Vampires Rule

Summer Finds Out About Silver

Jack and Trina waited in Silver's bedroom after arriving only to find the house empty. The Reigns were probably out hunting. It was too bad they hadn't been at the party. Maybe they would have known what to do about the wraiths. Trina put her hand in the hamster's cage. The tiny furry creature dashed around, avoiding Trina's groping fingers, but she didn't stop until she caught it.

Jack stood in the corner. Uncomfortable being in Silver's room without her, he waited with crossed arms. Everywhere he looked he saw a different memory. There was the bed where he'd slept next to Silver, and the window through which he'd seen his first sunlight in ten years. The book she'd dropped because she was nervous at having him in her bedroom was still on the corner of the desk where she'd put it that night.

The front door slammed shut below. He felt it through the bottom of his feet. Footsteps raced up the stairs. In seconds the bedroom door opened, and Silver's eyes went straight to him. Her lips compressed into a hard line. Shaking her head, she stepped inside and shut the door behind her. "I ought to call my dad up here to kill you. What do you want?"

Trina closed the hamster cage and stepped forward, giving Silver her first glimpse of the girl. Although Trina had been smiling while playing with the hamster, the waterworks turned on as soon as she saw Silver's face. She ran across the room and threw herself into Silver's arms, bawling uncontrollably.

"Are you okay?" Silver patted Trina on the back. "What's wrong? Did Jack do something to you?"

Silver glared at him.

"He saved my life tonight." Trina lifted a tear-stained face. "We were at the party, you know, the one you didn't want to go to, and these things attacked us. They were like real scary looking ghosts with claws and teeth. I almost died tonight. One of them tried to get me, and Jack threw himself on top of me. It almost got him instead."

Silver gently pushed her friend aside to look at Jack. Her expression turned from accusing to concerned. "Are you okay?"

He shuffled from one foot to the other, unable to meet her gaze head on. "I'm fine. It wasn't that big a deal."

"Not a big deal?" Trina grabbed Silver's shoulders and shook her. "We were almost killed by those things. After he threw himself on me to keep it from getting me, we had to run to the car. Two of them chased us. It was crazy intense, and he says it wasn't a big deal."

Jack said, "They were wraiths."

"Did you know about wraiths?" Trina asked her. "Cause you never told me about them. You warned me about vampires and werewolves. You didn't say anything about wraiths."

Silver sat on the edge of her bed. "That's because wraiths are very rare. I've never even seen a wraith and neither have my parents. Lovely mentioned them in her book, half a page, but I never thought anyone I knew would cross paths with one."

Jack forgot about being uncomfortable. He sat next to her. In business mode now, he said, "I think maybe you should tell me about them in case I see them again. Can they be killed?"

"Yes, but it isn't easy." Her gaze met his for half a second before dropping to her hands. She twisted her fingers and played with the colorful bangles on her wrists. "Wraiths can only be created by the lead werewolf. Now we know. He's definitely here in town. He's probably already building his army."

"How can a wraith be killed?"

"They have to be killed when they aren't in their bodies." She got up and walked to the window. "Wraiths are women infected by the head werewolf. Instead of turning into wolves, they become ghost-like. What you need to know about them is that they are trapped in their bodies during the day. They're immortal like werewolves, but their bodies decay. They're in horrible pain during the day, but at night their spirits leave their bodies. That's what you saw."