A "little" secret

Chapter 4

"I'm sorry about what we did to you yesterday Evelyn." He began looking at the ground and shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

"We had to get you out of the way. So as Agnes and I could get a grip on the situation." He ran a hand through his wild black hair.

"So where exactly does she think I am right now. Alex I mean she must be wondering why I've disappeared" I said still confused

"Well. She thinks we've been taking you out early and then you're sitting up in your room. So long as she doesn't see you or have any real reason to think that you're on to us then you'll be fine" he tried to put on a reassuring smile but it came out more like someone with toothache.

"I think you're wrong Caleb" I countered. "I got this weird text, one from you, right?" he nodded in reply "but then I got this other one. From Alex"

I turned my phone screen towards him. He rubbed his forehead and turned towards the pond, picking up a stone and skimming it.

"Once you start to change it wont matter so much" he muttered more to himself than to me. "but whilst you're still human you're just so vunerable. Agnes and I just aren't strong enough yet. I can't risk her..." his voice cracked and to my surprise I saw that his eyes were full or tears. I didn't know what to do. I barely knew him yet I felt as if I should say something.  I walked up behind him and placed my hand on his arm as if to say "are you alright?" he turned. "We, Agnes and I, we'll protect you. If you're gonna change it's gonna be soon. What age did you say you were?"

"Coming fifteen" I said. "in September

"If you don't change by the end of July, that's next week then we'll send you home and you can forget all this. Pretend it was a stupid joke and convince your mother not to contact us again. But if it does come, then we're going to need to leave. The others are becoming more vampire./ They're becoming sensitive to the sun. Alexandria is nearly unable to leave the house before dusk. If we stay out here then we'll have time to plan. But that means you're going to need to learn to ride, and also some basic combat. We've all had it from our local elders as part of tradition but believe me you're gonna need it. I nodded. Despite that sudden wave of emotion Caleb really seemed to know what he was talking about. I knew I couldn't just run. Not alone anyway. Unsure what to do next I walked back to where I'd been sleeping last night. I picked up my coat and walked back to him hoping that by now he had thought of our next move. I hated having to rely on other people so heavily. With my mother working such long days in the city I'd learnt to do a lot of things for myself and coming back to this was weird. Caleb swung round and started walking quickly in the opposite direction. I picked up speed and followed behind him. After a few minutes we came to a smaller clearing where the horse which I had ridden yesterday was chewing some fresh hay beside Caleb's horse. I went over to her and ran my hands through her soft mane. Caleb was stooped over a bag, going through it before pulling out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts which I recognised as my own. The fact that he (or probably Agnes) had been in my room didn't really ick me out as much it would have a day ago. It just didn't compare to the mixture of emotions I was feeling right now. Caleb tossed me a towel and walked off leaving me to get changed. I pulled off my muddy t shirt and gladly put on the new one which felt warm and soft against my skin. My shorts which I presumed I'd torn when I was running about the previous night were beyond repair and the new ones were also good to change into. I called Caleb back and he reappeared at once. He mounted his horse easily and then got off again after seeing me try to get on backwards. He gave me his hand to steady myself and I pulled myself up into the saddle. I didn't exactly feel comfortable on a horse yet but I no longer felt that each gallop was going to be my last. We didn't talk much on the ride back. Every so often he would stop and guide me through a tricky bit of forest or give me pointers on how to go faster comfortably. As we drew closer to the house I saw the rest of them coming out to greet us. Alexandria had her mouth stretched into what I presumed was supposed to be a friendly smile. I returned hers with one I hoped was more believable. She stepped forward and helped me down off the horse.

"Enjoy your morning ride?" she said, sweet as poison.

"Totally" I replied "though its still a little scary" Caleb had discussed how I should act when we got back. It boiled down to me acting like an idiot, totally fooled by her act. I needed to be completely cool around them. My cover story was that I had come back while they were eating last night and that I'd woken early this morning. It seemed to be working. Now one of the twins ( I couldn't tell them apart) spoke up

"You must be hungry. Skipping all those meals."

So they were testing me.

"A little. I don't normally eat till about now though." I grinned a little more, my mouth beginning to ache. "Is there some left?"

"Sure." She replied. "I'll go with you to the kitchen."

We wandered off. I tried to appear at ease but it was difficult. With the red hair and the pale face she looked so sinister. She sounded odd too. More than the others her accent seemed to come from a different era. It was also very obvious she was supposed to try and trip me up on my alibi. She continued questioning me until I made an excuse that I had to go email my friends and darted upstairs with a tray of cereal and a cup of sugary tea to defend against any more possible shocks in the next half hour, although, I thought as I entered my room and placed the tray on my floor. "What else could possibly happed". I walked over to the mirror to try and fix my hair. I plugged I the straightners, raised my hand to separate the hair and screamed.