Reflection

13

Adam met us and we walked together again. Ellie ran ahead.

On the way there, my toes started tingling. I ignored it and kept walking, but soon my foot went numb. I stumbled a little.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked, stopping in his tracks. "Nothing," I answered quickly, praying it would stop. I moved to take another step, but the tingling spread to my leg and I stumbled again.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked again, annoyed.

"My leg's going numb."

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"My leg's going numb," I repeated, irritated now as the tingling continued to crawl up my knee.

"Uh-oh." He ran a hand through his hair. "Can you walk?"

"I think so."

Adam put his hand around my waist and helped as I limped along. We entered the large room, and Adam held more of my weight to hide the limp. Music drifted from hidden speakers, and vampires tossed us semi-curious looks before returning to their dancing.

"What's happening?" I asked Adam.

"When we've gone too long without blood, our body starts shutting down," he explained.

"How?" I asked, my throat growing cold. The numbness spread to my waist, and my second foot grew numb. I dropped, but Adam caught me quickly. "We don't have time for this," he grumbled.

Without another word, he picked me up bridal-style and easily swept me across the room. A few heads turned our direction.

Adam brought me to one of the corner tables, and Ellie and James were sitting at the table right next to it. James stood, followed by Ellie. "What happened?" James demanded.

"I–" I started, but broke off and started coughing. Adam quickly set me down and let me go, letting James catch me as I fell back.

He grabbed a goblet off the table and held it out to me. I took it reluctantly and drank it as fast as I could as the numbness rose to my ribs. It kept spreading, and I looked up at Adam fearfully. "It's not working."

"Just give it a second," he replied calmly, setting the cup back down. Sure enough, the numbness slowly started to fade. I stood, and James' hands fell away from my arms, where he had helped me stay upright.

"Thanks," I mumbled to him. "No problem," he responded, smiling.

"Thank you," I said to Adam. "Sure," he said. Then, "Where's Reuben?"

"No idea," answered Ellie. Before I knew I was doing it, I was scanning the room quickly, looking for him. "He's over there," I told Adam after about half a second, pointing to the other side of the room. James, Ellie, and Adam stared at me in surprise.

"How did you...?" started Adam.

"I have no idea," I said.

He shook his head and walked off to find Reuben.

"That was great for a newbie," said James with a crooked grin.

"Thanks," I said, blushing.

The three of us sat down. Well, James sat down, I sort of fell into my seat, and Ellie plopped into hers, looking very annoyed. "So, I don't know much about you," said James. I thought I caught a faint eye-roll from Ellie before she stood and shot off.

"What do you want to know?" I asked James, my eyes lingering where Ellie sat.

"What's your full name?"