Midnight

The Liar

*Erin's POV*

"I came to visit Justin, where is he?" She asked, peeking around my shoulders and into the house.

Something told me not to trust her, but I didn't listen to it.

"He's in here..." I murmured, directing her to the living room.

"Great!" Vanessa exclaimed.

With Justin sick, I didn't want to bother him.

Let alone allow his "cousin" to speak to him.

"But," I called out after her before she reached the sofa.

"He's really ill right now, it's best to leave him alone."

She frowned, and her eyes briefly flashed red, but a smile quickly spread across her face again.

"Okay, I understand," she nodded.

How am I going to deal with her?

If Vanessa loses her temper, she could go off on me, because she never promised not to hurt me like Justin did.

And besides, something is really strange about her.

It's as if she has hidden reasons to be here.

Whatever she's planning, I'm going to find out about it, because I'm Justin's friend, and that means I have to protect him.

Real friends always have each other's backs.

Any ulterior motives that Vanessa may have had better not put Justin or I in harm's way, because it definitely wouldn't end well for her.

"Are you staying over?" I questioned.

"Actually, yes," she answered quite curtly.

She squinted her eyes at me, as if trying to place who I was.

"I have a few questions," she started to say.

"What are you doing here? What's wrong with Justin, and why is he involved with a human? What have you done to him? The whereabouts of a living person should be nowhere near this place. He should've killed you by now. You shouldn't be alive."

She spoke the last part with utter distaste.

"That's...actually a really long story..." I murmured.

If only I could slap her.

The audacity she had to come to my location and ask those types of questions!

"What are you doing here?" You're kidding!

I was trying to help her cousin!

"Oh, alright," she said, but I heard the skeptical note in her voice.

"There should be a spare room upstairs," I murmured.

"I don't really live here, so I wouldn't know."

Vanessa hovered up the stairs, and I watched her leave.

The more I considered her and why she was here, the more I didn't trust her.

But I tried to forget about that and focus my attention on Justin again.

He was still sleeping, and when I touched his skin, it nearly burned me.

"Ouch..." I murmured.

That's when I noticed that the  material making up the sofa was charred around the areas where Justin touched.

What is going on?

Could this be some sort of fever?

Smoke started to rise from the sofa.