Chapter 8

I've been in Spain for about a week and my opinion of it is, that I hated it. I can't believe I still have a month and a half to go with this stupid trip. I don't really speak Spanish very well. The natives don't speak English all that well and it sucked. I think the only person who actually speaks English is the only person that I talk to. His name was Nicolas. He is really nice to me.

 

Nicolas was the kind of guy that you thought looked cute but he only looked like a little brother cute. He was about my height which I liked because I didn't feel that I was straining my neck just to look at him. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He was also probably tanner than anyone that I've ever seen. It was hard to believe that not all the girls at his school were just fawning over him.

 

Nicolas and I were walking home from school. I was kind of depressed. Zach told me yesterday that he was having trouble with his oxygen. He was supposed to be out of the hospital when I landed but he's still in the hospital. I guess I was showing my emotions because Nicolas asked me, "What is wrong? You look upset or worried."

 

I sighed. I didn't really talk about what was going on at home. I was trying to get away from that. I just can't help the feeling that I was being watched. "Well, my boyfriend in America is having problems and I'm just worried about him." I hoped that was enough information for him about it because I didn't want to talk about it.

 

"What type of problems is he having?"

 

"It has something to do with his oxygen and breathing."

 

"Oh that is bad." I nodded. It was also kind of hard to tell him that vampires were trying to kill me. Matilta was texting me earlier in the week. She hadn't mentioned anything about knowing that I was in Spain. I am just paranoid that she knows that I'm here and they are waiting for me to be alone. I really was making an effort to stay with one other person while I was here. I figured that they wouldn't attack if I was with someone who didn't know about vampires.

 

"What is your boyfriend's name?" Nicolas asked me.

 

"Zach."

 

"If he is having problems over in America, why did you decided to come here with your mother?"

 

Crap! How do I explain this kind of thing to him? He can't know that there are vampires. "Well, when I was leaving, he was doing really well. His issues didn't come up until I had already been here for about a day." That was a good explanation Katie. Good job!

 

"It must be hard to be away from him." He had no idea how hard it was to be away from Zach. It was like someone was sticking a knife further and further into my heart. Just then I got a text message from Trent. It was weird because Trent never text me.

 

MATILTA IS NO WHERE 2 BE FOUND AND ZACH IS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL BUT HIS PHONE GOT STOLEN.

 

I shoved my phone into my pocket. "Great! She probably has his phone and she's probably on her way here!"

 

I didn't realize that I had said something out loud until Nicolas said, "Who probably is on her way here?"

 

I stopped dead in my tracks. Nicolas really can't know any of this. He's a nice guy and all but I really just need to figure this out on my own. Plus, we were at my house. "Thanks for walking me home Nicolas."

 

"You are welcome Katie." He walked away and I opened the door and walked in.

 

Chad was sitting on the couch in the living room. Mom must have been out job hunting. She didn't like just sitting at home with nothing to do. I went right up to my room. It really wasn't decorated but I really didn't care about decorating it. I need to know where Matilta is and I needed to know now.

 

Just then Zach's phone sent me a text. YOU THINK YOU'RE SO SMART GOING TO SPAIN TO HIDE. JUST LEARN NOW KATIE THAT YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM MY FAMILY AND I. -M

 

I had to tell Zach. I needed him here or I just needed to hear his voice. I had to call Trent. The phone kept ringing until Trent finally picked up. "Hello?"

 

"Trent! Is Zach around? I need to talk to him. It's important."

 

"Yea Katie, he's right here."

 

There was a pause. "Hey Katie!"

 

"She knows!" I'll admit it. I was sorta in panic mode.

 

"Wait, who knows what?"

 

"Matilta! She knows I'm in Spain! She has your phone! And she saying that I need to learn that I can't hide from her and her family! And-"

 

"Okay! Katie, just relax. We don't know for sure that she's in Spain. We will look for them here and you need to just enjoy Spain and try not think about any of this. They won't hurt you. I promise that I won't let them."

 

Just then I heard Mom come home and I knew that we had to get ready to go to dinner. "Alright. I have to go. Mom's made a reservation for this fancy restaurant down the street."

 

He laughed. "Okay. Call Trent if you get anything to tell you that she's in Spain."

 

"Okay! Love you!"

 

"Love you too!" Then he hung up. I was not looking forward to this dinner. I didn't want to pretend that I was calm when inside, I'm freaking out.

 

I hate fancy restaurants. My mom knows this but she doesn't care. I was wearing the best thing I owned. A pair of jeans and a V-neck. Yes, I know. That's not the appropriate attire for a fancy restaurant in a foreign country. I heard it twenty times from my mom in the last twenty minutes.

 

When I walked into the restaurant I could tell that I was going to hate the food. I could tell that it was only made up of seafood. I hated seafood. It smelled disgusting and I just hated the fact that it was a bunch of dead fish and stuff from the ocean. It's just cruel what they do to these animals. Did I mention that I was also a vegan? Yea I know what everyone is thinking "hippie".

 

We sat down at our table and Mom was talking about what kinds of jobs are available for teenagers around here. She seems to think that I love Spain way too much to leave in two months. Well, guess what. I'm leaving in two months. I can't stand being so far away from Zach. Especially now.

 

Our waitress was probably the only waitress that spoke a little bit of English. This is the one thing I hate about being in a foreign country was that no one spoke the same language. She was super skinny. She probably was finishing up college or just got out. She had long, black hair and green eyes. She was really pretty.

 

When she came back with our food, she handed me a note. "This note is from that family over there." She said as she pointed toward another table. I didn't recognize a lot of the faces waving back at me. They all looked familiar in some way. Then I saw one face that I did recognize.

 

Matilta.

 

I opened the note. I figured that the other people at the table were the rest of her family.

 

Thought you were safe? Well, think again. The only way for us to truly get revenge on Zach and his family, is to get to you. If you don't do what we say, Zach will die. Matilta has Zach's phone. We are willing to give it back to you after you accomplish all the task that we ask you to do. This is your first assignment. You cannot tell anyone about this. Not even Zach. Matilta will text you more later.

-The Martins

 

Okay, so how do I react to this note? Do I freak the hell out like I'm just about ready to do? Do I tell Zach and risk the fact that they could kill him? I think I only have one option here. I have to silently freak the hell out and just do what they say. I folded the note up and looked back over to Matilta and her family. They were getting up and leaving. I think they know that they are freaking me out but I couldn’t show them that they were doing. So I just put the note away.

 

Mom was being her nosy self again and asked, "What does the note say hunny?"

 

I had to make some sort of story up. I couldn't tell them that these people were willing to kill me just to get back at Zach. "Nothing. They know Zach and his family and wanted to say hi." That is the best answer that I could give her. I didn't want to worry about any of this. But this is the price of being in love with a vampire.