Diary of a Runaway (BOOK #3)

Strangers

William's POV

            I needed an escape.

            That's what I kept telling myself every time the thought crossed of going home--or whatever we called the house in Newberry. It didn't feel like home. It felt more like a reminder of fact everything was going to hell.

            I tried going back the day before, going so far as to stay the night. But when I got up the next morning and thought of going downstairs to face everyone, I couldn't. I couldn't face reality. I had to leave.

            It seemed like all the years of confusion and self-loathing came back to haunt me. But I didn't want to live like this. I didn't want to feel so much hate, so much fear. Leaving Ava behind wasn't easy; it made my chest ache. But I couldn't face her anymore.

            I pulled into a gas station at the edge of Newberry to fill up the tank. I'd been out all day, just driving around. Somehow I came full circle and landed back in the place I'd grown to hate.

            I leaned against the car as the tank filled up. Then I noticed a familiar face staring at me from across the lot. She had cropped black hair and dark skin. The thought of her hadn't crossed my mind since that first night at the party where I'd first come in contact with Ava.

            "Kira."

            The corner of her lips curled up before a car passed in front of her. The next moment she disappeared. I shook my head. Damn, now I'm seeing things. Insanity continued to creep up behind me waiting to push me in head-first.

            I put the gas cap back on and glanced around myself one last time. She stood only a few feet away now, that odd smile still on her face.

            "It's been a while, hasn't it?" she said under a raised eyebrow.

            I expected the scent of her blood to hit me and to feel the piercing of my fangs begging to come out. But I smelled nothing. It was as if she wasn't here standing before me at all.

            "Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked me.

            My thoughts drifted to our conversation at the party. It started casual, the whole "where are you from" ,"my name is" spill. Then Ava walked in. Kira mentioned there being more to Ava--that she had a life no one really knew about. Damn, was she right.

            I cleared my throat. "I'm not sure anymore."

            She tilted her head to the side as if assessing me. "So you thought you might have. At one point at least. Well, that's good. What's the phrase again? 'It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all'?"

            "I haven't lost anyone," I told her.

            She nodded shortly. "Right. But you're here aren't you. This is the crossroads, William. I get it. There's a lot happening. Too much to process. We all need our time to think through a situation--especially something so big and life-changing."            

            I stopped, my ears perking up at her words. "Kira, what are you talking about?"

            She laughed, something so inhuman, it seemed. "I've been through some crap, William. After we met at the party, life through a few curve balls at me, too. Just as I expect for you. You went after Ava, didn't you? I heard what happened to her."