Unraveling Sarah Cresley, Marisa Maichel [thriller books to read .txt] 📗

I said. He gave me a weak smile.

"Reese, how are you feeling?" Reception Guy asked.

"I feel...better."

"That's good. My name is Uriah Dreschler, by the way. I'll be your nurse while you're here."

"Nice to meet you, Uriah." He walked forward and felt my forehead.

"You still feel a bit cold. I want you to stay for a couple of days." My father raised an eyebrow. The cost was no problem. Keeping our secret would be hard.

~~~~~~~~~

Uriah brought me a lunch tray. He stayed while I ate. The food was not very good, but I forced myself to swallow each bite. Uriah was always in my room. Even when I watched TV or slept. I wanted to tell Father, but I was afraid of his reaction.

Uriah asked me if I needed help bathing, and when I said I could do it myself, he actually looked crestfallen. I was deeply confused and disturbed. I took my time with the washing, paying extra attention to my hair.

He was waiting for me in the room. He handed me a tray of food, which I accepted.

"Reese," he said, "That girl you brought here a couple weeks ago, is she okay?"

"She's fine," I said. He smiled at me uncertainly.

"That's good." I changed into a hospital gown.

The girls came by, Ariella first.

"Where's Sarah?" I asked as we hugged.

"She'll probably be here soon. She went to get some coffee." My father and uncle appeared moments later.

"Thank you, Uriah. We'll take it from here," Uncle Soren said. Uriah looked unsure, but he left. He bumped Sarah, mumbled an apology, and turned the corner. Sarah came in carrying two drink trays, all of which had coffee cups and cream and sugar. I noticed immediately that she had lost weight and her skin was pale.

"Hello, Sarah," Father said.

"Hello, Mordecai, Soren." She handed a coffee cup to each of us. We thanked her and added lots of cream and sugar. I hugged her and pecked her cheek.

"How have you been?" I asked.

"Fine," she said, although I could tell she was lying. Always be suspicious when a woman says she's "fine". "When will you be out of here, and what happened?" she continued.

"I had a really bad seizure. I'll be out in a day or two."

"That's good news. Why did the seizure happen?" I looked at my father.

"Somebody tried to poison him," he said. Sarah's eyes widened and Ariella dropped her coffee.

"Why would someone do that?" Ariella squeaked.

"To get to me," Father confessed. "It's my fault he's in here." Uncle Soren crushed his coffee cup.

"Mordecai!" he hissed. Father ignored him.

I first heard, then smelled, my cousin Louis. He appeared in the doorway, panting, his long brown hair coming loose from his ponytail. His eyes are actually blue, he doesn't have the yellow eyes that most of my family has.

"Reese! I just got the news! Are you okay?" He spoke too quickly for humans to hear.

"I'll be out in a day or two," I informed him.

"That's good." He entered the room slowly. "Oh, hello," he said when he saw Sarah. He nodded at Uncle Soren and hugged my father. When he saw Ariella, he froze. "Hello."

"Hello," Ariella said.

"I am Reese's cousin Louis," he informed the girls.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sarah," my love said. He kissed her knuckles.

"I'm Ariella," my human friend said. Louis kissed her knuckles as well. He gazed at Ariella's grey eyes for a long time. Uncle Soren growled at him. Louis squeezed my friend's hand before releasing her. Ariella looked uncomfortable.

Louis sat in a chair beside me. "Are you sure you feel okay, Reese? You look pale."

"I always look pale. I feel much better than I did yesterday," I replied.

"Where's Grandfather?" he asked.

"In Rhode Island, still," Father told him. "He had business in Virginia." I could see that both of the girls had questions, but did not want to ask.

"Our father is a CEO," Uncle Soren told them. "He's quite prominent."

"CEO of what?" Ariella inquired.

"Well, not really CEO..." Father said softly. Uncle Soren nudged him. "But he is quite prominent. Let's just say he works for the government." The girls looked at each other, suspicious.

"So, Ariella, what are your hobbies? Are you in school?" Louis asked. Ariella told him about Everlasting Strife. Louis seemed genuinely interested in her life. Uncle Soren's facial features jumped from interest to resentment. Louis even went to far as to pretend there was something in Ariella's loosely-curled brown hair and stroked her bangs. Weirdo. His eyes trailed down to her chest.

Oh, hell no.

"Louis!" I snapped below human hearing. He averted his eyes and I swatted him upside the head. Ariella folded her arms across her chest. Uncle Soren's frown deepened.

I smelled another vampire coming. Father stiffened and stood up straight. Uncle Soren moved closer to the girls, getting ready to shield them if necessary. It was the vampire who had held me down when I was delirious.

"He needs more fluids," he said, checking my stats. That meant I needed more blood. Sarah and Ariella left the room. I heard them talking down the hall. The new vampire gave me a glass of warm blood that he somehow produced without me knowing.

As soon as I swallowed it, my stomach protested. I struggled to keep it down, putting one hand over my mouth and the other on my stomach.

"Why can't he keep it down?" Father asked.

"There's still a bit of poison in his belly," the new vampire said. "It's a reaction."

"Well, get it out of him!"

"It'll be hard to do that at this point. He could lose a lot of blood, both his own and the donated liquid." My father embraced me, burying his nose in my hair.

"My poor baby," he cooed.

"Father, please!" I hissed. He mumbled an insincere apology.

"Mordecai, leave the boy alone," Uncle Soren commanded. Father growled at him.

"What you do if it was Louis in Reese's position?"

"I'd protect him anyway I can." A few minutes passed, and Father tried coaxing me into drinking more blood. I nearly threw up again, and was given a cup of water. I also found out that the vampire nurse's name was Ethan Potter, an he had been a nurse for ninety years, going from place to place.

Uriah came to check on me, and I saw Ethan give him an irritated look.

"Uriah and Ethan appear to dislike each other," Father noted. "Uriah is part Elf, if I'm not mistaken. He seems rather taken with Reese."

"Why me?" I groaned.

"You have more power than you think, son. You are quite interesting, and you have both your mother's and my beauty." I didn't believe him. He affectionately kissed my hair.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Is Louis with the girls?" I asked.

"Yes. The girls are about to leave."

I heard Sarah coming. I saw her not a moment later. She hugged me, saying that she had to go and that she would see me later. I kissed her on the lips. She was surprised by this.

"I love you," I said.

"I love you, too." My chest seemed to fly away. I didn't want to let her go. My stomach hurt, and I no longer knew why.

~~~~~~~~~~

"You get to leave the day after tomorrow," Father said.

"My belly hurts," I complained.

"I know, dear one. You need to talk to some officers as well since you were poisoned deliberately."

"What kind of poison was it?"

"I don't know. They won't tell me." He sniffed my hair. "It's my fault this happened. When you were a baby, I vowed to you that I would protect you. So far, I've failed. I'm so sorry, Reese."

"Father, have you eaten?" I asked.

"I will eat later. You are far more important." I could literally feel and hear my father's stomach growl, which was why I asked.

"I'll be fine," I told him. "Go eat." He kissed my forehead before telling me that he would be back soon and leaving. I tried to sleep, but I could not. When I fall asleep, I'm most comfortable on my side or stomach. I had to sleep on my back because of all the wires and equipment surrounding me.

Uriah came to check on me. He gave me another pillow, which I accepted. Then he did something unexpected. He shut my door.

"I have to be honest," he said. "I think I'm in love with you." Crap

"I have a girlfriend," I told him. I could feel his heart breaking. Already, there were tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, leaving.

When my father came back, I told him what happened. His eyes darkened and he growled.

"Daddy, I don't know what to do," I said, feeling tears in my eyes.

"I should have stayed," he said. "My poor baby."

"I'm not a fucking baby!" I snapped. He looked hurt and confused.

"You're acting like one," he said. "I must leave now. Goodbye, Reese." He left without giving me a hug or kiss. Of course, he came back five minutes later. I was still crying.

"I'm sorry!" he said, embracing me. "I'm so sorry."

"Get away from me!" I cried, pushing him away.

"You're not serious?" he asked, looking even more hurt and confused.

"If you're going to yell at me for no reason-"

"Let me stop you right there. You yelled at me first, remember?"

"Either way, leave me alone. I want to be alone."

"No way. You are hurting because of me, and I need to make it right." He wrapped his arms around me. He started apologizing profusely.

"I'm sorry, too," I said after his fiftieth apology. "I'm not in a good mood, and I took it out on you."

"That's it, I'm taking you out of here."

~~~~~~~~~

It took some pleading, and a few death threats, but soon I was able to leave. I needed blood. I needed a cigarette.

As soon as I got home, I got one out of my emergency stash and hid outside.

"Reese, you know that's illegal," Father said, finding me. I stomped on it angrily. "Please tell me what's wrong. What exactly did Uriah say?"

"No," I said stubbornly.

"Reese, please. I'm sorry I snapped at you. Please tell me. I wouldn't be able to stand it if he did something to you-"

"He told me he loved me, okay?!"

"He what?"

"He kept me in that freaking place because he likes me. I don't even think it's real love, I think it's him being stupid." Father frowned.

"Is that why you're in a snit? For something that trivial? I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in you. You caused a fight between us for something so dumb?"

"I caused a fight?"

"I didn't mean to word it like that-"

"Save it. I'm done with it."

"You know what? Go to your room and do not come out."

I flipped him the middle finger and stalked away.

I didn't plan on crying, but I did anyway. My father has only gotten mad at me a handful of times, and usually it was for a better reason than this. Of course, he realized this, and knocked on my door a few hours later.

"Leave me alone," I said.

"Reese, I'm sorry," he said, sounding emotional. "You were right. I thought about it, and you were right. I'm sorry. Please come out so we can talk." I slowly did come out. Slowly. I was cautious and a bit nervous. He enfolded me as soon as he saw me, asking for forgiveness, squeezing me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father insisted on feeding me. My stomach felt weak, though, so I ate slowly, which frustrated him. My favorite blood type is B negative, so I drank that. Father's favorite blood type is AB, which is the rarest kind there is. He fed me different types until I said I couldn't eat anymore.

"I can't; I'm so full," I said as he offered me a glass of B positive.

"As long as you're satisfied, little one," he said, drinking the rich red liquid himself. He made a face. Refrigerated blood is never as tasteful or satisfying as fresh warm blood from a live source.

Why not drink animal blood? It's disgusting, for one thing, it doesn't give us the right nutrition, and it's not as filling. I drink donated blood at the insistence of my