Chapter 96 Ch. 66
“What are you trying to say?” Dylan asked, uncrossing his arms.
“Im saying exactly what I’m trying to say.”
Dylan blinked at her slowly. “Yeah, and I still don’t understand. What do you mean you don’t have to be Ivanna?” he asked, tilting his head a little as he waited for her to explain.
Ivanna let out a small breath and looked down at her hands. “I mean I don’t have to keep the name,” she said. She lifted her eyes again. “Everyone thinks Ivanna is gone. If that’s the case, then I don’t have to hold on to her.”
Dylan frowned slightly.
“I can change how I look,” she said. She touched the ends of her hair and pulled them forward. “I can cut it, or dye it. Maybe shape my brows differently. I won’t look like a different person entirely, but I won’t look like her.” She hesitated. “It’ll help.”
Dylan rubbed his palm along his jaw. “That’s not enough on its own,” he said. “You’ll still need papers. A new record ans something official.”
“I know,” Ivanna said. She moved her hand away from her hair and let it fall to her side. “That’s why I’m telling you. I can’t compel anyone— or at least I don’t know how to.”
“So you want me to do it,” Dylan said. He let out a short sigh and stared at the floor for a moment before looking back at her. “You want me to handle the officials.”
Ivanna nodded once. “You’re the only one who can do it right. If I try, I’ll probably mess everything up. And I can’t take that risk. It’s the least toh can do. Just help me with appropriate credentials ans I can start working on the case as well. May back back rk neon 24.”
Dylan looked toward the window which of course was just a space with glass overlooking i to nothingness before turning back to her. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll do it. I’ll handle the people we need. I’ll push the records through.”
A small bit of ease crossed Ivanna’s face. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll make sure I look different enough. Not strange. Just… changed. Imogene can hell right?”
Dylan narrowed his eyes a little. “You already thought about this before now, didn’t you?”
“Not fully,” she said. “Just a little. There’s something we used to do at the orphanage when someone wanted to leave their old life behind. They’d choose a pass-name. It’s a name you take when you’re done with whatever you survived in a foster care. It was something the older kids taught us in case we needed to run away.”
Dylan raised his eyebrows lightly. “A pass-name.”
“Yeah,” Ivanna said. She crossed her arms loosely, her gaze dropping for a second. “If I’m going to live outside this place, I need one. I can’t walk around with a name tied to a death that was already reported ans especially with the same face so…”
“Okay.” He said, then paused. “Are you still mad at me? I mean you’re not… right?”
“Of course I am,” she rolled her eyes and walked out.
+++++
Ethan was pacing back and forth near the shed, his hands running through his hair as he tried to figure out what he was feeling. He closed his eyes for a moment and let himself sink into it. The fear was sharp in his chest, and he couldn’t tell if it was his own or Zara’s. Their feelings always got mixed up, and now that she was gone, he couldn’t separate where he ended and she began.
His phone buzzed. He grabbed it fast, his heart jumping ans expecting it to be his uncle Dylan. Instead it was a new group chat. Noah had made it. Prunella, Jace, and Zara were added, along with him. Of course, Zara wasn’t there—she didn’t have her phone.
Noah’s first message popped up: “So what the hell is going on? What do you guys have to do with Zara being taken?”
Ethan’s thumb hovered over the screen. “You have to calm down, Noah,” he typed quickly.
“Don’t tell me to calm down when my best friend is missing!” Noah replied immediately. “Let’s do a rewind. When are you, Prunella, and Jace going to tell me what the fuck is going on? And what the he’ll did Jace do to me this afternoon?”
Ethan ran a hand over his face, knowing Noah wouldn’t stop until he got some answers. “Meet at Wendy’s coffee. We need to talk. Now,” he typed.
“Fine. I’m coming,” Noah replied right away.
Ethan frowned. He didn’t want to go. He was waiting for Dylan to call, hoping to get more information first, but he knew he couldn’t hide forever. He shoved his phone in his pocket and started walking toward the street.
The wind brushed against him, and then he felt a sudden lift beneath his feet. He was floating.
His heart jumped. He hadn’t done this in weeks since drinking Zara’s blood. Why now? He tried to pull himself down, gripping at invisible threads, but the fear made it hard to focus. What if something was happening to her? What if this was a reaction to where she had been taken?
“Ethan! What are you doing?” a voice called.
He dropped to the grass, landing hard. His father stood there with his arms crossed, eyes narrowing as he looked at Ethan.
“I—nothing,” Ethan said quickly, trying to act normal even though his chest was pounding.
Lorenzo’s eyes moved to the ground. “How did you get that power back?”
“What are you talking about?” Ethan asked, trying to play dumb.
“I am not stupidly Ethan. I know what I saw.”
“No. I…”
“You took her blood, didn’t you?” Lorenzo asked, stepping closer.
“No,” Ethan said quickly, his heart hammering. “I didn’t. I… I have somewhere to be.”
Before Lorenzo could respond, Ethan spun around and ran, his legs carrying him down the path toward the gate of the large compound the horse sat. He walked down the street to coffee shop, his chest beating hard with every step.
When he got to Wendy’s, Noah was already pacing outside, his face looking both worried and angry. Prunella leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and Jace stood a little apart with his hands in his pockets.
“When are you three going to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Noah shouted as soon as he saw Ethan. “What do you have to do with Zara? If anything happens to her, I swear I’ll kill you all. Ethan, you acted like you liked her, you were obsessed with her, but then you treat her like this? Like you had something to do with her being taken?”
“Calm down, Noah,” Ethan said quickly, holding his hands up. “I have nothing to do with it. I just think I know someone who might.”
“Oh, so you put her in danger?” Noah snapped back.
“It’s complicated,” Ethan said, running a hand through his hair. He liked left DJs right to be sure no one was paying attention. “But I need to start with something important. Vampires are real.”
Noah froze, his mouth opening slightly. “Wait… what do you mean vampires are real?”
Ethan sighed. “Zara wasn’t paranoid. Prunella, Jace, and I—we’re vampires. She’s not human. I found out one day that she’s a blood catalyst, and my father… lots of people want her. I tried to protect her, but I guess I wasn’t smart enough.”
Noah went pale. “Wait… she’s not human? She—what do you mean? Vampires?”
Prunella stepped forward. “Noah, this is a secret. Everything that’s been happening… the serial killings . You can’t tell anyone. If another vampire finds out you know, you’ll be killed. We’re not leaving you in the dark because your best friend is involved.”
“What?” Noah asked, confusion and anger in his voice.
Ethan took a deep breath. “The death of Ivanna, the journalist—my father killed her because she was clever, knew my secret. Somehow she bypassed the compulsion my uncle put her so that made my father do that. Remember the news said her body was missing from the morgue? She’s not really dead because she was my uncle’s girlfriend. My uncle brought her back and turned her into a vampire. Using Zara’s blood because hours want strong enough.”
Noah’s eyes widened. “What?”
“And the lady at the motel, Jace—he drained her blood,” Prunella said quietly. “And I… I drained Yvette’s blood. I didn’t mean to. I lost control. She was bullying me constantly. I just… it happened, and I didn’t know what else to do.”
Noah’s hands shook. “You… you did what? You’re telling me this now?”
Ethan ran a hand through his hair. “I’m telling you because it’s true. Everything about Zara, Ivanna… it’s all connected. And right now, she’s missing, and we have to find her before anyone else does.”