Created (Book 1 of the Created) (34 page)

Veronica flipped over to face the far side of the room.
"That is between you and Mathias, and I am sure he had his reasons. I will
do my best to find out why she was there, but you can't be so dense that you
must realize that there is a message. If it was me, I would have done the same
thing."

I was stunned at her forceful response.

She turned to me. The sheet barely clung to her naked body as
she spoke, "Ethan, Mathias needed her to see you for the monster that
dwells inside of you. How could any human love you when they know the truth of
what you are capable of doing?
Sunnie
needed to be
honest to her and you. This is not a fairy tale where you are the innocent love
struck vampire who is incapable of harming a creature other than to protect
her. We are killers. The virus inside of you is the same as the one in me, and
I know that every second of the day I am a fraction of a second away from taking
a life. Liam was your friend and she knew that."

Her unblinking eyes stared at me as I sought an answer.
There was no defensible retort, so I stumbled from the home and into the night
alone. I heard Veronica slide from the bed, shuffle through the glass from the
shattered door and step into the damp grass.

I stopped walking at the edge of her yard wondering if she
was going to give chase. Hearing her movement grow silent, I turned to see her
standing beside her house; her naked form obscured from behind the white sheet
which she held in place with a single hand. The moonlight tantalizingly
revealed intimate details of her body. Embarrassed, I looked away as she
approached.

"Ethan, let her go. Please." Veronica seductively
whispered as she approached.

"Stop Veronica.
Just stop. I
need time to clear my head. I need time to figure out some things." She
did as I asked. Veronica started to say something, but I was too far away for
even me to hear as I sprinted away from all the horrible events of the evening.

I saw the sunrise from a field that I had lain down in two
hours before. School should have been the furthest thing from my mind, but it
was the only thing as I sat and stared at the sun. I felt my skin getting
harder and watched as I began to darken to gray, but I didn't care.

School meant having to deal with my group and the loss of a
member. School also meant that I would have to deal with what
Sunnie
had seen. Was I really the monster she had witnessed
murder our school mate and my friend? The sad reality seemed to be that I was
in fact a monster.

Mustering up my courage, I decided it was time to make my
way back home and confront the damage I had created.

The bus ride was quiet. I entered first and exited last.
Everybody maintained the same seats we usually sat in on the way to school with
the exception of Chloe. Chloe sat in Liam's seat. Her sobbing was the only
noise anyone made. No one looked at me or made mention of my presence. This was
a fact that surprised me. I had at least expected an acknowledgement from
Veronica or Darby, but there was nothing. Departing from the bus, I used a side
entrance while the rest chose to enter through the main entrance. The
separation allowed me to escape from one problem and begin my search to rectify
another.

I searched the halls at risk of being late for class, but
Sunnie
wasn't at school. Waiting until after first block, I
tried another search for her at the school which yielded no results. I began
the process of tracking down a girl I had heard
Sunnie
make mention of being fairly good friends. It would be with her that I would
find answers I prayed.
 

Lucy
Stoltz
was a willowy blonde
who had penchant for gossip and colorful shoes. The shoe issue always struck me
as funny since she did not have much regard for the rest of her appearance.
Well, there was also the exception of her nails. The girl was near obsessive
about her finger nails. They were always perfect, but otherwise she cared less
for how she looked.

Gossip was her claim to fame. As an eleventh grader, she
knew everything on everybody, including teachers. Most people treaded carefully
around her. Lucy was always the one with the information so no matter how much
I hated having to turn to her for
information,
I found
it was necessary, even though my relationship with
Sunnie
was fodder for her discretion or lack of. Maybe since she and
Sunnie
were friends we would be exempt, though it was an
empty hope.

On occasion, she and I passed pleasantries as we shared
Spanish class and our mutual affection for
Sunnie
.
Today was no exception for her choice in shoe color, her love of gossip or even
her affection for
Sunnie
.

I found Lucy assisting with some pictures for the school
website. She unabashedly led with a statement, "I hear that the happy couple
is having some difficulties. Could that be why
Sunnie
is not here today?"

Undoubtedly, she knew something and was playing the role of
protective friend. I was in no mood to deal with her bullshit. Instead I wanted
to snap her neck. "Is that really any of your concern? A simple hello or
how are you would have worked. Maybe next time you can work that into your
intro. You know that is a life skill that you might want to work on before
actually going out of your house in the morning. Right after you attempt to fix
your hair. Never mind about your hair because that is already hopeless."

The seed of doubt had worked as her expression had changed.
I watched with amusement as she casually toyed with her hair. "That was
mean. I was just being concerned for my friend. So what do you want then
asshole?"

I didn't apologize though I thought I probably should.
"Have you heard from
Sunnie
? Or can you offer
anything other than guessing about our relationship."

"Guessing?" She questioned. "She told me
herself that you two were possibly parting ways."

The news was disheartening. "Did she say why?"

"No, but do you want to explain?" Her smile had
returned.

"Lucy, I didn't come here to fight. I just wanted to
check on
Sunnie
since I hadn't talked to her in a
couple of days," I said as I turned to leave.

Lucy bounced around me to cut off my exit from the gym.
Carefully, she bound her hair into a ponytail as she spoke, "She texted me
to say that she is sick and might miss a couple of days this week. I didn't
mean to pick a fight either. I just don't want any guy, no matter how much she
cares for him, to screw her over."

I said, "Thank you for your honesty. I want you to know
that I am doing my best not to break her heart."

She got serious for a second. "I would hate to have to
kill you if you did."

I suppressed a smile. "Your concern and your threat are
noted."

I picked her up from the ground and sat her out of my way to
make my way back to class. "Thank you Lucy."

"You are welcome Ethan," Lucy said.

I could feel her eyes following me as I weaved through the
last minute rushers who were trying to get to class on time. I was thankful
that she wasn’t a vampire because
lord help
us all if
she were.

The rest of the morning scrapped by.
Lunch was the same as always except for our missing member. We all sat quietly
trying not look at each other which had become our normal everyday activity.

Lucy and her other friends, which were few, sat nearby
whispering and staring with the occasional wide eyed teenage girl look followed
by a laugh or giggle which only elicited more or the same. I could have heard
their every word, but opted to block out the world.

Before the lunch bell rang, my group was out the door and to
the next class. I hung back allowing the other students to filter into the
hallway as I headed toward the rear exit.

Clear of the building, I was about to sprint to
Sunnie's
house when I felt a hand upon my shoulder. It was
Veronica.

"How do you do that?" I asked emphatically.

She wasn't in a playful mood. "That is not important.
What is important is the fact that you are about to be stupid and skip school
to see a girl that obviously doesn't want to be around you."

I hung my head. "I need to make sure she is okay. I
know the damage I have done to everybody, and I was trying to at least fix it
with her."

"Ethan this is not the answer. If you insist on going,
then you and I will requisition a car tonight, and I will go with you to make
sure things are satisfactory."

Veronica was part of the issue. Knowing
Sunnie's
disdain for Veronica, there was no way to smooth over her appearing with me. I
was trying to fix my relationship woes with
Sunnie
not make them worse. What if she snapped while we were there? There were too
many negatives.

"Veronica, I appreciate the sentiment, but this is
something I need to do alone. I am sorry."

I turned to sprint off but she grabbed my arm. She brought
my face to hers "Listen, the only way that anybody is going to allow you
to see that girl is if they do not know. She has been enough trouble for us. If
you have to see her you will close your mouth and let me work my plan."

I was getting angry. "No, I have to go alone. She is
obviously threatened by you and you’re a little hard to explain. And no one
will know I left so it won't matter."

"The school reports skips and absences of all the base
kids. It would be reported before you could get to her house. You wouldn't even
make it there Ethan."

Even in her foul mood, Veronica was the voice of reason. If
I was caught before I made it to
Sunnie's
house, a lot
of good it would do. If I had to go back to the base first, she could be my way
off the Farm. She was right. She was always right. I commented, "Okay. I didn’t
think it through. That is a better plan than mine because it has none of the
risk. How did you get so smart?"

Veronica was pissed, "I have had lots of practice over
the years." The bell rang which caused her to shoot me a caustic glare.
"We are going to be late for class so we need to go ahead and see Chloe to
get a couple of passes."

Veronica's Camaro slipped onto
Sunnie's
street with the subtleness of a landing commercial airliner. The Chevrolet
muscle car was a demon in her hands as we dropped from one hundred thirty miles
per hour to fifteen with a screech of the tires. She had slammed on the brakes
eight houses away on the previous street, but we did not finish our descent
until we roughly rounded through a stop sign and onto
Sunnie's
picture perfect street.

Her foot no longer glued to the accelerator the eight
cylinder engine bellowed its disapproval as we approached her house. The loud
exhaust reverberated underneath the canopy of trees. I imagined the shaking of
windows and snapping of glass as we approached, though at least the glass did
not break. Several lights flickered to life, as well as blinds and curtains
opened, to see the people for responsible for the commotion.

I bit my tongue in an effort to hide my reaction to
Veronica's screeching halt at such a late hour in front of
Sunnie's
house.

We sat idling along the curb in front of her house until
Veronica said, "Well now what Romeo? Are we going to sit here all night,
or are you going to try to see if you can talk to her?"

I launched myself from the car without answering taking full
advantage of the open top on the convertible, landing in the damp grass of the
middle of the lawn. Before I could walk a step, the front door opened revealing
Sunnie
standing behind the glass storm door. She was
dressed for bed wearing gray sweat pants and a solid T-shirt.
 

Hesitation filled my heart until she smiled; the gesture
told me it was alright. I began walking toward her at a human pace so as not to
scare her.
Sunnie
opened the door and stood upon the
top of the steps waiting for me. Her arms crossed. It was obvious she was happy
to see me, but there was an underlining sense of uncertainty. Arriving at the
bottom of the stairs, we shared a few wordless seconds then she leapt from the
steps into my arms. Catching her in midair, I gently pulled her into me. Her
lips greedily found mine as we shared a passion filled kiss.

I spat out a flurry of explanation. "
Sunnie
, I am so sorry that you had to see me at my worst. I
want you to know that I had to in order to survive in my world. Liam's death
will haunt me forever, but he was the one that sent the Hunter to kill you. It
was either him or me."

She kissed me again, her tiny hands caressing my face then
she responded behind a steady flow of tears. "I thought you were going to
be mad at me
that’s
why I haven't been at
school."

We shared a brief kiss again. Her fingers played with my
lips. "I never knew it could be that horrible. I was given a tour of the
base.
All of the things that they allowed me to see,
including the other creatures that live there.
Ethan you are not like
that. I know that your heart is not that of a monster. You can't be."

Sunnie
paused when she noticed
Veronica sitting in the car. "Why did he send that awful beast after us?
Why would he want kill me?"

I held her to me then brought her eyes back to me with a
gentle touch. "Our kind lives a precarious life caught between both
worlds. We work as servants of our government to which we owe our debt to the
second chance that we have been given. Many of my kind take this opportunity
very seriously. In fact, they take it seriously enough to do anything to
protect our secrets. There is a small group that viewed you as a threat to our
way of life. Liam was the one who was chosen to prep the Hunter to attack you.
The group thought your death would remind me of the protected status that we
must maintain. It was not hatred or jealousy
Sunnie
.
It was a matter of survival."