Dark Days (The Childe Series, #2) (26 page)
“Well, you know what will happen to you if you ever hurt her, right?” Taylor asked.
“I do. But I’ll never hurt her, or let anything else hurt her either,” he replied.
“Good, we’re on the same page then. See you at practice tomorrow. And you’re going to need to hustle more, or Brandon will take your spot next season,” he joked, grinning.
Ryan smirked. “Will do.”
Taylor walked out of the room closing the door behind him. He looked down the staircase to see Rachel and Sam standing together. He signaled to them that everything was fine and made his way down the stairs.
“I’m so proud of you, dear. You handled that like a true older brother,” Rachel gushed. Sam put his arm around him and smiled.
Ryan looked at Cat, a slight smile on his face. Turning off the bedside lava lamp, he exited through the window. Sitting back down on the wrought-iron bench outside, he waited, watching for any signs of movement in the forest which was illuminated by the moon above.
“Ryan, you’ve been sitting outside my window, watching over me for the past two weeks, and nothing has happened. Don’t you think that if they were going to try something again, they would’ve by now? Besides, your mom will begin to dislike me if I occupy all of your time like this,” Cat said, staring intently into his eyes while both of them lay on her bed.
“You’re right,” he replied, and then grinned after seeing the offended look on her face. “I’m only kidding. But Cat, there’s something that you need to know about newly turned vampires. They’re unpredictable, more dangerous, and less controlled. The fact that they haven’t attacked again can be one of two things. Either the person who fought them off gave them a good beating, or they’re planning something bigger.” Ryan combed his hand through Cat’s hair, pushing the wayward strands over her ear while returning her deep gaze. “I hope it’s the first reason, but we can’t be sure.”
Cat bent her head up and kissed him softly on the lips, her hand caressing his chest. “You better get going, your mom’s going to text you soon to get your butt home, I can feel it,” she murmured jokingly as she playfully pushed him away, trying to break his serious demeanor. Ryan laughed softly and then kissed her again before he made his way to the window.
“Don’t do anything reckless tonight, okay?” he said as he turned around and flashed a grin before he made his exit.
“Hey, Ryan?”
“Yeah?” he asked, poking his head back through the bay window.
“Are you ever going to use the front door?” she inquired with a grin.
He just laughed, and said, “Good night. And I mean it, nothing reckless.”
Cat didn’t want to tell Ryan, but she was worried about staying home by herself with only Taylor. She didn’t want him to worry. She knew Ryan had to go home, and telling him would just have thrown that idea out the window.
Snuggling up in her bed, cuddling her pillow, Cat tried not to react to every strange noise she heard outside. “Come on, Cat, there’s nothing there. They haven’t tried for two weeks, why would they all of a sudden strike again?” she tried to reassure herself.
Ryan did say that they could be unpredictable, though.
Cat heard her cell beep, breaking her train of thought. Opening it, the message read:
Got home safe. Call me if anything happens, k? Ttyl. Nothing reckless! Lol.
Cat smiled at the message and was about to reply when a loud resounding knock came from the front door. It echoed through the entire house, sounding slow and powerful. Warily, Cat opened her bedroom door. She made her way down the old attic’s spiral staircase, which creaked with every step she made, making her feel more uneasy. “Hey Cat, could you get that?” Taylor asked, hearing her pass outside his bedroom door.
“Alright,” she replied hesitantly. Rachel and Sam were at a town hall council meeting which meant Cat was at Taylor’s beck and call. Creeping down the stairs in her old pink ratty robe, she made her way to the front door. It was night time, and looking through the eyehole, all she could see was a faint outline of something outside. Flipping the switch by the door illuminated the front porch. Looking through the eyehole again, she saw no one. Opening the door slightly, Cat peeked through the crack. “Hello? Is anyone there?” she asked, her voice shaking. There was no answer. Opening the door all the way, Cat spied something on the front porch. It was a small square package tightly wrapped in brown paper and tied with a thin tan string. Written in bold letters on the package was:
For Catherine Colvin.
So many thoughts ran through her mind.
Who left it? What’s inside? Is this a trap? Should I take it?
Cat crept out onto the porch toward the package. “Hello?” she asked once more into the night. She scanned the front yard to see if anyone was there. Seeing no one, she bent down and picked up the package.
“Cat, what are you doing? Who was at the door?” Taylor asked behind her making her jump. Stuffing the package into her robe, she spun around to face him.
“Holy crap, Taylor! A little warning next time would be nice, thanks!” she joked. “Oh, and strange thing, no one was at the door. Must’ve been some kids or something.” Taylor looked at her suspiciously and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Well, then get your butt inside. Mom and Dad would kill me if anything happened to you!”
Cat rolled her eyes at him. “I can take care of myself you know. I’m half that which shall not be named, remember?” she whispered at him.
“Whatever, you’re still my younger sister and they’d kill me all the same,” he replied, and then motioned for her to get back inside. Cat rolled her eyes again and then rushed passed Taylor, up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door behind her. Taylor shook his head as he closed and locked the front door. “That girl’s a strange one. Special indeed,” he quipped to himself.
Jumping onto her bed Cat pulled out the package and laid it out in front of her. She studied it, not sure if she wanted to open it.
It could be from the three girls! Maybe I shouldn’t open it.
Maybe I should wait for Ryan,
she told herself. “Ahhh, what the heck,” she said aloud, tearing off the wrapping. Layer by layer, she peeled back the brown paper until she reached the contents. It was a book. Seeing the back cover, Cat turned it over and her eyes filled with surprise. She read the title eagerly:
The Cleansing
By Robert Craven
Cat could hardly believe that she was holding the book in her hands. “OMG! This is Craven’s new novel! It’s not even out yet!” she squealed. Opening the book, she noticed some writing on the first page. It read:
To my #1 Cravenite! Thank you for all the support. I hope this book helps.
-Robert Craven-
“This, is, so, awesome!” Cat exclaimed in a whisper, grabbing for her cell phone.
“Hey Cat, what’s up?” Julie answered.
“You’ll never guess what was just left on my doorstep!”
“What?”
“A signed copy of Robert Craven’s new novel,
The Cleansing
!”
“Really? That’s amazing!” Julie replied cheerfully. “Who left it?”
“Well, it was so weird. Someone was at the door, and then when I answered it, they were gone. And all that was left was the book,” Cat explained excitedly.
“Hmmm, that is weird,” she replied.
“Well, what’s weirder is he signed it to his number one Cravenite. But on Craven’s fan site, I’m like number 4,000 or something on his list of top fans. So maybe he sent it to the wrong person,” Cat sighed, flopping back on her bed.
“Maybe…but either way, I don’t think you should tell anyone else about this, especially since the book hasn’t come out yet,” Julie said in a concerned motherly voice.
“I know right? But you have to admit, this whole thing is really cool!”
Miss Amaya entered the teachers’ breakroom and noticed Melvin Pierson standing next to the coffee maker, watching the coffee drip slowly into the pot. His hair was disheveled and his wrinkled shirt was halfway tucked in.
Hmm, he’s usually impeccably dressed,
she thought. “Good morning, Melvin, rough start to the day?” she asked with a warm smile. Turning his head to face her, he grabbed the pot of coffee, and stretched for his mug that was just out of reach.
“Oh, Amaya Phillips, hi,” he replied distractedly as he began pouring the coffee, not paying attention and instead getting lost in her gaze. “Oww, crap!” he exclaimed, missing his mug and sending hot coffee splashing on the countertop and onto his gray pants and white shirt. “Great!” he continued, beginning to wipe his clothes off with paper towels. Miss Amaya tried not to giggle.
“Are you okay? You look a little worse for wear,” she stated, handing him more paper towels.
“Yeah sure, why do you ask?”
“Oh, no reason really. Just that you look like you rolled out of bed with those clothes on.”
“Well, I kind of did. I’m really behind on grading papers and getting my lesson plans together. I was up late last night. I feel so disorganized, and this is usually not like me. I think I might need a teacher’s assistant,” he joked, but sounded defeated.
Miss Amaya thought intently for a moment. “If you’re serious about this, I might have the perfect student for you.”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have some extra help. Who’d you have in mind?”
“How about Catherine Colvin? I’m sure she’d love to help you out. She’s a hard worker. Plus, she thinks you’re a great teacher,” Miss Amaya explained.
“Oh, that would be great. Do you really think she’ll be up for it?”
“Sure do. You should talk to her today after seventh period.”
“Thank you so much for the idea Amaya, I’m really going to consider it,” he said, smiling at her. “Well, I best be off. Got to clean up and make myself look presentable before my first class,” he said with a chuckle. Grabbing his half-full coffee mug from the counter, Melvin made his way to the door.
“See you later, Melvin,” Miss Amaya called out. Melvin held up his mug, toasting toward her as he made his exit. She waved to his retreating back with a longing look in her eyes.
