Chapter 19

Six Days Post-Culling…

I stand in front of my house, silently facing off with Spencer. He doesn’t bother to say anything, though his expression says volumes. He’s sad and angry and annoyed and tired—all the same things I am, but I’m heartbroken, too.

He’d gone out of his way to ensure I was safe from the culling, to make sure I knew how he felt about me, and for what? So he can suddenly change his mind and tell me he doesn’t know anymore? That he regrets saving me? Well, that’s just fine with me. I hadn’t needed him in life the past few years, and I don’t need him now, either.

Spinning on my heel, I turn and race up the front porch steps. Behind me, Spencer whisper-shouts my name. I ignore him and attempt to shove open the front door, but something is blocking it. Grunting, I brace my shoulder against the door and push with all my weight. I manage to get the door open half an inch.

“What the hell?” I mutter as I try to peer into the small crack.

Mom’s favorite pair of dress shoes are in the foyer, the heel broken off one. My stomach twists, and I try once again to get the door to budge by throwing myself at it. A thud sounds on the other side, and a bare foot flops into my line of sight. My eyes widen.

“Mom?” I call.

No answer. No movement.

Blood seeps out from beneath the door, and I jump back with a yelp.

Spencer is next to me in the blink of an eye, and his hand is clasped over my mouth. “Shh. The Bittens will hear you.”

I whimper but nod, my vision blurry from my tears. “Mom…” I mumble against his palm.

His eyes flash with understanding. Slowly, he lowers his hand, gently moves me out of the way, braces himself against the door, and shoves it open effortlessly, or that’s how he makes it look anyway. I scramble around him to get inside first, and I immediately regret my impulsiveness.

My mother is on the floor. Her neck is torn apart, and she’s lying in a pool of her own blood. Her eyes are open and lifeless, her skin pale. She’d been killed by a Bitten. My throat burns, and I swallow the urge to scream, but the last thing I want is to bring those murderous vampires back here.

I turn toward Spencer, and he wraps his arms around me. I bury my face against his chest and cry. He rubs my back and whispers words meant to soothe me, but my ears are ringing, and my heart is pounding too hard to hear what he says.

“I’m so sorry, Ev,” he says and places a kiss to the top of my head. “You shouldn’t have had to see this.”

But I did see it, and I’d never be able to unsee it for as long as I lived. Even though I have no idea what the Bittens plan to do with the people they’ve culled, part of me had hoped both my parents were taken. At least then they’d be alive.

“We can’t stay here.” Spencer gently disengages my hold on him and courses his hands down my arms. “Let’s gather whatever you need and get to Brookside. We’ll be safe there.”

Sniffling, I wipe the tears from my cheeks. “Okay.” I hiccup and nod.

But I can’t force myself to move, to turn around and go up the stairs to my bedroom because to do that, I’ll have to see my mother’s dead body again. I’ll have to step over her, and that somehow seems cold and disrespectful.

As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, Spencer scoops me off my feet, and in the next second, I’m standing in the middle of my room. I blink, disoriented, and take a moment to get my bearings.

“That was weird,” I say.

“Sorry.” Spencer forces a grin that looks more like a grimace. “Moving that fast doesn’t really faze me anymore.”

“Right. Well, thanks,” I say with the utmost sincerity.

Smoothing my hands down my hair, I blow out a breath and glance around. My bed is still unmade, my blankets hanging off the sides. The clothes I’d tossed around in my rush to pack are still scattered on my floor. My heart splinters at the sight, at how eager I’d been to get out of this house, away from my parents. And now my mom’s dead, and I’ll probably never see my father again.

The weight of the situation crashes down on me, and I sink onto the foot of my bed. How am I supposed to go on with my life now? Everything’s changed, and other than Spencer—who’s very much an unknown at this point—I have no one. No family. No friends.

“Hey.” Spencer crouches in front of me, his hands on my knees. “I know this is awful and overwhelming, but we can’t stay here.” His tone is urgent, his expression compassionate if not a little earnest.

“I know.”

“C’mon.” He stands and holds out his hand. “I’ll help you pack.”

Reluctantly, I take his hand, and he pulls me to my feet. “There are two suitcases under my parents’ bed. Can you get them for me?”

He nods and leaves the room, only to return a second later with a single suitcase. “This is the only one I could find.”

My shoulders droop. I forgot my mother had used one of the suitcases to pack some of my father’s things. She’d been so angry with him that she’d set the suitcase out on the porch and then promptly changed all the locks on the house. That’s when I knew their marriage was officially over.

Spencer hefts the suitcase onto my bed and unzips it. “Pack as much as you can. I’m going to check out the rest of the house.” He heads for the door, then stops and turns back. “Don’t leave this room without me.”

I nod, too exhausted and emotionally drained to argue with him about his bossiness. As soon as he’s gone, I begin shoving clothes and shoes into the suitcase, but only the most practical attire—jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, pajamas, undergarments, sneakers. I leave all of my dresses, skirts, and cute sandals untouched in my closet. Not like I have any use for those anymore.

Spencer returns several minutes later. He’s got my school backpack slung over his shoulder. When he notices me staring at it, he pats it and says, “Bottled water. And I raided your medicine cabinet for aspirin and first aid supplies.”

“Oh,” is all I can manage to say. “I need my toothbrush.”

Like a zombie, I leave my room and cross the hall into the bathroom. I gather my toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, my hairbrush, and a handful of hair ties. Then I snatch my deodorant off the sink. I hesitate, debating if I should grab my shampoo and conditioner, too. Spencer said the Born vampire stronghold has been preparing for the Bittens attack, but just how prepared are they? Do they have these sorts of basics?

I grab them just in case and carry an armful of stuff back into my room. I dump everything into the suitcase, then zip it closed. I drag the luggage off my bed, and it hits the floor with a loud thud. I cringe.

Gently, Spencer takes the handle from me. “I got this.”

“Thanks.” I take one final look around to make sure I’m not forgetting anything, and to say a final goodbye to the only home I’ve ever had. Fresh tears pool in my eyes, and I hastily wipe them away.

“Let’s go out the back door,” Spencer says as we leave my room.

“Good idea.” I descend the stairs, and rather than head for the foyer, I veer to the right, through the kitchen, and straight out the back door. I’m numb as I step outside, or maybe I’ve just finally succeeded in shutting down my emotions.

The garage door is wide open, and my father’s car is parked inside. I have my license; so does Spencer, though neither of us own a car. Dad rarely let me use his car—the luxury sedan is his pride and joy—but at the moment, we don’t really have any other options.

“My dad keeps an extra key hidden in the garage,” I say. “We can take his car. Not like he’s going to miss it.”

“We can’t take the car,” Spencer says.

“Why not?” My tone is sharp. “You can’t seriously be thinking about walking to Brookside, can you?” Brookside is a forty-five minute drive without any traffic. Walking would take hours.

“We’re going to take the boat around the lake as far as we can. Then we’ll have to walk the rest of the way.” He adjusts his hold on my suitcase.

I stare at him with disbelief. “Why would we do that when there’s a perfectly good car right there?” I wave my hand in the direction of Dad’s car.

“We’ve already seen two Bittens wandering around. Chances are there’s more of them around here, and if we’re driving through town in a car, we’ll draw unwanted attention to ourselves,” he explains in a tone that’s much too calm for my liking.

I narrow my eyes. “And you don’t think they’ll hear the boat engine?”

He shakes his head. “I can idle away from the dock and get us far enough away that if they do hear us, they won’t be able to catch us.”

The thought of walking all the way back to the docks is enough to send me over the edge. Physically, I’m on empty. Emotionally, I’m completely spent. I have nothing left inside me—no ambition, no desire to keep going. Nothing. I’m numb and empty.

“I don’t think I can do this,” I say, my bottom lip trembling. I hug myself to stop the sudden shivers. “My mom is dead. My father is gone. I have no idea if any of my friends are okay. And now I’m supposed to just go live with you and a bunch of vampires?” A hysterical laugh bubbles up.

Spencer’s expression softens, and he steps up to me. “Yes, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” He rests his hands on my shoulders. “We’ll survive this, Everleigh. Together. You have my word.”

I shift on my feet. What good is his word when he’s already changed his mind about me? Can I truly trust him now? Not only has he lied to me about what he is, he said he regretted saving me. Can I really entrust my life to him? Do I have another choice? I can’t stay on my own, not when there are psycho murderous vampires on the loose.

“All right,” I whisper. “Let’s go.”

We walk in silence back to the boat. I’m hyper aware of my surroundings, watching and listening for anything out of the ordinary. The silence that envelops us isn’t normal, but I’ll have to get used to it, I suppose.

When we reach the docks, Spencer pauses, glances around, then rushes me toward the boat. I don’t know if he’s seen something, but I’m not about to wait to find out. My footsteps on the wooden planks echo around me, and I cringe with each footfall. I sound like a heard of elephants. Surely, vampires with enhanced senses will hear me, and that thought spurs me to move even faster.

Spencer throws my suitcase on board, then lifts me and sets me in the boat. He’s a split second behind me, and he whizzes around in a blur. Next thing I know, the boat is quietly idling away from shore.

I slouch onto the bench and stare at my hometown. A heavy depression sits on my shoulders, and my chest is heavy with realization. I’ll never be able to call this place home again. In fact, this could very well be the last time I ever see this town. I can’t stop the tears that stream down my face.

Am I making the right decision going with Spencer? Is living with Born vampires any safer than hiding out on my own? The town’s already been culled, so what’re the chances the Bittens will even come back here?

I draw in a shaky breath and shift so I’m facing Spencer, who slowly increases the boat’s speed. My home disappears from view, and I say a silent goodbye to my parents, my friends… everything and everyone I’ve ever known. Well, almost everyone.

“Spencer?”

“Yeah?” He glances at me over his shoulder.

“Thank you for saving me,” I say, my voice barely audible over the roar of the engine. “Even though you regret it… I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t done what you did.”

He adjusts some controls on the dash, then approaches me. “I didn’t mean that, Ev.” He sits next to me. “I’m sorry. I never should’ve said that to you.” Smiling faintly, he brushes my hair from my face, but the wind blows it right back into my face. Spencer shifts and cradles my face in his hands. “I don’t regret saving you, and I don’t regret the time we spent together before all of this happened.”

I offer him a genuine smile. “Thank you for saying that.”

While his words had hurt me, knowing he’d only said them in anger and didn’t mean them eased a lot of my fears and hesitations. If anyone could relate to saying stupid, mean things in the heat of the moment, I could.

“I saved you because there was literally no one else on this earth who I couldn’t live without.” He caresses my cheeks with his thumbs, then lowers his mouth to mine, but he stops short of kissing me. “We promised each other if the world ever ended, we’d stick together, remember?”

I laugh. “We were twelve. And you were convinced zombies were going to eat our brains.”

He smirks. “Instead, we have vampires drinking our blood.”

I roll my eyes, then press my lips to his. I have no idea what’s going to happen or if I’ll even survive this vampire war, but I know I can take comfort in having Spencer by my side. With him, I have a fighting chance, and I vow right then and there to fight. No matter how long or how hard, I won’t let the Bittens destroy this world.

The End