Arson and Claire - Vamp-peers

Chapter Fifteen

 After talking to the police, we insisted that we were okay to walk home - the police suggested we be examined for wounds, but we declined. Since they had their hands full with the scene and search party, they let us go, and we didn't stick around for them to change their minds. Arson and Jackson walked in front, and Sophie and I followed; the wind whispered through the trees, and I shuddered, rubbing my arms. The silence was broken when Sophie spoke, making us all jump.

"I'm going to go home," she whispered. "I need to talk... to my mom." I reach out to her, but pull away, not wanting to get blood on her.

"Do you need one of us to walk with you?"

"No," Sophie brushes some hair behind her ear. "My house is just a little while away." She turns, leaving Arson, Jackson and I to continue the walk in silence.

When we finally got home and opened the door, Victoria jumped up from her chair and Rosa exclaimed, 'Thank God!'. The air around me feels like water; everything feels far away. I turn and see Aldon stand silently, looking at Arson as he refuses to make eye contact with him. Jackson and Arson sat on the floor, and Rosa starts cleaning my wounds.

"Claire Elizabeth Hawthorne," Victoria's sharp, wavering voice cuts through my thoughts like a knife, "What on Earth did you do this time?"

Something inside me snapped - something that had been bending for a very long time. "What did I do? I did exactly what you told me to, and now a vampire is dead and I had to defend myself and my friends!" I snapped. My face burned, and my vision went blurry with tears. Victoria's eyes widened,

"I do not appreciate your tone," she says, her voice clipped as a fingernail. "And excuse me for saying this in front of him, but I don't think you and Arson are very good influences on each other–"

"Arson is the reason I came home and that I'm not bleeding out on the cafeteria floor! You never taught me how to protect myself, even when you knew vampires like that existed!" I can't stop now - the words keep coming. All those times I've bitten my tongue, words and blood are spilling from my lips.

"You told me to let you handle it, and you did nothing! I listened, and they found us again, and now Jackson has seen my fangs and the whole town is going to be in a frenzy! I wanted to handle this when it started, but you always disregard my opinion! And now they're gone, again, probably planning what to do next while we argue!" hot tears streak my face, and I wince as Rosa wraps a bandage around the cut on my calf. She hasn't said anything for or against me. I look back to Victoria, a foreign look of defiance on my face and shock plastered on hers, and I can't help but feel burning pride at my newfound noncompliance. She mouths a few wordless responses before simply saying,

"Rosa, take care of her, please. I need a minute." her skirts fluttering behind her as she walks out into the garden. Aldon clears his throat,

"Claire, we did our best–"

"Don't you start," Arson snaps suddenly, "I haven't even figured out how I'm going to start talking to you. Who is Hazel?"

Aldon's face blanched as he reached behind himself to lay his fingertips on the arm of the couch, as if faint. He looked between Jackson and I.

"Where... Did you hear that name?" he breathed.

"I didn't just hear her name, she was there tonight. She was looking for you, and by the sound of it, she had good reason to."

Aldon's gaze dropped to the floor, and he sat down, covering his mouth. Arson swallowed hard and pressed,

"We don't keep secrets. You swore we wouldn't keep secrets and suddenly a vampire who knows your name turns up with an army." Aldon's voice breaks as he speaks,