Love is Forever (Darren Shan Saga) [3]

Sterling POV

I couldn't believe it. Things have gotten out of hand now. Because of Steve, they now knew what we were…sort of. There was no WAY we would be able to answer any questions they threw at us without lying to them. I grabbed a plastic bag from the drawer and put some ice in it. I held it on my face where Darren had punched me. Underneath my eye was bruised, but it would be back to normal in less than half an hour. Darren was sitting on the couch putting bandages over all of the cuts and scrapes he had earned by fighting Steve. I sat down next to him and slugged him hard in the arm.

"Ow!" Darren yelped. "What'd you do that for?"

"Because I'm mad at you," I told him. "Why did you attack Steve like that? You completely gave us away!"

"What was I supposed to do?" Darren retorted. "Let Steve tell our human soul mates that we're BOTH VAMPIRES?"

I sighed. "You're lucky is still asleep. You know he'll flip if he finds out about this."

"I'm sorry, Sterling." Darren looked down. "I guess I shouldn't have done what I did."

"It's alright, Darren. Just DON'T do it again."

Darren nodded. "Man, Steve really knows how to fight." He moaned. "I'm gonna be sore for weeks."

"I wonder how Johanna is," I sighed. "We left so quickly yesterday, I didn't really get to say goodbye."

"Gee, if you miss her so much, why don't you call her?" Darren suggested.

"I can't!" I snapped. I cleared my throat. "I mean, if I do, she'll probably ask a lot of questions. I'd rather wait until this whole thing dies down a little."

"So, we aren't going to school?"

"That would be a no, Darren."

"Alright, if that's what you want, I guess."

"It's not what I want, but it's what is necessary. We have to plan what we're going to do next. Our little secrete might be out of the bag."

Darren glared at me. "So, we're just going to wait here and hope the answer falls from the sky?"

"No," I paused. A plan began to form in my head. "But I know what we CAN do…"

Becky POV

It was late Friday night. I was laying on my bed texting back and forth with one of my friends. I finished sending a text when my home phone rang. I jumped off of my bed, darted to the kitchen and grabbed it.

"Darren?" I asked, getting my hopes up.

"No," It was Winship. "Sorry, were you expecting a call from him?"

"No," I sighed. "I haven't heard from him since lunch today. I was wondering what that was about. I mean, that kid, Steve, talking about vampires."

"Yeah, that was pretty weird, but what if he was right?"

"Come on, Johanna, think about it. Vampires? Would vampires really be that nice to us?"

"Maybe," She answered. "We'll have to ask them on Monday."

"Okay," I heard my cell phone going off in the other room. "I have to go. Someone's texting me and, as you know, I'm NOT a good mulit-tasker."

"Kay, see you Monday."

I hung the phone up and went back to my room to reply to the text.

~*~

Monday came faster than I wanted it too. The weekends are always too short. I grabbed what I needed from my locker and met Winship at her locker like I do every morning. I weaved my way through the halls and towards her locker. She closed it as I arrived.

"You don't look very happy." I told her.

"Yeah," She sighed. "It's Monday. Who IS happy?" I shrugged. "Have you seen Sterling yet?"

"No," I answered. "Why?"

"I didn't hear from him all weekend, that's all." Winship eyed me suspiciously. "Did Darren ever call you?"

I shook my head. "No, he didn't."

"That's strange." We started walking to our first class. "It's almost like they disappeared."

That scared me. If they disappeared, what happened to them? I mean, where would they be? I was so involved with thinking about Darren I ran into someone. I fell to the ground.

"Sorry," I said. "I got so wrapped up in thinking, I guess I didn't watch where I was going."

"No, it's cool. Here, let me help you up." The boy I ran into gave me his hand and pulled me back on my feet.

"Thank you….Steve?"

He stared into my eyes. "Aw, shit. You're Darren's girl, aren't you?"

"Why, is that a bad thing?" I asked.

"Well, if my boyfriend were a vampire, I'd honestly be pretty scared."

"Yeah," Winship stepped in. "Our boyfriends AREN'T vampires." She smiled evilly. "And, even if they are, we'll make sure they get you."

"Okay, whatever you say," Steve paused. "I have to go," He turned around and left.

"That was….interesting." I stated flatly.

"Come on, we'll be late."

Sure enough, Sterling and Darren weren't in school. In my head, I began to form theories of why they weren't there. Darren got suspended and Sterling didn't want to come to school without him…

I couldn't think of any more after that. I was left to guess what COULD have happened to them.

~*~

Johanna POV

Becky and I went to lunch and sat down at the table we sat at yesterday. I sighed and continued to read my book. I missed Sterling. He would cheer me up right now. I glanced over at Becky, who looked as sad as I was. I wouldn't be surprised if she misses Darren. To be honest, I had never in my life missed someone as much as I did. I loved Sterling and Becky loved Darren. It was as plain as day. I opened up my lunch. Taking one glance at it, I pushed it aside and said, "I'm not hungry today."

"Me neither," Becky sighed. "I don't know why I miss Darren so much."

"I know. I miss Sterling like crazy," I cheered up a bit. "Maybe they'll be here tomorrow."

Becky shrugged. "I'm not going to count on it."

Rest of the day…boring as hell. I couldn't believe it. There was a pattern going on here. Every day that Sterling isn't here, nothing interesting or fun happened. When he is here, it's the best day ever.

~*~

Becky POV

I went home that night and checked my answering machine. Nothing. It was the first time that I cried because I missed someone so much.

Sterling POV

I picked up the phone. I didn't care if Johanna found out about us being vampires. I needed to talk to her. I dialed her cell phone number. The phone rang a few times before it picked up.

"Johanna, I-"

"Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. Johanna Henderson is not available. At the tone, please record your message."

Tone.

"Hey, Johanna, it's me." I paused. "Um, look, about the other day…I…"

I sighed and hung up the phone. I didn't know what else to say. Darren came into the kitchen area and rummaged through the fridge.

"There's NOTHING to eat." Darren moaned. "I'm hungry."

"I could order pizza." I told him.

Darren scoffed. "Have any money to pay for it?"

"No, haven't thought of that…"

Darren closed the fridge door and gave me a look. "What are you doing with the phone?"

"Huh?" I completely forgot it was even in my hand. "I…uh…" I was trying to talk, but nothing was coming out. Darren snatched the phone from me. He pressed a button on the keypad.

"This is Johanna's number." He glanced up at me. "Did you call her?"

"Uh…" I scratched the back of my neck. "Maybe?"

Darren sighed. "I'm going to turn the phone off. The battery is going to die and the charger is in the room with the sleeping vampire. You know how easily he wakes up."

I nodded.

Johanna POV

That night, I almost couldn't sleep. I couldn't help but wonder if Sterling was alright…