I just came back from my first vacation trip and I'm quite exhausted but I've left you hanging with chapter 23 for quite some time so I just wanted to post this for you! :-) I'm leaving for Spain though very shortly but hopefully I'll have time to post another chapter for you guys before then. Enjoy!

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It feels like days, months and even years have flown by since Jay decided to leave the room to myself in my forever-lasting pain, even though it's only really been half an hour. Still, my heart feels like someone reached into my chest and twisted it around, before stabbing it multiple times and leaving it bleeding out, then beginning the same process just before the agony is about to end. My eyes have been completely dry during this time and I've restrained any noise to come from me. Still, no tears have spilled. Does that make me heart-less? Not showing any visible emotion in times like these?

The door knob twists again and again and I can hear the impatience of the person behind the wall trying to open the locked door. Suddenly, the door springs free of its bolts and leaves the room in a cloud of dust and dirt. It ends up at the other side of the room, missing the large window by mere inches. I should have covered myself or jerked away, but I sit completely still, lost in my own thoughts. I'm pretty sure some wood-splinters manage to fly into my arm, but even that little stab of pain I don't feel. I feel hollow, empty.

That's your own fault Emma... A little voice inside of me whispers, and I can't help but hear the truth in my own horrible thought. But one of them killed my parents. How am I supposed to react to that? Just sit still and listen to cold-blooded murderers trying to reason with me and convince me that they've never killed before? Lies, lies, lies, lies...

Jay's face flashes before my eyes like a painful reminder of what my outburst brought upon us.

"For fuck's sake Drake! What the hell was that?" Alice's voice bounces of the walls and I lift my gaze, looking over my sister's dominant posture before locking eyes with Drake's grey ones. I can see a dancing flame of light in his otherwise dull eyes, and a smile tugs at the corners of my lips when I think back to Lily. "And you!" Alice points a steady finger at me, "You have a lot of explaining to do!" She seems to tremble slightly and I get up and extend my hand to her when her voice wavers.

"Alice?" I ask, my own voice picking up in octaves with the tension that's suddenly dawned on the room. Her wide and frantic eyes are filled with sadness and disappointment. I can't recall the last time my big sister was so disappointed in me. But why?

"What have you done Emma?" She takes a step backwards when I try to reach out to her, eyes still wide and that disappointment stronger than ever, swimming around like a punishment and directed at me. I can't explain how much it hurts. But I still don't know what I've done. Why is she looking at me like that?

"What do you mean?" I ask again, now sitting upright fully and struggling to get out of bed.

"No! Don't move." Drake interferes, and I freeze as a wave of dizziness crashes over me. Of course, I almost forgot. I look over at Drake who exchanges a quick and somehow secretive glance with Alice, as if they know something that I don't and they're debating whether or not to tell me. But I'm sick of the secrets that are being kept from me.

"Emma..." Alice begins, taking a step towards me with the most frightened expression I have ever seen her having. "How do I put this...?"

"Alice, please..." I press when she doesn't finish, feeling my palms go clammy and sweat start to form on my forehead. I can feel the trembles beginning to take over my body and embrace myself for the next panic attack.

"I don't know if I should say anything anyway..." Alice continues, looking at me with worry. "You're shaking Em."

Drake closes his eyes and he twitches, before Lily suddenly appears by his side, with a somewhat stiff posture. He must have communicated with her through the mate-bond.

Mates.

My mind wanders to Jay and something shifts inside of me. I can feel it in my soul, in my core and spreading to my bones. It's like taking in his emotions. Something is so, so wrong.

"I'm not helping her." Lily spits, directing burning eyes towards me. I carefully slide out of bed but, step back hesitantly with confusion lighting my mind when her eyes flash red. What's that about?

"Lily? What's wrong?" I ask, my voice wavering slightly. I really shouldn't be standing up, but they're all so infuriating.

-Oh you'd like to know wouldn't you? Well listen up you- you-"

-Lily..." Drake cuts her off with warning and she sighs, recomposing herself. I can still see though that when she turns her eyes to me, those eyes fill with pure hatred that are only meant for me to see. She opens her mouth, fangs extended, and I already fear the words that she's about to say, even though I don't know what it is. But there's a reason why she's the one who seems so angry with me. Something's definitely wrong with him.

"Well, listen very carefully Emma, because I won't repeat myself." She hisses coldly. The room falls silent and the atmosphere is overcome with an uncomfortable tension as I wait for her to speak. Even the two others seem tense even though they must already know what she's about to say.

"Drake, I'm not sure that she should tell her like that." Alice whispers carefully, worry still flooding her eyes as she looks at my body that's beginning to shake from the struggle it takes for me to remain standing. Black splotches are already clouding my vision but I refuse to lay back down. I need to hear this.

"Oh shut up!" Lily hisses at my sister, who flinches as if she'd been slapped.

"Don't you dare speak to my sister like that!" I burst out, fists clenching as I begin to see red. "Your problem is with me, for some reason, not Alice. So take your anger out on me, got it?" I seethe.

"Do you really think that I'm going to listen to you?" She says in a calm voice that frankly scares the shit out of me. She seems suddenly so calm, and her voice is cold and threateningly dangerous. Only her eyes seem to hold a storm within them that only the truth can clench. "After all," She continues, "you're the reason that Jay nearly died."

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Okay! Now I'm feeling really guilty, leaving it off like this, so I PROMISE to upload a chapter to make up for my terrible cliffhanger before I leave to Spain. Ciao!