Chapter 11

I was leaning up against the back wall of the school. It was raining. I was kicking around a rock while I was waiting for Luke. He told me that he was going to meet me here with Katie around 10. I was about half an hour early. I was hoping that my text got him excited and made him early. I was wrong. I waited behind the school, in the rain, for a half an hour.

 

Then I smelled blood. I could tell that it was Katie's blood. There was something about it. That stuck out as her's. I swear if they hurt her badly, I was going to kill all of them.

 

Luke came around the corner with his buddies. Why is it that he always has a posse with him? And I saw her. Her blond hair was pulled up in a sloppy bun. Her big, brown eyes were looking down at the ground. She lifted her head up and saw me. She looked confused. It looked like she didn't know that they were coming to meet me.

 

"Well, Zach I'm surprised I don't see your family around." Luke said. I kept looking at Katie. She had bruises and cuts all up and down her arms and legs. I was steaming with anger. They were going to pay for hurting her.

 

Not looking away from Katie, I said, "I came alone." Katie looked scared. She always worried about me. She had no reason to worry about me though. I was a vampire. I was used to this type of thing. It was me who should be worried about her all the time.

 

Luke smiled. "Good. This should be easy."

 

Katie was going to kill me for saying this but, "I want a trade."

 

"A trade?" Luke tilted his head to one side.

 

"I want to offer myself as a trade for Katie. Let her go and you can have me as your prisoner instead." Katie, please don't say anything. I kept thinking.

 

Katie was wide-eyed. "No! I won't let you do that!" She cried. It took all my strength to not run up to her and get Luke away from her and run away with her. She had the saddest look in her eyes. I didn't want her to think that I didn't care what she wanted.

 

"Could I talk to her alone for a few minutes, Luke?" Luke looked at me. I don't think he trusted me. And really he shouldn't. "I promise. I'm not going anywhere. I just need to talk to her." I reassured him. I knew that he was thinking that I probably was going to run off with her.

 

He nodded and told his buddies to hand her off to me. She ran over to me and wrapped her arms around me. I had to hold back the tears that I felt were coming into my eyes. "Why would you do this? They'll kill you!" She said. I could tell she was crying.

 

"Katie, look at me." She wouldn't lift her head up. I kissed her head. "Please look at me!" She lifted her head so I could see those gorgeous eyes of her's. Tears were streaming down her face. It killed me to see her so upset. I almost told Luke to forget it. But I knew that would put me back where I started. "They'll kill you if I don't do this. I can't let that happen. You don't deserve any of this. You deserve to be normal and happy."

 

"I'm happy with you!"

 

"I know and I'm happy with you, but this is not a life I would have chosen for myself. They don't want you. They want me." I put my hand against her cheek and she closed her eyes. I could feel the water of the tears. It was cold. Then what I did next was so fast that I barely kept up with it. I kissed her. I kissed her like I've never kissed anyone before. I pulled her close into me. I couldn't lose her. I needed her to find a way to get me away from Luke. I knew I couldn't do it myself.

 

I pulled away. I needed to make it quick. "I need you to get my family involved. They will find a way to get me back and get Luke and Matilta out of the picture." I whispered to her. "Don't get yourself involved. You'll only get hurt."

 

"Zach." She said. I looked at her. "What if we can't get you back?" She asked.

 

I pulled her close to me. "Then I'll have to find a way back to you."

 

"What if you don't?"

 

"What if the world fell into a million pieces Katie? Stop thinking what ifs okay. I have something very special that I just need to come back to." I stroked my hand against her cold, wet cheek. The rain continued to pour down. I wish there was some other way to save her, but there's not. I think she knows that too.

 

She smiled just a little. I knew she was trying to force it. I could see it on her face that nothing in her wanted to smile. "Just be safe. Okay?" She said.

 

I nodded. "You need to stay far away from Matilta. I don't know if they are going to go around and torment you. If they do, just ignore anything that they say, alright?" She nodded. "Now give me a real smile before I go off and beat the living hell out of Luke." She laughed. That's what I wanted to see. I didn't know when I would see that smile again. It kind of sucked thinking that. I kissed her forehead and look right at Luke.

 

He was standing with his arms crossed. "That took way longer than I expected it would." He said.

 

"Well, I was trying to calm a frantic girlfriend down. It's still nowhere near as long as it took to calm your sister down." I smiled. If I was going to be tortured, I might as well have some fun with it. If I don't then, it's just going to be too boring.

 

Luke didn't like what I had to say though because he was snarling and growling. I could tell that I hit a nerve with him when I started talking bad about Matilta. Then a thought came to my head. Luke and Matilta may not have any humanity when it comes to other people, but when it comes to their family or their pride, they get really pissed. Maybe that's how I could get free quicker. "Just get over here, so I can get home and eat. Although you're little girlfriend was a good snack."

 

Ouch! Good move Luke! Good move! I wasn't going to attack him. That will get me nowhere. I was however going to destroy their pride from the inside. I just had to get there to do it.

 

I let my hand go from Katie's. It was the hardest thing I had to do in a long, long time. I started walking over to Luke. As I was walking over to Luke, he said, "Don't worry Katie. I'll make sure to return him to you. In pieces." I rolled my eyes. Hopefully Katie saw that and didn't take anything Luke just said into real thought.

 

She nodded. Little things like that let me know when she understood what I was trying to tell her without really telling her. She understood that I wasn't going to come back in pieces. I was going to come back to her just like normal. I was going to come back to her and she would be safe from all of this. I'll make sure of it. Even if it's the last thing I do.