Taken (Page 8)

“Listen, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“We’ve heard that before,” her dad yelled. “It won’t happen again, because you won’t be going out again. From now on, all you’ll be doing is going to school and coming home, and don’t even think about seeing that guy Benji again.”

“Go to your room and don’t come out for the rest of the night,” her mom said. “I can’t stand to look at you right now.”

*

Rachel began to sob as she turned around. Now she really had nobody, not even her parents to stick by her. She was devastated and alone.

She stomped up to her room and slammed the door. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. She felt completely jolted by her parent’s reaction. Rachel took her diary back out of the desk to write. She opened it again, noticing her tear had completely dried on the front of her journal, leaving a dry circular mark. As she opened to a blank page, she could feel the tears swelling up in her eyes and her vision became blurry. She blinked a few times and tears began streaming down her cheeks again. She couldn’t stop crying. She walked over to her bed and buried her head in between her pillows.

She lay there crying into her pillows for a while until she felt something on her back. It was cold. A cold hand and it began rubbing her back ever so softly. Rachel had no idea who this could be. For a moment, she thought Benji had come to comfort her. Then, she popped her head up and wiped away her final tears. There she saw Sarah, sitting there with her coat and cheerleading uniform still on from practice.

“I just got home and heard you crying,” Sarah said.

“I’m ok, really,” Rachel said, trying to sound strong.

“C’mon, I can tell you’re not ok,” Sarah paused. “What is it?”

Rachel felt so touched that Sarah had come in to see her after the horrible events of the day. She couldn’t believe someone was actually being nice to her. For a moment, she thought everything would be all right.

“I’m grounded. They saw the article,” Rachel said. “They’re also pissed about last night, which is so unfair because it was totally not my fault.”

“I know,” said Sarah. “I heard all about it today from the girls at practice. They’re pretty upset, too, but I stuck up for you.”

“Thanks, you didn’t have to do that. It really doesn’t matter anymore. I have no friends now,” Rachel said as another tear rolled slowly down her cheek.

“Listen, Rachel, things are bad right now, but don’t worry. The truth will win. You have to remember that,” Sarah added.

Rachel felt scared. Her sister was right, but she didn’t know the truth either. Nobody did, except for her, and she was not going to tell a soul.

“Listen, Rach, I’ll talk to Mom and Dad,” Sarah said. “I’ll try and get you out of it.”

Rachel couldn’t believe her ears. She couldn’t believe that Sarah was going to stick up for her, and that they were really becoming friends and confidants. Rachel was ecstatic. This is what she had always dreamed her relationship with her sister would be like.

At that moment, Rachel heard a buzzing sound coming from her inside her backpack.

1 New Message:

Rachel looked down at her phone, clutching it in her hand, nervous to open it to see what her friend had to say. Rachel flipped her Motorola flip phone open and saw a message from Kate.

Kate: Sorry about today. I’m with Liv and Taryn. We really didn’t mean to upset you.

Rachel thought for a moment and began to write back. She didn’t mean to yell at her friends after all. She didn’t know what had come over her in the cafeteria to make her scream like that.

Rachel: I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to yell at you guys.

Kate: Truce?

Rachel: haha, yeah!

Rachel’s phone buzzed again. She flipped her phone and it was Emily. She couldn’t understand why everyone was contacting her all at once.

Emily: Hey there! Wanna come to the mall tomorrow? We’re all gonna go after school and then hit the movies after.

Rachel didn’t know how to respond. She knew she was grounded for the rest of her life, and that the answer would be no. She didn’t dare go downstairs to ask her parents, but she didn’t want to say no to her friends. She was stuck.

She took out her phone and began to type.

Rachel: Yeah, I’ll try to come!

Before she could even think about what she had written, she pressed the send button.

She would have to find a way to get out of the house.

Chapter Six

Benji loved taking road trips. He especially loved taking trips to upstate New York in the fall, when the leaves were changing and the weather turned cooler. He sat there with his right hand on the clutch, revving the engine of his motorcycle and speeding up Route 22 on his way to visit his twin brother, Hunter, at The Mount Pines Preparatory School in the Catskill Mountains.

Benji didn’t see Hunter often, but he knew he had to see him to tell him he broke the ancient code of their coven. Benji had been feeling guilty since he let his secret out on the bridge after the dance that night. He knew he shouldn’t have told Rachel, but he couldn’t have kept it inside any longer. She was his first true love, and he didn’t want to ruin things between them. Especially because he felt Rachel was giving him an ultimatum.

Now Benji felt like he really messed things up between them. Rachel was scared of him, he knew the police were trying to hunt him down, and he feared what Hunter would say when he told him what had happened.

As Benji was stopped at a red light, right outside of the Mount Pines campus, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He squeezed his hands into the tight pockets of his black skinny jeans, and pulled out his phone.

He was hoping it was Rachel. They hadn’t talked since he told her he was a vampire and it was eating him up inside. He so desperately wanted to call her, but he was scared at how she would react if he did. He didn’t want to create any more drama for her.

1 New Message:

Benji flipped open his phone hoping to see Rachel’s name.

Hunter: You’re late. I’ve been waiting here for 25 minutes. I’m at Campus Coffee.

Benji closed his phone and put it back into his pocket. He drove into the long entrance of the school. To the right, he saw the soccer field where the team, dressed in white and green uniforms, was practicing. To the left he saw the girls track team, and in the distance he could see the football team running up and down the field doing sprints.