Taken (Page 25)

Violet noticed that one of the vampires looked confused, “What is it?” she said.

“Where are they again?” the Greslin vampire asked.

“Lyndvia Castle,” Violet responded. “I can hear them now. They are together, he is showing her around and divulging all of our secrets to this human.”

“We must terminate!” the Greslins said loudly in unison.

The Greslin vampires stood up, pulled their black silk hoods up over their heads, and headed out of the dormitory attic to begin their mission. And Violet knew that they wouldn’t stop until everyone was dead.

Chapter Seventeen

Sarah sat at the dinner table, trying to distract her parents from asking about Rachel.

“We haven’t seen her all day, though,” her mom said.

“She’s still sleeping, I think,” Sarah said. “I haven’t heard a peep from her room all day.”

“I don’t know, something seems fishy about this whole thing,” her dad said, skeptically.

Sarah waited to see what her parents were going to do. She was surprised that they waited all day to question the situation.

“I’m going upstairs to check on her,” her mother replied. “This is unlike Rachel not to come down all day.”

Sarah sat at the table in suspense. She hoped miraculously that Rachel would be sleeping in her bed when her mom got up to her room. She hoped that she had snuck back in the house without her knowing.

“Sarah! Mark! Honey! Come quick! Rachel’s not here.”

Sarah looked at her father and brother, who looked startled by the news. She didn’t want to give away her secret so she put on a surprised face and headed up the steps quickly with her family.

“Rachel! Rachel!” her mom shouted.

As Sarah got to the top of the steps and into Rachel’s room she saw her mom standing there, holding Rachel’s journal in her hands.

She knew that Rachel kept her journal tightly locked, and then noticed the broken lock sitting on her desk.

She didn’t know what to do. She knew Rachel’s journal was private and she would never want anyone to read it, but it was too late. Her mom was shaking her head and letting out shrieks as she flipped the page.

“Sarah, do you know anything about this?” her mom asked in a shocked voice.

Sarah paused and tried to conjure something up in her head. She wasn’t a quick thinker, especially in high-stress situations.

“Um,” Sarah said.

“What happened,” her father demanded. “Tell me now!”

“Rachel’s in love with this guy, Benji, the guy who rides the motorcycle, the guy who beat up the kids at the dance. She went to see him,” Sarah answered.

“What do you mean, she went to see him?” shrieked her father.

“It says here,” her mom pointed to the writing in her journal.

“I have to find him. I have to go to the castle,” she read aloud.

“Kids,” her dad said firmly. “What is this all about? Do either of you know what is going on here?”

Sarah looked at Mark, who shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. She knew Mark wouldn’t have any idea what this was about. He was always so busy with sports and friends that he rarely even spoke to Rachel, let alone knew her private business.

“Sarah?” her dad asked, looking sternly into her eye.

“Well, I know she really likes this guy,” Sarah replied nervously.

“Where is she?” her dad asked.

“She went to visit him at the castle, I guess,” Sarah responded.

“This is whack guys,” Mark said. “I’m going back downstairs.”

Sarah watched as Mark calmly left Rachel’s room as if nothing was wrong. She wished he would be more invested, but it was clear he was still immature and self-centered.

“VAMPIRE!” shouted her mom. “He’s a vampire?”

Sarah stopped in her tracks and looked back and forth between her dad and her mom. She didn’t know what this was about, and was suddenly nervous. Her heart began to pound, as she worried for her sister’s life.

Sarah grabbed the journal out of her mom’s hands and began to read it. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The story of the kaleidoscope, the castle, her dream and their history together. She couldn’t determine if this was the start of a novel, or if

Rachel was writing the truth. Erring on the side of caution, she took the words at face value and began to panic.

“I don’t know anything about that. I swear,” Sarah said, looking frightened. “All I know was that she left early this morning to go see this guy. I didn’t know where exactly she was going to meet him, I just knew she left in a hurry.”

“This is bad,” replied her mom. “What can we do? How can we find her?”

Sarah began flipping faster through her journal for any information that could lead them to her, but she found nothing. All that was mentioned about Benji’s whereabouts was his castle, and that didn’t really help them much.

“We have to call the police,” her dad said. “Quick, hand me the phone.”

Sarah scurried around Rachel’s room to find the cordless phone. Her room was a mess, with clothes, bags and books scattered all over the floor. She located the phone under the pillow and handed it to her dad. She watched him dial and hold the phone up to his ear, tapping his foot impatiently.

“Yes, this is Patrick Wood at 42 Pine Road. Our daughter has gone missing,” he said quickly. “She left early this morning. She went to see this guy named Benji.”

Her dad stopped speaking and listened, shaking his head.

“Yes, Benji, the guy from the fight the other night. That’s the one.”

Sarah waited as he paused again to listen. His eyes lit up as he shook his head.

“I think she went to some castle?” he said, into the phone. “Do you guys know what that could mean?”

Her dad stood there smiling and mouthing, “Thank God.”

Sarah was eager to find out what the good news was. She suddenly felt guilty that this was all her fault. If anything bad happened to her sister, she would never forgive herself.

“You’re onto him? Thank God. Please call us with any information you have. We will be here waiting.”

Sarah watched as her dad hung up the phone and then began to pace the room.

“What happened, Dad?”

“They’re sending out the troops now to find him. They think they may know where the castle is.”

“Did they tell you anything else, Honey?” her mom asked, looking nervous.