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away from
people forever!
You re not a monster, love, Mae cooed, running her fingers through his hair. You re just
young,
and you have some things to figure out. That s all.
The fact that you re beating yourself up so much about this proves you re not a monster,
Jack
added. Milo looked at him, sniffling, and for a minute, I thought that Jack might have really
gotten through to
him.
Have you ever done anything like that? Milo asked him, almost sounding hopeful. If Jack
had
behaved somewhat like this, then it would make it okay that Milo had done this. Jack wasn t
horrible, so it was
evidence that Milo wasn t horrible either.
Well& no, Jack replied hesitantly. He knew the answer he was looking for, and if he
wasn t such a
terrible liar, he probably would ve made something up.
And you haven t even bit anyone, so you have no idea what I m going through, Milo said to
me,
making me feel like an idiot and a loser. I really hated that he had more experience in all of
this than I did. I
wanted to be able to advice him and comfort him through this, but like everything else in
life, he knew more
about it than I did. I was completely useless to him as an older sister.
I have, Mae admitted reluctantly. Milo and Jack looked at her with surprise, and she gave
Jack a
weird look out of the corner of her eye. It was a long time ago, but I remember it very
clearly. I know how
terrible it feels, knowing that you almost took a life. But I also know that it s something you
can get past.
So what happened? Milo asked. The tears were drying under his eyes, and at least Mae had
been able
to distract him from his misery. Was it with Ezra?
No, he was a human, but he didn t die, and that s what matters. Mae forced a smile, but
there was
something incredibly pained about it.
How come I ve never heard about this before? Jack looked confused. They had been very
close, and
I was even a little surprised that he hadn t heard this story before. Mae was big into sharing
things. Was it
before I turned?
166
Yes, it was. Mae shifted uncomfortably in the bed and tucked a curl back behind her ears.
She sat up
more and refused to look at Jack. Right now, he was only feeling bewildered and intrigued,
but I was getting
the impression that there was something that she wasn t telling us, and it made me nervous.
Did he need a blood transfusion too? Milo was obviously starting to feel better about this
whole
thing if Mae had been there too. She was one of the kindest people we had ever met, and if
she was capable of
this, then it couldn t be that bad.
No, but it doesn t matter how he survived. The point is that it doesn t make you a monster
for
drinking too much, Mae looked at Milo, and she had purposely started turning more
towards him, so her
back was more to Jack. It s easy to forget how fragile humans can be, and that s why it s
important to always
be careful.
Well, how bad was he? Milo pressed. He was starting to doubt her story since she couldn t
provide
any details, but I knew she was telling the truth. She was just leaving something out. Did he
lose a lot of
blood?
Yes, he was almost dead. Mae closed her eyes and rubbed at her forehead. He may have
been
technically dead. His heart had completely stopped beating.
So what did you do? You didn t give him a blood transfusion? Milo sat up straighter, and
even Jack
was looking very interested in her story.
No, we couldn t. We were& out, and Ezra wasn t there. Mae sighed and shook her head.
It was a
long time ago. I don t know why all of this matters so much to you.
I just don t understand what happened. If he was that bad, how did he live? Did you take
him to a
hospital or something? Milo asked.
No, there wasn t enough time. They couldn t have& Mae opened her eyes, but she stared
intently at
the bedspread instead of looking at any of us. It s so easy to lose control, and that s why I
only drink bag
blood anymore. I never want to feel that way again.
Mae, what happened? I demanded as gently as I could. A sick feeling was building up in
my
stomach, and I wasn t even sure if I should press her for more information. Maybe it would
better if no one
ever found out, but I always had to know everything.
Ezra told me that Bobby almost didn t make it, and he had a lot more going for him, Milo
said. I
mean, if he was dead, how did you save him?
We& Mae exhaled shakily. Peter turned him.
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Mae closed her eyes tightly, but for a second, nobody said anything. It felt like all the air had
been
sucked out of the room. Milo s big brown eyes were even larger than normal, and he just
gaped at them,
looking back and forth between Mae and Jack. At first, Jack didn t seem to feel anything.
Then this painful,
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