Diary of the Unbroken (BOOK #4)

The Addict

Liv

School seemed completely pointless nowadays.

With the whole "dying" thing, caring about graduation fell further and further down my list of priorities. Wasn't the whole point of high school college? And the point of college getting a job? Didn't all this require, you know, actually living?

But I had to keep up routine, especially with the king and queen of the coven Bernard and Jacqueline back in town. Jacqueline acted more like a mother to me than my own ever had. She almost made me regret all the mistakes I'd been making lately.

After Saturday night, the house buzzed with the arrival of Jane and Ava's latest mental breakdown over William. Sunday was quiet, either people were out of the house running around the town doing whatever the hell they did or they were holed up in their rooms. I fell in the latter category.

Monday morning, I found myself stuck with another panging headache after getting out of my shower. A numbing sensation set itself throughout my body, shooting down to my fingertips. But the headache didn't retreat.

I stood wrapped in my towel looking into my dresser mirror seeing a girl I barely recognized. Months, that seemed more like a lifetime, ago she looked healthy. She was completely unhappy and only lived for the nights and the parties, but hey, at least she was alive. A few weeks later she looked drain--that all started when Hanson made me his daily snack. Then I lost myself completely, falling completely over the edge as I became an emotionless vampire.

We all know what came next. The dying girl stuck in limbo between a human life and whatever you would call a vampire's, just barely there hanging there by a thread.

Now my cheeks remained hollow and sunken, but my hair no longer grayed and not every bone in my body ached in pain every time I moved. I felt stronger than I had in a long time.

I finally felt alive.

And I couldn't let this feeling go.

I dug through my underwear drawer, finally finding the little pill bottle I so desperately needed right now. I poured two out in my hand, their strange red glowing the dim lighting of the room. The dealer refused to tell me just exactly what the little tablets held, but I didn't seem to care.

Immediately, I felt lighter.

Then, just in time to pull me out of my reverie, someone knocked on the bedroom door.

I sighed, stomping over. "What do you want, Hanson?"

The door open revealing, no surprise, all Dark Knight in Shining Armor, standing there with his hands stuffed in his pockets and those damn eyebrows of his pulled together all-consuming.

"Just checking up on my favorite girl." His lips shot up in that crooked smile of his.

I sighed, traipsing over to the closet where a string of clothes Angelina had picked out awaited. "Whatever it is, make it quick. I'm already running late."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. A lot's been happening lately. With Jane and William and well...everything. I barely even saw you yesterday. Just wondering where your head's at."

I pulled on jeans and a tank top, the most comfortable and less revealing items in the whole damn closet. "Tell me, Hanson," I started, walking out with my hands on my hips. "Where does it look like my head's at?"

His eyes grazed my body hungrily. "You look good, actually. Quite a change in pace lately. A month ago you were having trouble walking up the stairs, and your hair was graying. Now you're driving ninety in a convertible and well...looking like that."

I swallowed uncomfortable and crossed my arms, closing myself off from his gaze. It now felt les like he was checking me out and more like he was assessing my new-found state of bliss."What are you accusing me of?"

"I don't know. Maybe..." He took steps towards me, his eyes growing wider and wider by the second. "Maybe whatever Celia gave you isn't as bad as we all thought. Maybe you were just experiencing some crazy-ass side effects in the beginning. Maybe what the Hunters were working on actually was some kind of cure."

I detected the sound of hope seeping through his tone. And it made my whole body squirm and my chest ache I couldn't crush that hope. No matter how much it wasn't true. No matter how much I would let him down in the end.

I grabbed my jacket off the vanity chair and slid on a pair of flip-flops. "Walk me out?" I asked him.

We walked together down the stairs where everyone else rattled about throughout the house. Surprisingly Chris sat on the couch so casually watching TV. Lately he'd been a little less crazy and a lot let drugged up. At least that made one of us.

In the kitchen, Bernard was shooting up Jane with her latest dose of Mela. She looked a hell of a lot better than she had the other night when she randomly showed up at the party. Luke stood by her side, his puppy eyes full of hope.

God, I was beginning to hate that word.

Luke glanced at us as we walked into the room. "Where's Ava?"

I shrugged, unable to hide my bitterness. "How am I supposed to know? Probably upstairs."

"Yeah," Hanson seconded. "I saw her early. She was barreling into the bathroom. Looked like an emergency. Funny, I guess hangovers only remain a thing if you're Unnatural."

I noticed Luke divert his gaze. Even Jane looked uncomfortable. Clearly there was some crazy shit going on. Whatever the hell it was might finally explain all of Ava's crazy emotional whirlwinds and her constant trip to the bathroom.

Hell, it all made it sound like she was the junkie of the group.

I leaned against kitchen island. "So, what's the plan now? Are we going after this Daniel guy?"

"We aren't doing anything," Bernard stated.

"But aren't William and Val still in there?"

Jane pursed her lips at me. "William and I couldn't do much ourselves. What do you think you and your ill self can do to stop him?"

I could honestly say I didn't miss Jane.

"Jane," Bernard snapped.

She rolled her eyes. "But really, Bernard. Now that you and Jacqueline are back, shouldn't we finally end this war once and for all? You know how these vampires work, right? You said you've had a past with the Originals."

Bernard swallowed.

Jacqueline responded as she made her way into the room all regal like the true queen of the house. Screw the rest of us. Amidst all her sweet motherly instinct, she looked damn scary when she tried.

"Yes, he does," she nodded. "But I don't think Bernard's past has anything to do with this particular endeavor. This time around Daniel seems to have plans all his own."

"Yeah," Jane said. "He wants us to join him and his little army he's built up."

"But there's more," Bernard croaked.

Ava came walking into the room as pale as ever. She swallowed heavily and hugged her arms around her torso as if closing herself off from the next words. As if trying to avoid them all because she knew they were true.

Bernard's gaze landed right on her. "He wants Ava."