"Hey, bro," he said and put it down, a mustache of milk on his upper lip. "What's going on?"

  "Nothing much," Jayden said, still feeling his heart thudding in his chest after listening in on their parents' conversation. His brother sat down across from him, then put his arm on the table. It was thicker than Jayden's thigh.

  "Arm-wrestle?"

  Jayden stared at the arm and all the thick veins popping out of it. "Not with you, no. You've been pumping way too much, bro. Are you doing steroids?" he asked.

  His brother pulled his arm back. "No, man."

  Logan got up, grinning from ear to ear. "You're just jealous," he said and ruffled Jayden's hair. "You'll get buff too one day. Don't worry."

  Jayden wasn't sure he wanted to.

  He grabbed his phone when it vibrated in his pocket. Someone had sent him a picture in Snapchat. It was from Robyn. It showed her inside of her room. There was a caption to it.

  NEED TO TALK ASAP.

  Chapter Forty

  "I'm going for a run."

  I looked at my mom, trying hard to sound convincing. It wasn't a lie; I was going to run to the lake, where I was meeting with the others. Texting them was dangerous since my mom checked my phone, but I had found out that if I sent a picture in Snapchat with a caption, my mom wouldn't be able to see it since the pictures were deleted shortly after and since my mom had no idea how to use Snapchat. At least not yet. This way, I could contact my friends without her knowing it.

  "A run? Since when do you run?" she asked, looking at me suspiciously. I could tell she didn't buy it. I had dressed in clothes for jogging to make it look plausible.

  "Since now," I said. "I need to get some exercise and fresh air. Since I stopped biking to school, I am getting neither."

  My mom scrutinized me, her nostrils moving, while she debated with herself whether she trusted me or not. If there was one thing my mom understood, it was the desire to keep healthy and slim. She nodded.

  "All right. Half an hour, then you're back here."

  "I'll be running in the park," I said. "Around the lake."

  "Okay. But remember, I’ll be tracking your phone, keeping an eye on you. If you go anywhere else, I will know."

  I swallowed, then nodded. "Of course. I know."

  "And Robyn?"

  I stopped and turned to face her again. She squinted her eyes. "Be careful. Watch out for the wolf, all right?"

  I exhaled. "Yes, of course, Mom. I will. Even though it has never attacked during the day."

  "Still. There could be more than one. They could be rabid. A hiker up in the mountains claims she was mauled by one recently during the day."

  "That was two years ago, Mom," I said. "And it was in the mountains. I hardly think it will…"

  "Oh, but with wolves, you can never know," she said and stepped forward. "You must never think you're safe; that's when they attack."

  I thought about the night before when Melanie had jumped through the window at the church. Was she thinking about that too? Was she scared? It occurred to me that I saw a slight sign of fear in her eyes.

  "I won't," I said.

  "Wolves are not to be trusted. Under any circumstances. Don't you ever turn your back on any of them. You hear me?"

  I nodded. "Y-yes. Of course. I would never…trust a wolf." The sentence was awkward and felt weird to say.

  My mom's frown turned into a smile. "Good. Good. I am only saying this to protect you. You do know that, right?"

  "Of course. You're my mom. It's what you do," I said, forcing a smile. I really just wanted to leave since the conversation had taken a turn I felt I wasn't sure what was about, but somehow, I got the feeling it ran a lot deeper than just some random wolf in the park.

  "And Robyn?"

  "Yes?"

  "Half an hour, right?"

  I nodded. "Of course."

  Chapter Forty-One

  The others were already there, waiting for me, as I jogged up to the lake. They were standing beneath the old oak, staring out across the lake from where we had pulled the body of Natalie Jamieson just last month. So much had happened since then and I felt a little overwhelmed thinking about it as I approached them.

  Jayden spotted me first as he turned around and smiled warmly. The smile felt like a punch to my stomach, so deeply did I miss him. How did he manage to look more handsome every time I saw him? Next to him stood Jazmine and Amy was on the other side of her.

  "Robyn," Jayden said.

  The others turned around too. I smiled and waved. I stood next to Amy to make sure Jazmine didn't get jealous of Jayden and me. I had decided to try and pull away from him; I couldn't be the one to stand between them anymore. I knew him worrying about me was a problem for them. I couldn't let that happen anymore.

  Amy hugged me, her short arms barely reaching around me. "Good to see that you're all right," she said.

  I nodded. "I am."

  "Your mom never found out that you were gone last night?" Jazmine asked, sounding strangely cheerful and friendly toward me.

  I shook my head. "At least, I don't think so. She seems very suspicious of me and, for a while, earlier today I thought she was onto me, but that's not why I asked to meet."

  Jayden nodded. "What's up then?"

  "I overheard my mom talking to your dad on the phone," I said.

  "Really?"

  "I thought your parents hated one another," Jazmine said.

  "For people who hate each other, they spend an awful lot of time talking and meeting up," I said. "That's what’s so odd about this entire ordeal. But it supports Jayden's suspicion that they too are…vampires."

  I looked at Jayden as I said the word. His reaction was that of embarrassment. I knew how he felt. I had to admit, I felt so incredibly ashamed of who my parents were, it was almost unbearable. Now it looked like he had to carry that burden too.

  "But what did they talk about?" Amy asked. "I’m guessing you didn't get us all here just because your mom talked to his dad. There has to be more to it than that, am I right?"

  "Yes," I said. "I think…I think they have Melanie."

  Jazmine gasped and cupped her mouth.

  "And there’s more. I saw her today. In the mountains."

  "What were you doing in the mountains?" Jayden asked.

  "My mom had this idea that we should go on a field trip, and I thought she took me there to…kill me or at least have me scared enough to admit that I was at the church last night, but that wasn't why we were there at all. She wanted to find Melanie and believed she had run for the mountains. There were tracks and then my mom…took off. I couldn't see her. Not until I took the car and I spotted her and…Melanie, then I…well, I ran the car into my mom and then lied about it being an accident afterward. I think I got away with it, but I’m not sure. I never know with my mom."

  "Wow," Jayden said.

  "You seriously ran the car into your own mother?" Amy asked.

  I nodded. "I knew that…I hoped…well, I was pretty sure that she wouldn't be hurt, and I was right."

  "Still. It had to have been scary…" Jayden stated. "I’m not sure I could do that."

  "I had to. To save Melanie. She managed to get away, but apparently, it was in vain."

  "Are you sure they have her?" Jazmine asked.

  I shrugged. "Of course, I’m not sure. I just heard my mom say, 'so you have her?'"

  "It might be something else they were talking about," Amy said.

  "No. Robyn is right," Jayden said. "I just overheard my parents talking about it in our living room. They’re afraid your mother wants to kill her, get rid of her, and I fear that I might have overheard them agree that it is the best solution."

  "Oh, dear Lord," Jazmine said.

  "We need to find her," Amy said. "Before it’s too late."

  "I was afraid you were going to say that," Jazmine said.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  "The old abandoned house."

  I looked up at the creepy old house in front of me, lurking behind the iron fence and the lush garden. Last time we were in there, I saw my parents unfold into vicious bloodsucking creatures and, frankly, that had terrified me to the core, watching them try to kill Melanie like that. Even my brother had been…in the shape of a bat-like creature, fangs and wings and everything, trying to suck her blood.

  Jayden stood next to me, his arm brushing up against mine. "I know…" he said. "It's scary to have to go back in there. I feel it too."

  I looked at him. "You feel it too?"

  "The thudding? The drumming in my chest? Oh, yes. It feels like something is calling for you, right? I’ve heard it since I was a young child. I can tell by your face right now that you feel it too."

  "And you never told me this?" I asked. "I thought I was the only one. That there was something seriously wrong with me."

  "Nope. Nothing wrong with you, I mean apart from the fact that your parents are vampires. I have a feeling it has to do with what and who our parents are. Somehow, this house is connected to them and, thereby, to us as well."

  I exhaled, thinking I hadn't looked at it that way before. I didn't like the way Jayden talked about it like we were somehow bound to this thing, to this destiny just because our parents were. I liked to believe there was a way that I could not end up like them or like my brother.

  "Are you coming?" Amy asked.

  Jayden held the gate for me and we walked into the yard. I glanced up the street toward my house, hoping and praying my mom wouldn't see me. I had left my phone by the lake covered by my jacket, so she wouldn't track me to where I really was. If we moved fast, I could still be back before my thirty minutes were over.

  Amy opened the big door with the emblems on it and we entered the hall. Fear struck me when I thought about the last time I was there, but I shook it. At least it was broad daylight now, so the place had to be less scary and there were no parents here this time.

  "Let's split up," Jayden said, "and search the place."

  "I’m not walking around here all alone," Jazmine said and looked around with terror in her eyes.

  "All right," Jayden said. "Let's split into two groups. Robyn and I will take the left side of the house, while Amy and Jazmine take the right side. Everyone okay with that?"

  I gave him a look of surprise. Why would he do that to Jazmine? She would get jealous. Was he trying to make her jealous? I didn't like it. I turned to look at Jazmine, expecting her to protest, but to my surprise, she just smiled and approached Amy.

  "Sounds good to me," Amy said.

  "All right, let's hurry," Jayden said. "Robyn needs to be back in less than twenty minutes. If she’s not, all hell breaks loose, literally."

  Chapter Forty-Three

  We began in the basement where we had seen them before but found it empty. We then walked through the hall and continued through what looked like an old dining room, calling Melanie’s name. Paintings of old people seemed to be staring at us from the walls, tracking our every move. Being in the house made me feel sick, as the thudding in my chest continued and even grew in power. At one point, it was so powerful that I gasped and held a hand to my heart.

  Jayden felt it too. He turned around and grabbed my hand in his. Our eyes locked as the thudding continued and made me lose my breath.

  "What is it?"

  He shrugged. "I don't know, but we have to ignore it. Come. Let's see if we can find the stairs to get up to the second floor. See if they might have hidden her up there."

  He pulled my hand and we rushed through the dining room into another big room with many statues and paintings and vases with small hand-painted drawings on them. I stopped, and my hand slid out of Jayden's as I approached the giant vase standing on the floor; it was as tall as me.

  "What is it?" he asked.

  "Look," I said and stared at the drawings.

  Jayden approached it and looked too. "They're…they're vampires?" he said, puzzled.

  I nodded. "But there’s more…look at those over there?" I pointed at some other figures painted in black on the vase.

  "Wolves," he said and looked at me.

  "It seems like they're…look here…" I pointed at another drawing on the side of it.

  "They're fighting?"

  I nodded. "Apparently, wolves and Vampires don't mix well."

  "Makes sense why our parents are so eager to get rid of Melanie Peterson then," he said. "If it has always been this way."

  He pulled my shoulder. "We should get going. Before your mom finds out you're not by the lake and before they realize we’re in here."

  "Okay," I said and followed him out of the room. We found a set of stairs and walked up. They seemed to go on forever, winding through the house, before we ended in a hallway that appeared to be as long as the eye could see. Doors were on each side of it. Many doors.

  I sighed. "There have to be at least fifteen doors here. Fifteen rooms to search."

  He shrugged. "We should get to it then. If you take the ones on the left, I'll go right."

  I followed him down the old hallway, feeling very uncomfortable as we got deeper and deeper into this odd house that seemed to grow bigger and bigger the more time we spent in it. I didn't recall it being this big from the outside.

  I tried the first door. It complained loudly as I opened it.

  "Melanie?"

  Inside, I found an old bed. I had expected it to be covered in dust and spider webs since it hadn't been used or cleaned in ages, but it wasn’t that way. The room was as neat as if my mother had just cleaned it. I remembered the story of the young boy who had lived here and disappeared and wondered if it was haunted. Was that why no one had used it for all those years? Why it had been empty and abandoned for what seemed like forever? Who were the owners?

  "Not in here," I said as I closed the door again.

  "Not here either," Jayden said as he closed the door across from me.

  We continued. The carpet we walked on was thick and quieted our steps. We reached yet another set of doors and opened them simultaneously. On my side was just another bedroom, just as impeccably clean as the first one.

  "Another bedroom," I said and turned to look for Jayden. He came out of the other room. "Same here."

  We continued like that over and over again, finding each and every room to be very much like the previous one, down to even the smallest details such as the beds and even the dressers and closets. It was quite curious but made it a lot easier to look through all of them, until we reached what seemed to be the end of the hallway. Then, we looked behind us and realized there were just as many rooms and doors ahead of us as behind us. And both ways looked exactly the same. We realized we didn't know which way we had come from and which one we were going toward.

  We didn't know how to get back.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  "We came from there," Jayden said and pointed.

  I shook my head and pointed to the opposite side. "No, we didn't. We came from that side. I’m sure we did."

  "But you're wrong. We walked into the hallway and then I took all the rooms on the left and you on the right."

  I shook my head again. "No, it was the other way around…I think."

  "Well it should be easy enough to determine," he said and walked to the right. "If we walk to the end of the hallway, we should find the stairs."

  I followed him down the hallway, feeling very intimidated by the many paintings of faces staring at us, following us closely with their eyes. As we reached the end of the hallway, we turned the corner, and found…another hallway with many doors. Jayden stopped with a snort.

  "Okay. I guess it was the other way, then." He turned around and ran down the hallway where we had come from, but as we reached the end and turned the corner, we stood at the end of yet another hallway.

  "What the…?" he looked at me. "This can't be right?"

  "But…but we came from…" our eyes met in the sparse light.

  "We're lost," Jayden said.

  I refused to believe it and rushed down the hallway, only to get to another hallway, then rushed down that one only to find myself at a crossroads, two hallways, both looking exactly the same as the previous. Jayden came up behind me.

  "What are we going to do?" I asked.

  Jayden groaned. "I…I don't know."

  "We can't keep walking, can we?"

  "I’m afraid it feels like we're only walking deeper and deeper into the house. It's like…it's like it's swallowing us," he said.

  I looked up at him, sensing the beating in my chest. I had always felt like this house was alive somehow, like it was its very heart I could hear when I was close to it. Had this monster swallowed us? Was it going to devour us? Keep us here till we withered away? Make us run around from hallway to hallway till we couldn't walk anymore?

  That was how it felt.

  Jayden walked to one of the rooms and opened the door. The room was exactly the same as all the others.

  "I don't like this," I said. "How are we going to get home?"

  He walked into the room, then approached the window and pulled the curtains to the side. He pulled the window open and peeked out. The fresh air hit my face and made me feel better, calmed me a little. I rushed to him and looked out as well, but to my great disappointment when I realized that we were up so very high there was no way we could get down that way. It was taller than any high building I had ever been in, the cars below so far away they looked like ants.

  "What the heck is this?" I asked and pulled back. Heights always made me uncomfortable, but this was ridiculous.

  "I don't remember climbing any tower?"

  Jayden shook his head. "I don't think we did. I think it’s all an illusion."

  I looked at him. "Magic?"

  He nodded, then reached out his hand into the air. As he did, he touched something, a shield of some sort that moved like blubber—or my mom's smoothies—wobbling back and forth in the air.