Chapter 10

Part 2: Zach

I was in my room. A bland room with nothing but a few paintings from the different countries I've visited in my lifetime. My bed, what used to be perfectly made, was being torn apart by myself. I was pissed. I don't understand how I could have let something so simplistic slip right by me. "How could I be so STUPID!?" I yelled. I picked up my bed and tossed it on its side.

 

Trent just happened to be in my room. "Zach, it's not your fault. None of us saw that Luke was disguised as Mark." Trent, being my older brother, was trying to get me to calm down. Mom and Dad never really did like it when I tried to tear the house apart. I was one of the ones, out of my siblings that lost my temper the most. Katie stopped all that. My temper has been way better since I've been with her. Nothing that Trent said though was going to make me feel better. I knew it was my fault for loosing Katie.

 

I was sitting on my now broken bed with my head in my hands. I didn't know how I was going to save her. "You know what this means, right?" Trent asked. I already knew what he was about ready to say. I just didn't want to deal with guessing right now.

 

"What?" I looked at him. I wanted to see him make a complete fool out of himself.

 

"We go to war!" He yelled. I laughed. Trent always wanted to find a way to fight someone. Especially the Martins.

 

"Trent! Quit being an idiot! We have to think of a logical way to save Katie." I said. Fighting wasn't logical. Not with all the Martins. That’s actually the very thing that they want. They want us to fight them so that they can prove that they are the better clan than us.

 

"It's completely logical, Dude. We fight, we win, and you get Katie back safe and sound. It's a win-win-win situation!"

 

I rolled my eyes. "No we are not fighting. You know what happened when I tried to take on just one of them. Imagine what it would be like with all four of them!"

 

He looked at me and from his hazel eyes, I knew that he knew I was right. No matter how strong my family and I are, the Martins will always be one step ahead of us. "Well, what about Katie?"

 

I sighed. I knew what I was going to do about Katie. I just had to have my family deal with it. "We have to have them meet us somewhere and give us Katie."

 

"Well, what do we give them in return?"

 

I had a feeling that Trent already knew what I was about to say. I think he was trying to give me the time to change my mind. Well, I wasn't going to change my mind. I knew what they wanted. I knew why they were hurting Katie. I knew what they really wanted. I closed my eyes and let out a large sigh. "Me."

 

Trent continued to look at me. I think he knew what I was thinking. Trent is the only one of my siblings that I'm close to. Trent could practically read my mind. It was a little bit of a scary idea. "Dude, you can't! That's suicide!"

 

I sighed. I had to get my family to understand why I'm doing this. They all liked Katie. Taylor was even warming up to her. If I could get Trent, my oldest brother, to understand and allow me to do it, then I could get the rest of my family to understand as well. "I know its suicide. But it's better than Katie getting killed. With me, they have to fight hard to get me dead. Katie is fragile. She will die much faster than I will."

 

He sighed. "You know you are the stupidest person I know."

 

I nodded, "I know."

 

"It's not a good thing Zach."

 

"Yep! I know."

 

"We've got to have another option."

 

I was getting angry. Thought that he was starting to understand and accept it. "What other option do we have, Trent?! If we fight, we can't guarantee that we will win. If we fight and don't win than Katie may die. I can't let that happen!"

 

"But, we can't let you go off and give yourself to them!"

 

"You're going to have to let me do it."

 

"Mom and Dad won't like it."

 

I sighed. "Then let them not like it. I've made up my mind. They don't want Katie. Katie is just bait. They don't want you guys. They want me. I'm the one they truly want."

 

"I think you should tell everyone else and have them react to this."

 

"Alright! I will!"

 

I knew that getting the rest of my family to understand that I needed to do this was going to be hard. My sisters will probably just look at me like I'm crazy. Tyler will probably just say I'm stupid. It's my parents that I'm worried about. I know they are protective. I gathered my family into the living room. I told them that I had to talk to them.

 

They were getting situated on the couches. My family bought 2 couches and a loveseat to put into the living room. They were a red velvet type color. It matched the interior decor of the house. When my mom got situated on the love seat next to my dad, she looked at me with the crystal blue eyes that always made me calm and said "What is it Zach?"

 

I sighed. Telling them this isn't going to be easy. They don't like it when I just give up. "I'm going to offer myself up as a trade for Katie."

 

Everyone replied at once. Dad said, "Not going to happen!"

 

My sisters asked, "Are you insane?"

 

Tyler said, "You're crazy!"

 

Everyone kept trying to yell at me at once. I think they forget that my temper, especially now, is on a short fuse. "LOOK!" I yelled, "This isn't your guys’ decision! It's mine! I only told you what I was planning because you’re my family. I was the one who didn't know that Luke was disguised as Mark. Now Katie is paying the price. I can't let that happen."

 

Taylor looked at me and asked, "What is it about Katie that's making you act like this? You've liked other girls since you went out with Matilta but you haven't acted like this."

 

I was stunned. It must have been what they were all thinking because, when she said that, everyone stopped and starred at me waiting for an answer. It took me a minute to realize that she was right. I hadn't acted this way about any other girl that I've met. And then the answer filed out of me. "Katie is different than any other girl I've ever met. There's a sort of spunk about her that I knew from the moment I met her that I loved her. She knows what she likes and she's not afraid to speak her mind. She can handle this screwed up world of vampires. She's strong. She's beautiful. And I think I'm unconditionally in love with her."

 

They were all silent and then suddenly my dad said, "I understand Zach." He looked at my mom for a minute. Then he continued, "But there has to be another way to save her."

 

"There isn't I've went through every option that I had."

 

"We could fight them!" Tyler suggested.

 

Trent just laughed and looked at me. "What if we don't win, Tyler?"

 

Mom suggested, "We could offer them something or someone else?"

 

I sighed. I have to give them the same speech that I gave Trent. "They only want me! That's why they took Katie. They don't want anything from her. You can't change my mind guys, it's made up."

 

Everyone just looked at me and nodded. They could see that there was no changing my mind. Now I had to text Luke.