Chapter 23

Kate

Luke and I crouched in the forest outside my father's house. All appeared to be empty, and we were forming a plan of entry. I had managed to calm Luke down about what Gerard had done earlier, because it was only expected of him to protect his pack.

"This is what will happen," I muttered to Luke, "I'll break the glass to the kitchen window and unhook the latch. We'll make it look like a break in, then I'll unlock the back door to let you in because, frankly, you won't fit through the window."

Luke chuckled. "Probably."

I glanced around the deserted back yard. "No one should see us since there's nothing but trees back here."

Luke nodded and we both left the cover of the forest. I would have rather broke into my old house to get clothes than let Luke pay for me. He wasn't the richest person, and I would have felt like it was robbing.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes."

He broke away from me and stood by the back door. I stood only twenty feet away at the kitchen window. Fisting up my hand, I made a quick, light jab at the pane. It broke easily and I slipped my hand through. Rather than cut at my skin, the glass broke away when it came into contact with its hardness. Well, if I were to be optimistic, I would say that was one thing that came in handy.

The latch unhooked and I jimmied the window up and slithered inside, gracefully hoisting myself up and over the sink and landing silently on the linoleum floor. I darted around and unlatched the back door. Luke slipped in beside me and slid the door shut behind him.

"And we're in!" I sang.

It was the strangest thing to be inside my house again. The couch had the same stains on its cushions, the couch where Luke and I had made out countless times. The kitchen had an adequate amount of dirty dishes in it, and the table still had most of my father's papers piled on it. Everything was virtually unchanged, and made it feel eerily like everything was what it was a year ago. Except the house smelt entirely of my father, a juicy, citrusy smell. I tried to ignore it as Luke followed me up the stairs and into my bedroom.

"Let's make this quick. Do you think he'll notice if a bunch of my clothes are gone?" I asked, my hand hesitating on the handle of my closet door.

"It depends on if he checks in here regularly. And he might check today if he thinks there's been a break in."

"We could play it off like you went crazy psycho and broke into my house and stole all my clothes like a creeper…" I suggested.

"Or we could make it seem like someone threw a baseball through the window on accident," he suggested instead.

"Yeah, because tons of people play random baseball games in my backyard," I said, throwing open the closet doors. I found a duffel bag and started yanking things off their hangers and stuffing them in the bag. I got some shoes and socks because going barefoot all the time got old after a while.

"Don't look!" I said, snapping over my shoulder as I slipped open the drawer to my underwear.

"Really, Kate? We just made love yesterday and you're worried about me sneaking a peek at your panties?" he asked, an amused expression growing on his face.

"Whatever," I said as I stuffed some at random into the bag.

"You make me smile," Luke said, turning away.

I turned around and glanced all around at my room. I wondered if I had left it clean or if my dad had cleaned it after I disappeared.

"Do you think I could take a shower? My feet are really dirty and I think I have rat nests in my hair," I said, tugging at the knots.

"I think your father would notice if the shower was all wet when he came home," he said.

"Are you sure? It could have dried by that time."

He only shrugged and ran a finger along the books lying on my dresser.

"Fine. I'll take one at your house," I said.

"Okay."

After finding my brush and stuffing it into the packed duffel bag, I zipped it shut and slung it over my shoulder.

At that moment, the front door downstairs opened and a wave of that juicy, citrusy scent wafted up to my bedroom. I gave a sharp intake of air as my senses became acute. When I had only inclined towards the door a centimeter, Luke's hand clasped around my arm.

"Think, Kate. That's your father down there," he told me, his voice hard and reprimanding, yet remaining quiet.

I looked over to him, my lip curling back in anger. He didn't flinch, but raised his eyebrows challengingly. When I realized what I was doing, I immediately relaxed. I didn't want to go there again.

"Sorry," I whispered to him.

He leaned in and kissed my forehead. We both waited, listening intently.

"Where is that paper," my father muttered to himself. The noise of him bustling around on the dinning room table reached my ears, my father going through his stacks of papers. I waited for him to hesitate, to notice that his kitchen window was broken, or feel a draft. He never did stop his busy work and, after seemingly finding what he was looking for, he bustled out of the house and left for work again.

I breathed out, not aware that I was holding my breath. Luke laughed nervously, rubbing his fingers on his forehead.

"That was close," he said.

"He's gone. He won't come back." I turned and faced the door. "Now, about the hole in the window…" I started.

"What shall we do?" he asked, holding out my hand as he opened my bedroom door for me.

"Should I kill a bird and throw it in the kitchen? Make it look like the bird broke in?"

Luke chuckled. "Whatever you want."

I let Luke out the back door and made my way around to the kitchen. I swung out the window and left the window open as I went to hunt for a fist sized bird. Luke sat waiting in the forest on the edge of my house, flipping stones around. I perched in a tree and became silent while I waited for a bird to come by. Luckily a small one flitted in front of me long enough for me to snatch it out of the air and snap its neck. Human Kate wouldn't have approved, but vampire Kate didn't care anymore. There were bigger things to worry about.

I tossed the bird through the window and closed it, reaching in to lock it in place.

"That should work," I said once I entered the forest.

Luke took the bag from me and hitched it onto his own shoulder, then put his arm around me. "Let's go home, my love."