Hunted

Chapter 7

I've set up my whole room, and now I lay in my bed, trying to find Daniel. I search the coffee shop for him, but his mind just isn't there. Where is he? I start searching the entire school, and I finally find him walking back to his dorm. His mood is neutral, so he must not be doing anything. I keep sifting through his mind, and I find that he was never at the coffee shop.

Hurt wells inside of me as I keep looking through his mind. He wasn't even with Mason. He was with another girl. And on top of that, he was in one of the campus restaurants, so I couldn't trace him down. What is going on?

I hope this works, like really works. I close my eyes and concentrate on Daniels mind. I keep concentrating until it's like I'm standing right in front of him. You lying jerk! I yell at him.

He stops and surprise and guilt radiates off of him. Before he can respond, I release his mind.

Why would he be with another girl? I thought he loved me, but apparently I'm not good enough for him. I start crying into my pillow, my red tears staining my sheets.

A knock at my door interrupts my pity party. "Lizzy? Is this your new room?" Tracy's voice comes in through the door. "And are you crying?"

I roll out of bed and open the door. One look at my miserable face, and Tracy is inside, getting me tissues and settling me down. "So what's wrong? Your eyes are practically glowing." I'm sitting at the head of my bed with a box of tissues, while Tracy is sitting at the bottom.

"Daniel was helping me move all of my stuff, when he started texting 'Mason'. I mean he doesn't even own a phone." I sniffle and grab another tissue. "And he said he'd be back in an hour or so. But he never came. I eventually found him walking back to his dorm-" Tracy cuts me off.

"Wait, did you actually go outside and look for him? He doesn't deserve it!"

"No, I found him with my mind." I inform her and she nods as if this happens every day. "And I searched where he'd been, and he wasn't even at the coffee shop! He was with another girl in one of the restaurants!" I start crying again.

"What did you do then?"

"I yelled at him. My mind powers are turning pretty strange, so I was just able to concentrate and it was like I was standing right in front of him, but he couldn't see me."

"Well, what did you say to him?!"

"I called him a lying jerk. I think he got the message. He felt pretty guilty and surprised." I give a little laugh.

"Serves him right. But what are you going to do now?" Tracy hands me another tissue.

"I have no idea. I don't think I can just leave him. Too many bad things have happened and I can't let this one be added on top of that." I whisper.

"Hey, it's going to be alright. Let me call Isaac, I'm sure he'll hang with us here and cheer you up." She whips out her phone and presses a few numbers before putting the phone to her ear. "Hey Isaac, we've had a 'Daniel' incident. We need you to come to room A316 and hurry." She hangs up and nods to me. "He'll be here in a moment."

"Thank you. I don't think I'd be able to sleep tonight if it weren't for you guys coming." I hug Tracy and she squeezes me lightly back.

"No problem. So you have classes tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I don't see how I'll be a Hunter anymore. I can't even touch a stake without it burning me." I show her my hand and she gasps.

"How much venom is in you? If it's low, then you should be able to hold it without too much pain."

"Ninety seven percent. I have no idea how I survived." Shock radiates from Tracy.

"Wow, no wonder they're keeping an eye on you."

"I know. It's so weird. I can actually feel it when my eyes change colors. And I can hear your heart if I concentrate enough. I also know your blood type just by standing close to you. I hate it!" I groan.

"Do you need more blood since you have more Vampire in you?"

"I don't know. That blood that you gave me after I changed worked for a little bit, but once I got hungry, I started getting really bad cramps. I drank some cranberry juice, and that seemed to help, but once I got here I drank two bottles."

"Two? Wow." We studied the bottles in one of our classes once.

A knock at the door suddenly interrupts our conversation. A feeling of worriedness comes in and I know its Isaac. I get out of bed and open the door. As soon as I do, Isaac hugs me. "Are you alright? Tracy didn't say anything." He scowls at her.

"Yeah, I just caught Daniel with another girl." My bottom lip quivers and tears threaten.

"What?! Why would he do that? He's got you!"

"Yeah, well 'me' isn't so high on the awesome list." I mumble and settle myself down in bed again.

"Just because you're a Vampire doesn't mean you aren't nice and sweet. Daniel knows that." Isaac argues.

"Maybe he's started listening to his Mom. She hates me now. I mean, she constantly tried to get Daniel to see the faults in me."

"He knows better than that. You've dated for three years, and you were happy! You both were. Just because like, forty percent of the Vampires venom got in your veins, doesn't mean you're different."

"Try ninety seven percent." Tracy corrects and he gaps at me.

"How did you survive?!"

"I don't know! I was dead the whole time."

"Hey, is the turning scary?" Isaac asks.

"Sort of, but you're already changed when you wake up. It's just waking up to have the weight of all that dirt on you! So you just dig yourself up and are exceptionally cranky. I was angry at you guys for burying me." It takes me a moment to think about it. "It didn't help that you guys just stood there staring at me like I just erupted from a test tube."

"We couldn't help it!" Isaac raises his hands defensively. "You were like a demon of death rising from the ground, with your hair perfectly messed up, your eyes blazing, and beautiful fangs glistening in the moonlight." I never said Isaac wasn't one for exaggeration.

"Thanks, but I couldn't possibly been beautiful. I had blood running down my neck and I was disgustingly muddy. And I'm pretty sure that supposedly 'beauty' ended when I drank all that blood." I look at my feet.

"It was had an eerie beauty to it. And remember when you saw your first Vampire?"

"Yeah, I said that it was beautifully deadly." I mumble.

"And after every Vampire you killed, you looked into their face and sighed." I'm shocked. How would he notice all of this? "I've been watching you." He adds with a cheeky smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Get to the point."

"Every Vampire is beautiful. And you are no exception." Leave it to Isaac to help cheer me up.

"Aww, thank you Isaac." I lean over and hug him. He gladly hugs me back and a tear leaks out of my eye and onto his shirt. "You're the best friend anyone could ever wish for." I whisper.

"You to."

"Attention students, attention!" Ms. Keefe's voice blares on the intercom. "Due to a recent incident, I ask you all to return to your dorms immediately. We will further discuss this tomorrow. Thank you."

"I guess that's me." I sigh and hug Isaac and Tracy again. "Thank you for helping me out." I thank them.

"Hey, that's what friends are for. We'll be here at nine to pick you up for your first class. See how you're doing." Tracy smiles and they leave me alone in the dark. Feeling much better, I climb into bed and quickly fall asleep.