fragile time

~chapter 7~

Forrest dug a hole near the bottom of the fence and crawled through, continuing to dig to the other side. "Good boy." I smiled down at him once we got off on the other side. Forrest seemed to like this and wagged his tail. My feet thumped on the grass as we took off running towards the cave. My dog began sprinting ahead of me and looked back as if to challenge me.

"Oh, wanna race?" I laughed as I slowly began catching up to him.

"Winning!" A girl's voice rang out next to me. I gasped and almost tripped, but was able to catch myself before looking to my right, where Taylor was, running right beside me.

"What the-?! Taylor?!" I blurted out, slowing my pace to a stop. Both Forrest and Taylor stopped right in front of me.

"Uh, yea." She laughed. "Who else could it be?"

Before I could get a response out, I heard heavy breathing and whipped my head around, only to see Blade, out of breath and sweating.

"You.. vampires... are so... fast." He managed to say in between gasping breaths.

I wasn't sure what to say. I had so many questions, but I was able to settle on one: "Did you follow me?"

"Blade and I were in Fencing." Taylor beamed, "At least, until we saw you sneaking out!"

Blade plodded up next to me and gripped my shoulder, using it for support to stand, "By running abnormally fast." Forrest, tail wagging, ran up to Blade and started licking his knees. "Where are you going, anyway?"

I frowned, not absolutely sure how to respond. I mean, I didn't want to lie. "To fix something." I muttered briefly, "Now, go back to class."

"You go back to class!" Taylor rolled her eyes before stepping closer, her signature smile reforming, "Now, what're you 'fixing'? Maybe we can help!" Blade nodded in agreement, too focused on Forrest to respond.

I sighed. It was always better to be honest. Secrets are a spreading poison. At first, it starts pretty small and doesn't seem like a big deal. Then, It overcomes you. Little by little. The more you lie about your secret, the more you cover it up, the bigger burden it is to carry.

"You promise you won't freak out?" I muttered, still unsure of myself. The grass swayed every so slightly in the wind as we stood outside. What I really should've been doing was telling Taylor and Blade to go back to class.

"Me?" Taylor chuckled, "Freak out? Never."

Blade finally stood up straight, smiling at me. "I've heard some pretty freaky stuff, Micheal. You're good."

I frowned at him and Forrest began nuzzling my leg. Billions of responses began swimming in my head. However, a simple: "Go back to class, guys." is what I settled on. The sun was getting hotter and hotter, and vampires were very sensitive to bright light and extreme heat. The longer Taylor and I stayed in the sun, the weaker we would get. I could feel the aggressive sunlight draining my energy, though it wasn't supposed to be too warm today.

Blade rolled his eyes and grunted something under his breath, but I couldn't understand over my sister's complaints. "Oh, come on." Taylor whined, "We're already here!" I glared at her. "I'll tell on you!" She taunted.

My nostrils flared ever so slightly, but I tried desperately to cling onto patience. Taylor, being my sister, knew just how to push my buttons. I loved her more than anything else in this world, but I was convinced she lived to annoy me. "Fine." I replied. "I'm going to destroy a letter." I shrugged and began to walk away, praying they wouldn't follow me.

However, matching my expectations, the two of them began to walk next to me. "Wait, what?" Blade laughed. "You found another letter?!"

"Not exactly." I kept my eyes forward as we walked at a steady pace, beginning to enter the forest near the school. Forrest kept close at my side, separating Blade and I. Taylor walked on my right hand side, usually where Emily stood.