DRAFTED Into Chaos

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The pain of losing Bennie was worse the next day, as if it had gathered strength during the night. Nevertheless, I willed myself up, taking care to grab the vampire novel I had been reading off the desk. I had slept in my clothes from yesterday, but I was late and didn't bother to change. Corinne had heard about Bennie over the news, but didn't say more than a few words about it, for which I was grateful. It took me some time to notice, but the vampires didn't show themselves today. I wondered if they were avoiding me.

The hike home seemed endless, like we were walking in circles. The houses with their frosty windows and white lawns all seemed the same. Corinne had been talking, and I finally decided to tune in to what she was saying.

"...believe they still haven't found her! My mom's very worried. I hear the same lecture almost every time I go out. I mean, who would think that kind of thing would happen in such a small town? And to think we saw her just before she disappeared, on Halloween."

"I'm sorry?"

She looked over at me to remind me of the subject. "Clarissa Robinson, I mean."

I almost forgot. I almost smiled over at her to say that she was fine. But then I remembered that Corinne had no idea about any of it. "Right," I nodded, before looking ahead to see that we had reached my street. We said our goodbyes.

Even though I would feel miserable about it for a very, very long time, I was starting to feel a little better about my dog. I didn't know how or why. But I was. For the first time in a while, I watched the news that evening. Suddenly a picture of Clarissa's face flashed up on the screen. I turned up the volume.

"...have not identified any suspects or developed any leads in the disappearance of 18-year-old Clarissa Robinson, who was reported missing just after Halloween. Police are not commenting on whether or not they believe her to be dead, but they insist on the use of cadaver dogs is just a precaution..."

I wondered if she was even alive. Elinor had said she was with someone named Spencer, and that it was doubtful she had yet become a vampire. I wondered if something had happened and she was dead. I also wondered if the conditions for her were the same for me. Did she have a choice? Then I thought of Jeremy. He was the youngest. Would I be that imperfect? Or was Jeremy flawed somehow? Would it take me a hundred years to become as fluid as the others? Or was there simply something wrong with Jeremy that made him so different from the others?

Either way, I could picture my own face on the news. Reports that I was missing. Then, after a few months, I would fade into the background and become forgotten.

Late that night I awoke to a distinct tapping on my window. I scrambled to open it. It was, of course, Elinor, again hang from the side of the house.

"Get dressed. Quickly," she said. Her breath did not make white puffs in the winter air.

"Is this it?"

"Just hurry," she said, huffing a small laugh.

I quickly pulled on a sweater and returned to the window. My cheeks had numbed by the time she had pulled me halfway out the window by my arm. We were two stories up, and my human instinct was, of course, to resist her.

"C'mon, Katie, the sooner you get out the window, the sooner we'll be on the ground."

That's what I was scared of.

She yanked me out the window, covering my mouth with... her other hand? Once she turned me, I looked down. The only part of her that was touching the house was the tips of her boots. But I could see her wobbling slightly, even with my human eyes. She shut the window and immediately became steady before looking to me. She held me by the waist against her hip by her left arm. "Three, two, one..."