Vampire Queen

Chapter 8: James

        When I heard what was happening to Ava in her dream, it took a lot of control to stay where I was. She still didn’t know about our bond, but her birthday was coming up fast. Jade and I decided to go to the school and see her to make sure she was okay. I took one look at her and my heart started to break. She was injured because of that guy. I was frozen in place for a moment while Jade did all the talking. We were able to bring Ava and Chase back to the castle with us, so we could try and figure a few things out. Ava noticed a few things about Mr. Jones which led us to believing he was Kyle in disguise. After dropping Ava off at her house, I called my dad and told him I was going to scope around Mr. Jones’ house and to send some warriors who had experience in tracking.

        I pulled up to the house, and everything looked fine. Something told me to stay in the car until my backup showed up. It was difficult to say if Kyle was hanging around this house, or his own house, so I wanted to be smart about the situation. It was only a few minutes when the warriors showed up led by Joel. He was the top tracker our coven had. I got out of the car and told him of my suspicions, and a few details on what is happening with Ava. I wanted to leave a few things out since not everyone knows she is my mate.

        He led the team towards the house and parted ways while one half when to the left and the other half went to the right. Joel and I stayed at the front. It was all clear from where we could look inside the windows, no sign of a struggle anywhere from the ground floor. We decided to knock and see what would happen. No one was home.

        “I don’t want to draw too much attention to the house, since we don’t have enough information yet,” I told Joel. “Let’s go back to the castle and we can figure out a plan.”

        “I’ll leave someone close by to keep an eye on the residence.” I nodded as he went to the team to make the arrangements. “Should we send someone to Kyle’s house?” He came back and looked concerned.

        “No, I have a feeling he would find them if we did. We don’t want him to think we know what he’s up to. Better to leave him thinking he has the upper hand.” Joel nodded and left with the team. Apparently one of the warriors, Kevin, lived down the street, so he can keep tabs on the house. I got into my car and drove back around near Ava’s again. Everything was normal. Should I leave her, or should I stay in case she has a dream again? It was difficult, but I decided to leave in case Karter saw me stalking the house. Jade and I will need to come up with a plan of action anyways.

        When I got home, Jade was waiting for me in the garage, pacing back and forth near the door leading into the castle. As I approached her she stopped and stared at me with sadness in her eyes. Ava was her best friend, and she couldn’t do anything to help her right now. I understood how she felt, Ava was my mate, my love, and I have no idea what to do about Kyle.

        “Why didn’t you tell me she was your mate?”

        “Would you be able to keep it a secret from her?

        She opened her mouth then closed it again; this went on for a while as she followed me inside. We went to our floor and sat in the living room on Jade’s side of the floor. Sitting across from each other, she looked at me with a serous expression.

        “It might have taken a lot of effort, but I think I would’ve been able to.” She finally said.

        “I guess we’ll see if you can, because her birthday is still a couple weeks away.”

        “I don’t think Kyle will try anything in person until she turns 18.” Jade was back up and pacing again. I sighed and rubbed my fingers to my temple. “She needs to be careful while at school if Kyle really is pretending to be Mr. Jones.”

            I nodded my head and told her what Joel and I discussed, and how Kevin is keeping an eye on Mr. Jones’ house. She agreed with that set up, but now we have to figure out how to keep her safe at school. For now, Chase will have to stay close by more than usual. Ava didn’t really have anyone else to hang out with now that Jade was gone. She was friends with others of course, but not close enough to hang around all the time. Chase told me she usually stayed in the classroom during lunch so she could keep studying. Chase will either have to stay with her now or invite her to his table with him and the guys.

            “Wait, when Chase said that Ava would stay in the classroom during lunch, did Mr. Jones stay with her?” Jade looked at me curiously for a moment until a look of fear spung in her eyes.

            “He does.” She whispered softly and I had to focus to hear her. “He could have done something to her at any moment. Why is he taking his time?”

            “I think you’re right about him waiting until her birthday to make a move.” Now I was pacing around the room while thinking of anything to help Ava. “We need to figure out a way to keep him out of her dreams.”

            “We could ask for help from a witch or warlock.”

            “Do we know any?”

            “Mom and dad might, since they have to build up friendships with neighboring covens or packs.”

            “Let’s go see mom and dad.”

*Ava*

            That night I couldn’t sleep. I kept tossing and turning thinking about the book we found, and how Kyle could possibly be waiting for me at school in the morning. There were so many days when I stayed in the class to eat lunch instead of going to the cafeteria with Chase; it felt wrong to be there without Jade. Mr. Jones offered to stay there with me, was it Kyle this whole time for a month? Will I be able to act the same, knowing it’s him? I grabbed my phone with the intention to text Jade, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Should I text James? He seems to be acting weird around me lately, I’m not sure why, but I always felt safe around him. No, I will try to sleep and wait to talk to them tomorrow night.

            Good news, I did not have a dream about Kyle again last night. Once I was able to fall asleep, it was actually quite peaceful. I got out of bed and had a shower than after I dried myself off, I threw on the first outfit I could find that was clean; black jeans and a long sleeve black shirt. I put on my black converse than went downstairs. I didn’t see Karter or Jessica anywhere, so I grabbed an apple then went outside just as Chase pulled up to pick me up.

            “Morning.” He said as soon as I sat down in the passenger seat.

            “Good morning.”

            “Have a good sleep?”

            “It was alright.”

            “Anything exciting happen?”

            I knew what he was doing, so I turned to look at him. “Nothing at all, will you drive to school now please?”

            He pulled away and headed towards the school. “So…I was thinking you could sit with me and the guys at lunch today.”

            “I was thinking of eating in the library actually.”

            “I can go there with you.”

            “Why the sudden interest in hanging around? You never offered to have me join you at lunch and tell me the truth.”

            “It could be because James and Jade told me to make sure you aren’t left alone where Mr. Jones, or Kyle, can get to you.

            “Of course they would have you do that. I’m surprised James isn’t planning on showing up to do that himself.”

            “Oh he might still do that.” Chase pulled into the parking lot and went to the parking spot that was usually meant for James. Once the twins left, Chase got the spot since he will become second in command.

            We walked into the school and I walked to my locker. Chase followed me there and made me follow him to his locker next. I swear he would put handcuffs on me if he thought he could get away with it. It was actually nice to have someone around, without Jade it was pretty lonely. Of course, I wasn’t going to let Chase know that I didn’t mind having him around; as far as he knows, I hate the idea of being guarded, which I do, but the company is nice.

            “We should think of a signal in case Kyle gets too close, or we think he’s up to something.” I rolled my eyes at him; he was trying to play James Bond at this point.

            “If he tries anything, we could probably take him together, besides, we have training this afternoon instead of spending the full day with Kyle.”

            “Oh right, that will help at least.”

            “Plus, James gave me this device in case I ever need him.” I showed Chase the device and he grinned. “I don’t think Kyle will be stupid enough to try anything at the school, I have a feeling he’s waiting until my birthday and he’s only keeping an eye on me now.”

            We walked into the classroom and saw that Mr. Jones/Kyle was already there. He looked up and gave me a huge smile. “I missed you yesterday, how was the field trip? Did you find anything out about this guy who is tormenting you?” At that moment, I saw the green deep in his eyes and knew it was him. I tried not to react to this.

            “We didn’t have any luck actually.” I told him, and Chase nodded in agreement. I was glad he understood my plan without having to tell him in some secret way.

            “That’s too bad. Ready to start the day?” He sounded way too enthusiastic to feel bad. This confirms more of my instincts about who this guy really is.

            Chase stayed as close as popular throughout the morning. I hadn’t noticed it before, but Mr. Jones tended to get a little too close to me when he was going through some lectures. I’m not really sure how he knew what to teach, so he probably has the real Mr. Jones stashed at his place for information. When the bell rang for lunch, we said our goodbyes until tomorrow and went to the cafeteria. Instead of joining Chase’s usual table, we sat at our own table so we could talk and not be overheard. I decided to text James to let him know my theory or where the real Mr. Jones could be. He’s probably asleep so I won’t expect him to reply right away.

            We talked about some plans we could put into motion when we could confront Kyle about what he’s doing, and we continued this conversation throughout training. Our main goal is to make sure Kyle never finds out that we know what he's doing, or at least know the beginning of his plan. We still have no idea what his plan is when I turn 18.