I was fine. I'd fed. I'd rested. There was no reason to be this on edge... except for the fact that every molecule in my body felt wrong.

  "COME ON!"

  I banged my fist against the microwave. The door bent from the force, and the microwave turned off. A growl escaped me as I snatched the half defrosted packet of sizzle steaks from it and dropped it on the bench. Tori spun her head around at my yell, her pencil slipping from her hand. A pang of guilt hit me.

  "Sorry! I'm sorry." I rubbed my eyes with a groan. "Keep drawing, you're fine."

  The girl gave a sheepish nod and continued her scribbling. My eyes narrowed at her, surprised that she responded this time.

  I took a break from my wrestling match with the microwave to check my phone as I wandered over to the table. I sat on the chair beside Tori, scrolling through my messages with Carly.

  "She's on her way home now." I sighed in relief. "She got the book."

  Tori switched her red pencil for a blue one and started drawing circles on her page.

  "She better not read it." I muttered, my knee beginning to bounce. "I know, I know, she's already seen me at my worst. I just... ugh."

  I looked over to the mess Tori was scribbling down. Part of me had hoped she'd write something, maybe manage to communicate whether intentionally or not. But all I saw were circles and squiggly lines of different colours. Like a toddler.

  "Try this," I grabbed a pencil and tapped it on the table a few times, "Once for yes, twice for no."

  She cautiously tapped her pencil three times.

  "Not quite." I smirked lightly. "Let's start easy. Is your name Victoria?"

  TAP TAP

  "Tori." I deadpanned.

  She almost smiled.

  "Try again. Is your name Victoria?"

  TAP

  "Perfect!"

  I couldn't help but smile fondly. She'd been making so much progress since Carly and London moved in. These days it wasn't as black and white as it had been before, with her either being a husk or being fully lucid. Now she had some autonomy. She could comprehend a conversation, even if she couldn't join in or got lost easily. I couldn't be prouder.

  "Okay, another easy one." I continued. "Is my name Victoria?"

  TAP

  "And I've lost you." I sighed in defeat.

  "Hey!" London called out as she and her sister came through the front door.

  Victoria and I both sat right up in anticipation. Carly chucked her things on the lounge and rummaged through her backpack. London carried her own stuff to her bedroom instead. Tori lost interest and went back to drawing.

  "Got it." Carly pulled out the notebook.

  As she passed it to me, I felt the familiar dread weigh over me and pool at my feet. The book felt wrong. Somehow, I felt less safe touching it than I did with the journal still stashed under my bed. The cover looked fresher than I remembered, and considering it had been through the wreckage of the art building being bulldozed, there was a confusing lack of damage.

  "Something wrong?" London crossed her arms as she walked back in the room.

  "Carly, you found this in the storage locker, right?" I murmured.

  "Yeah, exactly where you said it would be." She frowned back.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  I exhaled shakily, feeling the fear in my gut. Making sure Tori was still distracted, I started flipping through the pages.

  I nearly dropped the damn thing.

  "Is this a joke?" I spat.

  The girls shot me confused looks.

  "What?" London huffed. "Let me see-"

  I held the book open for them to read, my blood beginning to boil.

  "Is... that math homework?" Carly tilted her head.

  "It's not the book." I growled, slamming it down on the table.

  "That's not possible!" Carly defended. "I-I checked it before I got to Mr Vance's office! It was definitely the right book!"

  I shot her a glare so hard the blood vessels in my irises burst, and my vision faded red.

  "You told me you didn't read it."

  She gulped and stepped back.

  "I didn't really read it, per se," she mumbled. "But I did check it was the right thing."

  "And did you grab the right book when you collected it from Mr Vance?" London cut in.

  "I-It was the only book in the cabinet! The cover looked the same, I didn't have any reason to check it again."

  "So, what, do you think someone switched them?" I snarled. "You really never thought to check the book after collecting it?"

  "Are you mad at me for reading it or not?" Carly scoffed. "Make up your mind!"

  "Zach," London murmured, gesturing to her eyes.

  I sat back in my chair with a huff, trying to will the blood in my irises to hurry up and dissipate and restore my eye colour to its usual hazel.

  "I found the book in the storage locker, I carried it carefully to the principal's office, I flipped through the pages to check it was the right book before I got there," Carly recounted firmly, "He took it off me and locked it in his desk cabinet. After lunch, I went back, and he took it out and gave it back to me, and now it's... not here."

  "I can't even think of an excuse for that." I muttered through gritted teeth that were threatening to sharpen.

  "I didn't do anything wrong!" Carly groaned.

  "Alright, I'm with you on that," London put a hand on her shoulder, "We just need to figure out how the books got switched."

  "The only time it wasn't with you was during lunch." I watched Tori draw to distract myself. "Maybe someone swapped it out then."

  "Why would anyone do that?" Carly frowned. "No one knew about the book but us, and we were all together at lunch."

  "Mr Vance read it." London offered.

  "... you think he switched it?" I glanced up at her.

  "I don't know why he would," London shrugged, "I guess maybe if Michelle did want the book and he gave the real one to her-"

  "He knew the book was Zach's before I said anything." Carly chimed in. "You didn't sign it, did you?"

  "I'd never be that stupid." I huffed. "It doesn't say my name or anything that screams 'me' in there, unless you already know I'm a vampire."

  "Does he?" asked London.

  "No? What?" I cringed. "Why the hell would I tell the principal? Especially one I only knew for like a month before I dropped out."

  "At least we have the journal, right?" Carly tried an awkward smile. "You said it's under your bed?"

  "I moved it." Victoria spoke.

  Everyone went silent.

  Only the sound of our caught breaths filled the air.

  "... Uh..." I shook my head. "What?"

  Tori met my gaze.

  "I moved it." She repeated.

  Like it didn't happen, she went back to her scribbling.

  The rest of us gawked at her.

  "You have to tell me when you wake up!" I groaned. "How long have you been lucid?"

  "Few minutes."

  "MINUTES?!"

  "I was busy drawing-"

  "VICTORIA!" I whined, exasperated. "You've never been awake that long!"

  "... yeah." She mumbled, slipping away again.

  "Where did you put the book?" London asked hurriedly.

  "Um..." Tori furrowed her brow, struggling to think again. "I moved it a few weeks ago..."

  "That's not what we're asking." Zach gently cupped her face in his hands. "Where'd you put it, love?"

  Her pale eyes grew milkier as she faded further, struggling to keep eye contact with me.

  "..."

  "Fuck!" I hissed, letting her go and rising to my feet to start pacing.

  The girls sighed in unison, watching Tori mindlessly go back to scribbling.

  "See? She does it on purpose!" I threw my hands in the air. "She doesn't want my help, and she doesn't want to help me either!"

  "I doubt she purposely didn't answer just now." Carly said. "She was already slipping."

  "She said she was conscious for several minutes, Carly. SEVERAL MINUTES!" I fought the urge to claw the nearest surface. "She purposely kept her head down and kept drawing without saying a thing! S-She didn't want us to know that she was there!"

  "Do you ever know how to reign in your emotions?" London muttered under her breath.

  I stopped pacing.

  "I'm sorry?" My eyes met hers.

  She sighed and shook her head.

  "You always do this. Tori could blink a way you don't like and you'll go pacing around, ranting like a lunatic. And then you claw the walls. And then you destroy the furniture. And then everyone else has to clean up after you."

  Carly watched in silence, stepping back.

  I walked over to London, stopping just before her. She looked up at me firmly, the way she bit her lip betraying her regret.

  "You're saying I'm overreacting?" I asked quietly.

  "I'm.. saying that you don't know how to calm down when you're upset." She narrowed her eyes and slumped her shoulders. "You tend to take your emotions out on your environment."

  I nodded.

  "With my claws, right?" I raised my hands, my nails cut short and blunt like usual.

  London winced.

  "You know what I mean-"

  "I wreck every surface, right?" I glanced over to the completely undamaged furniture around us.

  "You broke the microwave while we were gone." London defended, pointing to the broken door of the damn thing.

  I tilted my head.

  "I can admit that much."

  Carly cautiously sat down beside Victoria, feeling like she was watching a lion enter a puma's cage.

  "Fine." My voice stayed low. "I won't overreact."

  I calmly walked past London and down the hallway, into my bedroom. I gently shut the door behind me. The girls looked at each other tensely.