The Vampire's Pet (Published) Book 1 and 2

Chapter 29 (REWRITE)

Henry and Rose stared at the closed door. It had been closed for a while now, but neither could look away.

"I need to go call my mom," Henry said. He gave Rose's hand a squeeze before he pulled out his phone and walked upstairs, leaving Rose, Joey, and Lilly downstairs.

Everything that had just happened came crashing down into Rose and she sat on the couch. She held her head with her hands and began to breathe deeply. Rider, her old Master had somehow almost been humanized to her. She hated him but hearing him beg and scream for Henry had shaken something loose in her. It had reminded her of all the times he had made Jessica scream and beg . . . all the times he had made her scream and beg. Now, she didn't know how much of that had been him and how much had been the manipulated, twisted version.

Her breathing increased.

"So uhm . . . Lilly trailed off thinking, not knowing what to do or say to help her almost hyperventilating sister.

"Do you want to know how I found your sister?" Joey asked. It was the only thing he could think of.

Rose looked up at him and nodded, her hands shaking.

"I've um . . . been alone for a long time" - he cleared his throat - "I had to learn how to survive by myself, grabbing food and collecting water. One day I was doing just that and I heard screams. I don't know why but I walked to it, but I did. By the time I arrived, I saw vampires carrying a girl out of the house . . . I think that girl was you," he said as he looked at Rose.

He had all of her attention now and her breathing was under control.

"I waited for the vampires to leave before I entered the house. When I did, I saw three people lying on the floor, blood coming out of their necks. I checked their pulses. Lilly was the only one alive, but just barely. I had an IV in my rucksack that I had stolen. It took a long time before Lilly regained consciousness. It took a few days, but she was slowly nursed back to health. Since then, we stayed together," Joey said, finishing his story.

Rose ran to Joey and hugged him, thanking him repeatedly. Joey remained stiff and frozen for a second before he hugged her back. As his arms wrapped around her, he could truly feel how frail and tiny her frame was. He glanced at Lilly and somehow, she had more on her than the older sister.

Joey motioned for Lilly to join them. When she came into reach, Rose grabbed her and hugged her as tight as possible.

When they pulled away, Henry walked out of the room.

Lilly smiled at Rose. "Go talk to him," she said, "I trust him." She tapped her knife on her waist with a faint smile.

Rose stiffly smiled and gave her sisters hand a tender squeeze before they all departed. Rose met Henry at the bottom of the stairs.

He sighed and sat down on one of the steps.

Rose sat down crisscrossed in front of him.

"The hospital called my mom and told her everything. Rick is being rushed to the hospital. Rider is still out but after the situation was explained to them, they say he'll be ok." He rubbed his face with his hand. "My mom says they're finally going to hold him and try and treat him."

Rose was hesitant to ask the question, but she was too curious. "How come he hasn't been treated before?" Maybe if he had been all her pain and suffering could have been avoided.

Henry let out a painful-sounding laugh. "My dad has money and status." He shrugged. "He never wanted our name to be tainted," he spat out. Within a second, the anger vanished and he hung his head. "I should have done something sooner . . . I should have tried harder. . . ."