Caught in Between

-17-

~Senior Year of High School~

A year had went by since the attack. The Korren brothers went away for a few days, which turned into a whole year. I haven't heard from them since then, neither has Jen, and I grew worried for them. It wasn't easy in the beginning, to go about my life without them, but even though I missed them terribly, things got better. I was still being watched everyday, but those people, or things, that were studying my every movement, never got too close to me.

Debby and Josh have grown closer over the year, and they are madly in love with one another. My mom, Jen and I were doing our best to live comfortably together in our house. My mom was still a nurse at the hospital, while having no memories or suspicions of what happened.

"Ready for school?" Jen was standing by the front door with one hand on her hip and the other one out in front of her holding my backpack. She watched me as I descended the last step of the stairs. She did this every school day and I didn't understand how she could wake up so early and wait for me by the door.

I sighed while I nodded my head. "Yeah. Let me just grab a snack real quick."

"I already did. It's in your bag."

"Protein bar?"

"Yes. Salted caramel."

That was my favorite flavor and she knew. We fell into a routine. She would get up early, get ready and set out clothes for me to wear that day, go downstairs and clean up the dishes my mother left out before she went to work, and then she would wait for me by the door to take me to school. I knew Jen didn't like me at first, but we started talking as if we were friends. I also felt sympathy from her, and all the things she had been doing for me kept me in check and my mind in autopilot and my thoughts away from Keith and Kaleb.

We walked out to her car and as soon as we got in and settled in our seats, I turned to look at her. "I know I haven't asked in a while.. but any word from them?" My voice wasn't filled with hope, but with sorrow. I used to ask with hope, expecting an answer I would like to hear, but since it's been a year, I already knew what Jen was going to say.

"No, I'm sorry. You know I'll let you know as soon as I hear from them. I'm out of the loop too, not just you," she answered and my gaze wandered to outside the passenger window. I zoned out as I stared blankly at the sidewalk.

"What if I wanted to become a vampire?"

Silence followed after my question. Jen sighed and I could see in the reflection of the glass that she leaned back in her seat, resting her head against the rest. "Well.. it's not particularly an amazing lifestyle. You'll have instant enemies. You have to worry about keeping your body nourished. The transitioning process can take years and you won't be able to control yourself during that time. And while transitioning, you'll have to leave your friends and family behind because you'll have a desire to want to kill them. And.. you'll live forever, constantly changing your name, moving to other places where people don't know you, and watching people come and go."

"Did you have to go through all that?" I asked her as I turned my head to look at her. She was deep in thought, and suddenly, her face changed to a heartbroken expression.

"Yes.. I lost everyone."

"Was it really hard to go through it?"