“Everyone.” I was trying not to get riled up, but if what Laylen was saying was true, how could I not get upset? “Marco, Sophia…Alex.”

“Why would they do that,” Laylen mumbled. “Why would it make a difference whether you were one or if you were four?”

I was thinking the exact same thing. Why would it matter? And if I really had been four, why would I have no memories of my mom at all? Yeah, I know four is a little young and everything, but still…you’d think I’d be able to remember something about her. But nope. I couldn’t remember a single thing.

Laylen remained quiet, fiddling with his lip ring. “I’m sorry,” he finally said.

“You don’t need to apologize,” I reassured him. “It’s not your fault all of this happened.”

“It’s partly my fault.” He rubbed his forehead and let out a stressed sigh. “I knew what Stephan was planning to do to you, and I didn’t do anything to stop it.”

“You were like, what, eight when all this was going on. And besides,” I said, trying not to let any bitterness sneak into my voice, “it had to be done to me, right? I mean, so that the world could be saved and all that.”

“I don’t know.” He looked lost in thought. “Maybe, I guess.”

I wondered what he meant. Was there another reason why my emotions had been shut down? Or had it never been necessary for them to be shut down in the first place?

He tapped his fingers on the table, thinking. “Gemma, what exactly have they told you about you?”

I gave him a quick recap of everything Alex had told me while he’d been stitching me up. I also told him about the things I’d pick up on myself; the list I’d found back at Marco and Sophia’s, and the bizarre vision thingy I’d been pulled into back at the fieldtrip. I even told him about the prickly sensation. I poured my heart and soul out. It felt really good too, like an enormous weight had been lifted off my shoulders. However, there was one thing I never mentioned. The electricity. That detail I just didn’t feel like explaining. It was too complicated…and to personal.

After I’d finished yammering Laylen’s ear off, he stayed silent for awhile, and I started to worry that maybe I’d bored him to death or something.

But finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he said, “I don’t even know what to say Gemma. I’m so sorry,”

That’s when I realized I hadn’t been boring him to death at all. He’d just been being a good listener and taking in what I was telling him. I was so use to being the quiet one and never talking, that when it came to being the one getting listened to, I was completely clueless.

“I didn’t realize how bad things were for you,” Laylen continued. “You know what I find strange is that Stephan made this big plan to seclude you from everyone to keep you from feeling, but I never thought the plan would actually work. I mean, how can you force a person to become emotionally detached?”

“Alex told me it was because if you raised a person to never know what things like happiness and sadness and love are, then they wouldn’t know how to feel them. And it was working well too. That is, until a couple of months ago when I suddenly snapped out of it.”

“But if Alex’s little theory is true, then why would you all of a sudden start to feel?” He paused. “And why would they lie to you about how old you were when you went to live with Marco and Sophia? It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe so I wouldn’t try to remember my mother.” I suggested. I mean, it made sense; them telling me I hadn’t been old enough to remember her so that I wouldn’t try to. Still, I wasn’t entirely convinced. They’d created such a tangled maze of lies, who the heck knew what was true and what wasn’t. I did know one thing, though. Getting the truth out of Alex seemed impossible. The guy could lie like no other.

“I guess that could be why, but it still doesn’t explain why you suddenly started to feel.” He brushed his blue tipped bangs off of his forehead and sighed. “Gemma, regardless of what Alex tells you, Stephan can’t be trusted.”

“How come?”     But really, did I even have to ask. Stephan was, after all, Alex’s father.

“Well, there’s been a lot of things Stephan’s done that are questionable. One of the worst, though, was when you’re mother disappeared.”

My heart thumped loudly in my chest. “What do you mean, she disappeared. I-I thought she died?”

“Well, that’s what Stephan told everyone.” He scooted his chair in closer so that we were practically huddled together. “Right after she went missing, I overheard my parents talking about how Jocelyn had this huge fight with Stephan over you. She didn’t want to give you up, and from what I understand, she was going to make a run for it. When she did, Stephan went looking for her, but when he came back, he only had you. He told everyone he couldn’t find Jocelyn anywhere. The Keepers searched for her and everything, but no one ever found a single clue as to what could have happened to her. After awhile, they just assumed she died.”

Blood howled inside my ears. “They just assumed she died? How can anyone just assume someone died?”

“Mysterious deaths are very common in the Keepers world because we are constantly encountering so many dangerous things.”

“But do you think she died?”

He shook his head. “And neither did my parents. I only heard bits and pieces of their conversations, but from what I understood, my parents didn’t believe Jocelyn just up and died. And they had their suspicions that one of the Keepers might have played a part in her disappearance.”

“And you think its Stephan,” I said, feeling like I might throw up. My mom hadn’t just died in a car accident. My mom had disappeared. And someone might have made her disappear.

“I can’t say for sure because I don’t have any proof but….” He twisted his lip ring back and forth. “Okay, this is what I know about Stephan. First, he is very power hungry, and he likes to be in control of things all times. If anyone gets in the path of what he wants, he’ll do whatever it takes to get rid of them. And because he’s the leader of the Keepers, no one questions the decisions he makes.”

“So you think that he might have gotten rid of my mom so he could have control over me and the star’s power.” My voice sounded strangely off pitch.

“I think that’s one possibility. But since I have no proof, I can’t say for sure.”

“Well, maybe you could ask your parents,” I suggested. “They might know more about it.”

His bright blue eyes saddened as he leaned back in his chair. “My parents are dead, Gemma. They died in a car accident a few months after all of this happened.”

“Oh.” I felt so bad for bringing it up. Nice one Gemma. Nice one. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago.” He was acting like it wasn’t a big deal, but I knew it really was.

“Does Alex know about any of this?” I asked, shifting the subject away from his parents.

He seemed hesitant to answer. “The thing about Alex is that he’s kind of been brainwashed. Like how you were with your emotions. He’s got it in his head that Stephan can do no wrong. But yeah, I have mentioned it to him and he didn’t believe me.”

Everything was so confusing; a bunch of questions with no answer—cliffhangers without endings. I sighed, my mind spinning.

“Hey, I have an idea.” Laylen scooted his chair away from table and got to his feet. “Why don’t we take a break from all of this deep talk and go into the kitchen and get you something to eat.”

Hmmm…I was kind of hungry. “That actually sounds like a good idea.” I yawned. Apparently, I was kind of tired too.

He laughed. “And then maybe you should get some sleep.”

I glanced at the window. The sun’s pale pink glow spilled through the glass. Sunrise had arrived and I really did feel tired, but I didn’t want to stop our conversation. I wanted to figure out as much as I could before Alex returned. “Yeah, I guess I could sleep.”

Hearing the reluctance in my voice Laylen said, “Don’t worry. We’ll finish talking about this. I promise.”

I sure hoped so.

We went into the kitchen and Laylen began cooking me some eggs. Yes, a Vampire/Keeper was making me eggs. Crazy, right? I was sitting on one of the barstools that encircled the midnight blue countertop island, waiting patiently. I would’ve been helping him cook, but he’d refused to let me when I’d offered.

The pan sizzled as Laylen dragged the spatula through the eggs. It had been quiet for a little while now, so when he suddenly spoke, it startled me.

“Gemma, do you still have the list of dates you told me about?”

Instinctively, I reached for my pocket, but quickly realized I was wearing Aislin’s skirt. The piece of paper with the list of dates was tucked away in the pocket of my jeans, which yes, of course, Aislin had thrown into the washing machine. “Ah, crap.”

Laylen turned, spatula in hand. “What’s the matter?”

“The list is in the pocket of my jeans,” I explained. “The ones Aislin threw in the washing machine.”

He cursed under his breath. “Well, I think it’s probably a goner.”

“Crap!” I said again. “Now what am I supposed to do?”

The pan hissed, and he swiftly turned the oven temperature down. “Do you remember any of the dates on it?”

“Just one of them.” I sighed, frustrated that the list of dates was gone forever. “February 8th. And I only remember that one because it was the first day I’d felt the prickle and started to experience emotion.”

He moved the pan off of the burner. “Okay, that’s weird…Was there anything that seemed significant about any of the other dates?”

I shook my head. “Nope. They all seemed random except for the February 8th one.”

Shaking his head, he took a plate out of the cupboard. “It just doesn’t make sense. The list of dates. The prickle. If Alex’s theory about how you lost your emotions is true, then how would a prickly feeling be able to jump start your feelings?” He scooped some eggs onto the plate. “You know what it sounds like, right?”

“No.”

“Like magic.”

“Magic,” I said very slowly. “Like witch magic.” Like Aislin’s witch magic?

He slid the plate of eggs across the counter to me. “Maybe, but it could be something else. In our world there are a ton of things that would be able to wipe out a person’s ability to feel.”

I was just about to take a bite of my eggs, but his words made me drop my fork. “You think they wiped out my emotions.”

“It’s possible, but like I said, there are tons of possibilities. With what you’ve told me, though, I’m starting to think that some kind of magic was involved.”