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

"You're too serious. Lighten up, buttercup. Anyways, I've got to go. Shelly is having a temper tantrum." Shelly was one of the bandmates who played the bass.

"All right, I'll talk to you later. Bye, Ari." When we clicked off, Evan was staring at me intently.

"Who is Ariella?" he asked.

"You know her," I snapped. "She's one of our mutual friends. She's in a band." He gave me a blank look. "She's super popular, super nice, overly joyful?"

"Sorry, love, I simply do not remember my previous life."

"What have I done?" I said rhetorically.

"I don't know; what have you done?"

"I fucking bit you!" I snapped at him. He looked taken aback. "I'm sorry, Evan," I said, feeling terrible.

"Why is mate so unhappy?"

"I'm not your fucking mate!" I cried in exasperation. He froze. "Evan?" He unfroze himself.

"Why do you say that? I feel a connection with you that no one else can fill. Why do you continue to reject me?"

"I'm sorry, Evan. I...I'm in love with someone else." He froze again, then ran out. "Evan, wait!" I shot up and went after him. I cursed when I could no longer hear or smell him. I'm screwed. I am so screwed.

Before I could berate myself properly, my father and uncle came back, carrying a struggling Evan.

"Don't worry, Reese, we've got him," Uncle Soren said. Evan tried to bite him unsuccessfully. Uncle Soren tossed Evan over his shoulder like a deer.

"What's the point?" Evan whined. "He doesn't love me. I'm such a loser. I'm ugly, and I'm of average intelligence, while he's clearly so much smarter than I am. How could I ever think that he-" Father had clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Be silent, Evan," Father said. Evan kicked my uncle in the crotch, and Uncle Soren dropped him, doubling over. "Fucking idiot!" Father cried, chasing after Evan again. He caught him again, and this time, he ordered me to grab rope and duct tape. I flitted around, gathering the items, and going back to Father.

Father taped Evan's mouth shut and tied his hands and feet together with special rope made to hold vampires. He slung him over his shoulder and went back inside. Once there, he dumped Evan onto his bed and ordered me to get a bag of warm blood.

Evan drank the blood greedily, not even noticing when his fangs appeared. I kept refilling the glass until Evan told me that he was full.

"I'm sorry, Evan," I said. "I'm sorry. I made a huge mess of everything."

He ignored me, holding his knees up to his chest and sulking.

"I think you should go," he said. I went back into my bedroom and laid on my bed.

I wanted to call Sarah. I rolled over onto my stomach and started dialing her number. I froze. I had her number memorized already. I angrily threw my phone against the wall. It bounced off the bookcase and landed in the middle of the carpet. I laid there on my bed, my arms and legs splayed.

I imagined that she was beside me. Her soft brown curls, her beautiful green eyes, her muscular curves. Her small feet and hands. Her gorgeous skin tone and complexion. She had a healthy tan, and she took excellent care of her skin. Her body, face and hair had no flaws. Why she hated her body was beyond me. She had a flat stomach, wide hips, and large breasts. Her legs were beautifully curved, smooth, and muscular, as were her arms.

What could possibly go wrong with her life? Apparently a lot. I scolded myself for thinking that way. Only the year before, she had lost her father due to stomach cancer. She lived with her mother and sister now.

My brain started hurting, so I shook my head to clear it. I started thinking about her past boyfriends, and my chest tightened. I wanted to tear them all to pieces. She's mine. She didn't have very many, just Nales and a couple other guys. Nales. I growled at the name. I would tear him to pieces if I ever saw him again. He hurt her. Not only that, but I had started to see him as a rival.

My stomach felt queasy. I went into the bathroom, only to see Evan vomiting. I backed away slowly and threw up in my father's bathroom.

"What the hell?" Father said when he saw me. "Two boys getting themselves sick? What have I done?"

"It's not you," I told him, then expelled the contents of my stomach. Father held my hair back. When I finished, he pulled me into his arms and right into bed.

"I'm such a stupid loser," I said.

"No, you're not. You made a mistake. We all do that sometimes." He started to braid my hair.

"I also hate how the white tips in my hair contrast with the black."

"Oh, hush. You have beautiful hair. It's the shade of ebony. You're such a handsome boy. Why you don't see it is beyond me."

"I just don't see the appeal."

"You are a silly boy. Why do you think Sarah's dating you? For your taste in music? You and she are vastly different, yet you still hold an attraction for each other. You are soulmates."

"Attraction does not mean soulmates."

"No, it doesn't. Something I should have learned a long time ago. I do wonder if I have found my true soulmate yet, but I know my son has. He does not know the depth of his luck. Most vampires have to wait at least two hundred years. I've been waiting two thousand years. I have my heir, though, and he's enough. I am happy with him. He does not know how deeply he is loved."

"Father, you're doing it again."

"Huh?"

"Talking about me in third person as if I'm not here."

"Oh. My apologies. Lately I have become so wrapped up in my own thoughts, I even talk about myself in third person."

"Father, that's not a good sign."

"You worry too much. I am fine. Older vampires are nearly indestructible; you know that." That was partially why he was so protective of me - I'm younger, and he sees me as more fragile. Coupled with a father's already-ingrained instincts, quadrupled twentyfold by vampire instincts, and you can see why he was behaving the way he was. My life had already been at stake, and he felt weak if he could not even protect our home and territory.

CHAPTER NINE- HOW SHE IS AND STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES

I finally called Sarah after my father fell asleep.

"Hello?" she replied weakly.

"Sarah, it's me. Look, I'm so sorry about last night. I don't know what I was thinking. Please take me back."

"Huh? We never broke up. I was just having a bad night."

"I know. I feel responsible, and it's all the time. Please let me come over."

"It's not safe. Is your house free?"

"Is there any other option?"

"No. I don't want our conversation to be public."

"Is it me?" I asked.

"No, silly, it's not you. It's just super private."

"I think I can get out. Meet me at the house, and I'll take you into the woods."

~~~~~~~~

She arrived about an hour later. I noticed that she was wearing tight jeans and a casual white shirt.

"Why is Sarah here?" Grandfather asked, looking out at her car.

"I'm meeting up with her," I said. "Tell Father I'll be back soon."

I ran out to meet her. She looked up and stepped out of her car. I heard Grandfather say "That boy is in over his head." I mentally gave him the bird. Sarah hugged me, surprising me. I hugged her back after two seconds.

"Would you like me to carry you?" I asked her. She blinked.

"Sure," she said. I picked her up bridal style and started running toward the forest. At first I went at vampire speed, then I slowed down a bit so I was running closer to a human pace. I carried her over to a small waterfall that I knew of.

"Oh, Reese, it's gorgeous here," she said.

"It is. That's why I brought you here." The water was clear, and we could see tadpoles and minnows swimming around. A fox sounded in the distance, and Sarah clung to me.

"What was that?" she asked.

"It was just a fox," I said. "Living on the outskirts of town, I hear them all the time. Their calls can sound creepy, especially if you don't know what they sound like." I laid back on the wet ground, Sarah placing her head on my chest.

"You left mud tracks in my room," she said.

"I did?"

"Yeah, I had to cover them up then clean them before Mom saw them."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's all right.

"No, it's not." I rolled over so I was on top of her. "This is all my fault, Sarah." She blinked, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"I'm so exhausted," she said. "I'm tired of the fights and lies. I know that you're also keeping something from me, Reese." My heart froze over. "And I won't push you for it. I ask that you give me the same space."

"Sarah, I-I can't. I love you too much. I have to know what your secret is. I need to know it so I can protect you from it." She sighed.

"You can't protect me from them, Reese. They all hate me now. Especially Scarlett. She's a witch."

"With a capital B."

"No, she's literally a witch."

My heart froze again.

"Sarah, I...I had no idea. How are you still alive?"

"That's the thing. I think she knows she'll be in deep shit if she kills me." She leaned against a rock and sighed. "We were all in on it. She showed us how to make beauty and popularity potions. Jordan showed her how to make them. I know that they learned all their tricks from another classmate. I think his name's Mason." Mason?

"Son of a bitch," I cursed. "He invited me to sit with him at lunch."

"Yeah, he's like that. He loves Scarlett, always has. But she doesn't love him. She uses him, and he doesn't even realize it."

"I...I have to make a call. Stay here." Before I could pull out my phone, I saw Evan sitting in the tops of the trees, glaring down at us. He looked like he was trying not to cry. And before either of us could react, my father appeared, clamping his hand over Evan's mouth and pulling him away silently.

"Sarah, I have to go home. Do you want to hang out in my room?" I asked.

"Sure," she said, hugging her knees. I lifted her up again and carried her away to the house. Father was behind us, carrying a struggling Evan. I kept Sarah's attention away from them as best as I could. Sarah took her boots off when we got inside, as did I. I held her hand and led her up the stairs.

I pushed her onto my bed after locking the door. I held her tightly, pulling her into me.

"I need to skip work and school one of these days," she said. "Skip both of them and just sleep. That's all I want. Is that too much to ask for?"

"Pick a Saturday or Friday," I said. "Now, what else has Scarlett taught you?"

"She taught us how to steal. That's why I work so much. We became a stealing ring." I pulled away and looked at her. "That's right. I'm a thief," she said. "It all started with a strawberry lip gloss. Then it escalated and got bigger. We stole clothes, movies, books, makeup. It was hard, but we got better. Scarlett was of course our ringleader. The only one better than her at stealing was her sister Jordan. I was the last one to steal something. I stole a lip gloss first, then a pair of jeans, then shampoo, and so on. I have a whole pile of stuff I stole. We all do, especially Angela. She was the third best at stealing, then Honey, then Rachel, then Mia, then me.

"Mia and I were literally partners in crime. Where one of us was weak, the other one was powerful. She stole a lot more than