Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 112849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
And the book, a voice inside me says. Now you’ll never learn about Saara and Aleksi. Now Bellamy will have to come and finish the job and he might just finish you.
No. No, no, no.
I place my hands over my eyes, whimpering like I might explode at any moment, wishing I could just go back in time and—
“Stai bene?” someone asks in Italian.
I lift up my head to see one of my classmates by the door. I’m terrible with names so I don’t remember what his is, but he seems nice enough.
I paste on a smile. “I’m fine.”
I walk toward him and he moves to the side as I go through the door.
“Stai attento,” he says, and I stop. Be careful.
“What?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at him.
“Be careful out there,” he says, switching to English. “It’s not safe in the city.”
I nod. I’m sure the guy is just being helpful or protective but the whole thing plucks another chord of unease inside me. “I will.”
I leave the school, the sun having just set and dark clouds cover the sky painting the city in this hazy grey glow. It’s windy and it has a bite to it and I should probably go home but I can’t bear the idea of being in that apartment right now. I don’t feel afraid despite what’s been happening in the city, in fact, after the way Valtu just decimated my heart, I don’t really care what happens to me. But if I go to my apartment I’m just going to cry and I don’t feel like doing that.
So I go to the nearest bar, right across from the school. I’m hoping to see a familiar face or two, or maybe that guy who just talked to me will pop by. By my second glass of prosecco, I wish I actually struck up more of a conversation with him. Hell, I wish I talked more with anyone. I’ve been so wrapped up with Valtu that I’ve forgotten about everyone else in my school.
But who am I kidding? It would have been the same patterns I’ve known all my life. I never would have become anyone’s friend, not when they really got to know me. They’d stay away like the plague. That’s how everyone treats me.
Except for Valtu.
With him I felt he honestly understood me, even if he only saw parts of me. But the parts he saw, he accepted them.
Until he didn’t.
I sigh and order another glass of prosecco, drowning my sorrows in the bubbles, trying to understand where I went wrong and what happened. Did I say something that scared him? I tend to blabber a lot after I’ve come, but I never said anything nuts like I love him or want to be with him forever or anything like that. The two of us have been keeping things very physical for the most part.
Or maybe he spooked himself. He may be a vampire, but he’s also a man and men get scared easily when it comes to feelings and whatnot. Though from the way he talks, how he doesn’t hold back with me, how forthright he is (about everything except being a vampire), I’m not sure if that’s the case. He seems too secure to worry about that.
I just can’t figure it out and the more drunk I get, the less I want to cry and scream and the more I want an answer. This isn’t fair. You can’t just cut someone off like this with barely an explanation.
With newfound determination, fueled by liquid courage, I pound back the rest of my drink and head out into the night. The clouds are lower now and the air smells like rain, feels like mist. I head over the bridge, following the route I know by heart now all the way to Valtu’s house.
When I finally get there, it starts to rain, and I’m wondering what my plan is after all. I guess knock on his door and see if he’s home. There are no lights on that I can see from the front view but he is a vampire so that doesn’t mean anything.
But when I knock on it, there’s no answer.
I start pounding on it. “Valtu!” I yell.
No answer.
I ring the doorbell.
Nothing.
And yet I swear he’s there. My witchy sense can tell.
I go to the sides of the house but there’s no way I can scale the huge stone walls.
The rain is coming down hard now. My sweater is keeping me warm, and my leather jacket provides some protection against the rain, as does my long skirt and boots. I decide to try to access his place from another angle.
I go back on the street and walk for a bit until I see a small bridge going over the narrow canal behind his house. Then I cross over it and loop around through a small tree-filled square outside someone’s residence. From there I can see straight into Valtu’s house.