The Sturniolos' Assistant

Chapter 14: Proactive

That's impossible. I saw how deep the bite marks were on Nick's bloody hand. I mean he even bled through the bandage for crying out loud. How could it have healed that fast? Nick looks relieved that his hand is back to normal but doesn't look shocked. Why isn't he confused? Matt and Chris lean in closer and think nothing of it. They never saw what his hand looked like before, but I did. And I'm freaking out.

"It looks all better to me." Alfred pats Nick's palm and smiles. The panic washes over me again. If I didn't believe Jack before, I sure do now. If strike one was Jack telling me the punch is vampire blood, then strike two has to be Nick's hand magically healing. I don't want to stick around for strike three.

"I guess he didn't need stitches after all. This is why I'm not a doctor," I joke. I'm trying to keep it together in front of Alfred until I can be alone with the triplets.

"It's alright." Alfred laughs.

"Thank you," I say to Alfred. As we are walking to the dining area, I look both ways before pulling the boys into the men's bathroom.

"Malia, what the fuck are you doing?" Chris asks. I ignore him and look under all the stalls. We're alone.

"Guys, I think we need to go home."

"What? Why?" Matt asks.

"Nick, how did your hand heal so quickly?" I ask.

"I don't know. It just did." He shrugs.

"Exactly." I'm pacing back and forth now as I'm trying to make a plan to leave this island without looking suspicious otherwise, we might not be able to leave.

"What are you saying, bro?" Chris asks.

"Jack told me not to take drinks from anyone. I didn't think much of it until James gave me punch and you guys said they gave you punch, too. Then, Nick's hand healed within the span of twenty minutes, if even that long..." I have more to say but I need to catch my breath because I'm shaking uncontrollably. I look up at the ceiling to see if there are cameras. Now I know why Jack is paranoid.

"I don't understand whatever it is you're trying to say," Nick interrupts me.

"There's more, but you're going to think I'm crazy. Please tell me you've noticed some unnatural things about this place, too."

Nick and Chris exchange a glance. Nick rolls his eyes.

"We were on the roof of this building with Cassie and them and they jumped off but landed perfectly. James pushed us but we ended up in my bed." Chris shrugs.

"How come you haven't told us that?" I ask. Now this is making more sense. They've got to be vampires. They gave us blood, they can jump off of buildings unscathed, and now that I'm thinking about it, we've only seen them at sunset or later. We've never seen them in the sunlight.

"I didn't think it was real," Nick says.

"Yeah, they were just messing with us," Chris agrees.

I motion for them to get closer, and I whisper everything Jack told me; the punch being vampire blood, not to trust anyone, telling me to take his dog to protect me, and to never come back to this island. Jack told me that if you drink the blood of a vampire, you become a half-vampire until you make your first kill. That's what every movie and tv show about vampires has taught me and Jack repeated the same thing. Now, I'm betting that Nick was in a trance and trying to kill me until Sam snapped him out of it.

"So, you're saying Chris and I are vampires because we drank fucking punch?" Nick says loudly. I shush him.

"No, not punch. Blood-"

"It didn't taste like blood." Chris folds his arms across his chest.

"I don't know how they did that, but yes, it's blood. Blood of a vampire and you're not full vampires unless you kill someone." 

The worst thing they can do in this situation is laugh. And they laughed. 

"I'm not making this shit up. Come on, we've got to go." I start to head out of the bathroom, but they don't follow me.

"Malia, you sound insane," Chris says with a smile on his face like I'm joking which makes me want to punch something and cry all at once.

"I'm not! Jack said-"

"Yeah, Jack is a fucking psycho. You shouldn't listen to anything he says," Nick says loudly again. Matt has been quiet this whole time, leaning up against a sink, biting his nails.

"Matt, you believe me, right?" I ask. He looks back and forth from me to his brothers. If I have any chance of getting Nick and Chris to believe me, Matt is my last hope. He takes a deep breath.

"No. I think you need to go back to your room and calm down," Matt says. They're all staring at me like I'm crazy. I feel fucking crazy. And mad.

"Fine," I say, trying to hold back tears. "But I'm going home. Enjoy the rest of your stay here. Hang out with Cassie and the guys if you want to or don't. I don't care," I say, but I do care, and I wish they could see that I'm trying to protect them. I storm out of the bathroom without looking back at them and head straight for Alfred's desk. I pull myself together and act distraught in a cute way that will earn me sympathy points.

"Hi, Alfred. I was wondering if there was a way I could leave earlier?"

"Yes, there is a way. Why do you want to leave?" Alfred asks.

"My grandma had a stroke a few days ago. My family told me to come here and have fun, but it's hard to be present when my mind is elsewhere. I think I should go and be with my family," I lied. My grandma did have a stroke... four years ago and she's fine, but Alfred doesn't need to know that. I just needed a really good excuse to leave, and I had to get creative because there's no reception. If I said my family texted me about the stroke, Alfred would've known I was lying and for all I know, he could be a vampire, too.

"Oh, no. That's awful. I'm so sorry." He reaches out to grab my hand. I nod and blink away tears. On second thought, maybe he's too kindhearted to be a vampire.

"Yes, I can call the ferry tonight. I believe the earliest they can get here is tomorrow morning, but I will let you know."

"How are you going to call them?" I ask.

"We have a special satellite phone in the lobby. We are still working on building a cell tower that's closer to the villas since the one on the other side of the golf course doesn't reach us."

"Thank you so much, Alfred," I say sincerely. I see Nick, Matt, and Chris come out of the bathroom. I make eye contact with them, then immediately turn away and exit the building.

There's nothing I want to do more than leave this twisted island, but I refuse to leave them here alone especially when Nick and Chris are half-vampires. What if Matt becomes one next? What if all three of them become full vampires? I'm praying there's a way to reverse the effects of the vampire blood. If there is a way, Jack will know.

I just needed them to think I was going home so they wouldn't see me do crazy things like potentially staking Cassie and the guys. I don't care if Nick, Matt, and Chris don't believe me now, but hopefully they will soon. If I can get Nick and Chris back to normal, we are leaving this island immediately and I just secured our ride.

I'm going to help them no matter what it takes. It's my job.