“I know where Ellie lives,” Luke said as he made me a cup of tea.
“Let’s go,” I smiled.
“You sure?” Luke asked.
“It’s been a week, I am going to find her and talk with her, that’s all. Plus we need to do this before Andrew gets out of school,” I noted.
“Fine, I’ll drive,” Luke said grabbing the keys from the kitchen counter.
Ellie lived one town over and I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to say. I had many things I thought of saying, but when we arrived my mind went blank.
“Sit and wait in the car,” I ordered as I walked to the front door.
Knocking on the door a tall lanky dark haired boy answered the door.
“Yeah?” He asked.
“Is Ellie here?”
“Ellie, what did she do this time?” He asked.
“I just need to talk to her,” I said.
“Come in,” He said, “What about the guy in the car?”
“No, he isn’t coming, not unless I say so,” I said.
“Ellie get down here,” he called.
“What do you want Avery?” She hissed prancing down the stairs and scoffing when she saw me.
“Yeah I am not a fan of getting staked in the leg and having someone try to kill my best friend,” I said with venom.
“Ellie please tell me this is a joke,” Avery begged.
“Shut up Avery!” Ellie hissed and turned her attention to me, “Why would you care if I hunt Vampires, you’re a hunter, or used to be,” She spat.
“Used to be. Who taught you? How do you know about them?” I asked.
“I can’t talk about it,” Ellie said as her mood shifted.
“Stop hunting,” I warned.
“Why?” Ellie asked.
“Did a Vampire hurt someone you loved?” I asked changing the subject.
“Yes, someone I loved died because of a Vampire, why?” Ellie said defensively.
“Because I learned to hunt because I thought Vampires murdered my parents. Turned out it was a human. Not all Vampires are bad, Luke and Andrew are good,” I said.
“You’re wasting your time here, I am going to hunt, you can’t stop me,” Ellie said standing her ground.
“If I see you anywhere near Andrew or Luke I will not hesitate to take you out,” I said then slammed the door as I left.
“That went well,” Luke said as I got in the car.
“Shut up,” I growled.
“So have you thought about Eric lately? This is Andrews last week of school,” Luke pointed out.
“Maybe. I don’t know what to expect. Meeting Dacre…if he is anything like Dracula well then I would be terrified,” I said.
“You don’t have to go, Dacre wants Andrew not you,” Luke reminded.
“I am not leaving Andrew. I will not let Andrew go to Transylvania alone with Eric and Tim the people who changed him and ruined his life,” I said aggressively.
“Okay, I get it,” Luke said and the rest of the ride was silent.
“Also I want to get closer to Eric, he knows who killed my parents, I haven’t forgotten that. I plan to find out who killed my parents,” I snapped as we pulled into the driveway.
Luke shook his head at me as he pulled out and headed home. Walking into the house Andrew was at the kitchen table looking stressed.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I have one more final I have to take then I’m free of high school!” Andrew exclaimed.
I looked through Andrew’s papers and spotted a magazine titled “Ben has not one family, but two!” Andrew looked down.
“Is that what’s bothering you?” I asked.
“No, yes, but no. I’m scared. I don’t want to meet Dacre,” Andrew said.
“You aren’t in this alone, I’m going with you,” I said taking his hand.
“I know. I am sorry if I have been distant lately. School has been hectic,” Andrew explained.
My phone rang and it was Luke.
“Violet, you need to come over to my house. You put the mystery on pause when Andrew came into your life, but I didn’t. My dad has been searching for months and he found something. Just get here as soon as you can,” Luke said solemnly.
Andrew already had car keys in his hand by the time I hung up. Andrew drove because he knew how reckless I could get when worked up. We parked in the driveway and I sat in the car as Andrew got out. I wasn’t sure I wanted to face what waited for me in Luke’s house. Andrew opened my door and helped me out of the car and kept his arm around me as I struggled to keep walking forward.
Luke opened the door and Andrew sat down on the couch with me. Luke sat on the other side of me and took my hand. Luke’s father came in with a folder, looking like he was at a funeral.
“Just tell me,” I whispered.
“Violet, I found out that Jeannette’s husband is,” Luke’s father said and paused before saying, “It’s Vlad.”
I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. I was dizzy as I tried to understand what that meant.
“Eric killed Vlad’s wife,” I finally spoke.
“Yes. It would give Vlad a reason to hate Eric,” Luke’s father said.
“So Eric killed Jeannette, and Vlad lost it and killed my parents?” I asked.
“Let’s look at the clues,” Luke suggested, “There are the manipulated photos, Jeannette’s picture, Eric was one of her admirers and he killed her, Vlad was Jeannette’s husband giving Vlad the right to hate Vampires, and then the DVD with Eric saying ‘gotcha’ at the end. Eric said that the murderer would be nervous once you saw the DVD. It showed Vlad and Jason. Everything points to Vlad,” Luke concluded as I cried and fell into Luke’s arms.
I completely broke down. Luke held me the entire time as I sobbed and struggled to breath. I wasn’t processing. It was too unreal. I didn’t want to believe it. Luke’s mother set a cup of tea down on the coffee table and I sat up and drank some. Andrew and Luke’s parents went into the kitchen. I lay in Luke’s arms crying for a while. The only thing I could do was to make Vlad pay. Jason called and I ignored the call. Luke listened to the voicemail and tensed. I looked up at him and he wouldn’t look at me.
“Vlad is coming home tomorrow,” Luke mumbled.
I couldn’t breath. Vlad was coming home, right when I found out.
“I can’t wait to see him and pretend everything is okay, just so I can take him out when he least expects it,” I growled getting up and heading to the car.
Andrew followed me and we drove home.
“Violet, don’t do anything rash,” Andrew warned as we pulled into the driveway.
“I can act, trust me,” I said and calmed myself before entering.
“Hey Violet, sit down,” Jason said pulling out a chair.
I sat down and suddenly I was cuffed to the chair.
“I am sorry to do this Violet,” Jason started, “But when I tell you this I don’t want you to kill me,” Jason said as Andrew looked at him in confusion.
“Tell me,” I growled.
“It’s about who murdered your parents,” Jason began, “First I must say I never wanted any part of it. But he was so crazed with anger that I was scared he would kill me if I refused. You know how scared I am,” Jason said.
“It was Vlad who killed them, I know,” I spat.
“Since when?” Jason asked in complete shock.
“Since a couple hours ago,” I replied.
“Vlad is coming tomorrow, not staying, just dropping by again. But he said he has a gift for you. Please, pretend like you know nothing, I don’t want you to get hurt,” Jason said.
“He trained me, we are evenly matched,” I reminded.
“But you haven’t kept your training up,” Jason pointed out.
“So Vlad is just coming to say hi and then going back to tracking Eric,” I said.
“You know about Eric?” Jason asked.
“He turned Andrew. Vlad was married to Jeannette and Eric killed her,” I said.
“I know, but I didn’t know Eric turned Andrew,” Jason said looking at Andrew with sympathy.
“Andrew you can’t be here when Vlad comes,” I said.
“I know the drill,” Andrew said.
That evening Andrews’ room looked untouched. Andrew had his things packed in a bag and was ready to stay at Luke’s. Jason and I cleaned the house that night making sure there was no way Vlad would suspect a thing. I called Vince that night to tell him that Vlad was the killer.
“I am so sorry,” Vince said.
“It’s okay, how’s Greg doing?” I asked changing subjects.
“Between you and me, I think he is jealous his half brother gets to live with you. He misses you,” Vince said.
“I miss him too, I miss my old life,” I confessed.