DRAFTED Into Chaos

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Elinor walked me to the end of the driveway after we returned to the house. Sunday was drawing to a close, and I had to go home. I walked slow on purpose, not wanting to go back to my human life, but stay with the vampires. I was growing accustomed to them. It was strangely a preference to normal, uneventful, average life.

"We. Took. Care of it," she replied as I asked once more what to tell my mother. "If mom asks, you went shopping, saw a movie, and just... hung out." She pulled a small yellow square out of her pocket, "Here's your ticket stub."

I tried to read the faded lettering on the ticket, but couldn't make it out. There was silence for a few moments. Maybe even a few minutes.

"Elinor," I confessed, "I'm really... confused about this whole thing. I mean... I'm excited, yeah... but..." I trailed off, not wanting to seem like some stupid human.

"You're important to us, Katie. We... need you." I looked over to her.

"But you're all so... powerful. Why would you want me? Especially when I'm not the best person for the job. What's so--?"

"Katie, you're perfect." We stopped at the end of the driveway. She turned to me. "You'll understand when you get there... I'll see you later."

We nodded our goodbyes, and with that, she vanished just as I turned right to head down Penn Lynn Drive, back to my house. Back to my human world.

I was growing weary of my life. And that surprised me. I found myself becoming a little distant from Corinne, and my family. Walking home especially. Once again, and with no small amount of guilt, I left Corinne, taking the long way home, hoping that Elinor would—

"You coming by?"

I jumped spastically, letting out a few embarrassing noises of surprise as I turned to see Elinor standing behind me. I got a slight feeling of Deja' Vu, this moment mirroring the one I had experienced that first day. "Uhm... Yeah," I said, already anticipating Elinor's move to pick me up. She held me like normal, with my head facing over her left shoulder, and my legs curled. In a few split-seconds of violently changing momentum, she was setting me down on the front porch of the house.

I opened the door to find the living room dark, as usual, and Elinor shut the door behind me quickly. Suddenly back in this world, I thought of the outcome of the fight I had witnessed, which was now nearly a week ago. The way time flew between visits... "Is Tanya okay?"

Elinor gestured for me to go up the steps to the right, and I took them two at a time. I hadn't gained a lot of information on vampire healing, so I had no idea if they were fast healers or slow. I remembered which room was Tanya's and was about to knock on the door when I heard her call, "Take your shoes off first."

I did so before opening the door to her room, which was even darker than the rest of the house. I heard a very low hiss and closed it as soon as I was in. "I just wanted to know if you were okay after you got... after you were..." My stomach churned at the memory of Tanya's ribs being crushed flat. She must've moved the curtains slightly, because a gray-ish light poked at the darkness. I saw Tanya sitting cross-legged on the bed with one arm pushing the curtains back slightly.

"Uhm..." I turned back to her, "How are you?"

"Well," Tanya said, "It's not every day I get crushed in by a werewolf, but I'm fine. I'm hungry," she added, almost darkly. I took a step back, "but I'm fine," she repeated, glancing out the window.

"Well... that's good. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you," I said, nodding a bit. Tanya had certainly warmed up to me, even though her hard exterior gave the impression of being reserved and cold. I liked Tanya, and certainly hoped she wasn't mocking me by being nice to me. Or, at least, not being unpleasant.

Then she completely changed the tone of her voice and said, "See you later, Katie."

I was about to scold her for her rudeness, but understood her statement when the door opened, and Elinor stood there. "You better be heading home, Katie. Your mom will be getting worried if you're not on time."

It was, in this sentence, that I finally thought of mom. As I went downstairs and gathered my things, I thought... Leaving mom would destroy her. Certainly I can't stay in my house once I'm a vampire. What would I say? 'Sorry, mom, I can only eat one thing for the rest of eternity. Oh, and you better be careful with those kitchen knives'? I was only seventeen. I knew Elinor had some plan to take me away without leaving tracks, but nothing would smooth over the hurt mom would feel. Or dad. Or Bennie. My sweet sheepdog. My big, dumb baby. I thought for sure Elinor wouldn't let Bennie stay with me. I'd have to leave him. He got sad when I was away at school for six hours. What would happen to him when I left and never came back?

I was almost in tears at this thought when I walked up the front steps. I opened our front door into the house to see mom and dad standing in the kitchen, talking. When Bennie rushed downstairs, I felt an overflow of joy. I hugged him, then dad, then mom. I hugged them tightly, repeating how much I loved them, looking up into their smiling (and confused) faces, and down at Bennie's pink tongue and furry tail. My family. My true family loved me. I was their whole world, and I was going to allow myself to be taken away from them without any thought of how much it would hurt them? I guessed it didn't matter. I had no choice, as Elinor had stressed to me many times. I had no choice as to whether or not I would become a bloodsucking being of the night. And it would be my family that would pay the price.