I close the front door quietly, just in case everyone is asleep. I walk past the living room where I find Ethan, Benny, Sarah and Rory all watching one of the Star Wars movies, I'm not sure which.
"Hey guys, what's up?" I ask.
Their eyes not bothering to leave the screen, they all mutter "Hey," too engrossed in the movie to say much more. Ethan looks back up at me, studying my face. He knows something is wrong. I nod toward the kitchen, motioning for him to follow.
"Dude, where are you going? It's almost getting to the good part!" complains Benny.
"I'm just going to get more popcorn, the bowl's almost empty," Ethan lies.
"Good, because the Rorster needs more food," exclaims Rory.
I'm sitting at the table, trying not to have a panic attack. My head in my hands, I'm trying so hard to fight back tears. I didn't want to be a vampire. I liked them, but I never actually thought of wanting to be one. Now Jesse has given me an ultimatum. Don't tell anyone that he's in town and he'll turn me, or tell Ethan and everyone else that Jesse's in town and he kills me. Decisions, decisions. Either way, I'd still end up dead.
Ethan walks into the kitchen, gets more popcorn out of the cupboard and tosses it into the microwave, hitting start. Within minutes, I can hear the popping. He comes over to sit by me at the table.
"Kate," Ethan says, concern in his voice. "What's wrong?"
I look up at him, tears blurring my vision. What was I going to say? I knew Jesse was out there watching me. I couldn't see him, but I could feel his presence.
Suddenly, I had an idea. I got up and looked around for a piece of paper and a pen. I find a writing pad and a pen in one of the kitchen drawers. I walk back to the table and sit down.
"I can't tell you, but I can show you," I write on the paper.
Ethan looks up at me questioningly.
"Give me your hand," I mouth.
He gives me his right hand and as soon as we make contact, both of our eyes cloud over. I share my encounter with Jesse through a vision.
Vision:
Jesse, standing in front of me. "you don't tell your dorky cousin or any of his friends, that includes Sarah, that I'm in town, and I won't kill you, I'll turn you." he threatens. Jesse marking my right wrist with a bloody X. Jesse walking me home, with his vampire flunkies following close behind.
Ethan looks up at me, surprised. "How…?" he trails off.
"I'm a Seer too, Ethan," I explain. "It comes from our dads' side of the family. Grandma Morgan is also a Seer. It skips a generation. That's why my dad and your dad aren't Seers."
"How did you know what He Who Must Not Be Named was?" using Harry Potter terminology to describe Jesse. "You had to have touched him." He shuttered at the idea of me touching Jesse.
"Seers' power differ from person to person. I don't have to make contact, like you apparently do, to read a supernatural being," I explain. "I just have to be in the presence of one, and close enough to read them."
"So you had a vision when you met him?" Ethan asked.
"No, he told me he was an evil vampire and he wanted to kill you," I say sarcastically.
He just stared at me for the longest time, until Benny walked in and broke the silence.
"I just came to see what was taking the popcorn so long…" He trailed off, sensing the tension in the room. "Okay, what's up?"
"Nothing. Go back into the living room and watch the man you wish you were get the girl you wish you had!" I sneer.
Benny's mouth popped open. I'd never spoken like that to him before and he was shocked. I knew he liked to think of himself as Han Solo and Erica as Princess Leia, and I was getting fed up with it. For as long as I'd known him, that's all he'd ever talk about. I will admit, I did have a bit of a crush on him and I was jealous of Erica.
I stormed off out of the kitchen, going to the guest room Aunt Samantha and Jane had decorated for me.
Before I was out of earshot, I heard Benny ask, "What's wrong with her?"
"She's just had a long day," Ethan explains. "I'd leave her alone, if I were you."
"Yeah, she wants me," Benny says.
With that, I roll my eyes and continue up the stairs to my room. Slamming the door in the process.