Time Will Tell (2 page)

Chapter 4

Austin Graham stared down at the white piece of paper that he held in front of him. Even though he had read it through about ten times already, the words still felt unreal to him, prompting him to read it once more.

Dear Austin,

I just want you to know that you haven’t done anything wrong. This isn’t your fault. My own insecurities are the reason I’m not sure if I want to become a vampire or not. As much as I want to believe that I’m love with you—as much as I feel like I’m in love with you—a part of me can’t help but wonder if it’s just because I love being your blood donor. It sounds sick and twisted, but it feels like it could be true, too.

I know it will probably be hard for you to understand this, but I can’t be around you until I figure this all out. I have a lot of thinking I need to do. I can promise you one thing, though. Once I come back (and I promise you that I will come back to Dan’s house in a few days, no matter what), I will have an answer for you. I will decide, once and for all, if I want to become a vampire.

Please take care of yourself while I’m gone, Austin. Even if I decide that this isn’t what I want, you have to know how much I care about you. I want nothing but the best for you. That’s why I need to figure this out. It wouldn’t be fair for me to agree to become a vampire if we’re really not meant to be. I wouldn’t ever want to see you unhappy, or make you feel like you need to stay with me just because I sacrifice my mortality for you.

Try not to worry about me too much while I’m gone. I’m going to be okay. I’ll see you soon.

Sincerely,

Anna

It didn’t matter how many times Austin read the letter all the way through; the words still didn’t make any sense to him. As much as he wanted to be able to accept everything that was going on between them, Anna had gotten one thing right in her letter—Austin really
didn’t
understand.

Austin wasn’t sure how he and Anna could have shared some of the same experiences, and she hadn’t felt the same way as he had. Even when he thought of it like that, though, it didn’t make any sense. He knew that Anna
had
felt the same way as him. It had been so obvious to Austin that Anna had loved him at one point, even if she didn’t feel the same way about him as he did about her anymore.

Sighing, Austin rolled over onto his side and stared out the window at the white clouds that moved across the gray sky. He wasn’t sure how long it would take for Anna to figure things out, but he hoped that it would be sooner, rather than later.

It was times like this when Austin wished that vampires had the ability to sleep. It would make the time go by so much quicker.

Then again, if Austin were a human, he probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep well that night, anyway. He would have stayed awake, staring at the ceiling, waiting for Anna to come back to him.

Chapter 5

Anna Lancefield gripped the steering wheel as she pulled up alongside Westbrooke Vampire Training Facility. The first time she had taken the ride from Pennsylvania to Ohio, it hadn’t seemed like it had been such a long trip, but that was probably because Austin—and Dan and Lexi—had been with her. Traveling with them and knowing that they were there to offer her their support somehow made it so much easier.

They couldn’t be there with her this time, though. This time, Anna had to take this trip all alone.

When Anna left, she hadn’t told anyone where she was going. All she had done was leave behind a letter for Austin, letting him know that she was going somewhere and that she would be back eventually. She hoped that was enough to keep him satisfied until she returned, but she wasn’t sure if it would be.

When she’d wanted to come to Westbrooke the first time, her friends all seemed to think it was some sort of setup. They thought it was unusual for someone to write Anna a letter and tell her that she had to come to this location to find out the details about her mother’s murderer. Even Anna had to admit that it had sounded fishy, but she didn’t care; she needed to know who had killed her mom.

Once she and her friends had arrived at the facility and seen what it was, though, they had seemed to forget about the possibility that it could be a setup. Even so, Anna knew that none of them would have been comfortable with her going back to the facility by herself. That was why she hadn’t told anyone where she was going, and she hoped that they wouldn’t somehow figure it out on their own.

It still freaked Anna out that someone knew Lexi had killed Rhonda, that someone had been out there in the woods that day watching them. She wasn’t sure who could have seen them, but she couldn’t shake the idea from her mind that whoever it was might be watching her now.

Trying to shake the feeling away, Anna grabbed her duffle bag from the backseat and pulled herself out of the car. She straightened out the black sweater with white skulls that she was wearing and began to walk towards the dark, dreary-looking building that loomed ahead of her. She noticed the familiar face that stared back at her as he strode towards her.

It was Darius, the director of Westbrooke Vampire Training Facility.

“Anna! Welcome!” Darius called to her. As he approached her, he pulled her into a small hug. “How was the ride?”

“It wasn’t bad,” Anna replied, as she followed him back towards the building.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Darius said. Shooting a serious look in her direction, he added, “I have been worried about you, with Geoff being out in Briar Creek and all.”

Anna nodded. “It
is
scary.”

“Well, don’t worry too much. You’ll be very safe here with us,” Darius said reassuringly. “And our vampires are very excited to have you as a donor. I’ve already paired you up with a vampire who does well with your blood type.”

Anna narrowed her eyes. “How do you know my blood type?”

“Oh, your mother told me about it once,” Darius said, waving his hand in the air.

“You and my mother used to talk about my blood type?” Anna asked, raising an eyebrow. It surprised her that her mother would have talked about her blood type with a stranger. Not that Darius was a stranger to Anna’s mother, of course. Her mom had been having an affair with him for years; she’d even lied to Anna and her father about her whereabouts to come see Darius and to become a blood donor at Westbrooke.

“Blood type has always been a fascinating topic of discussion for me as a vampire,” Darius explained. “You see, blood type is another one of the factors that we’ve been studying here at Westbrooke. What we’re finding through our research is that certain vampires thrive better on certain blood types. A certain blood type seems to make them more energized—and more satisfied for a longer period of time. We need to do more studies to find out the reason why, but we think it has something to do with whatever blood type they had when they were humans.”

“Interesting,” Anna mumbled. The truth was, she didn’t really care about what studies were being performed at Westbrooke. Unlike her mom, she wasn’t sure if this place was really all
that
great, but that didn’t matter. It wasn’t why she was there. All she wanted to do was donate her blood to a stranger, so she could decide if she was really in love with Austin and go back to Pennsylvania to let him know her decision.

As Darius led her through the door of the facility, he told her, “I’ve arranged for you to stay in one of our guest suites. It’s one of our nicest rooms, so I think you’ll be very comfortable there during your stay.”

“Thank you,” Anna mumbled, trying not to think about the fact that staying in the room by herself was going to make her feel lonely. This was the first time she had been away from Austin in a long time, and she wasn’t sure that she really liked it so far. She actually missed him. Even though she tried to ignore it, a voice in the back of her head wondered if she really missed
him
, or if it was him drinking from her that she missed the most.

“Once you’re all settled in, you should come down to our cafeteria. We make sure to serve our donors iron-rich meals to reduce the risk of anemia from all of the blood loss,” Darius explained. “And I’ve booked your first donation session for tomorrow afternoon, so you’ll need plenty of rest.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “I hope you’re looking forward to your donation. It will be nice to be able to relate to what your mother went through.”

Anna forced a small smile. “I am.” She decided not to tell him that what she was really looking forward to was getting it all over with.

Chapter 6

Gabe massaged his fingers against his temples, trying to get rid of the throbbing pain in his head. The one thing he had been hoping wouldn’t happen to him just happened. He’d had a vision.

The vision itself hadn’t been all that terrible. In fact, it had been a vision he’d been hoping to have. In his vision, he had seen Caroline’s spirit drift out of her body on the day she’d died. It had lingered around for a while, and it had glowed a pretty shade of blue. Then, he’d seen Caroline Nichols being born, her skin glowing a shade of blue that he knew only he could see. Gabe wasn’t sure how, but his vision confirmed what he already knew: Caroline was
definitely
his Caroline.

It was the vision he’d been hoping to have, but he hadn’t been hoping to have it in this tiny room, where he couldn’t reach the blood that waited outside the door. It was beginning to smell old, but he could still
smell it . . . and he
still
couldn’t drink it. Now that he’d had a vision, though, he
needed
to drink. His body was already beginning to grow weaker than it had been before.

When he had his visions, they weakened him to the point where it was painful. It wouldn’t be much longer before his body would begin convulsing, and he would die. Gabe had to find a way to get to the blood that waited for him outside the door—and he had to hope that it would sustain him until he could get out of here and find someone else to drink from.

Gabe shifted his hands in the cuffs around his wrists, trying to tear apart the metal links. When nothing happened, he groaned in annoyance—and from the agony that was beginning to take over his body.

Somehow, this vision was already more painful than the others he’d had. Gabe knew it was probably because it had already been so long since he’d drunk from anyone. He needed blood and he needed it fast, or he wasn’t going to make it through this.

Even though Gabe couldn’t see his hands, he could feel them trembling behind his back. He’d heard older vampires mention that a blood withdrawal was similar to a drug withdrawal, but he’d never felt it firsthand . . . until now.

He stared at the egg yolk-yellow walls ahead of him, trying to ignore the migraine that was beginning to develop, and thought about how the color was beginning to drive him insane.

Gabe’s throat began to feel scratchy, and he coughed violently. “Kevin, you win,” he said, loud enough that if his brother were in the same building as him, he would be able to hear him. “You might as well just kill me now. I’m going to die, anyway.”

“Ready to give up so easily, Gabe? I must say that I overestimated your strength,” a familia
r voice said from the hallway.

The sound of shoes clacking against the hardwood floor filled his ears, and he watched as the door was pulled open. When Gabe stared into the eyes of the person who stood in front of him, he gasped.

It wasn’t his brother who had been holding him captive here, after all.

Chapter 7

Kevin sat in the Nichols’ family room, drinking a glass of champagne and watching the latest Ben Stiller movie with Caroline, Lexi, and Dan. Austin had gone to his room early, obviously pouting about his girlfriend leaving. Kevin was bored. He’d already seen the movie and it was really lame, but Lexi had mentioned that Gabe was a huge Ben Stiller fan, so Kevin had been stuck watching it and pretending to like it.

Not that being across the room from Lexi had been a problem for him. He’d been staring at her all night, thinking about how he would like to drink her blood. Maybe Gabe had been right to worry about Lexi’s well-being. Even Kevin knew that if he was able to taste it, he wouldn’t be able to stop drinking from her.

Once the movie ended, Lexi turned to the rest of them. “Guys, we haven’t talked that much about what happened when we were in Ohio.”

“I’m not sure what else there is to talk about,” Dan replied with a small shrug. “It won’t change the fact that someone stole Rhonda’s body.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Lexi agreed. Hesitantly, she added, “But don’t you think we should at least try to figure out who stole the body?”

“What would we do if we did find out who it was, Lexi? Ask them for the body back because we want to give the girl we murdered a proper burial?” Dan asked, narrowing his eyes at her. “We would sound nuts, and we’d end up getting in even more trouble than we were already in before.”

Kevin had to hide the smile that crossed his lips. What Dan didn’t know was that even if they
did
want to get the body back, there was no way they would be able to. Rhonda’s remains had been destroyed in the fire at Huntington—the same fire that he’d set, the one that had killed Gabe. He knew because he had put it there, just to let Gabe know that he would be joining Rhonda.

Lexi sighed frustratedly. “That’s not what I’m saying. Of course I don’t want us to go up to some stranger and ask for Rhonda’s body back. I just . . . I have this weird feeling that whoever took it might be someone we know. It feels like they were watching us the whole time.”

Kevin froze. He didn’t have a beating heart, but he imagined that if he did, it would have skipped a beat at that moment. Had Lexi somehow figured out that he was the one who had taken the body? If she did, that would mean that she would know that he wasn’t Gabe, after all—and as far as Kevin knew, Lexi had no clue that Gabe had a twin brother.

“I sincerely doubt that someone followed us out to Ohio, just to steal Rhonda’s dead body,” Dan insisted, shaking his head.

“Well, obviously they wouldn’t have followed us just to steal Rhonda’s body. There was no way they could have known that we were going to kill her,” Lexi replied with an eye roll. “But what if they followed us just to follow us? And even worse, what if they’re going to find some way to get us in trouble for killing Rhonda? I don’t want to go to jail.”

“You won’t go to jail, Lexi,” Kevin said firmly. He must have said it a little too firm, though, because Lexi’s head shot over in his direction.

“How do you know, Gabe?” Lexi questioned. Her eyes pored through Kevin’s, and Kevin hoped that the look she was giving him wasn’t an accusing one.

“I just know you won’t. Trust me,” Kevin replied dismissively.

Lexi eyed him for a moment, studying his face. “Is it because you had a vision? You saw we would get away with it?”

Kevin nodded. “Yeah, something like that,” he mumbled.

A look of relief crossed Lexi’s face and she laughed nervously. “I’m so glad you have visions, Gabe. You’re a lifesaver sometimes.” She turned to Dan. “I think I’m going to go to bed. Are you going to come?”

Dan nodded, rising to his feet. He glanced over his shoulder at Kevin and Caroline. “Goodnight, guys.”

“Goodnight,” Caroline said with a small smile. Once Lexi and Dan left the room, Caroline glanced over at Kevin.

“I guess I should head to bed, too,” Kevin mumbled.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. “I know you don’t need to sleep. Why don’t you stay up with me for a little bit?” She moved from her seat across from him and sat down on the couch next to him. “There’s something I actually want to talk to you about, Gabe. If you don’t mind, that is.”

“What is it?” Kevin questioned, his stomach tightening a little. He doubted that Caroline had figured out the truth about him, but there was a chance that she might somehow know.

Kevin hadn’t considered what he would do if Caroline somehow figured out the truth. As much as he didn’t want to have to kill her, he wasn’t sure if he would have any other choice—not if he was going to get away with this.

“Well, I know we haven’t talked about it much yet, but . . . I’m leaving tomorrow,” Caroline explained quietly, meeting his eyes.

“Leaving for where?” Kevin asked. Caroline had never mentioned that she would be leaving, but it made him feel sort of relieved. The further away Caroline was from him, the less likely she would be to find out the truth. Maybe he could just pretend that he lost interest with her away from him.

Caroline stared back at him like he was an alien. “Juilliard. I told you I got accepted and that I would be going there this semester. Don’t you remember?”

“Of course I remember,” Kevin said, trying to make his voice sound convincing. “I just didn’t realize you were leaving tomorrow.”

Caroline nodded. “Yes, I am. The thing is . . . I was wondering if you want to come with me.” She stared at him, waiting for his reaction.

“Come with you?” Kevin repeated. This was bad. This was very bad.

“Yeah, I mean, I know it might be a little early on for me to be asking you this, but . . . the thing is, Gabe . . . I feel like I’ve known you forever. It would be really amazing if you could come with me. I have my own apartment I’m moving into, so it would just be the two of us, and . . .” Caroline glanced over her shoulder, as though she was trying to make sure no one was listening to her, before saying in a lowered voice, “I sort of overheard Lexi and Dan talking, and they seem to think you don’t have anywhere else you can go. Your mom’s mad at you, isn’t she?”

Kevin hesitated. He actually hadn’t thought about what he was going to do about his mom when he took on Gabe’s identity. His whole life, Gabe had been their mom’s favorite. He was the Golden Child, the one that was always there for their mother when she needed one of her sons around the most. Kevin was the Bad Apple, the one that their mother had once said she’d regretted giving birth to.

When Kevin told her that Gabe had tried to kill him, their mom had been pissed, to say the least. It was surprising, though—even to
him
—how quickly their mom had disowned Gabe. Kevin had been expecting her to think that Gabe was right for what he had done, for her to agree that Kevin deserved to die.

Even Kevin knew that he deserved to die. There were things about him that even Gabe didn’t know—things that probably would have made his brother try to kill him even sooner than he had. Luckily, those things would always be his little secret now. There was no one else who would be able to uncover his secrets now that Kevin Marshall no longer existed.

“Yeah, my mom’s mad at me,” Kevin mumbled when he realized that Caroline was still waiting for his response.

“And I have to be honest with you. I don’t think you can just hang out here forever,” Caroline went on. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. Personally, I love having you around. I’m just not so sure Danny feels the same way. I know the two of you aren’t the best of friends.”

“No, we’re not,” Kevin agreed. Every time Dan spoke to him, Kevin got the sense that he was beginning to hate Gabe more and more. It probably made him angry that Gabe hadn’t just been with his girlfriend, but now he was apparently falling for his sister, too.

Kevin couldn’t blame Dan. It
would have pissed him off, too.

“And our parents are going to be back from Europe soon,” Caroline went on. “They won’t want you to stay here, especially knowing that you’re a vampire. They don’t even like the fact that Danny’s a vampire. So, it will probably be easier for you to just leave now.” She stared into his eyes, waiting for him to agree to go with her.

Kevin locked eyes with her. “I . . . I don’t know about this, Caroline. Isn’t Dan going to be pissed off if I go with you? You won’t even get to see him anymore as it is. The last thing I want to do is put even more strain on your relationship.”

“Actually, we’re going to come home to visit on weekends, assuming Dan and Lexi are around. I wasn’t close with Danny for awhile, and I don’t want to lose him as a brother again,” Caroline said. Kevin breathed a slight sigh of relief. As long as they came home to visit, there was still a chance he could drink Lexi’s blood.

“And you’re probably right,” Caroline went on. “Danny most likely will be pissed at you, but I’m sure he’ll get over it,” Caroline replied with a shrug. “He’s always been a little overprotective. No guy I’ve ever dated has been good enough for me.” She hesitated before adding, “Though he seems to think you’re a psycho. He says you killed Lexi’s ex-boyfriend. Is that true?”

Kevin glanced down at his sneakers. Even though he had been following Gabe around for weeks, he didn’t know anything about this. Had Gabe really killed Justin? He decided to stick with the safest answer possible.

Meeting Caroline’s eyes, Kevin said, “Well, I did kill him, but . . . it was an accident.”

Caroline smiled. “I
knew
there had to be some sort of explanation as to why you killed him. It makes me so happy to know it wasn’t on purpose.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “So, what do you say, Gabe? Do you want to come with me?”

Kevin hesitated. As much as he wanted to say ‘no’, he also knew that he had to play the Gabe role right. Judging from the way his brother had acted around Caroline when he’d watched them together, he knew that Gabe would have gone.

“I’ll go with you,” Kevin said. “I better go start packing.”

Caroline beamed. “I’m so happy about this. Before you start packing, why don’t we make a toast?” She held up her glass of wine. Kevin raised his glass of champagne. As their glasses clinked together, Caroline said, “To new beginnings.”