Chapter 26
Chapter 26
“I-I’m sorry,” I didn’t know why I felt guilty but I did, almost has if he had cheated on her.
She simply smiled,” he said you had very tasty blood.”
“So he never planned on asking you to help me, he played me.”
She nodded,” Xavier may be an ass sometimes but he’s a good guy once you get to know him.”
Asia stood up and walked towards the high hanging television. She grabbed the remote and scrolled
through some channels,” it’s going to be a boring day here for you, I’m not sure when Damon is coming
back, but I’ve got to get to work soon,” she walked over to me and handed me the remote,” please feel
at home.”
I smiled this time not having to force myself,” thank you for everything.”
She grabbed a bag and some keys that were hanging by the door and left me all alone in her massive
place.
I stationed myself on the comfortable leather couch and flipped through channels until I landed one in
particular that caught my attention. The background was an altering bright red and on the screen was a
picture of me from my high school dance with the headlines Missing Teen
I felt my heard drop down to my knees and sat up, turning the volume up to hear what the reporter had
to say.
“Holly Sloan missing since October 15th, last seen leaving Woodbridge, Pennsylvania, if anyone has
any information on the missing teen, please contact the number displayed on the screen.”
A thousand thoughts raced through my mind. I felt the tears pooling at the edges of my eyes and
suddenly felt a painful wVd of guilt hit me. I had completely forgotten to call my parents.
They must be worried sick.
I realized that I had been so caught up in my own problems I hadn’t taken a second to think about the
fact that they hadn’t heard from me in over a week.
Without a logical thought, I decided to scavenger the place for a phone. I need to talk to my mother and
let her know that I was alright and that I wasn’t stuck in a ditch somewhere.
It must have been about half an hour later and I had searched every room in the place, including Xavier
and Asia’s bedroom and all I was able to find was a passport protected laptop. I finally gave up and
slummed down on the couch, making sure to turn the television off.
A sudden knock at the door brought me back to reality from my drowning misery and I almost ran to
open it. My first thought was that it must be Damon since Asia and Xavier would for sure have the key
to their own place.
I flung the door wide open to reveal Luna.
“Hi,” I muttered, slightly confused. I wondered if she knew Asia or if she was coming to see Damon,”
what are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too,” her sarcastic tone hadn’t change and she pushed past me and into the
condominium as if she owned the place.
She took off the big black shades on her face and examined the height ceilings,” it pays to sleep with
royalty doesn’t it?”
Didn’t you know sleep with Damon? Your apartment is still crappy.
I resisted the urge anything rude and reminded myself she’s something I’d need on my side,” are you
here to see Damon?”
She brought her gaze to meet mines and the look on her face caught me off guard,” actually I’m here to
see you.”
“Me?”
“Yes you, are we alone,” she glanced around.
I nodded my head,” yes we are.”
I felt a trickle of hope race down my nerves and wondered if she had changed her mind about helping
me. She helped her self on the sofa and I followed.
“I can help you.”
The words were almost foreign to my ears and before I let myself get carried away, I wondered what
was the catch.
“Um...what changed?” I asked.
“I need you to do something for me,” her big brown eyes were almost pleading.
I nodded,” what do you need?”
“About a year ago, when I met Damon, he would sneak me into the castle and show me around the
village, I thought that I had been in love with Damon, until I seen the way the Cold Ones live.”
I nodded, automatically knowing that she was referring to the villagers.
“It was sickening, a whole town that they breed just to drain them dry and feed them to the wolves, I
quickly fell out of love with Damon but I met somebody, a boy down at the village.”
“A human boy?” I asked.
She nodded, and I could swear I could see the tears pool up in her eyes,” yes, Dimitri, I was only there
for a couple of weeks but I fell in love with him and he did I. I couldn’t help him back then I was with
guards, they would have killed me and him.”
“What do you need me to do,” I couldn’t see how anything I could do could possibly help her.
“I need you to get back to the castle and get him to me.”
I remained silent. I didn’t understand how she could think that I could handle something like this but I
was so desperate that I was still open to listening to the rest.
“How would I get to him, there are hundreds if not thousands of villagers, and there are guards-“
“He works in town, at a fruit shop. The villagers trade food within themselves that’s how they live, that’s
how I met him. There wasn’t much food in the castle so Damon would take me down to pick out some Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!
fruit, when they wouldn’t have the fruit that I wanted, I’d have Dimitri deliver it to the castle. It went on
for a long time until Damon’s banned me from the castle and I hadn’t seen him yet.”
“What if...what if he’s dead,” I swallowed back as an attempt to moisten my dry throat.
“He can’t be,” she shook her head,” if you do this for me, if you find a way to get him here, I will go
against the gods and I will preform the Ritual of Obliteration.”
“I’m always with guards when I’m at the village, Damon wouldn’t let me-“
She placed her long sharp nails on my arm,” Damon doesn’t know it yet, and you might not either but
he’s got a soft spot for you. If you’re serious about going back to your real life, you have to get Damon
to trust you and take you back to that village.”
“But how, even if he trusts me, how would I get the boy over here, how-“
She reached into her purse and pulled out a drawing. It was almost picture perfect, she had drawn
Dimitri in colour, long shaggy blond hair draped over his brown eyes. In the drawing you could tell that
he was built but not muscular. She traced her fingernail down his arm,” right there, he has a scar, you
can recognize him by it.”
“Even if I knew what he looked like, I don’t know how I would get him here.”
“You don’t need to bring him here, the next town over is only thirty minutes south of the village, it’s
called Oakridge. Get him to the castle and find a way to get a car, I’ve got some friends over in
Oakridge that will help us get back here and after that, you’ll get your ritual.”
“How would I get a car, how would I even leave the castle-“
She reached into her purse and pulled out a small cellphone. Without giving me time to talk, she
shoved it into my hands,” use this to contact me, make sure to keep it hidden.”
Luna stood up and began heading for the door.
“Wait, what if Damon finds this, I don’t even know where to hide it-“
“Find a way, it’s your future on the line.”
Before she left, she turned around to face me.
“Like I said, Damon has a soft spot for you, use it.”
With that, she disappeared down the hallway, leaving me completely draped in confusion and doubt.
I had been lost in thought for what must have been hours when I finally was brought back to reality at
the sudden sound of the door opening. I jumped up from my bed and gazed towards the window where
I could see it had gotten dark. I turned my gaze back towards the bed where the cellphone Luna had
given me rested. I quickly grabbed it and shoved it underneath the mattress. I got up and out of bed to
witness Asia stepping in with take out bags in her hands.
“Hey you,” she set the bags down on the kitchen island,” I brought some Chinese take out, I can’t
imagine how long it’s been since you had any.”
My stomach growled at the smell of general tao and I took a seat on the stool.
“Thank you, that’s really nice of you, I don’t have any money to pay you back.”
She began to open up the small cardboard containers,” please, it’s my treat.”
I grabbed the chopsticks and hungrily munched away at the meal. Asia took a seat besides me,” how
was your day today?”