Chapter Four

Xana was starting to get worried. All the Internet messages were getting more graphic and violent. Whoever was sending them had accurately described her house, her room, her school, and her car. The person even made references to being a Vampire, and knowing she was a Halfie.

            Xana wasn’t sure what to do about it. If the person really was a Vampire, it wasn’t a stretch that they knew her house. Her dad had multiple Clans over before. But was this just someone messing with her, or someone who really meant to harm her? Would this person really kill her? Rape her? Force her to drink Vampire blood to Turn her? Break her bones?

            How could she know the difference between a genuine threat, and a person f*****g with her? And who could she even tell about it? Because those things happened all the time without the anonymous person carrying out the threat. People might think she was being paranoid. It wasn’t like the police could do anything about silly Internet threats, right? Even if she did keep reporting the person, and they kept popping back up.

            Unfortunately, ignoring the person wasn’t working. Xana was debating responding to them. But would it stop the messages? Or would it just spark more messages?

            Xana had to admit to herself that she was afraid. She was afraid something bad would happen to her. She was afraid no one would take her fear seriously. And she was afraid no one could help.

            “Xana,” Charlie shook Xana’s shoulder in their Stat class. “Are you okay with driving me to my house to pick up clothes before we go to Roxy’s?”

            Xana brought herself back to the moment. “Yeah. Sure. Your mom won’t be home?”

            “No. She’s working late. Casey will be home, though. She may give you grief, but she doesn’t know about you.”

            “Well,” Xana said, “if she gives me s**t, I’ll give her s**t. How do your parents feel about this?”

            “Milo convinced my dad, my dad kind of convinced my mom.”

Xana forced a smile. “We’ll have fun tonight. And Roxy’s dad will make us a mean breakfast in the morning.”

“Ms. Palmer, Ms. Chambers,” their teacher interrupted, “please pay attention.”

 

 

            Xana got in line for lunch�"she had her lunchtime blood between her last period and lunch�"and was still worrying over her Internet stalker. She jumped when someone poked her shoulder. She turned to see Larry, his sister Lucy, and her friend Eden. Xana relaxed. “Hi, guys.”

Lucy smiled at her. “So. What are you, Roxy, and Charlie up to this weekend?”

            Xana raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, Lucy, but I don’t think Charlie is into girls.”

            Lucy chuckled. “While she is hot, I wasn’t asking strictly about Charlie’s plans, and not for me.” Her eyes shifted to her brother.

            Xana grinned widely and looked at Larry. “Oh, really?”

            Larry looked between his sister and Xana. “I didn’t say anything! D****t, Lucy.”

            Xana laughed. “Charlie and I are spending the night at Roxy’s.”

            Larry’s face fell a little. “Oh.”

            Eden rolled her green eyes. Xana was always amazed that Eden wasn’t related to Larry and Lucy, seeing that they had many similar features. The girls’ hair and eyes were only a few shades different�"barely noticeable. All three of them had straight, blond hair. All of their noses stood out on their faces. But if someone looked closely, they would see the differences. Lucy and Larry had more long faces, and Eden’s was a heart shape. Eden was also curvier, with a more pear-shaped body than the lanky one Lucy and Larry shared.

            “Larry wants to know why Roxy doesn’t talk to him,” Eden informed Xana.

            “She’s kind of… shy,” Xana said as she grabbed her food.

            Larry frowned. “She can talk to other people fine.”

            Xana paid for her food. “Hmm. I wonder why it’s only you she treats differently.” She gave him a wink and walked away.

            While Xana was getting her food, Roxy and Charlie were at a table.

            “I feel I should warn you,” Roxy said to Charlie.

            Charlie looked away from her food. “About what?”

            “My mom. She’s, well, dead.”

            “Oh. I’m sorry.”

            Roxy looked down at the table. “It’s fine. I just didn’t want you asking why she wasn’t around in front of my dad. It still gets to him.”

            Charlie was curious. “Can I ask what happened?”

            “I was three,” Roxy said. “A group of Rogue Hunters found out about my dad’s Pack. They thought it would be a good idea to kill a Pack leader. They broke into our old house, and managed to kill my mom. I almost died. They used silver bullets and weapons. My dad got home too late. Traffic. My mom and dad were Mates, so it was really painful for him. The only thing that keeps him going is me. And I guess leading the Pack.”

            “That’s horrible,” Charlie said. “You were practically a baby.”

            “Rogue Hunters don’t care. Weres are monsters. All of us should be destroyed in their eyes.”

            “But Milo and Jeremy aren’t like that,” Charlie pointed out.

            Roxy shook her head. “Nope. Night Investigators are Hunters that don’t think we’re all evil. They get rid of the bad ones for the safety of Humans and all Supernatural people.” 

            Xana sat across from them with a smug smile on her face. “Roxy, I have some great news for you.”

            Roxy popped a grape into her mouth. “Do you now?”

            “Larry’s totally into you.”

            Roxy’s mouth dropped open. “You lie.”

            “His sister was inquiring about you because he was too afraid to. You, my friend, have a chance.”

            Charlie watched as Roxy just sat there motionless. “I think you broke her,” she said to Xana.

            Xana grabbed half of Roxy’s sandwich. “I see. Wanna share her food?”

 

 

            School was over, and Xana and Charlie were walking to Xana’s car so they could go to Charlie’s house to get some things and drop off her books before heading to Roxy’s.

            Xana felt a tingling on the back of her neck. The kind a person gets when they’re being stared at. She glanced around the parking lot, but no one seemed to be paying attention to her.

            “A Mustang?” Charlie asked in disbelief. “You drive a red Mustang?”

            Xana unlocked her car. “Cherry red. My dad likes to spoil me and my mom.”

            “I used to be kind of spoiled,” Charlie said. “My parents worked hard for a big house and nice things. They saved up all kinds of money for fancy parties, and the country club life. I ruined it all.”

            Xana ignored the neck tingling. “It’s not your fault. Some crazy dude fucked s**t up. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

            “I got involved with him.”

            “You’re a teenager. You didn’t have enough life experience to know he was a predator.”

            “I guess.”

            Xana glanced around once more. “Do you ever feel like you’re being watched?”

            “Not anymore,” Charlie said before getting into the car.

            Xana took an anxious breath. “I guess it’s just me being watched then.”

            Xana drove to Charlie’s house, and followed Charlie inside. A girl slightly older than them was sitting on the living room couch.

            Charlie glanced nervously at Xana. “Xana, this is my sister Casey. Casey, this is my friend Xana.”

            Casey glared with brown eyes. Her hair was the same shade of red as Charlie’s, and they had very similar small, upturned noses. But there was no sisterly love in Casey’s eyes. “How nice for you, being able to have friends. Do you know, Xana,” she hissed the name, “that Charlie ruins lives? One day you’re popular and heading off to college, and the next you’re stuck in Delaware. It’ll happen to you too.”

            Xana crossed her arms. “Well, I’ve never been popular, and I’ve spent most of my life in Delaware. So I think I’m good. You wanna get your things, Charlie?”

            Charlie nodded and rushed up the stairs.

            “You know, I often wished for a sister,” Xana said to Casey. “But right now I’m pretty f*****g glad I never got a s****y sister like you. I’ll deal with being an only child.”

            Charlie came back down the stairs with an overnight bag. “I’m ready.”

            Xana smiled at her. “Good. Let’s get away from this horrid b***h.”

 

 

            To Charlie, Roxy’s house was beautiful. It was stone and white. On either side of the front door were stained glass windows. Each window depicted a forest scene. The left focused on the full moon, and the right focused on a pack of wolves.

            It was Roxy’s dad who let them in. It was clear Roxy got her black hair and height from her father. He had dark brown eyes, so Charlie assumed Roxy got her blue eyes from her deceased mother.

            Xana officially introduced Charlie to Mr. Jacob’s.

            “It’s nice to meet you,” Mr. Jacobs said to Charlie. “Why don’t you girls go to Roxy’s room while I order a pizza?”

            Roxy’s room was decorated with various shades of blue, and some black. It was better than the white and brown of Charlie’s room.

            While Charlie looked at the art on Roxy’s wall, Xana looked out the windows before shutting the curtains.

            “So you did all these?” Charlie asked Roxy. There were sketches, paintings, and art that seemed to be done on the computer.

            “Yup,” Roxy said proudly. “I may take over my dad’s business someday�"like he did from his dad�"but I’ll always have art as a side thing.”

            Xana turned away from the windows, twirling her hair. “Roxy and I blog about a lot of the same books, movies, and TV shows. I make gifs and sometimes goofy reviews while Roxy does fan art.”

            “We sometimes make up head canon together,” Roxy added.

            Charlie knew all about head canon and fandom stuff. She used to do that as well, trying to figure out why characters do what they do. It was fun. She did all that before Marco entered her life. “I used to write fanfiction,” she admitted. “But then Marco complicated everything, and I lost my motivation.”

            “We should collaborate!” Roxy screamed with excitement. “You can write, I can do art, and Xana can do her magic with gifs and photo editing. We’ll be a three women fandom machine!”

            Xana looked at Roxy like she was some strange creature. “How long have you had this dream?”

            “I’ve always felt we needed a writer,” Roxy said with a dreamy look in her eyes. “We could be Alternate Universe queens.”

            “We enjoy AUs,” Xana said for Charlie’s benefit.

            Charlie smiled at them. “You guys are super nerds. I love it.” It was a shame she still didn’t have any motivation to write, or else she’d help with Roxy’s funny little dream.

            Charlie hadn’t talked about normal things in years. She had gotten used to hearing about Marco and his Vampire Clan politics. Or arguing with Marco about the people he wanted her to have sex with. She used to spend her days lying to her parents, and eventually fearing for her life. She concentrated on hiding bruises and Vampire bite marks.

            In the past few months, she worried about school, and her family’s money issues. She looked forward to talking to her friends, and was actually considering the future. She wanted to go to college someday, and no longer had Marco dictating her every move. She could make her own decisions. She was free.

            “You okay?” Roxy asked Charlie.

            Charlie nodded. “Yeah. I’m just happy.”

            The girls changed into their pajamas, ate the pizza when it came, and played some video games. They even talked about boys a bit. Well, Roxy talked about Larry, and Xana talked about celebrities and a few boys at their school. Charlie mostly listened. She wanted to stay away from boys for a while.

            Charlie liked a life like that. She used to spend all her time wishing for adventure and magic. Now the plain and boring were exciting.

            “Doorbell,” Roxy said before Charlie even heard it ring.

            “Girls!” Mr. Jacobs called.

            Roxy and Xana looked at each other while Charlie made her way downstairs. She guessed her friends already knew who was down there. She reached the living room first. Milo, Jeremy, and some woman were there. “Oh. You guys. Are you checking on me?”

            “Yes,” Milo said as Jeremy looked past her. “We promised your dad we would.”

            Charlie put her hands on her hips. “As you can see, I’m not getting into any trouble. In fact, I’m doing normal teenage girl things.”

            Xana passed through the living room and went to the kitchen.

            Since Jeremy’s eyes had been on her, Milo nudged him. “She’s seventeen.”

            Jeremy looked at Milo with confusion. “Okay.” Xana came back and sat on the arm of the couch right next to Jeremy. She had two cans of Pepsi and handed him one. “Um. Thanks.”

            Roxy saw this, and reminded herself to question Xana later. “Charlie, this is Dr. Michaels. She’s a therapist, and a member of my dad’s Pack. So she’s very aware of issues in the Supernatural world.”

            The tiny blonde woman with curly hair smiled at Charlie. “Roxy has mentioned your situation to me. I’d be willing to have some counseling sessions with you free of charge. I’d just need to consult with one of your parents after a session since you’re not yet eighteen.”

            “Really?” Charlie asked. “For free?”

            “There are many young ladies who have been victims of Vampires like Marco,” Dr. Michaels said. “And many can’t get proper help because the whole Vampire thing must be kept secret. So girls end up not getting the help they need. I want to be able to help you.”

            Charlie was touched. She knew this was offered because Roxy, and probably Xana too, went and pulled some strings. They really did want to help her. They really were her friends.

            “Well, the next time you have an opening once school is over I can go,” Charlie wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip by. She realized she was being given a gift. And maybe it would help with the bad dreams and anxiety she was dealing with. “If Xana or Roxy are willing to drive me to the appointment and back home. I can give my dad your number so he can call you.”

            “Here’s my card.” Dr. Michaels went into her purse and handed Charlie the card.

            “Of course we’ll drive you,” Xana said. “Anything to help.” She poked Jeremy with a toe. “You play Super Smash Bros?”

            “I’ve been known to dabble,” Jeremy replied.

            Xana pointed at him. “I challenge you to a duel!” She stood, grabbed his wrist, and led him upstairs.

            Wanting to watch, Roxy said, “Charlie and I will go make sure Xana doesn’t murder Jeremy.”

            Mr. Jacobs turned to Milo once the girls were gone. “That could be a problem.”

            Milo sighed. “Thank you, Arthur, I know.”

            “Xana’s a charming girl who just wants to make friends,” Dr. Michaels put in. “Jeremy’s not too much older than her, and knows of her life. An ideal choice of a friend in her mind. And if attraction blooms… oh well. Xana will be eighteen in January.”

            Milo sighed once more. “He doesn’t need an unnecessary crush on a young girl. He’s just starting the job and the private investigating. He should be learning.”

            They went on to discuss Pack news.

            Meanwhile, upstairs, Jeremy yelled, “God d****t!” as Xana beat him yet again.

            “You suck, dude,” Xana teased.

            “I’m just out of practice,” he mumbled. “Best three of five?”

            Eventually, Roxy and Charlie joined in. Jeremy felt a little better coming in third ahead of Charlie. But then she got the hang of it, and started kicking his a*s too.

            Jeremy left when Milo angrily called him away.

            “So, Xana,” Roxy said carefully, “what’s the deal with Jeremy? I know when you first met him, you thought he was cute.”

            Xana rolled her eyes. “He is. But a thing with him would be weird, I guess. I mean, he’s just out of college, and I’m in high school. It’d be a little shady. But why can’t we be friends? We both have odd lives. And there’s nothing wrong with having more friends.”

            “Well, he’s not like Marco,” Charlie said softly, and wanted to use her experience with an older man to help Xana. “Marco made moves the moment we met. He made me feel good for briefs moment and then terrible. He made sure I knew he was better than me. Jeremy doesn’t seem like that type.” And Charlie was realizing how much better that was,

            “It’d still be a little weird,” Xana insisted.

            They played a couple more games then watched a few movies before deciding to go to bed.

            The three of them could fit in Roxy’s bed, so Xana settled in her spot, and checked her e-mail on her phone. The creepy person had sent another message. It was just a picture of the front of Roxy’s house with her car in the driveway.

            She hopped out of bed.

            Roxy came out of the bathroom from brushing her teeth. “You okay, Xana? Your heart really kicked up.”

            Xana went around the room, and looked out all of the windows. She couldn’t find a single person lurking in the darkness. “I’m fine.”