Betrayal (Vanish Book Two) by Sonny Daise Page B

I couldn’t help but realize how normal this
felt. Even though we were in the middle of a forest that glowed,
even after everything we’d been through, it was possible to feel
normal again. “I was thinking…” I blurted.
    “Yeah?” he replied.
    “Elizabeth said something about necklaces
giving powers or taking them away….”
    “No, Scarlett we can’t. Whoever is after us
would still be after us, we would just be more vulnerable.”
    “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I shrugged.
    “You pick. I’ve never heard of any of these,”
he said as he walked away from the cabinet and sat on the
couch.
    “Okay.”
    I looked through every last movie, and I’d
never heard of any of them either. We ended up watching some horror
movie from the seventies that I picked at random. I didn’t even
look to see what it was called, and I didn’t pay much attention to
it while it was playing. I could feel Dante’s eyes on me, every
time I would look; he looked away. This went on for at least twenty
minutes, and then I couldn’t take it anymore.
    The next time I caught him looking at me,
before he could look away, I put my hand on his cheek and looked
over at him. We stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like
eternity. With each passing second, our faces moved closer until
our lips met. The smell of his cologne was alluring, not
overpowering like most, but it was familiar and not just the fact
that he’d worn it before.
    “Are you wearing the cologne that I got you
for your birthday?” I wondered.
    “Yeah,” he blushed. “Well not exactly, I
figured you must have liked the smell, so I’ve worn it every day
since you got it for me. Even when you were in the hospital, it
reminded me of you. I actually had to buy another bottle.” We both
laughed. Once we could keep our faces straight, he brought his lips
back to mine.
    After a while, we fell asleep there on the
couch. I didn’t dream, but I slept great, which with everything
going on, was a surprise.

    When I woke up, I was alone on the couch. The
sun shined through the house. I had an eerie feeling, like
something bad would happen today. I shook it off and got up to look
out the window; it was a beautiful day. I could feel the warmth of
the sun through the window. I took a deep breath as I stared out. I
turned to walk over to the stairs to yell up and see if Dante was
home. I saw bloody hand prints on the walls.
    “Dante,” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“Dante,” my voice cracked. I noticed a trail of blood through the
house. He didn’t answer. I checked every room, but he wasn’t there.
I ran over to see Elizabeth. I barged in the door.
    “What’s wrong?” She gasped.
    “Dante’s missing, have you seen him? There
was blood all over the living room,” I cried.
    “No I haven’t. George?” She called
upstairs.
    “Yeah?” he replied as he came downstairs.
    “Dante’s missing. You and Cooper go look for
him; we’ll catch up in a minute I need to talk to Scarlett.”
    “Alright, I’ll go get Cooper.” He found him,
and they went running out of the house.
    “What do you need to talk to me about?” I
wondered.
    “You know what happened with Grace?” she
asked.
    “Yeah,” I said, fidgeting around; we really
should be out there helping to look for Dante.
    “We found him,” George said as he busted
through the door. Elizabeth looked apprehensive. She followed
behind me as I raced out the door. He was covered in blood; I
didn’t care I jumped up into his arms.
    “Are you okay?” I cried.
    “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
    “What happened?” I worried.
    “Whoever was in the woods broke into the
house, they tried to kill me, but I took care of it,” he was so
calm.
    “You killed them?” I choked.
    “Yes.”
    “What did you do with the body?” I
demanded.
    “It’s gone, there’s nothing to worry about,”
he assured me. Elizabeth stood not too far away from him, just
staring at him.
    “You’re sure that’s how it went?” She