Kier had obviously been in to visit her as well. I glanced at her wrists but saw no bite mark there or on her neck. Had he visited her and compelled her to prevent us from talking to each other while he had his little vacation away from his enemies?
My back stiffened at the thought. I didn’t like to be lied to or to be deceived.
What the hell would we do?
I couldn’t say anything outright about Kier and vampires. If Chelsea had been compelled not to talk, neither could she. We’d have to wait it out until Kier had gone. Would we ever be able to talk about it?
Then, I had an idea. I’d see if I could, in a roundabout manner, reveal something.
“Hey, do you feel like watching a movie tonight?”
She placed the eggs on a plate with bacon and buttered toast and handed it to me.
“Sounds great. What did you have in mind?”
I shrugged. “You’re a big horror fan. I saw that Dracula Untold is on iTunes. We could rent it using my mom’s account.”
She smiled. “You know, I loved that movie. It was so sad when his wife died at the end. Guess it was a hazard of whom she was married to. Stick around long enough with the Impaler and you’re eventually food for the worms.”
“Yeah. Definitely food.”
Okay… so we could talk about vampires, but not directly. And not about Kier, obviously. I tried to think of what else we could do.
I thought I’d give something a try.
“Do you have much room on your credit card? I feel like a road trip.”
She shook her head. “I’m at the limit. All I have is cash. Not enough for a hotel
room or anything. Do you have any friends where we could stay, if we wanted to?”
I shook my head. “No. They’re all friends of my mom.” I ate my breakfast, but my appetite was gone.
I sighed. “Maybe we could get into the car and drive. We could go to your place.”
“We could try.”
We ate in silence, but I wondered if, when the time came, whether I’d be able to get in the car and leave. It was worth a try.
When we were finished, we left the plates in the sink and went to our rooms to pack. Wordlessly, we knew what to do.
I packed my knapsack, putting in some underwear, my nightgown and a change of clothes. I took out a pen and piece of paper on the desk in my bedroom and tried to write something down.
Dear Mom and Dad,
Chelsea and I have gone on a road trip. Will be at her place in SF.
Love,
Calla
I went to the living room where Chelsea stood with her overnight bag.
“Are we going to do this?”
“Let’s do it.”
We left the cottage and I locked the door behind me. When I turned around, Chelsea was already in her tiny car, starting the engine, her bag thrown on the back seat. I went to the car and stood there like a statue.