"What are you going to see…?"

  While he spoke, Jayden noticed Jazmine's eyes growing wide.

  "Jayden! Watch out!" she screamed, and Jayden turned his head just in time to see the car approaching him at full speed. Behind the wheel inside the car sat his brother, grinning from ear to ear.

  Chapter Fifty

  "JAYDEN!"

  I was watching everything from my window. At first, I had seen Jayden come running back from the park and enjoyed watching him move, especially since he had taken his shirt off. Then Jazmine had come out of her house and they started to talk. I had been slightly jealous, not because I believed Jayden was into her anymore, but because she could just walk out of her house and talk to him just like that when I had to sneak out and risk everything just to see him.

  I spotted the car before Jazmine did. I saw it coming up the street and heading directly for them, speeding up, accelerating as it came closer. Then I started to scream and grabbed the window to try and open it, but it was locked and took too long. Luckily, Jazmine saw it and screamed, so Jayden turned around and saw it as it rushed toward them. And then something incredible happened. Just as I was certain the car was going to hit Jayden and kill him, ripping the only guy I have ever loved away from me, Jazmine pushed him aside, so he flew into the grass and landed on his back, while the car continued, now heading for Jazmine.

  My eyes were wide open as I prepared for it to crash directly into her, when she was somehow lifted into the air and hovered above the car as it continued underneath her and landed in the bushes behind her. Mouth gaping, I turned my head slightly and spotted Jazmine's dad. He was standing in their driveway, arms stretched out in front of him, holding his daughter in the air.

  I literally didn't breathe.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  All eyes in the street were on them. All eyes hiding behind curtains, fingers clenched around the edges of them, shakily pulling them aside just enough to peek out and see what was going on in their usually so quiet street. Everyone was watching them and had seen what Jazmine's father had done.

  "D-daaad?"

  Jazmine was still hanging in the air, and he slowly put her back onto the ground. Jayden's older brother, Logan, got out of the car, holding his bleeding forehead.

  "What the heck?" he grunted.

  Then Jayden got on his feet and sprang for his brother, growling loudly, and seconds later, they were in a fight on the pavement, each of them groaning and throwing punches.

  Jazmine stared at them, then up at her father. Her mother had come outside too and now she was running toward her.

  "Are you all right? Baby?"

  Jazmine looked down at her body. "I…I guess. Mom. Dad…how did he…?"

  "We'll talk about it another time," she said, then turned to face her father. "That was very risky," she said.

  Her father swallowed hard. "I had no choice. What would you have me do? Let her get killed?"

  Jazmine's mother shook her head. "Of course not."

  She grabbed her daughter and pulled her into a warm embrace, while Jayden and Logan were still at it on the pavement.

  "I hate you!" Logan yelled and hit Jayden in the face. He was sitting on top of him, holding Jayden down, punching him in the face. "I hate your pretty face and I hate that you always get everything you want. I hate you!"

  Jazmine's dad hurried to them. He grabbed Logan by the collar and pulled him up. Jayden was quite bruised and not getting up from the pavement. He was groaning in pain. He was no match for his much bigger brother.

  Jazmine knelt next to him.

  "Jayden, are you all right?" she asked.

  The Smiths were rushing out of their house and approaching them.

  "It was an accident!" Logan yelled. "I lost control of the car. It was an accident!"

  Jayden couldn't speak. Jazmine helped him roll onto his back so he could catch his breath. She put a hand on his chest.

  "Are you okay?" she asked again.

  He nodded, still panting. "Thanks," he said, his voice hoarse and feeble. "You saved my life."

  Jazmine stared at her father, then sighed. "I only did what anyone would have."

  "Not everyone I know," Jayden said and sat up. His dad was yelling at Logan to go back to the house where they would deal with him later.

  Jazmine stared at her parents, while Mrs. Smith attended to Jayden. Jazmine approached her mother, who once again grabbed her in a warm embrace. Her hands were shaking as she put them on Jazmine's shoulders.

  "Let's get back inside," she said, and they started to walk. Just as Jazmine was about to walk inside, she turned her head—without knowing why—and spotted Mr. Aran standing in the street, staring at them, petting his tarantula, a mischievous grin on his face.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  "Oh, dear Lord, what are we going to do?"

  Jazmine's mom looked terrified at her dad. Jazmine didn't quite understand at first what she was talking about.

  "I don't know, Briana," he answered, biting his nails.

  Jazmine's mom walked to the window, then pulled the curtain. "He saw you. He saw you use your powers, Norman."

  "We don't know that he did," her dad replied.

  "We can't take that chance," she said, turning around quickly to look at him. Never had Jazmine seen such a horrified look on her mother's face. Were they talking about Mr. Aran?

  Jazmine's mother swallowed, hard. "You must run, Norman. You have to get out of here."

  His nostrils were flaring. He stared at his wife.

  "Dad?" Jazmine said.

  "Your mother is right," he said.

  "But…Dad?"

  Jazmine's mother rushed up the stairs, packed a suitcase for her husband, then hurried down, holding it between her hands.

  "Here, Norman. I packed the most essential things. Now, you take the car and go as far away from here as you can."

  Jazmine could hardly breathe. She stared at her parents, who looked into each other's eyes. Her dad grabbed her mother's face between his hands and removed a tear that had escaped the corner of her eye.

  "As soon as I’ve found somewhere safe, I'll send for you. We'll be together again."

  Jazmine's mother couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She sniffled and wiped tears away with the back of her hand. Jazmine's dad then kissed her, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath like he wanted to remember her smell.

  Jazmine couldn't stop crying. It felt like everything inside of her was ripped apart, like the entire world fell apart. How…why…? She didn't understand, and she wasn't sure she could bear this.

  "Mom?" she asked, her voice breaking. "Where is Dad going?"

  Jazmine's father approached her, then smiled. "You take good care of your mother, now. You promise me that? She's gonna need you to help out around the house."

  Tears were streaming across his cheeks as he spoke. Jazmine could hardly see anything for hers. She didn't even bother to wipe them away.

  "Why, Dad? Why do you have to leave?"

  He grabbed her in a hug, then kissed her forehead. "One day, you'll understand, sweet child."

  "You must go now, and hurry," Jazmine's mother said.

  Her dad sighed and caressed her cheek one last time, then turned around with a loud sniffle and walked to the front door. He stepped outside, and Jazmine followed him, wanting to get every little bit of him as long as she could, take in everything about him before he was gone.

  Outside stood Mr. Aran, leaning up against their car. He wasn't alone. He had brought two other men who looked just like him.

  Jazmine froze to ice. Her mother gasped and pulled her close to protect her.

  Jazmine's dad dropped the suitcase when he saw him. In his hand, Mr. Aran was holding a device, one that looked like a handheld vacuum cleaner of some sort. It was black.

  "M-Mr. Aran?" her dad said.

  "A Toyota, huh? I would have pegged you as more of a Cadillac type or a Mercedes. Something flashy. Or would you prefer a broom?"

  "Excuse me?"

  Mr. Aran stepped forward, holding the vacuum cleaner in his hand.

  "Mom?" Jazmine said.

  But she didn't answer. Her hands were shaking as they held onto her daughter's shoulders.

  "Will you come with us willingly?" Mr. Aran asked. "I don't really want to do it in front of your family."

  Jazmine's dad lifted his hands in the air, then said the word Jazmine would never forget for the rest of her life:

  "Never."

  He then mumbled a series of words, lifted both his hands as he had done when elevating Jazmine from the ground, and Jazmine saw a ball fire come out of them, directly toward the three men.

  But the ball of fire was stopped by the vacuum cleaner when Mr. Aran turned it on and directed it at Jazmine's dad. It simply sucked up the fire and then continued, sucking onto her dad's skin.

  Jazmine couldn't breathe as she watched the very soul being pulled out of her dad's body and the empty shell fall to the pavement in their driveway. Jazmine's mom held her in a tight grip and pulled her away, while Jazmine screamed.

  "DAAAAD!"

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  I couldn't believe my own eyes. I was standing in my kitchen, rhubarb smoothie in my hand, my mom next to me, looking out at what was going on in front of Jazmine's house.

  With my heart in my throat, I watched as Mr. Aran approached her dad and then—it all went so fast, I hardly believed any of it—her dad threw a ball of fire at them, but the ball of fire was sucked into that handheld vacuum cleaner thing that Mr. Aran was holding and then…then Jazmine's dad was too, or parts of him. I didn't really understand what was going on; I had never seen anything like it, but what was left seemed to be an empty body that fell to the ground with a loud thud.

  "JAZMINE!" I screamed, fighting to breathe. I dropped the glass from my hand, and it scattered all over the floor, the red rhubarb smoothie seeping onto the tiles.

  My mom grabbed me and pulled me away from the window, forcefully. She held my arms while I panicked.

  "Pull yourself together, Robyn. You can't freak out," she said. "You can't freak out now. Breathe, child. Breathe."

  I did as she told me and took a couple of deep breaths. It helped, but not much. A gazillion thoughts rushed through my mind and I didn't know where to begin.

  "Oh, my God, Mom, what happened to Jazmine's dad? What happened to him?" my voice was high pitched and scratchy.

  My mom looked straight into my eyes. Never in my life had I seen such a terrified look on her face. It scared me like crazy. There was so much she wasn't telling me and that I couldn't ask.

  "Jazmine's dad is gone," she said. "He's gone, Robyn. You hear me? He's gone."

  "But…but...how? Mom?"

  "I can't explain it, Robyn, just trust me on this."

  Trust you? Trust you? After all this you want me to trust you?

  "I…I can't…"

  I couldn't get the words across my lips properly and stopped.

  "Just promise me you'll stay away from that man, Mr. Aran," my mom said. "He's dangerous. Never speak to him. Never go anywhere close to him, you hear me?"

  "I do. I do…but…can't we…can't we call the police or something? He can't just kill Jazmine's dad just like that. Can he?"

  My mom exhaled. "He is the police. Sort of."

  I swallowed, hard. What did that even mean? Sort of? Either you're police, or you aren't. And the police I know don't go around sucking the souls out of people's bodies and leaving them to die.

  "You say that I have to be careful. Does that mean…W-will he do that to any of us?"

  My mother looked pensive for a few seconds, biting her long nails before she answered:

  "Not if I have anything to say about it. And I will have. Trust me; I will."

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  It was evening but not yet midnight when the back of the van was opened. Melanie had been asleep when it started to move. She was happy it did because days of being locked up in this armored van had made her almost lose her mind. Outside the door stood Robyn's mom. In her hands, she was holding a gun. It had a silver bullet inside of it. She had told Melanie that before. A silver bullet could kill her if it entered her bloodstream. Robyn's mom had made sure she knew that.

  On the day Melanie decided to leave Amy's house, she had packed a few things that she knew Amy wouldn't mind. Mostly a few of her old T-shirts and some underwear that she had already given to her, and then some food and a toothbrush. She had written the note for Amy and left it on the bed with a deep sigh, feeling very sad that she had to leave, especially since she wouldn't even get to say goodbye. She had grown to care for Amy and was going to miss her and her beautiful house.

  Melanie had then walked to the front door and stepped outside, when Robyn's mom had been out for a stroll, or maybe she was snooping around anyway, Melanie never knew. But there she was and, suddenly, they were standing face to face.

  "Mrs. Jones?" Melanie had said, feeling how the blood left her face.

  Robyn's mom had smiled; no, it was more than that, it was a very satisfied grin, maybe there was even a little relief in it too.

  "Melanie. Boy, have we been looking for you."

  Melanie had looked at the skinny woman, then tried to turn around and walk in the other direction, but Mrs. Jones was a vampire, and if Melanie had learned anything since becoming a werewolf it was that vampires are fast, faster than she could blink.

  "Where are you going?" Mrs. Jones said, suddenly standing in front of her.

  Melanie was terrified of Robyn's mother, but she had also recently realized that she was able to kill vampires and that most of them were terrified of her, so she tried her best not to act like she was intimidated by this woman standing in front of her, looking at her over her sunglasses.

  "I’m leaving. Please, get out of my way," Melanie had said.

  But the skinny woman hadn't budged. "You think I’m afraid of you, don't you? You think that just because you're a wolf, you can do anything you like, don't you? So typical of you wolves. Just go around killing people like it was nothing."

  Melanie felt a pinch of guilt. She wasn't happy that she had killed the pastor, but what was done was done, and in her book, he was, after all, a bad guy, preying on innocent humans. Just as Mrs. Jones was.

  "Get out of my way," Melanie had said, growling. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

  That had made Robyn's mother laugh. "As if you were ever a match for me." And that was when she had shown her the gun and explained to Melanie that if she shot her with this, Melanie would die immediately. She had also told her she wouldn't hesitate to do so since, in her eyes, Melanie was nothing but a vicious killer.

  "You don't even deserve my mercy."

  Now that the gun was pointed at her again, Melanie knew it was time to face the music. Mrs. Jones wanted something from her, and she was about to find out what.

  "Get out," Mrs. Jones said. "I have someone you need to meet."

  "Oh, great, is it another of your vampire friends? I can't wait to meet more of them," she said.

  Mrs. Jones ignored her remark. Melanie realized they were in the park. A man with very skinny arms and legs and a round body and bald head approached them.

  Mrs. Jones placed a chain around Melanie's neck and pulled her toward him.

  "Here's your wolf," she said.

  The man had a tarantula crawling on his shoulder and a smile to match Mrs. Jones' as he looked at Melanie.

  "Now, remember. We have a deal," Robyn's mother said and handed him the chain. "You leave my family and me alone. I don't care what you do to anyone else but leave my family alone. Deal?"

  The man with the round head nodded and grabbed the chain.

  "You have yourself a deal, Mrs. Jones."

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Amy was crying. She looked at Melanie's empty bed and the note in her hand one last time, then threw the note out and closed the door to the shelter. Melanie had chosen to leave, and she was on her own now. Amy was already missing her like crazy.

  But that wasn't why she was crying. She was crying because of Jazmine. She had seen what happened to her dad from her window, while making pumpkin pie, then stormed out in the street and ran to Jazmine. She had hugged her and held her tight while her friend had cried desperately, screaming for her dad, and her mom had knelt next to his empty body, putting her cheek to his chest, screaming her pain out.

  Amy had helped Jazmine get inside and poured her some water. Jazmine drank between sobs. Then she called for an ambulance and, soon after, the entire house was crawling with paramedics and police. Many of the neighbors stood in their driveways and looked out, some stayed behind their curtains, while a few—like Jayden's parents—came out to help and take care of Jazmine's mother.

  Amy had helped all she could, then left them to go home. Now, for the first time, she was crying, letting it all out because she felt so sad for Jazmine. It was tough always to have to be the strong one for everyone when you yourself were ripped apart inside, devastated with loneliness.

  Like so many times before, she wished her mother was there so that she could cry on her shoulder. But like so many times before, she wasn't.

  Amy walked up the stairs to the kitchen where all the food she had cooked lately was piled up. She had no idea what to do with it all. She had thought about inviting all her friends over for a feast, but there really wasn't much to celebrate. Instead, she had decided to donate it to a shelter. She was going to carry it all to the truck and take it down there.

  Amy grabbed a lasagna and put another one on top of it, then another one till she had four of them stacked on top of one another. She lifted them up when suddenly a sharp pain shot through both of her shoulders at once.

  The pain was so deep, it made her drop the lasagnas onto the floor, the contents scattering all over, smearing the tiles in tomato sauce and pasta.