Page 29 of Life Blood
I raced upstairs to get my laptop, and I brought it down to the living room.
“Mom, get in here,” I said as the laptop slowly came out of hibernation. I quickly googledCarson Rehab and Spa Wellness Center, and my hopes were dashed when I saw that it was a luxury rehab facility costing tens of thousands a month. “Fuck me!”
“What is that place?” Mom said from behind me.
“Forget it. It’s obviously a twisted joke that someone in this town must think is funny.” I slammed the folder on the table and stood up.
Mom picked up the folder, and a small envelope slid out. She quietly opened it, and as she read, I watched tears fill her eyes. “An anonymous person has paid for a minimum of eight months for me to go to this place.”
“What!?” I instantly thought of the four vamps and their super vamp tricks. Braden knew my mom’s blood was poisoned by alcohol. He also said that because of thisLife Bloodthing, he and his cousins would do anything to protect me and make me happy. How could they have known this was a dream come true for me?
“Let me see that,” I said as I took the letter. I skimmed it all. A car would be here at 3:00 o’clock this afternoon to take her to the airport, and an additional twenty thousand dollars was to be placed into our shared bank account for me to use while she was gone. “Did you see this part? They’re giving me twenty thousand dollars to have while you’re gone!”
“You can’t live on your own without an adult, and Jen’s parents are gone.” She peered up at me, “Do you think they had something to do with this?”
“Highlyunlikely. They’ve got money, but not this kind of money, and I really don’t think they give this much of a shit about our lives.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “You can’t live alone without an adult.”
“I’ve been doing it for the last ten fucking years, mom!” I said, frustrated. “Don’t act like you’ve been theadultaround here. I’m 20 years old, and I made it this far no thanks to you.”
“You’re right, Ellie. I just don’t like the idea of being so far away. What if something happens?”
“Mom, if you don’t go, somethingisgoing to happen…you’re going to drink yourself to death and I’m going to have to bury you,” I said with as much bluntness as I could muster.
“You’re right, sweetie,” she conceded as she rubbed her forehead. “Well, I guess I don’t have much time, then, do I?”
“No. Let me help you pack.”
I knew the Banners had to have been the ones to do this. There was no one else on Earth who cared that I was even alive, and my mother was only friends with other drunks. They sure wouldn’t be paying for her to go to rehab and leaving me more money than I’d ever thought I’d have to take care of myself.
The doorbell rang as mom and I were upstairs scrambling to get her clothes and other necessities into an old suitcase. I figured the short window of time we were given was to make sure mom didn’t have enough time to change her mind. I ran downstairs to answer the door, the driver and a nurse from the rehab facility were there, waiting to escort mom to the airport and get her safely to San Diego.
As mom came downstairs, looking terrified, I grabbed her purse from the kitchen counter, shoved it into her arms, and hugged her tightly.
“I love you, mom,” I said. “Please give this everything you’ve got.”
As I watched her drive off, I could feel the weight being lifted from my shoulders. For once, I didn’t have to worry about where she was going to be or how she’d get home. For once, I could just…be.
Chapter Eleven
Ididn’t even have time to turn around and go inside before I heard the roar of a motorcycle as it zoomed up to my house. Braden planted one foot on the ground and took off his helmet.
“Get on, now!” he said over the rumble of the bike’s engine. “I need to get you out of here.”
His sense of urgency frightened me, and I didn’t hesitate to follow his instructions.
I planted my foot on a high peg and swung my leg across the back of the bike, settling in on the tiny, uncomfortable seat behind him.
“Put this on,” he said as he handed me his helmet.
“What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you later. Right now, we have to go.”
I tucked my head into the tight black helmet and fastened it. Braden revved the deep sounding engine of the bike a few times, and the next thing I knew, I was holding onto his body for dear life as we rocketed down the street.
The trees were a blur as they zoomed past, and I knew it would be best for me to shut my eyes and trust that he would get us wherever we were going safely. It wasn’t too long before I heard the bike downshifting and felt us begin to finally slow down. Braden had taken us off the main road, and we were approaching a wrought-iron fence that guarded a paved road which seemed to have appeared from nowhere in between all of the trees and ferns that surrounded us.
