Auras-Book One

Chapter 12

I'm not sure how long I slept, but when I woke up, Dustin was sitting on the end of my bed, poring over his Art History book.

"What are you doing?"  I sat up and looked over his shoulder.

"We have a paper due next week.  Brian called the school and said he was your brother.  He told them you were in an accident and you had to have surgery.  Your professors said it was okay if you do your work from home.  I'll take it in and make sure you get credit for it."

"You can't leave me here with Brian!"  I objected.  My pulse sky rocketed.  I was ready to throw a colossal fit that would make a three-year old look mature. 

"Calm down, I'm not going anywhere.  And when I do have to go to the campus, Dani will stay here.  She won't let anything happen to you," he reassured me with a kiss.  "How are you feeling?"

"Still feel like I'm in some sort of alternate universe," I admitted.  "But I'm hungry."

"Let's go downstairs."  He pulled me off the bed and draped his arm around my shoulder.  "Someone wants to see you."

Nervousness settled in my stomach.  I imagined a room full of werewolves and vampires waiting to welcome me into their fold with some kind of blood ritual.  And what the hell was a Magic Caster?  Visions of the Wicked Witch of the West went sailing through my mind.

"Relax," he whispered.  "Remember, I'm here."

I grabbed a sweatshirt and pulled it over my head.  "Okay, let's do this."

He led me down the stairs and into the large kitchen.  Shawn was sitting at the tall counter with Dani.

"Katie!"  He jumped up and gave me a hug.  "Man, you gave us a scare!"  He sounded like a concerned grandma.  "I'm glad you're okay.  I don't know what we would have done if we would've lost you."

I hugged him back, feeling a bit awkward.  "Thanks Shawn."

"How are you feeling?"  He looked at Dustin when he asked. 

Dustin wiggled his hand as if to say, okay, but not that great.  "She's been a really good sport about everything, even though some of us are giving her a hard time for something that's not her fault," he tossed Brian a cold look.

Brian shot him a nasty glare and left the kitchen.

"Katie, are you hungry?"  Dani put two turkey sandwiches in front of me.

I grabbed them and started eating.  I was ravenous. I didn't even care that they were all looking at me with their mouths gaping as I inhaled the first sandwich like a Hoover vacuum.  My appetite was barely sated.  This could be bad...

Katie handed one to Shawn.  "Thank you, honey."  He picked up one of the halves.

I had so many questions in my mind.  Why was my vampire friend eating real food?  Did they even drink blood?  They were all tanned, and I could see their chests moving with breath.  My inner girly-girl swooned at thoughts of the Twilight movies, where handsome Edward Cullen sparkled like a disco ball.  I was positive I had never seen my friends look like anything out of a Tiffany's jewelry catalog.

"Let's sit down."  Dustin walked towards the big dining room table.  I grabbed the rest of my sandwich and followed.

Dani and Shawn took seats at the table and looked at Dustin, waiting for him to begin.

"I think we need to fill in some of the blanks for Katie.  She doesn't know anything about us, and I'm sure she's full of questions."

I swallowed my mouthful of sandwich and looked at my friends.  "I have no idea where to start."