“I don’t know how to explain it. I wish I could, but I know you wouldn’t believe me,” Rachel said. “I want to tell you, I really do, but it’s complicated.”

“Are you on drugs?” her dad snapped. “It looked like a drug bust if you ask me.”

“NO! I’m not on drugs. I can’t believe you would even ask me that,” Rachel snapped back. “And besides, if I told you the truth you wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

“Honey,” her mom said, “If you ARE on drugs, you can tell us, we will find you help.”

“UGH! I’m not on drugs. Stop asking me that. I’ve never done drugs in my life,” Rachel kept saying.

“I don’t think you realize what a stir this whole thing is,” her dad said getting more and more upset as the minutes passed. “You think this is all fun and games, don’t you?”

“No! I don’t! Stop accusing me of that!” Rachel said back firmly.

“The police have been out for days looking for you,” her mom said.

“The whole town is out searching for you. And then you prance back in as if nothing had happened. Typical,” her dad said.

“You guys are totally ridiculous. I thought you’d be happy to see me?” Rachel asked.

“We are happy, Sweetie. It’s just hard because you’ve put us through so much trouble, that it’s hard to just flip a switch,” her mom said, trying to remain calm.

“You’ve humiliated our family,” her dad added. “We are constantly in the news, and it’s really taken a toll on us.”

“I’ve done nothing!” Rachel said. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve learned from my mistakes. C’mon, you guys have to believe me. I didn’t mean for all of this to happen.”

“How can we trust you again, Rachel?” her dad snapped. “You’ve been acting like a completely different girl than the one we knew in Pennsylvania.”

“It’s like you’re a different person up here,” her mom added.

“Listen, you guys haven’t been great either,” Rachel remarked. “You always think the worst of me and you ALWAYS think I’m lying. I can’t tell you anything anymore without you looking at me skeptically and asking five thousand questions. It’s not fair!”

“Rachel, sweetheart,” her mom said trying to calm her down, “forget we said that, we didn’t mean it.”

“No! You did mean it and so did I. It’s like you guys always think the worst of me. Even when I am telling the truth, you guys don’t believe me, so what’s the point? Why do I even bother talking to you?” Rachel said as she stood up to leave the table.

“Sit back down, young lady,” her dad’s voice barreled.

“Fine, but I don’t see what the point is, you’re just going to think I’m lying to you,” Rachel snapped.

Changing the subject, here dad asked, “Who is this Benji guy anyway? We’ve been hearing a lot about him lately.”

“A guy from my school,” Rachel said defensively. “That’s where I met him.”

“Are you like an item or something?” her dad asked back.

“An item? What is this 1950?” Rachel snarkily replied.

“Don’t mock me!” her dad yelled. “I need an answer, are you two dating?”

“Well, I did have a crush on him, but I think it’s over now,” she answered firmly.

“What happened?” her mom asked. Not knowing how to answer these questions she tried to evade them as much as she could.

“It’s just over between us. We want different things and besides, I don’t think I fit in well in his life, ya know?” Rachel added.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” her dad said.

“It’s over!” Rachel said again loudly. “I don’t want to talk about it. There’s nothing to say!”

“Where does Benji live anyway? He’s not listed and the cops have been searching high and low for this guy.”

“It’s confusing, I don’t really know,” Rachel said.

“Just tell us,” her mom said.

“See, Betsy, this is what she does, she lies to us all the time,” her dad said.

“I’m NOT LYING!” Rachel said getting more and more frustrated by this conversation. “Why are we even talking if you think everything I’m saying is a lie?”

“Listen, Rachel, you can’t come waltzing back in here and expect things to go on as they normally do. We need answers and we need them now,” her dad yelled.

“Who are his parents?” her mom asked.

“I don’t know who his parents are? I’ve never met them,” Rachel responded truthfully.

“You’re not going to be able to live under our roof if you keep this up. We don’t even know you anymore, Rachel.”

“What do you mean I can’t live under YOUR roof?” Rachel asked back.

“Living here is a privilege!” her dad said, “And right now, you don’t deserve it.”

“Well, I’m not exactly sure what you want me to do. I can make something up if you’d feel better about that? I am telling you the truth. I don’t know where he is and I certainly don’t know his parents,” Rachel said.

“Where did our daughter go?” her dad asked, turning to her mom.

“Stop attacking me! I can’t take this anymore!” Rachel yelled as she got up from the table and headed upstairs to her bedroom.

As she got upstairs, she decided that she would go say hello to her sister, who she’d missed so much since she’d been gone. She was worried that her sister might have turned on her, too, but she had to at least say hello, find out for herself.

“GET BACK HERE!” her dad screamed.

She knocked on the door.

“Come in!” Sarah said. “It’s open.”

Rachel peeked her head through the door and saw her sister sitting on her bed listening to the new Madonna CD.

“Rachel!” Sarah yelled as she got up to greet her. “AH! Where have you been?”

“OMG! It was insane. It’s a long, crazy story! You sure you want to hear?” Rachel asked.

“I’m just so happy to see you!” Sarah said. “It really doesn’t matter to me what happened. I think I have an idea anyway. We did go to Lyndvia to find you, it was a crazy scene!”

“I know, tell me about it!” Rachel said. “It was the craziest, most insane time of my life. I really thought I was going to die.”

“Yeah, we didn’t think you were ever coming home. But thankfully, you came back. I secretly knew you’d return,” Sarah said, confidently as she hugged Rachel tightly.

“I missed you!” Rachel said.

“I missed you more!” Sarah said. “Mom and Dad have gone completely mad since this whole thing happened. It’s like they’re becoming mini FBI agents or something.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. They were grilling me downstairs. I’m surprised you didn’t hear them,” Rachel said.

“They’ve been grilling everyone. Mark and I have gotten our fair share of questioning,” Sarah said.

“It’s so annoying though because they always think I’m lying to them. I just don’t get it,” Rachel said.

“Yeah, welcome home!” Sarah said laughing.

“Oh and by the way, when we went to Lyndvia, I found the key to your diary. Dad was holding onto it, but I took it from him when he wasn’t looking and I hid your diary. I figured you probably wouldn’t want them to read it,” Sarah said, reaching into her desk drawer and pulling out the necklace with the key attached.

Rachel took it from her and said, “Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver. I can’t believe you thought to do that. You’re my hero!”

“It was nothing,” Sarah said, as she handed over the diary as well. “I know you would’ve had my back, too!”

“A hundred percent,” Rachel said.

The two slunk back onto Sarah’s bed as the music played loudly around the room.

“So where were you anyway?” Sarah asked.

“I was with Benji,” Rachel answered. “He saved my life, you know.”

“From what?” Sarah asked. “It looked like a blood bath to me.”

“Yeah, it got pretty hairy, but lucky we made it out before it got really bad,” Rachel said.

“Thank God,” Sarah said. “I’m just so happy you’re back. You don’t need to go into detail now about the whole thing. You can tell me when you’re ready. I’m sure you have a lot on your mind right now.”

Rachel couldn’t believe her ears, her sister was the absolute best! She couldn’t believe she was being so respectful of her. Their relationship had really done a complete one eighty since they’d moved and she couldn’t be happier.

“Well, I’m actually gonna take a shower, and get ready for bed.”

“Cool!” Sarah said. “Oh and by the way, I have your cell, too. Found that in the grass at the castle. Figured I wouldn’t even tell Mom and Dad about it.”

Rachel took her cell and flipped it open to hit the power button. It was dead, but she was so grateful to have it back in her hands. She’d felt so disconnected without it recently and now she felt she could really get back in the swing of things and catch up with her friends. She wanted to let them all know she was coming back to school in the morning.

Rachel went through their adjoining bathroom and flipped on the shower. She then walked into her room to plug her phone in while she was in the shower.

The hot water felt so good as it hit her face and body. The smell of her soap and shampoo was refreshing after the sulphery junk she had to use at the castle. She felt like she was cleansing her soul from all the impurities of her “vampire” past. After all, she felt human, despite having just fed a few hours ago. She felt like herself and that’s all that really mattered.