Blood and Betrayal

Chapter 22

****Holy crap, everyone! Sorry it took me a while to get this one out. It was so hard to write, and I kept editing it and re-writing it, trying to get it just right. Please let me know what you think! And if you saw this coming! Also, it is a long chapter. <3 Thank you for reading. ****

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Sunday, 11/10/2013

        The next day, a Sunday, I still felt a distinct sense of unease follow me wherever I went, even if I was not in Michael's presence. I had not slept so well after our date, but thankfully no strange dreams plagued me, either. When morning came, I went about my regular Sunday routine, showering, making a light breakfast, and just generally lounging about in my pajamas, yet I did so with the weight of my werewolf dilemma dragging me down.
         As the hours wore on, I turned to my homework as a distraction. World History, Mathematics, and English consumed my mind for a good long while, and I never thought I would say I enjoyed being so absorbed in papers, notes, and essays on my laptop. But the hours of study could only distract me for so long.
         After revising the conclusion paragraph of my most recent World History essay, a twinge in my lower back let me know that I had been hunched over in the same position for a bit too long. Leaning back into the plush cushions of my cream-colored couch, I stretched out like a cat who had been sleeping for half the day. My arms reached for the ceiling, and my sore neck craned backwards while I tried not to feel guilty for being in my pajamas until 6:00 in the evening. After all, it wasn't often that I got to be this lazy.
         At that very moment, a sound like a large, angry bee reverberated throughout my living room, and I eased one eye open to glance at my cell phone, which had been sitting quietly on my coffee table up until now. Someone had texted me. In a flash, I snatched up my cell phone and slid my finger across the smooth surface. An unfamiliar number was bolded at the top of my messages list, right above Jennifer and Michael's names. Those two had been the last people to text me, and I was unsure who this strange number belonged to. Before I read the message, I looked up the area code it started with, and found out it was a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania number. Did I know anyone who lived in Pennsylvania?
         I could feel my features pull into a perplexed expression as I tapped on the strange message.

412-630-7194
6:03 PM

Abigail. It's Professor Warren. Did you figure out your schedule for our tutoring, this week?

         My phone felt hot and heavy in my hands as I sat unmoving, reading the words on my screen over and over again. I had almost forgotten that I had recited my phone number to Avery last night, and that he went by the moniker Caleb Warren. In the back of my mind, a small voice did applaud him for texting something that would not arouse suspicion if anyone else were to read it. Several feelings battled for dominance inside me, and I tried hard to identify what I was feeling, and why, while I debated texting him back. Was it shock that he actually texted me? Relief that he had not communicated with me via our mental link? Or even disappointment that his smooth, deep, aggressive voice had not rang through my mind?
         After a few minutes of sitting on my couch, feeling dissociative and like I wasn't in charge of my own body, my fingers finally regained control and tapped out a simple response.

Me
6:08 PM

Avery.

         The reply was immediate.

412-630-7194
6:09 PM

You know I hate it when you call me that. It's Jamieson. Now, have you thought about where you might want to continue your tutoring? There are only three more weeks of class, excluding midterm week and Thanksgiving break.