Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

I had been lying awake for hours when a soft tap on the window caught my attention. I looked over and saw a shadowy figure behind my curtains. My heart leapt. Could it have been Oliver? I walked over to the curtain and opened it and nearly screamed with fear. It was Jagger.
“Let me in!” he shouted from the outside of the window.
I carefully unlocked the window and opened it. Jagger leapt in and gracefully landed on his feet.
“What do you want?” I asked, closing the window and curtains.
“To get back in my house. I locked myself out.” He answered as if I was the dumbest person he knew.
I sighed and sat on my bed. Jagger started to leave but then stopped. He turned and looked at me.
“I don’t hate you.” He told me in a hushed town as if afraid that someone would hear him being nice.
“Good to know.”
“Jade, it’s not your fault that you have this power. I understand that. Maybe one day I’ll let you in, just not today.”
With that, he left. I was stunned. Jagger being nice? That just couldn’t be. It was nice while it lasted though because I knew that he would deny it to anyone else.
I began to think about Jagger carefully. I knew that he wasn’t going to hurt me and yet, I was still afraid of him even though he was afraid of me. It was truly ironic but it didn’t change anything. I couldn’t understand how a simple change in me would just automatically get him off of my tail. It truly couldn’t be THAT easy. I still had to stop him from continuing with the killings, especially since it affected me personally now.
That thought caused me to go after Jagger. I found him in the kitchen chewing down on a slab of raw steak.
“Jagger, can I ask you something?”
He looked up at me, annoyed. “I’m a little busy.” Was his response.
“It’s important. Please?”
He sighed and put the steak down and wiped his face on his arm.
“Well, what is it?” he pushed.
“You killed my parents.” I whispered.
He didn’t say anything and looked away from me.
“Why? Gabriel thinks it was unintentional that it had something to do with me. Is that true?” I demanded.
“Partially.” He replied.
“How can it be partially? It’s a yes or a no!” I exclaimed.
“I knew they were your parents but I didn’t kill them to hurt you, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Bullshit! You are full of so many lies! You killed them to hurt me! You are so—“
The lights turned on and I turned to see Alec.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
I turned back to Jagger and glared at him.
“Nothing at all. I’m going to go for a nice little stroll. I’ll be back later.” I responded.
I started to walk away but Jagger stopped me.
“Careful out there, little Jade. I’m not the only dangerous vampire out there.” He warned, a hint of amusement in his voice.
“I can take care of myself.” I answered, tension in my voice.
I thought I heard him laugh and I whirled around on him.
“I’m a vampire now.”
Jagger nodded, a look of true amusement on his face.
“Be careful, Jade.” Alec said.
“Maybe one of you big bad vampires should protect me!” I put one hand over my heart and the other hand over my forehead.
Jagger shook his head and went back to eating. Alec just stared. I shifted when I noticed that Alec hadn’t looked away.
“What?” I asked.
“Is that…what’s that…on your neck?” Alec answered.
“My neck? What’s on my neck?”
Jagger looked up from his steak and noticed what Alec was staring at. He too seemed to go blank. He crossed the room until he was right in front of me and tilted my chin back up.
“That’s…not…normal…” Jagger mumbled.
“What’s not?!” I exclaimed, starting to panic.
“You’re color is coming back to your neck, starting in the place where you were bitten.” Jagger replied.
“What does that mean?” I questioned.
Alec looked at Jagger, wondering the same thing.
“I can honestly say that I have no idea.”
I backed away from them and went back to Gabriel’s room. He was lying awake, staring at the ceiling.
“Gabriel, something’s wrong with me!”
He sat up and looked at me concerned. I turned on the light and crossed the room. I sat beside him.
“Look at my neck! Jagger and Alec said my color is coming back! What does that mean?!” I demanded.
Gabriel inspected my neck closely, his face erased of all emotions.
“Your color IS coming back…but it doesn’t necessarily have to mean anything.” He told me gently.
“You sure?”
He nodded but I didn’t believe him. I wanted him to look me in the eyes so I could search his memories to see if he was coming up with something, but it was as if he was reading my thoughts because he was looking everywhere but in my eyes.
“Gabriel…what’s going on?”
“I don’t know. You’re not…dead. I can smell you now. It’s not vampire scent. It’s not human either. I’m not sure what it is.”
“Great! So, I’m a freak? I’m a freak even to vampires! This is just great!” I exclaimed throwing my hands in the air in exasperation.
“Jade, that’s not it. I’m sure you’re not a freak. I mean, you don’t suck people’s blood, at least not yet.”
“Then Gabriel, what’s WRONG with me?” I demanded.
“I don’t know! I’m not sure if I’ll ever know. You’ve never been one for normalcy; especially not now in vampire form either. “
I wasn’t sure if he meant that as an insult or a compliment. It wasn’t fair. I was a vampire now; I shouldn’t have had color in my cheeks and I most certainly should not have had a heartbeat. I should have been dead like Alec, Alexander, Jagger, Leo, Gabriel…but I wasn’t and I wasn’t sure what that meant. Part of me wasn’t sure I had the desire to know what that meant. It could have meant that I was dying…for real this time.
My spine shuddered and I looked over at Gabriel again. The look on his face told me that the same thought had crossed his mind as well.
“I’m not dying am I?” I asked out loud.
He didn’t respond nor did he look at me. It meant he wasn’t sure but he didn’t want to say that because it could scare me.
Jagger came in and looked at the distress on our faces.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean anything, you know. Don’t start panicking until we know for sure that something is wrong.” He told us, sounding more annoyed than trying to comfort us.
Gabriel nodded. “He’s right, Jade. Unless something serious happens that is cause for worry, then we shouldn’t worry about it. Now, let’s all just relax for the rest of the night, shall we?”
I wanted to believe them. I wanted to be on board with the plan but I couldn’t shake the panic off. I wasn’t ready to die, well not completely.