Take Courage, My Heart

Chapter Thirty-Six

I was left alone with Adam and Caleb, Vincent and the two other elders going upstairs and closing the cellar door moments later. Silence pulsed between us despite their gags having been removed.

"You're a vampire?" Adam asked, breaking the silence at last.

"I'm a vampire."

"How?" Caleb interjected, cutting off whatever Adam was getting ready to say.

"A few months back I was taken by Vincent. He... kept me and fed on me for a couple of months and then I was saved and turned by another group of vampires," I answered, my words slurring together slightly.

Right before leaving, Vincent had slit open my throat, making sure enough blood got out to weaken me. It wouldn't be enough to starve me –he didn't want me to get to that point– he only wanted to make it harder for me to even consider trying to get out of the chains.

"What do you mean you were taken? Did this dude come kidnap you from our home?" Adam snapped and yeah, the slight blood loss was starting to hit me. Both of my brothers appeared blurry, and I could no longer listen to the heartbeats outside of this room.

"Jesse left," Caleb said and the anger in his tone made me chuckle. I had left. Despite my inability to really focus on anything I managed to narrow my gaze on Caleb. In the mess that had occurred with my parents' arrival, I hadn't had the chance to ask any of my siblings what exactly they had been told happened.

"I left?" I breathed out, looking up to the ceiling briefly to try and collect myself. The movement only made me dizzier. "What exactly did our parents say happened?"

When I looked back at Caleb the sight was a little more focused. Both of my brothers looked confused, though there were still some frustrated hints on Caleb's features. He rolled his shoulders, able to move more freely than I could.

"They didn't say much. Just that you guys fought and then you took off."

"I didn't leave. Our parents found out that I paid for Mom's treatment with money that I made... being a camboy," I said, getting the words out quickly.

Caleb slumped back in his chair, looking shocked and perplexed by the revelation. Was I surprised that our parents hadn't told the truth of why I was no longer around to my younger siblings? No, I wasn't. I hadn't expected them to be able to tell the truth that I was a sex worker to eighteen-year-old Jessica and fifteen-year-old Caleb and Ben, much less eleven-year-old Fiona. They were our babies. Of course, I didn't want them to have been told that much or know about it. But lying that we had fought and that I then left was too much. Even if we had fought about it, I wouldn't have abandoned my siblings.

"How did they find out?" Adam asked and I studied him for a moment.

"How did you find out?" I asked back.

"Half of my friend group is horny for you, trust me, I didn't wish to know," he replied with an amused huff.

I clicked my tongue and looked away from him. I had slept with two of his friends, back when we were in high school, but neither they nor I were interested in anything more. It still surprised me though, that they knew about the videos and photos. Evidently, I used to have more fans than I gave myself credit for.

"Garry –our neighbor– subscribed to my account... and he told Dad."

"Yuck," Caleb exclaimed his face going sour with it.

"And he told Dad about it?! The fuck is wrong with him?! And how did he even start that conversation?" Adam said and I shrugged. I had been curious about those things myself but didn't care to have them answered.