The Lost Girls (Chris Cerulli Vampire Story)

Chapter 20

My skin stung despite the fact the sun was setting as I made my way home. I wasn't even concerned with the amount of trouble I was surely in. I had much more important things on my mind. I desperately tried to think of any way that we could deal with Danielle, but everything came back to one option. A thought that I almost couldn't stomach. It wasn't a secret that I hated her for what she had done to me, Chris, and all those other people. That didn't mean I was alright with the thought of killing her.

I spotted my grandmother giving me a pointed look through the kitchen window as I pulled up to the house. A mix of irritation and guilt fought inside of me because of it. Regardless, I got off the bike and hurried out of the stinging sunlight.

"I think you should go see your father, he'll probably want to speak with you." She tells me in a clipped tone, nodding in the direction of the back of the house.

I nodded in response and flitted out of her sight. I could hear her muttering about being glad that she never had any girls as I made my way out to the sun room. I rolled my eyes at her remark, I wish I was simply a misbehaving teenager. 

I discovered my dad basking in the warm rays, while drinking coffee and reading a book. He appeared relaxed, until he noticed me standing in the doorway, doing my best to stay out of the light. 

"Where have you been?" He asked in a tone that sounded tired and concerned.

"I've been out." I state simply as my head started to hurt from the light shining in my eyes, even though I still had on sunglasses. 

"With that boy?"

"No, dad..."

He cut me off, speaking in a pleading tone, "Ashlyn, you can tell me the truth. I promise not to get upset. We're friends, aren't we? We should be able to talk."

I sigh, "We are, things are just really complicated right now. You wouldn't understand."

"I know that this past year has been hard on you, but you can't shut people out because of it. You know I miss your mom too."

"It's not that. I'm tired, dad."

"Then what is it? 

I just shook my head wordlessly.

It was his turn to sigh, "Ash, take off those glass and look at me."

The pain was becoming too intense, so I shook my head before turning around to head up to my room. I felt terrible for just walking away from him like that, but I knew that there was no way I could make him grasp what's happening. 

When I reached my bed I gazed over at the picture of my mom and me that I had sitting on my nightstand. I took in a deep breath and released an even heavier sigh as I flopped down onto the mattress. A tiny part of me wanted to blame her, if she hadn't died I would be in this situation right now. The bigger part of me knew that it was selfish to think that way and there was nothing I could do to change the past. But I know that I have to do something to make sure Chris doesn't risk having the same fate as me, but on a much worse level. If we can't stop Danielle there isn't a doubt in my mind that she'll come after both of our families. 

Despite my worries, my eyelids became too heavy to keep open and I was drug into a restless sleep. 

By the time I had woken up, it was clear that the sun had finally set. I slowly became aware of the hard surface I was laying on, had I managed to fall off the bed? I rolled over to see an extremely disorienting sight. I was gaping down at the floor beneath me. I grasped at the ceiling against my back, trying my best not to panic. How the hell was this happening?

I struggled to pull myself towards the wall near the window, attempting to get a hold of something to get me to the ground. I reached for the lamp, only managing to knock it off the table top. I let out a frustrated growl and then gripped onto the window, managing to make the blinds go up in the process. I quickly discovered that I had left the window open from one of the nights I had gotten too hot. It suddenly felt like I was being sucked out of my room as my body forced itself outside of the house. 

"Shit!" I shouted and then my fear fully took over. "Haylee! Help me!"

I began drifting out into the night and frantically clawed at the siding of the house as I continued to float. My body glided towards Haylee's room and I started to desperately bang on her window pane.

"Haylee, open up!" I pleaded.

The window swiftly lifted and she appeared understandably shocked to see me levitating outside of the second story of this house. "How the hell are you doing that?!"

"I don't know, just let me in!"

She hesitated saying, "Ash, this seems like you're only getting worse."

"Trust me, I've noticed! Come on, Haylee! Please help me!" I begged as I clung to lip of the window.

"But your still a monster!"

"I'm your sister too!"

She seemed to fight with herself for a moment longer and then thrust her hand out to me. I grabbed onto her with all my might and we finally managed to yank me into her bedroom. 

We sat there on her floor, panting for a few seconds before she spoke up,  "I think we should tell dad about this."

"No, we can't. The less people that know about this, the better." I tell her hastily. "He won't believe us anyway."

"Then what do we do?"

"I don't know, but we have to stick together."

"I don't think this is something we should keep secret. It's not like making a D in school or something, you know?"

"We're gonna work this out." I try my best to reassure her. "I'm going to work this out. Trust me, okay?"

A moment later our dad opens the door, giving us concerned looks. "Were you two fighting up here?"

Haylee was the one to answer, "Yeah, we're good now though. Sorry."

"What happened? I thought I heard something break."

"I accidentally knocked something over in her room and we got into it until we realized that it wasn't broke."

"What was it?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My lamp." I explain.

He exhaled loudly, "I'm getting ready to head out with Maxine for a bit and your grandma is at bingo. Can I trust you both to be here by yourselves without killing each other or breaking anything?"

We both nodded silently.

After that he told us to call him if we needed anything and ten minutes later it was just the two of us. I could tell that my presence was making my sister uncomfortable, so I slowly got up, worried that my body might lift off the ground again, and left her room. I made my way downstairs to give her some space and to see if we had anything to make for dinner. 

A little while later I could hear her turning on the shower and sound of her locking the bathroom door didn't go unnoticed by me. I understood why though, she didn't feel safe around me. To be honest, I don't even feel safe around me.