Awakened (Book #5 of the Vampire Legends) (5 page)

“Well, take a
seat in the back and don’t come late again!” Mrs. Pepper yelled.

She sat down in
the only empty seat in the back of the classroom. She looked around to see who
was in the class and was happy to see some familiar faces. She turned to her
right and was happy to see Brian, sitting next to her. She looked at him and
smiled and he smiled back. Her heart began to race with excitement.

“Hi!” Brian said.
“Sorry you got yelled at. She’s a ball buster!”

“Yeah, apparently,”
Rachel whispered back.

“No talking!”
Mrs. Pepper said. “You two in the back be quiet or else I will separate you!”

Everyone in the
class turned their heads and stared at Rachel and Brian. Her face got flush red
as she was being reprimanded. She was mortified. She quickly turned to face the
front of the classroom and took out her notebook and pencil. She had to at
least pretend she was focusing on the class, even though all she could think
about for some reason was Brian. She was elated that he spoke to her and smiled
at her. It was her dream come true. She’d always liked Brian, but he never paid
any attention to her before. She wondered if this would last or if it was a
passing thing.

A few minutes
later, Brian reached over and put a note down on her desk. She looked up at him
and he motioned for her to open it. She unfolded the piece of paper and read
it:
Do you want to go to the movies tonight?

She couldn’t
believe her eyes. She blinked and read it again, thinking she was seeing
things.

Do you want to
go to the movies tonight?

She looked over
at Brian and shook her head yes. She couldn’t believe it. She was asked out by
Brian and couldn’t have been happier. He smiled at her and then Rachel felt a
hand come down hard on her desk.

“WHAT’S THIS?” Mrs.
Pepper asked, picking up the note from Rachel’s desk.

Mrs. Pepper
opened the note and read it out loud, “Do you want to go to the movies tonight?
Do you want to go to the movies tonight?” she repeated.

Rachel looked at
Brian whose face was bright red with embarrassment. The entire class started
oohing and aahing in unison. Rachel’s face turned beat read as well. She
couldn’t believe this was happening, and she hoped that Brian wouldn’t take
back his invitation. She hoped that his friends wouldn’t make fun of him for
asking her out.

“There’s no note
passing in my class,” Mrs. Pepper said. “Both of you go to the principal!”

“What?” Brian
asked. “Are you serious?”

“Don’t question
me, young man. Go!” Mrs. Pepper said.

The two of them quietly
got up from their desks, gathered their belongings and headed out of the
classroom towards the principals office. Rachel felt scared. She’d never been
sent to the principal before and she knew she’d get in trouble for this, both
in school and at home. She knew her father would be pissed to find out she
disrupted class and she feared he’d kick her out again. Her heart began to
pound as they got to the bottom of the steps and were now on the first floor
just steps away from his office. Until now the two hadn’t said a word to each
other, but then Brian turned to her and said, “Don’t worry, Rach. It will be
OK. I will cover for you.”

“It’s my first
time going to Dr. Rundy’s office. I can’t believe my first day back and I’m
already in trouble,” Rachel said.

“He’s not that
bad really. I’ve been sent to his office a few times before and to tell you the
truth, he’s not as scary as he appears to be!” Brian said.

“Really? I find
him to be horrifying!” Rachel said, whispering as they got close to his office.

“Shh…” Brian said
as the two stood outside of his office staring quietly at the large wooden door
with a small glass window. Rachel began to panic as she stood there, waiting
for Dr. Rundy to open the door. She surveyed the door as she stood there, and
for some reason couldn’t take her eyes off the gold embossed plaque on his door,
which read, Dr. R.W. Rundy. The sight of his name made her heart sink into her
chest and her body temperature to rise.

Then, she heard
loud footsteps coming to the door, and a large shadow appeared in the frosted
glass window of the door. She knew it was he, coming to yell at them. She took
a step back, so as not to be so close to the door or to Dr. Rundy when he
opened it. She wanted to hide behind Brian but knew she couldn’t do that.

The doorknob
creaked as she watched it turn, then the door opened slowly and within seconds,
she saw Dr. Rundy standing there with a severe look of disappointment on his
face.

“Rachel, Brian,
come in,” Dr. Rundy said in a deep, slow voice.

The two stepped
into his office and waited for him to say something.

“Sit down there,”
Dr. Rundy said, pointing to two chairs opposite his desk. “What did you do to
be sent to my office?”

Rachel was silent
and waited for Brian to answer, but he didn’t. He waited, too. She couldn’t
believe this; she thought he was going to cover for her.

“Well.” Rachel
started talking. “What happened was that…”

“It was my fault,
Dr. Rundy. Rachel shouldn’t be punished for my mistake,” Brian said.

Rachel looked
over at Brian in relief as she listened to him talk.  

“What do you mean
it’s all your fault? Mrs. Pepper said it was the both of you who disrupted her
class today!” Dr. Rundy said, with the same scary look of disapproval.

“Well,” Brian
said, “What happened was completely my fault and Rachel here was just caught in
the middle of it. She does not deserve to be sitting here.”

“Well, Rachel?”
Dr. Rundy asked. “Is this true?”

Rachel didn’t
know what to do or say. Of course she wanted to get out of her punishment, but
at the same time she didn’t want to throw Brian under the bus, especially since
she kind of had feeling for him.

“It’s ok Brian,”
Rachel said. “It’s as much my fault as it is yours. You don’t have to take all
the blame here.”

“C’mon Rachel, I
passed you the note and I was the one starting conversations with you. You
didn’t do anything,” Brian said smiling at her.

“Well, Rachel, it
seems like Brian is the one who caused the trouble up in math class. You are
free to go, but don’t let it happen again!” Dr. Rundy said.

“Go?” Rachel
asked, confused.

“Yes, you may
leave my office now. But Brian, you will stay here with me. We have more to
discuss!” Dr. Rundy said.

Rachel slowly got
up from her chair; feeling like this was all too good to be true. She wasn’t
getting in trouble after all, and it’s all because Brian stood up for me and
took all the blame. She was so grateful that he’d done that. She couldn’t bear
the thought of going home and telling her dad she was sent to the principals
office, or even worse, having the principal call home to tell him the news.
Still, the thought of the frightened her as she slowly walked out of his
office, shutting the door behind her.

Part of her felt
bad that Brian had to take the brunt of this situation, but it was only fair.
He was the one who got her in trouble after all, and he was nice to tell the
truth to Dr. Rundy. She wished she could have thanked him, but knew it wouldn’t
have been an appropriate time to do so.

RING RING

The final bell
rang of the day and Rachel couldn’t have been happier. She couldn’t wait to go
home to process everything that had happened in school. Then, she remembered
her dad was picking her up to go to the hospital. Suddenly, she was feeling
depressed about the idea of seeing her mom in a coma in a hospital bed. After
all, she didn’t know what she’d say to her when she saw her, especially because
this whole thing was her fault.

Rachel went to
her new locker and took out her backpack and books and headed toward the front
door of the school. As she was walking down the hall, she heard her friends
yelling her name, “Rachel, Rachel! Wait for us!”

Rachel turned and
greeted them, “Hey guys, what’s up?”

“Nothing much!
Just heading out, we’re walking into town, wanna come?” Dana asked.

“Wish I could,
but my dad is picking me up to visit my mom,” Rachel said.

Dana’s face
dropped, “Oh, for the first time?”

“Yeah, I haven’t
seen her there yet,” Rachel said.

“Oh brother.
Well, good luck,” Dana, said. “Text me after and hopefully you will change your
mind about the movies later.”

“Thanks!” Rachel
said.

She stood there,
outside the school building, all bundled up in her winter coat and scarf as she
waited for her dad. She watched her friends walk away in the distance as they
laughed, linked arms and skipped into town. She wished she could have gone with
them instead of having to go to the hospital. She dreaded going to the
hospital; everything about it was upsetting to her. The fact that her mom was
in the hospital, for one, the smell of the hospital, the noises of the
hospital, the whole thing.

As the after
school noises quieted down, she looked at her watch. Her dad was already
fifteen minutes late to pick her up. She knew that was out of character for
him, but continued to wait for him.

She took out her
cell phone and dialed his number. It rang and rang, until his voicemail picked
up.

Hmm. Rachel
thought to herself. This is odd.

She waited
another twenty minutes, but he didn’t show up and he didn’t call. She figured
he’d forgotten about their plans, so she decided to walk home. It was a rather
far walk, especially for such a cold day, but she wanted to do it. She wanted
to be outside and she wanted to have time to herself to think about things.

Rachel was
freezing cold by the time she got home and here nose was dripping from the frigid
air. Her face felt chapped and her ears raw as she walked up the driveway
towards her house. She still didn’t feel like she had any clarity on what had
happened to her the past two years since she left Pennsylvania. She didn’t know
what to do but she knew she had to do something to give her peace of mind.

“Dad! Dad!”
Rachel yelled as she went into her house. “Where are you?”

She waited
quietly, but there was no answer. She went into his home office but he was not
there.

“Mark? Are you
home?” Rachel called out.

Again, no answer.

Rachel was home
alone and didn’t know where her father was or why he didn’t pick her up from
school. She went over to the answering machine to see if maybe he had called,
but there were no messages. Despite the oddity of this, Rachel was excited to
have the house to herself. She liked being home alone, and especially today.
She wanted to rummage around to find clues about her past years she couldn’t
remember.

She started in
her parent’s room. She knew she wasn’t supposed to go through their personal
things, but she couldn’t help it. She had to see what has been going on with
the family. She opened her dad’s closet and opened his safe, and started
perusing through his old coin collection, his old high school yearbooks and a
few gold money clips. She flipped through the pages of his yearbooks, and
laughed at the old pictures. Secretly, she was hoping her dad was hiding
something in the pages of the books that would miraculously fall out and have
all the answers for her, but there was nothing. Only dusty, old pages with
funny old photos of the past. She poked around in his drawers but there was
nothing secretive hiding there, and nothing out of place. So far her plan was
not working.

Then, she went
into her mother’s closet. All of her clothes were still in bags from the move
and her personal items were still in boxes, which her dad had put neatly in the
bottom of her closet. She felt bad as she rummaged through her moms clothes,
and shoes, looking for signs of anything strange. Then, she decided to open one
of the boxes titled Betsy’s things. She opened the box and peeked in at its
dusty contents. She saw old photos from when she was a kid, a few recipe books,
her favorite sci fi novels, old keys on a key chain and some old scarves.

Rachel was
striking out and not finding any information that would explain why she’d
forgotten the past two years. She wasn’t even finding anything that showed they
had moved. Was everyone conspiring against her or was it really true. She
couldn’t figure it out.

She left her
parents room and walked towards her brother’s room. She entered it, but then
realized he probably wouldn’t have any information. She walked to her sister’s
room, but when she went inside there was nothing there. Sarah had taken most of
her belongings with her to Syracuse University and there was nothing left
except her floor mirror, and her old record player. No boxes or bags for Rachel
to search through.

Rachel took out
her cell phone and dialed Sarah. She hadn’t spoken to her in a while, and wanted
to find out what she knew. She pressed her number on speed dial and waited
while it rang and rang. Then, her voicemail picked up and she left a message:

Hey Sarah, it’s your sister. Just wanted to say hello and
see how you are doing. See what’s been going on and I have a few things to ask
you. So please call me back. Miss ya! Bye!

She hung up the
phone and then stood there, in the hallway wondering what to do next. She
looked around and then the dangling string to the attic steps caught her eye.
She walked towards it and then jumped up high to try and grab the string. She
was too short. She looked in the coat closet and pulled out the step stood. She
reached for the string and pulled down the folding steps, which led to the
attic. She carefully climbed up the steps as her fathers voice rang in her ears
from her childhood.
Don’t go up into the attic. It’s not a place to play.

She got to the
top of the attic and looked around. She saw old Halloween costumes from when
she was a kid, old stuffed animals, old clothes and shoes and a bunch of boxes.
She looked around, and couldn’t believe they’d just moved back in. By the looks
of this attic, you would think they’d been living in that house one hundred
years. It smelled musty and there was a layer of dust over everything. She blew
on one of the boxes and read the label.

Old Files

Rachel pulled the
masking tape off the box and opened it as a huge cloud of dust hit her in the
face making her cough and sneeze. She opened the box to find stacks of old bank
statements and old records. She picked one up but it was from when she was only
ten years old. There were no recent documents in this box that she could find.
Everything that she found was from the time they lived in that house and from
the days she could remember. She was getting discouraged about her whole idea
of uncovering the truth about the past two years. She knew she wasn’t getting
anywhere in her search and decided to go back downstairs. As she carefully
walked across the floorboards of the attic, she saw an envelope sticking out
from under one of them. She bent down and pulled it out from where it had been
wedged in the floor. It was taped closed with duct tape on all the edges and
looked like a private letter. On the front was her mothers name written in
calligraphy in red pen. She didn’t know if she should open it up, but her curiosity
didn’t give her much of an option. She carefully removed all the tape, without
compromising the envelope or its contents. Then, she unfolded the small piece
of parchment paper that was safely tucked inside. The paper was old, and
discolored and crumbling at the edges. It was almost as if she’d just found an
old letter in a bottle or an old relic from the olden days. She began reading:

Dear Betsy,

Now that you
are older, I can tell you who you really are and who we really come from. I can
tell you the secrets of our family past and let you in on our secret life. This
information is confidential and must strictly remain within our side of the
family. You are never to tell your children or your husband. You have to
promise me that you will not share our family’s history with anyone and you
will take it to your grave. For I am the only remaining survivor from the time
and the only one who holds the secrets. Meet me in the cemetery at the tomb of
your grandfather, and I will share with you what I know.

Love, your
mother.

Rachel didn’t
know what to make of this letter and its ominous sounding text. She felt
worried and scared by everything she’d just learned. She couldn’t help but
wonder what this all meant and why her mother was never allowed to tell her. She
had no idea what her grandmother was talking about and wished she were still
alive to ask her. The letter almost sounded like sorcery or witchcraft to her.
Her body began to shake in fear as she reread the letter over and over. How
she’d wished she could talk to her grandmother about this, but the only person
who would know about this now was her mother, but she was in a coma in the
hospital and she didn’t know what condition she was in or if she’d even want to
discuss it with her.

She folded the
letter back up carefully and put it back in the envelope. She knew she had to
confront her mother about this letter and she had to do it soon. It might shed
some light on what’s been going on with her recently.