Revenge Has a Price to Pay

Chapter 5

We were still driving about twenty minutes after that and I heard mumbling and groaning. I looked back and Katey was awake and sitting up.
"Wh-What happened?" She winced as she put a hand to the bump on her head.
"Easy, Katey, Cody knocked you out to get to me." I said, handing her my cold can of Mountain Dew to press to her forehead.
"Why does he want you so much?" She asked, sleep still in her eyes.
"I don't know...it's Cody we're talking about. Nobody knows." She nodded and a short while later we arrived at the park. Katey and I were still in our clothes from the day before but oh well. We sat down at a picnic area and talked about our 'plan'.
"Let's make a list, we've already confirmed one weakness, Ashley's witchy migraines cause him to pass out. But we need more, we need weaknesses that will actually, physically hurt him." Jake said.
"Hey, I'm game, IF I can do it again." I said, grinning.
"So, here's the plan, Ashley will lure him in by texting him saying she wants to be with him no matter what, Katey and I will be hidden somewhere with garlic, crosses, and wooden stakes. We know for a fact that sunlight won't hurt him because he's walked in midday for, like what, the three years that he's known us." I nodded. I was writing this all down on a piece of notebook paper and at the top I scribbled Cody Harrison's Fall Down Plan!
"What if this doesn't work? What if he kidnaps one of us?" I asked, a little panic stricken.
"Then, that's a risk we're all willing to take." We all nodded in agreement. All the time I noticed Jake scooting closer to Katey and she was foolishly smiling at him. I just looked at them like they were crazy.
"Hey, lovebirds, attack now, flirting later, okay?"
"Flirting? What would make you think that we were-"
"Really, Jake? Really?"
"Fine, flirting later." All the time Katey was blushing like mad. Jake to on the responsibility of whittling the stakes, I said I'd get the garlic, and Katey would bring three cross necklace that she bought last year. With that, Jake dropped Katey off and then me, then he drove off to his own home. I went in and was looking in the seasoning cabinet for garlic, when I heard a scream.
"Oh God, Mom!" I said, worried. I dashed up the stairs and found her bedroom door with a foot imprinted on it. I flipped on the light and found my mom lying across the room from Cody, in a pond of her own blood.
"MOM!!" I yelled, running over to her. I felt for a pulse, but I couldn't find one. She was gone and that son of a b**** killed her!
"You-" I was cut off by his hand over my mouth.
"Baby, you need to be more careful if you're gonna plan on killing me. Do you remember that little red-headed girl on the swings that kept looking over at you all?" I studied on that and then I remembered what he was talking about. I nodded.
"Well, love, that was my 'spy'. Her name's Bailey Lovely." He released his hold on my mouth when the tears started running.
"How could you? After all that we've been through! You killed her, you-you...UGH!" I screamed. I watched him go to the window, just before he jumped out he looked back at me.
"Go ahead, call the police they won't find anything. I'm over 350 years old, Ashley." He gave me a manic smile and then leaped out of the window. I sobbed for what seemed like days over my mother's dead body, but turned out to only be a few minutes. I called an ambulance and told them what had happened, leaving out the vampire part of course. They came and pronounced her dead at the scene, which didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. All the time, I was crying and then my neighbor, Riley Gilbert, rushed in to check on me.
"What happened, Ashely?" He asked, hugging me tightly.
"I. Don't. Kn-know!" I said, in between sobs.
"Shh, it'll be okay. Shh." He said, rubbing my back in calming circles. I cried into his chest, gripping his shirt in my fists. Once I quieted down, he released me and I smoothed down his shirt.
"Sorry about your shirt." I mumbled.
"It's alright, plenty more where that came from." He stated simply.
"So, is she gonna be okay?" I shook my head.
"She's dead, Riley." His mouth formed an O.
"Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry Ashley! I wish there was something I could do."
"Riley, if you can make me feel better, that's something you could do." I looked up at him, blurry eyed.
"Okay, so how do you propose I do that?" He asked me. I looked him over once and he was kind of cute. He was tall, short, brown, spiky hair, very muscular, a tribal tattoo on his right upper arm, brown eyes, and not really a bad boy but not completely a goody two shoes either. To me, he was perfect, with the grades to match. I motioned for him to come here, he did as he was told and I roped my hands around his neck and kissed him. It wasn't a long kiss and it wasn't a short one either. We broke away and both had huge smiles on our faces.
"So, that's how you expect me to make you feel better?" He laughed. I nodded and blushed.
"Yeah, if you don't mind it." I tilted my head sideways and looked up at him through my thick eyelashes.
"Have you liked me for long?" He asked, obviously curious to how oblivious he had been.
"Ever since you moved in next door. And that was like, what, four years ago?" He nodded and grinned.
"I've sorta like you for that long too." He said, rubbing the back of his neck kind of embarrassed.
"Really?" He nodded sheepishly.
"Yeah, well...wi-will you be my girlfriend?" He asked, looking down at his feet. I leaned up on my tippy toes and kissed him on the lips quickly.
"Course I will." He intertwined his hand in mine and then all the previous events came rushing back. A tear slipped down my face and Riley wiped it away with his thumb. He grabbed my face and made me look at him, we just looked at each other, suspended in that moment that I never wanted to end. But time knows no boundaries, I guess. He kissed me, soft at first, and then rougher with a bit more passion behind it. I kissed him like I'd never kissed anyone before and he picked me up by my waist and spun us around.
"Ah! Put me down!" I squealed. He finally put me down and I texted Jake and Katey and told them to meet us where we'd met to form our, what we thought to be, Cody's downfall plan. They said they would and Riley gave me a ride on his black Harley-Davidson.
"That was really fun!" I said, smoothing my helmet hair. The others were already there sitting at the picnic table. As I looked closer, their backs were turned towards us and I thought I'd call out for them.
"Hey, lovebirds! We're here!" They turned around, hand in hand, and motioned us over.
"Us? Lovebirds? What about you two?" Riley and I blushed crimson red.
"Yeah, we're kind of, um, together." I said.
"Yeah, we're not yet, but we're getting to know each other." Katey said, barely above a whisper.
"So, what was the issue that we needed to so suddenly meet over?" Then, the tears came rushing back and I couldn't bear to hold them back. I snuggled into Riley's chest and cried until I couldn't cry anymore. Then I caught everybody up, Riley about everything, and the others about Cody and my mom.
"Wow, so Cody killed your-your mom?" Katey asked bewildered. I nodded and then I saw an all too familiar blond head on the swings, I quickly kissed Riley and made sure Cody saw us. He got up and blurred off.
"What was that for?" He asked me. Katey and Jake kept their eyes on me like I was going crazy and was getting ready to bolt.
"Cody, was watching, he's gone now though." They all turned and looked just to make sure that he actually was gone.
"What? Don't trust me?" I laughed.
"Sorry, it's just him we don't trust." Jake said, obviously a bit melancholy.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"It's just the truth of it all, it kinda stings, you know." I nodded. I knew exactly how he felt. Betrayed, done wrong, sad, enraged, wanted to cry, etc. Just a mix of emotions.
"I know, trust me, I get it." I said, looking down.
"I'm sorry, it's your mom and he was your boyfriend."
"No, he was your best friend." I said, patting him on the hand.
"We've GOT to stop him before he kills anybody else!" Katey said, taking charge.
"But how is the question." I said. Everybody nodded in agreement.