“What do you mean I can’t go home?” I asked in surprise the next day. “I want to see my family.”

I knew they were worried. They had to be. It wasn’t like I planned to move back in, but surely letting them see I was okay wouldn’t be a problem. What was the harm and setting their minds at ease? We’d left all that blood on the gym floor, but my body had obviously not stayed behind – even though I’d technically died. I just didn’t want them to worry the rest of their lives, wondering what happened to me. Was that so wrong?

“Sophia,” he said patiently. “You disappeared from school yesterday. How are you going to explain that, and all the blood on the gym floor?  They think you’re dead!”

“Exactly! That’s why I need to show my parents that I’m okay!” Why couldn’t he understand? Had it been so long since he’d had a family he’d forgotten what it was like? I knew they’d loved me, and I didn’t want them to worry.

“You can’t. I’m sorry, but you can’t go back home,” he said.

I paced the length of the bedroom.  He’d brought me to his beautiful home on the outskirts of town last night after he’d turned me. I was grateful not to be dead, and I was already head over heels for Lucas, but I wanted my family to know I was okay.  Was that really so wrong?

“Lucas, please!”

He stopped me and pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but you can’t. If they see you, they won’t understand why you can’t stay with them.  They’ll expect you to go back to your normal life, and that just isn’t possible. You might be eighteen, but you’re still in high school. Or you were. They wouldn’t let you just run off. They’d lock you in your room, and then what? When the sun rose, you’d die for real.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. “But I know they’re so scared.”

He held me tight and kissed the top of my head, trying to comfort me. I leaned into him, wishing it made me feel better. But I couldn’t just forget my old life. My family and friends had meant too much to me for me to just walk away without looking back. Especially while everyone was so worried about me. According to the news, Coach Sanz was taking it the hardest since she was the one who had assigned me detention and then walked out.

There had been speculation that she’d lose her job, and that police might even be investigating her for my disappearance. I couldn’t let that happen. I might not have liked the woman, but I didn’t want to go to prison for something she didn’t do. Sure, she should have stayed, and if she lost her job then it would justified. But she hadn’t killed me, or hidden my body somewhere like the news people were saying.

“Can I at least send them a letter saying I’m okay?” I asked.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. They’ll never stop looking for you if they think you’re alive somewhere. They can’t find you, sweetheart.  Do you understand? You’re never going to age. You’ll look like this forever.” He took a breathe. “And if they managed to get you to a doctor, somehow incapacitated you… well, you don’t have a heartbeat anymore. You’d end up locked in a cage and experimented on like a monkey.”

I nodded, knowing he was right, but it was still painful. Being with him forever sounded wonderful, but there were just so many problems that went along with it. I hadn’t really thought about losing everything I held dear.  But if I hadn’t turned into a vampire, I’d be dead right now. Either way, my parents would have lost me. They just would have had closure if I hadn’t gotten up and walked out of the gym – alive and yet not.

“How can I be happy knowing they’re so miserable?” I asked, lifting my eyes to his.

“You need to eat. That will make you feel better.”

My eyes widened.  I hadn’t even thought of eating.  The thought of biting someone was… well, a little terrifying.  I wasn’t sure I could do it. Would I have to kill them? And if not, how would I do it without them running around claiming a vampire had bitten them? Oh! Oh!  If I bit them, would it turn them?

No. Lucas had fed me his blood. At least I didn’t have to worry about that.

Lucas grinned at me. “I see you have a lot of questions.”