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

scared off my true mate. "I Am" by Awolnation started playing when the last song by Deadstar Assembly ended. Then something by Elton John. I started crying softly. Sarah likes Elton John.

I had finished all my finals, and Father turned them in. An A on every single one. That was little comfort. Sarah mentioned on her latest Facebook status that she ended the semester with good grades. That was a little more comfort. At least she hadn't blocked or unfriended me.

My family left me alone. Janna and I finished cleaning. The bookshelves were history, as were some of the posters I'd ripped off my walls. Well, I was thinking about repainting it anyway. When I was younger, the walls were dark blue. They'd been repainted a cream color in my preteen years so that I could paint them a different color, but I never got around to choosing a color.

I thought about painting it black, but Father said hell no. Now I thought that black was fitting. It matched how I was feeling. We hadn't even lasted six months, and she was going to leave me again. This was all my fault. I wished I'd never showed her that stupid book.

"Realize" by Colbie Caillat started playing next. I found it fitting. I decided that I needed to play all our songs, and she'd see how good we were for each other. No, that only worked in books and movies. This was real life.

I kicked off my boots and laid in bed. I'd stacked my private book collection at the foot of the bed. I rolled onto my stomach to choose one. A couple of Jane Austens. Hmm. Sarah must have brought those over. Bronte. She definitely brought that over. I was never one for romance.

I'm not the romantic type. I'm not perfect. I screw up constantly, as evidenced by my lack of a girlfriend by my side at the moment. My father is overprotective and pretentious. My grandfather never shows emotion. My uncle is negative and falls in love too fast. Plus, he had a relationship with a seventeen year old girl and my best friend. Speaking of whom, she's far more popular than I'll ever be, despite my position and title.

My cousin is narcissistic and has major female issues. My cat...wait, my cat? Yes, it's true. At first I didn't like him, but now I was growing quite fond of him. My cat has control issues with his spraying and urinating in the house. Louis still liked him the best, however.

Uncle Soren knocked on the door, and then came in without an invitation.

"Hey," he said, sitting on the edge of my bed. "I heard about what happened. I'm sorry." I laid my head on my arms.

"What if she never speaks to me again?"

"I'm sure she will. She likes you too much not to. She needs some time to absorb it and think it over. You know, I feel guilty. I shouldn't have pressured you to keep it a secret."

"You were only looking out for me."

"No, I was looking out for the rest of the vampire race, which I realize now is completely stupid. Can you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive."

"Ah, well. Have you eaten today?" he asked.

"No."

"Come downstairs. I'll heat up some B positive for you." I followed him down the stairs, nearly tripping over Shadowfang twice. I ate slowly, making sure to swallow each mouthful carefully.

"What are you worried about?" Father asked. "No one's going to try to poison you again."

"Yeah, whatever. What's on TV?"

"Underworld: Revolution, Alien vs. Predator, Meet Dave, Tabatha's Takeover, License to Drive, Die Hard, Cake Wars, Jennifer's Body."

"Die Hard looks good right now. Let's watch that."

"Really?" Louis asked in a sarcastic tone. "Are you sure you don't want to watch Jennifer's Body?"

"Shut up, Louis."

"No, I'm serious. You, the guy who likes horror and gore the most out of any of us?"

"It scared the crap out of me the first time I watched it." Suddenly, they were all looking at me as if I'd lost my mind. "What's the matter with you all?"

"Nothing. It's like...it's like you're a different Reese," Father said.

"Just because I don't want to watch a gory movie right now?"

"It's not just that."

I went upstairs, feeling uncomfortable. I worked on my wrecked room. I put the rest of my clothes away, made sure I had clean ones, and reorganized my dresser. Socks and boxers in one drawer, shorts in another, tank tops and wifebeaters in another. I made sure that all my boots and other shoes were lined up perfectly according to how much I wore them. My favorite pair I set in front by the door.

Father said that I could start working at his new video store after the holidays were over, but I was anxious to see it.

I dressed and put on a jacket, grabbed my keys, cell phone, and wallet. I even added a wallet chain that I rarely used.

I found it in no time. I grabbed the key I'd secretly copied from my father's keychain and opened the door. It was full of DVDs, CDs, radios, cassette tapes, and even a CD creator and a device to turn videotapes into DVDs. Knowing my father, he'd copy every videotape and turn it into a DVD despite copyright issues. He had the latest computer register set up in the middle of one corner, and videogames were scattered throughout.

"Reese?" I stood ramrod straight and turned around.

"Father."

"Why are you here?"

"Why did you open up a store?" He sighed.

"Okay, the truth is that less and less vampires are dying each year. If no one claims their assets, it immediately goes to us. Since less vampires are dying, we may receive less and less money. This is a backup source. I'm also opening a computer shop where we'll repair, sell, buy, or trade computer products. Everything from a Dynex to the latest Dell. And I'm buying that mall that Sarah likes so much. Soon, everyone who has a business there will pay rent to me. I'm doing this to protect yours and her future."

"How did you even...?"

"I didn't know that you were going to find her so soon. I swear I didn't. But I still wanted to be prepared. Plus, she'll get everything free once she's completely assimilated into the family. And so will you."

I put my head on his chest. "Daddy, I don't know if she'll even take me back. I fucked up. I majorly fucked up."

"That's ironic, because she called the house phone asking for you. She tried to get a hold of you on your cell but couldn't reach you, which is why I'm here, because I couldn't reach you on your cell either."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not. She wants to know if you still want to take her to the Christmas Ball. Her mother said yes."

I could have literally jumped for joy. I kept my composure, however, and checked my phone. Four missed calls, two from Sarah, one from Father, and one from Uncle Soren.

"Damn ringtone's messed up." I quickly fixed it and called Sarah back. I sat on a couch. My father turned on the Open sign and booted up the computer register.

"Might as well start helping people with holiday gifts," he said with a shit-eating grin.

"Yeah, Sarah," I said, ignoring him, "I'd still like to take you to the Christmas Ball. I'll pick you up the morning we leave. We'll leave next Wednesday. Christmas Eve is the week after that."

"Thanks, Reese. You know, our school is the only one in the state that ends school this early."

"I know! What luck, huh?"

"Yeah, well, I'd better start laundry. I'll call you later."

"Okay. Bye, baby."

"Bye." We clicked off just as a customer walked in, a middle-aged woman.

"Do you have any Barbie movies?" she asked.

"All of our children's movies are over here, madam," Father said, gesturing to the right side of the store. "Reese, come here. You need to know how the register works."

For the next few hours, Father taught me how to complete a transaction, how to stock merchandise, told me how to prevent theft, and what to do if a payment didn't go through.

"Just let them have the merchandise," he said. "It's easier than putting everything back, and it's nice to do." He even showed me where he kept the adult movies. Since I was not yet eighteen, he would only allow me to sell them if I kept my mouth shut about my actual age. He showed me how to remove antitheft tags and stickers.

Throughout the day, more and more customers came through the door, and each one of them bought something. Well, one guy asked if he could preorder a videogame due in mid-January. Father showed me how to do that as well.

Finally, Father had to make the first closing announcement, and several people headed to the register.

"Are you two related?" an older woman asked.

"He's my son," Father said.

"Is he your only son?"

"My only child, in fact."

"Well, then, he's no doubt the jewel of your eye." She then placed several Call of Duty games on the counter. "Are these safe for a sixteen year old?"

While Father helped her, I assisted the last customers with choosing items for their holiday shopping lists. Gods, I hate shopping.

"Excuse me, I need help choosing a gift," one man said.

"Sure," I said. "What can I help you with?"

"You see, my daughter married this guy that I don't like. He likes this celebrity girl, but I can't remember her name."

"Has she been in any movies or written any songs? What does she look like?"

"Uh, she's got dark hair and blue eyes. Holly something."

"Holly Capulet? We have a couple of her movies over here." I directed him to the movie section, where I helped him browse the Holly Capulet movies. He eventually chose a movie and went to pay.

Father flipped the sign before long and we closed up. It was nice, working. I'd never worked in my life except for the occasional chore. Father went through servants like a girl choosing clothes for a date. (Admit it, we all do it.)

I was happier than I'd been in a while. As I drove home, I wondered how much we'd earned today. Father would know. Most of the games and movies we sold were still wrapped in plastic. I stopped to fill up my Astro's tank. It was about done for. I'd have to look for a new car soon. Something fast, yet sturdy and comfortable. Hopefully something that didn't break easily. Of course, I could always buy a used Honda and make modifications to it.

Sarah had a Honda. I could ask her what her favorite features were. Maybe we could buy a new one together. Yes. She could move into the house, and she'd stay with me. We would always have food for her in the house. I would make sure that she and the baby got plenty of nutrition. With all the guards, she would get extra protection. I could assign her her own guard. Maybe Toby?

I was so distracted that I almost overfilled my tank. I cursed loudly as I spilled gas on my jacket and jeans.

"What happened?" the clerk asked.

"A kid spilled gas all over himself," another customer told him. "How are you gonna clean it up?"

"I'll put some cat litter on it. No big deal."

I finished up, paid, and drove away, a little embarassed. While I was driving, I got a text from Father. I assumed that it was because of me being late getting home. When I did get home, however, he didn't look worried.

"I stopped to get gas," I said.

"I know. I can smell on you. Go soak your clothes in some warm water and come downstairs. We need to have a discussion about how we're getting to Denmark."

"I assumed we'd do it the same way we always did; use your private jet."

"Well, yes, but now we have to worry about Sarah. Go get ready for bed and we'll talk."

I ignored his babying remark and