A Trail of Echoes
Page 33
“Over there.” I pointed.
“Ben!” Sofia began to shout.
Derek was already in one of the boats that surrounded the jetty, and we all bundled in after him. We began speeding toward Ben’s submarine, which was rising higher above the water.
I knew that Ben would’ve preferred to leave quietly, but there really wasn’t a way around it. Of course they would want to see him. From what Ben was telling me, it had been a long time since they had last seen each other.
I looked nervously at Derek as we neared Ben’s submarine.
“Um, I’m not sure that it will be safe for you to go near him,” I said. “He still has a problem controlling himself around human blood.”
Derek didn’t slow down in the slightest, but he looked at me and nodded.
As we reached the submarine, the four of us climbed onto the roof. The hatch lifted and Ben climbed out of it.
“Ben!” his parents called.
The expression on Ben’s face was a mixture of tension and confusion. As Derek and Sofia moved toward him, he said, “Dad? You’re a… a human? Don’t come near me!”
Sofia had already reached him by now, and she embraced him.
I hurried up to Ben and stood right by him, hoping that my blood would help to diffuse the scent of his father.
Derek looked pained as he stared at his son, as though there was nothing more that he wanted to do than pull him in for a hug, but he seemed to know better than to draw too close.
He remained standing at a distance, watching his son.
Sofia had tears dripping down her cheeks as she finally stepped back from Ben. Tears of happiness. Tears of relief.
Ben reached for me, and pulled me closer. His body felt so tense—the effect that his father’s blood was having on him. Ben lowered his face to my neck, and breathed me in.
I had a suspicion that he might have already finished the container of my blood while he’d been waiting, perhaps more out of nerves than necessity.
Derek and Sofia looked from Ben to me, then back to Ben.
Then they both asked:
“What happened to you?”
Chapter 23: Ben
It would have been less painful not to see my parents, but I could hardly expect them to not come running when River told them how she got here. My gut clenched as soon as my father came within proximity. It was a harrowing feeling. Had River not been here with me, there would have been nothing stopping me from launching at him and trying to sink my fangs into his throat. It was a chilling reminder of the monster I’d become, and why I so desperately needed to find a solution.
Why is my father a human? The question kept running through my mind, more out of fear than curiosity.
When my parents asked what had happened to me all this time, I was not sure how to answer. I felt extremely uncomfortable standing so close to my father, even with River by my side.
“I’ve been… all over.”
“Start from the beginning,” my father said.
The beginning. It seemed like an age had passed since I’d first left The Shade on the submarine, hoping against hope that my lust for human blood would subside and I would able to stomach animal blood. Those days of optimism, when I’d thought that I might still learn to control myself around humans, had long passed.
“I understand why you choose not to set foot on the island,” my mother said, “but why don’t you come and sit in our boat? It’ll be more comfortable than standing on this roof.”
I was still nervous about getting any closer to my father. But I figured that if River sat on my lap, I would be okay. Besides, Eli and my mother were here to help restrain me if something did go horribly wrong.
My father, mother and Eli stepped onto the boat before me, and then I followed with River, both of us keeping to the far end of the vessel. I pulled River onto my lap, practically smothering her again. I realized how odd this must have looked to my parents.
“River is a half-blood,” I said, clenching my jaw and trying to steady my breathing. “That means that she is half human, half vampire. Mom and Eli, I’m sure you can smell that her blood is not at all appealing. Because it’s spiked with vampire venom. River is the reason I’m not launching at you now, Dad.” I cast my father a glance.
“How did River become a half-blood?” he asked, frowning in confusion. “And how did you two meet?”
I started from the beginning. They all remained quiet as I told them my story, from the night I’d left The Shade, to floating in the ocean in the submarine, to the murders that I’d committed on land, to meeting Jeramiah and my time spent in The Oasis, and finally our bizarre journey back to the island.
They all looked dumbstruck by the time I was finished.
“Lucas had a son,” my father said, his jaw hanging open. I wasn’t sure how much he had absorbed of my story after I’d revealed Jeramiah’s identity. He seemed stunned by this news—just as I had been when I had first found out. “I mean,” he continued, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Lucas was incorrigible when it came to young women even before he became a bloodsucker. But for him to have a son who is still alive today as a vampire… I never would have dreamt it.”
My mother seemed more concerned by the tattoos etched into my and River’s arms. She eyed us worriedly.
“Are the tattoos hurting you right now?” she asked.
“Mine isn’t hurting… It’s giving off a mild prickling sensation. What about you, River?” I asked.
“Ben!” Sofia began to shout.
Derek was already in one of the boats that surrounded the jetty, and we all bundled in after him. We began speeding toward Ben’s submarine, which was rising higher above the water.
I knew that Ben would’ve preferred to leave quietly, but there really wasn’t a way around it. Of course they would want to see him. From what Ben was telling me, it had been a long time since they had last seen each other.
I looked nervously at Derek as we neared Ben’s submarine.
“Um, I’m not sure that it will be safe for you to go near him,” I said. “He still has a problem controlling himself around human blood.”
Derek didn’t slow down in the slightest, but he looked at me and nodded.
As we reached the submarine, the four of us climbed onto the roof. The hatch lifted and Ben climbed out of it.
“Ben!” his parents called.
The expression on Ben’s face was a mixture of tension and confusion. As Derek and Sofia moved toward him, he said, “Dad? You’re a… a human? Don’t come near me!”
Sofia had already reached him by now, and she embraced him.
I hurried up to Ben and stood right by him, hoping that my blood would help to diffuse the scent of his father.
Derek looked pained as he stared at his son, as though there was nothing more that he wanted to do than pull him in for a hug, but he seemed to know better than to draw too close.
He remained standing at a distance, watching his son.
Sofia had tears dripping down her cheeks as she finally stepped back from Ben. Tears of happiness. Tears of relief.
Ben reached for me, and pulled me closer. His body felt so tense—the effect that his father’s blood was having on him. Ben lowered his face to my neck, and breathed me in.
I had a suspicion that he might have already finished the container of my blood while he’d been waiting, perhaps more out of nerves than necessity.
Derek and Sofia looked from Ben to me, then back to Ben.
Then they both asked:
“What happened to you?”
Chapter 23: Ben
It would have been less painful not to see my parents, but I could hardly expect them to not come running when River told them how she got here. My gut clenched as soon as my father came within proximity. It was a harrowing feeling. Had River not been here with me, there would have been nothing stopping me from launching at him and trying to sink my fangs into his throat. It was a chilling reminder of the monster I’d become, and why I so desperately needed to find a solution.
Why is my father a human? The question kept running through my mind, more out of fear than curiosity.
When my parents asked what had happened to me all this time, I was not sure how to answer. I felt extremely uncomfortable standing so close to my father, even with River by my side.
“I’ve been… all over.”
“Start from the beginning,” my father said.
The beginning. It seemed like an age had passed since I’d first left The Shade on the submarine, hoping against hope that my lust for human blood would subside and I would able to stomach animal blood. Those days of optimism, when I’d thought that I might still learn to control myself around humans, had long passed.
“I understand why you choose not to set foot on the island,” my mother said, “but why don’t you come and sit in our boat? It’ll be more comfortable than standing on this roof.”
I was still nervous about getting any closer to my father. But I figured that if River sat on my lap, I would be okay. Besides, Eli and my mother were here to help restrain me if something did go horribly wrong.
My father, mother and Eli stepped onto the boat before me, and then I followed with River, both of us keeping to the far end of the vessel. I pulled River onto my lap, practically smothering her again. I realized how odd this must have looked to my parents.
“River is a half-blood,” I said, clenching my jaw and trying to steady my breathing. “That means that she is half human, half vampire. Mom and Eli, I’m sure you can smell that her blood is not at all appealing. Because it’s spiked with vampire venom. River is the reason I’m not launching at you now, Dad.” I cast my father a glance.
“How did River become a half-blood?” he asked, frowning in confusion. “And how did you two meet?”
I started from the beginning. They all remained quiet as I told them my story, from the night I’d left The Shade, to floating in the ocean in the submarine, to the murders that I’d committed on land, to meeting Jeramiah and my time spent in The Oasis, and finally our bizarre journey back to the island.
They all looked dumbstruck by the time I was finished.
“Lucas had a son,” my father said, his jaw hanging open. I wasn’t sure how much he had absorbed of my story after I’d revealed Jeramiah’s identity. He seemed stunned by this news—just as I had been when I had first found out. “I mean,” he continued, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Lucas was incorrigible when it came to young women even before he became a bloodsucker. But for him to have a son who is still alive today as a vampire… I never would have dreamt it.”
My mother seemed more concerned by the tattoos etched into my and River’s arms. She eyed us worriedly.
“Are the tattoos hurting you right now?” she asked.
“Mine isn’t hurting… It’s giving off a mild prickling sensation. What about you, River?” I asked.
