I apparently hadn’t missed much. There was no message from Aaron and no missed calls. I sat there staring at nothing for a few minutes, feeling deflated. All I wanted was for my phone to buzz, to tell me that someone somewhere was thinking about me.
“I guess I’m not as popular as I thought,” I said to Adam, putting my phone away and getting up. “To bed, my prince. Maybe tomorrow we’ll get news on Aaron.”
“Yeah, maybe. What’s up with that anyway? I mean, really, why move him at all. Why not leave him where he can be properly cared for?”
“I don’t know. I just hope Edmund finds something,” I said, climbing the stairs in front of him.
“Edmund is the big scary vampire, right?” Adam asked as I reached my door.
“Yes. Now good night, Adam. We have a long day tomorrow.” I went inside and shut the door behind me.
I waited a few seconds till I heard the door to the next room open and shut, then sighed with relief. Things were getting weird. A change that I had been waiting for was coming. As I lay down on the daybed and rested my head on the feather pillow, I couldn’t help but wonder if Wesley would summon me during the night.
****
To my disappointment, my mother woke me from a dreamless sleep at five in the morning. She looked well rested, but I could have slept another eight hours. I blinked at her and her smiling face, fighting the desire to roll over and pull the blankets over my head.
“Get up, sleepy head. We have a little drive this morning. Kim and her parents are already here,” she said, shaking me until I was sitting up and glaring at her.
“That time already?” I asked, groggily.
“Yes. Adam is already loading the car with his stuff and saying goodbye to his dad.” She threw a pair of pants and a t-shirt at me. “Get dressed.”
I got up and pulled on the clothes, grumbling the whole time. Even on school days, I wasn’t up before the sun. I would have to get used to it though: this was going to be my life for a while. Early to wake and late to bed. I groaned as I pulled the shirt over my head, picked up my dirty clothes, walked out the door, and down the stairs.
“Dawn!” Kim rushed to me as soon as she saw me and gave me a hug.
“Hey,” I said, hoping I wasn’t coming off as unfriendly. I was not a morning person.
“Shawn came and saw me last night and had a talk with me and my parents. We’re here to do as we are needed. Your mom said that we are going to be staying with Adam’s dad for a bit.”
She was way too perky for that hour in the morning. I just looked at her with glazed eyes and nodded. My mother appeared next to us.
“Dawn, I’d like you to meet Tiffany and Kaleb Love, Kim’s parents.”
My mother directed my attention to a tall, middle-aged man and his equally tall wife. Both had wild blue eyes and black hair, which seemed a bit off since Kim’s eyes were green and her hair was blonde. I could sense something about them, something strong and powerful. Then my stomach rumbled with hunger, and I looked at them in apology.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, holding out my hand; first to Kim’s father then her mother. “Excuse me; I must eat something before we leave.”
I didn’t like coming across as impolite, but I just couldn’t deal with people at five in the morning. I should have been sleeping, not being polite to water elements.
“Got a call from Nadine,” Adam said walking in from outside. “Hey, Kim.”
He seemed quite relaxed as if this was just a typical morning for him. Nothing ever seemed to faze him.
“Hey, Adam,” said Kim.
Adam ignored her as he concentrated upon the phone in his hands. “She said she stopped by the townhouse last night. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, but she found it odd that I wasn’t there.” He looked at me and smiled. He looked well this morning.
“Well, I’m glad nothing attacked her,” I said, opening the refrigerator door, and grabbing a handful of grapes. My mother had stocked the fridge. That was for sure.
“Yeah, me too. Maybe they learned their lesson with you,” he joked.
I tossed a grape in my mouth but thought it best not to say anything to that.
“Did you sleep alright?” he asked, coming closer.
“Sure. I just don’t do well being woken up before the rooster,” I muttered as my mother motioned for us to get going.
“I’ll be back in a few days to check on everything,” she told the others. “I’ll send a trainer as soon as we find one. If you need anything just call the number on the fridge. Nothing should find you here. However, if something does show up, don’t leave the house,” she instructed as she pushed Adam and me out the door.
Kim and her parents walked us out to the front porch and waved at us as we got in the car. Adam was closing the trunk when his father came racing out of the house.
“Son!” he yelled, throwing his arms around Adam. “Be careful.”
Adam nodded.
“You come back to me, now. You hear?” Adam’s dad looked worried. Then again, so would I if I knew my eighteen-year-old son was being sent off to war.
I got in the Escalade and shut the door, trying not to hear the rest of their conversation. This was something that was between him and his father. My mother put her hand on mine.
“You ready for this?” she asked, looking serious.
“As ready as I’m going to be. How long is the drive?”
“An hour or two,” she answered as Adam got in, his eyes watering.
“You crying?” I asked looking at him in the passenger mirror.
“No, there’s just a lot of
