* * *
Rumors spread fast in this town, and it started getting really bad, really soon. When I went into town people would actually cross to the other side of the street when they saw me coming, or they would duck into a store.
I could not believe it had come to this. I had to put an end to all the rumors and cleanse myself of what they alone had created me to be in their heads.
The single benefit to everyone thinking I was a killer was the police car constantly following me, which hopefully meant that Lilith wouldn’t come near me. Instead, she would get bored and cause another distraction, absolving me of all the rumors and suspicions that I was a monster.
I wondered why heaven wasn’t helping me right about now. Surely they knew up there about everything that was going on with me. They knew what I had been through with my parents’ death and about Lilith being after me to kill me, and yet, they didn’t feel the need to intervene?
I started feeling deserted. They had let all this happen and left me to deal with it all. Did they even care? The more thought I gave to it, the less worthy of them I found myself to be. They were obviously not interested in me anymore. All I had now was Avan, and I hadn’t even told him the truth about myself, so maybe I didn’t even have him after all. I felt lonely, even with Claire and Nate always flanking me, since they were always keeping things from me and saying it was for the best.
I found myself not being able to trust anyone.
I kept coming to the same decision every time: tell Avan the truth and get it over with. If he wasn’t going to accept who I was, then I needed to know sooner rather than later. If I was going to let myself fall and be with him, I needed to know I wasn’t doing it all in vain.
20. STRANGER IN THE HOUSE