Free Chasing Shadows by Rebbeca Stoddard Page A

salty and sometimes even way too sweet. And, like you, I hear everything around me. I will teach you to ignore it, to focus on certain things when you need to. Restlessness at night is constant. You can sleep; it’s just more difficult. We have to train our bodies to sleep at night and be restless during the day. Vampires do not normally get exhausted, but you probably will. There are no silly sparkles, no venom or swapping of blood. We cannot create other vampires. Females can actually get pregnant. But it is nearly impossible. There are a lot of things that myths and legends do not get right. I will tell you many of those things when the time comes. But for now, I should take you back home.” Sebastian held his hand out to help me up. I graciously accepted, and we walked back hand in hand. Peacefulness settled over my soul, and my heart wanted to jump out of my chest.
    When we got back to the cabin, I thanked him just before he disappeared into the night once again. Sighing, I opened the front door and snuck back into my room. Just as I crawled into bed, I realized I still had his leather jacket. Worried that Sebastian would need his jacket to keep warm, I texted him. When he replied, he told me to keep it until school started. Blushing like a schoolgirl, I took it off and snuggled it to my chest as I got comfortable. A dark and delicious smell lingered on the leather. There were no words to describe the smell other than “home.” It smelled like home. Smiling, I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.
    The sun was warm as someone shook me, telling me it was time to get up and get ready to leave. I grumbled and rolled over. Helios took that as an invitation to lick my face with his sandpaper tongue. Opening one eye at a time, I glared at my cat and my mom, who was throwing the rest of my clothes in my bags. She had laid out a comfortable outfit of shorts and a T-shirt for me to change into. After shooing my mom out of the room, I changed and put Sebastian’s jacket in my bag along with the clothes I had slept in. I slipped into my black Toms, which had been left out of my bags. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I straightened up the room and took all of my belongings down to the car. When my bags were loaded up, I went into the kitchen and grabbed a maple bar from the doughnut box. Helios was chirping and running around with too much energy. Alexandier grabbed a cream-filled doughnut from the box and took a large bite. The cream gushed out of the opposite end, landing on his shirt and the floor. He laughed and cleaned up the mess. All of our stuff was packed and my parents came in to double-check the rooms, cabinets, closets, windows, and doors. “Auby, are you riding with Zandy?” my dad asked as he popped his head out of a hall closet.
    “Only if Mom is willing to take Helios. I can’t let him ride in Zany’s jeep. He might try to jump out since Zany doesn’t have the top on,” I replied around a bite of doughnut.
    “Okay. We can take him. You guys have fun. We’ll see you at home.” My mom and dad gave us hugs and kisses, and pushed us out the door.
    Alexandier and I ran to his jeep. We both jumped in, he started it, and we sped off. There were loudspeakers in the back, so we played music that we both enjoyed and turned it up. People we passed stared at us and all we could do was laugh. An hour passed with us on the road. My bladder was full, and I wanted a snack. At the next rest stop, Alexandier stopped so we could relieve ourselves and get something small to eat. The bathrooms were dirty. Very few people hung around or used the restroom. When I was washing my hands, two girls from my school walked in, and the minute they saw me, they turned around and left. Frustration and anger flowed through my body. With all my strength, I clenched my fingers into fists and stalked out of the bathroom. Ready to leave, I noticed that Alexandier wasn’t in the jeep. I sat in the grass and found a small weed trying to