My Life As a Teenage Zombie

Shocking Events, Cosmic Entities, and Plot Continuity

It's been a full week since Henry ran away. I've spent a good bit of it trying to find him, mostly with the help of Savannah and some locator spells, but we've had little luck. I even gave the crones a chance to shine, but they came up empty, too. Sam couldn't track his scent anymore, either. I've yet to talk to Mason, who seems to have suffered some bit of werwolf-related internal damage, and is getting worse at controlling his shifting. In short, everything's going to hell.

I can't believe Henry left. Does he actually think we blame him for what happened? He's a fucking idiot if he thinks that. It's my fault, really. I should've taken him more seriously when he brought up how shitty he feels back in the fairy forest. Shit. I'm a screw-up. I just keep fucking up.

Derek's not talking to me, either. He's just off in his own world. Hasn't gone back to boarding school, at least, so I can still keep him safe. I'll have to tell him the full story soon, if he starts talking to me again.

There's also the personal thing I'm dealing with. It's been getting just the tiniest bit better. Daniel has taken to following me around, and usually clings to my arm, so that sort of helped. It's not enough, though. I can't keep keeping it in. There's nothing I can do about Mason, or Henry, or my brother. I can't open up the channel between John and I, so I'm stuck waiting for him to make his move. The Hand of Death members have yet to arrive, so I guess they've got something big planned. I miss the times when Chris was my biggest issue.

Taking Daniel with me, I walk up to Simon's house, having called him beforehand. He opens the door right away, and I walk in, ready to open up. He notices something's off right away - we have been friends for a long time, after all.

"Hey, Si."

"Um, hi?"

"There's something I have to tell you." I don't care if Dan hears, either. "But you guys, and you Sam," I say, knowing she can hear me when I'm inside the house, "can't tell anyone else."

Si looks concerned. "John thing?"

"Not this time." I look him in the eye.

"What is it then?"

"I was raped."

He freezes, and, as I expected, doesn't know how to react. He opens his mouth a few times, but no words come out. When I realize he's stuck in a loop, I assure him he doesn't need to speak.

"It's fine." It's not. "I'm getting over it." At a snail's pace, and haven't even tried talking to Mason yet. "I just thought you should know."

"You needed to tell someone," Si corrects. He can normally tell when I'm lying, but I'm not sure what my tell is. "When?"

"Si, you really don't-"

"Who? Are they in town?" Oh, no. He's in his protective mode. "If so, you need to report them."

"Si, calm down."

"You calm down!" Oh, brother. "S-Sorry." Good boy.

He walks over to his kitchen, and I can smell something being cooked. He's always liked cooking, saying it calms him down, so I guess it's good he's in the middle of it.

"Palace?" Daniel asks. I'd nearly forgotten he was there. "You were alone there, right?"

I nod.

"Is he alive?"

"No."

"Good," he hisses, surprising me with the hateful look in his eyes. "We need to kill John."

"Yeah," I reply, "but he wasn't behind it."

"He wasn't?"

"No. John was the one who killed the guy who did it. It was that red-haired girl you and Serena fought."