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

"And Alexander?"

"He's been great. He buys all our food and has started buying me maternity clothes. He even went into a fragrance shop with me and bought me this new perfume." She held our her wrist, and I smelled it. Rain fragrance.

"Do you like the rain?" I asked her.

"I love rain. I love walking in the rain and even splashing in puddles. But since I'm older, I can't necessarily do that anymore without looking silly. It makes me sad."

"Don't be sad," I said. "Can you swim?" She blushed at this.

"I can't swim well," she replied.

"I have a massive indoor pool if you ever want to come by and use it."

"Thanks, Reese, but I'll pass. Like I said, I can't swim well."

"I can teach you. I can teach you so many things." The implication made me purr. Spending time with Sarah was like Heaven. She looked uncomfortable. "Oh, Sarah, I'm so sorry," I said. I scooted closer to her. "I love you so much." I pulled her onto my lap and wrapped my arms around her waist. I buried my nose in her hair. "I love you so much that it hurts."

"Do you think that we have a connection because of what happened?" she asked, and I couldn't tell if she was upset with me or not.

"Our connection is so much deeper. I've liked you for a long time, Sarah. What happened that night merely brought us closer." My soulmate looked unsure. I buried my nose in her neck and smelled her sweet liquid. I could feel my pants grow tight.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I love you. I love you. I'm sorry." My gut tightened as she made small noises of pleasure. I purred slowly, wanting to ravish her right then and there. Thoughts of my new rival entered my mind, and I growled.

"Reese, stop," Sarah said. I ceased and looked at her. She climbed off of my lap, and I whined.

"Sarah, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Take me home."

"And back to Eric Martin? I think not."

"Reese...are you jealous?" she asked me.

"I don't trust him. Especially since this is so new. I've never been in love before. This is all new to me. I don't trust any males around you, especially since the Mike incident." Her lip trembled, and I regretted my words.

"Please take me home," she said. Stomach still aching with need, I drove back to her house. She go out, almost leaving her purse in my van. I squeezed the steering wheel as Eric greeted her and hugged her. He gave me a smug look as she wrapped her arms around him. I gritted my teeth.

I wanted to rip his heart out and drain him of blood. Whoa, where did that come from? I took a deep breath and drove away, heart aching.

When I got home, I collapsed on the couch, fighting sobs. Father came up to me and held me.

"Baby, what's wrong?"

"Father, I screwed up!" I told him about Eric Martin and my feelings toward him, excluding what I did with Sarah and how I felt. I merely told him that she and I spent some time alone. "I hate him!" I cried.

"Of course," Father said. "He's trying to get with your mate. She needs to realize that she is your mate, and then she will be more open to what you want to do with her." I looked at him in surprise. He smiled at me. "Son, I've been around for over two thousand years. I know what you tried to do with her."

I buried my face in Father's stomach, embarassed.

"I've never wanted to kill anyone so much, excluding Mike," I said.

"That is the instinct. Destroy your rivals so that she can only be yours."

________________________________________________________________________

"You were right," Sarah said tearfully. "Eric was no good. He tried to...to..." She broke off into sobs.

"Oh, sweetheart," I said, holding her.

"He tried to push himself onto me," she said after a full minute. "When I said no, he told me that I was too fat and ugly to keep anyone's attention. He also said that he had a girlfriend!" She burst into sobs again. I made a vow right then to myself. I would kill Eric Martin. I considered all the ways I could kill him. Everything from biting him to sticking a knife in his midsection.

I held Sarah for a long while. Soothing her, kissing her, telling her that I loved her and that I was sorry. She sobbed into my shirt for what seemed like an hour. Then she dried her face on my shirt.

"Sorry," she said.

"It's all right," I said. She laid in her bed, body wrapped around itself. I sat beside her and rubbed her back. "Sarah, you are not fat nor ugly. You are beautiful, soft, and curved."

"I know Eric only said that to get under my skin," she said. She sniffed. "I bet the bitches are enjoying my pain." Then she smiled, a creepy, devious smile. "I planned it all out. But I would never actually go through with it." My gut turned into a hunk of ice.

"Baby, what do you mean?"

"I wrote a short story. About how I faked my own death and my ghost came back to haunt everyone who has ever hurt me." Then she looked at me, terrified. "Not that I would actually do it!"

"I believe you," I said. This new Sarah terrified me. I was so afraid for her. Her health was detoriating fast, especially her mental health. I crawled in behind her. She began sobbing again. Not knowing what to do, I simply held her. Her small form fit into my large form perfectly. She cried for hours until she eventually fell asleep.

"I will avenge you," I vowed. I kissed her behind her ear. I got up and went outside through her window. "Goodbye, my love."

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - DEATH BY LOVE/NEAR DEATH/DEATH OF A RIVAL

The news came on.

"Next up, a juvenile rapist found dead! Michael Nales was discovered lifeless in a sewage lake early this morning, his body completely drained of blood and his heart missing from his chest. The heart was discovered several miles away in a graveyard, sitting on the tombstone of Ezra Cresley, the father of Michael's sixteen year old victim. According to reports, Michael went to North Hampton High School. Is this a new trend? Is anyone safe at North Hampton High School?"

I grinned maliciously.

"Good work, Father," I said.

"Anything for you, Reese," he replied. "Your uncle inspired me with the heart removal of his victims. I kept his blood in a tank if you wish to bathe in it."

"A tempting offer, but I think I'll just drink it."

The blood settled happily in my gut. One rival down, one more to go. Eric Martin.

"Please don't kill me," Eric begged, shielding his face with his arms. I smirked.

"You are pathetic, Eric Martin. You lie about having a girlfriend to hurt Sarah, you call her ugly and fat, all because she wouldn't sleep with you. She's been through enough already, did you ever think about how it might affect her?"

"I'm sorry!" he sobbed. "Please don't kill me!" I inched forward slowly, grinning evilly. I leaped forward and bit into his neck. Immediately, his disgusting blood filled my mouth. I stepped back and released him, retching. Eric took the opportunity to run away. I let him go reluctantly.

My stomach protested his foul liquid elixir. I threw up noisily.

I awoke from my dream with a feeling of dissatisfaction. I was still on Father's lap, and he was stroking my hair as if I were a cat. I had fallen asleep while watching the news. It was a few days after my chat with Sarah, and I had not seen or heard from her since.

I had heard that she had been ruthlessly questioned, and I was next. Father did his best to comfort me.

"Did I make a mistake?" I said out loud. Father kissed my forehead.

"No, baby, if anyone made a mistake, it would be me," he said. "You know that I will readily agree to my involvement to keep you and Sarah out of trouble."

"You are a good father," I said. He brightened and smiled.

"I know how much she means to you, Reese. I am quite fond of her as well."

I growled at him. "She's mine."

"I know, Reese. I will not touch her. I promise you, I will not try to steal her from you. If anything, I'm afraid that she will steal you from me." I glared at him in warning. He purred and licked my forehead. "What is wrong with you, Reese? You used to be so full of happiness and joy and life, and now, you seem to hate my guts."

"I don't hate you," I said. He looked like he didn't believe me. He pulled me up and playfully blew a raspberry in my belly, causing me to giggle like a schoolgirl. I affectionately nipped his ear. He grinned at me. I put my head under his chin.

~~~~~~~~~~

Uncle Soren and Grandfather were standing in the yard, looking like they wanted to tell us something.

"Reese, we need to have a talk," Uncle Soren said.

"It's about Sarah," Grandfather added. "What? What's going on?" I asked nervously. "Is she all right?"

"She's unhurt," Uncle Soren said. "Somebody got to her in time. She had a car crash."

"Another one?" Father said, looking suspicious. "And how do you know this?" Uncle Soren looked at his shoes.

"Ariella was with her. They were going somewhere when Ariella's car swerved suddenly." Father raised an eyebrow.

"I think it's time to call Jessa," he said.

"Who's Jessa?" I asked.

"A private detective who works for us. She'll be able to figure out what's going on. She's excellent with patterns, and I get the sense that there's a pattern here."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jessa was a skinny blond woman who smelled like coffee. Turned out that she was a human. Father and I told her all we knew about the attacks on my love.

"Mike's attack was random," she said. "He's just a big jerk. As for Scarlett, I think she's definitely targeting Sarah. What do we know about the crash?"

"The first crash was my fault," I said.

"I'd like to look at the van," Jessa said.

"By all means," Father replied. After he led her to the van, he came back inside and rubbed my back lovingly. I leaned against him.

"Father, I have to go do homework," I said.

"You are excused, then. Go do your work. I think we've told Jessa enough information."

I went up to my room and called Sarah for the zillionth time.

"Sarah, it's me. Look, I don't know why you're ignoring me, or what I did. Please call me back. I love you." I hung up, my stomach churning. I sat back on my bed and tried to read. I couldn't focus for long, and I reread the same sentence countless times. Eventually, I threw the book down in frustration. Neither Ariella nor Sarah answered my calls, and Uncle Soren and Grandfather did not tell me which hospital they were at.

I started to look through my movie collection just for something else to focus on. I have a decent movie collection, with everything from Hocus Pocus to Star Wars to Pumpkinhead. I eventually decided to put in Heavy Metal 2000.

I pulled out my Advanced Junior English assignment and started to answer the questions. Father had told me earlier that my teacher was going to surprise us with a quiz. I ran my hand over my hair. Finally, I'd had enough. I pulled out my phone and dialed the numbers of every hospital in the city until I came across one that said they had a patient named Sarah Cresley. I got her room number and the address.

~~~~~~~~~~

When I got there, Alexander was there, intertwining her fingers with his. My stomach twisted painfully as I studied her. Her head was bandaged, her leg had a fracture, and