"How could you let this happen?" Voices were swirling around me.
"Don't start with me; I had no choice. She was dying."
"Why is it I find myself cleaning up the mess every time you guys meet someone new?"
"I could do without the lecture right now. Who called you, anyway?"
I struggled to open my eyes. "Help," I whispered.
"Shhh, she's coming to," I recognized Dani's voice. "Katie, can you hear me?"
My eyes were slow to open. Everything was blurry, but I kept blinking. Dani was hovering over me.
"What happened?" My throat was raw and hoarse.
"Oh God, Katie." Tears streamed down Dani's face. "Are you okay?"
I moved my head back and forth. My muscles felt tight, but there was only a whisper of pain. I tried
to sit up.
"You should stay laying down," an unfamiliar voice instructed.
I looked over and tried to place the voice with a face. "Who are you?" My throat was parched.
"My name is Brian. I'm Dani's brother."
"Where am I?"
"You're in your dorm room."
"Dustin?" I questioned.
"I'm here." His beautiful face leaned into my line of sight. "How do you feel?"
I struggled to sit up again. "I feel stiff. And thirsty. But otherwise okay."
Dustin held a bottle of water to my lips and I drank for what felt like forever. The room was dark, illuminated only by the lamp next to Dani's bed. "How did I get here?"
"Dustin carried you here." Brian reached for my wrist.
I pulled back and scooted towards the wall. "Why are you here?" I asked him, confused by his presence.
"Katie, it's okay. He's here to help." Dustin reached over and felt my wrist. "Pulse is strong. Feels like 90 BPM."
Brian nodded. "Katie, do you feel any pain?"
"Are you a doctor?" I countered.
"This one's difficult." Brian glanced at Dustin. "Good choice, as always. No, Katie, I'm not a doctor, yet. I'm premed at Yale. I was here visiting my brother and sister when you had your accident."
"Accident?" I almost laughed. "I was beaten with my own bat." I put my hands to my face. Everything felt normal. No dents, no scabs, no blood. "How am I not dead?"
Brian glanced at Dustin, worry shading identical green eyes. "You were very lucky Katie. Dustin was there to help you."
I looked at Dustin, confused. "What's he talking about?"
He took my hand. "Katie, do you trust me?"
I felt my heartbeat quicken. "Of course."
"Dani, lock the door."
I pulled my hand from his and tried to stand up. "What happened to me?"
Brian moved to stand in front of the door. "Katie, you have to listen to Dustin." His voice ran deep through my head.
I put my hands to my face again. "Dustin..." Panic seized my heart.
"Katie, look at me." Soft at first. "Katie." His voice intensified.
I stared into his deep, green eyes and my head began to swim.
"Dustin, focus," I heard Brian.
"Katie, what I'm about to tell you, you cannot tell anyone else." My eyes felt sleepy. "You must trust me."
I nodded, realizing I wasn't the one who sent the command to my head. "Katie, "I'm not what you think I am." Dustin's lips weren't moving. "I'm different. We all are." His eyes were glowing now.
My heart slowed to a controlled beat. "What are you?"
The light next to Dani's bed began to flicker. I tried to pull my eyes away from Dustin, but I was no longer in charge of my own body.
He stood and turned towards the light. All the sudden, his features began to twist. His brow deepened, and his lips curled upwards. His teeth began to shift, causing his canines to lengthen. His eyes burned bright green as he turned back to me. Oh, holy lord! "Katie, I'm a vampire."
I wanted to run. Every instinct inside screamed for me to get away from the monster in front of me. But I was rooted to my spot; my body wouldn't move.
"Katie, it's okay," I heard Dani's voice from somewhere in the room.
"Let her go Dustin." Brian's voice was tight.
Dustin broke eye contact and looked down, his features returning to normal. A huge rush of adrenaline hit me like a bolt of lightning and I jumped up, rushing towards the door. "Katie, no!"
Brian grabbed me hard and forced me to turn back to Dustin. "Calm her down." Dustin put his hands on my face and brought his eyes back to mine. "No one's going to hurt you." I felt my panic recede. "You are safe." He let go of my face but held my eyes with his. "You were dying, Katie. You sustained serious injuries, and you wouldn't have survived if I hadn't helped you. So, I gave you some of my blood. Just enough to heal you. I didn't know what else to do."
The room began to swirl again. "Am I a vampire now?" I choked out.
"No," Brian answered for him. "Becoming a vampire is a very involved, precise process. Dustin gave you just enough blood to heal you, but not enough to turn you."
I struggled against Dustin's gaze. "I can't move."
"I know. I'm keeping you calm by layering my conscience with yours. I need to make sure that you understand exactly what all of this means. Katie, you can never tell anyone what happened tonight. Terrible things could happen to all of us if you did."
My head nodded, again without my permission. "I won't tell anyone."
"Wipe her memory, Dustin," Brian instructed from the corner.
"No," Dustin refused. "I won't do that. She needs to know. She's involved now."
Brian growled deep in his throat. "Then I'll do it for you."
Dustin broke our gaze and whirled towards Brian. "If you touch her, we go, right here, right now."
"Stop it!" Dani yelled at them both. "She needs to know. If you wipe her, this is just going to happen again. I'm not going to walk on egg shells for the rest of the year. Dustin can keep her from doing anything stupid. They're Linked now."
My head began to still. "Linked?"
Dani came towards me, careful not to move too fast. "Katie, can you sit down and talk to me? There's a lot I need to tell you."
I stared into her eyes, exact replicas of Dustin's. "I don't understand what's happening." My eyes filled with tears, as the panic rose in my chest.
She came forward, her arms out to hug me. I pulled back, looking around like a caged animal.
"Katie, please. It's still me."
I back peddled into the corner. "You're all...vampires?"
Dani nodded. "It's not like it sounds. We aren't vicious monsters. We're still the same people, with a few differences."
I sank to the floor, my back against the wall. What the hell was happening? Was I dreaming? Had I really died and was now in some alternate underworld?
Dani continued to approach me, still keeping a safe distance. "I know you have questions. We'll answer everything we can." She motioned for Dustin to join her on the floor in front of me.
I pulled my knees up and hugged them to my chest. "How can you be vampires? I've seen you eat food. I've seen you in the sun. You aren't pale."
"Katie, you've seen too many movies. That's not what it's really like." Dustin scooted towards me. "We're day walkers. You've seen the tattoos on our shoulders? Brian and Brandy have the same ones. A lot of vampires have them. Each family crest is different, but they all do the same thing. They allow us to simulate human traits, to help us go unnoticed by those who might want to hurt us."
He moved closer to me and I didn't move away. The closer he got, the calmer I felt. "What did Dani mean when she said we were Linked?"
He reached for my hand and placed it on his cheek. I felt a surge of power radiate up my arm. "It means I can feel you, and you can feel me. We're Linked, physically and emotionally." He brought my hand to his lips. "Katie, I would never hurt you. This is what I meant when I told you it could be dangerous for you to be with me." I could sense the fear in his touch. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, but I couldn't let you die in my arms."
I swallowed, my tongue sticking to the roof of my dry mouth. His beautiful eyes begged me to understand. "I can't believe this."
He pulled me towards him and hugged me, still being gentle. "I never meant for this to happen." I put my head on his shoulder and breathed in his familiar scent. "It's still me, Katie."
I glanced up at Dani and opened my arms. Tears streamed down her face as she crawled over next to me. "I'm so sorry Katie. Please don't hate us."
I shook my head. "I don't hate you, I'm just confused." My inner girly-girl was in the corner rocking back and forth, institution-style.
Brian cleared his throat from the corner. "As touching as this little scene is, we have more important things to be concerned about. Anya is going to know what you guys did as soon as she sees Katie. We need to hide her for a while. Just long enough for everyone to believe that she healed on her own."
I looked up, pinning Dustin with a sharp gaze. "Does Anya know about you?"
"Anya is one of us." Dani touched my arm. "Brian's right. There's certain rules we have to follow in order to be part of main stream society. Number one is never reveal ourselves to humans. Healing you and telling you about us could get us all in a lot of trouble."
"Call Brandy and have her meet you at the cabin." Brian ordered Dustin. "We'll pack Katie up and get her out of here tonight."
Everything was moving so fast. Just twenty-four hours earlier, my life was normal. I had a normal best friend and a normal boyfriend. Now I was being shuttled to an undisclosed location, so my vampire best friend and vampire boyfriend wouldn't get in trouble for bringing me back from the dead. My head was beginning to pound.
"Dani, pack her bags. Enough for a few weeks." Dustin pulled me to my feet.
"A few weeks?" I squeaked. "What am I going to do about school?"
"We'll take care of that." Brian pulled out his phone. "Dani, Dustin will take Katie to the cabin now. You pack her bags and follow as soon as you are done. It's late enough that we shouldn't be spotted." He turned to Dustin. "If you see anyone, keep Katie's face hidden. Let's go. We don't have a lot of time to waste."
Dani wrapped a fluffy coat over my shoulders and pulled the hood up around my head. "I'll see you soon. Everything's going to be okay. You just have to trust us." I nodded, my mind and body both numb.
Dustin pulled me tight against him and opened the door. "Be careful." He took one last look at his brother and sister and rushed me out the door.
The night air felt cool on my face. Dustin hurried me towards the parking lot, casting glances around to make sure we weren't spotted.
He beeped the locks on the car and settled me into the passenger seat. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Define 'okay'." I pulled the coat tighter around me. I had to be in an alternate reality. There was no way this was happening. Vampires weren't real. I must have hit my head harder than I thought.
"Yah, I guess that was a dumb question." He rounded the car and slid into the driver's seat.
He revved the engine and reversed out of the space. "Where are we going?" I tried to keep my voice even.
"My family has a cabin a little north of here. No one will find us there. We can regroup and figure out what to do next."
I leaned my head back and watched the trees fly past us. My body was exhausted. I had been through so much in such a short amount of time. I had no idea what lay ahead for me, but I was sure I would need all my strength to get through it. I let my eyes fall shut as the sound of the car lulled me to sleep.
Author's Note: Katie finally knows Dustin's secret, but can she handle it? Vote and comment below! Luvs as always!!! AMð