Unraveling Mathias by Marisa Maichel (reading women TXT) 📕

"Revenge? Sarah, I'd never have pegged you as one that was vindictive."

"As soon as this baby is out, I'm making my move. I just need to figure out what that move is. Not fighting; I don't want detention."

I wondered what was going on. Did she really tell about Ariella and Uncle Soren? And where was this quest for vengeance coming from?

Scarlett had lost all her friends, and was at her lowest point, or so I believed.

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

My family crest is a raven sitting on a fox's shoulders. No one in my family really wears the crest anymore, except on special occasions or when we are planning to meet allies or enemies. Or there were the rare occasions when one of us fell in deep, undying love.

Father was falling hard for Faolan all over again. Faolan rarely had time for him, with the wolf pack and the rival packs and clans, and when they did meet, it was like watching two teenagers in a horror movie. Okay, to me it was like a horror movie. Sarah said that it reminded her of a few of her favorite love stories.

Father had given Faolan a necklace with the Emerson crest to wear. He had also had one made for Sarah, for the right moment.

Something didn't feel right with Sarah, though. Something was very wrong. She seemed more snappish, more vindictive than usual. I wondered if it was because of the pregnancy, or if it was just her. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know.

I was worried that we were headed for the end. My own doubts had sprung up recently. I was feeling jealous of every male she spoke to. I was suspicious about her friendship with Mia, Rachel, and Angela. And now Sara "Honey" Blynn, who had left Scarlett's side at last.

I was worried about Glen Crow and the threat he posed. He was much better looking than me, and a wizard. I was a prince, but I also drank blood and had killed humans.

And I was starting to feel crowded with Sarah around. Like, I wanted to be left alone whenever she was around. I needed space.

But I couldn't break up with her now; it was already July, and the baby would be born in three weeks. She reported that he was kicking hard, he knew it was time.

My feelings for Sarah were confusing and irrational. I needed a break. But what could I do?

I put all my thoughts down on a piece of lined paper and left it on my desk. That was my second mistake. My first mistake was not telling Sarah what I was feeling. My third mistake was letting Sarah sit in my desk chair one night while we were hanging out.

I was playing a game on my phone, and she was watching a movie trailer on hers. She sat up, stretched, and looked at the paper.

"Um, Reese? Is there anything you want to tell me?"

I looked over at her. She was looking at the paper.

"Shit!" I flitted over, grabbed the paper, and tore it into tiny pieces.

"Reese, it said that you needed space. What does that mean?" she asked suspiciously.

"I...I just feel crowded all the time."

"You live with four other vampires."

"Yes, and I have visitors coming and going at all hours. I just need a break."

"In what, exactly?" Tears were pricking her eyes.

"If I'm being honest, I don't know where this relationship is going. I don't have a chance with all these other guys hanging on you-"

"First of all, you're the only guy I like. Secondly, they're just friends. And I took a restraining order out on Glen Crow. He's not allowed within two hundred feet of me."

"I know, but...what about Scarlett?"

She turned red. "That bitch made all our lives miserable for over three years! Of course we want to get back at her."

"The Sarah I know would never plan revenge on anybody!"

"And the Reese I know would have talked to me about his feelings!"

She was right. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I wasn't feeling like myself. Neither was Sarah.

"I think we need to take a break," she said.

"I agree," I said. Sarah looked at me, then began packing up her things. Not just her purse, but all the books and movies that were hers that had accumulated in my room. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Giving you a break. In other words, a breakup."

"Sarah, I just said I needed a break! I didn't mean a breakup!"

"Yes you did!" She grabbed a bag and packed up all her stuff in it, then went downstairs and slammed the front door.

I kicked the bookshelf angrily. "Women!" I'd talk to her in a day or two.

I didn't have to wait long. My phone rang, blaring her ringtone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I thought about what you said. And you're right. The Sarah I want to be is forgiving, not vindictive. So I backed out. They're disappointed. They called me a wimp and a liar. At least, Honey and Angela did. Mia and Rachel told them to chill. And I'm sorry I overreacted. If you want a real break, fine. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Sarah, I'm sorry too. I should have just been honest from the beginning. Sarah?"

"Reese, don't put a gun in my chest."

"I'm not, Sarah. At least, I'm not trying to."

"Hello, Jordan. Why are you pointing a gun at me?"

"What the...?"

"Hello."

"What...Jordan Hart!"

"It's funny, I came up to her just as she was talking to you. Don't bother looking for her in the river. She'll be long gone by then. All of them will be."

And then she hung up.

I rushed out the door. Father grabbed onto me as I whizzed past him.

"Wow! What's the rush?"

"Jordan is kidnapping Sarah!"

"What? How do you know?"

"I heard it, too," Louis said, grabbing his keys. "Jordan has Sarah."

Father's eyes glazed over. His eyes widened, and he sucked in a breath. "She's taking her to the Passaic River!" Now it was my turn to suck in a breath.

"That's an hour away!" Louis said. "Why would she take her there?"

"Because of its reputation," I said. I buried my head in my hands. "This is all my fault."

"No, Reese, it's not your fault," Father told me. "I promise you, we'll get her back."

"Something doesn't ring right," Louis said. "I have to think about that conversation I heard with Reese and Sarah."

While I waited for them to call reinforcements (otherwise known as Mother and Alexander), I contemplated our conversations from earlier.

"She was with her when she called me back!" I cried. "Damn, damn, shit...it wouldn't have happened if I'd just been honest with Sarah in the first place. I'm so stupid!"

"Shhh, hush, young one," Father said, embracing me from the side. "Do not cause yourself more distress. We will flit toward the Passaic River now." He lifted me up, and Louis took his place beside him. And then we took off.

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

With us flitting, it only took five minutes to get there. To my horror, Sarah was standing on the edge of a bridge, looking fearfully down at the water. I climbed up the bridge and hissed. Jordan literally had a gun pointed at Sarah's back.

"Hart!" I yelled out. She looked at me.

"She'll be the first one. And then the rest of them will die."

"Don't do this, Jordan. Think about what would happen to you!"

"I'm already dead! What more can they do?"

"What?"

"It's been a while since we've seen each other, Reese. I'm not the same girl I was before. I have learned from my mistakes and became one of you. A vampire."

I sniffed the air. I smelled adrenaline, the tang from the river, the sweetness from the light breeze and Sarah's natural scents, and a slightly salty tang that could only be vampire blood. Jordan wasn't lying. She was a vampire.

"Why don't you just bite her?" I asked.

"I'm not getting into a conversation with you. Jump, bitch!" She jammed the gun into Sarah, and my girl screamed and held on to the railing.

"Why a gun? Why not your teeth or nails? Sarah, hang on!" Her teeth chattered. She was shaking with fear.

A few minutes passed. Sarah became rigid, refusing to budge.

"Sarah," I said, "Mother and Alexander will be here soon. Hang on tight!" A few more minutes passed. "Sarah, I'm sorry about earlier. You were right. I wasn't being fair. I wasn't right. I wasn't trying to ruin us, I just needed to work out what I was feeling."

"It's my fault, too!" she said, speaking up for the first time. "I've had a bad week, I haven't been taking my medicine, and I overreacted!"

"No, baby, it was not your fault! We both should have been more open and honest! I should have asked you about it! I love you!"

"I love you- AAAAHHHHH!"

Jordan had jabbed Sarah in the side with the gun.

"SARAH! REESE!"

Mother rushed up to my side. "Let her go!"

Alexander rushed up on my other side. "Sarah!"

Sarah screamed again as Jordan jabbed her in the stomach with the gun.

"Hold on, baby girl!" Mother cried.

I noticed activity on the other side of the bridge. It was Spencer and Toby. They had climbed up the other side and were now quietly making their way across the bridge. Unfortunately, Jordan saw them.

"I'll shoot!" she yelled, pointing the gun at Sarah's head.

"Back up, guys!" I called out. They held up their hands in the univeral sign of surrendering and backed up a few feet.

"Good try, losers!" Jordan called out, cackling.

"Jordan, what are you doing?!"

I turned and saw a blond woman with a man wearing glasses that were too big for him.

"Are you Jordan's parents?" Mother asked them. They nodded.

"They're not my real parents!" Jordan cried. "I'm not a real witch! I'm not Scarlett's real sister! I believed that I was for years, until I found the birth certificate! This woman's name is not Claire! And his name isn't Brian!"

"Those are the names of Michael Nales' parents," I noted.

"Exactly!" Jordan continued. "I'm not a Hart; I'm a Nales!"

"Isn't Michael Nales the boy who assaulted Sarah?" Alexander asked.

"Yes," I confirmed. "He was in fact the boy who put Cirino in her."

"We love you, Jordan!" The blond woman apparently thought this would affect Jordan. It didn't.

By now, police and camera crews were starting to arrive. A cop stood by me. "Back up, son." He aimed his rifle at Jordan. "Let her go!"

A woman wearing a business suit started toward Jordan.

"Jordan, my name is Patricia Daley. We can work something out. What do you need?"

"For this bitch to die!" Jordan gave Sarah a hard shove, and my girl almost lost her footing. I was so glad that she was wearing running shoes and not, say, high heels or sandals. She'd been wearing flats when she left my house earlier. I wondered if Jordan had let her put shoes on or if she'd put them on beforehand.

"Why do you want Sarah to die?" Patricia Daley asked.

"Because she deserves it! She turned her back on the coven! She told our parents we were stealing from stores!"

"Why would she do that?"

"Because we were! She was a part of it! She should have known better!"

"Yes, she should have. You don't turn your back on your friends."

"I know what you're trying to do. You want to give it up!" That's when Jordan fired the gun.

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

Patricia Daley clutched her leg. Jordan fired again and again, and the negotiator lay motionless on the ground. I looked around for help. And then I saw Mason. I went up to him.

"Mason, what are you doing here?"

"Your father called my father. He thought we should stand by, just in case."

"In case what?"

"In case Sarah gets hurt or falls, or in case I could be useful in getting her free. I think everyone knows that she loved me."

"I still do!"

We looked over at Jordan.

"Mason, I still love you!"

Mason took a deep breath and headed toward her. A couple of officers tried to hold him back, but he