The Vampire Hunter's Daughter: Complete Collection(76)

He took a swig of his water. “Yup. Just remember I’m up when you come down here in the morning.”

“Very funny,” I told him, pushing out my chair.

“What’s funny about that?” Oscar asked.

“Chloe punched me in the nose the other day when she came downstairs and ran into me.” He touched his nose. “Pretty good hit, too.”

“Ugh, you didn’t have to tell everyone,” I complained.

He laughed. “It doesn’t matter. We know to avoid you in the mornings.”

“Ha ha, you’re so funny,” I muttered and left the room. “Good night everyone,” I called out.

I left the guys laughing in the kitchen and went to my room where I changed into my nightclothes and fell into bed beside Alice.



It was my birthday.

Not that there were going to be any huge celebrations, but it felt good that the day I turned sixteen had finally come. With Trevor dead, I didn’t have to worry so much about being an ingredient in a vampire day-walker recipe. In less than twenty-four hours, I wouldn’t have to worry at all. It felt almost like I had been freed from some sort of prison.

I peeled back my purple comforter and tried to get out of bed as quietly as I could. I didn’t want to wake Alice, although, I was about ready to make her start running with me. It would be good for her. I knew exercise produced endorphins, and endorphins made people happy. She could use that.

Pretty soon, I was going to have to get back to my regular training. I was keeping up with the exercise and stuff, but not the butt-kicking part. I threw on my black yoga pants and a shirt with matching black hoodie. I twisted my hair into two braids and put a stocking cap on. It hadn’t snowed yet, but it was getting chilly outside.

Slowly and quietly I tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs. Thank god I didn’t run smack into Drew. He sat on the living room floor doing stretches.

“Good morning,” I greeted him and joined him on the floor to do my own stretching.

“Morning,” he answered.

We stretched our muscles while the news played on low volume in the background. Neither of us said anything until we were outside. It was still dark, but you could see that daylight was coming.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Yeah, let’s go.” I started off before he had a chance to get ahead of me and headed toward the trails. The leaves crunched underneath my running shoes with every step. He caught up to me, and we kept pace together, running for about twenty minutes on the trails, then down into town. We stayed on the sidewalks until Drew veered off onto another trail I’d never been up.

“Where are we going?” I called out.

He stopped and waited for me, because I’d lagged behind a little bit.

“It’s a surprise. I want to show you something.”

I shrugged. “Okay. Should we keep running, or should we walk?”

He took his hood off his head. “We could walk, if you want. It does eventually end up being kind of a hike.”

After a while, I noticed the trail sloped uphill.

“How come you won’t tell me where we’re going?” I complained.

“Quit asking. We’ll be there soon.”

“Fine.” I huffed back at him. I just wanted to know where we were going. It was a nice walk. The trees and bushes hadn’t completely died yet, and the air was crisp but not freezing. The trail continued to slope upward, but it was rockier than the lower trails. We had to make sure our footing was just right or we'd fall. It wasn’t much longer, maybe about ten minutes of rocky trails, and I heard the sound of a river.

“I hear water. I didn’t know there was a river out here. How come you never told me?”

He stopped in front of me and turned around.

“Just stop asking questions and go with it, all right?”

He took his pack off and extracted a water bottle, took a big swig and handed it to me.

I took a long drink, too. I don’t know why I hadn’t brought my own water. Then again, I didn’t know we would hike all this way. We moved on, and about twenty minutes later, Drew pushed through a particularly rough trail with tree branches that blocked the pathway. We emerged in front the most beautiful waterfall I’d ever seen. It was so tall I couldn’t even guess how high it stood. The water came over the side of the cliff and pummeled into the pool below where it churned and sprayed droplets of water everywhere.

It was utterly amazing.

Drew stood beside me, taking in the beauty of this sacred place.

“This is where the community got its name. Arcadia Falls.”

He took my hand and led me to a large rock beside the water’s edge.

“It's amazing.” I sat on the rock and pulled my knees up in front of me. “Does Arcadia mean anything?”

Drew nodded and climbed up onto the rock beside me. “Of course it does. It means a place of simple pleasure and quiet.”

“Well, this is definitely that.” I nodded in agreement.

“Also, in history, Arcadia was a part of Ancient Greece, in the Peloponnesus. This region of Greece was known for its isolation and mountainous beauty.”

I laughed and slapped at him. “Sometimes I think you know everything.”

He smiled and looked away. “Yeah, right. Believe me, it’s far from everything. There are a few things I wouldn’t mind knowing right now.”