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He fell to his knees, wheezing

"Mona’s gone"

Chapter 31: Ben

About half an hour after an to spill froain Drawing open the , I coughed upwas beco clear to me My body rejected ani Yas heavily I sensed a tinge of human blood in my room, carried in by a breeze Myto distract h my stomach But it was i huripped me for what I’d done to Yasain if it uilty at the realization, but I was too consumed by bloodlust Reme led just at theout at the starry night sky

I can’t reet better I’d thought, as et accustoh to not be so dangerous, not be such a threat to humans But I didn’t see how that could ever happen when I couldn’t even hold down the stuff for h stress as it ithoutpeople And I didn’t want to risk taking the life of another person I cared for What would become of The Shade if they couldn’t even trust their own prince?

Although it cut me to think of hoould hurt my parents, there only was one solution And I needed to do it sooner rather than later

Now that I’d just thrown up again, I felt hungrier than ever

I clutched the handle of my door It was locked I castites into it I emptied my cupboard, drawers, and looked under my bed for h I didn’t kno long I would need to stay away

I couldn’t break down the door It would wakeonto my back, I pulled open theMy breath hitched as I looked down--the forest ground was hundreds of feet down I cli hold of the wooden fraainst theledge next to mine It was thein the hallway I was relieved that it was slightly open

Haulingback into the apartn ofThe apart… or even breathing for that matter I wondered if they were even in the apart the carpet and headed tothe door open, I walked to the safe and entered the code I pulled out several wads of cash before closing it again We had plenty of money on this island More than we needed It wouldn’t becabinet next to the safe and pulled out one of the several photocopies of Mona’s map my father stored there I wasn’t sure why I’d taken it, but there was no har both the , finally I walked over to my father’s desk I picked up a pen and ripped off a piece of paper from his notepad

I stared at the paper for severalthe pen to it

No ht as well just be as direct as possible I didn’t have ht If I was, I didn’t know that I would be able to escape the island

Bending down over the desk, I began to write:

"I can’t hold in animal blood

I’ve left, because it’s what is best for The Shade Our people are safer without me

I don’t knohen I’ll return But, please, don’t co a few ed andThen I slid the note into the center of the table where oodbye to everyone I cared for in The Shade Especially Abby We’d become close friends in recent weeks I hoped that she’d understand

Drawing a deep breath, I left the roouessed that it would be locked, I tried the front door I was right to have tried It was open I couldn’t use the elevator in case I bu, I leapt into a nearby tree My heart hammered in round As soon asforward I whizzed through the trees so fast, I would have appeared to be but a blur to any onlooker

Once I reached the Port, I ducked do I had to keep myself hidden in shadow as much as I could I arrived at the bay of sub the line for the smallest one, opened the hatch and lowered myself inside

As I seated ating it away from the harbor and into the open sea, I didn’t knohere I would go or what I would do Or hoould survive as this beast I was still trying to understand myself

I didn’t understand why I was different from all the other vampires They adjusted to animal blood Their bodies didn’t expel it like it was poison They didn’t feel the urge to violate the law of the island by har humans