So, what should happen now? I'm not quite sure what SHOULD happen. Obviously, the council is never going to give up until they find Juliana and Alex, but the question is when? I have some material ready but feedback is always great my lovies! <3 I appreciate all the support, comments, rates, fans, etc. I love you all!!!! =]
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A soft touch woke me from my deep sleep. “Juliana… good morning.” I stretched and opened my eyes. Sun filled my room and Alex was sitting on the edge of my bed. I sat up abruptly.
“Where’s Jeremy?!” I yelled.
“He’s downstairs eating breakfast. What’s wrong?” Alex took my hand as I closed my eyes in relief.
“I kept thinking about how he had that dream last night. What if someone had taken him? I can’t think about that though. We’re safe here. No one knows I live here.” I took a deep breath.
“Good. You’re right. Now, get dressed.” Alex got up and headed to the door.
“What?” I looked at him in confusion. What was he talking about? We weren’t going anywhere. “Why do I have to get dressed now?”
“Juliana, I decided that I want you to go back to school. We’re in Vermont, you know, where you go to school. So, I talked to your dad a lot this morning and we agreed that you could go to school.”
“What about you? What are you and Valerie and Chase going to do all day?” I got up and started to make my bed.
“Valerie and Chase have plenty of work to do that they can do here. And I’m going to school with you. I already called to enroll.” He left the room, leaving me alone.
“Okay then.” I said to no one. I took out my school uniform and got dressed. At least we didn’t have those annoyingly high skirts. They were lower and we didn’t have to wear itchy socks either.
I happily skipped down stairs to the kitchen. I ran right into my father’s chest. He caught me and I looked into his apologetic eyes.
“Juliana, I’m sorry. I’m very sorry for treating you like that yesterday. That’s no way to treat my daughter that I haven’t seen for months.”
“It’s okay Daddy. I know you were just worried about me, a lot.” He gave a ‘you have no idea’ look and hugged me.
I ate cereal for breakfast and when I was done I brushed my teeth. I haven’t had a fang incident since that night when we landed at JFK airport.
“Ready?” Alex asked when I came out of the bathroom. “Sure am, babe.” I said bubbly. I said goodbye to Jeremy and my dad.
Alex opened the front door for me and I stepped outside. It felt so strange to be going to school. I noticed that Alex didn’t have a uniform. He was wearing dark jeans, a blue t-shirt, and Vans. (Very classy!)
We walked to school with our fingers intertwined. I showed him where my friend’s houses were and couldn’t wait to see them. My school was a boarding school but I didn’t live there because it was so close to my house.
“There it is!” I shouted and pointed to the massive three floor building. I jumped up and down and pulled Alex along.
“Slow down!” He yelled with a laugh. I slowed my pace a little and we walked to the main office.
I looked at Mrs. Keen and it made me want to cry seeing her. I never thought I’d ever see any people from school again.
“May I help you dear?” She said to me.
“Yes, I’m Juliana. Juliana Stefanio.” I watched as her expression turned to shock.
“Excuse me? Oh dear. Oh my. Debbie!” She nudged the woman next to her and when the lady looked at me she dropped the phone she was holding. “Mother of God… you’re… no, we weren’t informed you were back!” She called the principle in and when he saw me, oh goodness, he freaked out. “You’re safe now, right? Well you must be! You’re here.” He said in awe. He put a hand on my shoulder.
“It’s good to have you back, Juliana. We didn’t have much to tell the students… the police wouldn’t tell us anything. And your father didn’t have any information either. But, it was most troubling that you were at school. Tell me, if you don’t mind, what happened? Was it as simple as a runaway? Or were you abducted?” He moved his hands as he spoke.
“I can’t tell you much, actually. I wasn’t kidnapped exactly though. It wasn’t like that. I meant to come back at first… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t talk about this.” I went into safe mode when Alex squeezed my hand a little too tight, signaling that I had said enough.
“But, you’re safe now, right? You’re alright? We don’t want to rush you into classes right away if you need some time off.” Mr. Burnin asked me.
I wasn’t safe but I guess in a way I’m better off. “Now I am. I was wondering if I could have a copy of my old schedule, though. I was going to school somewhere else and I can’t remember what classes I had here.” I blushed slightly.
“Where were you going to school, honey?” The original woman asked sweetly.
“Um… in Colorado.” I answered.
“Oh! Okay. Well… Here you go!” She printed a copy of my schedule and handed it to me. “And you have a friend?” She looked at Alex.
“Alex Titian. I called this morning. They should have put me in all of Juliana’s classes.” He shook her hand nicely.
“Yes. You have been added to her classes. If you two need any help just come to me. And Juliana, if you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask. We’ve all missed you very much.”
I nodded and thanked her for everything. “Come on!” I said to Alex. I took his hand and pulled him out into the hallway. Before I could get anywhere the Principal was on the televisions announcing my return, saying that he had talked to me this morning and that the students can welcome me back but continue the day as usual.
“JULIANA?” I heard my name and turned around. My best friend, Morgan, was staring at me with a bunch of people standing around her.
I choked on a tear and ran to her. I threw my arms around her and squeezed her as tight as I could. “MORGAN!” I cried out.
I let go and looked at her. I didn’t seem to remember her until now. I looked at her long blonde hair and perfect tan. She got taller too but was thin like me.
“What happened to you!?” She asked. People in the hall started to yell and shout at me. I looked around and saw Alex standing a few feet away. The crowd was in a large circle around us. In the center was Morgan, Alex, and I. I pulled Alex closer to me and looked at Morgan.
“I’ll tell you later.” She looked at Alex and back to me.
“Where did he come from?!” She pointed at him and he grabbed her finger. She let out a scream and I covered her mouth. I let go when she had herself under control.
“I’m Alex.” He let go of her finger. “You don’t have to point at me. I’m right here. And I am pretty sure you and I are very much alike.”
She looked really freaked out. “Juliana, can I talk to you for a minute? Morgan pulled me aside.
“Since when do you have a super hot boyfriend? And what is he talking about? How am I like him?” She panicked.
“I met him when I was gone. I know he’s different but I love him. And you know about your little secret?” I hinted.
“Yeah, so?” She looked confused.
“Well, that’s what you two share… and me. You share it with me too. So now it’s our secret. A big secret. And you can’t go telling people about him. He’s not supposed to be here.”
“OH MY GOD!” She yelled. My hand flew over her mouth. “Don’t tell anyone.” I stated very clearly. I told her I had to go and we went our separate ways. I turned back to Alex and took his hand. Some people had gone to their first class but most were still staring at us.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“We’ve got health first.” Alex smiled and I led him towards the right room. We stopped in front of Mrs. Roy. She looked at me and Alex and I swear her eyes fell on the floor.
“Hello Mrs. Roy, it’s been awhile” I said with a smile.
“I never thought I’d see you again Juliana!” She gave me a quick hug and a sweet smile. I love Mrs. Roy. She’s my favorite teacher ever. She’s always so nice and open. Once, she let me stay over at her house because I had a fight with my dad. She didn’t mind at all. That’s how wonderful she is.
“I know... I didn’t think I’d ever be back here again.” I let go and looked at Alex. “This is my friend, Alex… he’s going to be here for a while too.” She shook his hand and asked him how he was.
“Jay? Mark? I need you both to move to other seats. I want Juliana and Alex to sit there.” The two guys got up and moved. They stared at me and Mark winked at me. Ew.
Alex’s hand twitched and a barely audible growl came from his throat. I took his hand and led him to our seats.
We sat in the third row, two seats back. I sat in front of Alex.
“Okay… um… we’ll if you hadn’t noticed; Juliana is here, back. I cannot believe it but she’s here. Now, I’m sure she doesn’t want to talk about it but, Juliana, if you’d like to share anything you’re welcome to in this class.” Mrs. Roy smiled sweetly.
I thought about it and stood up. I stood in front of my class at the front of the room. Wow.
I bit my lip and thought about where to start. “Um… Hi. I don’t really know where to start. A lot has happened and I can’t talk about most of it.” I took a deep breath and started again.
“After I made some very… foolish decisions, I was taken. I realized what a mistake I’d made and pleaded for a long time but… they didn’t give up. They took me to this boy… and… he hurt me. Um….” I remembered the boy that had turned me and I had never told Alex about him. I didn’t tell him that he beat me before he turned me. I didn’t tell him that I was almost killed. I didn’t mention it, at all.
My throat got dry and nothing would come out when I tried to go on. All the memories of that boy came rushing back to me. I covered my face when tears began to fall.
Alex shot up out of his chair and let me cry on his shoulder. “Honey, why don’t you step out for a minute?” Mrs. Roy told me. Alex took my hand and walked out of the room with me. We sat with our backs against the lockers and our fingers laced together.
“Juliana, is there something you want to tell me?” Alex whipped a tear of my cheek with his finger.
“Maybe. I told you how I was changed but I didn’t tell you everything. I’m so sorry. I really am.” I looked at our hands and thought about how I came so close to losing my life.
“What really happened?”
*Flashback*
“Let go of me!” I sobbed. The guy carrying me put me down. Well, he dropped me on the floor; the hard, cold, concrete floor. He turned around and left the small, dark room. He slammed the door shut and I heard it lock.
I crawled up in a bawl and cried on the floor. “Well… what do we have here?” A voice came from a pitch black corner. A tall boy stepped forward. He looked about seventeen. He came forward and crouched next to me.
“They said something about punishment?” He asked.
“Are you going to hurt me?” I whispered. All I know is that my best friend is a vampire, the council hates me, and I’m in big trouble.
“Hurt you? I wouldn’t dream of it!” At least someone didn’t want me dead! He pulled me up and hugged me. I pushed him away and slapped him. “I don’t know you!” I yelled.
He slowly turned his face toward me with an angry expression. He grinned an evil grin and looked into my eyes. “I wasn’t going to hurt you. But, since you insist on not taking my help?” He raised his hand and I prepared myself for the pain.
A sting flooded the left side of my face. Suddenly I was thrown onto the floor and my back killed with pain. I curled into a ball again as the boy hit me and kicked me in the gut. I wanted to get up and hit him back but I couldn’t find the strength.
Bruises were beginning to show on my arms. When I finally was about to pass out he stopped and sat on the floor next to me. He smirked as I cried softly.
“I’ll keep you my dirty little secret… and you’ll keep me as yours. Deal? Beautiful, I’m talking to you and you’re not listening to me.” His voice was dripping with rage and only bad intentions.
Somehow that made me angry enough that I sat up and punched him in the gut. “HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?” I screamed. I got up and left him there. While he was dealing with the pain I found a key in his pocket. It was the key to the door. I opened the door and ran for my life.
*End flashback*
“And that’s when I met you.” I finished. “Juliana, why did you wait so long to tell me? I would’ve gone back and dealt with him myself!” Thinking about the experience made my arms hurt even though the bruises were long gone.
“I know you would’ve, but I was scared. And, I didn’t know you. Can we go back now?” I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. The subject made me too vulnerable at school.
Alex could read my expression and slowly got up. He kept my hand and we walked back to the class room. The rest of class went by in a blur. I didn’t pay much attention. I tried to think how great it was to be back. This was going to be great…
Everyone got up and left the room. “Juliana?” Alex waved his hand in front of my face. “Hm?” I looked up and realized that the bell just rang. “Oh!” I got up and picked up my backpack. Maybe it would be a long day instead… a long, painful day