Shards of My Past (Original Version)

*Fourteen*

Kali and Harry appeared a moment later asking what was going on, if we were okay, and where Freddie was.

We explained everything while Kali and Harry just listened. They didn't ask questions until we were done.

"Did you see what he looked like?" Kali asked, terror resonating in her voice.

"No," was the answer from me, Storm, and Aaron.

"I saw a shadow. I couldn't make out features," Jackson said.

Silence fell over us and Kali decided she would go check on Freddie. Harry took the rest of us to the kitchen.

"What's going to happen?" Aaron asked his dad. "Is Tae gonna leave?"

"No," I answered.

"It's not safe for you here," Storm said. He still had one hand on my shoulder. "I'll call Wallace and see what she wants me to do."

I nodded and he went off to another part of the house.

Kali came back. "Freddie's still asleep. He didn't hear a thing." She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

"I'm sorry," I said.

Four pairs of eyes stared at me.

"It's not your fault," Harry tried to tell me.

"But it is. I'm the one they're looking for." I met Jackson's eyes; for once he wasn't glaring. It felt like a small victory, in the midst of this recent-unfortunate-event.

Nobody said anything, leaving me to remember something I never thought I would think about again.

***

Before I'd been with Ricky and Janet, I'd been in a home with just one woman. She wasn't married, didn't have kids, and had an extra room for a runaway vampire.

Her name was Stacy and I stayed with her for a week.

We met on Monday, got to know each other, of course she thought I was a human foster child, and by Saturday, I had been found, and Stacy was dead.

After that, I decided I would do whatever I could to protect the people who took me into their homes-except Ricky and Janet.

I decided innocent lives wouldn't be taken because of me.

***

Storm came back, slipping his phone in his pocket.

"What'd she say?" I asked, all emotion drained from my voice. I kept my eyes down.

"She thinks it would be best if you left tonight. She'll have some guards come to make sure whoever was here doesn't come back."

There was a soft no from Kali.

"Where will she go?" Harry asked, all business.

"Back where she was until it's safe for her to move into another home."

"I can't go back there," I told Storm. "Can't I leave the state?"

"The agency is here. You're not permitted to leave." Storm had regret in his eyes. There was nothing he could do but take me back to my cell, where I would spend an unpredictable amount of time counting ceiling tiles.

"I can't go back," I repeated, taking time to form my words so he would understand how much I meant I couldn't go back.

"Well, you can't stay here."

I turned away from him, rubbed my eyes, ran my hands through my hair.

"It'll be okay," a soft voice said. I thought it was Harry, but when I turned, everyone was looking at Jackson.

And for once, I actually believed it would be okay.