Crimson Born - Amy Patrick Page 0,16
of the boys I knew—like that before.
He wasn’t reading, not praying, not even getting ready for bed. He was holding out his arms, staring first at one then the other and flexing his muscles in apparent amazement.
When he stood and started unfastening his suspenders, I decided I’d better go ahead and announce my presence before things got even more embarrassing.
At my knock on the windowpane, Josiah whipped in my direction, moving faster than I would have thought humanly possible.
Thankfully his pants were still on.
When he spotted me, a pair of pointed teeth emerged from beneath his top lip.
Fangs. Josiah has fangs. It was almost too strange to believe.
He brought a hand up to touch them and frowned before walking to the window to open it.
“Abigail. What are you doing here?”
Though the answer seemed fairly obvious to me, I said, “I came to check on you, to see if you’re... okay?”
He stepped back, making room for me to climb through the window. Then he turned away from me, crossing the room to stand on the other side.
“No. I’m not. I should be dead. You should be too. My parents said you were at the hospital. I thought for sure you’d been injured in the accident too, but they said you looked perfectly well. Now that I see you... I know it’s more than that.”
“You look good too,” I said with a sheepish grin.
“No, I don’t. I look freakish.”
He gestured toward the fangs then swept his splayed fingers in a downward motion in front of his body.
“Did you do this to me? I heard the nurses talking when they didn’t realize I could hear them. I shouldn’t have been able to hear them, Abigail—they were all the way down the hall and whispering. They said the word ‘vampire.’ Is that what you are? Is that what I am?”
I nodded, eager to explain.
“I was turned at the accident scene. I don’t know if they caused it or if they just happened to be there, but there was a group of them. One of them bit me. I woke up like this, though I keep changing. My sun sensitivity has gotten worse every day.”
“Why would you bite me? Were you that... blood-crazed or whatever?”
I gasped at his accusatory tone. “No. I didn’t bite you because I was thirsty. You were dying, Josiah. They said you wouldn’t make it through the night. I didn’t want you to die. I bit you to save your life. I wasn’t sure until I saw you tonight whether it would work.”
He barked a harsh laugh. “Oh, it worked all right. And now I’m cursed to live like this forever because you didn’t want to be alone.”
The remark stung—because it was partially true. It was kind of wonderful to have friends who knew you inside and out—and kind of terrible, too.
“Cursed? Didn’t you want to live?” I asked.
“This isn’t a life. I’m... an abomination.”
Josiah flung his arms out to the sides then clenched his hands in his hair until they shook. “I’ll be shunned as soon as the others get wind of it. And my poor parents...”
“Your parents brought you home. They still have a son.”
“They have an embarrassment. They haven’t said so, but I can see it in their eyes. They’re shamed by me.”
His words stole my breath. How could this be happening—any of it? How could our lives have changed so drastically in the space of a few days?
“They’re probably just in shock. You recovered when they’d been told you’d die. I’m sure they’ll come to accept it and be grateful to still have you.”
He shook his head. “You’ve led a sheltered life, but I’ve been out in the world. I work at the factory, and I hear what people think of vampires. They may be living out in the open, thanks to the Crimson Accord, but that doesn’t mean they’re accepted. Or good.”
For a moment, shock prevented me from answering. Josiah and I had known each other nearly our whole lives. I’d always thought of him as a kind and accepting person. He seemed completely the opposite now—bitter and judgmental.
“You’re good,” I argued. “I’m a good person too. We didn’t just change into different people overnight because our irises changed colors.”
He scoffed. “It’s a lot more than a change in eye color. Don’t you feel it? The thirst? When I woke up in the hospital today, I almost lost my mind smelling the blood all around me. Even my parents...”
Here he stopped and swallowed, his face twisted