," he realized out loud. "Silly boy. Don't you know your father knows how to catch a lie? Yes, you may go see her. Be back before midnight."

~~~~~~~~~

I quickly ran to her house. I climbed the ivy up to her window. She was laying on her bed, curled into the fetal position. She had been crying. Tear tracks marked her cheeks, and her eyes were red, and she was flushed.

"It's not my fault," she said. "Can't they see?" Sarah....

My foot slipped, nearly causing me to fall. Sarah looked up. She came over to the window. Shit! I pressed my back against the wall and watched as she opened the window and took in a deep breath.

"Is someone there?" she asked. When I didn't respond, she sighed and turned away.

"Sarah, wait," I said, then mentally smacked myself.

"Reese?" I climbed up and through her window. Her eyes went wide, and she took a step back.

"I'm sorry that I've frightened you," I told her. I took a step back.

"Why were you climbing on my wall?"

"I had to see you again. See if you were okay. Did you get my call?"

She blinked and studied me for a long time. "Yeah," she finally said, "I got your call. That was nice of you."

"I didn't do it to be nice. I did it because...well, you know why." She paused, then wrapped her arms around me. It hit me then how much I dwarfed her. I'm six foot tall and weigh well over two hundred pounds. She's only five three and weighs less than one hundred and thirty pounds.

"I have to work when I'm not in school," she said. "I work a crappy waitressing job and I work at a clothing store that doesn't make much. It's what I have to do to make up for what I did."

"Sarah, what did you do?" I bent down to her level and cupped her face in my large hands. She pulled away.

"Nothing," she said.

"Sarah Harper Cresley, I can see that it's more than nothing. Please, I'm begging you. Tell me."

"I can't!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "You'll hate me, and I don't want you to hate me."

"I could never hate you. I love you. I love you more than any guy has ever loved his girlfriend. I would give up my heart for you."

"Girlfriend?" She cocked her head. I froze.

"Isn't that what you are?"

"Well," she bit her lip. "We are together, but girlfriend doesn't sound quite right."

"Sarah, don't say that. Please don't say that."

"And you'd really give up your heart for me?"

"In a split second. I'll reach into my chest, pull out my heart, and offer it to you." She looked truly scared now. "Oh, Sarah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Why are you like this?" she asked. "It's not healthy."

"I don't care. You're my soulmate." My ears perked up. Her mother was coming. I jumped out the window and hid behind a tree.

"Sarah, who are you talking to?"

"I was watching a movie, Mom," she said. Sarah....

"Ooh, which one?"

"Uh...Hamlet." She watches Hamlet? I heard her mother coming closer, and my stomach tightened. Alicia paused for a moment, then walked away.

"All right, then. Good night, sweetheart." I heard her kiss her daughter, then walk out. I crawled back up the climbing ivy. Sarah was sitting on the carpet, her head in her lap. I sat beside her.

"I lied to my mother," she said. "I never lie to her."

"I lied to my father tonight, only, he knew that I was lying," I said. She burst into tears. "Oh, don't cry, Sarah. I'm sorry."

"Reese, I think you should go," she finally said after a full minute.

"I...I'm sorry," I said. I kissed her on the forehead and hugged her as best I could.

~~~~~~~~~

Running home, I had a lot to think about. Why was she being so secretive? What was her secret? What could be so awful that she thinks I'll hate her if she tells me?

It was just after midnight, and Father was not pleased. There was a lot of "Do you realize what time it is?" and a lot of "If something had happened to you, I would never forgive myself." I knew that he was only saying these things out of love and fear of losing me.

"Am I grounded?" I finally asked him.

"No, you're not," he said, noticeably relaxing. "I just want you to be more aware of the time." He hugged me and kissed my forehead. He picked me up and carried me to bed. He took off my boots and jeans.

"Father, I can undress myself," I said.

"Sorry," he said, even though he wasn't. "Something has upset you. I can see that. Don't lie to me again, Reese."

"You're right, Father. Sarah keeps mentioning a huge secret, and she thinks I'll hate her if she tells me. The suspense is killing me."

"Let her come to you on her own with her secret. She'll tell you eventually. True mates are always more open and trusting of each other automatically."

"What are you saying, that she's not my true mate?"

"That's not what I said at all. You're not listening." I gave him a dirty look. "Okay, maybe I could have worded that differently. Go to sleep now." He looked straight into my eyes. "Go to sleep, my son. You are exhausted and stressed. Sleep now."

How'd he learn to do that? I thought as I drifted off into a deep slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~

I waited patiently in the room with Father as Evan's heart finally slowed down.

"What if I'm wrong?" I said out loud. "What if he turns out to be evil?"

"If that happens, I am here, and so is Soren and your grandfather. We will protect you."

"I don't care about me," I said. I started pacing. "What have I done? What if he kills somebody? What if he kills one of you? What if he kills Sarah?"

"That will not happen. Hold on a second. Is your girlfriend more important than me?" I stopped and looked at him.

"Father, don't be silly. Of course you're more important than she is."

"Don't lie to me, Reese."

"What makes you think I'm lying?"

"Hush now. Evan is waking up."

He was right. Evan's green eyes opened, with a brightness I'd never seen before in his eyes. He started smelling the air. His eyes roamed around until they locked on me. A rumble sounded from within him. He got up slowly and walked over toward me. I thought I heard him say the word "mate". His arms wrapped around me and he began exploring my torso. His nose wrinkled as he smelled me.

"What's he doing?" I asked Father.

"Getting to know you. In a way, he's introducing himself to you. He thinks you're his mate." I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Evan's eyes locked onto my father, and he let out a ferocious hiss.

"Stay away, blondie," Evan snarled. "He's mine."

"I know. I'm his father." I looked at Father quizzically. "He sees me as a threat since I'm unfamiliar to him," he explained.

"How is that possible? He's met you before!"

"Reese, I...I think he lost his memory." I looked at Evan.

"What's your name?" I asked. Evan blinked.

"I...I don't know. I'm so confused. Are you my mate?"

"Your name is Evan Byrd," I said, ignoring his last question. "I bit you." Instead of anger as I expected, he grinned and hugged me.

"Thank you so much," he said. Geez, he's twice as annoying as a vampire. He rubbed his nose into my shoulder in gratitude.

"Why are you so happy about this?" I asked.

"Because I found you. You are the one I've been waiting for," he said. I looked over at Father, who had an amused smile on his face.

"It's not funny," I said.

"You're right, it isn't," Father replied. "Still...Evan can use this room until we figure out the next step."

I led Evan on a tour of the house. He kept reaching for my hand, and I kept it away from him. Father gave him free rein of most of the house except for everyone's bedrooms excluding his own.

When I went into my bedroom to take a nap, he followed me. I laid down on the bed and kicked off my boots. I slipped under the covers, Evan soon following me. He wrapped his arms around my waist. I gently pried him off. He gave me a confused look. I rolled over and tried to sleep. He crawled over me and put his head on my chest. A strange purr emanated from him.

My cell phone ringing woke me up. I rolled over and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Haven't spoken to you in a while."

"Ariella? What's going on?"

"Okay, your uncle really did go to my gig. I didn't even know guys his age liked my kind of music." Interesting. "Secondly, Damon told me he wants to go out with me again. What should I say?"

"You do what you think is right." At this point, Evan was awake and was crawling all over me like a cat. When he got a little too low, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back up.

"So what are you up to?" Ariella asked me.

"I talked to Sarah again." I told Ariella about the dinner and about my nightly visit to Sarah's bedroom.

"You're bad, Reese! I never knew you had it in you."

"This isn't funny, Ari. Something's really bothering her."

"Give it more time. She'll come around. She knows what a catch you are."

"Stop doing that. Don't tell me that I'm a catch, because I'm not. I'm just a stupid guy who is in love with someone he shouldn't be loving." At this, Evan's green eyes went wide and he started kissing