Hidden in the Immortals (Book #1)

Chapter 2

All I could do was gawk at my mother. She had just taken down an Immortal and did it flawlessly. Before I could even say a word she spoke.

"Chad," She huffed, while kicking the dead Immortal's body onto its back; then removed the stake. "And you wonder why I never liked you hanging out with him."

I shook my head in confusion. "Why do you think it was Chad who turned me?" That was kind of a rash judgement to make. Apparently there were Vampires all over the place and any one of them could've done it. It was Chad who did it, but that wasn't the point.

She pointed the stake at the Immortal's body on the floor and looked down at it. "This one came here to avenge Jack Addams and he was just a friend," Her dark brown eyes moved back to me. "I can only imagine how his son must've felt." She wiped some of the blood that had splattered on her off of her cheek. She shook her head in annoyance. "We can talk about you being and Immortal and the hunters and everything else later." Her voice strong and firm. "We need to get rid of the body, now." There was much urgency in her voice as she walked over to the Immortal's feet and began to lift them up.

"Why do we need to do it now?" I was almost certain dad would probably want to know about the Immortal that just tried to kill his wife and daughter. "We can't wait for dad?"

She looked up at me with wide eyes; her expressions unreadable. "No," She said in an almost whisper. "That's the exact reason why we need to get this thing out of here." She gestured with her head toward the front of the body. "Pick it up." I did as she said and picked up my end with ease.

"Mom, I can carry it by myself it you want me too." I had the strength now; figured that was a pretty fair trade for just saving my life. She looked hesitant for a second, but gave me a nod. She let go of its legs and I tossed the body over my shoulder. "Where do we take it?" I prayed to God that we didn't have to go out to the woods somewhere and dig a hole or something. I was fairly certain I was about to collapse from exhaustion.

"The Shipley's." She replied plainly; walking into the entry way. Now I was utterly confused. We were going to bring an Immortal corpse to our neighbors across the street? What were we going to do; ring the doorbell and drop it on their porch?

"For what reason exactly?" I inquired as we walked out the door. My mom held up a hand for me to stop walking. She quickly took a few steps forward and looked up and down the street for a few moments; peering over at houses in the neighborhood. After a few minutes, she signaled for me to walk over to her.

"Run as fast as you can to the backyard;" She ordered me, while glancing over at the Shipley's house for a moment. "I'll meet you back there."

I was still very much confused. This had been the absolute weirdest day of my life and it wasn't over. "But what do I—"

"Just do what I say, Julianna!" I could hear the frustration in her voice as she shouted this at me. She sighed softly; trying to calm herself down. "I'm sorry, but it's just been a very long day. We need to get this over with before your father gets home." The urgency in her voice was subtly resurfacing.

I still had many, many questions; but I didn't press it any further. Without another word, I rushed to the back of the Shipley's house. It had a big wooden fence that surrounded the whole backyard. It looked pretty old and I assumed it had been built at the same time the house was. I spotted the gate and walked over to it; an unfamiliar scent arising as I did so, but I ignored it. Immediately I noticed the strange handle on the gate. It was made of some unusual looking twigs of some kind all intertwined with each other. I shrugged and grabbed it; but at that same moment a very powerful—very painful—shock shot through my entire body. I jerked my hand off of the handle while howling out in pain. What in the world was that?My hand started to smell almost like burning, rotten wood.