by ID Johnson
Chapter 2
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” was a force to be reckoned with. It followed me in from Lucy’s mom’s SUV, and now it was making my orange chicken taste a little sour. Lucy didn’t seem to mind, though, as her head bopped back and forth to the tune, and she manipulated her chopsticks like she’d been using them her whole life. I preferred a fork, and right now, I was contemplating shoving it into my eye. This song needed to stop.
“I hope my mom didn’t get lost,” Lucy giggled. “Either that, or she accidentally stumbled into Sephora on her way to the car.” Mrs. Burk, who never seemed to eat anything, had given us some money for lunch and said she’d be back later under the guise of taking the bags to the car, though I agreed with Luce; she was probably shopping again by now.
“So… how’s your sister?” Lucy asked, taking a slurp of her pop. “When will she be home?”
I hadn’t gotten a chance to tell Lucy about my mom’s conversation on the phone with Cadence. Actually, that wasn’t quite true. I could’ve told her, but now that Lucy and Emma didn’t remember all of the stuff we’d discovered about Cadence and her circle of vampire hunters, or whatever they were, I didn’t feel comfortable talking to her about anything that had to do with my sister. I was always afraid I’d mess up and say something wrong. “I’m not sure she’s coming back,” I replied quietly. “I mean, I think she might stay in Kansas City until after the holidays.”
“What? Shut up!” Lucy exclaimed, staring at me with her mouth open. Thankfully, it was currently empty. “How can she not come home for Christmas?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. She likes this guy, and I think he asked her out or something.” I really didn’t know what was going on with her, in no uncertain terms, and I didn’t even feel like I could call Cadence to see what was up. It just seemed like she needed some space.
“What guy?” Lucy asked, back to her Mongolian beef. “Somebody from work?”
A sharp pang hit me in the gut. She should know. She should remember. But she didn’t. And that was partially my fault. “Yeah,” I muttered. “Some guy she met at her new job.”
“Huh,” Lucy replied, taking a big bite. She chewed for a few minutes, and I hoped she’d let it go. But she didn’t. “What’s his name?”
“I don’t remember,” I lied. Part of me thought, if I said his name, maybe she’d remember everything, and while I would welcome it if she did, I also remembered Elliott and Hannah warning us to leave things alone. When you’re talking about supernatural creatures, it’s probably best to heed their warnings.
I thought Lucy might ask a follow up question, but instead her eyes got wide, and then she let out a loud puff. “Don’t look now, but your own Christmas wish is on his way over.”
Feeling my blood run cold, I slowly turned around, and then, in a flash, turned back to face her. Liam White was sauntering across the food court, his blond hair perfectly sculpted so that his bangs hung just over his right eye. He had his hands shoved down deep in the pockets of his skinny jeans, his hooded flannel and fleece jacket unzipped revealing a vintage rock-band T-shirt. “How do I look?” I asked Lucy, wishing I’d done more than a quick reapplication of my lip gloss before I left home, thinking it had long since worn off anyway.
Lucy scrunched up her face. “You look fine,” she shrugged. I knew Lucy was not a fan of Liam’s, though I hadn’t quite established why. I wished I had time to check there was nothing in my teeth, but then, there he was, pulling the seat between us out and swiveling it around so that he was sitting in it backward.
“Hey ladies,” Liam said, leaning his head on his folded arms. “How’s it going?” He smiled at each of us and sort of nodded his head at Lucy.
She narrowed her eyes. “William,” she said in a cold greeting. “Why don’t you just make yourself at home?”
“Thanks,” he replied, chuckling like he either didn’t realize she was being sarcastic or didn’t care. “Nice to see you have the Christmas spirit.”
“I’m not hungry anymore,” Lucy said, smirking at him and gathering up her food. “I’ll be back,” she said, standing and taking her tray across the food court.
I was confused. “What’s going on?” I asked Liam. “She seems madder at you than usual.”
“Search me,” he replied with a shrug. “Maybe it’s that time of the month.” He laughed, but that was about the lamest thing he could’ve said to me, another girl—woman—I just raised my eyebrows at him. “Maybe she found out she’s getting a lump of coal for Christmas.”
“Maybe,” I said, not wanting to tell him he wasn’t being cute right now, especially since he really was the cutest guy in our whole school. And right now, he was sitting by me. “What are you doing here?” The mall was in another town, about forty minutes away from Shenandoah, and even though it was far away, it was where most of us hung out when we could catch a ride. “How’d you get here?”
“My brother,” Liam shrugged again. “He’s hanging out with his friends right now. He’ll be back later.”
I nodded. Chance, Liam’s brother, was a little bit older than Cadence, so I didn’t know him well. I used to think he was a loser for dropping out of college to work for a local plumbing company, but ever since my own sister had also quit before the first semester was even over, I had to look at things differently.
“You and Luce doing some last-minute Christmas shopping?” he asked.
“Yeah, something like that.” It was a reminder that I still hadn’t found the only gift I’d thought I might want to buy. I didn’t want to get anything at all, though, if it wasn’t right. Lucy was heading back in our direction, and I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. “We’re supposed to go find her mom.”
“Oh,” he said. “Well, I won’t keep you then. I just thought I might as well come say hey to the prettiest girl at the mall.” He gave me a sheepish grin, and I felt my face light up. “Later, Cass.” He stood and swiveled the chair back around just about the same time Lucy arrived back at the table. “See you, Luce.”
“It’s Luc-y!” she shouted after him. Liam turned and laughed at her but kept walking. She folded her arms and shook her head, not bothering to sit back down.
“You really do need to tell me what’s up with that,” I said, gathering up my trash and placing it on top of my mostly empty plate.
Lucy took my tray like she was the waitress and stepped over to dump it into a nearby trash can before she returned to the table. Now that Liam was gone, and without her mother in sight, she sat back down. “I just don’t like him,” she replied with a shrug, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
I knew Lucy well enough to know that there was more to it than she was letting on, but I didn’t question her further. Regardless of what Liam had just said about me, Lucy was gorgeous. She has long, dark-blonde hair that flows past her waist and bright blue eyes. She complains that her nose is too small, but I think it’s perfect. He could’ve just as easily have been talking about her being the prettiest girl in the mall.
“Em said she wishes she would’ve come with us. Her dad is trying to help her make a note block in Minecraft, and apparently he picked some annoying Christmas song she can’t stand.” Lucy laughed and set her phone aside.
“Is it ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’?” I mused. Emma was an enigma. She was easily the most intelligent person I had ever met, great with computers and technology, but also the most socially awkward person, and she didn’t make any excuses for it. In fact, she had a really hard time picking up on other people’s emotions, and most of the time, she couldn’t care less if she offended someone. “I wish she would’ve come, too,” I said. The three of us were together most of the time, and it was odd not having her here, even if it was one less person I had to pretend not to know anything about my sister in front of.
“There’s my mom,” Lucy sighed. “it is about time!”
I glanced behind my shoulder and saw Mrs. Burk on her way to the table, just a few bags
in her hand now, one of them Sephora.
“Sorry, hon,” she said, stopping behind my chair. “Got sidetracked. How was lunch?”
“Just peachy,” Lucy replied, screeching her chair back and standing. She rolled her eyes at me, and I knew that was for Liam. It didn’t matter, though; her mom didn’t notice and took her at her word.
“Shall we hit Aeropostale or do you have another place you wanna go?” Annie asked, her phone in her hand as she weaved between chairs. Lucy’s mom is definitely a lot cooler than mine, that’s for sure, but I think I there are some things about my mom that make her better. Like, she usually listens when we talk to her, and she would rather be home baking cookies than out spending money she didn’t need to spend. Of course, Annie was an accountant and needed to look professional, and Lucy’s parents combined probably make three or four times what my dad makes, even though he’s an engineer, and we’ve never gone without. Still, sometimes I thought Lucy’s mom was more like a friend than a parent. This was one of those times.
“Aeropostale is fine,” Lucy replied. She was on her phone, too, so we all walked along together, not paying any attention to the people we were with while they both chatted with people who were not there. It seemed a little silly to me, and I decided I wanted to make more of an effort to really be with the people around me. In light of the two recent deaths our hometown had suffered, that just made sense to me.
We were finishing up our shopping when we passed by a store I’d never gone into before. I happened to glance through the window and saw the perfect gift for the person I’d been considering purchasing something for. “Mrs. Burk, do you mind if I run in there really quickly?” I asked, touching her lightly on the arm.
“Go ahead, Cass,” she replied, stopping and leaning back against the window. “And, I’ve told you a hundred times, you can call me Annie.”
“Right,” I nodded. That seemed weird to me. She was my friend’s mom after all.
Lucy followed me into the store, and I looked carefully at the hat I’d seen from outside. It was a black ski cap, but it was made of really thick fabric, and the sides came down very low so that it would completely cover the wearer’s ears. It might not seem like much of a gift, but I thought it would let him know I was thinking about him, that I appreciated that it might get a little chilly out on the rooftops.
“Who’s that for?” Lucy asked, following me to the checkout. “Your dad?”
I couldn’t tell her. I wanted to so badly. “Sure,” I said, getting in line behind a woman who was carrying so many bags I thought her arms might fall off.
Lucy raised an eyebrow at me, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of remembrance, like she knew something was missing, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was. And then it was gone. But she also didn’t think it was really for my dad. “It’s not for William White, is it?”
A giggle escaped my lips. “No. I’m not getting Liam a Christmas present.” I wondered what it would be like if I was the one planning a Christmas Eve date with the guy I had a crush on instead of my sister. Had she gotten Aaron a present?
An odd noise escaped Lucy’s lips, like she didn’t believe that either. “I’m not. I promise.” I took a step closer to the cashier as the lady in front of me fought her bags to fetch her wallet.
“Well, whoever it’s for, I hope he appreciates it,” Lucy said, folding her arms. “And if it’s Liam, I can guarantee he won’t. He doesn’t appreciate anything.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. Something had happened between Lucy and Liam, and she wasn’t telling me what it was. It was starting to eat at me. “Lucy, I really wish…” but before I could say more, it was my turn to pay. I handed over the hat and enough money to cover it and waited for the cashier to ring it up, place it in a bag, and hand me back my receipt and change. Lucy was out the door in front of me, and I shoved my change into my wallet, following behind her. It felt wrong of me to be upset at Lucy for keeping secrets when I had the biggest secret of all, and I couldn’t tell her about it either. Whatever she was keeping from me, I sure hoped it didn’t have anything to do with Liam being a vampire. Someone I cared about needed to stay human.
Chapter 3
We went to church on Christmas Eve like we have every year for as long as I can remember, but my mom was solemn the entire time, and I couldn’t really blame her. Even though I hoped my sister was having a good time on her date, I also missed her desperately. There was something missing when Cadence wasn’t there, not just on the outside, but on the inside as well. It was as if part of my heart had been stolen away from me. I tried not to think of the dangers she might be in, the threats that might come up against her because of her new situation, and focus instead on how happy she seemed to be, whatever she was these days.
I’d wrapped the gift I’d purchased for Elliott but didn’t bother to put it under the Christmas tree. He wasn’t coming for Christmas either, obviously, if my sister wasn’t even going to make it home. I slipped it onto the top shelf of my closet, thinking he might show up sometime, sooner or later. He had sent me a text earlier to wish me a Merry Christmas Eve, but when I’d asked how he was spending his evening, his response was vague. Only, “With friends.”
I sat in front of the big picture window in our living room with the shades open, only the light of the Christmas tree illuminating the space, and stared at the snow. It wasn’t falling, not right now, but there was plenty on the ground, and the wind would whip up from time to time and stir it, giving the illusion it was coming down again. I thought about how different things were last year. Across town, Drew Peterson’s little brothers would be going to bed soon, probably asking Santa to bring back their sister. Alice and Steve Cook had lost their only child; Christmas would never be the same for them.
My dad was stealthier than usual, so I hardly heard him until my mom’s recliner creaked beneath his weight. I was sitting in his. “Want your chair?” I asked, still staring out the window. I imagined I knew what the answer would be.
“That’s okay,” he replied. “I just came to see how you were doing.”
Once we’d returned from church, we had our usual Christmas Eve dinner of chicken and dumplings and my mom’s apple streusel. We’d added a few more ornaments to the tree, the special ones my mom liked to save for last, and then hung the stockings by the chimney. A lonely tear had splashed down my mother’s face when she hung up Cadence’s.
“I’m fine,” I said, managing to turn my head and give him a small smile. I’d always had a good relationship with my dad, always felt like he was my protector, like he’d do anything he could to keep me and Cadence safe, and I wondered if he still felt that way right now. I didn’t feel like I could ask, though.
“This has been a hard past few months for us,” he said, and I questioned his math. I think it seemed like an eternity, but it hadn’t even been one month since Drew passed away, unless he meant since Cadence went to school. “I know we’ve asked a lot of you lately, Cassidy, and I appreciate the fact that you’re always so compliant. I know this can’t be easy for you either.”
Sitting up a little straighter, I studied my dad for a moment. I wasn’t quite sure what he meant. Perhaps he was talking about sending me out of the room so he and Mom could talk, or the fact that he knew so much more than I did but didn’t let on. Once again, I felt like questioning the situation would somehow make his assessment of my compliance wrong, so I decided to let it go.
But there were other questions, more innocent questions, I felt inclined to ask. “Is Cadence out on a date tonight, Dad? With Aaron?”
My dad is honest to a fault, and it was something I’d been able to take advantage of a few times recently. Sometimes he doesn’t see the harm in answering my questions until he already has. By then, my mom has usually intercepted, but right now, she was in the bedroom finishing up a little bit of last minute wrapping.
“I believe that’s where she’s at,” he nodded. “I think your sister is quite smitten with him.”
>
He didn’t seem to have an opinion about Aaron, as far as I could tell, whereas my mom seemed to make it quite clear that she preferred Elliott. I’d overheard a few comments the past few weeks to let me know that was the case. I got the impression now, however, that Elliott thought of my sister much the same way he thought of me—like he was our older brother--and I think Cadence saw him the same way. I cleared my throat. “Why doesn’t mom like Aaron?”
My dad’s overly bushy eyebrows shot up. “What makes you think she doesn’t like him?”
I almost giggled. “I don’t know. Maybe the way she says his name like it has more than two syllables and hurts her tongue.”
My dad laughed, and I couldn’t help but let out the giggle. “Okay, I can see that. I’m not sure, Cass. I think… I think your mom sees Aaron different than your sister. He has a pretty important job, and he’s quite a bit older than your sister. Maybe your mom thinks he isn’t the right match for her.”
I nodded, wanting to ask exactly how old Mr. McReynolds was, but I got the impression my dad wouldn’t tell me anyway. There was no sense asking about Aaron’s job, or Cadence’s, so I let that go as well. “What do you think of him?”
Giving a shrug, my dad said, “I want Cadence to be happy. If he makes her happy, I’m okay with that. Grandma seems to think a lot of him.”
Knowing how close my dad was to my grandma, his mom, it made sense to me that he’d be more inclined to side with Grandma Janette’s intuition than my mother’s. While Mom had grown quite fond of Jack, I vaguely remembered when Cadence had first started dating him, and our mother had been less than enthusiastic. “Do you think she’ll come home soon?”
“I hope so. I think your sister just has a few things to work out right now. It’s hard being in a new town, with new people, and a new job.”
Nodding, I thought about mentioning LIGHTS, the name my mom had used the day before. Sometimes, if my dad thinks I already know something, he’s more inclined to think it’s okay to say something in front of me. But I let it go. There would be lots of other chances to poke around for information about what my sister was doing, what my sister was. For now, I was content to look out on the yard with my dad.
