A "little" secret

Chapter 5

"I could take you tomorrow if you like" he suggested looking up. "It's just that if you want to learn its not fair on Caleb to always have to go." He smiled what seemed to be a real, friendly smile, one of the first I'd received. Caleb was always frowning and Alex constantly looked like she was resisting the urge to murder me.  I returned the smile and nodded

"Thanks. That would be really cool." I told him enthusiastically. He returned to chewing his food but I felt a lot happier, so happy infact that I almost forgot about my arm. When I went back upstairs to my room I found that they had spread up my entire arm. I hesitated but I knew I had to find Caleb. I knew his room was beside mine so I knocked on the door and waited. He opened it and stood aside to let me in. His room was a totally tip. There was an overflowing wastepaper bin beside a battered looking but new computer with a unstable looking pile of games beside it. The floor was littered with clothes and CDS. I must have looked appalled because he quickly dumped most of the clothes in a laundry bag and scooped up some of the CDS and dumped them on his desk. He looked at me.

Without waiting the standard five minutes for him to say something I pulled off my hoodie and showed him my arm registering the way his eyes widened in shock.

"Do we need to go?" I whispered scared now because of how afraid he looked. "who's coming with me?" I hissed at him, totally panicked.

"sshh" he turned round to face me "You'll go with Agnes and Nick. I have to stay here with Alex."

I eyed him suspiciously.

"Why aren't you coming?" I asked.

"I, I need to know what's going on here at the house. When you're safe Nick will come back. They wont worry about Agnes, she's always wandering off anyway. Then I'll lie and say your mum called to pick you up early. Simple."

I wasn't sure but I didn't really have any choice but to trust him. He motioned for me to go out via the window. I swung out and onto the parapet. I edged along to my window and wobbled, falling into my room just in time. I quickly stuffed most of my stuff into a bag jumping slightly when Caleb swung in.

"They're at dinner. You've got to go with Nick and Agnes now."

I didn't reply, just continued stuffing things into my bag. Even things I probably didn't need had to go, speakers, laptop everything otherwise they'd know I wasn't really gone for good. Caleb helped me squeeze the last few things into my suitcase and then beckoned me out onto the landing and we quietly made our way downstairs. I was beginning to wonder how I was going to ride with my heavy suitcase but was still surprised when I saw Nick waiting with Agnes in a beat up old Landrover. I chucked my bags into the boot and joined Agnes in the back.  Caleb waved us off and Nick jerked the car into gear and set off speeding up quickly. We were out the gates before I knew it.  Nick was concentrating hard on the country road. I turned to Agnes

"Does Nick have a licence. I thought he was only about sixteen?"

She shook her head "This is the groundskeepers, Nick'll bring it back when we're done. We had to get out of there. Let me see your arm" I held it out for her to see. She whistled and tapped Nick on the shoulder. He also raised his eyebrows before turning back to the road. We rattled along in the warm summer evening. Nick relaxed a little once we'd been driving away for about fifteen minutes and turned on the radio. Agnes rolled down the window and hung her arm out the side. I looked around. We appeared to be on a road that went through fields around the forest edge. The road was lined with hedges, some parts full of blackberries. If we hadn't been driving a "borrowed" vehicle away from dangerous vampires it would have been the perfect sort of summer's day. After about half an hours driving the car pulled to the side of the road and stopped. Nick got out and lifted my suitcase from the boot. I undid my seatbelt and stepped out of the car trying not to step in any mud. I tried to take my suitcase from Nick but he insisted on carrying it for me giving me a two man tent to carry instead. Agnes carried what looked like a stove and a kettle. The three of us climbed through a hole in a hedge and walked towards the forest.

The forest had an old wall around its border, like a big field. We climbed over it and were then really in the forest. Not much light shone through the tree in this part of the wood. The floor of it was covered in pine needles and I could hear the sound of the stream that Caleb had mentioned nearby. We all walked deeper into the trees. It was about half nine or maybe ten o'clock now and the sun was once again beginning to dip behind the clouds. Another night in the woods. Brilliant. I wasn't sure where Agnes was going, she was leading us now, veering right suddenly, making light work of any fallen logs of brooks in our path. It was obvious that Agnes did a lot of wandering in the wood. After another fifteen minutes walking she stopped dead.

"Here, we're far enough in" she declared.

Here, wasn't any different to any other part of the forest. It wasn't exactly a clearing, it was too dark and crowded but there was enough room for the tent and stove. Nick dropped my suitcase to the ground and moved round the area, moving a few logs round and laying out stones for a fire. I took the tent off my back wriggling my stiff shoulders. I unpacked it glad that it was the sort that needed only a few poles. I slotted the thin and bendy wires that served as the poles for this smaller tent into their sockets and the tent began to rise. I opened the pegs bag and as Agnes walked of in search of water started to hammer them into the ground. The tent was now fully assembled so I pushed my case inside and took my hoodie off, tying it around my waist. The sores weren't my only problem I realised as I looked in my portable mirror. My face had turned a deathly pale colour and I could feel my heart hammering heavily and quickly against my ribs. I crawled out of the tent. Nick looked up and rushed over obviously seeing the colour of my face. He felt my pulse. I felt so sensitive, his hand felt icy cold on my wrist. He steered my towards the tent and then ducked back out to find Agnes. A few moments later she appeared with him, holding a cup of something that smelt foul.

"Does she really have to be..." she faltered as his serious gaze met hers. For the first time since I'd seen the spots I felt I was in danger.

"Evie, we're gonna put you under. It's happening too fast. We've got to slow your pulse ok?" he said and I realised he was panicked too. I took the cup from Agnes and raised it too my lips. I drank it down. It looked and smelt foul but the taste itself was bland. The thick gooey liquid slid down my throat and I lay back using my hoodie as a pillow. I shut my eyes wishing it would stop. Instead of feeling on fire as it had done before, my body felt like it had been doused in a bucket of ice water.  I rubbed my head which felt like it was about to explode and moaned. I felt a blanket being put over my now shaking body and Agnes taking my pulse again. I heard them murmuring but couldn't understand the words. As I slipped in and out of consciousness I began to realise that there was no going back now. I was becoming one of them.

******************I would just like to point out that these guys ARE NOT ACTUALLY COUSINS! They are from different "clans" and Evie (evelyn) presumed them to be her cousins as she was told she was at a family reunion. Please, if anything happens (hint) Its NOT incest ok? ******************