of his body on top of me, and the comforting
dampness of his skin against mine.
“Please don’t ever leave me,” he breathed, his
voice breaking with emotion.
“Never,” I agreed, kissing him gently.
*****
Chapter Five – Confrontation
For the first time in ages, I awoke with a sense
of hope and purpose. I was seeing things through
a new perspective. My whole world had changed,
and suddenly Kai was all that really mattered.
Waking up in his arms after our night together
was the most intensely comfortable thing I had
ever experienced.
I sighed happily and stretched, allowing the
shaft of morning sunlight, which peeked through
the curtains to warm my face. I got up and got
dressed, ready to face a happy new day.
But in a moment, everything changed.
Kai was on the phone with Jamie, giving her a
list of some things our family would need for the
next few days, and I decided to check my email. I
had four new messages – all from Max. I opened
the first.
Alice,
I’ve been found out. I need help. Email
ASAP.
Max
I felt a surge of adrenaline course through my
body. It started around the center of my torso and
spread out in a tingling wave of chills. I gasped
aloud, and I could feel the blood draining from
my cheeks. In an instant, Kai was by my side.
With his hand on my shoulder, he quickly
skimmed the email.
“What does he mean?” Kai asked. “The
hunters found out he was helping us?”
“That’s what I would guess,” I answered.
“Damn,” he muttered. Even Kai looked a little
worried.
I opened the next email.
Alice,
I hope you get this. You’re probably asleep.
I’m on the road. I’ve got a whole crew of
hunters on my tail. I won’t lead them to you,
but I need help figuring out what to do. My
mind is blank.
Max
“He has a whole crew of hunters on his tail?”
I gasped. “This is because of us!”
“Don’t worry,” Kai assured. “Max can take
care of himself.”
“Kai, Max took care of us when we needed
him,” I reminded him. “We can’t let him down
when he needs us.”
“But what can we do without risking
ourselves?” he asked.
“We can’t worry about ourselves!” I
admonished. “Max wasn’t worried about himself
when he helped us. He was only thinking of us.”
“No,” Kai corrected. “He was thinking of
you.”
“He rescued all of us.”
“But he only did it for you. He would have let
the rest of us die if he didn’t know how much it
would hurt you.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Of course you don’t, Alice. You don’t see
him for what he is – a hunter. He may have fallen
in love with you, but he still hates vampires.”
I opened Max’s next email.
Really in trouble. Just killed two hunters.
Now the others are even more pissed. I need
you.
“He killed two hunters!” I shrieked. “They’re
going to kill him!”
I urgently opened the next.
I hope you’re around soon. I’m really
panicking.
I quickly sent a reply.
Max,
I’m here. Just woke up. What can I do? Just
tell me and I will do it.
Be safe.
Alice
My stomach twisted into knots. I felt
nauseous, and my arms started to feel cold and
shaky. I started to tremble, and the more I
thought about Max, the more terrified I became.
My stomach groaned, and I ran to the bathroom
to vomit.
I brushed my teeth and rushed back to my
computer. Max had not emailed, and I started to
gnaw my fingernails – a habit I picked up from
Jamie. Kai rubbed my shoulders, but it did little
to calm my nerves.
There was a knock at the door and I nearly
jumped out of my skin.
“It’s just Jamie,” Kai said reassuringly, and he
was right.
“Morning!” she sang cheerily. She was
beaming.
Jamie’s eyes sparkled when she smiled. I’d
never seen her light up like that. It was if
someone flipped a switch and she finally came to
life. I noticed something. She was pretty. She
wasn’t pretty in the way well-meaning people
say, “You’d be so pretty if you lost weight.” She
was really pretty. Actually, she was beautiful, in
my opinion. I’d never noticed it before. Yes, she
was overweight and she had terrible acne, but her
face was so angelic. It was radiant.
I wanted to ask her why she was so cheerful,
but I was so worried about Max I could hardly
think at all.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jamie asked me,
noting my pale, haggard appearance and my lack
of response.
“The hunters found out Max helped us,” I
said.
Her face fell.
“Oh, no,” she whispered. “Is he okay?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “He emailed me
four times while I was asleep, and I wrote him
back a couple of minutes ago but he hasn’t
responded. I’m seriously freaking out!”
“Alice,” Kai said. “He’s probably driving.
He’ll write you when he has a chance.”
“He killed two hunters already!” I shouted.
“What?” Jamie gasped. “Why?”
“They probably attacked him,” I guessed. “It
was likely self-defense.”
“I guess so,” Jamie agreed. “What will they do
to him?”
“How should I know?” I snapped.
“Sorry!” Jamie shot back at me. “I was just
asking!”
“Jamie, don’t be upset with Alice,” Kai said
gently. “She’s just worried. It’s not your fault.”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “He’s right; it has
nothing to do with you.”
“I understand,” Jamie nodded solemnly.
My computer dinged. Email.
Alice,
I can’t stop long. They’re close.
I’m in Alabama. I don’t want to come to you,
because I won’t lead them to you. But I need
help figuring out where to go and what to do.
I’ll stay here five minutes to wait for your
reply, but I don’t have much of a lead on them.
I have to keep moving.
Max
“What does he mean he won’t lead them to
me?” I demanded. “We have to help him!”
“He’s going through this because he wanted
to save you,” Jamie said. “He wouldn’t want you
in harm’s way. Otherwise, all of his sacrifice
would have been for nothing.”
“No!” I argued. “We have to do something!”
“Send him m
y email address,” Jamie said.
“You can’t risk a Viewer finding our location
through your eyes, but they can’t see through
mine.”
“Absolutely not,” Kai demanded. “If you tell
him our location and they catch him, they could
read his email on his computer and find us. He
wouldn’t want you at risk, and I certainly don’t,
either.”
“We have to do something!” I screamed.
“Lower your voice,” Kai implored. “People
will get suspicious.”
I took a deep breath. “We can’t just leave him
on his own.”
“Wait,” Jamie said. “I won’t tell him where
we are. Tell him to email me. He has my
address.”
“What are you…” Kai started to say.
“Trust me,” Jamie emphasized.
“I do trust you,” I said to Jamie.
I fired off a quick email.
Max,
Email Jamie. She said you have her address.
She’ll take care of this. We’re trusting her to
help you out without giving away our location.
Please be safe, and hopefully we’ll see you
very soon.
Alice
I clicked the send button and waited. A
moment later, I got another email.
Alice,
I’ll send her an email right now, and then I
have to get back on the road.
I won’t do anything to put you at risk. I
promise you. Your safety is the most important
thing in the world to me.
Love,
Max
I heard Kai’s teeth grinding together once
again. He wasn’t thrilled that I was so worried
about Max, and he especially didn’t like reading
Max talking about how my safety was the most
important thing to him.
I sent Max another email.
Max,
I’m going to be right by my computer all
day. I’m here if you need anything at all.
Alice
I clicked the send button and turned the
volume all the way up so I would hear whenever
I received an email.
Jamie went back to her room to work on a
plan with Max, and I lied down on the bed and
stared at the ceiling. I felt so helpless. Max had
risked everything to protect us – to protect me –
and all I could do was sit around and wait.
I decided to call my mother and see how she
and Will were doing.
“Hello?” my mother answered.
“Mother?” I greeted. “How are you and Will
doing?”
“We’re fine,” she said. “How are you?”
“I’m worried sick,” I told her.
“Jamie told us about Max,” she said quietly.
“What should I do?” I pleaded. “Tell me what
to do.”
“All you can do is wait,” she said honestly.
“Jamie will take care of things.”
“She’s done more than enough,” I said. “I hate
to keep having her do everything for us.”
“She wants to,” Mother said.
“She seems so happy these days,” I
commented. “Do you think it’s actually making
her happy to be going through all of this?”
Mother laughed. “No, I don’t think that’s it.”
“Then what?”
“It’s not really my place to say.”
“Not your place to say what?”
“Alice…”
I thought for a moment, and then it hit me.
Jamie and my brother!
“Are she and Will…” I gasped excitedly.
“I think so,” my mother answered. “I see the
way they’ve been looking at each other.”
“Wow,” I breathed. “I had no idea. I’ve been
so absorbed in my own problems I never even
noticed.”
“I don’t think they’re really expecting anyone
to know,” she said. “So let’s not say anything to
them until they’re ready to tell us themselves.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Alice?” she said gently.
“Yes, Mother?”
“Max will be okay. Jamie’s a smart girl. She’ll
take care of him.”
“I know,” I agreed. “I just hope she isn’t too
late. And I wish there was something I could do
to help him the way he’s helped us.”
“He understands,” Mother said, trying to
comfort me. “He wants you to be safe.”
“I never thought you’d be telling me good
things about a hunter!” I said, chuckling at the
irony.
“He’s not like any hunter I’ve ever heard of,”
Mother admitted. “He’s a good guy.”
“I know,” I agreed. “I’m going to go check my
email. Check in later.”
“Okay, honey,” Mother said. “Bye.”
I hung up and looked at my computer, but I
had no new messages. This was maddening. How
could I possibly just sit around and do nothing?
Around noon, Kai decided to take a shower. I
felt guilty. After what had just happened between
us, he was taking a sideline while I worried about
Max – a guy he couldn’t stand, and who wanted
to take me away from him. Not only that, but I
should be doing more to help Max, a guy who
had saved us all more than once. I felt like the
worst person in the world.
Max had said he was in Alabama. Maybe I
could get there before Jamie. If I slipped out
now, they wouldn’t have time to catch up with
me. I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit
around and do nothing – not after all Max had
Before I left, I sent an email to Max with just
one word:
Lake.
I quietly packed my laptop and slipped out the
door. I had no money and no car, but I had a plan.
I called a taxi from the motel’s office, and when
it arrived, I asked the driver to take me to the
nearest pawnshop.
I pawned my computer for $400. I was
desperately hoping it would be enough to get me
where I was going. I hoped Max would get my
email in time, and I hoped he would get there in
time. All these things I had to hope for, but one
thing I didn’t. I knew Max would know what I
meant with that one word.
My one-way plane ticket cost $275. That left
me enough to take a taxi home. Once there, I
could get my phone so I could contact him, and I
would take Kai’s car so I could meet Max at the
lake.
On the plane trip, my mind was reeling. Kai
would be feeling betrayed and frightened, and
Max would probably be furious. I couldn’t think
about all of that. I tried to push it out of my
mind. All I cared about was making sure Max
was safe.
Hours later, I had a taxi drop me off a block
from my house. I didn’t know if the hunters
might be watching it, because I had no idea if
they knew who I was or where I lived. I surveyed
the house and surrounding neighborhood
carefully before I went home. Nothi
ng seemed
amiss.
I found my phone inside the house, along with
the rest of my things. I grabbed my bags, along
with Kai’s, Will’s, and my mother’s, along with
Kai’s painting, and I squeezed them all into the
truck and backseat of Kai’s car. I located his keys
inside the pocket of his coat where they always
were, and I jumped in his car and sped toward the
lake.
I was about a mile from the old drive-in when
my phone rang. The sudden noise startled me,
and the car lurched. I pulled into a parking lot
and fumbled for my phone, which had fallen into
the floorboard and slid underneath the
passenger’s seat. I got out of the car to stretch my
legs and answered.
“Hello?”
“Alice!” I heard Kai yell. “Where are you?”
“It’s probably best I don’t tell you,” I told him.
“I don’t want to risk any of you getting
involved.”
“Involved in what?” he shouted. “Alice,
please. Tell me where you are so I can come get
you.”
I could hear the dread in his voice.
“It’s fine, Kai,” I said. “I’m fine. Don’t worry
about me.”
“How can I not?” he said, his voice breaking.
“Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?
I’ve been emailing you and calling you all day!”
“I know,” I said meekly. “I’m sorry. I would
have left you a note, but I didn’t want you to try
to follow me.”
“Have you heard from Max?” he asked.
“No, why?”
“Jamie says she hasn’t heard from him all
day,” he replied.
If a freight train had crashed into me at that
exact moment, it wouldn’t have hurt me half as
much. I began trembling so much that my phone
slipped from my hands and bounced on the
pavement. I put my hand over my mouth, fearful
that I might vomit. My knees began to wobble,
and my vision became blurry.
My knees gave out, and I slumped to the
ground. My shaky hands reached for the phone,
and I heard Kai repeatedly calling my name.
Finally, after several fumbled attempts, I
managed to pick up the phone.
“Alice? Are you still there? Alice?” Kai
shouted frantically.
“I… I’m here…” I stammered, barely able to
speak.
“What happened? Are you alright?”
“Kai, I have to go. I love you,” I said, and I
hung up.
With shaking fingers, I dialed Max’s number.
It went straight to voicemail.
“Max?” I began my message. “I have my
phone. Please call me when you get this. I’m so