Shattered - By Sophia Sharp Page 0,38

of fear. It was gone as soon as I blinked, but it was there. Why?”

“Ah. Well, yes, that might have happened. Our eyes can strike fear, irrational and completely primal fear, into humans. It’s always different, how people react. And the effect gets stronger the further away we are from a feeding. Usually, we can control it, decide when to let it work, but sometimes that control falters… the further we’ve been from a feeding.”

“The longer you go without blood?”

“That’s right. When the hunger strikes, it’s difficult to control yourself. That’s why I was so… withdrawn… that first week you met me. If I had been engaged, with all those humans at the school, well… let’s just say that murder would have struck slightly closer to home for many of you.”

“So you were controlling yourself? Restricting your desire?”

“Yes. I had to find a… target… for my feeding. Somebody I would have no moral qualms overtaking. Well, maybe that’s not quite right. There are always morals that fight in conflict deep within me, every time I take a life, but – I try to push them down by feeding only on those who deserve to die.” He barked a laugh. “But who am I to make such decisions? The truth is, what I am repulses me in those moments. But it’s the only way to survive.”

Laura felt a yawn coming, and tried to stifle it, but it escaped anyway. She didn’t want to be disrespectful, and what Logan was telling her was fascinating. “You need to sleep, don’t you?” Logan said.

“Yes,” she admitted. “What about you?”

“I’ll stay guard and watch.” Logan put out the fire by kicking some dirt over it. “I wish I had something you could sleep on, but…” he spread his hands, “…looks like the ground will have to do for tonight.”

“That’s alright,” Laura answered. She thought it a shame to soil the dress by sleeping on the ground, but it wasn’t like there were any other options. Logan sat down, facing the direction they had come from, away from her, and Laura tried to find a comfortable position on the dirt. It was hard. Roots and rocks poked at her, and there was no comfort on the rigid earth. She lay awake for what seemed like hours. When she finally found sleep, it was of a restless sort, and dark nightmares haunted her dreams.

Chapter Seventeen

~The Marble Twins~

For three days they trekked through the wilderness, going east and north. Headed towards the Canadian border, where Logan said there would be less people. With less people came less of an opportunity to be noticed.

Laura hadn’t seen any signs of their pursuers, but Logan assured her they were coming. He made haste, pushing the pace as often as he could to increase the separation between them… and whoever was coming after them.

Laura’s dress fit snugly, and Logan complimented her on it once or twice. More importantly, though, he said it was doing its job – by leaving her old clothes behind, Laura had less of a scent by which they could be tracked. Laura wondered how much of an advantage it actually gave them. Logan assured her it was significant.

She also wondered sometimes how Logan managed to procure the garment, but whenever she asked, he went curiously mum. No amount of prodding or urging would change his stance, and Laura decided to drop the subject eventually.

On the morning of the fourth day, while making their way through dense shrub and heavy bush, Laura noticed a strange gleam from among the branches overhead. She stopped, and squinted her eyes. There was nothing here she could think of that the sun could reflect off like that.

“What is it?” Logan asked, once he noticed she stopped following him.

“Look up there,” she replied, pointing to her left. “Do you see anything?”

Logan looked, and shook his head. “Just leaves and branches. Why?”

“I thought I saw light reflecting from there.” She moved her head to the side. “There it is again!”

“Really?” Logan picked his way back to her. She pointed in the direction of the glare. He looked that way. “You’re right,” he nodded. “I can’t see it as well as you, but that reflection’s definitely there.”

“Should we go see what it is?”

“We need to continue on, but…” he shrugged. “A few minutes won’t kill us.”

He started towards the source of light, and Laura followed. The reflection disappeared as they walked towards it, blocked by the trees, so after a while, Laura couldn’t be sure if