Chapter 7

It's Friday, so that also means having Mr. Lovato's class. The thought of Chase leaving yesterday made me sad. I want him to stay, but I think letting him go is for the best.

We sit as a group in the lab, and Denise is sitting next to me. I look at Chase as he removes his eyes from me and focuses on the board as Mr. Lovato teaches. We finally stand up and go in a circle as Jada starts the solution. We start with endosmosis.

Jada takes some raisins out and puts them into a baker full of water. We wait for some time and observe as the raisins start swelling up. We notice that there is also an increase in their weight. Chase jots it down as Jada starts Exosmosis next.

Jada put other raisins into a baker full of sports drinks with a lot of salt in them. We wait for a while and observe that the cell starts shrinking. We notice that the raisins start losing water content and shrinking. Chase jots it down as Mr. Lovato comes to take it from him. We sit down and watch as Jada rearranges the bakers and tubes and chemicals on the table.

I screamed the moment I felt something like a water drop on my hand. Everyone looks in my direction as Denise comes to me immediately. She looks at my hand. "Her hand is red and now blood is coming out of it," Denise says as she looks at the teacher. I look at Chase, who is just sitting there and ignoring them.

Mr. Lovato walks to our seat and holds the baker that is beside me. "This doesn't look like water." He says, as he carefully lifts it to observe.

"It is water," Maddie replied.

"No, this is sulfuric acid ... how did it get in here?" Mr. Lovato asks as he looks at everyone in the class.

"Maybe the janitor put it there by mistake," Jada says as she looks at Chase. I can see that she is happy that he didn't come to me when I screamed. She put it there. My instinct tells me she didn't. "Chase." She calls.

"What." He answered as he looked at her.

"You are also bleeding." She points to his hand. He looks at it and then looks at me and back at his hand again. Now everyone's eyes are on me again.

"Are you guys connected or something?" Denise asks. "That's the same spot Inez is bleeding."

"Take her to the nurse's office." Mr. Lovato said.

I'm getting tempted as I focus on Chase's blood. My fangs are fighting their way out again, and I tried to control them, but it wasn't going well. Instead, the bulbs in the lab are increasing in current and are decreasing. Everyone starts panicking, and I, on the other hand, try not to make it obvious that I am doing all that. Jada looks at me as I sweat and calls me a freak. The same word I never want to hear. I don't think she figures, but if she did, then I would be exposed.

Denise finally makes me lose concentration on Chase's blood and takes me to the nurse's office. My teeth go back to normal.

~~~

I walked home immediately after the incident without even attending the rest of the classes. I tell mom what happened and show her my hand. She removes the plaster and I am already healed. "You've started your healing process—that's a good thing." She'd said.

I run to my room and take a nice hot bath, and after hours of staying indoors, I decide to go see Chase at the cinema. I wear my black leader short skirt with my ankle boots, then wear a white long sleeve round neck top. I used my room window as an exit and went through the woods.

When I finally get to the cinema, I see cars outside and hear some boys talking. I notice Larry's voice and see Chase walking in with his hand around Jada's shoulder. Are they back together? That's the first question that came to mind. I couldn't go to him. Instead, I headed back home and climbed onto my bed to sleep. Then I heard a knock on my door. I walked to open it and, to my surprise, it's Arden. I'm shocked because Arden has never been to my door since the day we came to the human world.

"Are you here to turn me into one of you?" I ask.

He laughs and I join. "You are my kid sister... and I can't turn you into a bloodsucker." I let him walk into my room, and he turns and focuses on me. "You snuck out?" he asked.

"No, I didn't." I tried not to make it obvious that I was lying.

"You know, I can smell you lying," Arden says as he comes closer. "That human boy will hurt you. Mama told you not to trust them; you are not one of them. You are the chosen one and also a leader to thousands of lives, so don't try to pretend you are human because you are more powerful than that, Inez."

"What exactly do you want, Arden?" I ask as I sit on my bed.

"I came to remind you that the time is ticking Inez and if you don't feed before the end of the month then you will be in critical condition and we won't be able to tame you or help you out of it."

"I can survive and fight this, Arden, mom, and dad did."

"Inez, mama, and papa are different. They had their first feed at age 16, and they will forever be Dhampirs because they can control the blood lust. I turned into this because I was careless... I don't want that to happen to you."

"I will be fine, Arden. I will overcome this." I reply as he walks towards the door, then he turns to look at me.

"I hope you do, and don't forget to use that plaster for your hand on Monday. You don't want them to run from you and ask you how you don't have any scars after the incident." He said as he shut the door behind him.It's Friday, so that also means having Mr. Lovato's class. The thought of Chase leaving yesterday made me sad. I want him to stay, but I think letting him go is for the best.

We sit as a group in the lab, and Denise is sitting next to me. I look at Chase as he removes his eyes from me and focuses on the board as Mr. Lovato teaches. We finally stand up and go in a circle as Jada starts the solution. We start with endosmosis.

Jada takes some raisins out and puts them into a baker full of water. We wait for some time and observe as the raisins start swelling up. We notice that there is also an increase in their weight. Chase jots it down as Jada starts Exosmosis next.

Jada put other raisins into a baker full of sports drinks with a lot of salt in them. We wait for a while and observe that the cell starts shrinking. We notice that the raisins start losing water content and shrinking. Chase jots it down as Mr. Lovato comes to take it from him. We sit down and watch as Jada rearranges the bakers and tubes and chemicals on the table.

I screamed the moment I felt something like a water drop on my hand. Everyone looks in my direction as Denise comes to me immediately. She looks at my hand. "Her hand is red and now blood is coming out of it," Denise says as she looks at the teacher. I look at Chase, who is just sitting there and ignoring them.

Mr. Lovato walks to our seat and holds the baker that is beside me. "This doesn't look like water." He says, as he carefully lifts it to observe.

"It is water," Maddie replied.

"No, this is sulfuric acid ... how did it get in here?" Mr. Lovato asks as he looks at everyone in the class.

"Maybe the janitor put it there by mistake," Jada says as she looks at Chase. I can see that she is happy that he didn't come to me when I screamed. She put it there. My instinct tells me she didn't. "Chase." She calls.

"What." He answered as he looked at her.

"You are also bleeding." She points to his hand. He looks at it and then looks at me and back at his hand again. Now everyone's eyes are on me again.

"Are you guys connected or something?" Denise asks. "That's the same spot Inez is bleeding."

"Take her to the nurse's office." Mr. Lovato said.

I'm getting tempted as I focus on Chase's blood. My fangs are fighting their way out again, and I tried to control them, but it wasn't going well. Instead, the bulbs in the lab are increasing in current and are decreasing. Everyone starts panicking, and I, on the other hand, try not to make it obvious that I am doing all that. Jada looks at me as I sweat and calls me a freak. The same word I never want to hear. I don't think she figures, but if she did, then I would be exposed.

Denise finally makes me lose concentration on Chase's blood and takes me to the nurse's office. My teeth go back to normal.

~~~

I walked home immediately after the incident without even attending the rest of the classes. I tell mom what happened and show her my hand. She removes the plaster and I am already healed. "You've started your healing process—that's a good thing." She'd said.

I run to my room and take a nice hot bath, and after hours of staying indoors, I decide to go see Chase at the cinema. I wear my black leader short skirt with my ankle boots, then wear a white long sleeve round neck top. I used my room window as an exit and went through the woods.

When I finally get to the cinema, I see cars outside and hear some boys talking. I notice Larry's voice and see Chase walking in with his hand around Jada's shoulder. Are they back together? That's the first question that came to mind. I couldn't go to him. Instead, I headed back home and climbed onto my bed to sleep. Then I heard a knock on my door. I walked to open it and, to my surprise, it's Arden. I'm shocked because Arden has never been to my door since the day we came to the human world.

"Are you here to turn me into one of you?" I ask.

He laughs and I join. "You are my kid sister... and I can't turn you into a bloodsucker." I let him walk into my room, and he turns and focuses on me. "You snuck out?" he asked.

"No, I didn't." I tried not to make it obvious that I was lying.

"You know, I can smell you lying," Arden says as he comes closer. "That human boy will hurt you. Mama told you not to trust them; you are not one of them. You are the chosen one and also a leader to thousands of lives, so don't try to pretend you are human because you are more powerful than that, Inez."

"What exactly do you want, Arden?" I ask as I sit on my bed.

"I came to remind you that the time is ticking Inez and if you don't feed before the end of the month then you will be in critical condition and we won't be able to tame you or help you out of it."

"I can survive and fight this, Arden, mom, and dad did."

"Inez, mama, and papa are different. They had their first feed at age 16, and they will forever be Dhampirs because they can control the blood lust. I turned into this because I was careless... I don't want that to happen to you."

"I will be fine, Arden. I will overcome this." I reply as he walks towards the door, then he turns to look at me.

"I hope you do, and don't forget to use that plaster for your hand on Monday. You don't want them to run from you and ask you how you don't have any scars after the incident." He said as he shut the door behind him.