Chapter 15
Beca's POV
Oh god, oh god. My stomach feels like it's on fire and my head hurts like a bitch. What the hell is happening? The moment I go on a different road than the girls, I pull over, not trusting myself to drive. For a second, I sit there until my stomach starts churning. Yanking my door open, I fling myself out just in time to empty everything in my stomach onto the pavement. Even after I've thrown up everything I possibly could, I still dry heave.
Sweat drips onto my forehead and soaks my clothes. Everything hurts so much that I don't know where it begins and where it ends anymore. I flop over onto my side, begging for it to stop. I'm not sure how long I lay there for until finally the waves of nausea subside. When I finally can, I sit up and get back into my car. While everything still aches, it's nothing like it was before. Hopefully, it's all over now. I must've caught some sort of bug or something. Damn, that sucked.
Now, back towards my father. I have to let him know I'm heading out of town, otherwise he'll blow a gasket. The closer I get to the base, I start to feel much better. My headache is almost gone and my body doesn't feel like it's being pummeled over and over. I park in the garage and head up towards his office.
The dread I feel never seems to fade when I knock on his door. It may be late, but he's almost always in his office. Hopefully he's not screwing someone right now. I've walked into that scene way too often.
"Come in," Reed yells, making me flinch. My head is still a bit sensitive, I guess. "You look like shit."
"Thanks," I say blandly. "I'm going out of town." Reed's head whips up and anger fills his eyes.
"I'm not paying you to go on a fucking vacation."
"It's not a vacation, it's a lead." My words make him freeze and lean back in his chair.
"What kind of lead?" I open my mouth to answer him, tell him all that I've learned so far but something stops me. The look in his eyes, almost like he's anticipating a certain answer. How could he possibly know?
"We got a tip of a guy with a trench coat heading to a place a few towns over. I'm going to go there for a couple of days, do some investigating." My eyes narrow, watching Reed for his reaction. He keeps his face straight but his shoulders slump just slightly in relief. Relief that I haven't found out the truth? Or he thinks I haven't figured it out.
"Good. Go solve this thing so you can stop bunking with a bunch of bloodsuckers," Reed spits out and it takes everything in me not to talk back. There is so much to all of them and Reed is too blind to ever see it so anything I say will go straight over his head.
"Will do." With that, I leave and for the first time, I'm not leaving with a new bruise.
…
"How did it go?" Chloe asks as we lay in bed.
"Pretty good actually. I didn't tell him the truth though."
"Why? What if he finds out you lied to him?" The worry in Chloe's voice makes me smile because it reminds me that someone cares about me. She knows how Reed can be.
"He won't find out. I just got the feeling that he knows more than he's letting on and I don't like that, not one bit. My father is an evil man so I wouldn't be surprised if he had a hand in all of this."
"I'm sorry," Chloe whispers, burrowing her head into my chest.
"It's okay. I'm used to it by now. I know he hates me and while it sucks, I accepted it a long time ago."
"I wonder why."
"I'm a freak in his eyes," I say sadly, still working on not seeing myself as one. Chloe grabs my hand and squeezes.
"He just doesn't see the real you, not like I do. I bet you if he took the time to really get to know you, he wouldn't feel the same way."
"I don't know about that," the image of the werewolf head he has in his office flashes through my head. "I think his emotions are led by what lies in a person's DNA. To him, I'm a filthy product of him and my mother. A mistake. One that I'm sure he wishes he could change." For a second, both Chloe and I remain silent, as she knows what I just said is the truth. No words can change it.
"You know, my parents were amazing as was my brother," Chloe whispers, pain filling her voice. I perk up and listen closely, knowing how much it hurts her to talk about them.
"They took me everywhere that they could. We weren't poor and were able to travel or go do fun things all the time. Even as an adult, I never wanted to move out because they never stopped doing those things with my brother and I. Then the plague hit and no matter how much money they had, they couldn't fix us. I got sick first but my mother went downhill faster. My father scoured multiple towns trying to find a cure and when he didn't find one, he looked for something different. What he found was effective, but evil.
"He had heard rumors of immortal creatures who lived on blood and the only price they had to pay was their soul being ripped away. To him, that was a price worth paying. The vampire he found willing to do it, refused to travel so my dad grabbed my mom who was on the verge of death and took her to him. There he changed her and my father who wasn't sick but didn't want to take the chance of catching the plague. My brother was next. I fought so hard to not be like this. At first, they listened to me when it looked like I was getting better but when I didn't, they got desperate. They didn't trust themselves to turn me so they found someone who was willing to come to the house. I was so sick by then, I barely remember any of it. I just woke up one day, craving blood and feeling so empty. There was a part of me that was missing and I knew I would never get it back."
"I'm sorry," I whisper after Chloe quiets down. "That's horrible and I hate that you had to go through that. Where is your family now?" Chloe shrugs her shoulders lightly.
"I haven't seen them in over 600 years."
...
"Are you girls sure about this?" Gail asks and I nod.
"They have vampires in their pack so I don't see a reason we shouldn't trust them. Just imagine if they do though. Maybe we can find a way to use them as an example for humans and supernatural creatures that we aren't as different as we seem. Plus, we have to stop this war. If we don't, I'm afraid that everyone will be obliterated. Who will come out on top, I don't know and I don't care to find out."
"At least take some more people," Gail pleads but I shake my head.
"We have to show we're not afraid and plus, I need y'all to keep looking into John's death and keep a lookout for someone turning people. We can't have any new bloodthirsty vampires on the loose. That will cause a war on it's own."
"I think you're right but I don't like it. Just be safe and keep in contact with me."
"We will Gail," Chloe assures me and I can't help but smile at Gail's worry. I'm glad that with all Chloe's been through, she has someone like Gail in her life. Even if Chloe and I don't make it together, I'll be able to live knowing that she has people who have her back.
"Ready?" I look at Chloe who nods. "Darren messaged me and said to meet him where we parked yesterday for the party."
"I guess we better go," Chloe smiles and turns toward everyone. "We'll see you guys when we get back." Everyone shouts their goodbyes and then we're off. It doesn't take us too long to get there considering how I drive. Darren is standing facing us with his back against a huge van. It closely resembles a prisoner transport vehicle so I warily look around.
"I know it's not a normal mode of transportation, but it fits a bunch of us and allows us to face each other when having a conversation," Darren explains cheerfully. I just nod and hop into the back, then turn around and help Chloe up. I sit down in a seat closer to the back doors, just in case. Chloe sits next to me and Darren right across from me. There are a few other people in the back as well, but they keep to themselves, whispering and laughing. Two people sit up in the front, since someone has to drive of course.
"This trip won't take very long," Darren tells us, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "We only live a few towns over. So tell me some more about this case."
An hour later, we arrive and I start to get anxious. There's no windows that I can see out of so Chloe and I will be going in blind. My knee bounces up and down, faster with each second that passes. Chloe sets her hand on my knee, instantly calming me. She mouths some comforting words and in response, I set my hand on top of hers. When I look up, Darren is watching us with a smile on his face.
"It's nice to see this," he comments, gesturing towards our hands. "A vampire and whatever you are, getting along. Shows me the world isn't completely fucked up." I frown for a second before I realize that neither Chloe or I told him what I am. For a second I think about telling him, but I stop. My history of people knowing what I am has never really turned out well and I really don't want to screw anything up before we figure out how to stop this war.
Luckily, I don't have to say anything as we park and the back doors are pulled open. Grabbing Chloe's hand, we jump out and both of us can't help but gape. We're by a lake surrounded by cabins. On the far side is a huge house, almost big enough to qualify as a mansion. There are people walking around, kids playing and fishing. Several people meet my eye and some of them make that cold feeling spread throughout my body. Others are normal.
He was telling the truth. There are vampires and werewolves living together peacefully. Never in my whole life did I think this could happen. All I've ever heard was vampires and werewolves were sworn enemies so this is just unbelievable.
"Wow," Chloe whispers and I agree with her. "This is beautiful."
"Isn't it?" A woman says from behind us. I turn around and almost pass out at what I see. My heart starts to beat faster and I let go of Chloe's hand in shock. For a second, all I can do is stare. Though I've only ever seen her in photos, she doesn't look very different. Same dark brown hair, though it's shorter now and hazel eyes that make me shudder with the sudden coldness. My hand grips the photo I keep in my pocket as I fight the urge to look at it. She doesn't seem to recognize me but why would she. Last time she saw me, I was a baby. Finally, I open my mouth, trembling even as the words find their way out.
"M-Mom?"