Caught in Between

-31-

"Rebecca, we would never hate you. We were just hurt, that was all," Keith responded with a small smile. Kaleb glanced up at me and then back at Keith. I guess I really had made a difference, as Kaleb was always the outgoing and loud one, but he was so quiet lately.

"And I'll stop bothering you guys about Debby until you are prepared and ready to tell me what the next step will be. I just wanted to let you guys know that I trust you, and I always will."

"And we trust you too," Kaleb said and I smiled gratefully, knowing that they'd always have my back. "Plus, while you were in there, I made a quick trip to the store."

By "quick" trip to the store, I knew he meant that he sprinted at full vampire speed across hundreds of miles of trees to get to one. "Really? What did you get?"

From behind his back, Kaleb pulled out a pair of spandex shorts. I instantly rolled my eyes. "Here you go," he held out the shorts with a devilish grin upon his face.

"I hate you, I really do."

"No you don't, you just gave me a speech about how much you love me."

I snatched the shorts away from him and then proceeded to smack him in the face with them. We ended the day on a good note, and I was glad that we could put all the drama past us and focus on what was really important. Us and the war.

***

Georgia, Josh, Jen, the Korren brothers and I all huddled around the living room. Kaleb sat crosslegged on the floor across the room with his back against the wall, I was seated in Keith's lap on the couch, Georgia on the coffee table and Jen and Josh right next to each other on the other end of the sofa. We ended up just tossing the cushion out so no one would accidentally end up sitting on it and falling through.

"There hasn't been any official attacks reported, but there has been lots of movement from the other side. I mean, they're going out of their way to provoke us. We have noticed the increase in hunting for animals by the werewolves near vampire campsites," Jen reported and I saw Kaleb look at Keith for a response.

"Hmm.. I think I may know what they're doing. It's their attempt at making our food source scarce and pushing us to prey on humans," Keith presumed, one hand on his chin and the other on my waist.

"Which some vampires have already begun falling for their tactics. There have been news reports about mysterious attacks on people that resemble those of animals. Investigators are desperately seeking for answers," Jen commented.

"Yeah but they'll just reach a dead end and then move on," Kaleb added, but Jen disagreed.

"If we're not being cautious enough, it'll only be a matter of time before humans find out about us, and not only will the werewolves be against us, so will they."

"Yeah, but they're so weak, it'll be easy to take them down," Kaleb confidently debated with a scoff.

"Kaleb, I'm with Jen on this one. Yes, the humans are weak and simple to conquer, but they can find ways to destroy us, and not to mention, it's always easy to use the fragile as bait. We'd be too busy dealing with them and it wouldn't take much for the werewolves to come in and end us all in one go," Keith explained, completely crushing Kaleb's ego.

As I listened to the three of them go back and forth, I also tried to come up with ideas to help out. "How about we find another food source?"

"What do you mean? We only have two options, humans or animals. We can't attack humans and the werewolves are driving the animals away." Kaleb was utterly confused, but he also didn't wait for me to elaborate.

"I mean, based off on what I've gathered, it's obvious a majority of vampires are rich. Y'all have been around long enough to accumulate a decent amount of money. I'm not sure if you guys have ever thought of blood donation centers, but we could always try setting up our own discreet locations, and offer a larger payout."

"Yes, but it's already hard to find people to donate blood on a regular basis as it is," Jen argued. I could tell she was impressed with my suggestion, but it was not surprising for her to challenge me intellectually.

"Because they make it extremely difficult, which I understand that it is necessary to be picky with what kind of blood is being donated, but are vampires selective with what kind of blood they consume? Like, if it was from a person who has AIDS?"

"No. Human illness or diseases don't affect us," Keith answered before Jen could. Everyone in the room finally realized the conclusion I was coming to.

"Right, so if we can set up our own centers in every highly populated city and find a way to transport and store the blood, our food source won't be our issue anymore. And on the bright side, it would be human blood instead of animal blood, that way, we'd be nourishing our bodies much more effectively," I said with a smile. I was way too proud of myself for coming up with such a brilliant plan. The best part was, I didn't have to do all the preparation nor the execution, because I knew Keith and Kaleb would have that all taken care of.

Jen gave me a head nod of approval. It was a great feeling to know that Jen was finally realizing my potential. Not that I was intentionally searching for her blessing, but it was relieving to see her completely accept me as a comrade and not just someone she has to protect. "Great, I'll set up a meeting with the Officials and get this show on the road," Keith informed us, tapping my hip, signaling for me to remove myself from his lap. I complied and sat down in his spot after he left to make his phone call.

"That was actually a great plan. I don't know if anyone else would've thought of that," Georgia said as she held up both her thumbs with a wide grin on her face. Everyone seemed so excited that we could potentially shift the outcome of the war into our favor and raise morale.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." I returned Georgia's smile before shifting my gaze to Jen. "Hey, Jen. Can you and I talk for a second? In private?"

"Yes."

Jen and I made our way into her room since Keith was occupying mine. Technically that room was the brothers' and mine, but I laid claim to it. She waited for me to fully be inside before she closed the door behind me.

"What's going on? Is something wrong?" Jen asked as she sat down on her bed while I remained standing. "Is it about Debby, because--"

"No, it's not about Debby. I'm done blaming you and Josh for that, I've come to the realization that it's pointless to continue to blame you two. What I wanted to talk to you about is something that cannot be told to others, but you're the only person Keith, Kaleb and I trust. Not that I don't trust the others, but you know what I mean." I paused and she nodded her head, waiting for me to continue. "It sounds crazy, but.. I'm the Vampire Queen."

It took a long moment of silence for her to process that information before she finally brought herself to speak. "How is that possible? You were born human."

"You know, that's not an off-the-wall observation, but Queen Liliana herself appeared before me and literally explained to me that Fate had chosen me. That for four hundred years, Fate waited for me to be born. I even tried telling her that I didn't want to be Vampire Queen. I don't even fully understand what it's like to be a vampire, I've only been one for a couple days. But, here I am."

"Well, thank you for entrusting me with this sensitive piece of information. What is your plan now that you know?"

"For now, Keith and Kaleb don't want me revealing myself yet, not until we're amidst the war. So, until then, I'm just taking it day by day, figuring everything out and trying to prepare myself to 'lead my people'."

"Not a bad plan. I wish you luck on your journey, and if you ever need anything, all you have to do is ask me. I'm here to serve."

"No, no, no, I don't want your servitude. I just want a friend, that's all." I stared at her with content. Even though I knew I was technically her queen, I didn't want to feel like I was in that position of power. Deep down, all I really wanted were long lasting friendships and to have people I could rely on.

"I'm not going anywhere, so a friend indeed."