Bitten (The Vampire Legends #3)(14)
Author: Emma Knight

It was the first time she’d approached her house from above, which was a weird feeling for her. But then, she spotted it. It looked even tinier from the sky but she knew inside, she would find the people she loved the most.

Before she got too close, she knew she had to find a safe place to land. She couldn’t land in the front yard, just in case anyone was looking, it would be way too obvious. How could she explain the flying thing? Instead, she decided to land in the woods down the street from her house.

As she approached her landing ground, she saw a raccoon, in the brush, rummaging around. Her eyes opened wide as she felt a surge of hunger strike her. It was almost uncontrollable as she swooped down like an owl. Using Mind Control to hold the raccoon in its place, she snatched it up with her large fangs and sucked out its blood. Feeling completely like a vampire, and less human, she wiped the blood off her face and looked into a stream at her reflection to make sure she didn’t have any residue on her face that would raise questions when she went inside her house. She cupped her hand and took a sip of water and then stood up and began to walk out of the brush.

It had gotten pretty chilly and she felt a chill run down her spine. The leaves crunched beneath her feet as she took one step after another through the front lawn of her house. Her front door was within reach. She looked at it as she took a deep breath, not stopping to think about how she should be feeling, and opened it.

“Hello?” she said, as she stepped into her house, waiting to see if her family was home.

“HELLO!” she said again, louder.

She heard footsteps coming out of the kitchen, and then her mother came into view.

“Rachel? Sweetie, is that you?” her mom cried.

“Yes! I’m back. I’m home!” Rachel said in excitement.

“Darling, we’ve been worried sick. We missed you so much!” her mom said, and she ran over to give her a hug and hold her in her arms.

Rachel needed this. She felt secure again. She longed for this feeling of love and comfort.

“John! Come here, she’s safe, she’s back!” her mom yelled into the other room for her dad.

In seconds her dad came running out and without a word, gave her a huge hug and held her tightly. The three stood there hugging for a few minutes before they let go.

“My baby’s back!” her dad said joyfully. “Are you ok?”

“Yes! I’m fine. Everything’s ok now,” Rachel said.

“Come into the kitchen, let me give you something to eat and get you cleaned up. You look a little ragged,” her mom said, looking her up and down and then reaching out to run her ringers through her ratty looking hair.

“We are just so happy that you’re OK,” her mom said. “Aren’t we Honey?”

“Yes, thank God she’s back,” her dad replied, holding his hands in prayer position and looking up into the sky.

Rachel had never seen her dad that spiritual before, but figured he’d turned to God during this hard time.

She could see in her parent’s faces that they were happy and relieved to see her back home. She could also tell they’d been through a lot and that they looked run down and exhausted.

“Are you guys ok?” Rachel asked. “I’m sorry to worry you like this.”

“Worry us?” her dad replied. “We were sick over this. We thought you’d died.”

The three of them walked into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. Her mom handed her a granola bar and a glass of water and then said, “Where were you anyway?”

“It’s a long story,” Rachel said back. “The thing is that I’m here now and that I’m safe.”

“You know the police have been looking for you for days now. It’s on all the news channels and in the papers. Our family is famous,” her dad said, beginning to sound upset.

“I know, I’m sorry. It was stupid of me. I will never do it again,” Rachel said.

“That’s what happens when you sneak out,” her dad said. “And besides, what happened at Lyndvia Castle anyway? Were you there?”

Trying to recap that night, she felt guilty and ashamed. How could she tell them what really happened? She knew they would never believe her and if they did, they’d probably have her committed for insanity, or severe psychotherapy.

“I did go there,” she said, trying to downplay it. “Luckily I got out of there before it got bad,” Rachel said, trying to be as vague as possible.

She looked back at her parents who were both staring at her with suspicion.

“Who were you with anyway?” her mom asked.

“That Benji character?” her dad asked, knowing full well the answer.

“I did go to see Benji, but he saved my life. He protected me,” Rachel said.

“He protected you so well, that he got you into this mess in the first place,” her dad snapped back.

“You have to trust me,” Rachel said. “He’s the reason why I’m sitting here right now, alive.”

“What happened there anyway?” her mom asked.

“Yeah? What happened? It looked like a real death trap,” her dad said, firmly.

“I don’t know how to explain it. I wish I could, but I know you wouldn’t believe me,” Rachel said. “I want to tell you, I really do, but it’s complicated.”

“Are you on drugs?” her dad snapped. “It looked like a drug bust if you ask me.”

“NO! I’m not on drugs. I can’t believe you would even ask me that,” Rachel snapped back. “And besides, if I told you the truth you wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

“Honey,” her mom said, “If you ARE on drugs, you can tell us, we will find you help.”

“UGH! I’m not on drugs. Stop asking me that. I’ve never done drugs in my life,” Rachel kept saying.

“I don’t think you realize what a stir this whole thing is,” her dad said getting more and more upset as the minutes passed. “You think this is all fun and games, don’t you?”

“No! I don’t! Stop accusing me of that!” Rachel said back firmly.

“The police have been out for days looking for you,” her mom said.

“The whole town is out searching for you. And then you prance back in as if nothing had happened. Typical,” her dad said.

“You guys are totally ridiculous. I thought you’d be happy to see me?” Rachel asked.

“We are happy, Sweetie. It’s just hard because you’ve put us through so much trouble, that it’s hard to just flip a switch,” her mom said, trying to remain calm.