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After soument, Jessica and I parted ways, and I drove to my mother&039;s house Now that I had decided to make a new life for myself (not that I had any idea how), I couldn&039;t let anotherI was still dead

"That&039;s fine," Jessica had said, "but you ht have explained to Papa and Mrs Taylor that the reason you&039;re walking around is because you&039;re a vampire" Her voice broke on &039;vale I couldn&039;t blame her It did sound ludicrous

"You saw them," I retorted "Did they look like they were up for any explanations? Dad wouldn&039;t even cooodbye"

"Good point"

I had asked Jessica to share the nehoht needed to hear it, but she was horrified by the idea "In the ued "Stays dead to their friends and family"

"A) This isn&039;t themy friends and fa around This is not a secret! I&039; around in the shadows like some aneovernment? Scientists? What if they want to capture you or study you? Plus, you&039;ve got a death certificate So your social security nuoodyou can&039;t just pick up where you left off Betsy, think it over"

Those thoughts hadn&039;t occurred to ? Maybe I could be a clerk on the night shift at a"Tell or don&039;t tell, it&039;s all the sa it a deep dark secret How&039;d you like it if I hadn&039;t told you?"

"That&039;s different We&039;re practically sisters"

"People can tell," I said brightly, "by the close family rese, you don&039;t have to tell everybody Your family and me, I think Maybe Officer Nick You could invite hi awful by Sade, maybe-and then pounce! He could be your first ht, even while part ofet some sleep"

"I&039;ood probleiven the alternative Say hi to Mama Taylor for me And think it over, blabber" Which just goes to show, Jessica hardly ever goes to the movies

I was parked outside s, a suburb of St Paul Although it was al My mom suffered from insomnia at the best of times Which this certainly wasn&039;t

I bounded up the porch steps, knocked twice, then turned the knob Unlocked-one of the things I loved about Hastings

I stepped into the living roo in my mother&039;s chair She had ray in high school), and earing ift from her parents

"Who-?" &039;-are you&039;, I alrief had put twenty years on her face She&039;d gotten pregnant with h school, and we&039;d often been mistaken for sisters Not today

She stared She tried to speak but her ripped the ar chair so hard I heard the bones creak I rushed across the room and threw myself at the foot of her chair She looked so dreadful I was terrified "Mom, it&039;s me-it&039;s okay! I&039;m okay!"