Just One More Bite

Chapter Four

     Derek was behind me again. “Who would have done this?”

     I weighed my thoughts for a while, wondering if I should voice anything. For all I knew it could have been one of his goons. I glanced over at him, seeing him pick up some jeans. Well, I guess the question was rhetorical. This set me off a little… but he was cleaning. I didn’t want to think about it anymore, so I called Miguel.

     “Finally, you called me back!” Just like my brother. He always gets right down to business.

     “Laura and Elizabeth are missing.” I kept my tone calm even though I felt a hurricane inside of my gut.

     “Are you kidding? You can’t locate them in your head at all?”

     “No. I just got in and the apartment is trashed. I don’t understand it though. Who could have gotten past Laura’s power? She would have stabilized the situation in a heartbeat.”

     “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll bring James with me too,” he replied after a few seconds of thoughtful silence.

     “No! Don’t bring James. He doesn’t need to be dragged into a situation like this.” I turned to look at my room only to notice Derek eyeing me. He was apparently listening to the conversation.

     “You don’t have a choice. I’ll see you in a few hours.” With that he cut the line.

     I moved swiftly through the apartment, making sure to dodge the fallen furniture. Laura’s room was untouched. I laid my hand on her door; and I let myself go. I retreated back to my mind’s eye. I focused on one question. What had happened here?

     I could hear noise; but it wasn’t what I had been expecting. I should have been able to hear and see everything that had gone on. I focused with every fiber of my being. I heard Laura’s voice. She was talking to Elizabeth.

     “Why would she just leave with him? We don’t know him at all,” she said.

     Liz replied, “Yeah but she can handle herself. Plus, she needs more time with vampires. That James fellow really messed her up. So what about you? You were vicious last night.”

     “It’s nothing that concerns anyone.”

     I’d never heard Laura talk so harshly in all our years. It terrified me.

     Elizabeth spoke up after an awkward silence. “I’m going out for dinner. Do you want to join me?”

     “Sure.” Her reply sounded resigned. It was almost as if she was realizing that she was being nasty for no reason at all.

     I waited and heard them leave the house. Who had broken in though? Why had they done it? What were they looking for? I focused harder than I ever had. Suddenly, a wall came up. It was blocking my insight… Again. I shot my eyes open. Impossible! I tried to focus my mind on the most important fact—they weren’t missing.

     A terror formed in my gut. What did someone not want me to see? Then it dawned on me, like a light bulb piercing the darkness. Derek was the only person I had ever encountered in my life to be able to block my vision with a wall. I drew back into the room, trying to devise a plan.

     Pieces started to form a picture in my head. I had just met him the night before, and nothing like this had ever happened to me. Plus, he was the only one I could think of to go through with this. But there was something that didn’t make sense. Why would he wait for me to get home? We were alone most of the day. Perhaps he was calling his two bodyguards in right now; but he would be able to subdue me without their help.