Blood Relatives

19. It's Now or Never

Carmine spent the whole period in history fidgeting in her chair. She tried to pay attention to Mr. Wilson, but she just couldn't concentrate. She'd been avoiding Adam successfully for almost a week, but she knew it couldn't last forever. And as much as she wanted to put it off until tomorrow – again – her friends were starting to push her. And it was starting to get a little embarrassing to duck her head every time he turned around. So at lunch today Luke had decided for her; she was going to finally talk to Adam.

Luke and Conner had promised to hang out near the door in case anything went wrong, but it didn't do much to ease her fears. As far as she was concerned, they might as well have been on the other side of campus – if Adam was going to do anything to her, there was nothing they'd be able to do to stop it.

The bell rang, and Carmine stood up. She thought about heading out the door as fast as she could like every other day, but Luke and Conner were already loitering at the back of the room, near the door. She probably couldn't just brush past them. She hesitated, considering her options. She was about to just hurry out of the room and deal with her friends' disappointment later, but Adam stopped her.

"Hey, Carmine," he said, smiling sweetly at her.

"Hey." Carmine said, wishing she was anywhere else.

"I haven't seen you in a while." he told her, as the last of the students filed out of the room.

Carmine was glad to see Luke and Conner were keeping their promise and were still waiting quietly by the door. Luke took a casual step towards them, making Carmine feel just the tiniest bit better.

"What do you mean?" Carmine asked, forcing herself to look Adam in the eye.

"How've you been sleeping?" he pressed, smiling in a way that was almost friendly.

"Fine – I mean, I haven't been sleeping too much lately."

"I know. I haven't seen you at all in a few weeks." He said it casually, like an old friend who had started to lose contact.

Adam smiled sweetly and leaned in to her. He had that same tender look he'd had in her dreams, and she was sure he was going to kiss her. Her heart started pounding. She couldn't decide if it was from fear, or if he still managed to have some sort of hold on her. Must be fear, she decided; there was nothing about this boy that she liked anymore.

She stood board straight, not sure what to do as Adam leaned closer. She could smell the faint hint of cinnamon that would have made her knees weak only a few weeks ago. Now, it made her stomach turn. Carmine tried her best to fight down a growing sense of panic. But when Adam's face was only inches away from hers, he stood up suddenly.

"Your dead." he told her. She thought she saw a sneer on his face.

"What?" Carmine asked, taking a step back. Was he threatening her?

"You're dead." he repeated, shrugging. "I guess that's why I haven't been able to see you in your dreams lately."

"I'm not dead!" Carmine tried to say it quietly – after all, the boys weren't that far away. But she still felt lightheaded, nauseous. Could that really be true? Did her friends just kill her?

"Might as well be – I can't do anything with you." he told her. "So, what happened? You were perfectly normal two weeks ago."

"I...got bit." Carmine said hesitantly. "By a vampire." It wasn't like he'd tell anyone – not considering what he was.

"Really?" Adam actually looked surprised. "You have vampires in this town?"

"Yeah." Carmine told him. What else could she say?