Hidden Paths: Vampire Revenge

Chapter Nineteen

"This is where it all began," Jake said as he and Emily walked to his old swing by the barn.

"It's so strange being here in person." Emily sat down on the swing gingerly. She felt the solidness beneath her and smiled. Jake smiled back and pulled back the swing and pushed her as he used to.

Emily laughed. "How weird is this?" she asked.

"Weird is our life."

Emily smiled. "Depends on how you look at it. To me, coming here in spirit was as normal if I was here in body. To you and your family it was weird."

"Yeah," Jake said looking back at the house.

"I'm sorry for that, Jake. Really I am. I made your childhood hell, and that was a selfish thing for me to do."

"No, don't be. Geez, Em, without you I don't know what I would have done. You were my best friend. Still are."

She stood up and kissed him quickly. "Always will be."

"I want to show you something," Jake said as they sat down on the park bench under some apple trees.

"What?"

"I've been having some strange dreams again. I need help putting them together," He said handing her a small sketch book from his back pocket.

She flipped through the pictures of a little boy and a guy she didn't recognize. She saw a picture of a dark figure with a knife to Isabella's throat. She shivered. She saw Ray on the ground in a pool of blood. "Oh, God," she groaned, closing the book. She closed her eyes in despair.

"Keep looking," he prodded. Emily composed herself and flipped through the rest of the pictures of Trey and a little girl, looking happy at times and miserable in others.

"Besides, Trey do you know who anyone else is?" Emily asked, studying the picture of the figure with the knife to Isabella's throat. It had to be Max.

"No."

He looked up as his father approached them. "I'll see what I can do with it later," Emily said, sticking it in her pocket.

Raven's cell phone rang and she answered it with a smile as she saw the name on the screen. "Hi, Trey," She said and George raised an eyebrow as he watched her. She slapped his arm and walked past him.

"Oh, everything is fine. Jake's family is really nice," she said, petting Jake's golden retriever that quickly went to jump into George's lap as most animals did. She kept walking and went outside on the front porch.

"How's Isabella?" he asked softly.

"Isabella? Oh, she's fine too. Her and Ray are stuck like glue to each other," she said rolling her eyes, but wishing for the same for herself with Trey. "Everything okay with you?"

"Yes. I miss you."

She grinned and twirled a long curl around her finger. "I miss you too," she said blushing.

"Hey, girl," George said, petting Molly's head. She looked up at him with sad eyes.

"Yeah, I'm feeling down," George told her.

"I don't know. I'm feeling like I'm not a part of the group anymore, you know? I mean Emily's got Jake, Raven's got Trey, Ray's got Isabella. And well, Tony is Tony," he said. She licked his hand. "Well, I appreciate that, but I think I need to stick with my own species."

He heard a giggle from the hall. "Sorry," Sam said coming into the room. "I think she does have a crush on you though," Sam said, sitting on the couch next to him, and petted Molly's head.