Grace was being hard on herself. She felt like it was her fault that he ended up going outside. If she and Mackenzie hadn't kept pushing him with questions, then maybe he would have stayed with them until the end of the day, rather than going outside to where the animal was. Mackenzie knew that this wasn't true. Freddie would have killed someone. He needed blood and that's what he got.
Graces recollection of the series of events was muddled. She remembers Freddie coming in with the scarf, claiming to have survived an animal attack but she also remember witnessing Freddie being attacked by the animal. Whatever that vampire did to Grace worked, leaving Mackenzie feeling hopeless.
Mackenzie got into Jason's car and he drove her to Graces house, just like he promised.
"How was school?" He often asked Mackenzie this. He liked to take interest in Mackenzie's education and loved to hear how well she was getting on in school.
"Okay." Mackenzie answered, looking out the window at all the students that were walking home.
"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good." Jason laughed, looking over at his daughter
Mackenzie ignored her fathers statement, moving on to a new subject.
She didn't want to tell her dad that she was the talk of the school. That every move she made was observed by almost everyone.
"A new guy started, his name is Isaac." Mackenzie said.
"What did you think of him?" Jason asked. Mackenzie didn't answer as she looked over at her father. Was he really trying to have this conversation with her?! " like was he hot?" Jason asked, making the voice of a typical teenage girl, making Mackenzie cackle. "Well?" Jason asked, pushing the question.
"He seemed nice. He just moved from Louisiana a few weeks ago." Mackenzie answered, avoiding the topic of 'was he hot'
Mackenzie was very close to her dad but no matter how close they got, she would never talk boy talk to him. Ever. She wasn't going to admit to her dad that she thought Isaac was kind of attractive. She barely wanted to admit it to herself.
Jason pulled up outside of Graces house. Mackenzie always loved Grace's house. It was just big enough for her mum, dad and her.
Graces house was a small white cottage. The garden was filled with different coloured flowers and the gate had a white wooden arch going over the top of it, that had pink flowers climbing up it.
"Bye dad." Mackenzie said, getting out of the car.
She walked up to the door and gave it a knock. Graces mum, Lily, answered.
Lily had blonde hair, just like Grace and she had brown eyes. She was still in her animal control uniform.
"Hi Lily." Mackenzie smiled.
"Hello Mackenzie, she's in her room." Lily smiled, stepping aside so that Mackenzie could enter her home.
As Mackenzie entered the house, Lily noticed that Jason was still parked outside of her home. She walked up to his car and leaned against the opened window. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Mackenzie or Grace wasn't behind them.
"I'll leave Mackenzie home later on." Lily said, smiling at Jason.
"Thanks. How's Grace been?" Jason asked.
"She's still in shock. Shes barely came out of her room. Maybe Mackenzie can get her talking. Whoever did this attack must have deceived the girls. Grace is very persistent on the fact that it was an animal attack."
Jason's face hardened as he thought.
"Mackenzie is the same but I don't understand how the vampire was able to deceive her. She was wearing the necklace I gave her. That should have stop any deception from happening."
Lily looked at him confused. She remembered Jason travelling to get that necklace. He went to a very powerful witch for help so her magic should have worked.
"Maybes she's scared to admit the truth. Sit down with her tonight and talk to her about it. And if she doesn't know about-" Lily stopped, glancing over her shoulder, then continued at a whisper, "vampires, then explain everything to her."
"I don't know if I can. Not at the moment anyway. She's going through too much."
When Mackenzie was 11, her dad didn't just give her any old necklace. The blue stone contained a spell from an old witch called Astra. When the 'animal attacks' first began in Addington, Jason always knew that they weren't just animal attacks. After all, his parents and grandparents were both Vampire hunters.
Therefore, he went to a witch for help to protect his daughter from the monsters. The spell stopped Vampires from deceiving Mackenzie and if they tried to pull the necklace from her, it would burn them.
"I'll talk to you later." Lily said, standing back the car window.
Jason waved at Lily, then took off down the street.
While their parents were outside discussing what to do next, Mackenzie was stood outside of Graces bedroom door, bracing herself before knocking.
She could hear sniffling from the other side of the door. Grace was crying.
Mackenzie knocked on the door and slowly opened it to see her bestfriend surrounded in a sea of tissues. The blinds were shut and the bedside lamp was the only thing illuminating the small room. Mackenzie felt a frown grow on her lips at the sight of her best friend. She hated to see Grace like this.
"Hey." Mackenzie quietly said, making Grace look up to the door.
Grace patted the bed, next to where she sat. Mackenzie looked around Graces room. Clothes were scattered across the floor. All the photos Mackenzie had with Freddie were pulled from the wall and sat face down on her dressing table.
She sat down next to Grace, giving her a sympathetic smile.
"I can't believe he's really gone." Grace said, wiping away another tear.
"Neither can I." Mackenzie frowned, glancing around the room once more. "I know for a fact that he wouldn't be happy with you sitting in here alone in the dark." Mackenzie said, a small smile playing on her lips.
"You're right. Could you open the blinds for me please?" Grace asked, through her croaky voice.
"Of course!" Mackenzie said, jumping from Graces bed.
She pulled the blinds cord, allowing light to flood through the room.
Mackenzie then proceeded to switch off the lamp, then sat back next to Grace.
She took Graces hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. Although they both felt like this could never get better, they both had to remind themselves that it could. Freddie never would have wanted them to feel this low.
"Remember how you and Freddie used to hate each other?" Mackenzie asked, chuckling at the thought.
"Yeah. I remember always being so annoyed when you invited him to hang out with us." Grace laughed. "Oh! Do you remember when we had that talent show in second year and you forgot the words to the song you were singing, so Freddie ran on stage and started dancing like an idiot so that you wouldn't feel as embarrassed!" Grace laughed.
"If it weren't for him, I never would have lived that moment down." Mackenzie giggled.
It was important to keep the memory of Freddie alive. Everything he ever did for Mackenzie and Grace, could never be forgotten.
As the evening went on, Mackenzie told Grace about Isaac. Grace promised that she would come in to school tomorrow, just for Mackenzie. She knew that going to school tomorrow would be tough but it had to be done sooner rather than later.
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