Talisman 01 - The Emerald Talisman

she’d predicted. I wouldn’t go see her. I couldn’t go. Darkening her doorstep meant I’d have to accept everything: my true fate, the obliteration of all vampires at my hand and Nicholas’ death. The rest of the world wouldn’t know the sacrifice. But I’d never do anything that would intentionally kill him. There had to be another way.
    I put my face in my hands and searched for a solution.
    “Julia, are you okay?” I heard Sam ask, pulling me back towards reality.
    I lifted my head and stared into five pairs of inquisitive eyes. Somehow in my concern and denial of what I needed to do, I’d auto-piloted myself all the way to lunch.
    “I’m okay,” I murmured as I looked down at the table at my uneaten food that I didn’t remember getting. “I’m a little tired today.”
    “Do you know Justin?” Cameron asked me, his eyes moving slowly to focus on my face.
    “Not really,” I said, feeling the weight of the responsibility hitting me heavily. “Do you?”
    “He’s in my Calculus class. He came to the tournament Saturday night,” he replied, sort of in a trance. “But never made it home.”
    My stomach churned at the news. Maybe if I was his date Saturday night, he’d still be here.
    “What happened?” Dena asked.
    Cameron shifted. All the geeky spunk of his normal demeanor was absent. He looked despondent under his red mop of curls. The heaviness of his heart almost made me well up with tears.
    “The chess club met at Clark’s house for our tournament. We played until about three in the morning. I decided to just spend the night, but Justin had to be home for Boy Scouts in the morning,” he said with a sigh. “We got a frantic call from his mother in the morning because he didn’t come home and wasn’t answering his phone. So the cops came and interviewed us. He’s vanished into thin air.”
    He looked down at the table and picked at his food. I felt sick thinking about what his parents must be going through, when another wave of conviction hit me.
    “That’s horrible, Cam,” Sam said.
    “Well, there’s a new curfew now. If you’re under eighteen, you’re supposed to be home by nine p.m. and rumor has it they might even make it eight,” he said without any emotion in his voice.
    “Yeah, we know about the curfew,” Katie said, her voice laced with annoyance. “They squelched the bonfire with it, but eight? Seriously, that’s just lame.”
    “It’s not lame,” I piped up, overwrought with newfound terror. “And, actually, I wanted to ask all of you not to go out after dusk until this is over.”
    “What?” Katie exclaimed. “Are you kidding me?”
    I shot her a look. More than anything in the world, I wanted to share what I knew, scare them into submission. This was very serious and I couldn’t bear losing any of them to those vicious murderers. I would make them listen.
    “Just trust me, okay? I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think it was that serious, but my Dad has some friends who are cops, and whoever’s doing this is looking for certain kids to prey upon. All I can say is, we fit the type.”
    Katie let out a groan, contorting her face while she rolled her eyes. “Yeah right,” she snipped.
    I restrained from reaching across the table, grabbing the collar of her shirt, and shaking some sense into her. But something in my disposition elevated the general fear level from nothing to DEFCON 1 in a matter of seconds. Everyone knew I meant business, and couldn’t deny the facts.
    “I’ll do it,” Dena said quickly, watching me with a newfound fearfulness.
    I glanced at Sam.
    “Me too,” she said under the weight of my stare.
    “My mom isn’t letting me go anywhere, so I’m already grounded,” Cam said, still playing with his food. He didn’t need any intimidation to agree.
    “You will too, won’t you Morgan?” Dena asked.
    “Yeah,” he said, watching me suspiciously.
    Everyone’s honest commitment eased my conscience. Only Katie remained. One by one, the group’s glances rested on her sour expression. She tried to keep a cold front, but eventually caved. Our effort managed to penetrate her childish reasoning.
    “Fine,” she said with reluctance, while crossing her arms.
    I let out a quick exhale.
    “You’re such a big killjoy sometimes, Julia,” she with a sneer and left the table.
    Receiving the brunt of Katie’s anger didn’t bother me when I knew it might possibly save her life. Now, the first part of my plan was in motion—the most