Page 47 of Crimson Storm

“My parents are vampires. They weren’t at the time I was seeing Marjorie, when they forced me to break up with her and told me how “evil” she and the rest of the vampire race were. A couple of years later they were both turned—involuntarily. Suddenly they saw vampires a little differently. Suddenly they were asking for understanding and compassion.”

He frowned at the memory of some long-ago conversation. “I didn’t give it to them.”

“You were angry at their sudden change of heart,” I said, getting it completely.

He nodded. “All I could think at the time was what hypocrites they were. They’d forced me to break up with a girl I loved for reasons beyond her control. It was different when it affectedthem, though. After they turned, they begged my forgiveness, but I didn’t want anything to do with them. I decided to go live with my uncle and aunt. They gladly took me in. They disapproved of my parents’ new lifestyle and didn’t think it was healthy for a human kid to live with a couple of vampires. I didn’t even speak to my parents for a long time. Finally, last Christmas, I called them. I realized I’d been pretty immature about the whole thing. I missed them, and I’d been thinking about it a lot, deciding maybe I’d made a mistake, cutting them off like that.”

“What happened? What did they say?”

He shook his head. “Their phone was disconnected. I drove by the house and saw it had been sold. My uncle never even mentioned to me they were planning to move. I haven’t spoken to them in a couple of years now. I have no idea where they are or how to find them. They didn’t leave a forwarding address or tell anyone where they were going.”

My first thought—a frightening one—was that they’d been taken to a Safety Center like my friends and I had been, like many of our neighbors had been.

Hopefully that wasn’t the case. Perhaps Shane’s parents really had simply elected to move away and start fresh somewhere new. Being here in this barn underlined for me how old memories could haunt a place.

“You thought we might be able to help you find them,” I said rather than asked.

He nodded his confirmation. “I figured if you’re going to a ‘safe place’ as you called it, it’s probably a place with a large population of vampires. Someone there might have met them, might know where they went. My Uncle Glenn is dead. Uncle Terry will die any day now. When that happens, I’ll be alone in the world, without a family. After the way I cut them off, that’s whatIdeserve. But instead of torturing myself, I decided it was worth a shot to try and find them, to make things right. I at least want the chance to say I’m sorry for how I acted.”

My heart ached for him. Studying his sorrowful face, I considered taking him with us to the Bastion. Someone there might actually know something about his parents.

But I dismissed the notion immediately. I couldn’t take Shane there. I was pretty sure even I wasn’t welcome there, and humans certainly weren’t.

“I wish Icouldbring you with us. But I can’t.”

He looked crestfallen. “Why not?”

“This place we’re going is dangerous for you. I’m not sure I can adequately expresshowdangerous it is. There are thousands of vampires, and not a human for miles. You could be killed instantly upon arrival simply for being human.”

“It’s not like I have that much left to live for. As I said, I’m alone. I’m willing to take the chance.”

“That’s not all,” I confessed. “I sort of... got thrown out.”

“What, you? Miss Goody Goody? Don’t tell me you broke the rules?”

“In a way. The ruler there ordered me to do something, and I refused. She banished me. The only reason we’re going there now is we have no other place to turn. I need to get Kelly and Heather somewhere they’ll be safe. And I need help to find out where my friend Larkin is. If she’s been taken to a Safety Center, I have to get her out before something even worse happens to her. There are soldiers there who could help her.”

Shane nodded gravely. “I understand. And I’ll do whatever it takes to help you get home.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, feeling even more guilty now for saying no to his request. “Maybe I can still help you too. When I get there, I could ask around about your parents. If I find out anything, I could call you—that is, when you get a new phone.”

His warm brown eyes filled with affection. “That’ll be the very first thing I do when I get home. I would welcome a call from you—even if you don’t have any information on them.”

His voice softened. “Thank you for being willing to help me, Abigail.”

“Thank you for being willing to helpus.”

He grinned. “Look at us... we’re a mini Vampire-Human Coalition.”

“I guess we are.”

For a moment we sat smiling at each other.

Then there was a bang and a flash of light, and I screamed in pain.

24

A Thing for Vampire Girls

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