Chapter 18

I whistle as I walk the bread aisle in Super Market. My objective is breakfast muffins. I wanna start making breakfast sandwiches. With Christmas around the corner, it'll be nice and warm against the winter weather. With Mom shopping over in the produce, I'm hoping she'll make her famous chicken ranch salad tonight. She has the best homemade ranch ever.

"Found it." I say grabbing blue wrapper from the third shelf from the floor. Ring! Ring! I grab my phone out of my pocket and answer it. "Hello." "Guess what." Tonya says. "What?" "Cliff asked me out." "For what? Cliff is 42." She laughs. "He's 20. He's hot. His hair is curly. He has no girlfriend." Well, he was aiming to date Claire. "Sounds of a perfect match."

"What about you? How's Paul doing?" I sigh walking. How is he doing? "It's been days since he called me. I mean I called him. His ex-girlfriend Rachel is home from college. His attention has been with her. I'm having fun with Jacob and his friends." That's the least I can agree on. "Maybe he's not too much into you." "Possibly. I feel we have something special though."

Mom pushes the shopping cart around the corner. I rush over and throw the muffins in. I squeal when I see she does have the ingredients for the ranch. After I finish talking to Tonya, our grocery trip comes to an end. While loading the groceries in the trunk, I can't help but think of Paul. Even on the ride home, I send him texts. I know he won't respond because of Rachel but I can't help.

By time I relax in the comfort of my bed, I receive no response. Biting on my bottom lip, I'm wondering if perhaps I'm not liked more than Rachel. That might be it. Getting off my bed, I walk over to the window. Looking in the backyard, the wind is blowing the trees like crazy. I smile. Being in Paul's arms is most definitely needed. I frown at my reflection though. This acne is killing me.

I touch on my bumpy cheeks. I won't this worse the last Paul seen me. "Thinking of me, sunshine." The devil speaks placing his arms around me. The iciness of his touch is disgusting. "Sunshine is new." I say disgusted. Since not seeing Paul, the devil has begun to be more seen. His touch is real. His words are descriptive. He wants me. Clyde is his name. He sniffs my neck.

"Your blood is calling me." Vampire. I believe Clyde is a vampire. Knock! Knock! My bedroom door opens to mom. "I'm making a sandwich. Would you like one?" "I would, Mom." "Are you okay?" She asks worried. "Tell her the truth. We can be together." "Yeah. Too much is going on. Just thinking." "Don't think too hard. Seventeen is not the end of the world." "R-right." She closes the door.

I walk around my intruder and take a seat on the bed. Clyde grabs my hands. "You feel me. You see me. You dream of me. What do you refuse to acknowledge?" "You're not real." He pierces his nails into my left arm, and I bite lip to keep from screaming. "This is simply the beginning. Imagine what I can do to your mother."

(Jacob's House)

I knock for the tenth time on Jacob's front door. I'm starting to suspect that he might not be home. His rabbit is here. The lights are off inside of his home. I walk down the wheelchair ramp and trip over my feet. I groan falling onto the ground and hitting a couple of rocks. "Ouch. Ouch." A pain surge through my left arm. Even the bandages couldn't cushion the pain. "Are you okay?" Jacob asks rushing around the house.

"Yeah. I tripped." He helps me up and I wipe the dirt off my clothes. "What happened to your arm?" "My nerves are getting to be too much." "Come inside. We can talk." He takes me into his house. I take off my jacket while he gets me a cup of water. "How's your dad?" "He's fine. He's doing Christmas shopping with Sue." "I don't know who that is."

"Sorry. She's a member of our tribal council." Looking around the living room, I'm seeing a lot of woman's clothing. I'm hoping she doesn't sleep on the couch. I sit down though, and he hands me the cup. "You want to talk about it?" He sits next to me. "You're a very hot young man, Jacob Black." I sip on the water. "Thanks. You wanna talk about Clyde?"

"You know Clyde?" I feign confusion. "He's a serial killer on the tribe." "Oh. Sam mentioned that." "You're trying to protect him, or you're scared of him. It's one or the other. All I know is that he's hurting you." I keep forgetting Jacob has the same Quileute tattoo as Paul does on his right shoulder. "Jacob, do you believe in vampires?" I bluntly ask.

I want to hear his opinion. "I believe in books. You think Clyde is a vampire? You think he is doing this?" "I don't know." I nervously place the cup on wooden circular table. I don't want him to think that I'm too much of a freak. "I think my mind is playing tricks on me. Perhaps, the car crash did much damage than I thought."

"Right. If Clyde is a vampire, do you think he's after the fact that you can see the future?" I awkwardly laugh. I'm tired of people assuming such a thing. "It's no such thing." "Have you tried to see the future?" "Absolutely not. A little bit. It was nothing." I might've tried on a couple of lottery tickets. Using $80, I hit off a $5 ticket. I won $600. So, I hate to admit that it might be true.

"I gotta tell Sam." He says getting up. "Jacob, no! Tell Sam what." "That you are possibly connected to this serial killer. You can tell Sam." "I'm not telling Paul's cousin. Sam is scary." "Sam has a heart of gold. If you tell him, no telling how many lives you can save." Ring! Ring! My cellphone rings. "Hold that thought." I take my cellphone out and answer it. "Hello." "Tonya is missing." Corey says.