Vampire Bride

Chapter Nineteen - Part Two

Maxwell

"Grace, do you mind telling me what's wrong? I mean, even Charlie realized something is bothering you and she doesn't pay attention to either of us half the time."

"I'm going to be leaving for a while." A tear escapes her eye and runs down her cheek.

"Leaving for where?"

"Home."

"Home? Why would you go back there? I thought you were haunted enough by the past these last few days. Why make it worse?"

"Cambridge, it's called Cambridge. Maybe going back will help me move past it all."

"Cambridge..." I say the word as if it were poison in my mouth, "has been nothing but cruelty and pain for both of us. If you were smart, you wouldn't go back either." I don't mean to insult her in any way, but to bring back such gruesome heartbreaking memories is ridiculous. What type of person would ask to relive the worst period of their life? Grace refuses to acknowledge me. "I'll be here when you get back," I reluctantly say.

I'm about to tell her there's no need for me to leave when everything I need is here, when everything I need is in the form of a tiny smart-aleck girl by the name of Charlie, but the car pulls to a stop in front of her house, and she immediately exits. Peering through the tinted windows, I notice that she doesn't look back as the car starts to drive away. The last image I see is her wiping her tears off her cheek.

I wait a few days to tell Charlie of Grace's departure. With the sun finally down, I make my way to her house, but I end up leaving instantly when I see her car missing. There's only one place she would be at being the hard worker she is. I glide through the office building's doors. To my surprise, Morgan stands behind the front desk.

"Maxwell." Her voice cracks as she says my name. The nervousness that plays in her speech makes me slightly nauseated. I nod my head in her direction. "Oh yeah...of course, Charlie is in her office."

I feel her eyes on me as I make my way down the hall. I stop short of Charlie's door as I hear her talking to someone. I assume she's on the phone since I don't hear or sense another person in the room. With nothing else to do as I wait for her to finish, I eavesdrop on her conversation.

"How do you know about that?...Well, he's in for a rude awakening. I don't know who he thinks he is...Hahaha, very funny. The only thing he's going to get from me is possibly my fist in his face."

That's enough for me to grow extremely curious. I step into her office and close the door gently behind me to immediately sit across from her in one of the chairs by her desk.

"Juliet, I'm sorry. I have to go. I'll see you Saturday night at my house." She hangs up the phone in annoyance. "Maxwell, what a not so pleasant pleasure to see you. Please tell me I don't have to travel across the country again to meet more dead people."

Her bitter mood makes her more snarky. "That bad, huh?"

"More than you know."

"Care to talk about it?"

"Not really, seeing as it's your fault to begin with."

I get straight to the point. "I came here to tell you that Grace is leaving for a few months. She wishes to visit our hometown."

"Where exactly would that be?"

"It's now known as Cambridge, Massachusetts."

The wheels turn in her head as she thinks about that piece of information. "I don't feel the urge for another road trip, so I guess I'll see her when she gets back. It took you four days to find that out?"